Living Sacrifice

Introduction

Today we continue our series on the perfect summer after a year of lockdown. We spent our first week looking at how connecting with others is hugely important, not just for our own health and wholeness, but as part of how we were created. Connecting with others brings life. Last week we looked at connecting with God and saw that trusting God, spending time meditating on God and even inviting a sense of awe into our lives made us better people. Trust God and you’ll connect more with him. Now in this third week we are celebrating father’s day and reflecting on how looking inward can make us better people; good dads can become great and the same for moms. When you are in touch with yourself, and you use the gifts and talents God has placed inside you, good things happen.

Let’s hear our scripture for today from Joe. He is going to share with us from the Epistle to the Romans, a letter from the Apostle Paul writing to Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians who are at odds with one another. How do we live this Christian life when we are so different from one another? Paul’s answer? We live this new life in Christ. Hear now

Romans 12:1–8 NRSV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

And from the Gospel of Matthew

Matthew 25:29 NRSV

For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.

The word of the Lord for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray - God we want to be an inclusive community passionately following Jesus Christ. May our pursuit of new life in Christ lead us to all sorts of amazing discoveries about ourselves, our world and you. Bless us as we consider your words for us on this father’s day. Amen.

Years ago I had to take a test. It wasn’t for a grade in school or to advance in my career; it was a test of how I handle adversity. The school I was in made every students take this test to see if they were mentally prepared for the tough emotional challenges that come along with pastoral ministry. So I took the test, not too concerned with how I would score, and then I sat down with my professor to review it. He told me I did fine, but that there were some answers I gave that signaled some trouble I might have down the road. They made some suggestions that eventually led to one of my great loves in life. When I was younger, I was always rushing. I was always trying to get as much done as fast as I could, but, of course, there was never enough time. So I had to slow down; I had to give my mind a break. I had to rest, so that I could be at my best when I really needed it. The great love that came into my life at that time was drinking tea.

I didn’t grow up drinking any coffee or tea, so the first time that I boiled water, steeped my tea bag and slowly sipped my chai tea, I was hooked. Not so much because of the flavor of the drink, but because I was finally giving my mind the pause that it needed. I’ve since learned that this rhythm of work and rest isn’t just good for us when we feel drained. Its good for us all the time! We are more productive at work if we intentionally take breaks after every hour or two of work. We are more creative when we take time to wonder and ponder the world around. The go, go, go culture that usually dominates most of our lives is specifically destructive, and undermines what we most need in order to thrive at work, at home and in all of life. Learning to slow down and reflect on what was happening has made me more prepared and mentally tougher than I thought was possible.

Sometimes God gives us gentle reminders of the things we learn and sometimes we are hit over the head with it. I got a gentle reminder this week. I was in my office and I noticed a magazine that had been sitting there for a long time. It was probably several months old so I picked it up to put it in the recycling bin when I noticed the cover article was about art and faith. The person on the cover was a man named Makoto Fujimura, which seemed strangely familiar to me. When I opened it up and saw he had written a book I knew, I realized I had previously watched him introduce a new concept for me - the artform of Nihonga (Neeh-HOhn-gah), also known as slow art. God was reminding me to create! To make new things, but also to slow down.

In slow art you have to pulverize different elements, then when you layer them onto the canvas it takes a long time for it to dry, so literally you have to wait and watch paint dry, before you can move on. But what it does is add these amazing layers to the art work, creating texture and dimension. Here are just a few examples of Fujimura’s work:

This first one is called Fire and Water

The second is “in the beginning”

And this last one is the Golden Sea

He connects his art with many biblical stories, but what I love is the symbolism behind the art. These elements were crushed, painstakingly added to the canvas, and then the final result is this magnificent work worth thousands of dollars. The pain, being patient and tough while things are bad, creates something of incredible value. There’s another traditional art form Fujimura uses called Kintsugi (Kint-soo-gee) where a pot or pottery is broken and then reassembled. As its glued back together the cracks are filled in with gold and this shattered, worthless clay becomes this incredible, ornate cup or plate. If its done right something worthless suddenly becomes invaluable.

