“Passing Faith Down Generations” based on Psalm 145:1-5, 17-21…

November 6, 2022
by Sara Baron

“One
generation shall laud your works to another and shall declare your
mighty acts.” So says the Psalm, so say our lives. When I have
had the opportunity to ask people about their lives of faith, they
are NEVER solo journeys. Many stories talk about a parent or
grandparent who was a faithful person, and brought a young child
along to church. Many others talk about a loving person found in
adulthood, and inviting them along. Every person I’ve talked to
shares about experiences of love and affirmation in the church they
found, and the people they looked up to, and the joy they found among
the saints. People don’t come to church JUST because they love God.
Loving God happens everywhere. People are part of the Body of Christ
because other people in the Body of Christ have shown them the love
of God and how it can transform a life.

“One
generation shall laud your works to another and shall declare your
mighty acts.” When you think about those people in your life, the
ones who taught you not only that God is good but also that the
community of faith is able to teach you about love and good living,
joy and the delight of service – HOW did they teach you?

Around
here, I think, the teaching is often indirect. Or perhaps I should
say embodied. It sounds more like, “I love sharing love this way,
wanna come” then “let me tell you the story of how God has acted
in my life.” Inviting people along is GREAT. Also, I often think
we probably should share those stories of God-moments too though. I
think we have them, but God-stories are pretty tender, and not always
terribly coherent, and don’t always translate well to words, and more
often than not they’re a little weird. Because God doesn’t tend to
adhere to cultural norms of acceptable behavior. And we don’t always
want to trust just anyone with experiences like that.

(It
starts to become clear how it is that so many Bible stories are
written in metaphor, because experiences of God just don’t
communicate well any other way.)

But
I wonder if some of the saints we remember today DID trust us with
their stories. Maybe those stories are worth passing down. And I
wonder what would happen if we shared with each other our stories. I
suspect we’d be doing even a little better with the description “One
generation shall laud your works to another and shall declare your
mighty acts.”

Now
that I’ve made you squirm a bit – reminding you to share your
stories of God-moments and also passing on the ones you’ve heard, I’m
going to go to Ephesians are look at the other way of doing it. The
one we are better at around here, which is also the way faith has
been transferred around here most often. As he often does, Paul
writes to the Ephesians and starts by thanking them for their faith.
The starts of his letters are always filled with gratitude, this one
is quite lovely, “ I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and
your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease
to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.”

Our
faith in God, our following of Jesus, is expressed in how we share
our love with others. Paul is happy to hear they are filled with
love, and says that means he can see their faith.

There
is some nuance here that I struggle with a little. Paul says he
hears of their love “towards all the saints” and there is no
question in the context of Ephesians that “all the saints” means
the believers of Jesus. That is, the early church. That is, NOT
everyone. Just the insiders.

In
first century context, this makes sense. The church was small, weak,
and under attack. Supporting each other had to come first to
survive, and fairly radical sharing of resources within the followers
of Christ was normal. The church modeled the kindom of God, but on a
small scale.

The
church was not yet a part of the power structure of society, nor the
status quo. There weren’t clergy, and they didn’t have special
privileges or tax benefits. No one had a non-profit designation.

So,
I guess it makes sense that the love was first for the followers of
Christ. It is also true that many, many, MANY of the followers of
Christ were the people struggling most in the world. So by offering
care to insiders, God’s vulnerable were being cared for.

I
struggle to bring this into the 21^st century because it is
such a deep both/and, and it requires nuance and care. I think we
still need to share love with each other, and I am willing to say we
have to do that FIRST. Because unless we ground each other in God’s
love, we stand on shaky ground. Because unless we ground each other
in God’s love, we miss out on the shared gifts of the whole. Because
unless we ground each other in love, we aren’t sharing God.

AND,
at exactly the same time, the love has to extend beyond “the
communion of saints” beyond the walls of the church, beyond the
faith community. Because NOW we are a known part of society, now we
have members with power and authority in the world, now we have
privilege and respect, and we need to use it to care for God’s
beloveds, especially those who are vulnerable.

