In the Spirit of the Lord

Rev. Harriette Cross First United Methodist Church of Wilmington Romans 8:1-11 In the Spirit of the Lord 7th Sunday After Pentecost Year A Prelude Welcome Call to Worship One: The Word is a lamp and a light. The word illuminates our life. Many: We welcome The Word with praise and thanksgiving. One: The Word comes from the mouth of God and accomplishes its purpose. Many: We hear The Word that loves and embraces, challenges and convicts, renews and restores. One: The Word is life, offers a future with hope, and creates peace in the midst of the storm. Many: We receive The Word among us with rejoicing. We worship The Word in spirit and in truth! (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Invocation Creator, your presence among us illuminates our lives. Make us fertile soil, receptive to the seeds planted by your word. Nourish us with Living Water and grow us through the energy of your empowered and healing rays of sunshine. Let us encounter you afresh as we gather in community. May our worship show our love for you and each other. Make your presence known to us and through us for your glory. Amen (United Church of Christ Worship Ways, Rev. Dr. Cheryl Lindsay) Song Spirit of the Living God UMH 393 Children’s Sermon By Lois Parker Edstrom Person presenting the lesson may want to sit on a stool demonstrating a “time-out.” Have you ever done something you shouldn’t have done and been asked by your mom or dad to stand in a corner or sit on a stool and think about what you have done? It is not fun to have a time-out. While you are sitting on that stool you may think of all the other things you would rather be doing – playing with your friends, riding your bike, or reading a book. But, when we make bad choices we must learn about consequences (the cost of our bad choices). The Bible tells us that the Spirit of Christ Jesus sets us free from sin (bad choices) and this applies to adults as well as children. When we let the Spirit of Jesus live in us, it is like being released from a time-out. We are free to be grateful, worship God, and enjoy the life he has given us. As we go about our day thinking of behavior and activities that are pleasing to God, we make better choices. The Bible tells us that “the mind of the Spirit is life and peace” (8:6). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible Copyright 2008, Richard Niell Donovan Responsive Reading Psalm 119 #840 Baptism Scripture Romans 8:1-11 Prayer for illumination In the reading of you Word, may we be given light to see. May your word rest in our hearts and minds and in so doing, transform us into your faithful people. Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Tara Bulger) Sermon In the Spirit of the Lord As the lights in the movie theater dimmed, a young man loaded down with popcorn, cokes and candy paced up and down the aisle, scanning the darkened rows. It was obvious he was looking for the person or persons with whom he had come. After three or four unsuccessful trips he finally stopped and asked loudly, "Does anybody here recognize me?" (1) It's horrible not to be recognized isn't it? It's horrible to feel alone and cut off. Being recognized means you're connected, part of the family and that someone cares, someone is watching out for you. And that matters because Family matters. Does anyone know who I am? We ask that question every Sunday. The challenges of life pull us out of ourselves. When we come into the presence of God – it puts things into perspective. When we come to church we are reminded of God’s love for us. Furthermore, when we participate in a baptism service – we get a special opportunity to put on Christ. When we let christ into our lives – that makes all of the difference in the world. You know, it is funny but there are times when things work out perfectly. Serendipity is Gods way of reminding us that God is here and watches every thing going on. Our scripture for this morning is perfect for a baptism, and a baptism is the perfect illustration to help us understand what Paul is saying to us. B. A United Methodist Minister in Vermont tells how the Sunday School Superintendent of his Church was registering the children in Sunday School and she asked two brothers their ages and birthday. The bolder of the two boys said, "We're both seven. My birthday is April 8, 1976, and my brother's is April 20, 1976." The Superintendent was a little confused and said, "But that's impossible!" The quiet brother answered, "No, it's not, one of us is adopted." Before she was even aware that she had asked, the words were out, "Which one?" The boys looked at each other and smiled. Then the bolder one said, "We asked Dad that awhile ago, but he just said he loved us, and he couldn't remember any more which one was adopted." (3) Through our faith in Christ we are made heirs with Christ. That means that we have equal access to God. We are seen as equal heirs with Christ. There is no longer any distinction between us and Christ. We are brothers and sisters with Christ Jesus. God just loves us and can't remember anymore which ones of us are adopted. Why? Because Family Matters to God. And God wants each of us in His Family. That's what faith in Christ does for us. It puts us in God's family. We can hold our head high because we belong. We belong to God's family. We know our value, we know our worth. Not by worldly standards but by God's standards. Vera and Roxi are cousins born two days apart, but they are forever connected together in baptism. Today they both take on the identity as a child of God. They are siblings with christ. They are both claimed by the Holy Spirit. Today we celebrate the fact that God has wonderful things in store for their life. It Is such an honor to be witnesses to their faith. I have always said that Romans 8 is the one chapter in the bible where our entire faith is summed up. I feel like I preach on Romans 8 every year – this scripture comes up a lot. But it is not every Sunday that we get to put this scripture into action in the life of our children, our families and our church. Paul’s message to us – there are 2 ways to live our lives. We can live in the flesh or the spirit. The flesh ad spirit are two different attitudes. We can order our lives according to what is happening in the moment, or we can look at the bigger picture. We can be selfish and just life for ourselves