So…
On your way to church today, what did you see?
One person in the community is looking for their dog who went missing, a Siberian Huskey. Did you see it?
Or maybe you were so busy arguing with the kids or your spouse you didn’t see anything? That’s an assumption. My father made us sing as we went!
One of our church members reported excitedly that they saw the Mount Hope Police this morning. They said it was really hard to miss with those red and blue light flashing in their rear-view mirror.
Let me be clear, if you are in that much of a hurry to get to church that you get a ticket from the Popo, you let me know, because I am so proud of you!
Rushing like that to church so you don’t miss a second of this amazing community of faith.
I’ll make you a deal. If you tell me how much the ticket was, I will make a contribution to the church in your name for the same amount, so you don’t have to worry about your offering that Sunday!
So, on your way to church today, what did you see?
Peter and John are headed to the Temple after Pentecost, which we discovered last week was their regular big church gathering. They also were part of small groups, where the real spiritual growth was going on, but…
They made it a principle of their faith that they would go to “big” worship. It was that important to them. You can skip worship, just like you can skip the gym. You miss once or twice, no bigee. But…
In time, too much no church, just like too much no exercise means a flabby…spirit! Not ready, not resilient, not prepared for challenges, or injury, in danger of overuse pain because your spiritual flexibility and strength is less that optimal.
They decided not to skip worship! And on the way they saw something.
Not a deer and fawn on the lawn, not the dashboard doing 45 in a 30, not houses, and cars, and optional stop signs.
They saw people. And in particular, they saw a neighbor in need.
And it occurred to them that maybe with the power they had been given by the Holy Spirit that they could do something about it.
Note, they didn’t do what they couldn’t do. That is always a good excuse, “well Lord, I couldn’t help because the need was greater than I could do anything about.”
God said he loved the world. What God asked of us was to love our neighbor. And the paralyzed man at the door of the Temple was their neighbor.
They didn’t have money for the paralyzed man. But they still could put the power of God to work, bringing healing and making a difference!
I have been thinking a bit about our mission statement, our vision and our values as a congregation. Sometimes it is good to go back to the basics and ask:
Who are we?
What are we trying to accomplish?
And what makes us unique?
Understand those three things can really sharpen up what happens on Sunday morning and during the week, because it allows you to focus on what is essential, and potentially to walk away from what is taking time, energy and resources, but really is only tendential to our special calling as the Otisville – Mt. Hope Presbyterian Church.
It needs work, it needs refinement, but I had to laugh when after looking at it six or seven separate times, yesterday one of our core values just popped up in a discussion, “Dream Big, Scale Back”.
Several years ago, I asked Mark Yuengling who was working locally as a set builder for some off-Broadway shows, if we could change the sanctuary into the site of the empty tomb for our Easter services.
He said he would think about it and get back to me and he did. Across the front of the church was a canvas painting of a hillside with a tomb, with a large round tombstone. On Sunday morning as the service started, the tombstone rolled away, and angel came out and Bill Byrne dressed as a Roman soldier fainted.
It was amazing! But as Mark pointed out, it was all an illusion, meant to evoke a sense that you were there. And he was the one who said, in theater, in order to help the audience feel like they are there, you dream big, and then scale back.
You take the wildest of dreams, and then say, but of this what can we do, to be found being faithful.
Peter and John didn’t have the finances to drop gold coins into the paralytic man’s hands. But they did have something else, something far more valuable, and opportunity for this man to find the healing he needed and wanted, if he was will to stand up.
It is what we do as a church do all the time. We dream big and scale back to fit what we can do; think Rachel’s Elephant-free Garden in Namibia.
Backpacks with breakfast and lunch for every kid in a food scare house attending the Otisville school.
Wheelchairs, walkers, commodes, and other hospital aids for folks who need help right now.
And funds for the Ronald McDonald house so folks who need to stay for just a day or two and do so with our scholarship help.
And that is only the beginning, because every Sunday, on our way to worship, we see, we remember, we pray for, and we reach out to folks who need the power of God in their lives, and then, instead of walking by, we do something.
So, on your way to church today, what did you see?
We, God’s people, are called to Make a difference, in Jesus Name!
And so, we shall. Amen.
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