Category Archives: Sermon portions

What Tugs at Your Love

13 Wednesday Apr 2016

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Version 2When Jesus met the disciples on the beach a week or so after being raised from the dead, he prepared them a breakfast of fish and bread, and in those holy moments they recognized their Lord. As Jesus gives them food for their hungry, tired bodies, he is giving them himself, the bread of life. They are just beginning to understand that whoever comes to Jesus will never be hungry. After a long, frustrating night on the water catching nothing, Jesus guides them to let down their nets in a place that produced abundance.

The gospel of John then relates the conversation between Jesus and his most impetuous, risk-prone disciple Peter.

When they finished eating, Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me more than these?”

Peter replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”

A second time Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” and Peter replied in the same way.

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.”

When Jesus asked Peter a third time if he loved him, it seemed to cut deep into Peter’s sense of identity as a loyal disciple. He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.” It was clear that his feelings were hurt.

Jesus once again said, “Feed my sheep.”

Peter may still not fully grasp how life-changing his relationship with the rabbi Jesus the Nazarene is going to be. It’s as though Peter is willing to be on board a train that holds the promise of shifting the world’s power structures, but he isn’t quite convinced that the empty tomb has clinched the deal. Peter’s love is of the brotherly Philios kind and he hasn’t yet come to understand the immensity of Christ’s unconditional Agape love for the world.

The Lord’s challenge to him to feed and take care of those who are within the fold of God’s care – a much larger fold than any of us dare to imagine most days – is a challenge to go beyond the limits of our usual affections. Peter and the other disciples encounter the love of God embodied in their crucified and risen Lord and it calls each of them into deeper expressions of love that hold the power to change the world.

These post-resurrection gospel stories are wonderful antidotes to a faith that is lazy or content. Like Peter, we are being called toward a sacrificial love in which we share with our neighbors the spiritual nourishment we have received from Christ. This may involve inviting persons to worship or other places we experience Christian community. More likely though, it is about the ways we reach out to people through supportive, hands-on forms of self-giving love with no personal return in mind.

In what ways do you and I allow the Spirit of the risen Christ to breathe new life and love into our lives? This is the post-Resurrection question we face in the 21st century.

Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes, in his April 8th blog on Unfolding Light writes:

Jesus asks deep, self-giving love of us,
love not for our sake but his.
Sometimes the best we can do
is lightweight friendship.
And in his deep love for us,
Jesus takes whatever we can offer.

And directs that love, whatever it is,
toward the rest of our kin,
for that is where we really love God:
“Feed my sheep.”
Sometimes we discover our love for God
by loving others.

Always Jesus invites us deeper.
“Follow me.”
Peter may not expect much of himself,
but Jesus promises that he will go on:
“You will be led where you did not choose.”

Pay attention to what tugs at your love,
however weak it may seem.
Let it lead you deeper.

Words (c) 2016 Mark Lloyd Richardson (except where noted)

The Light of Epiphany

05 Tuesday Jan 2016

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Three Kings on AltarMatthew’s story about the magi who set out in search of a child king is the story of a spiritual journey. These were scientists – astronomers whose scholarship involved studying the desert night skies for signs of significant events. Their discoveries of what was beyond the earth in the heavens opened their minds to consider the meaning of a particularly bright and bold star one night and summoned them to take up their journey to Bethlehem.

From Matthew’s point of view, the magi were authentic spiritual seekers. A more accurate picture of their physical journey would be of a large caravan including more than three magi, as well as servants, animals, and supplies, traveling for weeks if not months. Their spiritual journey, on the other hand, was a journey toward the light of God’s presence.

These astrologers from a foreign land are the first to acknowledge Jesus as God’s anointed king, the first to see the light of God shining through this newborn child. Their journey to Bethlehem shows that it is God’s intention to welcome everyone into the joy of God’s eternal home.

In a sense, the journey of the magi points us toward the conclusion of Matthew’s gospel where the final command of the risen Jesus is to carry the gospel to all the nations, and to include all people in the baptismal blessings of God’s new covenant. Just as the light from the star shone on the place where the Christ child was born, so Matthew calls us in our discipleship to a kind of shining. “You are the light of the world,” Jesus says. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (5:14, 16).

