As we were
coming into worship last Sunday, several of you sought me out to tell
me the devastating news that Malibu Presbyterian Church had burned
to the ground. By now we’ve seen the images on the news, the
charred remains, the smoldering embers. Later that day, I heard their
pastor interviewed and he said all the right things—like “the
church is more than a building,” and “nothing can stop
us from being the people of God” and that sort of thing. I’ll
confess to you that I wondered how he was really feeling inside. I
wondered if he was just saying what you’re supposed to say in
that moment, or if he really meant it. I wondered how I would feel
if I had to stand in front of the charred remains of our beautiful
sanctuary and say with conviction: “it was just a building.”
But then later that day,
I heard some of the church members interviewed, a couple of folks
the reporter had happened upon. Their response was not scripted or
official. And you know what? They said the same thing, even more eloquently
than their pastor. They said: “we’re strong in the Lord
and we’re going to go right on serving God’s people.”
And then, the next day, Brad told me that he had heard that even as
their sanctuary was still smoldering, the embers still red hot, that
congregation was reaching out to serve the many residents of Malibu
who had had to evacuate their homes. They had already committed to
provide supplies to the evacuation centers in their area so that people
would be cared for and that people in their time of need and fear
would be comforted by God’s love. They were serving, in the
midst of their own tragedy and despair.
What a perfect illustration
of the real meaning of the verse from 1 Peter, the theme of our stewardship
campaign this year: “as each one has received a special gift,
employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold
grace of God.” You see this whole congregation seems to get
the ways in which they are truly gifted, through the grace of God.
Their special gift was not their beautiful building. Their gifts were
big hearts, hearts for service and praise, forming them into stewards
of the manifold grace of God, gifts to be employed in serving one
another, no matter what the circumstance.
We can truly thank God
today for the witness of the Malibu Presbyterian Church in the midst
of these devastating fires. And we can learn from their clarity about
the gifts with which God has blessed them, gifts for service, gifts
for faithfulness, gifts for witness and for outreaching love.
The theme for our stewardship
campaign this year is taken from a letter from a Christian leader
in Rome was most likely sent to Christian communities in Asia Minor,
that is, modern day northern Turkey, sometime in the last third of
the first century A.D. Those Christians were being persecuted, persecuted
for adopting values and life styles that separated them from the larger
society and caused “the powers that be” to become suspicious
of them.
Perhaps some of you saw
a recent program on the History Channel about the underground city
of Cappadocia in this part of the world, where some of these Christians
lived. It is believed that they were started by the ancient Hittites
around 2,000 B.C., and were then enlarged during early Christian times
to provide refuge from invaders and persecutors. Some of these underground
cities became huge—one is believed to have held up to twenty
thousand people and was as many as eighteen to twenty stories deep.
What was it that got those
early Christians into so much trouble? Well, they actually believed
that every one of them was gifted by God through the power of the
Holy Spirit. And that they were to share those gifts freely in service
to one another. The stakes were high—life and death. And what
was it about gifts that was so threatening? It was the belief that
every one was gifted and every one was going to share their gift in
such a way that the Christian community would be strengthened and
God’s people would be served and God’s kingdom would be
made a little more real on this earth. Those early Christians even
believed that God gave such gifts to slaves and to women oh, and that
risked upsetting the whole social order. You see, it was a very hierarchical
and patriarchal society in which they lived and well, if everyone
had a gift and was intent upon using it, anything could happen.
And it did. Together they
became an amazing community of faith. The hungry were fed. The poor
heard good news. Captives were set free. The blind began to see. And
God’s people persevered, sometimes living for centuries underground
where they could be safe. Today, we can employ our God-given gifts
openly, and very often, wondrous things happen as a result.
I hope you have all received
the first Stewardship letter that was mailed out last week. Jack Fry,
the Chair of our Church Council, and I compiled a list of all the
amazing things that have transpired here this past year in mission
and ministry. I went back through all the Sentinel newsletters for
the whole year and pulled out the highlights, all of which testify
to the gifts God is showering upon each of us and what can happen
when we employ our gifts in wondrous ways. Just a few highlights:
• The launching of
the Family Place Food Pantry through the work of our Church and Community
Committee
• Youth and adult work teams to Bethany UMC in New Orleans
• A total of 300+ Prayer Quilts in the year celebrating the
300th birthday of Charles Wesley
• The 10th Anniversary of Family Place
• Our new Communion Server Ministry serving shut-ins and hospitalized
members;
• Another stellar year of music including concerts, weekly worship
and the arrival of our new organist, Christoph Bull
• Our 2nd Worship Renewal Grant from the Calvin Institute
• A thriving Preschool
• The approaching completion of the renovation of Simkins Hall
in the Shelby Center
• Our First Annual Blessing of the Animals attended by many
from the community
• A widely successful Vacation Bible School
• A clothing drive to benefit the students of the Esperanza
School in South LA
• A new Gospel/Bluegrass music group
• Our first art display in the renovated Fireside Room
• A new Youth Lounge
• Hosting the awesome Keiskamma Altarpiece for ten days in our
sanctuary
In powerful ways, we are
sharing the special gifts with which God has graced us in service
to one another and to God’s people in this community and around
the world. You heard it in the testimonies of our Laity/Missions Sunday
last week. We are a strong a vital community of faith and service.
And God has much more in store for us.
Nothing could bring that home more beautifully this morning than the
baptism of Bethany Lee Worley. On this very day when the Bethany UMC
is celebrating its 50th Anniversary, a true triumph over hardship
and adversity, and our fifth work team is there worshipping with them
and staying on to work throughout next week putting up sheet rock
to continue in the rebuilding of that community…on this very
day we baptize Bethany Lee, named for Bethany UMC. Named, as her parents
Jenn and Charlie say, because Jennifer was two months pregnant when
they went on our first New Orleans work team. “The experiences
we had while we were there and the amazing people that we met in New
Orleans touched our lives so much that we decided to name our daughter
after the church. We both feel very strongly about helping others
and know that the areas hit by Hurricane Katrina needed our help after
the storm and continue to need our help now.”
Could there be any more
clear connection between our baptism and the lives of service into
which the grace of God calls us? Thank you, Jenn and Charlie, for
sharing your gifts with the people of Bethany and for sharing baby
Bethany’s story so that we might all rejoice and reflect on
the many gifts God has given us.
Our ancestors in the faith
who had to live hidden below ground could never forget the power of
their God-given gifts. Maybe the problem with living free and above
ground is that sometimes we forget just how gifted we are and how
precious our gifts are, every one of us, in myriad way, sharing God’s
love. We forget just how big are God’s hopes for us, God’s
dream for the church to be the church.
In great wisdom, God created
the church in such a way that it has all the gifts it needs. God pours
out the Holy Spirit in each baptism so that each of us is given just
the gift God needs for the good of the whole. I am convinced that
the challenge for us is to believe that and to live as if it is true
at all times, in all places, in all circumstances.
Do you believe that God
has granted you a special gift to be used in service to one another?
Hear again those words from 1Peter: “as each one has received
a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards
of the manifold grace of God.”
Friends, it’s high time for you to bring your gift up above
ground, into the daylight, and share it with others. God has gifted
you and God will reveal to you all the potential within you. Our gifts
are big hearts, hearts for service and praise, forming us into stewards
of the manifold grace of God, gifts employed in serving one another.
God has big hopes and dreams for each of us and all of us and for
the church.
Let’s continue to “Be the hope!”
Amen.
©Patricia
Farris, 2007. Permission is given for brief quotation with attribution.
All other rights reserved.
"Do
You Believe God Has Gifted You?"