I’ve
been oddly excited about the new program structure we’re putting into
place in January, because it actually does this. In addition to the
Worship Committee – which aims to help people connect with God in
community, and the Intersectional Justice committee – which aims to
help people advocate for the vulnerable and understand the ways the
world works so better advocacy can happen – we’re adding TWO new
committees that I think balance them out. Spiritual Formation aims
to help people connect with the Divine as individuals. And Nurturing
Relationships aims to help people connect with each other. That is,
to increase the love between the saints. AND to help us experience
God and tell those stories. It is almost as if it is both parts of
the scriptures we’re playing with today.

We
are trusted with the stories of the Saints who came before us, to
hold in our hearts, and to share when we can. We are trusted with
the faith of the Saints who came before us, to pass it on to the next
generations. We are trusted with the love of the Saints who came
before us, to share it in the church and in the world. We are
trusted with the resources of the Saints who came before us, to
combine with our own resources to use them to build the kindom of
God.

What
legacies we have from those who came before us. May God help us to
pass along what we hold to those who will come after us. Amen

Rev. Sara E. Baron
First United Methodist Church of Schenectady
603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305
Pronouns: she/her/hers
http://fumcschenectady.org/
https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady

November 6, 2022

Uncategorized

“Life” based on Romans 12:9-21

August 30, 2020
by Sara Baron

My
normal preaching style is to argue with the text, but I can’t do it
with this one. Romans 12 speaks for itself. That is, it preaches
for itself. It doesn’t need to be argued with, just amplified. It
preachers better in the Message, paraphrased by Rev. Eugene Peterson.
Hear it again¹:

Love from the center of who you
are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear
life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing
second fiddle.

Don’t burn out; keep
yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master,
cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the
harder. Help needy people; be inventive in hospitality.

Bless
your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy
friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get
along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with
nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

Don’t
hit back; discover beauty in everyone. If you’ve got it in you, get
along with everybody. Don’t insist on getting even; that’s not
for you to do. “I’ll do the judging,” says God. “I’ll take
care of it.”

Our
Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that
person lunch, or if he’s thirsty, get him a drink. Your generosity
will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of
you; get the best of evil by doing good.

This
is one of those passages that doesn’t speak the name of God – but
tries to speak about what it means to be followers of
Jesus. Its good news that following God means being good
friends. Modern theologians and scholars spend a lot of time working
on the idea of a “relational God.” which is to say that God is in
relationship with us and cares deeply about our relationships with
others. To take it a step further even, God is in the midst of all
of our relationships with others. To be in relationship with God IS
to be in good relationship with those around us. To harm those in
our lives IS to harm God.

So
we hear that we should be good friends who love deeply – and thus
we become better friends with God.

The
next line is one of the best pieces of advice in the Bible. As
Peterson puts it: practice playing second fiddle. Imagine if we
did this. Imagine if we could practice and perfect second fiddle.
If we didn’t dream of having the top seat, but dreamt of being as
supportive as we can be from the place we are. Imagine if we all saw
ourselves as important people because of the ways that we play the
harmonies….. and not for the ways we play the melodies. To
practice playing second fiddle is also to put emphasis on God as the
band leader who knows how to make the music – it is to be willing
to play the role most needed instead of the role most prestigious.
There are people who do this, and do it well – you probably know
some. Think of how precious they are…. It
is good advice– practice playing second fiddle.

“Don’t
burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame.” We hear so often
about burn out. People throw themselves wholeheartedly into their
jobs, and their bosses take advantage of their willingness, and there
is more work than any person can handle, and eventually they have
nothing left to offer. We know this happens in the church too.
People get excited about being in a place where they can serve God –
and where they can feel God’s love through the people around them –
and they want to help however they can. Yet the meetings can get
tedious. And the excitement can fade as things don’t go as they’d
dreamed and maybe it seems like nothing ever changes – or like
everything has changed – and there is burn out. But this passage
tells us, as it continues, how to avoid it…. “ be cheerfully
expectant. Don’t quit in the hard times! Pray all the harder.” (I
would suspect, as well, that constancy of prayer and mediation would
guide each of us to be strong and wise enough to say no to roles in
the church that are currently dragging us under instead of lifting us
up. So prayer really is the answer!)

