Roger Lynn
November 8, 2020
Stewardship Emphasis
(CLICK HERE for the audio for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE for the video for this sermon)
(CLICK HERE for the video for the entire service)
Sometimes reaching out can seem counter-intuitive. In these days filled with so much separation, isolation, division, hate, and fear, it is tempting to just shut down. A verse in one of Dan Fogelberg’s songs gives expression to this temptation.
“Gonna pull in the shutters
On this heart of mine
Roll up the carpets
And pull in the blinds
And retreat to the chambers
That I left behind...”
(from Heart Hotels by Dan Fogelberg)
It’s tempting, but that path will not ultimately serve us well because we are made for something more. As I said at the end of my sermon last Sunday, “We are created for community. We are created for equality. We are created for connection.” And finding the path that will lead us to community, equality, and connection requires that we reach out beyond ourselves. It means expanding rather than contracting. When we reach out beyond ourselves we begin to live into the fullness of who we truly are – human beings created in the very image of God!
I have heard it said that some of the largest living organisms on the planet are a field of mushrooms and a grove of aspen trees. They look like a collection of individuals, but in reality they are all connected. I believe that the same thing can be said about humanity. Our separateness is an illusion. One of the great spiritual mysteries is that we are all One – connected in ways which we are only beginning to discover and understand. When we practice reaching out beyond ourselves, even when it seems counter-intuitive, even when it frightens us, we begin to open ourselves to this larger reality.
The scriptures are filled with variations on this theme. Our reading from Isaiah calls us to work for justice, to free the oppressed, to feed the hungry, to house the homeless, to clothe the naked, to stop hiding ourselves from each other. And then we are reminded that in so doing our own light begins to shine, our own health is restored, and we begin to experience the very presence of God in our lives. In the Gospels we find Jesus saying much the same thing. The Apostle Paul describes the Church as the Body of Christ – each of us sharing our own unique gifts within the larger context of a connected whole.
This great truth is active and present, whether we reach out beyond ourselves or not. We are still connected. We are still surrounded by love and grace and wholeness and Sacred Presence. But many of the benefits remain largely unrealized until we begin to open ourselves to this wider reality.
So what does this look like? How do we go about taking this step and making it happen in our lives? It will look different for each of us, because even though we are all connected we are not all the same. We will each reach out in our own unique ways. And it will take a lifetime to really figure out what those unique ways look like. But just because it will take a lifetime doesn’t mean we can’t begin now. We make it happen in our lives by deciding to begin, and then taking a step in that direction.
If you are reaching out to God, perhaps a step in that direction will be look like setting aside time every day to pray. Or perhaps it will look like walking up onto the mountain in the morning to watch the sunrise. There is no one right way to do this. Pay attention to what your heart is telling you. Get creative. Try something. If it doesn’t work for you let it go and try something else. The journey really is the destination.
And if you are reaching out to other people (which is really just a different way of reaching out to God) it will be pretty much the same thing. Pay attention. Listen to your heart. Take a deep breath, and try something. Maybe it will be as simple as calling a friend you haven’t talked to in a while. Maybe it will be writing a letter to your congressperson and sharing what’s on your heart. Maybe it will be volunteering at the food bank, or Habitat for Humanity, or the hospital. The specifics of what this reaching out will look like are as unique as you are. One of my favorite quotes from Frederick Buechner puts it this way, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (from “Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC” by Frederick Buechner)
As we engage in this very spiritual practice of reaching out beyond ourselves, what we begin to discover is that in the process of making a difference in the world we ourselves our transformed. As we connect, with God and with the world, we start to connect more fully and deeply with our own God-given nature – connected and interrelated with all that is. Paradoxically, the more we reach out beyond ourselves, the more fully we become ourselves.
And just in case you forgot, this is a stewardship sermon (the first of two, actually). So, let me remind you that stewardship is about everything we do with everything we have and everything we are. We are being good stewards not just when we share our financial resources with others (we’ll get to that next week), but also when we are intentional about doing what we can to become more fully who God created us to be. Reaching out beyond ourselves to establish and nourish connections, with God and with the world, is a profoundly spiritual act of stewardship. I invite you to begin now. You’ll be glad you did.