Epiphany reminds us of the light of Christ that shines for all people. We participate in shining this light. At the same time, the story of the magi cautions us not to think that we have all the light we need within our religious tradition. There is a universal human quest for reunion with the author of our lives that finds expression in other religions, cultures, and nations. We need one another in this vastly spread-out human family to practice humility in acknowledging that we are more alike than different when it comes to searching for the light of God’s presence.

So the task of the church is not to protect certain practices or beliefs or traditions. The task of the church is not survival in the midst of huge cultural shifts and increasing secularism. The task of the church is to show hospitality to all who seek God’s light. The task of the church is to reflect the radiance of the Christ child in the world. The task of the church is to live in the light and be a beacon for all who are on their own journey toward spiritual wholeness.

Our lives are meant to radiate the light of Christ in the world as we reach out to new people with the grace and peace of the Gospel message. As we grow in our own faith, we invite others to the life of faith. We humbly acknowledge that we are on a journey as well, that we don’t have all the answers, and that we simply seek to know God more deeply through prayer, worship, and the community of faith.

This Epiphany, may we be as determined as the magi in following the signs that lead to Christ. May we bring our gifts – the gifts of our love, our lives, our humility, our friendship, and our seeking – faithfully sharing them with those we meet along the way. May we give testimony to the light that shines in our midst, the light of God’s love in Christ Jesus, the Word made flesh.

Words (c) 2016 Mark Lloyd Richardson

A Child Has Been Born For Us

30 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by in Peace with justice, Reflections, Sermon portions

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(Originally preached on Christmas Eve 2015 in Santa Barbara, CA)

The world has had a rough year! I suppose that could be said of any year, but there seems to be a heavier sense of worry and fear in the air these days for reasons we all understand. Parents may sense a greater burden when the world feels like it’s going off the tracks. All of us feel the burden though – grandparents, aunts, uncles, teachers, first responders, counselors, health care providers – all of the adults who care about the generations being raised in today’s world.

Fear is being hyped these days. It’s being bottled and sold on the political trail along with sides of protectionism and militarism masquerading as patriotic fervor. That’s not to say there’s no basis for the fear, only that the escalating rhetoric benefits the ones using it more than it does the public good. Tough talk lets people feel safer in the short term but doesn’t significantly change anything for the better.

The prophet Isaiah wrote during a time of national chaos and despair. In fact, things were about as bad as they could get for those living in the kingdom of Judah. In the midst of geo-political upheaval and shifting alliances in the Middle East, King Ahaz refused to listen to the counsel of the prophet Isaiah who offered him a word promising God’s deliverance from their aggressive neighboring kingdoms. The resulting destruction of Damascus, annexation of large portions of Israel, and deportation of much of the population forms the backdrop of darkness Isaiah describes at the beginning of chapter 9.

The light of the nation had grown dim. It was not just King Ahaz who had chosen this path of destruction; it was the people themselves who were looking for easy solutions to their fears without stopping to listen to the God who had rescued them before. It was the people themselves who had opted for darkness – the darkness of warfare, violence, oppression, and inhumanity. Darkness describes those times when we do not allow the better angels of our nature to come out.

The psalmist, in perhaps the most familiar poetry in scripture, describes darkness as the “shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4). “Even though I walk through the darkest valley,” the psalmist reassures, “I fear no evil; for you are with me.”

We long to be in that state of grace that would enable us to face all of the challenges of life and the troubles of this world without fear, knowing that God remains near. We long also, I believe, for an end to the violence and conflict that touches us not just on an international scale, but much closer to home, and sometimes tragically even within people’s homes. We long for the light of God’s peace to spread throughout the communities and nations in which we live.

Sometimes it is difficult to relate the message of scripture, written in a different time, in ways that will be fruitful and relevant to our lives. Isaiah spoke to a people who had been mired in dark times, their freedoms under threat, their spirits troubled, and he said that God had not given up on them, that God had already broken the yoke of their oppressor.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness –
on them light has shined. (Isaiah 9:2)

As we gather around the manger, we come to embrace the child of the light! With hearts that ache for this world, with hearts longing for peace, with hearts open to the healing word of God, we come and kneel before the holy child of Bethlehem.

