Sermons from First Congregational Church of Southington

Transcription

1 Sermons from First Congregational Church of Southington Life Happens on the Way Acts The Sixth Sunday of Easter May 1, 2016 Acts During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. 10 When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. 11 We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. 13 On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14 A certain woman named Lydia, a worshiper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. 15 When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home. And she prevailed upon us. I. There is actually a prequel to the scripture reading assigned for this morning, one that needs to be heard, so to emphasize it, I put it here at the beginning of the sermon. Before Paul has a vision about going over to Macedonia to help this pleading man, here is what had happened: 6 They [meaning Paul and his companions, Silas and Timothy] went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 When they had come opposite Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them; 8 so, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. Paul and his companions have no clear vision of what comes next. In fact, they keep hitting roadblocks. They aren t sure what to do or how to do it. Have you ever felt that way? Life stretches out before you, but everywhere you turn there is another obstacle in your way. You have no idea of why you are doing what you are doing? It reminded me of a story I love. You might have heard this story before and I hope you ll forgive me if my southern accent takes over a little bit. It was told by the southern comedian, Jerry Clower, about the day the hardware store in Year C: Easter 6

2 Life Happens on the Way May 1, 2016 Sermon Page 2 of 5 his little hometown of Liberty, Mississippi caught fire. The fire department was called, but their rickety old fire truck couldn t get enough water pressure to do much good, and everybody in town was afraid that the store would burn to the ground. Well, about that time Uncle Versie Ledbetter came barreling down the street in an old rusty pickup truck with Aunt Pad and all the young uns with them Ardel, Bernell, Raynell, Odel, Codell, Purcel, Gaynell, Marcel, Claude, Eugene and Clovis. They were all hanging on that old truck, packed in there like sardines. And as everybody watched in amazement that pickup truck crashed right through the front door of the burning hardware store and all the Ledbetters boiled out of that truck and started to put out the fire. The men and boys were stomping it with their boots and swatting at it with their caps while the women and girls slapped it out with their purses. Pretty soon they had snuffed out any trace of the fire. The townspeople were overjoyed. They were so grateful they took up a collection for the Ledbetters right then and there got a hat full of money too, $31. When they handed the cash to Uncle Versie, somebody asked, Versie, what you going to do with all that money? And Versie said, The first thing I m going to do is get the brakes on my truck fixed. I love that story, because there are so many things good things that need to be done, and sometimes the best things happen, the things that need to happen, are not the things we plan, but the things that happen along the way. Life happens on the way. II. Paul is on the second of his three missionary journeys, traveling in in the western-most parts of Asia, spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, starting churches, teaching. But while traveling through what today is central Turkey, he is at a loss about where to go next. He and his companions stumble around the countryside and find themselves with their backs literally up against the sea. They are in the coastal town of Troas, the Aegean Sea is to their west, Asia is to the south and they are told, apparently by Jesus, not to preach the gospel there, and they are barred from going north to Bythinia. They seem trapped on the shore of the Aegean Sea by God s persistent and unexplained, no. Perhaps is yet another reminder, not just for us, but for the church, that God is in charge of the mission, that the church often searches for God s calling in mistaken directions and failed attempts, and that most often God speaks to us through frustrating and challenging discernment. Suddenly, Paul has a dream, a vision of what is next. A man pleads with him to come to Macedonia, the area across the sea, today in the northern part of Greece. And you would think that things would be clear now. The path to what is next, set. But no. Even such a clear and compelling vision will require interpretation. And here we discover an important detail about the way the story is told. Here, for the very first time in the Book of Acts, the narrator joins the action. It is a subtle, but important detail, the narration changes from the third person to the first. When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them. We set sail from Troas and took a

