All In: Lead a Life

Target

2. Letter exercise - How did you lead your life?

3. What is calling?  

4. Buchener

5. Letter of unity, saying each one of us has a gift to share.

6. Great Potluck

7. What is your gift?  What is your gift to share?  

8. Are you all in?  Are you willing to share?  Young or old.  Long term member or new member.  It does not matter your background.  Christ is calling

9.Prisoner of the Lord

Not an easy time for Paul.  

Calling does not always happen in the easy times.  

Group discussion - morning, grieving, and out of that pain they felt a calling.  To find community, to serve.  And in that serving found healing, found a place.  

David Jones

from his home in Boiling Springs, South Carolina to Johnson City, Tennessee on Friday, September 27, 2022.  The drive normally takes two hours, but Jones's journey took 12 hours.  Jones encountered washed-out roads,  Bridges, downed trees, power lines, and debr At one point, he got stuck in mud up to his knees. Jones was told by state patrol officers to return to his vehicle, but he asked if he could continue on foot. He told himself, "I've run marathons. I can do this. I'm going to be there if at all humanly possible". Jones somehow made it to the wedding. It is am amazing story of determination.  And leaning in for a higher purpose.  

But what caught my eye was what he said to the guests at teh wedding party.  He presented a reflector to the couple. A remembrance to protect each other and to continue to be a good reflection of God.

And I wonder what your life reflects? Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been callied?  How might your life reflect Christ?  

Teachable Spirit:

The greatest leaders have a teachable spirit.  Openness to God’s call.  To be shaped, molded by God.  To hears God’s call and respond.  

To be all in means:

All of us can have a ministry?  What is yours?

It means all of us are called to a life of faithfulness beyond ourselves.  

And I go back to that letter? What will they say about your life?   Would they see a higher calling? A higher purpose?  We they see gentleness, humility, and love of Christ? 

How might Christ be calling you to grow?

How might Chist be calling you to change, grow, pivot, recommit?

Is God calling you?  Amen.

Is God Calling You? Every Member a Ministry

We continue our sermon series about the four “all in” goals of the Session and the Church.  We began with our first  all in goal to be a Matthew 25 church.  To  care for the most vulnerable.  We heard “all in” goal number two last week, to be a church which focuses on connection to one another and to God.   And today we talk about third “all in Goal” to intentionally develop leaders of all ages and stages.  To listen to God’s call and to “lead a life worthy of the the calling to which you have been called.”

And I just wonder, a simple question.  Is God calling

you?

Now I want to invite up (William Kessell - 9:00 and Henry Harris - 11:00) to read our scripture.

Hear now the word of the Lord from Ephesians chapter 4 versus 1 through 7.

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. - there is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift

This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.

Let us pray. Prayer.

Loving God.

Remind us again how near you are to us. That you are here with us.  Help us to hear your call and help us to live it out. Loving God may the words of my mouth and the mediations of all our hearts be acceptable to you. You are our rock, our refuge, and our redeemer.  Amen.

Lead a life. Yes, I think all of our collective lives have gotten better here recently.  A prayer that some of y’all have been praying has been answered.  Yes, that is right we have a target. Or should I say Target…. I know you are excited because as I have been at Target, I have seen half of Brownson there.  Life is better now.  You don’t have to go to fayetteville or Cary to go to Target. It does help you life. But what makes life truly better.  Worth living. The Apostle Paul writes these words in a letter to the community in Epheseus.  A bustling community on the edge of Turkey.

“Lead a life.  Worthy of the calling to which you have been called. “ That is our challenge. Do you hear it? Are you open to it? Are you listening for it? What does God’s call sound like? How might we respond? I was discussing this passage with a group of people. And one person noticed the word lead. It is an active word.  It is an initiative or an action; It is not passive.  And in it there is the connotation of choice.  

“Lead a life” What kind of life do you want to lead?

I remember writing a letter reflecting on my life. I will always remember sitting in Nassau Presbyterian Church Sanctuary. I was up in Princeton for a continuing education course. The leader asked us to do this task. To write a letter to a loved one. Reflect upon the story of your life. Describe what is precious to you. Reveal what you would do if money were not an issue.  And discuss the legacy you would like to leave your family and community.  To help as a prompt it encouraged you to think of what you would like someone to say about you at your Eulogy. Even imagine who is there. Who is seated on the front row.  How did you impact their lives? How did you lead your life?

As I began to reflect and write.  Within the fist few paragraphs I found myself crying alone in that sanctuary. Overcome with the blessings in my life.  And I began to write what was important to me. What I wanted Anna to know, my kids to know. I felt God’s abundance. I shared times when I had made mistakes, when I had felt  scarcity and struggle. But most of all, what I felt was God’s amazing abundance in my life. Feeling a sense of purpose in my life. That I was created for a purpose.  Beyond myself.  And I had hopes of a deep life for my children. A life beyond just material wealth but a richness, a sense of purpose, meaning. My deepest desire was for them to lead a life.  Seeing God’s love for them.  Seeing God’s plan for them. Seeing God’s purpose for  them and to live that out. I wanted to hear and see  God’s call for their lives.

