Faithful Worship
Christ the King – Narrative Lectionary 1
November 23, 2014
Grace, Mankato, MN
Jeremiah 1.4-10; 7.1-11
We are in our third year using the Narrative Lectionary, which takes seriously the Bible as story. One of the blessings is that there is one focus scripture each week, another chapter in the unfolding drama. Yet, sometimes this is a “curse” because the Bible is also an honest story of God’s relation to us. One cannot run from the text. Or maybe it’s a mixed blessing, because we can trust the Bible to tell us the truth, even if it hurts. And it does hurt. That’s important because, if the Bible isn’t honest about our hurts, how can we trust the promises it makes?
Nowhere are honesty and promise so inextricably woven than in the prophets and that certainly includes Jeremiah. First, we hear how God works (again!) in unexpected ways by calling the “boy” Jeremiah. Jeremiah rightly discerns that he might have a legitimacy issue. But God is not diverted and tells Jeremiah what he is to do. So, into the political and social upheaval of the day, Jeremiah is called to speak an honest word to God’s people. Part of that honest word comes in the second part of our reading: the people think that worship will save them from those who would conquer and destroy them.
It shouldn’t surprise you that I think a lot about worship and just as much time planning worship. (Thank God for Robyn and her gifts of worship leadership!) Worship has been the heart and soul of the gathered community and I think will continue to be. Even so, I often wonder if worship in general and my messages in particular make a difference in peoples’ lives. Jeremiah’s words remind me of my days as teenager, when I looked around our church and saw people who said one thing and then did something different. I wonder if there are like-minded teens in our midst. It would be years later that I would realize I was one of those people, too, but wasn’t able to see it.
And then I think of the words of some current Jeremiahs, such Marj Legard, who points out that every week we say, “Go in peace, serve the Lord,” but we never ask, “How did it go?” (In our case, it’s “Through God’s abundant love, we live and work to serve others.”) And I think of David Lose, who reminds us that the church is not a performance hall, but a rehearsal hall. Finally, the words of Nancy Ortberg haunt me. She says there are at least 11 spiritual pathways, of which worship is only one of them. What do we do with people for whom worship doesn’t connect them with God?
It is indeed a truth that God is in our midst when we gather to worship, just as God has promised. God promises to be in the waters of baptism, the bread and wine of Communion, and the sung and spoken Word. But all of these Jeremiahs remind us that there is at least one other truth: worship is intended to change who we are and what we do. As your pastor, it’s so rewarding to see you trying to live that out in acts of justice and mercy in so many ways. Our Thanksgiving meal today is just one example, where we invite the community and give the money away to feed those who are food insecure. Even so, we need to be more intentional about asking, “How is it going?” and “How can we help?” That’s why we are doing Basket Cases twice a month, where we intentionally look to see how God is making a difference in, with and through us. It’s also why have called John Odegard as our discipleship minister to help us grow in the life of faith.
One final thought: It may seem odd that we celebrate today as Christ the King Sunday. That is, until we think about what kind of ruler Jesus was: the one who emptied himself, whose crown was thorns and whose throne a cross. Jesus came to expose the hard truth about our lives, tearing down those deathly things in our world that stand between us and the life God intends for us. Living out this life is not easy, and some days it’s almost impossible, but there is another truth that is important. Christ the King Sunday reminds us that following Jesus is a hope-filled life in which, when we fall down, God picks us up, cleans us up and sets us on our way to go at it again. So, when we say, “Through God’s abundant love, live and work to serve others,” please come back and tell us how it went. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment