Calvary United Methodist Church June 11, SHINE YOUTH SUNDAY WORSHIP Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks & Calvary Youth

Transcription

1 Calvary United Methodist Church June 11, 2017 SHINE YOUTH SUNDAY WORSHIP Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks & Calvary Youth Children s Sermon: Matthew 5:14 By Pastor Ron We are all children of God. The youngest among us, however, have a different way of looking at the love of Christ. We welcome them to the front of this worship space at this time to celebrate the gifts that God has granted to us. Good morning! Hey, I bet everybody s school is over now, am I right. Yes! And a big hooray and an alleluia, correct? Yeah! So now it s summertime. Here s where the fun begins. One of the things that Fender enjoys doing most all summer long is called beachcombing. That s walking along the beach seeing what you can find. And I mentioned last summer, as we were doing this, there were a lot of things that we couldn t identify, so we picked up these handy pamphlets that are waterproof at a local bookstore. And so we ve used them to try to find out what certain things are,

2 What the official name is for a variety of things that we came across. This one, however, we knew and you probably know it too. What is that right there? (Starfish.) It is a starfish. More accurately it s a sea star because it is not a fish. Do you know why it s not a fish? (It doesn t have a back ) It doesn t have a back I can see already you know more than I do. We are going to move right along. So, how is it that this thing gets the name of a starfish? (Because it looks like a star.) Because it looks like a star, right? It s one of those five pointed things that we look up into the sky and see at night. It just so happens, if I remember where I put it, that I have a book about a starfish called Shine. What I would like to do is have you look at the screens. I am going to read the book to you and we re going to learn something about starfishes that do shine like stars at night. The book is called Shine.

3 Little Hoshi was a star, a sea star who lived in the ocean. Every night she would gaze at the twinkling stars in the sky above and make a wish. I wish I were there instead of here Up there, where all is fine. Up there, where I would shine! Oh, poor little me a star stuck in the sea. But in the morning, the sun rose over the horizon. As the sky grew lighter, all the stars disappeared. And then the tide came in and swept Little Hoshi back into the water. I should be floating among the colorful planets, Hoshi thought, as she floated among the colorful coral. Imagine all the unique and wonderful friends you could meet up there! she told her unique and wonderful neighbors.

4 Up there, there are exciting and endless possibilities, she explained to the exciting, endless schools of minnows. Where could you see something so magnificent down here? she wondered aloud to the magnificent blue whale. I want to shine! cried Little Hoshi. I wish I were there instead of here. Down here, nothing is fine. Down here, I ll never shine! Oh, poor little me a star stuck in the sea. Everyone tried to cheer her up. But she turned and swam far away...down, down, down into the deepest waters, where she floated to the murky bottom. Little Hoshi gazed out into the darkness until she saw A STAR. She closed her eyes and made her wish. The star came closer, closer

5 and CLOSER. But it wasn t a star at all. It was an anglerfish, with her glowing light. Why are you here and not up there? the anglerfish asked the little sea star. That s what I want to know, replied Hoshi. Oh, could you, would you, tell me how you shine? It s my pleasure, said the anglerfish. I shine because I m happy. Happy to be here, happy to be there happy to be anywhere! Because happiness, my dear, always starts right Here! And the anglerfish pointed to her heart and shined. And when your heart shines, it sparks the happiness in everyone around you. And it makes us shine too! All her deep-sea friends joined in. And the light within each of them grew brighter. So if happiness shines in my heart, my friends will see it and shine too! said Little Hoshi. And all this time, I thought happiness was always somewhere far away. Thank you for helping me see the light in me! I ve got to go show my friends.

6 You re welcome, said the anglerfish. If you re happy, we re happy! And we re happy to meet you. Hope to see you again. And so up swam Little Hoshi. Up toward the sunlight. Up to the surface. Up to her friends. It was a joyous gathering! Everyone welcomed her home. She gazed at her colorful, magnificent world and her unique and wonderful friends. And for the first time, she saw so many exciting and endless possibilities. Then Little Hoshi looked into her heart and SHINED. And before she knew it, all her friends were shining too! And from the day forward, Hoshi made sure that everyone she met knew what she had learned. Everyone can shine. And what she learned? That everyone can shine.

