Note: today was our annual church picnic, and I used the opportunity to draw the congregation in to conversation about some of the strategic planning we are doing.
Pentecost 17B
September 19, 2021
Mark 9:30-37
[INTRODUCTION]
You’ll notice we are only hearing two of our usual four readings today. The reason for that is mostly practical (time-saver), and also because James and Mark really go so nicely together today, speaking right to some of our most human characteristics of selfish ambition and thinking ourselves better than others. Today we are recognizing God’s Work, Our Hands day, a national ELCA day of service, by giving generously to many who are in great need locally and abroad, and Jesus’ words that to be truly great is to serve one who has nothing to give in a return are encouraging for us in this work. As a part of the sermon, I will leave some room to discuss how St. Paul’s serves our community, and how we can be more intentional in this service. So listen carefully, and be ready to contribute to the proclamation of the word! Let’s listen.
[READ]
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
As you may be aware, our St. Paul’s council has, for the past several months, been working on a something of a strategic plan, or at least looking more from the balcony at our community and our ministry, discerning our unique story and how we want to live into it, and discovering what ministries our members truly are passionate about. We’ve drawn into the conversation several people in the congregation from different demographics and printed our progress in the newsletter and invited you to reflect on it on your own. From these conversations, we have written our story – who we are, and how we feel God is calling us – which you can find on the insert in the bulletin.
During a pandemic, though, it is hard to get groups of people together to talk about it! So we are going to use some of this sermon time to continue this conversation, in part using today’s Gospel reading as a guide. I’ll start with a little textual context, and then we’ll invite you to have some conversation with those around you. Okay?
Today’s Gospel includes Jesus’ second passion and resurrection prediction (the story that is the heart of our faith and what drives all we do). It’s followed by this very human moment for the disciples where they miss the point and instead argue with each other over who is better like a couple of kids in a school yard. And then we get this beautiful image in which Jesus shows them what true discipleship looks like: that is, to be humble enough to welcome and serve even someone who has no status, and very little to offer in return.
These points all fit nicely into what our council discerned as some of our congregations’ main “culture drivers” – that is, things that we as a congregation already do naturally, but that we could strive to do with more intention. The culture drivers we lifted up were:
• That we as a congregation are generous, and eager to serve each other and our community.
• That we are a welcoming congregation, non-judgmental, and accepting of people wherever they are in their life’s journey.
• And, that we have a high value of our kids and youth, and what they have to offer our congregation.
Let’s start with that last one, about children and youth. This moment in the story when Jesus picks up a small child and says, “Whoever welcomes a child like this, welcomes me, and welcomes the one who sent me” – people love that. Today we almost revere our children, and churches long to have more of them in their congregation. As I said, we already place a high value on welcoming children – but our goal with these conversations is not to pat ourselves on the back for all our good work (like Jesus’ disciples do!), but to say, “How could we do this better? How could we do it with more intention? How are we falling short of doing this the best we can? How can we best nurture our children and youth in faith and prayer, and what will it take to do that?
Next, let’s look at welcome – the point of Jesus placing this child in their midst was to say, “Here is someone with no status and little to offer you in return. Stop worrying about who among you is greater, who has more status, and start caring about extending grace and love and welcome even to those with no status.” Welcome and acceptance was something that came up strongly when we were working on writing our story: we observed that our congregation is made up of people with lots of questions, and at various points in their faith journey, and that we at St. Paul’s make room for them all. I agree! But how are we communicating that? How would someone know that, walking into our building or looking at our programs, or spending one Sunday morning with us? How would people know there is space for them and their questions here, regardless of their status, skin color, sexual orientation, physical or mental health, or past experience? What does welcome actually look like at St. Paul’s?
Finally, we are a generous congregation of servants. We all see that call in scripture – Jesus says today, after describing his own self-giving love, that “whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.” So, St. Paul’s has an impressive list of organizations we support – except that the support offered is mostly financial, and each organization tends to be something that one person spearheads, but others may or may not be that interested in beyond writing a check. So, one thing we have discerned as a council is the need to streamline our social ministry, to figure out what members of this congregation as a whole are truly passionate about, and focus and direct our energy there. In order to do this, some other things must, well, die, because we can’t do it all, at least not well. Just like Jesus also says today, and like I talked about last week in my sermon: sometimes things, even things we have loved or counted on, have to die, because that is necessary for something new to be born. Life must be lost in order for resurrection to come about. And that is terrible and difficult, but it is the way Jesus brought about eternal life for us, so I assure you it is worth the effort!
What do you think? In your bulletin, you will find some discussion questions about these points. We’re going to give you a few minutes to talk about them. I ask that someone at your table jot down some notes so I can read your thoughts later. Due to the bigness of these questions and a desire for good stewardship of time, I invite you to choose one question from the list to discuss more in depth. If you have time, try two. I’ll start us off with prayer, and, after a few minutes, I will bring us back together with a prayer as well. Let us pray…
Gracious God, as we discuss the ministry of this, your church, make us wise and understanding, with eyes to see and ears to hear. Place your mission into our hearts. Draw near to us, as we strive to draw nearer to you. Amen.
I invite you now to join the conversation!
[5-8 min of conversation…]
Let us pray… We thank you, Lord God, for being present in our conversations today. What you have put on our hearts, now give us the will and the strength to pursue, so that all we do as a congregation would be for your glory, and in humble service to you and to your children. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen.
Discussion questions:
Children/Youth and Faith Formation
One casualty during the pandemic has been Sunday School and faith formation as we knew it. Truth is, with all the other demands of life, it wasn’t really working that well for us even before. If how we did Sunday School before were to die, what might be resurrected in its place? Consider these possibilities:
• What would it look like to equip parents to do more faith formation at home?
• What would be some benefits of cross-generational faith formation, and how might that look?
• What are some ways we could support our children in every step of their journey of faith, keeping the promise we make at the font to “nurture them in faith and prayer”?
Welcome and Community
The pandemic has placed barriers to getting people in the door, but simultaneously opened a whole new avenue to reach people online. Yet in a time when people need hope, grace, and spiritual support more than ever, something still keeps people from engaging. Why do you think that is? Whom could you ask? What would communicate to the community (on Sunday mornings, throughout the week, in our physical space…) that this is a place where people can bring their baggage, beauty, and brokenness, and find love and grace?
Social Ministry
Today we are collecting funds for Loop (feeding local people), Saints’ Place (aiding refugees, currently esp. from Afghanistan), and Lutheran Disaster Relief (direct aid, especially related to climate change).
• Which of these three issues (feeding people, refugees, climate change) most excites you, and why?
• Is there another issue or concern that is heavy on your heart? (e.g. racism, children and/or education, mental health, LGBTQ issues, housing…)
• What issue would you say St. Paul’s is most passionate about as a whole, and what makes you say that?
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