Untitled Sermon (2)

Who Am I?

For those who don’t know, or don’t remember me, I am in a large sense, a child of this Church. I was introduced to the Covenant as a denomination, and so to this church, when Pastor Nathan Lanager and Connie Richardson invited us to visit in 1991 when I was delivering buns for a funeral luncheon. I was baptized in the Suomi Synod Lutheran Church, confirmed in the ALC and accepted Christ as my personal Savior and Lord in an ELCA Church at the altar receiving Communion for the first time since I was confirmed in Junior High School. . We were married in a Catholic Church and all 4 of our children were baptized in the Catholic Church, with our oldest, Anissa receiving her first communion in the Winnebago Catholic Church. I tell you all that to demonstrate through my own experience the importance of this church, you all, not this building, in my life and in the lives of others like me. There are not a lot of people who knew, even in the 90s, that I was credentialed under a student license serving Community Covenant from 1993 until 1998.

I need to warn and explain to you up front, I talk about myself and my own experiences when I am in the pulpit. I do this intentionally because I know where I’ve been, what I’ve done and am not worried about what people may think about me because of what I’ve done, how I’ve done it, or how I live day to day. If I use other people to illustrate something, I will ask them first, or at least tell them so they can stop me if they feel so inclined. As you get to know me you’ll find that this table is central in my life and that I talk about it a lot.So, this Table is central to me and I am again amazed by God’s moving in my life as I’m here on this World Communion Sunday. As I mentioned a bit ago, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior at the altar celebrating Communion. I asked God to let me know if He is real and this meal really celebrates His body and His blood, and He did.

The Importance of Huntley Community Covenant Church

So for me to be here today; where I was introduced to the Covenant, which I have been serving in some form since 1993; where I first stood here and served Communion for the first time, is rather amazing. When I was visiting with Kay last week after worship and she had asked if I’d be willing to participate in a Baptism , I mentioned I’d also be willing to help with the observance of Communion if it were ever desired. I haven;t been doing worship planning for a number of years so I haven’t been following the Church calendar and didn’t realize when she asked me if I’d be willing to preside at Communion today that this is World Communion Sunday. I would have been observing it in my worship service at the assisted living community I served for the last 3 years except that they haven’t had a service since March, and I hadn’t seen any of the residents or staff since then when I retired in June. To be here today is an example to me of God’s providence.

I want to emphasize, I am telling you these things so that you understand the importance of this Church, you all, to me and to the many others who have gone out from here to reach the world with the message that Jesus loves everyone. My willingness to serve that Assisted Living Community comes from my experiences and teaching from you all, and your predecessors. I am sharing the things I have been able to have an impact on because of this group of believers, this Church, that believed in me, that accepted our family with our diverse background and encouraged me to answer God’s call on my life.

Little did I know that this Bible, that was new the first time I stood in this pulpit in 1993, would be my sword of the Spirit as I’ve preached literally around the world. Through the influence of this church on me, you, this church body, have reached people in places like Kenya, where I preached from this Bible as I was privileged to preside at the Covenant Churches of Kenya first participation in Communion as Covenant Churches in their history. I was privileged to Baptize 20 + believers in the Indian ocean one week and then another dozen or so in a Hippo infested lake the next week. I was privileged to hold this Bible in the bush,in a small shamba that all 3 buildings the extended family were living in there would fit on the platform here, as I baptized a 3 or 4 day old baby who the family knew would die before they could have brought her to our worship service the next day. I also tried to counsel her parents as they were already struggling in their marriage before the impending death of their baby. Prayerfully I was also able to make an impact,through God’s Word, in how they related in what we today call equality. When I was presented with that challenge to counsel a husband who sat with me in what would pass for a spear fishing shack here in Minnesota, with a dirt floor, eating food prepared over an open fire in front of the women’s shelter where that dying baby lay listlessly, and where the women ate. The only guide I had for that cultural immersion and being expected to have answers for them, all I could do is trust in the Words here hoping they were being translated appropriately. All I could depend on were the prayers the people in congregations like this supporting me in prayer. Your support, the prayers of the people in this church, prayerfully gave me words of comfort for them.

I know that this church also supports people such as James Tang in his ministry in Sudan, that actually has its Covenant roots just down the road in Sioux Falls. I consider James a friend. He was leading worship for his people in Fridley while i ministered in St Paul at Elim Covenant. I was also invited to visit their refugee camps in Northern Kenya where I was invited by the UN. This church was also part of my support as I went from bed to bed during my hospital residency, on 2 different shifts, with 2 different doctors, to be with 6 families whose loved ones died during a single shift. Those prayers were with me as I sat with a doctor in his 70s, a chief of staff, whose long time friend was his dying patient, as I sang Gospel hymns with the nurse caring for his friend. And then as that doctor cried on my shoulder after he pronounced his friends death and we signed the paperwork. All while trying to comfort the spouse who was also obviously a close friend.

The acceptance of myself and my family by this congregation shaped my ability to accept all of these different people I’ve been privileged to minister to over the years. This Bible has been in pulpits in Missionary Baptist Churches, Methodist Churches, Lutheran Churches, Seventh Day Adventist Churches, Jubilee Christian Worship Center, and enough nursing homes and assisted living facilities to fill a few paragraphs, possibly pages. It all started here, in this sanctuary, with the support and encouragement of this congregation.

Hopefully that provides some background that gives you encouragement, and hope that this church has a continuing purpose. I hope it also illustrates and explains my willingness to provide whatever input and service I can to help this church continue to reach and encourage others to be able to be used by God in whatever way He may lead. With that long winded introduction that prayerfully gives you background on where this Message today comes from let me move along into God’s Word today and we can explore what He has to say about this Table and its role in our lives.

