Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, UCC A Heaven or Hell Decision If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. Mark 9:42 Prelude What kind of a church do we want to be? That s the arching question I pose this morning as we sing, pray, baptize. What kind of church do we want to be? I hope to address the following: (1) that we be generous in our assessments of others, and that we recognize good work whether one is in our camp or not; (2) every day is a day of decision that determines heaven or hell for somebody; (3) We don t have all the answers, but we have all we need to live always. First, a few thoughts about baptism, Whenever our worship includes the sacrament of baptism, we are given opportunity to reflect upon all that is asked and expected of us as a community of faith. In our UCC Book of Worship we are told: the promise of the gospel is not only to us but also to our children Baptism with water and the Holy Spirit is the mark of acceptance into the care of Christ s church (Address, Section A, p. 32, NCH). In baptism, God works in us the power of forgiveness, the renewal of the Spirit,
and the knowledge of the call to be God s people always (Address, Section B, p. 32, NCH). Page 2 Always this word should give us pause. Always, forever, until the end of time and beyond. In baptism God works in us knowledge of the call to be God s people always. This is a profound and powerful assertion of faith. Please note what is not being stated: God is not forgiving based upon incantation of prayer or splashing with water; in baptism we are participants in a reality of forgiveness God disclosed long ago, keeping current what was spoken of by the apostle who declared, God was in Christ reconciling the world to Godself (II Corinthians 5:19). Please note. We are not simply a community of the forgiven which we are; we are a community of forgivers, so we claim, for God works in us the power to forgive; so we are more than recipients of divine favor, we are agents of grace. Baptism signals our batteries are charged and we are operational, able to follow where God s love is needed today. ***** ***** ***** It is not stated in our liturgy, that those who are baptized are getting their initial dose, a first-ever injection of God s spirit. Rather, baptism is ritual that recognizes and celebrates renewal of the Spirit; for our part, there is an intensified awareness of the Spirit that is God s gift, God s breath,
at work animating our lives. Page 3 ***** ***** ***** It is not stated that baptism brings closure to a call history; Baptism is not a celebration of past tense, that God spoke, we have responded. Rather, baptism is based upon God speaking, imparting knowledge of the call to be God s people always. Baptism is a conflation of tense, where past, present, future converge. This is not an easy thing for us to grasp, which is why it resides in the dimension of faith. Mary Oliver s poem, Fall Story, helps us understand. She speaks of trying to remember when time s measure painfully chafes when autumn flares out at the last, boisterous, like us longing to stay (she remembers) how everything lives, shifting from one bright vision to another, forever in these momentary pastures. Baptism for the Christian is bright vision, God s forever and always declaration of life in the momentary pastures of the church. And so we pray today Michaela Chantile will come to know herself as a child of God always, and in time, a disciple of Christ, member of the church, the household of faith. ***** ***** ***** So we who profess such mystical awareness of always, we who dare baptize infants who are unknowing, unaware of the fuss we make today, what kind of church do we hope to be?
Page 4 1. GENEROUS IN OUR ASSESSMENT OF OTHERS In the first part of our lesson this morning, there is a curious disclosure. One of the disciples, John, speaks to Jesus, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him because he wasn t one of us. It is a remarkable confession that takes a while to really sink in. John includes the group he speaks not of me, but we, we saw this fellow casting out demons (for the record, let us simply interpret this as we saw this guy helping somebody ) and we tried to stop him. In other words the disciples were undoing what Jesus wanted done. We can see how they were thinking: you gotta be one of us before you can be good; rather than the reverse if you are doing good there must be some kinship with us. Jesus has corrected this tribal thought that confines good to those camped within; that views outsiders as danger, as threats. Now for us this morning Michaela is gonna grow up knowing she is different. Just like most of us. That just happens. But will she grow up knowing she is loved, accepted, supported? Will she grow up knowing she has a place with a people, that are open, caring, sensing God at work in their camp, as well as in the camps of others? We will help determine the outcome and answer that question. ***** ***** ***** ***** 2. OUR EVERY DAY IS A DAY OF DECISION WITH HEAVEN OR HELL IN THE BALANCE Yogi Berra (1925-2015): When you come to a fork in the road,
take it. Page 5 In Mark s gospel, we have come to fork in the road. Will we take it? It is clear that Mark s community is one of intense internal discipline. We can see what was prized and cherished. Mark s church forgiving one another; love for neighbor; resistant to threats (external and internal) that could subvert gospel Jesus portrayed as warning about sinning against other little ones, and not to sin against oneself; such graphic language, amputation of hand and foot, the tearing out of an eye that causes one to stumble/sin. This is vivid hyperbole, exaggeration. He is graphically driving home the point, for disciples faced with daily decision, do we opt for radical self-control or the torments of hell? Now this notion of daily decision came to me thanks to the Kentucky County Clerk who refused to issue marriage licenses for concern of her salvation it was a heaven or hell decision, and that requiring her to sign off on such licenses was a violation of her religious freedom. There is fault to be found here, but I simply want to focus upon the distortion of gospel that the clerk illustrates she is consumed with her heaven or hell, and unconcerned about the heaven or hell she may be creating for others. Please hear me clearly heaven or hell is not a place postponed to some post-mortem judgment day for the individual soul. Our everyday decisions determine
a heaven or hell life, for us and all in our orbit. Our every day needs to be spiritually scrutinized and measured are we advancing a heaven or hell life? Another day in paradise or another day in torment? Page 6 Like many this week, I was caught up with Pope Francis mania. Given all that is a mess in our world, I marvel at his capacity to sustain a smile. He is the most jovial pope since John how refreshing. In his address to Congress, he spoke to some important issues, not the least of which was our national involvement in the trade of arms and weapons that export violence. But what impressed me was the invoking of three sons and a daughter of this land and four dreams Lincoln and liberty; MLK and liberty in plurality and non-exclusion; Dorothy Day, who merits sanctification by the Roman Church if anyone does (my humble opinion), and Thomas Merton. Dorothy Day: As we come to know the seriousness of the situation, the war, the racism, the poverty in our world, we come to realize that things will not be changed simply by words or demonstrations. Rather, it s a question of living one s life in a drastically different way. In our lesson this morning, this is what Jesus is urging upon his followers: a drastically different way of living one s life. And whatever impedes the quest living life in a drastically different way every day needs to be given up, especially if it harms others, or if it harms oneself. ***** ***** ***** ***** WE DON T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS, BUT WE HAVE ALL WE NEED FOR ALWAYS A final thought.
When baptized people think they have all the answers, they don t have faith, they have a bad attitude and a blind outlook on life. Page 7 In Mark, Jesus makes this remarkable statement: everybody will be salted, no one will be spared. No escape, no exit, the salting Jesus references. He doesn t leave us much but what he leaves us is both urgent and compelling. Stay true to yourself and be at peace with one another. If we can hold onto this as our hope and trust then our baptism into Christian community will not have been in vain. And our commitment to the Jesus way, will have served God s purpose. And that s all we really may need know to live a life as good for us as it is for others. Let s close with something from Thomas Merton. His autobiography included a prayer, said to be a prayer everyone can pray: My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think that I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. May we possess such desire in the life we share; and may it be contagious; so that even Michaela catches our hunger and thirst for the extravagant love God supplies, to be found wherever a people admit the patient rule of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Page 8 (Sermons are typically composed in haste, for the demands of the day are many; so be charitable as you read; and remember: the contents of this sermon have not been edited and may or may not have been a part of its public presentation)