Sermon March 20, 2016 “ Broken Bread” By Rev. June Fothergill
For many years, I have found ways to simply tell this story of Jesus journey to the cross on Palm Passion Sunday. It seemed too big a story for a simple sermon. It still does. I remember that many years ago I decided to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus, I need to look at the cross and what is means for my life. I think that there are many meanings of the cross of Jesus. Today I invite you to imagine with me joining those followers of Jesus standing at a distance in Luke’s account. Many of them were woman who had given of their resources to make sure Jesus and company were fed and clothed. They had followed Jesus from Galilee full of hope and promise. They had been swept up with the preaching and healing that showed them a glimpse of God’s kingdom here on earth. Jesus had loved and healed and walked with them. They had helped to plan the big procession to welcome him to Jerusalem.
They had also helped to prepare that last supper with the inner core of followers. Perhaps they even baked the bread. I imagine they heard the discussion around the table about service and about getting some swords. Maybe, they had wondered if Jesus would have his disciples use those swords to fight the temple guards, to maybe start an insurrection that would bring the promised kingdom? But instead of making battle plans Jesus had gone to the Mt of Olives to pray, to seek once again God’s way. So, when the temple guard came in the night to arrest him, Jesus said to put away the swords. And even reached out once more to heal the servant’s ear!
I notice that after his time of prayer, Jesus decided that God’s way in this situation of high tension and danger was a way of peace, not the sword. He would not lead an insurrection that would bring more pain and suffering on his people! As he warns the women who weep for him, more suffering will come to you! The writer of Luke knows that in 70 a.d. the Roman armies came in and not only put down an insurrection but destroyed the city and the temple! Jesus was showing us that God has another way! A way of living true to ones core values of peace and love in the midst of the death dealing powers of this world. It was a way that Jesus walked before us and for us. It is a way Jesus invites us to continue to walk.
I have found that when I decide to follow Jesus, it means I seek ways to answer that invitation in the day to day decisions of my life- when I feel angry at someone or when someone hurts me, I look for the peaceful, non violent ways to respond and try to learn those practices. I don’t really know what difference it makes but was wonderfully surprised that when my son in4th grade wrote a Mother’s day essay he mentioned that his mom was a peace maker. That was the most humbling and proudest moment of my life. Jesus at great risk to himself chose this way of peace.
So that night, the guards took him away and everyone scattered. Jesus went into the shadows. He went where no friend could follow, where only those who wanted him dead or really didn’t care at all about him prevailed. Luke is clear that Jesus has done nothing wrong. Even the authorities have troubles proving anything. Yet, even from a distance we and the followers from Galilee can hear that the mob has formed outside the palace- an angry faceless, ruthless mob yelling “ crucify him.” That’s what Rome does to trouble makers and Jesus has become a troublesome irritation. He was an innocent man but from Rome’s point of view he was also one that inspired a parade declaring him king and a mob that wanting him dead. What does Rome care, easier to just get rid of him. So, we watch as the horrible procession goes to the place of the Skull. They find another man to carry the cross for Jesus is worn out and hurt. Too weak to carry it himself. Jesus is walking a way of weakness, of painful vulnerability, of failure. Could this be the way of God’s kingdom?
Could it be that we connect more deeply and profoundly with one another when we admit our needs, our weaknesses? Could this way of emptying oneself bring God’s possibilities?
Lillian Hernandez discovered this truth. She was working on e summer at a community center for youth. She was offered a position tutoring some of the youth at first she found the youth rebellious and indifferent, she wondered if she should be working with them, she felt discouraged, failing. Then one day she got into an argument with a 14 year old. He told her that she didn’t understand anything about his situation. He was all alone. His mother had died, leaving him an orphan. At that point Lillian understood how God was a work in bringing her there. God knew she could help that young man for when she was seven her mother had died. She understood that young man’s sorrow. After she told him her story his attitude changed. Her suffering and vulnerability had created a bridge between them and she was able to help him at a crucial time.
Jesus is too weak to carry the cross but when he hangs there, he shows an inner strength. In Luke’s story, his final words tell us more about his way. Imagine hearing him pray, “ Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” Forgiveness, mercy for us all- we who stand at a distance, we who shout, we who condemn, we who execute, we who mourn, we who scoff and ridicule- Jesus asks God to forgive us all. With his last breaths, he thought of us. What love!
