Sunday, May 12, 2013

Sermon: Holy Belonging, Holy Witness

John 17:20-26

 ‘I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, 21that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us,* so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 24Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25 ‘Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.’

On Sunday evenings, a number of people come from a variety of places and directions, and at 7pm, they gather together in Freeman Chapel. Some are long-time members of this congregation. They have seen this church take risks, act creatively, and put visions of inclusion into practice over the course of decades. Some are people who served as part of the Sunday Night Dream Team, a ministry team of discernment that met together for seven months last year and acted on a deep sense of call that this congregation was commissioned to form a new worshiping community centered around a Sunday Evening Service. Some are people whose names were once unknown to us, but who are now a core group of people who are present every week, people who have made this little family of worshipers their church. And some are first-time guests, people who have wandered on foot into our worship service from Colorado Boulevard after seeing a quirky sign outside, wondering with their own curiosity what a phrase like "spiritually hungry, but institutionally suspicious" could possibly mean.

And every Sunday evening, a miracle takes place. Every Sunday evening, all of these people, spanning a variety of ages, backgrounds, and personal needs become a community. Every week, this happens. It happens in worship. It happens around cafe tables of coffee and snacks after the service. By the grace of God, these people who are individuals with a variety of life-stories are becoming a community.

          And no one on our ministry team ever said, "Hey, let’s make sure that we use the word 'community' all the time in this service," but week in and week out, we do. And no one on our ministry team ever said, "Let's make sure that every single week we say, 'We are a community of prayer,'" but week in and week out, at least one worship leader manages to say that aloud.

        As the Evening Worship Community miraculously becomes just that, a community, and as we are becoming a community of prayer, I’ll tell you that every single Sunday evening, a beautiful moment happens when we’re praying.

          We celebrate communion every time we are together, and during the communion prayer, we always leave a holy space. In this holy space, we invite people to voice the names of individuals aloud. Suddenly everyone is leading the prayer, naming aloud the people who are on our minds and hearts. "Jim. . . Cathy. . . Miguel. . . Grant. . . Heather. . ." The names swirl around the room as we pray for them.

          It is a reminder that the church is always larger than the worshipers in a room. And human love is always larger than a few individuals gathered in together prayer. Others are always present through the love of God. This is a miracle too.

          This is Holy Belonging. And when we live into it, when we act upon it, when we put it on display, this is our Holy Witness.

 
          Another moment in the life of our church:

          On Tuesday night, the Elders of our congregation met for our monthly Session meeting. We didn't spend a lot of our time on committee reports. Instead, we spent time reflecting and discerning what it would mean for PPC to become a stronger mentoring environment for young adults. We were all invited to bring a photo of a person who has served as an important spiritual mentor in our lives, and we broke into groups to talk about the significance of these individuals.

          In my group, we were each introduced to a father, two uncles, and an influential campus minister. We laughed as we told stories. And as we discussed each person one by one, we all seemed to mention that we had learned something significant about what it means to be a Christian, what it means to be human, just by watching these individuals live – just by watching how they loved us and others. And when we had all finished that conversation, we sat back and reminded ourselves that when we are gathered together as a church, especially in worship, there are always more people present than the ones we can see. These influential people are so embedded in our lives, that we are constantly presenting them to each other.

This is Holy Belonging. And when we live into it, when we act upon it, when we put it on display, this is our Holy Witness as a church. This is our Holy Witness to the world.

Jesus led a community of prayer. Jesus was a spiritual mentor, and of course, even more to his disciples. In our scripture text this morning, Jesus is praying with his disciples in a holy, significant moment, and he does something miraculous too.  He prays for the other people embedded in that room – for the ‘beyond people’ – people like you and me, people who were not physically present in that prayer and yet, people who are deeply connected to the disciples sitting in front of him because we are the people who will believe in Jesus through their word. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word,” Jesus prays. He miraculously makes present the entire Church present – that is, Church with a capital C – and he prays for all of us together, recognizing that there are disciples beyond that room of disciples, disciples who are centuries in the making, and yet, disciples who have names. Jesus prays for us.

And for what does he pray? He prays that we would be one. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one.” And how do we see and understand this oneness? It starts with the life and love of God. Jesus prays, “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. . . I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”

“. . .that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me.” Jesus desires to be embedded in our lives.  Jesus has embedded us into his own life.  He’s done it with grace before we could even know that we needed it, and we are all present in the love that he shares with God. Within the love of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – within the love of God, near to us like a tender Mother, we are found. It is as if our very lives are being swept up into this love, caught up into the very life of God for a life of love and freedom. Friends, this is Holy Belonging. And when we live into it, when we act upon it, when we put it on display, this is our Holy Witness to the world. It is our Holy Witness to the ‘beyond people’ – disciples in the making who will believe in Jesus through our word. It is our life – the Life of Jesus embedded within us; life that came to us through other lives before we were born, life to be lived in love, belonging, and witness.

Jesus calls us to be one. Jesus prays that we would live out that love in unity. And here is a miraculous gift for the world too: Unity is not uniformity. Unity is not uniformity. People with names who span a variety of ages, backgrounds, and personal needs are entering holy belonging here. They’re doing it in the unity of the love of God, not in the uniformity of what some tell them they should be. People with names who come to us from the many nations of this world – Mexico, Korea, Guatemala, China, Iran, Japan, El Salvador, Haiti, Thailand, and other places – we are entering holy belonging here. We’re on Holy Ground. We’re doing it in the unity of the love of God, not in the uniformity of what some tell us we should be.

This is a church where people can be themselves – a miracle of community where people can live as their transformed selves! When we come as we are and allow ourselves to be swept up into the life of God’s love, when Jesus becomes embedded into the very fabric of our lives, when we are placed in a community of other lives, when we live as transformed people who have been redeemed and commissioned into service – when we do it together, as one unified, miraculous community of disciples – we are belonging to God and one another in a holy way, and we are proclaiming a particular witness in a holy way. This is our Holy Belonging. This is our Holy Witness.

“I in you and you in me,” Jesus prays. “One disciple in the life of another disciple, one community being formed over time.” It is a miracle of God. We are a miracle of God. Let’s belong and gives witness in holy ways. Amen.

-Pastor Renée Roederer and the Community at Pasadena Presbyterian Church