That is exactly what this season of Pentecost is about. The Spirit flows and, in Christ, we move from broken people who can’t slow down, who want to quickly get past the challenges in life, to these invaluable creations of the Almighty. Romans 12 is reminding us of this. The Apostle Paul invites us to be a living sacrifice, meaning our whole lives are handed over to God. Usually we interpret that act of handing our lives over to God as the end of ourselves. “It means I can’t do what I want anymore. No fun for me!” But that’s not it at all. In verse 7 Paul essentially says “give yourselves over to your ministry.” Bring your whole self, bring everything you are, and bring it to bear on this ministry that God has placed before you. That means bring your creativity, bring your art, bring your gifts and skills. Let who God has made you to be flow out into the world! We all have different gifts. We all have different abilities, but when we work together, these different parts of Christ’s body in coordination with each other, can accomplish the good, acceptable and perfect will of God. How incredible is that?!

Last week our music director was sick and our backup musician happened to be gone preaching at another church, so we had to bring in our third string musician - me. Now, I am not terribly gifted musically. Many of you heard me play last week and you were very generous in your comments afterward. Not one of you complained about my music bursting your ear drums, so thank you for that. But when I play guitar, I always think how there is only one reason that I play that instrument. When I was little, my dad played guitar. He would play songs for the family that were silly when we were little, or worship songs he had written himself in praise of God. And those worship songs all those years ago are engraved in my soul. I have always wanted to bless others the way my dad blessed me with guitar. These days when I break out my guitar my own children always ask me to play a song about them! So I’ll play a few chords and make up some silly lyrics, but what I am perhaps most proud of is when Davy told me he wanted to play guitar. He practiced for months and months and on his recital day played a beautiful rendition of Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee. That’s a legacy. That’s a dad who poured into a son, who became a dad, and poured into his son. Three generations praising God on guitar.

You didn’t come here to hear about me, though. I spoke with Natasha this week. She’s one of our Sunday School teachers and she has brought her gifts and talents to bear on her family and her home. The pandemic was a great excuse for her to make these whimsical creations. These are the gnomes that the family has been obsessing over. We have another of her little one holding what I believe is a ceramic elephant Natasha made. What a face! She also does wood work and has done all kinds of great things. I love the hidden message - “be the good.” Bring your whole self to whatever you do. Let the Holy Spirit fill you and lead you, like it does for Natascha.

One last example and then we’ll wrap up. Some of you might say, “well I’m not an artist, I’m not musical.” Remember, we are members of a body. We each have different gifts and skills. I had a phone call with Judy Anne White. Many of you know her and her husband Roger. Judy Anne was a long time Associate Pastor here and remained with the church in retirement. She was telling me about her son, Darren. Darren was a long-time softball coach at Saddle Brook High School. He spent more than half his life with that program, but last year he was recruited to the Ramapo High School team. Turns out there was a pandemic and his first year was no year at all, so this spring was his first time with a new team. As the new pastor here in Wyckoff I can identify with how tough that transition must have been, and especially in a pandemic, so I called him up and we talked this week. He told me how he just kept working hard and kept a positive attitude despite all the struggles. He is known for that spirit - keeping the energy and enthusiasm high, building bonds among the team with trips to Disney before it was popular or chants that get the blood flowing. So he comes over to a new team, bringing that same spirit, and just this past week Ramapo was playing in the championship game for the county. We have a few more connections in our church to this team, too. Lauren is the granddaughter of Louise, who is a part of one of our study groups and Savannah is the granddaughter of Gay! Grace UMC was really representing in this game, and after going up 1-0, Savannah was up to bat. She ended up hitting a two run homer. That’s why they call her “Ringer.” Ramapo ended up winning 3 to 0, and became Bergen County Champions. The girls did great, and I know Darren is proud of them. I asked him, what stands out for you as to why you were able to have this kind of success? And, of course, he gave credit to the girls, but he said this; he said, “anyone can sail a boat in smooth waters. Its when the seas are rough that the true test comes.” He does everything he can to be calm, to be steady and at peace, even in those tense moments. He does that so that the whole team can be at their very best as they work together. Praise God! That sounds like the Holy Spirit at work to me.

To make a team great, you have to let the spirit move; you have to let creativity flow and bring your whole self, all that God has made you to be, to whatever ministry you find yourself in. It can take so many forms. It can be crafting or building or writing. It can be music or art or poetry. Wood work and sports are all gifts God has given us. Pause to look inside. Examine yourself and the gifts God has placed in you, and bring all of it to bear on the ministry God has for you. For dads, let your children see the gifts God has given to you, so that they can learn and grow from your example. Moms, you are uniquely gifted, too. God has put something beautiful in each and every one of us that the world needs. So find your gift and share it with the world. If you do, you’ll be a living sacrifice that can transform yourself and the world around you. Its a perfect way to spend the summer after a year of lockdown. Amen? Amen.

Prayer & Lords Prayer

Invitation to share sermon ideas