Not only that, he cared about those who were crucified with him. Two other wretched souls. One of them joined the scoffers, but the other understood about Jesus. Oh Jesus he cried,” Remember me when you come into your kingdom.” What a word of faith, here safely on the hillside, we wondered about the future of the kingdom of God but his man at his death trusted Jesus more than us. Ah Jesus answered, “ This day you will be with me in Paradise. “
As we think about those followers of Jesus watching and listening from a distance, we can imagine them wondering about their journey. With Jesus dying and suffering before them, does that mean everything is over now? Jesus showed them God’s way of love and suffering. We watch with them as he committed his spirit to God and died. We can imagine their deep sorrow and yet their awe. Their devastation and yet their hope. Could it be that the journey to Paradise to God’s kingdom is really over? Perhaps together we wonder- Can we follow him and love this way? Can we give ourselves so completely? Will his death be the end of this story? Or is he still teaching us how to live and how to die?
At the last supper with these followers, Jesus told them to break the bread and remember him. He told them that he would once again break it with them in the Kingdom of God. This idea of bread broken pulls together the meaning of Jesus journey to the cross for me today. For to follow Jesus means that for me and for you he is the Bread of Life.
Bread broken becomes nourishment for those who gather. In breaking, the bread accomplishes its purpose- to nourish the world, to bring life and health. Can brokenness yield life? The answer of this story of our faith is – yes. Choosing a way of peace instead of the sword, vulnerability and weakness instead of domination, sharing the love of “you will be with me in paradise.” and “ Father forgive them”; Jesus ministry of hope and grace continued on the cross and continues forever in his resurrection. Still today, we suffer, we are bereft, we hurt one another- yet this story tells us that even despite all that- God is with us. Jesus came as bread for the world. And when that bread was broken, then he could feed us all. Then he could be the empowering spirit that continues to bring us all to paradise. To make this earth the Kingdom of God! Fear and cruelty, the accumulation of hurts and grieves unresolved will continue to try to stop it, to derail it, to deny it- but It is not stopped by these things. It is written on the human heart, it is part of our earth and its eternal possibility. We want to follow Jesus- because we know in our hearts that this One will show us the way. This one will companion us on the way. This One will see us through all the struggles and suffering the world will bring- because he has been there before us and received life and so will we.
Lent 5 March 13, 2016 “ Bread Given Away” by Rev. June Fothergill
A travelor to a remote island remarked on how healthy the locals looked. “ Yes, it’s the island,” said an attractive resident. “ When I first arrive I was bald and toothless. I was so weak I couldn’t even walk . And look at me now!”
“ That’s amazing ,” said the traveler. “ so where are you from?”
“ I was born here.” Said the man. ( AARP Bulletin March 2016 p. 54)
Isn’t it amazing to realize that we all start out the same way? We have this common humanity. As babies we all need the same things: warmth, affection, food, safety, opportunities to thrive. When we are small we have to receive everything from others. As we grow, we learn also that we have something to give to others and to our world. Marshall Rosenberg in his book about Non violent Communication lists “ Contribution to the enrichment of life” as one of the common needs we all share.
This story of the anointing woman is about contribution. It’s about a gift given by a woman to Jesus, one he accepts and defends though others didn’t think her gift was appropriate. The story started me thinking about how we give and how we receive and the importance of both.
As I reflected upon this woman’s extravagant gift to Jesus, I felt moved to think of some extravagant gift I could give to God this week. I decided to offer a gift to the unhoused neighbors who come to our meals. I bought several dish tubs, Epsom salts and fresh socks and invited people to sit down in an area of the basement and soak their feet and then receive fresh socks. So Wednesday night as people came in the door I invited them to go and soak their feet. Well, no one took me up of this crazy idea! I announced it to the whole group and still no one was interested. Only after most folks had left, my son David bless his heart came over to use the soaking tub. Then some of the folks from the meal who had been volunteering or just hanging around at the end decided they wanted to also. Five of the six tubs I had prepared got used that night.
