Sermons & Services

EPHESIANS 5:15-20

WILL YOU PLEASE PRAY WITH ME:

AMEN

I IMAGINED FOR TODAY A SETTING IN WHICH WE WERE DRAWN CLOSER TOGETHER BOTH BECAUSE WE ARE FEWER IN NUMBER AND ALSO BECAUSE I DECIDED TO DO SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT (MY GUESS IS YOU MAY BE GETTING USED TO THIS…) I AM TRYING TO WORK ON BEING A BIT MORE SPONTANEOUS AND FLEXIBLE, SO THIS IS LESS A SERMON AND MORE A REACTION TO SOMETHING THAT I RECEIVED A FEW WEEKS AGO…

AT THE SAME TIME, I WANTED TO LET YOU KNOW THAT THESE BIBLICAL PASSAGES ARE STRAIGHT FROM TODAY’S LECTIONARY—THOUGH IT IS OFTEN A PREACHER’S CHOICE IN UCC CHURCHES WHETHER OR NOT TO FOLLOW THE LECTIONARY, I ALWAYS CHOOSE TO DO SO BECAUSE IT HELPS ME STAY DISCIPLINED AND FOCUSED. SO, DON’T WORRY, WE ARE NOT GOING TO GO THAT CRAZY!

AND, AS ONE WHO IS OFTEN CHALLENGED BY HER ADD I GRAB AT ANY WAY TO CREATE FOCUS THAT I CAN. HOW FUN AND WONDERFUL IT WAS, THEN, WHEN I CAME UPON THE READINGS TODAY AND FOUND A PASSAGE FROM PROVERBS FOCUSED ON THE PERSONIFICTION OF WISDOM AS A WOMAN AND THEN TO FOLLOW IT WITH A LETTER FROM PAUL TO THE EPHESIANS THAT FEELS AS IF IT FITS PERFECTLY—ALMOST AS IF PAUL IS SIMPLY WRITING A CONTINUATION OF THE ADVICE GIVEN BY THE WISE WOMAN OF PROVERBS.

AND PROVERBS READS THAT LADY WISDOM SAYS THIS:

SO, WHAT DO WE HAVE HERE?

SHE IS WELCOMING ALL INTO HER HOME—ALL ARE WELCOME, THOUGH SHE DOES USE THIS WORD “SIMPLE” –YOU WHO ARE SIMPLE—BY WHICH IS MEANT, AS FAR AS WE HAVE TRANSLATED FOR US, IMMATURE OR EASILY MISLED—COME HERE SHE SAYS AND GAIN INSIGHT AS TO HOW YOU SHOULD ACT, HOW YOU SHOULD LIVE, HOW YOU SHOULD BE. IF WE ARE SEEKING ADVICE THIS IS IT:

LAY ASIDE IMMATURE THINGS…HMM…WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I READ IT AS

MEANING THAT TO BE IMMATURE IS TO NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. TO CONSIDER IMMEDIATE GRATIFICATION VERSUS CONSIDERING THE CONSEQUENCES OF OUR ACTIONS. I THINK SHE IS ASKING US–TO RECALL WHAT IT WAS LIKE TO BE A CHILD AND NOT EVEN KNOW ABOUT THE OUTSIDE WORLD— TO CHALLENGE OURSELVES TO BE LESS SELF-ABSORBED. PROVERBS CALLS US TO BE GROWN UP CHRISTIANS, BY WHICH I THINK SHE MEANS THAT WE MUST ACCEPT THAT TO BE CHRISTIAN MEANS:

TO WELCOME OTHERS, TO PREPARE A MEAL, AND ULTIMATELY TO LIVE FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS. GROW UP, SHE TELLS US, YOU KNOW WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN, NOW DO THE DIFFICULT WORK OF LIVING IT.

OF COURSE, THERE IS MORE HERE, AND THERE ARE THINGS WE COULD DISCUSS ABOUT DIFFERENT WORDS, THEIR TRANSLATION FROM THE GREEK AND HEBREW, WHAT THE COMMENTARIES SAY, AND WHAT SCHOLARS THINK, BUT SOMETIMES, I THINK, ALL THOSE THINGS—CAN I SAY IT HERE IN CAMBRIDGE?—ARE SUPERFLUOUS—THAT IS, WE KNOW WHAT IT MEANS, WE NEED NO ONE, ESPECIALLY ME TO TELL YOU.