Indeed this is the sign offered by the prophet Isaiah that a new divinely inspired dominion is upon us:

For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
for this time onward and forevermore. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Stephen Boyd comments, “In the face of the fear, even terror, it is tempting to put our trust in the powerful – those who, seeking their own interests, promise to protect us. In this, our own darkness, Isaiah poses the questions: Will we make room for the Prince of Peace, who orders the world with justice and righteousness? Will we prepare to follow him in peacemaking?”[i]

At Christmas, kneel before the Christ Child who is the very light of God. Poet Ann Weems, in her poem “The World Still Knows,” leads us to the manger with these words:

The night is still dark
and a procession of Herods still terrorize the earth,
killing the children to stay in power.

The world still knows its Herods,
but it also still knows men and women
who pack their dreams safely in their hearts
and set off toward Bethlehem,
faithful against all odds,
undeterred by fatigue or rejection,
to kneel to a child.

And the world still knows those persons
wise enough
to follow a star,
those who do not consider themselves too intelligent
too powerful
too wealthy
to kneel to a child.

And the world still knows those hearts so humble
that they’re ready
to hear the word of a song
and to leave what they have, to go
to kneel to a child.

The night is still dark,
but by the light of the star,
even today
we can still see
to kneel to a child.[ii]

Let us pray:
God of all ages,
in the birth of Christ
your boundless love for your people
shattered the power of darkness.
Be born in us with that same love and light,
that our song may blend with all the choirs of heaven and earth
to the glory of your holy name. Amen.[iii]

Words (c) 2015 Mark Lloyd Richardson (except where noted)

[i] Stephen B. Boyd, “Theological Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1, eds. David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009, p. 102.

[ii] Ann Weems, Kneeling in Bethlehem, Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1980, p. 55.

[iii] The Revised Common Lectionary website, Year C – Christmas, Nativity of the Lord – Proper I (December 24, 2015), Vanderbilt Divinity Library.

Love. Period

21 Tuesday Jul 2015

Posted by in Justice, LGBTQ, Sermon portions

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Interfaith Pride Celebration Santa Barbara, CA

Interfaith Pride Celebration, July 12, 2015, Santa Barbara, California

Members of our church recently participated in the first Interfaith Pride Celebration in Santa Barbara. I was pleased to be part of this outdoor worship service in support of the LGBTQ community. There were about 20 sponsoring faith communities, including ours, and an estimated 250 to 300 people in attendance.

The reason we were there is simple really – if Jesus were here it’s where he would be. We are Christ’s body on earth and so it follows that we will go where Jesus would go, and we will spend time with people with whom Jesus would spend time, and we will be the bearers of grace and peace to those with whom Jesus would do so.

It was a beautiful afternoon, with great gospel music and inspiring speakers. I was among the faith leaders who read a Confession written by the Rev. Frank Schaefer acknowledging the wrongs that faith communities have done to LGBTQ persons. We have not always been welcoming and affirming of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters. We have failed as churches and people of faith to acknowledge the human dignity and worth of LGBTQ persons. We, the Church, have treated them as second-class believers and have harmed them with words of exclusion and hatred, defining them as “sinners,” “perverts,” and “abominations.”

We have not given them their own voice to express their love of God. We have subjected them to abusive “religious counseling” and harmful “conversion therapy” in a misguided effort to fix them. The heterosexism and homophobia of our faith communities has caused real suffering in the lives of our sisters and brothers in the LGBTQ community. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, told us to “Do no harm.” But we have been doing harm for decades now.

Following the service, a woman came up to me with a couple of her friends, and with tears forming in her eyes she said, “It was very moving for me to hear the words of confession. It is the first time I have heard anyone say they were sorry for the hurt we have felt. Thank you so much.”

