2012
Sermons
Dez 30 - Jesus Must
Dez 30 - I Will Not Forget
Dez 28 - Hear, See, Do
Dez 27 - Fresh Every Morning
Dez 24 - The Fullness of Time...for Us
Dez 23 - Emotions of Advent: Graced Wonder
Dez 16 - Confused Anticipation
Dez 9 - Moods of Advent: Anger
Dez 2 - Moods of Advent: Anxiety
Nov 25 - Not Overwhelmed
Nov 18 - Piles of Troubles
Nov 11 - Thankfulness
Nov 4 - The Communion of Saints...
Okt 28 - Look back, around, ahead!
Okt 21 - Consecration Sunday 2012
Okt 14 - The Right Questions
Okt 7 - God's Yes
Okt 6 - Waiting
Sep 30 - Insignificant?
Sep 23 - That pesky word "obedience"
Sep 16 - Led on their Way
Sep 15 - Partners in Thanks
Sep 12 - With Love
Sep 9 - At the edges
Sep 2 - Doers of the Word
Aug 26 - It's about God
Aug 19 - Jesus Remembers!
Aug 15 - Companion: Gratitude
Aug 12 - Bread of Life
Aug 11 - God's Silence and Speech
Aug 5 - One Faith, Many Gifts - Part 2
Jul 29 - One Faith, Many Gifts
Jul 25 - Rescue, Relief, Reunion, Rest
Jul 22 - Faithful Ruth, Mary, and God
Jul 15 - New World A-Comin'
Jul 8 - Take nothing; take everything
Jul 1 - Laughter
Jun 24 - Salvation!
Jun 17 - Really?
Jun 10 - Renewed by the Future
Jun 3 - Remember, O Lord
Jun 3 - Out of Darkness, Light!
Mai 27 - Dem bones gonna rise again!
Mai 20 - It’s all about me, me, me.
Mai 13 - Blame it on the Spirit
Mai 12 - More than Problems
Mai 6 - Pruned for Living
Apr 29 - Called by no other name
Apr 22 - No and Yes
Apr 22 - Who's in charge here?
Apr 22 - Time Well-used
Apr 15 - The Resurrection of the Body
Apr 8 - For they were afraid
Apr 7 - It's All in a Name
Apr 6 - For us
Apr 6 - No Bystanders
Apr 5 - The Scandal of Servant-hood
Apr 1 - Two Processions
Mrz 28 - The Rich Young Man, Jesus, and Us
Mrz 25 - The Grain of Wheat
Mrz 18 - Grace
Mrz 14 - Elijah, Jezebel, and us
Mrz 8 - The Best Use of Time
Mrz 7 - David, Saul, and Us
Mrz 4 - Despair to Hope, for Abraham, for Us
Mrz 2 - The Word and words
Feb 29 - Jacob, Esau, and Us
Feb 26 - In the wilderness of this day
Feb 22 - It Doesn't End Here
Feb 19 - Why Worship?
Feb 12 - The Person is the Difference
Feb 5 - Healing and Service
Jan 29 - On the Frontier
Jan 22 - What about them?
Jan 15 - Come and See
Jan 14 - Joy and Pain at Christmastime
Jan 8 - To marvel, to fear, to do, and thus believe
Jan 1 - All in a Name
Time Well-used
June Decker Funeral - April 22, 2012
[Not often do we associate portions of our windows with specific persons.
In the “Education” window there is the deaconess which reminds us of Sister Mildred and her successors.
And in the “Social Ministry” window there is the young person wearing polio braces which reminds us of June.]
Who is in charge here?
It is an easy question, and a very complicated question at the same time, which we can approach from several directions.
Let's describe things:
at the bed
the phone is at this side of the tray table, the address book is there,
the stack of bills and papers is next,
newspapers and periodicals to another side,
supplies and notions is in a compartment,
a container with tissues and all sorts of things is nearby,
humidifiers and fans range around the other side of the bed,
air conditioner in the window, running.
Various signs on these appliances warn that they shall not be adjusted by anyone.
And in the midst of this is June, talking alternately about several subjects.
...appearing to be rather in charge of things, as usual!
We know it is an illusion, though, because not long ago there was another evening that I walked into her room when things were much different,
when her hands were still,
when every breath was with great effort,
when she could not ever again respond to anything that Art wanted to say to her.
We're only tenuously, temporarily in charge of things.
In our Second Lesson today, Paul isn't just being modest, he is being faithfully realistic when he says:
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.
But just because our control is not absolute and not enduring, we should not think that it is unimportant.
It just has limitations.
In the First Lesson, Naomi had been hit with multiple tragedy and had all but given up.
It was the foreigner daughter in law Ruth who was persistent, who held on,
who said that there is yet more that God is going to be doing with us, somehow... even though we don't have any idea yet what that might be.
Ruth managed their limited resources and opportunities, and God surprised them mightily!
And they are the ancestors of King David and eventually of the family of Jesus!
In the Gospel reading we heard that embarrassing episode where the disciples try to jockey for best seats in the Kingdom of God.
“You don't know what you are trying to manage,” Jesus has to tell them,
“whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.
For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.
Their expectations are suddenly turned upside down, aren't they?
Serving, helping, are shown to be a vital part of managing!
So, how shall we understand all of this?
(1) June's job as a manager, which she took very seriously indeed, is now complete.
She did all she could, but has now passed the task on to us.
(2) The Lord Jesus will take her work and ours and make use of it somehow in his plans for the kingdom of God.
There is lots for us to be doing, God puts us in charge of things great and small, things that can be done with a telephone if we have a limitation like June's, and others that need active legs and feet.
There is no time to wait around for someone else!
(3) The promise that was made to June when she was baptized, (and indeed the same promise that was made to each of us) is what energizes our work as managers.
Jesus promised to hold onto us forever, no matter what problems threaten to overwhelm us.
Even death shall not be a barrier to the community he establishes for June, for us, and for the church of all times and places.
It is the best news of all;
the one really in charge of the whole thing is Jesus.
And why is that good news?
Our Easter-time call and response is the key:
Christ is risen: HE IS RISEN INDEED. Amen.
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Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him. |