7 It s not just a story about a starfish. It s part of what Jesus tells all the people that he meets when he shares something called the Sermon on the Mount. It s from Matthew 5. Check this out: You are the light of the world. You can t hide a city built on top of a hill. Who lights a candle And then puts it under a basket? Who does that? Do you do that? I would never do that. That s crazy stuff. No, you lift it high so that all can see the light. So let your lights shine on everyone. They ll see God s light in you And in all that you say and do. Then they ll know where real power and light comes from. They ll know who to worship, just like you know who to worship. You see, here s the lesson we all are going to learn this Sunday morning and as we ve already said, it s a simple lesson. It is very easy: Everybody can shine; Especially when you lift God s light high for all to see. One of the ways that we shine is when we learn about who we are and about all the great things that we do. This Sunday each year we celebrate the people who have kind of come to the end of a particular phase of their learning. I wanted to just share something on a personal note with you this morning is the first class of individuals who are graduating from high school that I baptized 18 years ago. So I thought it might be kind of cool to take a little trip down memory lane. I don t know who that young stud is on the right up there but he bears a striking resemblance to nobody standing on the platform right now.

8 It just so happens that one of our graduates happened to share with me a couple of photos and I m sharing them with you so I can embarrass him, but I could easily have done this with all the graduates that we are celebrating today. This is Jordan Franklin when he was three years old. Jordan is up there, by the way in the cool shirt. This is Jordan when he was participating in the groundbreaking service that began this project that we are sitting in right now. He was also part of our Blessed Morn skit. He and his sister Julia have been part of the activities here at Calvary, as have many of the youth who were baptized here who are still living in this area. From 2011 the youth services, The youth beach retreat. And let me just say something about the youth beach retreat. We had a kind of a, well it was a tough phone call to take. We got a call from Cape Henlopen State Park and they informed us that the building that we always rent there to go on retreat there, this past week a state inspector came through and said that it was unsafe for occupation. They were to leave in two Sundays and there is no way the building can be

9 made ready in time. So later today, I m sitting down and writing a very nice letter to the Secretary of the Department of Parks and Recreation in Delaware to let them know that we ll be anxious to come back next year, hopefully at a greatly discounted rate. Now, all of you who took those little tags and bought things for the youth to take with them on their retreat in two weeks, if you really want to be a cramp, you can take your stuff back. If not, leave it and they ll eat it or they ll hang on to it for next year, because they are going to go next year. Why? Because being together as a youth fellowship, and by the way, that was the confirmation picture from six years ago that six of the young people, you ll see this picture sidelined with their graduation picture in a few seconds. This is a chance for us to be together not only as a church, but also to celebrate all the great things God does with us and in us and through us throughout the years. And so we want to celebrate with them and all of the people

10 who are finishing one phase of their learning. And we want to celebrate these young people, who are now just too stinking tall, If you know what I m saying. Any graduate who wants to do the good luck thing and rub the preacher s head, that s not a problem. Learning is a way to lift God s light. I m going to share with you the photos that are in the worship folder of all the graduates. You can read something about where they have been and where they are going and if they are in the room at this time, I just simply ask that they stand up so that we can congratulate them on their achievements. We have graduate school graduates, we have college graduates, we have high school graduates and we are pleased to celebrate with each of them this transition time in their life. That s why they call it commencement; you re beginning something new as well as ending something that you ve been a part of for quite a long time.

11 So as we have them stand, we invite you to applaud them for their accomplishments. And, as we said before, learning is just one way to lift God s light. But there are lots of other ways.

12 Some of them are going to be going on to different positions of leadership in different places. Leading others with your gifts and your skills, that s a way to lift high God s light. Listening to people, especially when they are having difficult times, that s a way to lift God s light. And sometimes sharing the joy in your heart with others through laughter and the gift of simply being there to celebrate good times, that s a way to lift God s life. The way that we live is a way to lift God s light. If we live considerately, and generously and graciously, we live with forgiveness and the desire that people be redeemed. Thanks be to God. But loving is the best way to lift God s light. And how do we know that? Because that s exactly what Jesus did. He showed us how to love and how to lift that life. And that s exactly what Hoshi did in the story.