I
love the line: “Be inventive in hospitality.” That feels like a
task we are particularly called to right now, when all the forms of
hospitality we’re used to have suddenly become moot. What does it
look like now? How can we practice it? How do we experience it?

“Bless
your enemies, no cursing under your breath.” Oh that we might all
become people really able to do that. It is true that praying good
for our enemies, blessing them, changes them and us. Sometimes we
have to be careful about how we say it – its not real to say “May
every blessing fall on the person who annoys me most in the world.”
but its usually real to say “may the person who annoys me most AND
I manage to be more civil today.” And transformation happens –
particularly when we work hard enough that we don’t leave a piece of
ourselves behind muttering nasties.

We
have another piece of God caring about how we are with one another:
“Laugh with your happy friends when they are happy; share tears
when they’re down. God along with each other; don’t be stuck – up.
Make friends with nobodies; don’t
be the great somebody.” We are to be with those we love – and
share lives with them. What helps neighbors and families to share
tears and laughter today? It takes more intentionality to be
“present” with people right now, and it has always been
challenging for many of us not run away at the first show of emotion
(especially grief
and anger.) Also,
it is to try to be “THE GREAT SOMEBODY” – but we already know
we’re supposed to try to play second fiddle.

“Don’t
hit back, discover beauty in everyone.” You know, I have found,
especially over that when I let God show me what God loves about a
person, the beauty of the person is really visible. There is
stunning beauty in everyone. Mary
Lou Kownacki says, “There isn’t anyone you couldn’t love once
you’ve heard their story.” I buy it. Of
course, it takes some serious work to let go of my own annoyances and
do so – but there is beauty in EVERYONE. “If you’ve got it in
you, get along with everybody.” I love how this is phrased. It
acknowledges that it won’t work for all people. Particularly because
getting along with some people means giving up who you are – and
that’s not the point. But WHEN ITS POSSIBLE, for WHOM its possible,
get along with everybody. Its a worthy goal!

“Don’t
insist on getting even; that’s not for you to do.
I’ll do the judging’ says God, ‘I’ll take care of it.” I
like this translation way better than the NRSV 🙂 It is in any case
a good reminder that the world is God’s, and justice is God’s, and
our goal is to do the blessing of our enemies, not the seeking of
retribution. I also like that it acknowledges our DESIRE to get
even, which is honest, without making space for us to act which is
moral.

“Our
Scriptures tell us that if you see your enemy hungry, go buy that
person lunch, or if he’s thirsty get him a drink. Your generosity
will surprise him with goodness. Don’t let evil get the best of you:
get the best of evil by doing good.”
It is so true that evil never overcomes evil, just like hate never
drives out
hate, and violence doesn’t bring peace.
Peace brings peace. Goodness brings goodness. Love
brings love. Love and goodness and peace transform evil. I hope
you’ve all seen it. I’ve seen it time and time again, particularly
in faith community. People who are afraid of being hurt come to camp
or church with a chip on their shoulder, ready to pounce at the first
person they see. With gentle love for a few days or weeks or years,
a sweeter and gentler person emerges, ready to soak in the goodness
and affirmation. People change more when you welcome them for who
they are and what they do well than when you disparage what they do
wrong. People change a lot – and you change a lot – when you
have lunch with your “enemy.”

Romans
12 teaches us a lot about how to be – how to be human, how to be
Godly, how to follow the way of Jesus. May we live our lives guided
by it. Amen.

Questions
for Reflection

How
do these instructions seem to you? Do they feel like useful
guidance? Do they feel different from or similar to the 10
commandments or the greatest commandments?

Which
piece strikes you the strongest?

What
part is hardest for you?

Where
do you hope to be able to do better?

What
DOES it mean to “love from the center of who you are” and how can
you do so more fully?

1 I
fixed one word, FYI.

Rev. Sara E. Baron

First United Methodist Church of Schenectady

603 State St. Schenectady, NY 12305

Pronouns: she/her/hers

http://fumcschenectady.org/

https://www.facebook.com/FUMCSchenectady