August 25, 2008
First Congregational Church in Thetford, Vermont, UCC
I am here this morning a bit haphazardly, conducting this service as a means of avoiding having to find someone
else to do so. I am neither a writer nor a public speaker. My qualifications are only that I was willing to take this
on, very much the same way I became treasurer. Woody Allen quipped that 90% of success is just showing up,
and I am hoping that if the remaining 10% that I bring is not your cup of tea, that you will all remember the last
four words of our covenant.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans he exhorts them to give themselves over to God in mind and heart... a living
sacrifice. This kind of talk always makes me nervous. I have to assume that Paul was writing a personal letter to
us, and only used the Romans as a prop. He goes on to say that we should not be conformed to the patterns of
this world, and that our whole nature should be transformed. Does this make anyone else uncomfortable?
Like many of you, I suspect, when I left home I stopped going to church. I had grown up in the Methodist
church, and it was always assumed that on Sunday mornings we kids would be going to Sunday school and to
church afterward. I remained active in my youth group through the end of High School.
Moving away meant breaking ties with the church with which I was familiar, and in the late 60s it also meant,
for me, getting lost in my newly found freedoms and in the confusion of the Vietnam War.
Although I explored spiritual dimensions in my reading and contact with other seekers, it was 15 years before I
returned to a church, inspired by the integrity of a Quaker friend who attended Hanover Friends Meeting.
When I walked in the door for the first time his son asked me “What are YOU doing here?”
For the past 25 years the question has largely remained the same.
So how DO we give ourselves over to God?
Paul gives us at least a little breathing room when he continues on to say that we are not all the same in our gifts.
(I like to read this that maybe I am not that gifted, and maybe therefore less is expected of me, but I don’t really
think that is what he is saying.). He says that together we make up one body, united in Christ, and I suspect
that it is only together that we can find the strength, as Garrison Keiller says: “to get up and do what needs to
be done.”
We cannot all be Mother Theresa, or Harriet Tubman, or Sister Helen Prejean, and maybe we shouldn’t be too
hard on ourselves. We can make a positive difference in spite of this fact.
We are reminded that EACH of us here are part of the whole. No one should be left out, or feel left out. If there
is ANYONE here who thinks that you are not needed or welcome in some imagined inner circle, please talk to
me afterward!
“We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us...” Those are beautiful words.
Cora Brooks, a poet from Chelsea, once told me “there is no such thing as balance—only balancing” This gives
me hope. We perhaps need to give up the idea of arriving at some point of perfection, for we will always be
working to adjust our course... and to do better.
My brother, John, is a Christian that doesn’t quite get why we read only excerpts from a chapter of the Bible. If
it were up to him, today we would read the whole chapter, or better yet, the whole BOOK of Romans. His
point is one of context, and so I am going to finish reading the end of our Gospel passage in Chapter 12,
because Paul continues to give us further instructions. It is short, so just relax.
Paul goes on to say:
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection;
Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.
Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.
Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly;
Do not claim to be wiser than you are.
Do not repay evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it
depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of
God; for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” “No, if your enemies are hungry, feed
them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their
heads.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
This is the Good News.
I could have done without the image of heaping live coals on my enemy’s head, but as for the rest of it, when
you break it down into smaller steps it doesn’t seem quite so daunting.
“…extend hospitality to strangers” doesn’t seem so hard.
“…be patient in suffering” may be a bit more of a challenge.
“If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.”
Stephen Gaskin, the spiritual leader of a community in Tennessee called the Farm, said he thought there should
be an 11th commandment: “You do TOO know what I mean!”
At the end of the Children’s Time I asked what it would be like if you came to church and there was no one
here. Our house of worship is an incredibly beautiful historic building, but without those who have gathered
here for the past two centuries, it would be little more than wood and stone. The church is made alive by what
we do with the gifts with which we are blessed. We are part of this long stream of folks who have, in part, come
here to make a difference in our world.
We are blessed by one another, and by those with whom we share our various gifts.
We are fellow seekers, sisters and brothers looking to find our way.
It is not easy to give up the conformity of our time and place, and we are bound to stumble.
It is a constant struggle to give our minds and hearts to God.
Coming here to worship together and to share in fellowship, gives us strength.
Know that there are hands, both Big and small, waiting to help each one of us seek balance in our daily walk
through this world.
Let us pray in silence.
Sermon 08/25/2008