SCRIPTURE LESSON I Peter 1: 1-9 NRSV

Transcription

1 PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION Guide us, O God, by your Word and Spirit, that in your light we may see light, in your truth find freedom, and in your will discover your peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. SCRIPTURE LESSON I Peter 1: 1-9 NRSV 1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen and destined by God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood: May grace and peace be yours in abundance. 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7 so that the genuineness of your faith being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. CHORAL RESPONSE God is a Presbyterian. That s right I do declare that God is a Presbyterian. How do I know?

2 Because God is a committee. And all good Presbyterians know that nothing can be accomplished without first forming a committee. The Blessed Trinity is a committee seeded by God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. And today, we celebrate that committee. Now, casting aside that bit of Presbyterian shade that I just threw, here is the important aspect of the Blessed Trinity that we ought to consider today: God is always in relationship with God s self. God is not a loner. God is not a dictator. God is not a bishop. God IS a king. But, God is not like earthly kings. God is the King of Kings because God is not self-centered. Back in the days of the Old Testament, when the people of God were first becoming a nation, they begged for a king so that they would be like all the other nations around them at the time. But, God cautioned them. An earthly king will tax you and take your money and use it to his own advantage. An earthly king will take your sons and draft them into his army to fight his battles for his own benefit. God warned the people of the problems with putting their trust in a human king. But, the people persisted to plead for a man to lead them. And finally, God relented. God took into consideration the will of the people. Even God knows when to defer power and control. Our God is a relational God. God relates to God s people. God relates to God s self. God is a Triune God.

3 God is never alone. The church is called to be a reflection of God. We are a place where people come together. Every Sunday, we come to together to worship God. Today, we also come together to make a decision. We are not asking God for a king, but, we are asking God for a pastor. What a joy and a privilege it is to be empowered to make a group decision. What a role model we have in God and in Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. Together, they made the world. The Spirit of God blew over the waters and formed the earth. And, in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. In the fullness of time, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus was with God even before the creation of the earth. Then, God came to us in the form of Jesus the Christ and lived on earth and dwelt among us for a time. When his time here was complete, Jesus returned to his original state and his presence is communicated to us through the power of the Holy Spirit. We are called to be a reflection of the Holy Trinity. One of the ways we can be a reflection of the Godhead is by learning to work together as effectively as God does. God worked with God s self to create the world. God worked with God s self to introduce the faith to a group of homeless, migrant workers and then formed those people into a nation. God worked with God s self to further reveal the faith through Jesus the Christ. We are called to reflect the fact that we worship a God who works together. When I think of a good example of people working together, what comes to mind is the crisis aboard Apollo 13.

4 You might remember that mission in Those of you not old enough to remember 1970 might have seen the movie version. And certainly, everyone knows the line, Houston, we have a problem. In the movie, what impressed me was the way things were handled on earth while a tragedy loomed in the heavens. In the space center in Houston, the commander brought his crew to a table. He then took a box full of the very same items the astronauts had in their spacecraft and dumped them on the table. The engineers were staring at such things as a notebook, a plastic bag, a hose and some duct tape. Thank God we can fix anything with duct tape. Somehow, those NASA engineers managed to figure out a way to fashion a device out of those random objects that would save the astronauts. Every time we are faced with a seemingly insurmountable problem, we need to think back to that scene. We need to remember to bring our committee to the table. We need to remember that each of us brings a perspective and a set of knowledge that is unique, relative to the others around the table, and that together, we can and will work out our problems if we put our minds to it, if we put our whole hearts into it, and if we put our spirits to the test. We also need to remember that we can work together because we worship a God who works together. And, we were created in God s image. So, why not include all of God s creation? According to legend, when Noah and the animals were on the ark, things became a bit tedious and boring. Noah and his animals had spent so many days secluded that they started organizing games and activities to amuse themselves. But, with all that pent up energy, the games became a bit rowdy, and a woodpecker ended up drilling a hole in the bottom of the ark.

5 As water began entering the boat, the hole became larger. As more and more water entered the arc, the creatures began to worry. One by one, different animals tried to fix the hole. They even got competitive about it because everyone wanted to be the animal that had saved the ark. At the same time, everyone was scared, worried that the boat would sink. That was, until the bee started talking. The bee explained that bees always work together, as a team, each one doing the job at which they are the best. On hearing this, all the animals set about working together, each one playing their part by contributing their own special talent. The birds grabbed onto parts of the ark with their beaks, and flapped their wings furiously, lifting the boat up a little. The elephants sucked up the water in their trunks and shot it back into the sea. The fastest animals ran here and there, collecting materials. Those used to making nests took this material and stuffed it quickly into the hole. And so, working together, the animals managed to reduce the amount of water coming into the ark, but, they still hadn't stopped it completely. Their mission was not over, they had not fully met their goal, they were not yet safe. In desperation, they raised their voices and kept asking each other if there were any other animals that could help. They searched and searched, but there were no other animals left in the ark. Then, suddenly, a little fish swam in through the hole which made the animals realize there was more help outside of the arc. So, they asked the little fish to go and summon help to save their boat. The little fish swam off and soon fish after fish arrived at the ark. Finally, a large whale came to the rescue by pressing its great belly against the hole in the ship, which stopped any more water from entering, and gave the animals on the ark time to close up the hole.

6 Just as the Godhead works together with us, we are called to reach out beyond our church and invite others to work with us. The pinnacle moment for a church is that moment when newcomers arrive. I have seen churches welcome new worshippers and new pastors all of whom have new ideas and I have seen churches resist the influx of new energy. Thankfully, we worship a God who is open to change. When we think back to the beginning of the Bible and we think about ways in which faith in God has developed over the years, we see a God who took a group of homeless, migrant workers and made them a nation of faith. We see a God who sustained those faithful people through their mistakes and through the evil that was inflicted on them by others. We see a God who came to us in the flesh so that we would understand him not to be the God of war and anger and punishment, but the God of love and grace and peace. God will continue to change things for the better if we let the Godhead do its work. God is working all things together for good for those who love God and are called according to God s purpose. I believe this church is called according to God s purpose. And I know how much you love the Lord. So, I believe that God is working all things together for good in this church. After all, God is a Presbyterian. Let us pray: Almighty God, as our Creator, we worship and adore you. As our Redeemer, we are grateful for the way you work all things together for good, and as our Sustainer, we trust in your undying grace. We thank for bringing us to this point and we pray that you will continue to walk with us and guide us into the future. Amen.