My heart is with my LGBTQ brothers and sisters, who have been harmed by the Church’s message of exclusion and condemnation in the past. I have been involved over the years in advocating for marriage equality. I have been involved in trying to change the language in the Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church so that it no longer singles out one group of people based on sexual orientation to deny them the ability to be ordained as ministers or to receive the blessing of the church for their committed relationships. I will continue to do these things because I owe my primary allegiance to Jesus Christ and his reconciling grace and not to the United Methodist Church.

I want to be unequivocal and stand on the side of love, because as I see it, “love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8). “Those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (1 John 4:16b). As long as I am the Pastor-in-charge in the church I serve, we will be working toward full inclusion of all people in the church’s ministry, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other ways we have of dividing people into classes.

Christ is our peace, my friends. Christ has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. We become people after God’s own heart as we continue this work of tearing down the walls that have harmed others, and indeed have harmed us all.

Words (c)2015 Mark Lloyd Richardson
Photo credit: Dallis Day Richardson

Every Common Bush

06 Saturday Sep 2014

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burning-bushIn her poem “Aurora Leigh,” Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote:
Earth’s crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries.

The story of Moses and the burning bush (Exodus 3:1-15) has long fascinated believers. Moses is going about his usual business as a sheepherder when he catches a glimpse of something unusual in his peripheral vision, and decides that he must turn and look. Like other call stories in scripture, this one provides a window into how we interpret the ways God calls us.

The story of Moses, and the story of each person who has been grasped by God’s unconditional love, shows that there is One who knows us and calls us by name. There is One who calls us to a centered life, a life full of burning bushes, a life lived on holy ground. These burning bushes are everywhere. We need only open our eyes.

Our primary source as Christian disciples is Scripture, not because it’s free of error or contradiction, but because it is the remembered story of a people seeking after God. We read it, study it, and wrestle with it. Scripture is a burning bush, demanding our attention.

Anything that brings our attention to our Creator is potentially a burning bush. Prayer can be a burning bush, as can meditation. Other people can be windows into the divine. Relationships sometimes cause us to look deeply within ourselves to encounter the intrinsically relational nature of life. Events sometimes converge in such a way that we find ourselves brushing up against what it means to be human. As we engage our conscience and take moral stands a bush is burning in our midst!

As followers of Christ, the shape our lives take in the world is the cross, reflective of the self-giving love of Christ. “If any want to become my followers,” Jesus tells his disciples, “let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me” (Matthew 16:24). Jesus knew that the God-centered life always involved a willingness to put one’s life on the line in order to participate in the divine presence in the world.

Therefore a person like Rosa Parks boldly refused to cooperate with the evil of segregation by refusing to sit at the back of the bus that day many years ago in Montgomery, Alabama. Every day, ordinary people work for social justice, among them the advocates for the full inclusion of our LGBTQ neighbors in society and in the church.

Then there are those dear souls who daily show mercy to others – nurses, teachers, social workers, first responders, caregivers, hospice workers. There are those who go beyond what is reasonable to cheer the depressed, to comfort the grieving, to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked. Burning bushes, every one!

God cannot be kept on a shelf, or in a private corner of our lives. God tells Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” Therefore we walk into the world with this One whose name is I AM, and realize that we can’t take anything for granted, and we surely can’t assume to know what comes next. We worship the God who is the great I AM, whose relationship with the world is dynamic and active. We turn aside often to see what God is doing. We take off our shoes, and feel the holy ground beneath our feet. We remember that in our baptisms we put on Christ. We become the presence of Christ as we move out into the world. We go in the name of the great I AM, the Lord of life and hope!

Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Breaking the Bread of Abundance

09 Saturday Aug 2014

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loaves-and-fishesThere’s a Gospel story (Matthew 14:13-21) about a day when Christ’s abundant life was on full display! It begins when Jesus withdraws from the crowds, and goes by boat to a deserted place by himself. However, the crowds follow him on foot. Among them are many sick people, and Jesus is moved with compassion. The day soon passes and evening comes. Jesus’ disciples urge him to send people away into the surrounding villages to get something to eat. Perhaps they are exhausted by the overwhelming need.