Sometimes reaching out can seem counter-intuitive. In these days filled with so much separation, isolation, division, hate, and fear, it is tempting to just shut down. A verse in one of Dan Fogelberg’s songs gives expression to this temptation.
“Gonna pull in the shutters
On this heart of mine
Roll up the carpets
And pull in the blinds
And retreat to the chambers
That I left behind...”
(from Heart Hotels by Dan Fogelberg)
It’s tempting, but that path will not ultimately serve us well because we are made for something more. As I said at the end of my sermon last Sunday, “We are created for community. We are created for equality. We are created for connection.” And finding the path that will lead us to community, equality, and connection requires that we reach out beyond ourselves. It means expanding rather than contracting. When we reach out beyond ourselves we begin to live into the fullness of who we truly are – human beings created in the very image of God!
I have heard it said that some of the largest living organisms on the planet are a field of mushrooms and a grove of aspen trees. They look like a collection of individuals, but in reality they are all connected. I believe that the same thing can be said about humanity. Our separateness is an illusion. One of the great spiritual mysteries is that we are all One – connected in ways which we are only beginning to discover and understand. When we practice reaching out beyond ourselves, even when it seems counter-intuitive, even when it frightens us, we begin to open ourselves to this larger reality.
The scriptures are filled with variations on this theme. Our reading from Isaiah calls us to work for justice, to free the oppressed, to feed the hungry, to house the homeless, to clothe the naked, to stop hiding ourselves from each other. And then we are reminded that in so doing our own light begins to shine, our own health is restored, and we begin to experience the very presence of God in our lives. In the Gospels we find Jesus saying much the same thing. The Apostle Paul describes the Church as the Body of Christ – each of us sharing our own unique gifts within the larger context of a connected whole.
This great truth is active and present, whether we reach out beyond ourselves or not. We are still connected. We are still surrounded by love and grace and wholeness and Sacred Presence. But many of the benefits remain largely unrealized until we begin to open ourselves to this wider reality.
So what does this look like? How do we go about taking this step and making it happen in our lives? It will look different for each of us, because even though we are all connected we are not all the same. We will each reach out in our own unique ways. And it will take a lifetime to really figure out what those unique ways look like. But just because it will take a lifetime doesn’t mean we can’t begin now. We make it happen in our lives by deciding to begin, and then taking a step in that direction.
If you are reaching out to God, perhaps a step in that direction will be look like setting aside time every day to pray. Or perhaps it will look like walking up onto the mountain in the morning to watch the sunrise. There is no one right way to do this. Pay attention to what your heart is telling you. Get creative. Try something. If it doesn’t work for you let it go and try something else. The journey really is the destination.
And if you are reaching out to other people (which is really just a different way of reaching out to God) it will be pretty much the same thing. Pay attention. Listen to your heart. Take a deep breath, and try something. Maybe it will be as simple as calling a friend you haven’t talked to in a while. Maybe it will be writing a letter to your congressperson and sharing what’s on your heart. Maybe it will be volunteering at the food bank, or Habitat for Humanity, or the hospital. The specifics of what this reaching out will look like are as unique as you are. One of my favorite quotes from Frederick Buechner puts it this way, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” (from “Wishful Thinking: A Theological ABC” by Frederick Buechner)
As we engage in this very spiritual practice of reaching out beyond ourselves, what we begin to discover is that in the process of making a difference in the world we ourselves our transformed. As we connect, with God and with the world, we start to connect more fully and deeply with our own God-given nature – connected and interrelated with all that is. Paradoxically, the more we reach out beyond ourselves, the more fully we become ourselves.
And just in case you forgot, this is a stewardship sermon (the first of two, actually). So, let me remind you that stewardship is about everything we do with everything we have and everything we are. We are being good stewards not just when we share our financial resources with others (we’ll get to that next week), but also when we are intentional about doing what we can to become more fully who God created us to be. Reaching out beyond ourselves to establish and nourish connections, with God and with the world, is a profoundly spiritual act of stewardship. I invite you to begin now. You’ll be glad you did.
No comments:
Post a Comment