THEN LET’S TURN TO OUR SECOND READING…

IT IS TAKEN FROM PAUL’S LETTER TO THE EPHESIANS, LET ME READ IT ONCE MORE BECAUSE IF YOU ARE ANYTHING LIKE ME, SOMETIMES I ZONE OUT WHEN THE BIBLICAL PASSAGES ARE BEING READ:

I WILL TELL YOU THAT THERE ARE SCHOLARS, MANY OF THEM, WHO THINK THAT THIS PARTICULAR LETTER WAS NOT ACTUALLY WRITTEN BY PAUL, BUT IT IS ATTRIBUTED TO HIM, SO FOR OUR PURPOSES TODAY, I AM HOPING THAT IT’S OKAY TO GO WITH WHAT THE TITLE OF THE LETTER SAYS AND THAT IT IS AMONG THE LETTERS OF PAUL TO DIFFERENT CHURCHES ALONG HIS TRAVELS, IN THIS CASE DURING HIS IMPRISONMENT IN ROME. AND, LIKE THE PASSAGE FROM PROVERBS, IT IS A PIECE OF OUR SACRED TEXTS THAT FOCUSES ON WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CHRISTIAN NOT ONLY IN WHAT WE BELIEVE BUT IN HOW WE PUT THIS INTO PRACTICE.

NOT A NEW MESSAGE OR EVEN AN UNFAMILIAR ONE FOR US, AM I RIGHT?

SO AS I READ AND REREAD THESE PASSAGES, SOMETHING EVERY PREACHING PROFESSOR I EVER HAVE HAD ALWAYS URGED ME TO DO, I REALIZED HOW STRUCK I WAS THAT THERE DID NOT SEEM TO BE A LOT THAT WAS MYSTERIOUS HERE—SO, WHAT WAS I TO DO, ISN’T MY JOB TO BE THE SCHOLAR? TO BE THE ONE WHO HAS SOME KIND OF SPECIAL INSIGHT OR A NEW WAY TO LOOK AT A PASSAGE?

AND THEN, I REMEMBERED AN IMPORTANT MANDATE OF PROFESSORS PAST: WHERE ARE YOU IN THIS? WHERE IS GOD? WHERE IS YOUR AUDIENCE? AND SO ON.

AS I HELD THESE PASSAGES TO MY HEART, BROUGHT THEM TO GOD—I BEGAN TO THINK ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE TO BE AN EPHESIAN? TO BE ONE OF THE COMMUNITIES THAT RECEIVED A LETTER FROM PAUL? AND THEN I THOUGHT, WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE IF WE RECEIVED A LETTER FROM PAUL, BETTER YET, HERE WE ARE AT THE VERY END OF OUR THEMATIC YEAR, OUR YEAR OF OUR ANCESTORS, CONTEMPLATING OUR ANCESTRY, COMING TO TERMS WITH IT ALL—AND HERE IS WHERE I ASKED OF MYSELF TO SUSPEND MY USUAL WAY OF THINKING THAT IS TO USE MY BRAIN TO GO ABOUT MY DAY AND LET MY IMAGINATION DRIVE ME AS I THINK ABOUT WHAT IT WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE A LETTER…AND THIS IS WHEN I ASK YOU TO DO THE SAME: SUSPEND YOUR JUDGEMENT AND INSTEAD, ALLOW ME TO TAKE YOU ON THE JOURNEY ON WHICH I TOO WAS TAKEN…

A LETTER CAME ADDRESSED TO NO ONE SPECIFIC, BUT IT DID SAY ATTN: PLEASE DELIVER ONE OF THE PEOPLE PREACHING NEAR TO THE END OF AUGUST…WELL, IT WAS A FRIDAY AND I HAPPENED TO BE DROPPING OFF SOMETHING FOR BRUCE IN THE CHURCH OFFICE AND HE HANDED ME THE LETTER BECAUSE HE SAW THAT I WAS IN THE PREACHING PROVERBIAL BATTER’S BOX. I LOOKED AROUND—KATE WAS OUT OF TOWN, OTHERS WERE GONE FOR THE DAY, SO I PUT THE LETTER IN MY POCKET TO SAVE FOR LATER. LATER THAT EVENING I OPENED IT, AND IT IS THIS LETTER, WHICH, BY THE WAY, IS UNSIGNED, THAT I SHARE WITH YOU NOW. IT IS WRITTEN IN THREE DIFFERENT HANDS, SO I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN IT SHIFTS FROM ONE TO ANOTHER. OKAY, HERE WE GO:

GRACE TO YOU AND PEACE FROM GOD AND OUR FRIEND, JESUS CHRIST, (AND FOR THOSE WHO DON’T BELIEVE IN JESUS, WE SEND YOU GREETINGS FROM THE CREATOR OF BEAUTY, YOU WHO OUR BELOVEDS OF THE COMMUNITY OF FIRST CHURCH IN THE CITY OF CAMBRIDGE.

