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5 Easter --
Called to Christ’s Service
April 24, 2005 Sermon
by Betsy
Baumgarten
Readings
“Rid yourselves of all
malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander.” Three
Sunday’s ago, as my fellow chaperones and I boarded a plane to Arizona,
with seven youth from St. Paul’s, I must admit that I was fearful that
these attributes, malice, guile, insincerity, envy, and slander, might
overpower the experiences Abbey, Alex, Andres, Erick, Maren, Robin, and
Tyvand might have while doing service work in Arizona and Mexico. These
feelings arose, not because I felt that our youth are full of such
severe characteristics but that they, being constantly barraged by the
outside world around them, the constant peer pressure from school and
friends, never ending media influences, their own self pressure to be
the best at what they do and the need to prove themselves as young
people, might allow for such characteristics to take hold and over
shadow the service and fellowship that was central to our trip. Yet as
the week went on, I found that this worry was unnecessary. I can stand
here today and tell you, the congregation, that I am joyfully proud of
the young people here at St. Paul’s and you should be also. Our youth
did not succumb to guile, insincerity, envy, or slander, as they
challenged themselves in many new and difficult ways on the trip.
Rather, they whole heartedly embraced what was around them – a new
culture and people, poverty, difficult social issues, a language
barrier, and yes, even new food. They complained, like anyone would at
first, about things like food and sanitation. Yet, in the end they
realized that in comparison to the amazing experiences they were having
by meeting new people and doing meaningful service work, the food and
amenities only added to the excitement and adventure of it all. Our
youth, worked, like our second readings this morning states, to become
living stones, to be built into a spiritual community that centered on
the desire to seek and serve Christ in all people through the work done
and the conversations had.
Unlike many service trips, St. Paul’s trip did not center solely on
manual labor and biblical reflections in order to bring our youth to a
closer relationship with God. Rather, we chose to expose our youth to
the many issues that revolve around living on the U.S. / Mexico Border.
We spent time talking with migrant workers who hoped to cross into the
US illegally in hopes of finding better paying jobs to support their
families. We spoke with a coffee growing and producing business that
worked to provide sustainable jobs in Mexico so people would not be
forced to cross the border. We spoke with a hospital administrator who
related the financial difficulties many hospitals face in providing free
care for many illegal migrants. Finally, we talked with the Minute Men,
a vigilante group that feels it is their job as U.S. citizens to protect
our borders from illegal migrants. We hoped through the many
conversations we had that our youth would begin to form their own ideas
about the border. On top of all of our interactions, we worked. We set
up water stations in the Mexican desert so that the number of people who
die from dehydration while crossing into the U.S. would decrease. We
painted a mobile storage unit at St. Andrew’s Church in Nogales, so that
the Children’s Clinic which runs out of that church, and which provides
important health care to many underprivileged children, could keep doing
their important work. We also spent time cleaning up trash and
beautifying the area around St. Andrew’s church. The entire experience
was meant to open the eyes of our youth and to let them see how large
and complex a world this really is.
In the Gospel this morning, Jesus states that he is the “way, and the
truth and the life.” Those who know him know God, the father. Yet, how
do we come to know Jesus so that in turn we may, like the disciples,
know the father?? We, unlike the disciples, cannot sit and have
conversations with Jesus, asking deep philosophical questions about life
and how we should live. Still, we have the Bible. It’s rich stories of
the life and the teachings of Jesus tell us all we need so that we too
may know Jesus. Jesus calls us to love one another, to tear down the
walls that keep us separate and to grow into new life through love and
compassion for one another. The love that Jesus speaks of is not always
easy. Ask any one of the youth that went on the mission trip – they will
tell you of personal struggles and hurtles conquered as they challenged
themselves to love those whom we served. It was not easy to spark
conversations with new people from different backgrounds, it was not
easy to push past our own prejudices so that we could find Christ within
those with whom we worked, and it was not easy to look past the fear and
prejudice that surrounded the Minute Men with whom we spoke. Yet, our
youth did overcome such obstacles so that they could love as Christ
calls them to. They strove to follow their own Baptismal Covenant, to
seek and serve Christ in all people that they came in contact with. And
they worked through parables like the Good Samaritan, so that they might
better understand who their neighbor is and how they can love their
neighbor. They worked hard, not just at manual labor, but at spiritual
labor. Labor that helped them to better understand themselves as
Christians within a complex, no easy answers, world.