or we can live in community and do what it best for all. We can live self centered or God centered. In the scripture Paul refers to a selfish life. Author Patsy Clairmont tells of the time her husband surprised her with two lovely apricot-colored rosebuds. Over the next few days, one of the rosebuds opened up and began to bloom. It was beautiful. The other rosebud stayed tightly closed. By the end of the week, the first rose opened into a full, gorgeous flower, while the second rose remained a small bud. By the second week, both roses began to wilt and shed their petals. As Patsy contemplated her flowers, she felt sad that one rose had never opened up. It had never revealed its greatest beauty. It had died in the same form it had lived: closed. How similar to those roses are we humans? How many of us never grow to our full potential? How many of us never display the full glory of God? How many of us stay tightly closed against the world all our lives, and die never knowing what we could have achieved? (6) So it is with those who never open their lives to the Spirit of the living God. Instead of beginning a relationship with God, they take unacceptable risks. Without even being aware of it, they live in rebellion against all that God has for them. And thus they never fulfill their full God-give potential. Isn't it time you take off the old patch of sin and put on the new patch of the Spirit of God? All of us are children of God. When we put Christ into our lives we get a boost of power and potential. We have a chance to live life to its fullest. When we open the connection between God and us, then we open our lives. Jesus, considered himself so close to God that he called God Abba – or daddy. There were a lot of people who were upset, because they felt that he had no right to claim a relationship that close with the creator of all life. Jesus shows us what it mean to be adopted into the family of God. The challenge then, as presented to us by Paul, is to be sure that we permit the Spirit to dwell within us. It is Paul’s quest that we all live spiritual lives. It is Paul’s mandate that we accept the disciples required to maintain a spiritual life. It is Paul’s inquiry of what will be the orientation of our attitude — flesh or Spirit. And Paul is very forthright in declaring that if we allow Jesus to dwell within our souls, we will be spiritual individuals. As Paul writes, “since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” And it does take a proper attitude to be spiritual. It takes focus. It takes discipline. It takes desire. It means we engage in all the spiritual opportunities traditionally offered by the church. We engage in our own journey of personal prayer, Bible reading, and reading Christian literature When Carl Erskine, a former pitcher with the LA Dodgers, first came to the big leagues, he was asked a question by owner Branch Rickey. Rickey asked, "Do you go to church?" Carl said that he did. Rickey responded, "I ask that question of every young man that I sign. The reason that I ask it is that I've found if a person will discipline his life to sit in a place of worship and get his spiritual values in place, that person will develop a quiet confidence that he cannot get anywhere else." St. Paul writes, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship." (v. 15) When Ernest Hemingway was struggling to make it as an author, he had a stroke of bad luck. He lost a suitcase containing all his manuscripts--manuscripts he had been working on for months and which he had been planning to publish in a book. He couldn't conceive of redoing his work. He shared his predicament with his friend, poet Ezra Pound. Pound called it a stroke of good fortune! Pound assured Hemingway that when he rewrote the stories, he would forget the weak parts. The new version would be better than the old. He encouraged Hemingway to start over with a sense of optimism and confidence. Hemingway did rewrite the stories and eventually became one of the major figures in American literature. (2) All Hemingway needed was to hear someone say that he could do it. That is all we need sometimes in our lives. Our problems loom so large. But they are not insurmountable. All we need is the confidence to tackle them. All great people have faced times when their confidence waned. When Abraham Lincoln was tragically killed, several items were found in his pockets: an embroidered handkerchief, a watch, and some confederate money. But most interesting of all was a ragged copy of a newspaper article. The article had been written during a time of great controversy and turmoil in the country. In the text of the article, the writer extolled Lincoln's virtues, approving of the decisions he had made in office. (3) Lincoln was one of the great men of history. But he needed, as we all need, some assurance that he was on the right track. We all need a word of encouragement at times. We need to know our lives matter--that we are not hopeless. The Good News for the day is that we are daughters and sons of God. We can take confidence that we are children of the King--offspring of the Most High. When we are willing to live life in the spirit – we have that little voice encouraging us onto be the best that we can. Most of our children have probably seen the Disney Studio’s animated movie Toy Story. Two of the characters are Woody, a toy cowboy and Buzz Lightyear, a “space ranger” action figure. Early in the movie Woody confronts Buzz Lightyear with the fact that he is not really a space hero. Woody shouts, “You’re not a space ranger! You’re an action figure a child’s plaything.” After failing in an attempt to fly, Buzz realizes the truth of Woody’s statement. Grief-stricken and disillusioned, Buzz hangs his head in resignation, declaring, “I’m just a stupid, little, insignificant toy.” Later in the movie Woody tries to undo the damage he has done. He seeks to comfort his friend by underscoring the love of the boy who owns them both. He says to Buzz, “You must not be thinking clearly. Look, over in that house, there’s a kid who thinks you’re the greatest, and it’s not because you’re a space ranger; it’s because you’re his.” As Buzz lifts his foot, he sees a label affixed to the bottom of his little shoe. There in black permanent ink is the name of the little boy to whom he belongs. Seeing the image of his owner, Buzz breaks into a smile