THIS IS THE FIRST WRITER:

IT HAS BEEN A WHILE SINCE WE LAST HAVE WRITTEN, BUT SINCE WE HAVE NOT REECEIVED A RESPONSE TO OUR LAST LETTER, WE HAVE DECIDED TO ADD A SENSE OF URGENCY TO THIS LETTER. GREETINGS TO YOU ALL AND ESPECIALLY TO THOSE THAT MIGHT BE NEW. WE REALIZE THAT THIS IS A TIME OF TRANSITION FOR YOU, DEAR FRIENDS, SO WE DECIDED TO FOCUS ON HOW EACH OF THINK YOU SHOULD CONSIDER BEING OR BECOMING AS YOU THINK ABOUT WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS. PERSONALLY, I WOULD LIKE YOU TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOU GREET VISITORS. ASK YOURSELVES WHO IS THE STRANGER AMONGST YOU? FROM MY PERCH I AM HAPPY TO HAVE OBSERVED THAT YOU HAVE SOME WHO HAVE TAKEN ON A NEW FORM OF WELCOME, BUT THERE ARE STILL SOME KINKS THAT I THINK NEED SMOOTHING OUT. FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOU DON’T MIND MY HONESTY, I’D SUGGEST THAT JUST BECAUSE PEOPLE HAVE TAKEN IT ON DOESN’T MEAN THAT ALL OF YOU SHOULD NOT SEE IT AS YOUR TASK TO GREET NEW PEOPLE. FOR THAT MATTER, HOW ABOUT MIXING UP THINGS AND CHANGE THE PLACE WHERE YOU SIT (UNLESS, OF COURSE, YOU ARE A MEMBER OF THE CHOIR!). SIT IN THE BACK THEN THE FRONT THEN THE MIDDLE—YOU’D BE SURPRISED HOW MANY NEW FACES YOU WILL ENCOUNTER!! AND FINALLY, MY BELOVED OF THE FIRST CHURCH COMMUNITY, I IMPLORE YOU TO GET READY TO BAKE MORE COOKIES. I KNOW COFFEE HOUR IS NOT FOR EVERYONE, BUT NOR IS IT ONLY FOR LISA!!! HELP HER OUT BY THINKING ABOUT SIGNING UP SEVERAL TIMES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR TO BRING REFRESHMENTS. IT’S JUST ANOTHER WAY TO WELCOME EACH OTHER, SO JUST DO IT!!!

HERE, THE LETTER CHANGES HAND AND IT IS BOTH A NEW HANDWRITING AS WELL AS CLEARLY A NEW VOICE:

HELLO, MY BELOVED FIRST CHURCH FRIENDS, I SHARE WITH YOU THIS FROM TODAY’S EPHESIAN’S PASSAGE:

 “BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT, AS YOU SING PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGSAMONG YOURSELVES, SINGING AND MAKING MELODY TO THE LORD IN YOUR HEARTS”