13 So, remember, every single person can shine, Especially when you lift God s light for all to see. Now, I know sometimes I give you cool stuff to remind you about what I just said, so this is no exception. Alright, there are more. Now, what s the lesson? Three words: everyone can shine! Thanks for sharing in our time this morning. Message: 2 Corinthians 4:5-7 Scene 1: The Receptionist Katie: Good morning. Welcome to Calvary. May I help you? Ms. Dimly: Good morning. I m Inspector Dimly from ME-P&L. I was wondering if I might be able to speak to the person in charge here Katie: I m sorry, ma am. The staff is currently in a meeting. I d be glad to take a message. Ms. Dimly: Thank you, but I d prefer to wait. In fact, if you don t mind, I d like to take a look around the building and speak with some of the folks. There s a lot going on here. Katie: You re certainly right about that. I ve only been a member of Calvary for 6 months, but I ve met some radiant people here. Ms. Dimly: Hmmm. Interesting. Something very curious is going on in the place. Katie: Is there anything I can get for you while you wait? Ms. Dimly: No, I m good. I ll just take a look around. Thanks again.

14 Scene 2: The Choir The Inspector follows the sound of music coming from a distant room. He peaks in on a choral rehearsal. Director comically leads with hand motions. Song finishes and the Ms Dimly applauds in spite of herself, alerting everyone to her eavesdropping. Director: Oh hi. Welcome! Come on in.? Ms. Dimly: Sorry. I didn t mean to intrude. I heard your singing and couldn t help myself. I used to sing in my church choir when I was a kid. I wasn t any good, but no one seemed to mind. Director: Well, you re welcome here. Are you new in the community? Ms. Dimly: No, I m here to conduct an inspection of the facility for Me-P&L. We ve had some.. well, ummm.. contacts from the neighborhood. Director: Uh-oh? Are we too loud? Ms. Dimly: No ma am, it s not a noise issue. You re fine. Director: Well that s a relief. When we get crankin, we raise the roof! We re rehearsing for Sunday. We d be glad to have you join us... you probably know this golden oldie. (piano begins This Little Light of Mine. Choir begins and then the Inspector joins in timidly at first, then with growing vigor. She is horribly off-key. The verse ends and the choir applauds.) Director: Wow, you ve got some serious pipes! You sure you don t want to join us on Sunday? Ms. Dimly: Really? I wasn t awful? (Choir offers words of encouragement and affirmation) Director: Practice is like polish it makes us shine brighter. And making mistakes together helps us appreciate the times when we get it right! Ms.Dimly: Thanks. I ll think about it. Director: Okay we sing at the 8:30 service this week. Hope to see you then. (Choir says good-bye as Inspector smiles, waves and leaves. She s still humming This Little Light badly as she moves through the building. She pauses for a moment and then follows the sound of coins on a table and a calculator. She peeks around the door.)

15 Scene 3: The Money Counters and Nancy Nancy: That s the last of the banks, right? That brings our total to $5,698 in five weeks $698 more than the goal. Ms. Dimly: Excuse me, did you just say that you raised all that money from these paper banks? In just five weeks? That s amazing! Nancy: Well, great things happen when a lot of people give a little. Ms. Dimly: Is this how you fund your operation? You pay your bills with spare change. Nancy: Oh no, this is a special offering. We re raising money to build an orphanage in Nicaragua. A team of workers will go there in August. The new facility will have room for 22 kids. Ms. Dimly That s a lot of effort and money. What s the connection? Does someone have family there? Does your pope or bishop or rabbi make you do it? Nancy: No, we don t have to do it we WANT to do it. It s the light thing to do. None of us have children there..., but all of us have family there. If you know what I mean! (Nancy and group chuckle. Inspector joins in the mirth, but has no idea what they re laughing about.) Ms. Dimly: Well, sorry to bother you. Thanks. (Inspector turns to leave but pauses, reaches in his pocket and pulls out a handful of change. He quickly lays in on the table and leaves. The group thanks him as he departs. He wonders into the back of the sanctuary where the tech team is working on the lighting setup for VBS. The room is dark.) Scene 4: The Tech Team Steve: Okay. Now bring up the gel lights on me. A little more. That s it., Let s lock that in. (Steve notices the Inspector standing in the back of the sanctuary and calls out.) Can I help you? Ms. Dimly: That s quite a set-up you have. How many lights do you have? Steve: We use 78 lighting elements, 7 video and projection monitors, a computer, two Blu-ray players and a 24 track sound system. Ms. Dimly: For a worship service? Wow! And you coordinate all this technology by yourself? Steve: No, we have a team of tech people who run the Sunday morning service. Ms. Dimly: It must cost a fortune to pay for that sort of specialized