and takes on a new determination and confidence. He knows the little boy who owns him treasures him deeply. (6) As we leave this place today, I hope that we will do so with a new determination and confidence because of the One who has adopted us as His own children. “For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children . . .” Life in the Spirit of Christ gives us protection, confidence and strength to do what we need to. Every moment – we are faced with ways of dealing with life. We can choose the way the world sees things, or we can choose the ways of God. We always have two choices, but one one leads to life. This is my final story. Stuart Briscoe, pastor of ElmbrookChurch outside Milwaukee, illustrates the power of feeding and starving with an observation about cuckoo birds. Cuckoos aren't merely the obnoxious noisemakers heard at the top of the hour in certain clocks. They are certifiably real. Two species, in fact, nest in America. To be more accurate, cuckoos rarely make their own nests. When it's time for a female cuckoo to lay her eggs, she will scout the local territory until she finds the nest of another bird that already has eggs -- often the nest of a thrush -- and wait until that mother bird is absent. Then she will dart in to the nest and deposit at least one egg of her own. Thrushes are apparently not overly skilled in algebra, for when the mother returns, she doesn't notice that there is an addition to her nest. She continues to go about the work of hatching the eggs. What happens when the nestlings appear? There are four tiny thrushes and one lumbering cuckoo, two to three times larger than the other birds. What happens at mealtime? The big bird gets the worm. The cuckoo continues to grow while the thrushes fight for survival. Briscoe remarks, "When I was a kid, you could always find a baby cuckoo's nest. You walked along a hedgerow until you found dead little thrushes, which the cuckoo throws out one at a time." God's children have two sets of desire in one nest. Which one shall we feed? We must feed the new desires and starve the old ones. We must feed the ones that strengthen our walk with Christ and starve the ones that have always taken us down. The more we choose the new desires, the stronger the Holy Spirit grows our personal resolve to choose the new desires the next time as well. We won't always succeed. Trying to become a spiritual person in a fallen world -- trying specifically to think, feel and live as Christ's person -- will always to some degree be exasperating. But through God's gift of grace, Christ's victory over sin, and the indwelling presence of the Spirit, we can know that we truly have the power to change. CSS Publishing Company, Sermons for Sundays after Pentecost, by Glenn McDonald Do you know Who you are? And Whose you are? Amen. Song Hymn of Promise UMH 707 Prayer God who plants seeds of hope and justice within our lives, we are so grateful for this community of faith and for all, anywhere, who hunger and thirst for your healing, reconciling word. You know all the things that are on our hearts today and you bring us together in love and support. We ask your healing mercies with those who struggle with illness of every kind, with feeling lost and marginalized; for those who mourn and for whom the darkness of sorrow enshrouds them. We ask your growth-producing love for all those who celebrate and rejoice today. Be with each one of us and all those whom we have named in our hearts before you. Help us to reach out to each other in compassion and support, for we ask these things in Jesus’ name. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Lord’s Prayer Stewardship Moment Summertime, and we can see the results of what happens when we “scatter sow” – that is, if we have a handful of seed and toss it out. Jesus shared the parable, and an explanation of it. Leaning into this parable, let’s think about what our giving says about the kind of “soil” we are. For some of us, the idea of giving financially to the church is absurd; we’re “hard”ly able to do what we want. Giving away any money at all seems crazy. For others, we’re willing to give a little when the appeal is great, but see no point in making weekly contributions; we’re easily distracted by the allure of other things to do with our money. Yet others agree giving regularly to the mission of the church is important, but we find there’s a big demand on our finances for basic bills, for treat times, and for participating in the “shop, see more, shop more” response to all the advertising present in our daily lives. And, for others, regular giving (and even sacrificial giving) gives us pleasure, counter-acts our “hoarding/stingy” genes, and builds up opportunities for caring for “the least, the lost, the lonely” of our sisters and brothers. Dolly Parton, world-renowned performer, grew up in poverty and in a strict Christian church. For years after becoming a wealthy woman, she has quietly shared financially, recognizing it’s one way of living her best spiritual self. She provides free books for young children (one a month for birth to age 5). She developed a program to encourage Tennessee youth to stay in school. She supported hundreds of folks for six months after they lost their homes in a wildfire. What kind of “soil” would you judge her to be? What about you? What kind of “soil” are you? Prayer of Thanksgiving Generous God, we thank you for the abundance in which we live. Speak to us through your word. Help us hear the challenge of Jesus’ parable, and respond as “good soil”. Receive what has been given today, Creator God, and work through this congregation and our giving to bring forth 30, 60 or 100 fold for the ministries to which you call us. AMEN (Disciples of Christ Center for Faith and Giving) Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook May we each go out to love and care, to find the Spirit’s leading and join in its work and to bless the world as we have been so richly blessed. In the name of our Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer, Amen. (Presbyterian Outlook, Tara Bulger) Joys and Concerns Benediction As you have received the seeds of faith and hope; go now into God’s world to scatter the seeds of reconciliation and peace, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN. (United Methodist Ministry Matters, Nancy Townley) Additional Illustrations

