24 Sarah's Sons

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"Sarah's Sons!"

When I was reading our Scripture lesson before preparing the
sermon, as often happens when we read Scripture - something popped
out at me - made me ask a question.
After Jesus tells us that when we have people over for dinner, we
shouldn't just invite those who can invite us back, but he tells us to invite
the poor, the crippled, and the blind - people who cannot pay us back.
THEY cannot reward you, Jesus said, but GOD will reward you at the
time when all godly people rise from death. My question is - "When
is that time - when do all godly people rise from death."
Christianity often become sort of a "by and by" religion - Everything
happens in the "sweet by and by". But that's not what Christianity is really
about. It's not about THEN, it's about NOW - being a DISCIPLE,
NOW. Thinking about discipleship should bring a growing awareness
that some churches and members of church have focused primarily on
conversion and eternal salvation and neglected a way of life here and now.
"Pardon me, Jesus, but now that I am "saved" won't you excuse
me while I get on with my life, and I'll see you in heaven."
That's not Christianity at all. Christianity is about a
RELATIONSHIP -about people who have a RELATIONSHIP with a
PERSON, Jesus, a Living Lord whom they know to be alive and well
and living among them - walking beside them - leading them in good works
to help the disenfranchised, the poor, the crippled, the blind, the homeless
rounding up all of the above to sit at their tables.
When I was in seminary, I was often "homeless" at holiday times.
I was working my way through and I often couldn't afford to drive from
New York to Ohio, so I stayed in the dorm at Colgate Rochester Divinity
School as did several other seminary students who lived too far away to
go home for the holidays. That's when we became "SARAH'S SONS!"
Sara Scruggs, the dietician of the seminary would invite all of us homeless
wonders to her lovely home for dinner. And, of course, being the dietician,
she could really cook, but more important was the sense of welcome we
had in her home, the laughter and the joy - the camaraderie and the pleasure
of company and the sweetness of her spirit. We called her "Shug" - short
for "Sugar." And as exhausted as she must have been after hosting all of
us, she was energized and empowered and thankful - full of Life.
Opportunities to become truly alive are around us every day.
Godly people rise form death to an exciting life every day as they find and
serve SARAH'S SONS whether they are homeless, or hungry or jobless
or working for less than a living wage. You don't have to wait until you
die to rise to life! Following Jesus gives us life - and it more
abundantly.
Jesus went about doing good. "Go thou, and do likewise" because
if you do, you will get a great sense that you are beginning to discover that
Christianity is a life you live, not a belief you have. We have lots of
"beliefs" at Community Church - they are so diverse that is a divine miracle
that we all get along so well. It is because each of us who believes is
moved by our beliefs into the doing category. We meet the designation
of what is now called the "Simple Church" which is a congregation designed
around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through
the stages of spiritual growth. It moves you from the foyer, to the
living room and on to the kitchen of congregational life. That's
where SARAH'S SONS are fed and strengthened.
Jesus sent his disciples out to be healing agents in the community,
and they came back with stories to tell! If you're thinking correctly, you
see your coming here each week for the specific purpose of being sent
back out - in Jesus' Name. Each week at the end of the service I do a
"commissioning" as well as a "benediction." As Jesus sent forth the early
disciples, so he sends you.
First, you attend the church. Then you join it. Then you start
applying what you receive from it into your life and work, your mission -
until you find being Christ's Person is your Life's Mission. My mission is
not to get you TO the church for long, boring meetings, or to events that
"just aren't you", but to get you out of the church and into the world. The
Church is a unique organization because it exists for the people who aren't
in it - yet"
People who sense your love and compassion and benefit by your
help will be drawn to the source of your compassion, and may well end up
in the pew beside you here at what I like to call The Filling Station - where
we refuel ourselves for the next several miles - taking in so we can give.
Cynde McQueary wrote recently about her father. He was always
helping everyone. A farmer, he hired a lot of people - particularly young
people - took an interest in them - wrote a letter to each of them every
Christmas - telling each one how he prayed for them. And they would
stop by for dinner or just a chat - you never knew who was coming to
dinner or who her father would rush off to help just as they were sitting
down at the table. "Be right back" he's day, getting his hat and stuffing
a roll into his pocket as he headed out the door - if a neighbor got his truck
stuck and needed her father to pull him out with his tractor - it didn't
matter what it was. Often, someone was sick and the family needed help.
"You have to make time for people" he would say. "Giving is the
best way of living." And that's the way he lived until he died - right
when it was time for his crops to be harvested. His daughter and his wife
wondered how they were going to handle the harvesting. They shouldn't
have worried. As Cynde pulled into her mom's driveway, something in
the distance caught her eye. A cloud of dust was forming down the road
- an army of combines and trucks were working in their fields. There
must have been 30 or 40 of them, our neighbors and friends from across
four different counties. When they thanked the leader of the effort, "Big
John" as he was called, he replied. "Cynde, when we work together it
all gets done. That's what your dad always showed me. We're just
here to pay him back."
Cynde says: "Mom and I stood together out in the field,
wiping the tears from our eyes, watch all those friends and neighbors
harvest the bounty my father had planted."
That's the way it's supposed to happen - where we realize that we
are all on this spaceship earth together and must learn to love and help
each other.
We are reminded of that as we come to this Communion Table
because it is a table that stretches around the world to encircle its people
in the loving arms of the Christ - to spread His Compassion and care.
When we work together, it all gets done. We are called to this
table not because we have Spirituality. Spirituality is FINDING peace.
We are called to this table because we are Disciples. Discipleship is
MAKING Peace. Discipleship gives you a life penetrated by love - by
hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances
and by the power to do what is right and to withstand and to stand up to
the forces of evil. So shall we have the abundant life - so shall we be the
godly people who rise from death - NOW.
So, come to this sacred table, not because you must, but because
you may......Come not because you are qualified by your own
righteousness, but come, because Jesus has invited you.......Communion

Communion Meditation Notes(Not edited nor proofed)The Rev. Dr. Garth R. Thompson Pastor, M.B. Community ChurchA sermon (or meditation) is a simple truth told by someone whobelieves it to people he knows and loves (Phillips Brooks)September 2, 2007 10:30 a, m. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our heartsbe acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.