We should all look to our youth as shining examples of what we are
called to do as Christians, they not only worked hard to serve and show
compassion to all they met, but they also did the hard work needed to
love one another. They did not let their own opinions and dislikes for
one another get in the way of forming a Christian fellowship that
centered on their common desire to work and serve others. We can take a
lesson from this. Far too often in everyday life we allow our own
preconceived notions of one another to rule our interactions. Instead of
recognizing all that makes us different from one another, our gender,
skin color, economic status, political views, and religious background,
we should instead recognize the Christ in each other. To see Christ in
one another allows us to look past whatever separates us and instead
allows us to focus on all that is holy and good in one another. We must
go out into our everyday lives, seeing Christ in all whom we meet,
treating them with the respect they deserve because they are a beautiful
creation of God. Still, finding Christ in one another is only the first
step to our call as Christians. We must act on what we see. This morning
in the Gospel, Jesus says, “Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes
in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater
works.” We must first see Christ in those whom we meet, then upon seeing
the common link that unites us as people, we must take action. Two
thousand years after Jesus, there are still homeless, impoverished,
abused, and lonely people who could use the compassion and love that we
can give.
So what can we do? One of the problems that we face in this day and age
is that there is so much to do, so many committees to serve on, so many
worthwhile organizations to give our time and money to, that we are
overwhelmed into inaction. We do not know where to start so we do not
start. Remember, Jesus is not asking us to single-handedly save the
earth, rather he is asking us to do our part as Christians. Start small,
see how a smile and acknowledgement of someone’s presence can affect a
person. Then, give to someone – buy lunch for someone who would
otherwise go hungry, give your jacket to someone who would otherwise go
cold. Eventually you should strive for more, find what you are good at,
what gives you fulfillment and sense of accomplishment. You could help
set up the annual St. Paul’s rummage sale, you could volunteer at the
Mind 2 Mind Afterschool Program, you could be an office angel for Ginger
once a week. And these are only ideas of service within the church. You
could read to a child at Grant for half an hour a week, you can bring
meals on wheels to shut ins a couple of hours a week. There are so many
simple and diverse ways to carry out Christ’s call to serve and love one
another. We all have gifts, search yourself, acknowledge your gifts and
then find ways to use those gifts to help others!!
The other part of the Gospel this morning revolves around the imminent
future of Jesus. Jesus is leaving his disciples. Although deep down I
think the disciples know what Jesus must do, they do not wish to
recognize where he is going and what life for them in the future will be
like. They are beginning to grieve for the loss of their friend and
teacher and they fear what the future will have in store for them. They
are a radical group of people who have been given the task of changing
social thought, of making the world a more God centered place. This is a
big job with Jesus by their side, it seems insurmountable without Jesus.
I, like the disciples, would be full of fear, doubt, and grief of what
is to come. We, as a congregation are in a very similar place. We have
lost a leader of ten years. Although we are happy that he is carrying on
his ministry where he feels called, we miss him. With his loss comes
uncertainty about the future of this church. We are being faced with
making decisions about the future of this place and it’s ministry. We
are not sure where the resources to carry on as we have will come from.
Like the disciples from this mornings Gospel, we are nervous and scared.
We cannot know for certain that the future will be bright. But we can
hope for the best. And we can do more than hope, we can with discerning
ears hear the message that Jesus gives, “Do not let your hearts be
troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me…I am the way and the truth
and the life… I will do whatever you ask in my name…if in my name you
ask for anything, I will do it.”
Jesus calls us to faith, to believe in the future and to believe in what
we can do with Jesus and God as our strength. We must look to the future
of this church. We have proven that we have strong youth, youth that can
be challenged by life and who can come away positive and energized to
continue on doing good things. The rest of our congregation is strong
also. Maybe we don’t tell ourselves that enough. We are strong, capable,
loving people. We constantly celebrate the life that has been given us
through the Easter Mystery and in a myriad of ways we look to celebrate
that victory with those whom we live and serve. Let us always honor the
past and the good that we have done, but let’s look to the future. We
like the disciples, must carry on. We must create our own ministry, one
that represents who we are as a congregation and a community of faith. I
am not saying that this will necessarily be easy. There will be
impatience, miscommunication, frustration, and disagreement. This is a
given when people come together to try and affect change. We must
remember though, that we are here and have created this community around
our common faith. In times of stress and frustration do not be afraid to
turn to God, to ask for guidance in the name of Jesus. Clarity will
come, it might not come in the form we hoped, but it will come. We must
be committed to each other, to the ministry of this church, and to our
own faith. If we can do all of this we, like Jesus, can become living
stones. Through our ministry we can create a spiritual house, a house
that both glorifies all that has been given to us by Christ and a house
that will continually live on in Christ’s image, seeking to serve the
world as Christ would have us do.