WHAT DOES IT MEAN, I ASK OF YOU, “TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT?” FOR EACH OF US, I THINK IT MEANS SOMETHING DIFFERENT, AND I THINK THAT IS PERFECTLY OKAY. HOWEVER, IT IS NOT JUST A QUESTION TO THINK OR PRAY ABOUT, IT IS A QUESTION WHOSE ANSWER NEEDS TO BE PUT INTO ACTION. AND I BELIEVE CONTEMPLATION CAN BE ACTION, AS LONG AS IT IS FOCUSED AT LEAST SOME OF THE TIME ON JUSTICE. ANYONE AND EVERYONE NEEDS TO CONSIDER HOW TO BE A WARRIOR FOR JUSTICE. YOU, PEOPLE OF FIRST CHURCH, ARE A PEOPLE OF JUSTICE AND YOU ARE CALLED TO BE THE CHURCH NOT ONLY TO EACH OTHER BUT TO OTHERS. THIS MAY BE EVEN MORE IMPORTANT DURING THIS TIME OF TRANSITION AND I AM NOT REFERRING ONLY TO THE LEADERSHIP TRANSITION OF OUR CHURCH BUT ALSO OF THE NATION. I BELIEVE IN YOU, MY BELOVED, I WANT YOU TO BE BRAVE—TO REACH OUT TO THOSE DIFFERENT FROM YOU, THOSE WHO MAY BE DOWN ON THEIR LUCK OR FROM A DIFFERENT PART OF MASSACHUSETTS OR THE WORLD. AS MY FRIEND BEFORE ME WROTE, LOOK AROUND AND WORK TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE ARE DIFFERENT TYPES OF FACES BOTH IN OUR CHURCH BUT ALSO IN YOUR LIFE. WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR YOU TO STEP OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE THIS YEAR? I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT, DEAREST FRIENDS—AGAIN, I BELIEVE IN YOUR GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT, I BELIEVE IN YOUR GOODNESS, I BELIEVE IN YOU.

HERE ENDS THE SECOND PART OF THE LETTER…

AND THEN THE HANDWRITING CHANGES AND SO TOO THE VOICE ONCE MORE:

AS I WRITE YOU, DEAR FRIENDS AT FIRST, I FIND MYSELF OUT IN WHAT HAS BECOME MY USUAL SPOT VERY EARLY IN THE MORNING, AND I CAN HEAR THE BIRDS, SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES, ALSO WAKING UP. THEY ARE BELOW ME BUT THEIR SONGS RISE TO MY EARS AND I LOVE THESE MOMENTS. THEY ARE ENOUGH TO MAKE ME BELIEVE…IN WHAT, I STILL AM NOT ENTIRELY CERTAIN.

HOW I WISH SOMETIMES THAT I COULD BE THE WOMAN OF WISDOM IN PROVERBS WHO READIES HER HOME FOR VISITORS AND FEEDS THEM. HOW HAPPY I AM TO SEE ALL SORTS OF DIFFERENT PEOPLE SERVING WARM FOOD AND SANDWICHES AT THE FRIDAY CAFÉ! HOW GRATEFUL I AM THAT STEPHEN AND STEPHANIE CONTINUE TO WORK TO FILL THE PANTRY AT THE RINDGE TOWERS AND I WRITE TO REMIND YOU OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FIRST SUNDAYS IN THE MONTH—I HOPE IT WILL BE ONE OF THE FIRST THINGS YOU SHARE WITH THE INTERIM MINISTER!!! I LIKE TO BELIEVE, DEAR FRIENDS, THAT WE ALL DO THE BEST WE CAN, BUT THEN I WANT YOU TO GO ONE STEP FURTHER—DO MORE THAN YOUR BEST!!!

I CANNOT WRITE YOU WITHOUT, OF COURSE, SHARING MY YEARNINGS FOR THE NATURAL WORLD. FROM WHERE WE SIT, WE CAN SO SEE MUCH THAT IS BOTH SPECTACULAR AND SCARY. PLEASE TAKE A FEW WALKS IN THE NEXT MONTH—WHETHER IT IS AROUND FRESH POND TO TAKE IN THE MANY DOGS AND WILD FLOWERS, A WALK IN MT AUBURN TO VISIT A LOVED ONE, MARY BAKER EDDY, OR THE MANY SPECIES OF BIRDS AND TREES, OR JUST A SIMPLE WALK AROUND YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD IN ARLINGTON, SOMERVILLE, BELMONT, MEDFORD, LEXINGTON, MEDFORD, WATERTOWN, NEWTON, CAMBRIDGE, OR ANY OTHER SPACE THAT YOU MIGHT CALL YOUR OWN—BREATHE IT ALL IN, LISTEN TO THE SOUNDS AVAILABLE TO YOU, SMELL THE SUMMER SMELLS, AND JUST BE. AND FINALLY, AS THE COOL BREEZES WELCOME YOU BACK TO THE WALLS OF FIRST CHURCH, CONSIDER LEADING A FAITH AND LIFE SESSION ABOUT SOMETHING THAT YOU LOVE OR IN WHICH YOU ARE INTERESTED. I END WITH THIS BECAUSE I BELIEVE THAT SHARING YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND PASSIONS IS JUST ANOTHER WAY TO HONOR THE HUMANITY OF OTHERS—SOMETHING I BELIEVE WE ARE ALL CALLED TO DO.

