Watching & Waiting for What’s Already Here (Advent 1)

Isaiah 64: 1-9 & Mark 13: 24-37

Roger Lynn

November 27, 2016

1st Sunday in Advent

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Today is the first Sunday in Advent – the season in the Church’s calendar which focuses our attention on watching and waiting and preparing. The theme for the first Sunday in this season is “Hope.” For thousands of years people have been hoping and longing for God to come among them and make a difference in their world. And we know about such desires, for they are our desires as well.

So, when I read today’s text from Isaiah I thought, “Oh my – this is our story – this is the story of our world today.” Maybe not you individually, at least not right here in this moment. But certainly all of us collectively who find ourselves in this tumultuous time in history. The world is a mess in more ways than we can even begin to count, and we want God to “tear open the heavens and come down...” We want God to go face to face with God’s adversaries – certain as we so often are that there is such a thing as “enemies” of God. We want someone to blame. We just get confused about who that might be – sometimes even sounding like children who ever so quickly shout, “I didn’t do it – it’s not my fault!” “You were angry, God, and so we sinned.” OK, yes, we made a mess of things – but it’s only because God left us and we got lost and scared. Where is God anyway? We even know what it is to plead with God as Isaiah did. “Do not be exceedingly angry, O God, and do not remember our iniquity forever. Remember instead that we are your people. Remember that you care for us.” As I read Isaiah’s prayer and reflected also on our own similar prayers, I couldn’t help wondering who he was trying to convince – God or himself?

Remembering to Celebrate

Deuteronomy 26: 1-11 & Philippians 4: 4-9

Roger Lynn

November 20, 2016

Thanksgiving Sunday

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

We forget! We get busy. We get distracted. We get overwhelmed. And we forget to celebrate the blessings of life. The blessings don’t stop coming just because we forget. Indeed, it is my firm conviction that we live abundant lives in an abundant world. The bounteous gifts of God are beyond measure or comprehension. But all too often we forget to notice. And in so doing our experience of life is diminished. Our experience of God is diminished. It’s a bit like starving in a room full of gourmet food because we were too busy or too distracted to look around and notice that the feast was there. Remembering to celebrate keeps us in touch with the fullness of life and helps us integrate the blessings into our living. 

Abundant Giving

Deuteronomy 14: 22-29 & 2 Corinthians 9: 6-10

Roger Lynn

November 13, 2016

Stewardship Commitment Sunday

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Last Sunday I warned you that I was preaching a stewardship sermon, and that I would be preaching another one this Sunday. That warning is still in effect. And this week, in contrast with last week, I will actually be talking about giving. So, consider yourself warned.

There is a long list of things I could say in a stewardship sermon about giving. I could tell you that you should give because the church needs the money. I could tell you that you should give because the Bible says so. I could tell you that you should give because it is more blessed to give than to receive. This list could go on and on, and if you have spent very much time in church down through the years then you have probably heard most of them, just like I have. So you will probably be happy to know that I’m not going to go there. I actually think that when it comes to the subject of giving, “should” language isn’t very helpful. Even the Apostle Paul recognized the need for some other way of approaching the topic. “Each of you must give as you have made up your mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) If we are giving because we think we “should,” it might raise some funds in the short-term, but we would be a well-funded church without a soul.

Let me be clear. I firmly believe that giving is important – even vital. I believe that the need to give is built in to the very fabric of our being. But it is not something that can be forced. It is not something that can be compelled. True, genuine, abundant, faithful giving is always a response which flows out of our awareness that we have been blessed with abundance and are thus empowered to share abundantly. When giving is about “have to” then we are far less likely to even recognize the abundance or to experience the joy. When giving is about “want to” then both joy and abundance flow naturally into our awareness. 

Abundant Living

Isaiah 55: 1-3 & Philippians 4: 6-13

Roger Lynn

November 6, 2016

Stewardship Emphasis - Part 1

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

In the interest of full-disclosure, I need to warn you that this is a stewardship sermon. In fact, it is the first of two stewardship sermons. I tell you this now because otherwise you might not notice, since there will not be any references to giving. I’ll make up for it next week, but for now you’ll just have to take my word for it – this really is a stewardship sermon.