So one way to look at this story is to do what I initially did- think about what extravagant gifts we can give to God. Can we follow the example of Mary and give so much of ourselves to tend another’s need, to give an over the top gift to Christ? What does it mean to give our whole selves, all that we have and all that we are to God as an act of devotion and trust? I am reminded that we are taught in Matthew 25 that a gift to those in need: the hungry, the naked, the thirsty, the sick, the imprisoned, it a gift to Christ Jesus. When we pour out our lives to tend the world- we are giving to God.
Yet, I have to admit that the intimacy of Mary’s gift makes me uncomfortable. I know that she is filled with gratitude for the raising back to life of her brother Lazarus. I think that she also knows that Jesus is facing a very tough time ahead, even his death. She makes the decision to give him this gift of nard not after he has died but now, in their home in front of everyone. It is a moment filled with fragrance and intense emotion. A reminder that this may be their last night together. John paints Judas as a scoundrel but honestly, I understand his need to tap down the emotions. I know I like my dinner parties a little more calm. I understand why folks at the Wed dinner didn’t want to receive my gift until most folks had gone. In my middle class up bringing moderation in all things was a high value. To show such extravagant emotions, to wipe his feet with her hair, to use the most costly nard. Whew. I struggle with the question of what it would mean to give myself to Christ in this way.
What would be my extravagant gift? What would be yours?
Another way to approach this story is to look at what Jesus does. As I reflected upon the experience of trying to give an extravagant gift, it dawned on me what a wonderful thing it was that Jesus accepted Mary’s gift!
For the reality is that sometimes our gifts are not received. We may take our little loaf of bread to a neighbor who does not want to receive it. Sometimes the people we try to help don’t appreciate what we do. Whenever the flow of love, the flow of giving and receiving gets snagged, there is debris, there is ugliness and pain in our lives. That is why it so important to learn from Jesus that receiving the gifts of others is an act of ministry.
For example, Wednesday night there was a man who was there toward the end who really wanted to help even though we were almost done cleaning up. He went to use the bathroom and came out and offered to clean it for us. What a gift! I went to get him gloves and bleach water. He had received our hospitality and he wanted to give back! I am so grateful to God that there was a way for him to do it.
For some of us as we grow older or face illness, we find we have to receive from others when we have been used to being the givers. We were taught most us that it was better to give than to receive. Being needy in some way and receiving help, implies for us a subtle or sometimes not so subtle imbalance of power. Those who give are powerful, those who receive are not. Yet, Jesus in his actions undercuts such ideas. He taught that the most powerful of those among them needs to be the servant. And here is Mary being a servant, giving the gift of extravagant service. He receives it and defends her right to give it. And not only that, he uses it as a model for his own gift of service to his disciples a week later at the last supper when he washes their feet. For Jesus, giving and receiving are equally valued. When we receive someone’s gifts it is a ministry that we share with Jesus himself. Accepting Mary’s gift was an affirmation of her ministry and their relationship.
For, throughout the terrible days ahead Mary had the fragrance of that gift in her hair to remind her of Jesus and all the love they shared , the gifts given and received that allowed love and grace to flow. Her gift and his acceptance of it reminded them and everyone that even in the midst of terrible times, in the midst of death dealing evil-love and tenderness are possible. The flow of giving and receiving loving gifts affirms life. She decided to give her gift while he was alive, somehow hoping and trusting that the love she has known in Jesus will ultimately bring life.
And it does. Jesus dies that week but he doesn’t stay in the tomb. His death does not stop the flowing of giving and receiving love that his life means. In raising Jesus from the dead, God affirms that it is life that God wants. It is for each person to matter, for sins to be forgiven, for life and dignity- the opportunity to give and to receive to be available to all. The death dealing forces of the world, that would kill and exploit, that would stop the flow of giving and receiving, that would say only certain people have power or gifts to share- those powers do not have the last word! No, the last word is for a humble, powerful woman who didn’t save her nard for a dead one but gave it to the living. Who had the courage to give an extravagant gift to God as a way of affirming that amazing gift of life Christ had brought to her family and would to the world.
I close with a story I have been waiting all lent to tell.
