Sermon Snippets

all material (c) Janet E. Powers. Please name the copyright holder if you use this material. Thanks.

I speak as someone who spent a number of years in fundamentalist Christian circles. One such easily remembered phrase concerned something that today I would call a hermeneutical principle – what role does the Bible play in my life, how do I view it, read it, and apply it? As a fundamentalist I said, “The bible says what it means, and means what it says.” Note what that simplistic answer does. It cuts off conversation, and brokers no room for questions. It reduces what I would now consider a very complex discussion about the role of the Bible in the life of faith into the equivalent of a soundbite.

Fundamentalism is a general term for this reductionist way of thinking about complex matters. It is not the way in which fundamentalists themselves would define fundamentalism. Fundamentalists think they are right. They think there is only ONE right way to believe, and to live, and that they have found it. There is little room for diversity of opinions. When one is a fundamentalist, either you're a fundamentalist, too, or if you’re not one of them, then you’re a heretic.

I don’t think that faith is that simplistic. I don’t think that any faith can be reduced to pat phrases that we deviate from only at the risk of being called a heretic. The Christian faith that I have come to know and love leaves room for doubt, for ambiguity, and for mystery – three things markedly absent from fundamentalism of any stripe.

I am thankful for the natural world. For the trees that breathe in our carbon dioxide, and breathe out precious oxygen; for dolphins and scallops and rainbow trout; for puppy breath and for kitty purrs and for rabbits that eat my garden greens I give thanks. I am thankful for the beauty of frost on my window pane, for rain that drenches the parched earth, and for the worms that burrow and aerate the soil. I feel gratitude for the grandeur of mountains, whether it’s the cozy rolling hills of the Berkshires or the white-capped peaks of the Cascades; and I am thankful that there is so much diversity that the evergreen forests of Maine do not smell the same as the Redwood Forests of California, and that both smell so very good. For the eagles that soar above the Connecticut River, and for the chickadees in my backyard, I am grateful. For the unpredictable rhythms of the ocean waves, and for the plankton that feeds the deep sea's creatures, I am grateful. If you are thankful for marigold seeds, and for bamboo reeds, and for dandelion weeds, say “Amen.”

Jesus often shows up when I least expect it, and he catches me by surprise. When I’m contemplating something unkind, suddenly he is there, reminding me that I am God’s child, and that I am called to something higher. When I’m feeling frightened and alone, or when I’ve lost my way, there, out of the blue is Jesus – with a comforting word, or with a kick to my metaphorical rear-end. But perhaps for me, Jesus shows up most often in those with deep courage – those who will put their reputations on the line for peace, or for justice, or for equality. The prophets remind me of Jesus, they call me back to my true self, the one who will follow Jesus even if it leads to the cross, and trusting that it will end in resurrection and redemption.

Children know the power of persistence. Especially in the grocery store aisle when mom or granddad is on public display, the repetitive whining of a child for this or that item can just wear a person down, until we give in just to stop the whining. Persistence is power. Jesus says to use that knowledge, that persistence is power, to win justice on the earth.

God doesn’t give us a core mission that we cannot understand. We already know the love of God through the Christ, so Jesus says: share it! Tell your story - that God's love is made visible in Jesus - with everybody. Some of the "everybodys" will follow Jesus, too. That’s our core purpose. To make disciples.  Our core purpose or core mission is clear. We don’t make hats, pickles, soccer balls or pipe fittings. We are called to make disciples of Christ.

Our core purpose is to: make disciples. 

Our core passion is to: share the love.

Second, our core Ministry, or our passion, can be summed up in the Great Commandment. How do we go about fulfilling this God-given mission to make disciples? Jesus tells us how. He gives us what has come to be called The Great Commandment. We are to love God with all that we have and are, and love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Every single ministry that any church does must be subservient to this core ministry of love.

We apprentice ourselves to Jesus. An apprentice practices what he or she is trying to learn. I remember the day my father taught me how to paint. My mom had picked up a small bookcase at a yard sale. It had seen better days, but she said, “It’s nothing a coat of paint won’t fix.” I was about nine years old. My Dad took me to his basement workshop, and we went to work. We put the bookcase on a couple layers of newspaper. We wiped it dust-free. We used a gritty sandpaper on it, making sure to hit the corners as evenly as the open surfaces. We wiped it dust-free again. I said, “I thought you were going to teach me how to paint!” My Father said, “The preparation is every bit as important as the painting.” I learned about latex, oil based, and stains that night. I learned about brushes, bristles, and strokes versus spraying. I learned more than I probably wanted to learn about painting, and yes, I actually painted the bookcase too. I apprenticed myself to Bill Powers, and he taught me how to paint. We apprentice ourselves to Jesus, and he teaches us how to live.

The Father God loves us that much, and calls us to love others the same way. Expansively. Extravagantly. Without thought to the cost. God’s love is a love that does not discriminate between rich and poor, between races or genders or sexual orientations, between the well-educated and the street-smart, between the well-mannered and the uncouth. Are you at that place yet, in your own ability to offer unconditional welcome? Probably, like me, you have a ways to go yet before you can overlook all the many things that we use to divide ourselves into: the haves and the have-nots, into the popular and the geeks, or in the categories of a hit tv show, into the Cheerleaders and the Glee Club.

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