You and I can handle only so much too and we get “compassion fatigue.” We grow weary because of the needs presented by particular circumstances. We see the pain etched on children’s faces as we watch the evening news – children in Syria and Lebanon, Israel and Gaza, Haiti, Honduras, or Chicago’s south side – and it is often more than we can bear.

We work all day long doing good things for people, giving back to the community, making the world a better place, and at the end of the day we just want to kick back and enjoy a nice glass of Chardonnay. We don’t want to worry about families without health care, workers losing their jobs, homeless persons sleeping on the church steps, soldiers on the battlefront, or an endangered planet. We don’t want to worry about whether there is still racism, sexism, or homophobia working their ugly campaigns of deception in what we wish were a more humane and decent world. We don’t want to deal with other people’s problems.

“Send them away,” we say. “The hour is late. Let them go and take care of their own needs for awhile.”

That, my friends, is our human reality. The needs are great. The work of justice and compassion never ends. We get tired. We want an easier way.

I believe the reason we sometimes grow weary is because we haven’t reached into the well and taken a drink of living water in awhile. The reason we grow weary is that we have bought the cynical, secular paradigm that says this life is based on scarcity.

But Jesus refuses to send the crowds away, and instead says to the disciples after a long day of serving others, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.”

Don’t you hate that? Don’t you hate being reminded that it isn’t all about you? Don’t you hate the feeling that Christ has higher expectations of you than you do? Be honest now!

The disciples reply, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” Scarcity! There’s not enough, Jesus. Get your head out of the clouds and listen to the bean counters for a change.

But Jesus says, “Bring the five loaves and two fish here to me.” And he has the crowds sit down on the grass. He takes the loaves and fish, and blesses and breaks the loaves. He gives the food to the disciples and the disciples give it to the people.

Jesus demonstrates God’s generosity. Jesus makes the grace and goodness of God visible to the crowd. Jesus breaks the bread of abundance and shares it with all.

God is the one who gives to us in abundance, and it is from abundance, not scarcity, that we are invited to give.

Too often the message is scarcity on the lips of those who profess to follow the Lord of abundant life!

Where can your faith become more life-giving as you bear witness to God’s abundance?

Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson

People Who Live By Hope

20 Sunday Jul 2014

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Today’s scripture reading from Romans 8:12-25 reminds us that while what we see all around us every day – human tragedy, strife, conflict, illness, and death – are signs of this life in the flesh, as children of God we are heirs to a future we do not yet fully see. The apostle Paul never claims that the lives of Christ’s followers will be trouble-free. In fact, he acknowledges the very real suffering at the heart of the life of faith. Yet these are not worth comparing with the glory that is yet to be revealed (vs. 18). Paul is convinced that nothing in all creation is able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (see verses 31-39), a powerful reminder for us to always remember who we are.

Bishop Minerva Carcaño and other interfaith leaders have called us to pray and act on behalf of unaccompanied migrant children. There is a humanitarian crisis at our borders and many of the thousands of children making the arduous journey north are refugees fleeing the violence of gangs, drug cartels, and severe economic conditions in Central America.

In many instances, the lives of these children have become so unbearable that they have little hope but to flee. Bishop Carcaño has reminded us that how we receive these unaccompanied children will determine whether our witness bears the heart of Jesus who said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14b).

We are a people who live by hope! We hope for what we do not yet see – creation set free from the bondage of decay, the redemption of our whole selves, and the inheritance of the children of God. We hope for a world where vulnerable children do not have to flee their homes in order to merely survive.

Hope always moves us forward into God’s future! Hope helps us endure the suffering of the present age knowing that God even now is at work to redeem all of creation. Hope gives us a restless heart, because it is a yearning for a more peaceable and just world than currently exists. We can’t create this new world ourselves, but we can join God in the places God’s kingdom is coming and God’s will is being done on earth as it is in heaven.