16 skill. Steve: Yes, it would be expensive if we paid them. But they re all volunteers. And here s the thing; most of what they do is never noticed. To people sitting in worship, things just happen. It s almost magical. Ms. Dimly: And no one is being compensated? Who gives up a Sunday morning to do something no one notices? Steve: Well, they get their name in the bulletin. But honestly, the payoff is joy! They enjoy being part of worship. And when everything goes well, they beam with joy. Ms. Dimly I don t get it. You people like giving stuff away; time, energy, talent, money. This place is a real anomaly. Steve: Well, It s more blessed to give than to receive. Ms. Dimly: Yeah, I ve heard that cliché before. I always assumed it came from the IRS. Steve: You really ARE in the dark. We don t give to impress others or pay a bill. Giving is what we do. We re thankful for what we have. The chance to share our gifts just lights us up! Ms. Dimly: Yeah, I ve noticed that everyone around here seems to glow. I m not quite sure why, but I ll figure it out. Count on it. (The inspector turns to walk away as the light fade in the room. As Steve watches her go, he offers one last thought). Steve: Wow, she s not very bright. Scene 5: The Daycare Parent (The inspector begins to walk up the aisle as the lights come up. She passes a parent who just dropped their daughter off at the Daycare. The parents nods as they pass, but the inspector stops and then calls to the man/woman). Ms. Dimly: Excuse me. Would you mind if I asked you a question? Parent: No, go ahead. Ms. Dimly: Well it s a bit personal, so I ll understand if you d rather not tell me. I watched you drop your child off in the Daycare Center. That takes a huge amount of trust. I assume you re a member of this congregation. You probably know all the staff personally. Parent: Actually, neither of your assumptions are true. I m not a member of this church. In fact, I m not religious at all. Ms. Dimly: Really? That s surprising. I ve done some research on

17 this organization. They teach these kids so-called Christian values. You re okay with your child learning about a religion you don t follow? Parent: Brittney s learned a lot here at Calvary, but none of it sounds like religion to me. As a kid, I was exposed to a variety of religious traditions. As I got older, however, it seemed that religion was a bunch of man-made rituals and rules. Do this. Don t do that. Give this much. Use these special words. No thanks. Ms. Dimly: So what s different here? Parent: Every evening at dinner, my husband and I ask Brittney what she learned at church. Last night, she told us that God is love. When you learn that God loves you, it s like a spark touches your heart. Being loved starts a fire. Sharing love makes it grow. To make this fire spread, you have to do things that light up other people s hearts; forgiveness, kindness, generosity, compassion. It s tough love between God, you and others. Relationships are harder than religion. Ms. Dimly: Yeah, I know. It takes a lot of energy and commitment to do that. It s rare when it happens. Parent: That s what I used to think too. But my daughter s learned it and now she s teaching us. I don t know that I ll ever join a church, but I can see the fire in her. She s loved by someone bigger, better and brighter than me. I can feel the warmth when she smiles. I can see the light in her. She shines. Ms. Dimly: I understand that there s a huge dog roaming the halls. You feel secure in your decision to leave her here? Parent: We were hesitant at first. But we both felt the warmth of the people. And Brittney loves Fender. In fact, when she pets him, her face just lights up. We re glad she s here. Ms. Dimly: That s very illuminating. Thanks. Have a good day. Parent: Thanks. You too. Final Scene: The Pastor s Office (Parent leaves the sanctuary and the inspector wanders back over towards the receptionist.) Katie: Thanks for your patience. The staff meeting ended a few minutes ago. I told the pastor you were here. He s happy to see you if you re ready. Follow me, please. (Katie leads the inspector to the pastor s office and introduces the pas-

18 tor.) Katie: Pastor, this is Ms. Dimly from ME-P&L. Pastor: Thanks Katie. What can I do for you, Ms. Dimly? Ms. Dimly: I ll try not to take too much of your time. As an inspector for ME-P&L, my job is to monitor energy usage in the communities we serve. To do this, we use a variety of tools, including satellite imagery. I d like to show you a series of images taken from space. (Ms Dimly points to the screens where a series of photos appear. Halfway through the series, it becomes clear that there is something unusual in the middle of the images.) Pastor: What s that bright spot in the middle of the picture? Ms. Dimly: You ll see.