One Communion Sunday when I served the Collister church in Boise, Jim was away at school. Joseph was about 2 years old and David about 6. The church had a nursery right off the sanctuary. Usually it was just my two playing in there, but that Sunday another family showed up with several kids and the nursery person did not. So the children were playing in the room by themselves. They were doing fine until just before the offering when Joseph came running out of the room crying. I swooped him up and held him while I gave the offering plates to the ushers. I settled him down in the front row and got up again to do the communion prayer and pass out the bread. Everyone lined up to come take communion. Joseph got right in line and came up for his piece of bread. He sat back down. And then a minute later to my surprise, he marched up again- he wanted some more!
After such a hectic morning, I just had to smile. A two year old embraced the joy of the bread and the juice. And of course there was plenty! There is enough grace and love from Jesus to embrace us all- from 0 to 100.
As we come to communion today, let’s affirm the acts of giving and receiving that enhance our lives and allow ministries of love to flow.
Sermon March 6, 2016 “ Bread of Forgiveness” by Rev. June Fothergill Luke 15: 1-3, 11-32
Clara Null tells story of her days as a Sunday School teacher. She had just finished a lesson Christian behavior. “ Now, Bill, “ she asked, “ tell me what we must do before we can expect to be forgiven for our sins.” With out hesitation Billy replied, “ First we gotta sin.” ( p. 374 1001 Quotes, Illustrations and Humorous Stories ed. Edward K. Rowell)
One time when my son Joe was about 7 he didn’t check in with me at the usual time after walking home from school. I waited for a bit but then I got worried- where was he? I drove the route to the school, looked around there – no Joe. I was in a panic. Myrtle Creek was a small town- but where could he be? Finally I found him playing at a friend’s house across the street. I was so glad to see him but then , I started to scold him. I kept at it until I made him cry. I wanted him to really understand how much not checking in with me had upset me. Yet, a part of me is ashamed that I made him cry- it was selfish of me. I was my own mixture of the welcoming father and the critical elder brother. Or was I just the mother missing from the story?
Emily Heath in a reflection on this story of the father and his two sons we read today susggests, “ We have all disappointed everyone who has ever loved us, God included. That’s real. But so is grace and the thing about grace is that those moments of disappointment do not define us.” (Emily Heath, Reflections on the Lectionary p. 19 Christian Century Feb. 17, 2016)
I am not sure about disappointing everyone, but I agree that it is grace that defines us not our failings. God wants to welcome us with grace- like the father in the story. We may wander away. We may go out to seek our fortune and discover our pig stys. We may stay home and nurse resentments. We may judge others and hand on to grudges. We may betray promises and hurt others. The truth is that most of us can recognize ourselves in the two sons in this story. We have failed and fallen in our lives.
According to Jesus, he good news of grace, of the loving father, is that life and faith are not about just doing the right thing. Rather, they are about being in relationships that are real, good and capable of bearing hurt and being put back together again. Starting with our relationship with God.
Yet, accepting this welcoming grace, this opportunity for restored relationships is not always easy for us. Like the brothers, sometimes we stay in the pig sty or outside the party rather than accept the welcome and grace the father offers. I have talked with people who have told me, “ I don’t need the church or God, I’m a good person. “ and I have also heard people tell me, “ I don’t deserve God’s love.” And sometimes we just feel afraid, we don’t want to get hurt, can we really trust God to accept us? And when we accept this forgiveness of God for our lives, what changes will this bring? .
This Lent we remember that Christ is the Bread of Life for us. We are called home by a God who will come running down the road just to hold us once more and help us become the person God has crafted us to be. So how do we overcome any fears and resistance and accept this gift of welcoming grace?
1. We can cultivate an open heart
An open heart means we are willing at admit the truth about ourselves- that we are a mixture of saint and sinner. For the son in the pigs sty, the experience was waking up to who he was. Realizing that he was the son of a father who had resources that could help. He was humble, ashamed, contrite but he recognized who he was- he belonged to his father’s household. His heart opened to that possibility. His brother on the other hand is thinking about what he hasn’t gotten- a party for himself rather than what he has. He’s caught up in blaming. he’s closed his heart.