“I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly!” (John 10:10) That’s what Jesus says in John’s Gospel. Abundant life sounds pretty good. But what does it mean? If we listen to the many and various messages which come to us in our culture today we are likely to understand abundance in terms of stuff. Abundance has to do with owning a big house, fancy cars, the latest technology, the coolest toys. Abundance and opulence have become synonymous. And, to make matters worse, it often plays out as a game of comparison. It isn’t just how much I have, but how much I have compared to someone else. All of this is summed up pretty well in the response which billionaire J. Paul Getty is supposed to have made to the question,  “How much is enough?” His reply, “Just a little bit more!” 

All Saints: Remembering Our Connections

Luke 6: 20-31

Roger Lynn

October 30, 2016
(click here for the audio for this sermon)

We are connected to God and to each other. It is who we are. It is how we are created. It is at the very heart of what it means to be human. When we remember this most basic of truths we tend to experience the fullness of life – abundance, community, support, hope. When we forget this most basic of truths we tend to experience the darker side of life – isolation, fear, frustration, despair. In Luke’s Gospel Jesus speaks of “blessings” and “woes” – the consequences of how we choose to orient our living. Our blessedness is not determined by the outward circumstances of life, but rather by an awareness of our connection with God and with each other. Whatever comes our way, we can face it when we remember that we do not have to pretend to be brave and strong and self-reliant. We do not have to draw exclusively on our own resources. We are most fully and truly blessed when we catch a glimpse of the bigger picture of which we are a part – when we are open to the amazing fullness of who we are. And the flip-side of the blessings also flows from our choice of life orientation. When we lose sight of our connection and fall into the trap of thinking we are self-sufficient, we effectively cut ourselves off from all the benefits of being connected to God and each other. The blessings are still there, but we can’t see them or access them. It’s as if we are standing in a field filled with sunlight, and we choose to close our eyes and stumble around in the dark. If we believe that meaning and purpose and comfort and strength for our living extend no further than our own skin, then woe unto us – we are in for hard times indeed.

More God – Less Fear

Psalm 23 & Acts 2: 42-47

Roger Lynn

October 23, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Seeking a life filled with Sacred Presence! I believe that in one way or another, whether we recognize it or not, by whatever name or description we choose to use, we are all searching for such a life. When we are in touch with the reality of Sacred Presence in our world and in our lives there is a sense of wholeness, because we are living in the fullness of what is most real. When we are not in touch with this reality there is a sense of longing, or emptiness, because our present awareness is out of sync with the deeper, fuller, richer truth which resonates with the core of who we are. And so we come to church – we pray – we read spiritual reflections – we meditate – we engage in a variety of spiritual practices – we go on sacred pilgrimages. Or we don’t. And I am convinced that the shape of our experience in this life reflects the path we choose. Please do not hear me saying that bad things will happen if you don’t pray, or that life will be nothing but sweetness and light if you go to church. I’m not talking about what happens to us in this life. I’m talking about how we experience what happens to us, and what we do with that experience.

Living With Integrity: Connecting Faith & Action

Matthew 23: 1-12

Roger Lynn

October 16, 2016

(click here for the audio for this sermon)

Jesus had had enough. He just couldn’t take any more. He had watched while the religious leaders in positions of power and authority presented the appearance of faithfulness without having that faithfulness reflected in the actual living of their lives. They were abusing their power and others were suffering as a result. So Jesus takes the courageous step of speaking the truth to power and warns people not to follow the path of their example. In so doing he joins his voice with the prophets of old, who had spoken similar words under similar circumstances several hundred years before. And all these hundreds and thousands of years later, such words still resonate with us because we still see this reality going on around us (and, if we are honest with ourselves, even within us). There is so much disconnection in our world and in our lives, where the values we hold dear are simply not being translated into action. 

What I find attractive about these words from Jesus is not primarily the ‘someone getting what they deserve’ factor (although there is a certain satisfying thrill which I’m not altogether proud of). What I really find hopeful, and where I want to focus my attention, is the awareness which motivates and drives Jesus and all the prophets who came before him. Behind his words is the understanding that the world doesn’t have to be this way, that it is possible to live with integrity, that faith and action can be connected, and that life actually works better when we live in this reality. If the only thing we find in the words of Jesus is someone yelling at the ‘bad’ people, then we probably need to move on, because there isn’t really much enduring value in that. And, in fact, if that’s all there was to it, he likely would not have bothered in the first place. He was seeking fundamental change for the way things are, and was not prone to giving his energy to lost causes. His words have had staying power precisely because another way is possible. Life can be different.