A vessel to be filled

July 10, 2011
Year A
5th Sunday after Pentecost
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9; 18-23
“A Vessel to be Filled”




Introduction: Trying to find meaning in a story
The Wrong Question: What Does It Mean?
For a moment, let's put this story to one side and hear another story. It concerns a young anthropologist named Connie who works among aboriginal people in Australia. The community where she lives has a rich tradition of storytelling. Everyone gathers at night, a story is told, and then another, and another. Connie feels extraordinarily privileged when she is asked to join in this activity.

The first story told that evening is about the animal ancestor of this community and its adventures at the beginning of time. The story overflows with detail, action, imagery.

At the end of the story, Connie is delighted. "May I ask a question?" she says. "What does it mean?"

All eyes are upon her. The elder looks at her gravely and says, "That is the one question you cannot ask." A long time passes before she is invited again. She has asked the wrong question.

"What does it mean?" was the wrong question for Connie to ask about the aboriginal myth. It may also be the wrong question for us to ask about the story of the sower, or any of the stories told by Jesus. "What does it mean?" is the wrong question if we think that by having an answer, we can somehow get a handle on this story, domesticate it, make it safe. The stories Jesus tells are not subject to our control. He tells these stories so that we can be transformed. He tells these stories, not so that we can ask questions about them, but so that the stories can ask questions of us.

Charles Hoffacker, What Kind of Soil Are You, What Kind of Sower?

We tend to ask that question a lot of ourselves, our lives and of God, and yes even of Jesus - what does it all mean? We want the bible to have all of the answers to our lives. And in a sense it does and in a sense it doesn’t.

It is not Jesus intention to give us the answers, but to give us something to think about, believe it or not, he trusts us enough to be able to come up with our own answers – if we have the right guidance.


Romans 8 the answers to all questions
I chose the scripture romans 8 in honor of Marj. A member of my last church, who told me that romans 8 was her favorite chapter in the bible, because she felt that it contained all of the answers to living a life of faith.
Verse 28 says that all things work together for those who love God.
Verse 31 asks if God is for us, then who can be against us. Verse 35 asks who can separate us from the love of God? verse 37 tells us that we are more than conquerors. Pretty powerful words at the end of the chapter.
Our scripture for today comes from the beginning of the chapter – where Paul starts with the beginning of our faith – there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Life in the spirit, Life in the flesh
Throughout the whole chapter, Paul talks about two warring forces in all of our lives and in the world. There is the life of the flesh and the life of the spirit. Life in the flesh is not a really a life of overconcern about bodily satisfaction. It is a more a life of overconcern about the things of the world. About what is here on earth. It is a life which leads to death and to sin. Life in the spirit is a life concerned with the things of God and heaven. It is a life that Christ was leading us to. It is a life that leads to eternal life. We all have a choice – we can follow the things of the flesh – and stay stuck in the bad things of our lives, the wounds that have happened to us, the things that people have done to us, the meaning of this life. Or we can chose to be transcendent – knowing that with God’s help all things will come to pass and we will get over them.
The thing to remember however, is that life in the spirit and life in the flesh are not about us – but about cosmic forces the control the universe. It is a battle in life that will never end.
We also have to remember that Paul is telling us that we will never ever conquer that battle. None of us will ever live totally a life in the flesh, none of us will ever live a life totally in the spirit. We spend our lives always somewhere in between the two. Romans is the place where Paul talks about how he does the things that his heart tells him is wrong, but he does them anyway. He also talks about a thorn in his side that he has to life with. He never tells us what that thorn is, but the point that he want us all to remember is that suffering is a part of life. As long as we are in this fleshly body – there is something wrong, there is something to worry about, there is something to learn to live with, there is a reason to go forward. We don’t always have control over the circumstances of our lives, but we do have control over how we deal with them.
If we are in Christ Jesus – then we have the mind of Christ and the spirit of Christ. Romans8: 11 says of the spirit of him who raised Jesus dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Christ gives us the power to live in the flesh
Because Jesus Christ came to the world to live our life, was crucified, dead buried and rose from the dead. Even though we are fleshly people. We don’t have to live in the flesh. We can always choose between the life of the flesh and the life of the spirit.