3 Life Happens on the Way May 1, 2016 Sermon Page 3 of 5 straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia Scholars still debate what this change of perspective means. Perhaps Luke, the writer of both the Gospel that bears his name and the Book of Acts, is actually traveling with Paul and Silas at this point, but we can t settle that argument here. Rather, I think there is a more important point. Paul had the vision, but the narrator says that we concluded what it meant and what to do about it. The vision must be interpreted, and that task does not fall to Paul alone. The small community contained in we is involved in discerning God s call, not just to Paul, but to us. The mission doesn t just belong to Paul, although by this time the apostles are almost completely out of the picture. The future of the church does not rest on Paul s shoulders. And the mission, of course, doesn t even belong to the church; it is God s mission. III. Yet the church is called into the discernment of God s mission at every time and in every place. Where is God calling us? What vision calls us beyond the familiar things we do so well into ministries that we have never considered before? Although Paul and his companions quickly cross over the Aegean Sea, their mission still requires patience. Not much happens for a long time. They were there for some days; just how long some days take we do not know. The appeal in the vision is urgent, and the response to it is immediate; but the results are not seen right away. And when, in Philippi, God finally reveals the mission, it comes as a surprise. Paul s vision had been about a Macedonian man pleading for help. But the first person to welcome the good news of Jesus Christ in Philippi is a woman, and, in fact, a woman from the area Paul had just left in Asia. Any simple expectations about God s mission are clearly going to be wrong. How odd, and grace-filled, that this woman from Thyatira, where the Spirit had forbidden Paul to go, now meets Paul in Philippi. Lydia listens to Paul. But it is God who opens her heart to believe. At this point, Paul almost vanishes from the story. It is not the charismatic personality of the preacher that has the power to create faith; it comes from God. From beginning to end, this text stresses that it is God who is in charge of the mission, God who sets its direction, and God who determines its results. Lydia believes, and becomes one of the most unexpected church leaders in the entire New Testament. Paul could have never seen that coming, and neither can we.

4 Life Happens on the Way May 1, 2016 Sermon Page 4 of 5 I wonder how many Lydias wait for us outside our church doors, people we never would have imagined could become leaders of the church that is emerging in the 21 st century; I wonder whom God waits to transform when we have the courage to follow our vision, our mission to be a beacon of Christ all-inclusive, all-embracing, radically-welcoming love outside the walls of this church, and across this community and into the world. When we face roadblocks, how do we get to Macedonia? Sometimes life happens on the way. IV. I have this Bible study that meets at The Orchards. I have several faithful folks who join me each Wednesday morning to discuss the Bible passage I m preaching the following Sunday. This past Wednesday I was looking for help on my sermon, so I asked this group of mature adults to tell me about times they had experienced unexpected turns in their lives that had turned out to be moments of grace, like when Paul met Lydia. They told some profound stories, but then Joan turned to me and asked, was there ever a time when life happened to you on the way. She put the preacher on the spot. So I told them this story. Growing up all I ever wanted to be was a Southern Baptist preacher. I knew that God had called me to be a Southern Baptist preacher. I graduated from college in December of 1982 and was set to enroll in the Southern Baptist seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina in September to learn how to be a Southern Baptist preacher. So the Southern Baptist Home Mission Board offered me the opportunity to be a student missionary for the next eight months. There were openings at a large church in Charlotte to help with youth ministry and a large college campus in Raleigh to do campus ministry. I figured I could handle that. When the letter came from the Mission Board it said I had been assigned to work in a tiny, storefront mission center at the corner of East 7 th Street and Avenue B in New York City, that I would be bringing God to New York City. New York City? You ve got to be kidding, God. I m a country boy, a hillbilly from western North Carolina with grits in my teeth! New York City? You want me to go to the most dangerous part of New York City? Yes, New York City. Yes, the Lower East Side. OK God. So I went. And there I met some of the most desperate people I have ever known. People who lived under trees in the park, who were imprisoned by addiction, people who didn t know where they would find their next meal, young people struggling with homelessness and gender identity. But do you know what else I discovered when I arrived at East 7 th and Avenue B? God was already there.

5 Life Happens on the Way May 1, 2016 Sermon Page 5 of 5 God was living under a tree in Tompkins Square Park with Virgil. God walked with John down St. Mark s Place in her heels and floppy hat asking people to call her Sandy. God watched eight-year-old Michael play basketball in the park, picking fights with boys twice his size to prove himself. God didn t need me to bring some divine presence to New York City; God was already there. God needed me to walk with Sandy down St. Mark s Place, play basketball with Michael, sit under a tree with Virgil, wait patiently with them for God s grace to emerge, like it emerged in Lydia, the dealer of purple cloth. It changed my life, and I never became a Southern Baptist preacher. God led me here instead. Where is God leading you? Sometimes life happens on the way.