19 (The series ends with a close-up of Calvary block flooded with light.) Pastor: Is that Calvary? Ms. Dimly: Yes, it is. And as you can see, even in broad daylight, the amount of light being generated by facility is incredible. To create that much illumination, you d need a lot of power. But I ve checked into your account. I ve tracked your energy usage over the past decade. Your profile is within normal parameters for a facility of this size. That suggests one of two conclusions. One, you re using other power sources to supplement what you get from ME-P&L. That s a violation of your contract. Or, two, you ve using more energy than you re paying for. In other words, you re stealing it. This is a problem! Pastor: That s not possible, Ms. Dimly. Other forms of power are too expensive and we don t steal. You said that your records suggest that our power usage is in the normal range? Ms. Dimly: Yes, your power usage has remained consistent since you expanded the facility in Pastor: Well, I have to be honest I have no idea..... unless..... wait a second. Can you tell me when things are the brightest? Ms. Dimly: Sure. The highest energy output comes on Sunday morning between 8:00 AM and Noon. But this place is lit up everyday between 6:00 AM and Midnight. Pastor: That makes perfect sense. That s when people are here. And Sunday morning is the biggest crowd. So the amount of light you see is linked to the number of people in the church? Ms. Dimly: Right. But the amount of OUR power used never changes. Where is the other energy and light coming from? Pastor: Hmmmmm. (the reality dawns upon the pastor). I think I owe you an apology. There IS another power used here. t s not created by ME-P&L. It comes from HE-P&L. Ms. Dimly: So you ARE in violation of your contract. Pastor: Not exactly. We get our electricity from you. We get all our

20 power and light from God. Ms. Dimly: This isn t about religion! There s only one kind of power that creates light AND WE SELL IT. Pastor: You re right about one thing this isn t about religion. But you re wrong when you claim that yours is the only power that matters. Here s what HE-P&L is all about. The first words spoken at creation were Let there be light. God s the original power supply the BIG generator. All we see around us and each of us is an expression of his creative power. But there s something special about you and me. We re made in God s image. That means we also have the power to create. So what am I supposed to do with this power of creation this light? After centuries of watching us wander around in the dark, God decided to show us himself. And he did it in the man named Jesus. We call him the light of the world because he brings God s power and light into our hearts. And when that power shines through us into our relationships with others, it s called love. He taught us why, how and who to love. Many people didn t want to hear it. They could get past the idea that all the power they needed came from ME Power and Light. So they tried to turn off the power. Pull the plug. And it worked for three days. Then, on Easter, God jump-started creation all over again. This time, Let there be light, became, Let there be life! Through Christ, God gave that power to his followers on Pentecost. They ve burned brightly over nearly 2,000 years. And they light up this place every time they love someone in the name of Christ. No, Ms. Dimly, we re not stealing your power. We need what you provide to run this building. But your power isn t what gives this place its warmth or these people their brilliance. The power of the Spirit lit them up. They shine for Christ. And love is His light. Ms. Dimly: I have to confess, Pastor, that I m still a bit baffled by what you ve told me. I need a little time to process what I ve seen and heard here today. Would it be alright if I stopped by sometime to pursue this? Pastor: Of course. But don t think I have all the answers, or that I m the only person who can help you. This is a great congregation

21 filled with people committed to helping each other. They all have gifts to share. Ms. Dimly: Yes, I ve met a few of them. It s been an illuminating experience. Pastor: Great. You re welcome here anytime. We ll leave the light on for ya. Benediction: The youth join Pastor Ron for the benediction. Pastor Ron speaks - What do you think? Not too shabby right? And as I said, the lesson of this morning s worship is baseball bat simple: Everyone can shine, especially when you lift God s light high for all to see. The power that is within us is not the power that we generate; it is the power that Christ has granted to us. Thanks be to God for these youth, for their leaders, for the message that is so simple even a minister can understand. Let us give thanks to God for the light. Let us celebrate His presence. Amen.