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It is our custom at St. John for me to preach the Sunday following Vacation Bible School and Day Camp using the theme for the previous week for the text of the sermon. As you have heard and seen, this week we were Lighthouse Kids: Shining God’s Light. It was a good week with nearly 200 children, teens, and adults learning about lighthouses and how they are symbolic of God’s light. We played games, sang songs, ate refreshments, made crafts, and heard stories that helped us learn about how God’s light shines for us and how we can shine God’s light for others. Two things I learned that I didn’t already know: each lighthouse is unique. They have different day signs. The two we had—one here and one out at Spruce Acres carried out that fact. I also didn’t know anything about the nautical flag alphabet. There’s so much I don’t know, but those are the only two I’m admitting to at this time! Each day we had a different Bible story to help us understand more about God’s light. Monday the theme was, GOD’S LIGHT ATTRACTS. The Bible story was Moses and the burning bush. Let me tell you the story from Exodus 3 and 4 as I may have told it at Day Camp. Tell story There is more than one sermon in this story, but it can only be 20% of today’s sermon so I want to point out some things to consider: God called Moses when he was least expecting it—he was minding his own business, leading his ordinary life. And then something extraordinary appeared amidst the ordinary. And Moses noticed. It’s possible that Moses may have never been curious enough to step aside to see what was up with that darn bush—but he did, and Israel’s history was changed forever. Of course, Moses wasn’t too keen on the idea. He was sure God was making a mistake and did his best to convince God of that. He made excuses and whined all the way back to Egypt. Is God calling you to step aside from business as usual and see what possibilities of service you may render? I don’t know. I know God has called some of you to adopt or foster children. I know God has called some of you to contribute to the new building in a variety of ways. I know God has called some of you to be with the children this past week. And I know that God continues to call all of us. Are you listening and watching for God’s call? Day Two: GOD’S LIGHT GUIDES. The Bible story was Moses and the Exodus. It was read from Nehemiah this morning. This was written many years after the Exodus and is an account of the people remembering all of God’s acts on their behalf. Here, Ezra enumerates God’s acts during the Exodus: God saw the distress of the people in slavery and through Moses God worked wondrous acts against Pharaoh and the people were freed. The sea was divided so they could escape. The Israelites were guided by a pillar of cloud at day and a pillar of fire at night. They were given the 10 Commandments on Mt. Sinai. Their hunger and thirst were appeased by the provision of manna and water, and finally, they were given the Promised Land. When was the last time you enumerated your blessings from God? Have you thanked God lately for your family or job or home or health or education or church? When I was a girl, one of the favorite hymns in our church encouraged us to count our blessings. Do you know that hymn? When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed. When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done. Count your blessings, Name then one by one; Count your blessings, See what God hath done; Count your blessings, Name them one by one; Count your many blessings, See what God hath done. When Mama died in ’91 I had been particularly touched by the outreach of both my church at home as well as the congregation here at St. John. As I was flying back here, I began to think about God’s care for me. My Bible was packed in my checked luggage, but, like many of you, the 23 Psalm is among those scriptures that are "packed" in my brain. I counted my blessings using that Psalm: "The Lord is my shepherd." I enumerated all the way God has guided me through the years. "I shall not want". I counted the ways God has provided for me. I went through the entire Psalm and personalized it so that by the time I arrived in Anchorage, I wasn’t thinking about my loss, but rather how faithful God has been, and continues to be. Have you counted your blessings lately? Day Three: GOD’S LIGHT ARRIVES. The Bible story was Mary Holds God’s Light. The Day Camp kids shared this story during children’s time. When the infant Jesus was taken into the temple to be presented before the Lord as Jewish law dictated, Simeon, a righteous and devout man, recognized the baby as the Messiah. He praised God with those words which are known as the Nunc Dimittis: listen to the King James Version: Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. Simeon recognized the baby Jesus as the Messiah. Do you recognize Jesus when you see him? Jesus reminded us in Matthew 25 that whenever we help those in need, we are helping him. During this past week the children brought socks and underwear to be used by local agencies and through United Methodist ministries around the world for children in need. I used to have a poster in my office that read, "Every baby born is the baby Jesus". Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we recognized the divine in every human being we met? Day Four: GOD’S LIGHT REVEALS. The Bible story was Jesus and Nicodemus and was part of today’s scripture lesson. Nicodemus was a big, important guy in the leadership of the Jewish community. And yet, he was fascinated with Jesus and Jesus’ teachings. He came to Jesus to be in dialogue. Think about that. Nicodemus must have been sure of his faith and beliefs. He was, after all, a Pharisee. And yet, he was open to new ideas. Nicodemus moved from certainty to doubt and questioning to an openness for new ideas. I believe that is a model for us. Some of us may not have questioned any of our theological ideas for years. We are comfortable with them and we just don’t want to do the intellectual and spiritual work to challenge them. But some of our ideas do need challenging and the question I leave you with from this scripture is: How can I open myself to Christ’s presence to accept God’s continuing revelation? On Friday the theme was: GOD’S LIGHT SHINES. The Bible story was Saul and Ananias.
Ananias did not want to bring Saul into the faith community. He was afraid of him and besides, Saul was one of them. And yet, he was faithful enough to be obedient to Jesus and bring Saul into the community that was known as the Followers of the Way. And as you know, Saul, better known as Paul, became the primary theologian and missionary for the early Church. Who is God asking you to welcome into your community of faith? Have you invited anyone to church lately? Some of these five Bible stories were more familiar than others, but I hope you have learned something from each of them. The stories are important in an of themselves, but unless we ask ourselves the question, "what difference does this story make in my life?" than it is just another story. So let me recap: Story #1—Moses and the burning bush. Is God calling you to step aside from business as usual to some service you may render? Story #2—Moses and the Exodus. Have you counted your blessings from God lately? Story #3—Mary holds God’s light. Do you recognize every individual as a child of God and treat them as such? Story #4—Jesus and Nicodemus. Are you open to new ideas in God’s continuing revelation? Story #5—Saul and Ananias. Do you share your faith with others and welcome new people to church? Ephesians 5:8 says, "Now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light." Amen |
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07.20.03 - Shining God’s Light