When we chose to cultivate an open heart, we create space to receive God’s grace and possibilities for our lives. This means we grow in our ability to love and care for ourselves and our world. There is a story about a group of missionaries who went to South America and attempted to make contact with a tribe that was known and feared by everyone as being very violent. The first missionaries to attempt contact were killed by some of the tribe. But the wives of some of those who were killed stayed in the area and one day some of the women of the violent tribe came to find the wives. They were worried that their tribe would implode from all the violence without some help. These women and the wives of the killed missionaries eventually were able to share with the tribe about Christ’s way of non violence and grace. Today the tribe has changed and welcomed the children of the killed missionaries to come and remember their parents. ( Autumn 2004 Arches p. 21-243 The women of the missionaries and the tribe opened their hearts.
2. With our hearts open to God, we act. We chose to follow Jesus, to repent and take the road toward renewed relationships with God and others.
The one son got up and went back home. He acted on his new insight, his opened heart. We don’t know what the other son will do, will he listen to his father and return or self exile? Jesus tells this story in a setting where he has gotten in some trouble for eating hanging out with known sinners and outcasts. He seems to be reminding the religious, good people of his day that God’s way of grace and forgiveness is for all of us. Accepting the welcome and forgiveness, the grace of God starts us on a path of making this grace real for our world, living it each day of our lives. When we receive it, we have the opportunity to offer it to others.
I remember at time when I would get really upset if someone forgot an appointment with me. I was very judgmental about it. Then one day when I was going through a season of grief, I totally spaced an appointment with a widow in my church. Of course, when I realized it I felt awful and sought her forgiveness. She was very gracious to me. And I repented. I let go of my judgmental attitudes about people missing appointments. Now instead, I realize I cannot know what is happening in their lives and give them the grace that widow gave to me.
For finally this story of grace shows us that nothing in God’s creation is ever so lost that it is beyond God’s finding. God seeks reconciliation with all, extending forgiveness and welcoming us to a place at the joyous feast.
The movement of grace in our lives, our receptive hearts invite us to celebrate – embrace joy , serve with glee. As we come to this communion table, as we feed the hungry, as we open our hearts to others- we discover that we have good news for our lives and world. In what ways might our communities and the world be changed through our own ministries of reconciliation in Christ’s name?
In what situations and in what ways might we, individually and as the church, demonstrate love that restores and reconciles?
This weekend we welcomed a group of youth from our district to stay at Ebbert and experience God’s grace in their lives. I would like to end this sermon time by inviting any of them who would like to share a way they have seen God’s grace and love at work in their time together.
Sermon Feb. 14, 2016 Bread for the Journey by Rev. June Fothergill
Deuteronomy 26: 1-11
As we journey together in Lent this year, we will be reflecting upon the meaning of Jesus as the Bread of Life. One of the ways we will do this is by celebrating Holy Communion every week with different breads offered by different persons in our congregation. So as my Lenten practice this year I plan to reflect each week on the meaning of Holy Communion and share some of those thoughts in my sermons. Today I want to look at the importance of rituals in our lives.
In 1957 a dam was built on the Columbia River that destroyed Celilo Falls, a sacred gathering place of Native peoples to trade and fish for salmon for millennia. When I served the little church in Wasco many of the old time ranchers there remembered the falls and the community that gathered around them when the salmon ran each year. They had stories to tell of interacting with the native peoples who gathered there as they themselves travelled through the area. I saw some of their pictures of the cascading falls and the people fishing on the platforms built out over the river. People remembered with a sense of sadness and I wonder if just a little guilt. Could they have spoken up to prevent this destruction of something precious to a people they knew but perhaps didn’t understand? Gone was a community gathering and a significant natural sight. Today there is a small Native community living on the banks of the Columbia at that site. Every year they still celebrate a great feast in their longhouse to mark the running of the salmon. It is still a sacred time and site for them and a feast open to all. The falls are gone and the community that gathered there to fish but the appreciation for the gift of the salmon and the roots and the sacred act of a celebration of these gifts is still marked by the native peoples. These rituals of our lives tell us who we are, remind us what matters to us and help us to build communities of caring for each other and the earth.
