The Church at the Intersection

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The Church at the Intersection

Rev. Nathan Hill

 

Today, my goal with this sermon - the one thing I want you to know - is that God is up to something exciting at University Christian Church.

And what a perfect day, on Pentecost Sunday, to tell that story.

You could consider this kind of like our own State of the Church address - although, you don’t have to stand up and applaud, unless the Spirit moves.

Pentecost Sunday comes fifty days after the joy of resurrection, Easter Sunday. That’s what Pentecost literally means - “fiftieth day”. In our scripture from Acts, we heard the significance of this moment in God’s continuing movement into the world - the Holy Spirit, like a gusting wind, blows through this group of disciples who had been waiting, just like Jesus told them to, for God’s next act. And suddenly, no CGI special movie effects needed, something like tongues of flame light up these ordinary Jesus followers, and they begin to proclaim a message of good news to the bustling, packed intersections of Jerusalem.

God had good timing - it was festival time in Jerusalem. There were people from everywhere - Rome, Capadocia, Pamphylia, Libya, Mesopotamia, Egypt.. even Takoma Park. They spoke every language under the sun and had come with the intent to go up to the temple and worship the One True God.

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Why We Make Promises


Photo credit: kconnors from morguefile.com

I am in South Korea, where it is Sunday morning, thinking about the wonderful bunch of people who are my congregation. A death in the family brought us away to Incheon instead. I am grateful, because my friend and colleague, Rev. James Ellis III, is preaching in my place on short notice. No doubt, he’s going to share something exciting.

I had planned to use a chapter from “The Awakening of Hope” by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove to invite us think about stewardship from a different angle - specifically “why we make promises” in the first place. The chapter floored me when I first read it. I hadn’t though of promises as being part of our stewardship, but more than that, it is also a practice that as faithful people we claim as central to our identity.

A central story to the entire Bible is that God does not stay distant from Creation but moves into relationship with us. And God does not just sort of offer these lifeless sets of laws for us to live by but makes promises with people. It’s a pretty remarkable thing. And the promises are pretty much one-sided. God doesn’t get much out of the deals.

But over and over again, God promises not to forsake us, to provide for us, to journey with us, and to be our God.

In return, we promise to claim God as ours. We promise to treat each other as decently as we can. We promise to live set apart from other cultures. We promise to stick together and stick to God.

As Hartgrove writes in the chapter, “To say ‘I do’ in a world marked by infidelity is to stand out as a living sign that faithfulness is possible. It is possible because we know a God who makes promises and keeps them.”

You don’t have to read far into the Old Testament or New Testament (or the history of the church) to see that we followers of Jesus aren’t always very good at doing what we say we are called to do. We stray. To use old language, we turn to false idols. But the good news is that, even when we break our promises, God remains faithful to us.

Through Jesus’ life and ministry, we see the ultimate promise keeping of God, saying to us, “You can spit on me, hurt me, hate me, and kill me, and yet, still, I will love you.”

On a personal level, I couldn’t help but remember my installation service here at University a few months back, where I made vows to to the this amazing church to serve them as God leads: “I reaffirm my ordination vows and promise faithfully to fulfill my ministry among this people through preaching and teaching the word of God, administering the sacraments of the church, ministering to those who are sick and troubled, sharing in leadership to strengthen the church’s life; representing, in a worthy manner what it means to live in faithful response to God’s abiding grace.”

How powerful and (extra-) ordinary it can be to make promises and keep them - to live faithfully in a broken world - to trust that God remains committed to us even when things aren’t going our way - to commit ourselves to the work God has placed before us, pledging our time, talents, money, words, dreams, hopes, and passion to this God who pledges all to us.

Let’s keep making promises together.

Worth Getting Up For

In 2008, our General Minister and President, Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins, had the opportunity to preach at the National Prayer Service here in Washington DC. She told an old Cherokee legend

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

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My Theology of Stewardship

Central to the Christian walk is an understanding of stewardship, though it might be one of the most misunderstood aspects of our faith. True, stewardship is about money, something that lots of respectable Americans don’t like to talk about with anybody (sometimes even our spouses), but it’s not just about money. In fact, stewardship is one of the ways we worship and trust God.

This short document lays down some of my thoughts about stewardship as we look to what God is calling us to do and be at University Christian Church in the coming year.

Please note - this is a living document. I’ll be making changes based on questions and suggestions from you. You can find the latest version on my website: http://www.nathanjhill.com

What is Christian stewardship?

“Christian stewardship is grateful and responsible use of God’s gifts in the light of God’s purpose as revealed in Jesus Christ.”

 I know that’s sort of a mouthful. In essence, a steward is one who manages or cares for someone else’s property. In the case of the Christian life, we recognize that all that we have, even our very lives, are gifts from God. We did not earn it. We did not deserve it. We are blessed with this marvelous gift. In response, we seek, as best we can, to use our resources wisely and generously, sharing what we have with others who may be in need and with our faith communities for the work of the Kingdom of God.

In American culture, this can feel fuzzy, since we are taught from a young age that we earn our wages by the sweat of our brows and have the right to spend it however we want. But take a step back. Interwoven in your ability to do that work are gifts that you did not create or deserve - hands, feet, brains, hearts, eyes, ears, talents, imaginations, and more. No matter how you look at it, God has enabled you, at some level, to do what you do and provide for your family and yourself.

In response then, with deep gratitude and awe, we seek to return or pass on some portion of those blessings to God and to God’s work. “Everything comes from You and we have given You only what comes from Your hand.” (1 Chronicles 29:14).

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Gospel Hospitality

I am excited to welcome Dr. Amy Oden from Wesley Theological Seminary in the pulpit tomorrow at University Christian. Dr. Oden is not only a fellow Oklahoman, but she is a wonderful teacher and theologian that always asks the question “so what?” She always encouraged us to take lessons from history and go beyond memorizing dates, facts, and definitions. I am grateful for that gift.

She’ll be speaking on “gospel hospitality” from her book, God’s Welcome, which I highly recommend.

We’ll follow up our worship time with a pub lunch - sandwiches, chips, and cookies - and continue our conversation.

Gospel hospitality is essential to how we welcome others as a community of faith. In fact, like many bible stories suggest, God often welcomes us before we even welcome God. John Wesley called this prevenient grace. It’s like the Spirit is out ahead of us, wooing us and reaching out to us, before we know of Her presence. How might we welcome others, especially those who are different from us, before we even meet them?

Maybe we will answer that question tomorrow. See you then!