The American prophet William Sloane Coffin once observed: “God is as much ahead of us as within and above us. When asked, ‘Where do you stand?’ Jews and Christians should probably reply, ‘We don’t; we move!’ Both should regard themselves, if not as permanent revolutionaries, at least as pilgrim people, people who have decided never to arrive, people who live by hope, energized not by what they possess but by what is promised: ‘Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth’ (Isa. 65:17)” (“People Who Live by Hope,” The Living Pulpit, July-September 2006, pp. 23-24).

As people of hope, we lean forward into what God is bringing to pass, even though we do not yet fully see it. We have been adopted into God’s purposes and become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We see the suffering of the world, and we don’t just take a stand; we move out into the world with the grace of the One who loves us with an everlasting love. We hope, because God has not abandoned us, and God has not abandoned the children who want nothing more than to live beyond childhood.

We also groan inwardly, along with all creation, while we wait for God’s redeeming purposes to come to fuller fruition. Hope saves us from a sense of futility or desperation. Hope saves us from throwing in the towel. Hope saves us from our own worst instincts of protecting life only for ourselves and those we love.

Hope calls us toward greater faithfulness, deeper compassion, and a more just and humane world where all of God’s children are given the possibility of life in its fullness. Hope calls us toward beloved community where we live in relationship with God in ways that give us freedom, joy, and life abundant enough to be shared.

Let us be a people who live by hope!

Words (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson

What Grows in God’s Garden?

21 Saturday Jun 2014

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IMG_2880

I don’t usually post entire sermons, but on Sunday, June 15, I preached my final sermon among the wonderful congregation at the First United Methodist Church of Santa Maria, California, and am being appointed now to the First United Methodist Church of Santa Barbara, California, as of July 1st. So here I am including my final sermon called “What Grows in God’s Garden?” based on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9.

As I look over the vastness represented in Scripture – the many voices, times, cultural and historical contexts, the personalities, and the ways of expressing faith – a consistent theme is faithfulness. It is a theme that encompasses the relationship between God and creation, and between God and humankind.

Scripture portrays God as always faithful to the people God has called for particular purposes – first Abraham and his descendents, the Israelites, and then the early communities who gathered around the story of Jesus and moved out under the Spirit’s power to change the world.

Those who seek to live according the commandments of God in the Hebrew scripture are themselves called the faithful. Those who seek to live according to the way of Jesus and the greatest commandment in the New Covenant are also called the faithful.

In other words, faithfulness is somehow sown into the very fabric of this divine-human encounter toward which each of us is drawn.

The Psalms lift up this theme of faithfulness repeatedly. In Psalm 145:10 we hear:

All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your faithful shall bless you.

Then just a few verses later, after extolling the glorious splendor of God’s everlasting kingdom, the psalmist adds (vs. 13b):

The Lord is faithful in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds.

As we theologize on Scripture and consider how God is revealed in this world, in the church, and in our lives, and as we pray “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,” we are aware of only glimpses of the kingdom here and now. Yet we still believe God’s kingdom will come in the fullness of glory someday! We believe that God is always faithful and that as we contribute our own faithful witness and actions, the kingdom is revealed a little more and a little more.

We celebrated 140 years of Christian ministry in this valley last year – 140 years of people doing their utmost to be faithful to the call of God so that this congregation could be part of what God is doing in the world.

Imagine the settlers of this town and others who followed them putting their sweat and their tears and the joy they had in Christ and their Wesleyan spirit of grace all out on the line so that a Church could be planted here and so that all who would listen would hear of God’s faithful love.

Think of how many Sunday School classes have been taught and how many children have been touched by the story of Jesus in those years!

Think of the worship that has been conducted in several different locations, and now in this place, and of all the worshippers who have felt the strange warming of their hearts in the presence of Christ expressed through word and sacrament!

Think of the caring fellowship that has been expressed among the faithful in this church over the years, moving beyond the superficial to love one another as Christ commands us!

Think of the mission trips, service projects, outreach efforts, and ministries that have been undertaken by this community of faith … and more importantly, think of the lives that have been changed, the addictions that have been overcome, the meals that have been served to the poor, the lonely who have been visited, the lost who have been redirected, the grieving who have been comforted, the showers that have given a new sense of self-worth to so many, and the homes that have been rebuilt or repaired!

