RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING October 30, 2011 First Thessalonians Adam Gorman, The Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York

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RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING October 30, 2011 First Thessalonians Adam Gorman, The Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York Today s scripture reading from First Thessalonians focuses

1 RIGHT RELATIONSHIPS ARE EVERYTHING October 30, 2011 First Thessalonians Adam Gorman, The Brick Presbyterian Church in the City of New York Today s scripture reading from First Thessalonians focuses on Paul s leadership style in the church. In the beginning of this letter he praises the Thessalonians for their woks of faith, labors of love, and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul has a deep familial affection for the Thessalonians; that of a mother, a father, and even as an orphan separated from his family. He could not travel back to them because of adversity and consequently wrote a letter as his way of being present with them while his physical presence was impossible. It was a letter from a friend to friends to be read aloud at a small gathering in a home. At that time Christians had not yet been in the habit of writing about the gospel message and that s why this is our oldest Christian letter recorded in our Bible, twenty years after the death and resurrection of Christ. In the portion of the letter Jack read to us today, the Thessalonians are reminded that Paul s faith in our Lord Jesus Christ led him to guide them to become believers in Christ by living with them in a manner that was pure, upright, and blameless. He also wrote to the Philippians saying, Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. His command is simple, do not go your own way but imitate him through our relationships. Paul describes his teaching as both that of a tender caring mother and an encouraging, urging, comforting father. Many of you here are parents and even grandparents, and all of us have been children, and for that have firsthand experience of what Paul is calling us to do. Paul is calling us to learn like children. He is urging us to learn how to live out our faith in Jesus Christ in the same manner that children learn how to do nearly everything, to imitate. In this particular instance, to imitate Paul in his faith and the way he lived his life in - 1 -

2 community because of his faith. Have you ever seen a child following their parent and doing exactly what that parent is doing? If a parent is walking with their hands in their pockets the child will walk with their hands in their pockets. When a parent stops to look at a flower the child stops to look at the flower. The more parents say thank you and please, the more their children do. This is what the Apostle Paul is calling us to do, to imitate him in being holy, righteous, and blameless. A tough challenge, I know, but something we can become ever closer to accomplishing by continuing to live together in community. Paul is not alive today for us to literally follow him or witness him living a holy, righteous and blameless life. However, his challenge is still pertinent to us. We are charged to find other Christians to follow who are more mature in their faith than we are in our own faith. Just as Paul calls us to follow him in his faith, so Christ taught his disciples by having them follow him. The Disciple-Making Church is one that teaches a community of believers through relationships. If we do not have relationships, whom then can we follow? I have been participating in the life and family of Brick Church for a month now and have seen a strong and vibrant community of believers. Every day there are infants, children, teens, and adults here. It is this multi-generational church built on relationships that helps further the kingdom of God. God calls us to be the inheritors of the kingdom of God and by living in Christian relationships we can gain righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This is because we have already received the Spirit and are therefore actively present in the kingdom. You see, ministry is about connection, one to another, about sharing in suffering and joy, about persons meeting persons with no pretense or secret motives. (Andrew Root) We are called to be in relationship with each other, learning from each other, not for our own benefit, but because that is what God has called us to do. If you and I live lives of love, the people who follow us will do the same. If you and I act as followers of Paul, and therefore followers of Christ, the people who follow us will follow Christ. A good example of what it means to be a leader, a mother or a father, an encourager and an urger, as Paul was to the Thessalonians, can be seen in a story - 2 -