The book of Deuteronomy provides words of Moses to the community just before they enter the land that had been promised. Moses had led them out from slavery in Egypt, into the wilderness where they received the Torah, the Law and Teachings of God. They had wandered in the wilderness for 40 years learning to rely on God for food like the gift of the manna- bread from heaven. Now they would enter a land where they could grow crops and harvest them. They would make bread from the grain they grew themselves. Moses offers them a ritual which will remind them that everything they will have in the new land is a gift from God. This ritual takes ordinary first fruits of the harvest and has them point to the community’s ongoing relationship with God. The act of the ritual allowed people to actively live out their faith.
Communion has a similar function for us. It is a sacrament in which the ordinary bread and juice point us toward the living presence of Christ in our midst. Jesus gave us this ritual to remind us of what he did for us and his ongoing presence with us. Like the ancient Israelites we bring ourselves to this ritual remembering who we are and what God has done for us.
1. Communion reminds us who we are. In our Communion ritual we bring the ordinary gifts of bread and juice. We come to the table as ordinary, flawed people, just as we are. We come with our regrets and our sins, but also with our gifts for service and our hopes for a better world. We come to the table wanting to follow Jesus, wanting to grow in love and service, wanting to be assured of forgiveness, seeking healing. This is who we are.
In John and Charles Wesley’s experience, coming to the table of the Lord, could become an experience of justification, of God’s forgiveness and love that changes our lives. They had seen people converted at the communion table. So they didn’t want to put restrictions on who could come. Anyone, open to following Jesus, seeking to have Christ in their lives was welcome! So it is still today in UMC. We have an open table because we believe that Christ invites all us saints and sinners into relationship with him. We are all welcome at his table. So it is that ordinary bread, and juice and ordinary people become infused with God’s presence. It’s a sacramental moment. God with us.
2. So in Holy Communion we enact the story that matters to us- The Last Supper of Jesus. Like the people of Israel remembered their history at their harvest ritual, we remember Jesus and all he did for us- giving us teachings that enhance our lives, dying on a cross as an act of love for us, and rising again to assure us of new life and pouring out the Holy Spirit on us each day and at this table.
So we come with gratitude for what God has done for us in Jesus the Christ and seek His presence and grace for us today. We come trusting that through this work of Christ that we are offered forgiveness and healing, we can find a new life and be strengthened to serve others. This meal offers spiritual bread for our journeys of faith and life. We are given the love and grace we can then share with our world. This moment, this meal, this bread is God’s gift to us.
Finally, this meal, this ritual helps us see how we can companion each other on the way. We companion one another in our needs by bringing these needs to the table of the Lord, we open our hearts to how Christ wants to bring us together, to show us each other’s gifts and heal the divisions between us. At Christ’s table we all sit together looking to Jesus in our common need for grace.
One of my favorite things to do at Annual Conference is to watch all the folks coming down for communion at the memorial service. I am sometimes overwhelmed by the sense of all these faithful disciples gathering together. I see old friends and new, I see people I know who give so much of themselves for Christ, I notice our diversity of age and station and race. I am filled with gratitude for our community of faith and how we are sustained together by this simple meal. I feel the same when I watch all of you come to the communion table.
In Deuteronomy it says that at the end of the ritual of giving all the first fruits the community including the aliens, the foreigners in their midst, they all were to “ celebrate with all the bounty.” This sounds like a big feast to me! So it is with us and our Holy Communion. It is a celebration of our community, our connections with one another that happen because of our connection with Christ. That is why I have us use one loaf. As Paul puts it, “ Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.” ( 1 Corinthians 17) We become the beloved community through sharing in this bread of Christ.
This week we started our Lenten journey together with a hectic Wednesday night dinner, an Ash Wed worship service and choir practice. The evening reminded us of the needs that surround us- people hungry for food, shelter, companionship, work, dignity, health and yes, God’s love. Some of those needs we are able to respond to through a hot meal, a word of scripture and prayer, a call to 911 when someone is ill, a word of care, an opportunity to sing and share gifts. As we come to this table of Our Lord today, let’s remember that Christ invites us to come and be forgiven, healed and empowered for service, for companioning one another in sharing Christ’s ministry of love and justice in our hurting world.
very encouraging, uplifting. really touched my heart. drawing me closer to the heart of GOD