AND THIS IS WHERE THE FINAL VOICE ENDS, BUT WE ARE NOT YET DONE BECAUSE THE LETTER CLOSES IN WHAT SEEMS TO BE WRITTEN IN ALL THREE VOICES—HERE IT IS:

 LET US CLOSE WITH THIS, DEAR FRIENDS, WHILE WE SO MISS BEING WITH YOU PHYSICALLY, WE ARE YOUR ANCESTORS AND AS SUCH, WE ARE WITH YOU IN SPIRIT. THIS MEANS THAT WE SEE YOU; WE HOLD EXPECTATIONS AND HOPES AND DREAMS JUST AS YOU DO. WE ARE WITH YOU DURING THIS TIME OF TRANSITION AND WE KNOW YOU WILL KEEP DOING WHAT MAKES YOU THE CHURCH YOU HAVE BECOME. USE THE PAST TO BUOY YOU BUT LOOK FORWARD AND IMAGINE WHAT YOU HOPE FOR AND DO WHATEVER YOU CAN TO BRING THIS INTO FIRST CHURCH’S REALITY. WE HOPE THIS LETTER WRITTEN TO YOU BY THREE OF YOUR ANCESTORS FINDS YOU EAGER TO DO ALL THIS. FOR IT IS SO TRUE, YOU, DEARLY BELOVED, ARE THE CHURCH.

 GO IN PEACE.

 AMEN.”

WOW!!! WHAT AN AMAZING THING IT IS TO HAVE A LETTER LIKE THIS IN HAND TO SHARE AND READ WITH ALL OF YOU. WHAT A WONDERFUL GIFT AND HOW I WANT TO KNOW WHO THESE WRITERS ARE. I HAVE MY SUSPICIONS—MANY FOR WHICH WERE HELPED ALONG BY THOSE OF YOU TO WHOM I REACHED OUT AND QUESTIONED ABOUT DIFFERENT MEMBERS OF OUR CHURCH WHO HAVE GONE BEFORE US. I CAN HEAR THEIR VOICES HERE. I CAN PICTURE A FEW SITTING TOGETHER AND TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE A LETTER TO US. HOWEVER, EVEN IF I AM WRONG, I LOVE WHAT MY IMAGINATION HAS DONE: COULD IT BE ALICE, OUR JUSTICE WARRIOR, OR PAULINE OUR FEARLESS GREETER AND BAKER OF HOMEMADE COOKIES, AND/OR HILARY, OUR QUESTIONER, LOVER OF ALL ALIVE THINGS….OUR WOMEN OF WISDOM PASSING

ALONG THEIR WORDS OF ADVICE, BOTH SOLICITED AND UNSOLICITED, AS THEY SEE US IN THIS TIME OF LIMBO….?  YES, IT COULD BE, BUT WHO DO YOU THINK WROTE THIS LETTER? GIVE YOURSELVES SOME TIME IN THE COMING WEEKS TO CONSIDER IT…IT’S BEEN LOVELY FOR ME TO CONSIDER—A LOT MORE FUN THAN CONSIDERING WHETHER IS T WAS PAUL OR ONE OF HIS JUST AS PAUL AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES WHO WROTE TO THE EPHESIANS. YET, LIKE PAUL AND HIS PEOPLE, WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT ABOUT LETTERS WRITTEN TO ANY GROUP OF PEOPLE WHO ARE TRYING TO LIVE OUT GOD’S HOPE FOR US, IS THAT THEY ARE TO SERVE AS INSPIRATION TO LOVE. AS PAUL SAID IN ANOTHER LETTER, “MAY MY LOVE BE WITH ALL OF YOU.” FOR IF WE SEE THIS AND TRULY GRASP IT, WE WILL DO EXACTLY WHAT IT IS THAT OUR ANCESTORS CHALLENGE US TO DO: TO BE JUSTICE WARRIORS, TO BE WELCOMING, TO LOOK FORWARD, AND, ONCE AGAIN, TO ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT WHO WE ARE IS THE CHURCH—WE ARE THE CHURCH.

AND THE CHURCH SAID, AMEN.