These are all validation of God’s faithfulness to us and our faithfulness to God. These are a confirmation of the fruit of the Spirit in our life together. These are an authentication of the presence of Christ in this community.

I commend you for carrying on the vision of this faith community after 140 years – building beloved community and helping people commit their lives to Christ and grow in grace.

All of the beautiful ways that this church has witnessed to the faithful love of God over many years continue to this day. We can look upon all of it and see what God has done in our midst, and be grateful.

As I came here four years ago, I told you that I was pleased and proud to be appointed to this church. As I leave here I want to express the same sentiment – I am pleased and proud that I was given the opportunity to be your pastor and to provide spiritual and temporal leadership for a time.

You will continue to be a witness to the love of Christ through your ministry presence in this community. You will continue to give spiritual nurture to children and people of all ages.

You will continue to serve others with tangible signs of God’s gracious kingdom, by visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, encouraging the stranger, praying for those in need, and serving the poor.

I have no doubt of any of this because I believe God is faithful, and I believe you are faithful, and that is enough.

The apostle Paul, writing to the Corinthian church, says that he is one of the “servants through whom (they) came to believe” (1 Cor. 3:5). But he acknowledges he isn’t the only one. Paul says to them, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (3:6-7).

In the United Methodist Church, appointments are made and ministers are moved, and congregations must rely upon the growth that God gives. None of us is indispensable, but each of us is necessary. Our gifts are necessary. Our hearts are necessary. Our love is necessary.

Like Apollos, I have carried the water pail for awhile, and have tried to give the right amount of attention to the needs of the church, and now another one of God’s servants is coming to be in ministry with you, to help you grow in faith and trust, to listen with you for the promptings of the Spirit, and to walk with you in discipleship and mission. You are called to live out your baptisms and be the people God created you to be – generous, giving, hopeful, loving, gracious, Christ-like.

Paul uses a metaphor for God’s people not used anywhere else in scripture. In the midst of his observation of how God desires growth in the spiritual life, Paul says to the people of God, “you are God’s field” (vs. 9). This is an intriguing way to think of ourselves, as a field in which things grow, things of beauty and things of usefulness. God’s field – a place of growth and emerging life. As I look over the past four years and consider the growth that God has caused in our lives together, I am glad that I could be a part of your journey for this brief time.

A father and daughter prepared to part at the airport one day. After a hug the father said, “I love you. I wish you enough.” His daughter boarded the plane, and a few moments later, a woman who overheard their conversation asked the father what it meant to wish someone “enough.” He said that wishing someone “enough” was a tradition in their family. There was even a short poem attached to it.

I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.
I wish you enough pain so that even the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.
I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.
I wish you enough ‘hellos’ to get you through the final ‘goodbye’.
(Mennonite pastor and author Ralph Milton in an e-zine titled Rumors)

The life of faith provides us with the opportunities to be generous and supportive of one another. As Paul says, “God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share it abundantly in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8). That’s a pretty healthy way to think about our discipleship – seeing our lives as full of enough of God’s goodness and grace, and choosing to help other people see their lives as full of enough too.

I close with a Franciscan Blessing that makes me want to be a Franciscan:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers,
half-truths and superficial relationships,
so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice,
oppression and exploitation of people,
so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those
who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war,
so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
and turn their pain into joy.

And may God bless you with enough foolishness
to believe that you can make a difference in this world,
so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

God is faithful.
You are faithful.
That is enough.

Words & photo (c) 2014 Mark Lloyd Richardson

God Bending Down

06 Tuesday Aug 2013

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“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. The more I called them, the more they went from me…. Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.” (Hosea 11:1-4)

This is Hosea’s portrait of God bending down to reach humankind – to touch us, to hold us, to heal us. It is a portrait of God’s infinite capacity to love all who are made in God’s image.

However, Hosea goes on to describe a growing separation between God and humanity, a story that repeats itself not only within human history, but within our individual lives and the communities to which we belong.