Do This, “In Remembrance of ME”

Today’s New International Version Chapter 11

23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

This is a passage that is used every time we celebrate the Sacrament of Communion in some form or manner. Reading this passage in a red Letter Bible, a Bible in which anything that Jesus says is printed in red, this passage has red printing when we read, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” And Again when we read; “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” In remembrance of me.” Let me ask you, what do think “In Remembrance of me” is telling us to do? Remember that Jesus died on the cross? That Jesus blood was shed for you and for me, and for all who will believe? Yes, all of that, and more.

Let’s look at verse 26: For, whenever, you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. This is why this table is so significant to me. This is why it was so significant to me when I was able to preside at the the Table of the Lord for the churches in Kenya as they partook of Christ’s Body and Blood as members of the Covenant Church for the first time. When we partake at this Table, we are proclaiming His, Jesus our Lord and Savior, His death. And not only His Death, His willing death on the cross of Calvary, for my sins, for your sins, for the sins of the world, we are proclaiming that although Christ showed His love through that ultimate sacrifice, from our human perspective; we are also proclaiming our faith in His resurrection from the dead. We are proclaiming our hope for eternity. Dare I say, we are proclaiming our willingness to not only celebrate the death and resurrection, we are proclaiming our willingness to follow Jesus even unto death? I pray it is so. I pray that we are willing to display the same love for our fellow people Jesus was willing display.

What does that mean? Normally my practice is to read the Lectionary passages for the day as part of how I present the Message for the day. I didn’t plan that today because I wanted to emphasize this Table as being connected as part of a world spanning Table, remembering, proclaiming Jesus Death and resurrection. i didn’t want to use more words, more Scripture, and then try to weave them together in a meaningful way. remember, I’ve spent the last three years, and much of the last decade, preaching to folks in assisted living and nursing homes where I was strongly encouraged to not speak more than 10 minutes. But, As I am putting these words down, this Message, I am feeling a strong need to use our Scripture for today to support what I have just written. I like to use Scripture to support my thoughts and am always amazed that even using the Lectionary, there is always something that applies to current situations.

Today’s Gospel passage demonstrates this for me quite well. Let’s see if you agree. You might remember the parable of the tenants. A parable that describes several levels of people dying so that, eventually, the tenants could take the inheritance of the heir. You could possibly say I’m stretching things a bit but I see this parable describing the fate of Jesus as heir. By the words of Scripture where we are told we are coheirs with Christ… I think you probably see where I am going.

Here’s the Passage:

Today’s New International Version Chapter 21

The Parable of the Tenants

21:33-46pp — Mk 12:1–12; Lk 20:9–19

33“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 34When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

35“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. 36Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. 37Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

38“But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ 39So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

40“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

41“He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“ ‘The stone the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;

the Lord has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. 44Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. 46They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

Having read this , I can ask, do you think you are willing to display the same love for your fellow people as Jesus was? I am not trying to say we need to die for others because we cannot pay the price for even our own sins, let alone anyone else’s sins like Jesus did. What I am asking, as fellow heirs with Christ, are we willing to obey Jesus call to bring the message of the Gospel as, first the servants were willing to obey, and then the son? Are we as fellow heirs with Christ, and I struggle with the right way to phrase this, are we willing to pay the price to bring the Message of Salvation to our world like servants willing to go and collect rent, or the fruit of the vineyard, from renters?

We have the example of Jesus being willing to shed His blood, carry the sins of the world on His back to the Cross. We participate in this table, as verse 26 from 1 Corinthians tells us, to Proclaim the Message of the Cross, the hope of Salvation. As I continue to emphasize, this is very meaningful to me every time I come to the this Table. I don’t expect to suffer as the servants suffer so I can’t say I am willing to suffer for this Message. I give my time to come here and offer my worship and praise. I see no way that is suffering or paying any kind of price. It is probably true that there may be a time we may pay a price to gather here as our world continues to try to silence the Message of the Gospel. That’s not true for us right now. The only time I’ve ever been a little concerned that my faith may have a cost to me was in Kenya when I was traveling to the second group of churches there to bring them the gift of coming to Christ’s Table. I was sitting in a garage’s yard on a Friday afternoon while the Muslim call to worship was blaring out from the Mosque next door. I was sitting between the town and the Mosque so all of the people were coming through that yard. That would not normally bother me, except that town is the town the people who bombed the US embassy in Nairobi had come from, the car i was riding in was sitting there with only 3 tires, and the other car had taken our army escort back to the previous town to try and find another tire for the car sitting in the garage next to me. I was alone, wearing the only white face in town, being the only Christian I was aware of, having heard what many of the people in town were calling me as we came into town and not being sure what I was going to do if the other car didn’t make it back before dark, less than an hour away, not speaking Swahili or the local dialect. Then I could have had doubts about my willingness to bring the Message of the Gospel of Christ to an area that is 95% Muslim. I was probably most like the first servants in our Gospel and just wondering if i would be paying a higher price than I’d signed up for to fulfill my calling in those circumstances.

I should have been thinking about the fact that, just like as we are here today gathering around a Table that joins as a part of God’s Table around the world. We are never truly alone as Christians. We always have the Spirit of God with us, living in our hearts. We have God’s angels with us through whatever this world may throw at us. Our world today may be turning its back on God. We’re being encouraged to be Jesus with skin on to our world through our actions and through our love for even those we may disagree with politically, socially, or even in how we choose to interact or isolate from others because of health threats.

We have this Table where we can proclaim the love of Christ to one another and to our world. We may change the physical manner we participate in this Sacrament but that has no effect on the fact that we are partaking of Jesus Body and Blood in remembrance of Him and proclaiming His Message of Salvation. join me at His Table with Christians around the world. We have a cloud of witnesses we celebrate with today.