Hearing the gospel as fertile soil
The good news of the gospel this morning is that not only are there two ways to live our lives. There are also different ways to hear the gospel of the lord. We can choose to be a fly by night hearer – who hears the word one minute – and pursuing the desires of the flesh the next, we can be a fair weather hearer – who hears the word when it is good for us, but forgetting it when it is not. We can be a too busy hearer – who hears the word, but is too busy to apply it to our lives, or we can be a productive hearer – that not only transforms our own lives, but has learned to transform the lives of others. Just by how we listen and obey the bible and what Jesus says.
Jesus tells the parable of the sower to the crowds the he was teaching. The disciples asks him what does it mean – why would he tell that story – what are we supposed to get out of it. The standard explanation of the story is that God is the sower, the word of God is the seed, and that we are the soil in which the word falls. But the point is that it means that and it means so much more.

Story of church clothes pantry – and planting seeds
There is the story of a church – a small church in a changing community- which started to see its membership declining. They noticed that there were no children in the Sunday school and wanted to do something to attract new members.
They decided that as an outreach project – they turned their Sunday school rooms into a clothing center. They would collect old clothes and give them away to anyone who needed them. Anyone could take as many clothes as they needed.
One winter day – a mother came with her many children. She said that she needed clothes. The kids took bags and bags of clothes. The church realized that this was a needy family – so they asked the pastor and some others to stop by to visit the family. While at the house – they noticed a pile of clothes that they had taken so much time to fold – being used as bedding for the dog. One lady noticed a dress that had belonged to her late grandmother torn and crumpled on the floor. As they were walking back to the church – they decided that the clothing ministry was a waste of time. People did not care anyway. And the help that you gave most people was wasted, because there were ungrateful about what you do for them.
Until one snowy day a winter later – when the pastor noticed an old beat up pickup truck in the parking lot before church service. The pickup was plowing the parking lot – when the pastor asked why – it was one of the older children of the family who had taken all of those clothes – the young man was now eighteen. He replied that the church had helped out his family when they were down on their luck. Now that they were on their feet and doing a little bit better, this was their way of helping out.
For many years later – the family plowed the churches parking lot. Most parishioners never even noticed.
In this story, the church members were the sower and the seeds were planted within the lives of those they served. It is not our responsibility to make the seeds grow – the life is inside of the seed not inside of our actions. We may never know the difference that our Christianity makes to those whose lives we touch. But it does indeed make a difference. Our job is to plant freely and abundantly – just as God has done for us.

The Mystery of God
Isaiah 55:10-11 says “My word is like the snow and the rain that come down from the sky to water the earth. They make the crops grow and provide for planting and food to eat. So also will be the word that O speak – it will not fail to do what I plan for it; it will do everything I send it to do.” The wonder and mystery of God is contained in the seeds that we plant for God. Why did Jesus tell parables with no real definite meaning – because he understood that God was a mystery that we have to experience for ourselves. The life is in the seed itself, not in the sowing.

Jesus trusts that what is planted will bloom
Speaking of parable – we may have heard of the parable of the rich young ruler. He asked what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus told him to sell everything that he had and to give it to the poor. He told Jesus that was more than he could bear. Jesus did not argue with him, or try to convince him otherwise. Jesus walked away. The seed had been planted, all there was to do now was to patiently wait for it to grow within the heart of the hearer. The seed of God, the seed of life, the seed of the eternal, is somewhere inside of us all. What does it take to make it grow? Let us pray….