Hosea warns that the people beloved of God “shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. The sword rages in their cities, … and devours because of their schemes. My people are bent on turning away from me.” (Hosea 11:5-7)

It is a discouraging picture. The very people who have been rescued from slavery, brought safely through the wilderness, and bestowed with the promise of a land and a future, have once again become a rebellious people, turning away from God.

It doesn’t take much, you know – a few good months in the stock market; good enough health; harmonious family relations; meaningful work or meaningful retirement – life going fairly smoothly, in other words!

Slowly, almost without noticing, you drift away from acknowledging God for the gifts and the blessings and the joys of your life!

Slowly, almost without noticing, you begin to think that you are entitled to have things be the way you want them to be, only to be surprised when life again becomes difficult or challenging or out of control!

The prophet Hosea implicates God’s people in their own troubles, speaking of their return to Egypt, to the very slavery from which they have been rescued, if they continue in their sinful ways.

We, too, forget our history. In the United States we have a history of racism. We have made progress toward racial equality and justice in my lifetime, but we haven’t arrived yet in creating a society that provides the same opportunities and protections to all of our citizens.

Usually it is the people who are the most clueless about systemic racism who are quick to say we have moved beyond it. People say things that belie their prejudice or intolerance, all the while denying having any such attitudes. It is in these ways that we, too, can “return to Egypt,” if we turn a blind eye to the racial tensions and injustices around us.

Hosea, chapter 11, is a psalm of lament. God calls people to be faithful and to live with the intent of honoring God with their lives, yet so often we choose the slavery from which God has time and again set us free. We choose to belittle our neighbors who are different from us.

Abraham Heschel claims: “Prophecy is not concerned with imparting general information, but deals with what concerns God intimately.”

What concerns God is that we learn to love our neighbors – including our homeless neighbors, our gay and lesbian neighbors, our black or Latino neighbors, our immigrant neighbors – neighbors different from us. When we fail to love our neighbors, we fail to love the Creator of us all!

Words (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson

Mystery and Community

26 Sunday May 2013

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Vermont Countryside

Here is a small portion of my sermon today on the Trinity.

Christians, of all people, ought to have an expansive view of God.  We, of all people, ought not to be trying to put God in a box.  Even the revered theological concept of the Trinity can do that.  Unless we see it for the mystery that it is, our doctrine can become a straightjacket in which God is neatly wrapped up by our small minds.

In speaking of the mystery of the Trinity the closest comparison may be the mystery of community.  When a group of people becomes a community – when they risk sharing their questions, their sorrows, their dreams, and their hopes with one another, and when they do not hide their true selves, warts and all, from one another – then they are known for who they are.  They become part of one another, just as the risen Christ is said to be one with God the Father/Mother and God the Spirit.

This is indeed the mystery, how the triune God draws all of creation into a dance where the melody of Christ’s love unites them in the Spirit.  Some say unity can only occur when people conform to a prescribed set of beliefs.  But God says no – unity is available to those who have open minds, open hearts, and open spirits to what the Spirit is saying in our day.

Each Sabbath, we gather in worship where the community of God meets our human community.  We give thanks for the Spirit of truth that guides us into all truth – the truth about ourselves, the truth about our world, the truth about God’s ways in the world.

We celebrate the self-giving love of Jesus of Nazareth who willingly laid down his life because he had been drawn so completely into God’s vision of reconciliation and peace.

We bless the Spirit who is the breath of life, the source of love, the ground of all being.

We seek to match our beliefs to our actions in Christ-like fashion by being a voice for those on the margins of life, by being instruments of peace in a violent, war-torn world, by being open to the truth, and by embracing the higher calling of self-giving love.

The mystery and community of the Trinity invites us into an expansive view of God, calls us to justice-seeking and peacemaking, and unites us in one faith, one baptism, one Spirit, and one Lord, so that we may live for God.

A prayer by the late Brennan Manning speaks of how we meet this triune God:

“May all of your expectations be frustrated,
May all of your plans be thwarted,
May all of your desires be withered into nothingness,
that you may experience the powerlessness and poverty of a child,
and can only sing and dance in the love of God,
Who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

Words and photo (c) 2013 Mark Lloyd Richardson