But what makes a life? For Paul, it is when an individual and a community see a higher purpose for their lives. Thomas Merton once wrote this don’t ask me what I do, or how I comb my hair but ask me what I am living for?  And what blocks me from living fully.  They take their gifts and they use them for a calling greater than oneself.  Lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called.  I will always think of calling as Frederick Buechner defines it as the intersection of gifts and talents.  And as the body of Christ. When we all share those gifts it is like an incredible potluck. Where everyone shares their gifts.  Just this week I was in a group talking about calling. And I just sat back and I was amazed by the talents in the room. Grateful for the gifts God had gathered here.

And yet.  They also remind me that calling just doesn’t happen in the good times. It happens when during times of searching, struggle, and anxiety. A few of them shared that this is when God’s call had been most clear to them. Calling them here to Brownson.  Calling them to come back to faith. Calling them to make changes int their lives.  And Paul knows this. There is this strange part of the text when it says, “therefore, I paul a prisoner of hte Lord.” Paul is in Prison.  This is not an easy time in Paul’s life. But maybe that is the point and the paradox of call. Maybe we can most clearly hear it in the tough times. And yet this call.  God’s demands something of us. It is costly. It is hard. It is not about your comfort, or your happiness.

I was fascinated by the story of David Jones.  Maybe you heard this story.  His  daughter was getting married.  And he was driving from from his home in Boiling Springs, South Carolina to Johnson City, Tennessee on Friday, September 27, 2022. The drive normally takes two hours, but Jones's journey took 12 hours. Jones encountered washed-out roads, Bridges, downed trees, power lines, and debris. At one point, he got stuck in mud up to his knees. Jones was told by state patrol officers to return to his vehicle, but he asked if he could continue on foot. He told himself, "I've run marathons. I can do this. I'm going to be there if at all humanly possible". Jones somehow made it to the wedding. It is am amazing story of determination.  And leaning in for a higher purpose.  But what caught my eye was what he said to the guests at teh wedding party. He presented a reflector to the couple. A remembrance to protect each other and to continue to be a good reflection of God. And I wonder what your life reflects? What would people see in your life?  Would they see a higher calling? A higher purpose? But like David.  To pursue that calling. Can be hard.  We get tired. We think I have done that. Why serve?  

But I got back to that letter. And as I was thinking about what was most precious to me.  What would your letter say. I wonder what choices am I making? What legacy am I leaving? I remember asking, a pastor friend of mine who had been in the ministry for years. And I asked him what made the best leaders he had worked with. And he said a teachable spirit.  It is the vulnerability to be open. What all the disciples and what Abraham, Moses, Mary, Paul, Simon and Andrew fishing on the seashore. All were open to a call larger than themselves.  

A Teachable spirit. An openness to be shaped and formed by God. An openness to try and live out the one who leads us who is Christ.  And not just once, but again and again and again.  Great leaders listen for God’s call.  Over and over again. Maybe you have heard that call. That call of meaning. That call of purpose. But maybe you need to hear it again. And if you are called to help lead here. We need you.  We need you at all levels. From the Session to all the ministries of hte church. And I wonder where will your ministry be? What will your ministry be?

I wonder is God calling you?

Notes:

hat is, God’s Spirit makes us more and more like Jesus Christ. So when Paul challenges God’s adopted sons and daughters to live in a way that’s worthy of God’s saving call, he’s simply describing the life for which the Spirit equips Jesus’ adopted brothers and sisters.

Humility, of course, is derived from the same Latin root as “humus”—the soil. Humble people are people who are grounded, profoundly earthed. Comfortable in their own skin, we sometimes say—knowing themselves, both their strengths and their weaknesses, so they feel no need to boast, to draw attention to themselves, to claim the limelight.

“There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

That is the foundation of our identity. Our truest and deepest identity comes from outside ourselves. We are children of God, not because of anything we’ve done, not because of an image that we’ve so carefully constructed for ourselves. We are children of God because Christ has claimed us as such.

Context:

These cities, already ancient in Paul’s day, were major urban areas with all the diversity of population, trade, religious groups, and social classes that was typical of a Greco-Roman city. Ephesus in particular held an important place in Asia Minor as city of substantial population, the location of the great temple of Artemis, and the place where great Asian games were held. During the reign of Augustus (after 27 BCE) Ephesus was made the proconsular capital city of the Roman province of Asia.

Therefore:

Our passage begins with “therefore” which implies that the earlier material in the letter leads directly to the “architecture” of this new life, a life worthy of their having been called into new life (cf. Ephesians 4:1 with Philippians 1:27).

Being One:

Of course, it’s easier to describe that kind of fellowship with good religious words than actually to pull it off. In a New Yorker cartoon 15 or 20 years ago, the Three Musketeers were crossing their swords together. But instead of saying, “All for one and one for all,” they declared, “Every man for himself!” Too often we say “one body” and don’t mean it at all. What makes Paul’s prison reflections so remarkable is that he isn’t thinking primarily of his own drastic situation, or of how he’s going to get himself out of his tight spot. Instead he is thinking of invisible bonds of peace, bonds that are far stronger than any of his chains.