Dear friends,
I pray this finds you well. I apologize for the delay this week.
Here is Sunday’s worship service in its entirety. We are now singing three pieces of Ben Splichal Larson’s liturgy, “Behold, I Make All Things New.” The Spirit works through this beautiful setting of the liturgy to truly enliven me. I pray it does the same for you.
If you’d prefer to listen to just the gospel reading and sermon, you may do so here:
https://soundcloud.com/stacey-nalean-carlson/enliven-us-a-sermon-for-the-14th-sunday-after-pentecost
The sermon is based on the assigned scripture readings for the 14th Sunday after Pentecost:
Ezekiel 33:7-11
7So you, mortal, I have made a sentinel for the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from my mouth, you shall give them warning from me. 8If I say to the wicked, “O wicked ones, you shall surely die,” and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but their blood I will require at your hand. 9But if you warn the wicked to turn from their ways, and they do not turn from their ways, the wicked shall die in their iniquity, but you will have saved your life.
10Now you, mortal, say to the house of Israel, Thus you have said: “Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, and we waste away because of them; how then can we live?” 11Say to them, As I live, says the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from their ways and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways; for why will you die, O house of Israel?
Psalm 119:33-40
33Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I shall keep it to the end. 34Give me understanding, and I shall keep your teaching; I shall keep it with all my heart. 35Lead me in the path of your commandments, for that is my desire. 36Incline my heart to your decrees and not to unjust gain. 37Turn my eyes from beholding falsehood; give me life in your way. 38Fulfill your promise to your servant, which is for those who fear you. 39Turn away the reproach that I dread, because your judgments are good. 40Behold, I long for your commandments; by your righteousness enliven me.
Romans 13:8-14
8Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.
11Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers; 12the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; 13let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
Matthew 18:15-20
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15“If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one. 16But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17If the member refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19Again, truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.”
Beloved of God, grace and peace to you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Give me life in your way, the psalmist cries out to God. By your righteousness enliven me.
It took me a while to see the life in these readings assigned for this day. These are not easy texts. But then again, this is not an easy time.
It should be a holiday weekend—the unofficial end of summer. Doug came home on Thursday with potato chips and dip after being on a no-snack kick for a few weeks. It’s Labor Day weekend, he said, so I bought chips and dip.
I love dip. But what I’d really love is the opportunity to gather without worrying about contracting or spreading the virus. Those potato chips are going to taste great, but what I’d really love is a spirit of celebration in our nation. I’d love some life instead of so much death and division and destruction.
So when I first turned to these readings I thought, not here too. When everything is so challenging, do we really need to be challenged by scripture as well?
Maybe we do.
The challenge of these texts, at least for me, is that they speak to life in community. And life in community, while probably always hard, is really hard right now. We are so easily manipulated and divided. We are so easily made to hate and to fear. How easy it is to point out someone’s fault on Facebook rather than discussing the issue one-on-one for the sake of that relationship. How easy it is to get angry and sit at home and stew in that anger instead of reaching out to the one who has sinned against you—the one who may not even know the hurt they’ve caused. It’s hard to speak the truth in love. It’s hard to work at a relationship rather than canceling it or throwing it away.
But it’s in relationship that Jesus shows up. It’s in community that God is at work. Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them. God is there in the hard work of community-building, the hard work of reaching across divisions to listen and try to understand another’s point of view. God is present in the vulnerability of sharing how you’ve been hurt and receiving, without defensiveness, that hard truth that comes when you’ve inadvertently hurt others.
The church is a community where sin happens. Jesus, with his words to his disciples, acknowledges this, names this reality. And that in itself is a consolation and an encouragement. We’re going to hurt one another. And when we do, God is at work in and among us as we strive for reconciliation and restoration of that wounded relationship.
We do not have to die. That’s the word of life in these difficult readings. Our transgressions and our sins weigh upon us, but we can live. Because God lives. Because God takes no pleasure in our suffering. Because God wants and wills for us life. Because God’s way is life.
Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statues, the psalmist cries. Turn my eyes from beholding falsehood; give me life in your way.
Falsehood surrounds us. It takes time to discern truth. It takes commitment and a willingness to suspend judgment. It takes diligence. It takes community—a village–where we can dialogue and fact-check one another and seek God’s will and wisdom.
It’s hard work. It’s not nearly so immediately gratifying as eating chips and dip. It’s labor. It’s labor for the sake of love.
The life God creates for us comes by way of love and spreads by way of love. Paul, in his letter to the Romans, acknowledges that God’s commandments are summed up in this word: Love your neighbor as yourself.
Now is the moment to wake from sleep, Paul writes. Now, salvation is near. Now, the light of day is dawning. So, let us live honorably. Let us put on Jesus Christ.
I love this image. As we’ve had some cool mornings and evenings lately, I’ve slipped on my favorite sweatshirt. Imagine, now, putting on Jesus, putting on servant leadership, putting on wisdom and grace, putting on trust and faithfulness, putting on love that knows no bounds, love that sees everyone and everything as beloved, love that ends all hatred, love that wipes away all tears, love that leads to life.
Enliven us, God. Enliven us with love from you. Enliven us with love for one another. Give us life in your way. Amen.