3 provided by an author named Glenn McDonald about a ship captain. 1 McDonald uses his story to explain who the Lord is in relation to humanity, but it is also a perfect example of the type of relationship Paul had with the Thessalonians, and is calling us to be in together. The story is about a time when McDonald was with his family on a cruise ship. In the middle of the night, the ship discovered that a passenger might have fallen overboard. Before announcing anything to the other passengers, and unconcerned with the cruise s schedule due to a possibly dire situation, the captain turned the cruise ship around. This could not have been an easy decision. I can only imagine the grumblings of those who woke up to the ship turning around: I m going to miss my tour of the island, We re going to have less time on the beach, We re going to miss our diving or snorkeling lessons, I want a refund! Fortunately, the captain s decision was the right one and they found the person who really had fallen overboard. He was a twenty-year-old who had been in a restricted area, childishly imitating a movie scene. You all remember Titanic. But in all seriousness, McDonald said he, wanted to shake the hand of the man whom [he] knew would pull out all the stops to find one lost person, even someone who was doing the wrong thing at the wrong place at the wrong time. 2 This is who Paul was and who Paul calls us to be as disciples. He calls us to be willing to stop in the chaos of our own lives in order to help someone else in need. Here at Brick there are plenty of people in need. Not necessarily financially but certainly emotionally, spiritually, and physically. We are all called to stop and be a family together, helping and encouraging each other. In my own life I have become who I am in Christ by following others, I have been blessed with many amazing spiritual mentors. In sixth grade I met Jim Szeyller, youth minister at the local Presbyterian Church, and Bob Hubbard, head of the local Young Life. For those of you who do not know, Young Life is a nondenominational Christian ministry that reaches out to adolescents through volunteers, staff, club meetings, and camps by building meaningful relationships with kids. Jim and Bob were two men who would shape me into a follower and a 1 G. McDonald, The Disciple Making Church: From Dry Bones to Spiritual Vitality (Grand Haven, Michigan: FaithWalk Publications, 2007), Ibid,

4 leader in Christ. They helped me to find meaning at a young age. Author Andrew Root says, Meaning is experienced and expressed as people live as members of families, participants in the economy, citizens in governments and members of religious groups. 3 Similarly, faith is experienced and developed with the help of spiritual mentors or disciples. Through weekly meetings and Young Life trips with Bob, and Sundays, ski trips, retreats and mission trips with Jim, I was getting a glimpse of who I was to become and how I was to live. Through these mentors, I saw that Christ s, incarnation was not a model or example, but was the very power of God present in human form among us today. Indeed, I saw that Jesus Christ is concretely present to us in our relational lives, in our person-to-person encounters, in the I and you. 4 That is what my relationships with Jim and Bob were. It is because of my relationships with them that from middle school on I asked my friends to come with me to Sunday night fellowship, Young Life meetings, Young Life camps, and on mission trips and church ski trips. Worshiping God through music and fun activities excited me and I wanted to share those experiences. Because of my enthusiasm Jim asked me to be a part of Cornerstone, a middle school leaders group at my church, and Bob asked me to be a part of the Wild Life Planning Team, a junior high Young Life group which fostered my relationship with Christ and Christian friends. Imitating Bob and Jim planted the roots of my ministry. Recently, during seminary, I was following Reverend Kathy Henry and Reverend Janice Ammon, as well as some other mentors. And I would not doubt that Kathy and Jan, as well as Michael Lindvall, Doug King, and Rebekah Hutto, are still following a mentor or two. In fact, I can tell they are by some of the literature they have been sharing with me. In my relationships with them and with you all, I am learning how to live and lead like Paul did with the Thessalonians. Paul is calling all of us to be both followers and mentors. He is calling us to have faith in Christ and to share that faith with others. Today, I ask you to be both 3 A. Root, Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry: From a Strategy of Influence to a Theology of Incarnation (Downers Grove, Ill.: IVP Books, 2007), Ibid,

5 followers and mentors. To build relationships with people who are a part of Brick and who aren t: who can help you to stretch your faith and grow in Christ. I also urge and encourage you, as Paul did, to find others who need help in their own faith journey. In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen! - 5 -

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2016-2017 GRACE CHAPEL Student Ministry Volunteer Packet 3 Militia Drive Lexington, MA 02421! 1 of 8! So you re thinking of becoming a volunteer Welcome! We are very excited that you have taken a step