To
be Humble in Heart
Sermon preached by the Reverend Patricia Farris
July 3, 2005
Scripture:
Matthew: 11:28-30
I
want to first thank all of our wonderful Lay Speakers for providing
such a powerful worship service here last Sunday. Each did such a
beautiful job. We are blessed to have such talented and faithful folks
in our midst.
It is so good
to be back home after a very busy time away. I have been immersed
in worship for two solid weeks, first with all the Grant Directors
of the Worship Renewal Grants from the Calvin Institute and then with
the Fellowship of United Methodists in Music and the Worship Arts
from the Southeast. The Grant Directors represented all kinds of congregations
from all over the country—Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian,
Catholic, Church of God in Christ, AME, Assemblies of God…churches
big and small, progressive and evangelical, urban and rural, brand
new and “mature” such as ours.
Then the United
Methodists, some 1200 of them, came together from all across the southern
states, again from churches big and small, urban and rural. That gathering,
which brings together pastors, music directors and choirs, was about
1/3 children and youth, gathering each year for this week of worshipping,
learning and making music. As preacher for the week, I delivered five
sermons on the Blessed Life based on the Beatitudes and the music
and power of that worship was awesome.
It’s a bit
daunting to look out and see 1200 hundred faces you don’t know,
though we did form beautiful friendships as the week went along. They
do talk funny down there. One guy told me I talk too fast—but
that’s because they’re as slow as molasses just getting
out one sentence! One man from South Carolina mirrored back to me
what I had felt at the beginning of the week as a Westerner in the
midst of so many Southerners. He was laughing as he said this, but
I knew he was confessing the truth. He said: “You know, we’re
from South Carolina and in South Carolina we feel like we’re
the heart of this country and there isn’t much we don’t
know.” He said “When I saw that the preacher was coming
from California, I thought ‘What does anybody from California
have to say to us South Carolinians?’” We shared a laugh
in the honesty of his revelation. Then he went on to say to me: “I
am so grateful that you have come to be with us this week. We have
all been truly blessed.”
(continued...)
"To
be Humble in Heart" Sermon by Rev. Patricia Farris, July 3,
2005
One woman asked me to pray for her son fighting in Iraq. One man told
me about his son on the police force in New Orleans, about how he’d
injured a man while trying to subdue him, and how awful he felt and
how scared he’d been. He asked me to pray for them. Another woman,
in tears, told me about her friend who’d been with us for the
week, starting chemo therapy the day they got home, and how the week
had given her so much peace and strength to face into it. A few of the
youth sought me out to talk with me about the sermons and one told me
about a metal band she thought I should hear whose songs echo the sermon
themes.
Out
of it all, I was richly blessed in two very profound ways, and they
speak to us this morning as we worship together, as Americans on this
fourth of July weekend and as Christians as we share in the Lord’s
Supper as we do each month.
I
came away from both experiences humbled and profoundly inspired to know
that the Holy Spirit is alive and well in churches all across this land.
If you just listen to the media or hear us talk sometimes, you’d
think the church was going to hell in a handbasket—declining,
arguing among ourselves, not relevant, misguided, self-serving….And
to the extent that we have bought into that negativity and that pessimism,
I now see so clearly that we have been in cahoots with the Devil himself,
tearing down the Body of Christ, and hampering its witness in the world.
Instead,
I have seen how the Holy Spirit is breathing life and energy and creativity
and palpable faithfulness into God’s people. It doesn’t
matter what kind of church it is or where it is or how big it is or
what kind of resources it has or the challenges it’s facing. All
kinds of God’s people want their worship to be more faithful,
more beautiful. They’re eager to bring all their gifts to the
table. They want their children and youth to feel welcome and included,
not just on a few special days, but all the time. They want to sing
the Lord’s song in old and new ways. Worship renewal is happening
all around us, all across the country. Most of it isn’t big or
flashy or newsworthy. It’s just the way the Spirit renews the
church, generation after generation. We need not fear or doubt. We just
need to open our hearts and trust that God will pour out a full measure
of the Spirit upon us to make the dry bones come to life and dance.
The
second thing I learned—again--and what a blessing it is—is
how much more there is that unites us across this country than divides
us. OK, there is a bit of truth to saying that Californians are weird
and Southerners are…fill in the blank. But again, the media is
tearing us apart and pitting us against each other by portraying us
as fundamentally divided and different. You know, the Founding Fathers
sought to “form a more perfect union” and that is still
our task as citizens today, let alone as United Methodists, to work
to form a more perfect union. To do that, we have to dig down underneath
all the hype and distortion and rediscover that we are all people—with
hearts and hurts and hopes. We are all people with families and children
and parents and jobs, and all the challenges that come with all of that.
We are people trying to make it and hang on with integrity and dignity.
East, West, North, South, we are so much more alike than we are different
and we (continued...)
"To
be Humble in Heart" Sermon by Rev. Patricia Farris, July 3,
2005
are so much stronger and more beautiful when we embrace our union
and stand with each other and offer each other strength and hope.
To us this day,
all of us, Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and
carrying heavy burdens and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you
will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is
light.”
I know that as we come to the table this morning, some among us are
weary. Some are carrying heavy burdens—the ones we talk about
and the ones known only to God. Some of us are so weighed down by
negativity and cynicism that the wellspring of our soul has gone dry.
Some are so fearful for our nation and for our church that fear has
constricted our hearts and soured our joy. Some just feel weighed
down by life itself.
To
all of us this morning, Jesus is saying ‘Come to me and I will
give you rest, rest for your souls.’ To weary souls in churches
all across this land, Jesus is saying: Come. Come to my table. As
you come, lift up your hearts and offer yourselves again into the
life-giving power of God. As you come, lift up your heads and look
around. See how the Holy Spirit is moving and working throughout the
church to bring forth new life. As you come, know that you are part
of a great big faith community that is praying for you this day. As
you come, let yourself trust that God is at work in your life and
in this world and in the church.
Come,
people of God. Come to the table and find new life.
© Patricia E. Farris, 2005. Permission is given for brief quotation
with attribution. All other rights reserved.
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