16 Pentecost/Lectionary 23/Rally Sunday September 8, 2013
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Guengerich Hutson
(Texts for the 25th Anniversary of the ELCA)
Isaiah 42: 5-12 + 2 Cor. 5: 17-20 + John 15: 1-17
I have a confession to make. Sometimes I prefer my old things to my new things. I have a pretty ratty old house robe and matching worn out slippers at home to prove it. Both are comfortable and comforting….they fit me just right and I can slip into them without having to really think about it too much. After a hard day nothing feels quite as familiar and welcome as wrapping up in that robe, putting my feet into those slippers and settling in for the night.
So, if you were to talk to me about new things, I might resist just a bit.
Yet, it is new things that God calls us to. Imagine that…new things. You know the old joke right….How many Lutherans does it take to change a light
bulb? Change???
But change was the word brought to the people by the prophet Isaiah in our first reading this morning: See, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare. Change is what Paul writes about in his letter to the church at Corinth: And for anyone who is in Christ, there is a new creation. The old order has passed away; now everything is new!
This year the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America turns twenty five years old. And on this day, congregations throughout our country are celebrating the occasion and the theme chosen for the year “Always Being Made New”. And so on this day, we gather into this place and consider how it is that God is making us new, on this and every day.
I need to go back to the story of my robe and slippers, though. I think the reason we resist the new is because we automatically assume it is a judgment of the old. But the truth is, if I were to get a new robe and slippers, the old robe and slippers would still remain my comfy, familiar robe and slippers. No one would be saying there’s anything inherently wrong with them. And this is true of what we celebrate. The newness of our ministry together is celebrated because of the faithfulness of our ministry thus far.
Consider the life of this congregation. What new things have you witnessed growing from this place? How about the garden? Have you walked through it lately? If not, please do….the harvest is abundant – the pumpkins our Sunday School students planted are growing, the tomatoes and beans and greens and carrots are plentiful. Recently we attracted the attention of Seattle tilth, an organization devoted to gardening that is sustainable. They came and studied our garden because, they said, in addition to engaging in sustainable gardening, our garden sustains the life of the neighborhood around us! This is evident in the joyous conversations of our gardeners…and in their delight and care for the earth. It is evident when the students from Broadview-Thomsen school and their parents skip down the garden path on their way to or from school. Do you remember what was there before? Do you recall the overgrown shrubbery and the hard dirt? See, the former things have come to pass and new things I now declare….says God.
This morning we welcome a number of new members in the life of this congregation. Someone asked me what it meant to be a member….to make this official relationship between Luther Memorial and an individual. After all, everyone is welcome here, to worship and serve and fellowship. But membership means that you join us officially in our mission and ministry in the world. That what is done in this place for the sake of the Gospel….you are a part of that, because you are a part of us.
Paul writes of this in the second reading this morning. Paul notes that through Jesus, we are joined together in God’s work. This morning during the Sunday School hour we engaged in the ELCA Day of Service, a day designated by the ELCA for all congregations to take part in some kind of service project. We packaged beans and rice for the food bank; we collected, sorted, and packed school supplies; we made cards to take to our members who can no longer attend worship; we made Grandparent’s Day momentos; and we collected and packaged hygiene items for Mary’s Place. The work we did this morning was work of reconciliation. It said that through our actions we were reaching out to others with the heart and hands of Christ. We were Christ’s ambassadors, just as Paul wrote.
When our Day Camp kids and staff went to Foss Home and Village on the last day of our Vacation Bible School, they sang the songs they’d learned during the week for the residents. What joy they brought into their day! They were Christ’s ambassadors.
When we hand a hungry person a sack lunch, or give them a pair of gloves or socks in the winter or sunscreen and water in the summer….we are Christ’s ambassadors.
This morning we also welcome our new vicar, Vicar Anja. She is here for this year to serve the Gospel with us, to learn from and with us, and to more fully understand her pastoral identity. What new things we will experience with Anja are yet to be known and what she will experience here at Luther Memorial is ahead of her, but we know this…that it will be a new thing. Being called by God….and we are ALL called by God…can seem unfamiliar, but hear again the words from Isaiah: I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness, I have taken you by the hand and kept you…
This is the beauty of the new thing that is in Christ and the new thing that is promised to us by God….that God walks with us, that we have been called, and that we do not go alone.
You know, I am so proud to be a part of this church. Yes, certainly I am blessed beyond measure to be a part of this congregation….a place that has served others in the name of Christ, that has been actively sharing Christ’s love in community for over sixty years. But I am also proud of the way the ELCA exists in the world. And you….each of you…are a part of that. The ELCA does so much good ministry that it would be impossible to list it all, but it is done for the sake of the Gospel and on your behalf. A portion of what you place in the offering or give online to Luther Memorial supports the ministries of the ELCA. And a portion of that supports work around the globe.
It is a part of our understanding as Lutherans that our ministry is not just to those who look like us or who were raised where or how we were raised. We understand ministry to be reaching out with the good news of the mercy and love of God poured out upon us and come to us in the person of Jesus….and we reach out beyond these walls and beyond this city and beyond our state. As we will sing very shortly:
In Christ there is no east or west, in him no south or north, but one community of love, throughout the whole wide earth.
And so on this day, we have much to be thankful for. For new members and a new intern and a new Sunday School year and a new program year and a God who, through Jesus Christ, makes all things new.
This is the good news, this is the Gospel, on this day and always.
Thanks be to God. Amen.