Adoption
into the Family of Faith
Sermon preached by the Reverend Brad Beeman
June 19, 2005
Scripture:
Romans 6:5-11 and Matthew 9:18-26
Two moving
stories both involving a healing, both involving Jesus and both involving
adoption. In each of the synoptic gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke,
these two stories are always placed together. It’s as though
the writers recognized that the two cannot and should not ever be
separated. To divide the two is to lose the meaning and essentiality
of both.
These passages
raise two very specific needed elements in our journey of faith. The
first is the need to recognize within us those areas in need of Christ’s
healing. Recognition, like with the bleeding woman, however, isn’t
enough. For it is only when we place ourselves in positions for healing
and then receive it that healing takes place. The second important
element is recognizing the need in others and, in spite of what others
may think, doing whatever it takes to lift those in need up and out
of their desperation. Thus, offering them resurrection while adopting
them into the family of faith. This is the story of Jesus, Jairus
and the little girl. It is in combination that the two grow stronger.
We reach in and we reach out and thus a faith-filled rhythm is established.
Many of you may not be aware that I am a Civil War buff. The reason
has more to do with the desire to find models for leadership than
almost anything having to do with the war. I have found a vast wealth
of models in studying the leaders of the Civil War, models of what
leadership both should and should not be. Robert E. Lee and Thomas
“Stonewall” Jackson are two I am most drawn to. These
two gained greatness because they were willing to admit to weakness,
admit their need for help, admit their need for healing. They constantly
placed themselves in positions to be healed, strengthened and even
challenged. They surrounded themselves with those who fundamentally
disagreed with them, those whose strengths offset their weaknesses,
and those in whom they had enough trust to be honest about their struggles.
They also prayed constantly – for themselves, their friends,
those serving under them and their enemies. It is when we avoid our
weaknesses, when we don’t or won’t recognize and admit
to them that we become weak. It is in recognition of those places
where we need strength, places we need healing that healing then has
a chance to take hold. It is true as individuals and is certainly
true as a church.
Given that it
is Father’s Day I would like to introduce you, albeit very briefly,
to my father and his father. Last week Patricia spoke about the book
that tells the story of three (continued...)
"Adoption
into the Family of Faith" Sermon by Rev. Brad Beeman, June 19,
2005
generations of pastors. I celebrate my father this morning and his father
now as three generations of pastors. Throughout this past week my dad
has been the keynote speaker at the National PFFLAG (Parents, Friends,
and Families of Lesbians and Gays) Convention. Thousands of parents
come to this convention seeking answers on how to come to terms with,
how to reflect on, and how to accept their children. They come for answers
and they come for healing. My parents have provided that for thousands.
My father was with the parents of Matthew Shepherd not long of after
Matthew was murdered in Wyoming. He was there challenging Jerry Falwell
after Falwell’s comments following the tragedy of September 11.
He sat in a consulting role on the White House Hate Crimes Task Force
throughout much of the Clinton Administration. Growing up I remember
marching in various cities, holding hands with Ralph Abernathy and others
singing “We Shall Overcome.” I remember hearing him preach
in an all black church about the need for equality and the danger inherent
in the work. I remember the death threats coming to our home and the
gasoline crosses burned on our front lawn. My father occupies three
pages in the middle of one of the Time – Life Books of the United
States and I simply pray that I can somehow live up to the legacy and
the tenacity by which he chose and chooses to live his life. He knew
that others were in need of resurrection and continues to live his life
as one who helps bring it.
I
remember sitting on my grandfather’s knee thrilled to watch as
he tried to teach me how to wiggle my ears. No small task given that
my nickname in elementary school was Dumbo. It wasn’t until two
years ago that I learned the story of my grandfather and began to understand
why my father was the kind of man that he was. My grandfather was a
Methodist lay pastor in Boston during the early years of the twentieth
century. He saw the squalor, the immigrants living on the street, the
children being overcome by disease and then met a man named Edgar Helms.
Helms was the founding pastor of the Church of All Nations in Boston.
Helms had begun an organization that sought to assist the massive immigrant
population by asking the rich to donate usable items and then distributed
those items to the poor. My grandfather saw an additional opportunity
to provide training to those without jobs. He convinced many of the
guilds in Boston to provide personnel to train homeless men and women
in skills that could provide them a living. Once one cadre was trained
they would then commit some of their time to train others. His hope
was to re-instill in them self esteem and self-reliance. For with the
training came a wage – minimal but a wage no less. He coined many
phrases like, “A hand up, not a handout.”
They
finally needed a name for the organization as it grew and so it was
my grandfather who coined the phrase the Boston Industries of Goodwill.
It was shortened sometime later to “Goodwill Industries.”
My grandfather was the first President and was the one who was central
in the expansion of it throughout the country. On this Father’s
Day, I am deeply proud of the heritage I find in these two fathers.
They gave of themselves for the needs of others both as pastors and
as followers of Jesus. Unless we find those places where we go to others
and help to lift them out of their poverty, their need, their ill-health,
we will not truly understand what it means to be members in this family
of faith.
(continued...)
"Adoption
into the Family of Faith" Sermon by Rev. Brad Beeman, June 19,
2005
So
I have to ask you on this Father’s Day…where are you in
need of healing? To whom will you turn once you recognize that need?
Turn to Christ and turn to the church for we are filled with lives
that have been healed. We continue to be a church in need of some
healing and I pray we allow ourselves opportunities built in trust
and in faith with each other to be healed by Christ. Secondly I ask,
what is your involvement? Where are you personally involved in the
resurrection of another? For some, it’s here represented in
three areas.
These
26 scholarships and these ASP members are a certainly part of what
we do for others. As a church and a Nursery School, we collected 57
layette kits and 54 medical kits and 6 Medical boxes for UMCOR. What
we have done is provided enough resources for an entire community
to be impacted by our efforts. There were those in this congregation
that felt that the goals were impossible. They were not and we can
continue to do more. I’m proud of The Bridge for tithing what
they have to the ASP team as the mission and outreach work they choose
to support. I’m proud to be a part of a church that has a UMW
that is so active in bringing healing to the lives of others. There
are those in this church that give of themselves in ways that are
more than amazing – you are examples to us all. But I will ask
again, where are you or where are we personally involved in bringing
resurrection to the life of another? For remember that it is the combination
of what lay beneath these two stories that gives us a clear sign of
what makes us healthy as Christian people. Wherever you may find yourself
on the theological spectrum, these two elements are essential pieces
of our faith journeys – being healed and helping others. I continue
to pray for a church where we can ask each other, “how is it
with your soul” knowing that the answer will be real, and deep,
honest, and personal. I pray that we can continually seek ways and
places to lift people out of their places of need and offer them resurrection
– as individuals and as a church.
Finally, to those receiving scholarships this morning, those who recognized
a need within themselves for support - congratulations. And to those
now preparing to leave for Appalachia, my hope is that every one of
you clearly recognizes that you are going not only to assist others,
but that in doing the physical work of Christ for another, your souls
and your lives will be changed. It’s what happens when we assist
others. For it is in giving that we receive. Recognize the need in
yourselves as you go and the work will be that much richer. For us
as a church – let’s keep looking, keep praying, keep finding
those needs within ourselves and seek healing and those needs outside
of ourselves and keep offering. This is a place of adoption, of healing,
of Christ. Amen?
Amen!
© Brad Beeman, 2005. Permission is given for brief quotation with
attribution. All other rights reserved.
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