THEY DID NOT APPLY THE BRAKES; ARE YOU?
Psalm 146
Mark 12: 28-34
November 7, 2021 ALL SAINTS DAY
NEW MEMBERS of ST. PAUL’s
Darrin Brown
Elizabeth Chipman
Pat Drosnes
Cathy Hurff
Carol May
John Pagano
Margaret Pagano
In a time of global pandemic … in a time of ever decreasing church affiliation and attendance; sadly even at our church … as the 2020’s begin I am saddened but not shocked that for the first time in our nation’s history less than 50% of Americans are willing to state that they have a faith life in God yet they choose to worship certain human and their politics …
It is in the midst of all of those realities that these incredible 7 people have made the decision to publicly declare their faith in Jesus Christ and become members of St. Paul’s United Methodist Church of West Deptford. They didn’t put the brakes on their faith life but instead have chosen to move forward at full speed. In fact, some of these folks were busy volunteering yesterday at our incredibly successful Sunday School Bazaar! Thanks to all of you who have held this church together through the years with love, people like these 7 individuals have chosen to join you in membership. People like these seven notice that there is something powerful happening here at 74 Church Street that is based in the holy not the worldly; that love for all neighbors and for God matters!
“The person whose help is the God of Jacob-the person whose hope rests on the Lord their God is truly happy! God the maker of heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them.” Yes, friends today’s Psalm provides an effective message for humanity carefully delineating the choices humans have … for you and me as people of faith we can find our joy, our peace and our happiness in a God who is easy to discover by just walking outside along the oceanfront or out in the midst of the ever changing colors of our forests. You can find God besides the still streams.
Today, these seven people are declaring to our church family and also to the world that they believe in God … that they believe in Jesus Christ … that they are willing to take on the Holy Spirit as their guide of life … and that they believe in the church not as an artifact of history but as a vital source of faith building, worship, community connecting, and a place where those who are hurting can find comfort amidst loving individuals who love both God and all people.
The saints of this church; such amazing stories … this church has been standing on holy ground for nearly 200 years. This site was identified in the early 1800’s as a place to worship God setting aside the daily struggles and work to find comfort, peace, and hope for the future. And then in the mid-1850’s a decision was made to build St. Paul’s; a formal church to go to but a place where faith would spring forward into the world. It would not be classified as just another building but as a house of the Lord our God!
St. Paul’s through loving members of faith such as yourselves has proven to be a vital source of faith-building and mission focused not on an inside clique of folks but on God’s mission to the world. Surviving and growing unlike other buildings whose members have allowed their churches to fade away losing their focus, mission, and drive.
St. Paul’s of West Deptford is a unique welcoming home for all who choose to worship God and Jesus Christ. A place where the unsaved can find a Savior. A place where those struggling with addictions are not condemned nor castigated but welcome. A resting place for homeless families and the abject poor. St. Paul’s is a house of worship where the music of faith for generations has raised the rafters in praise to God and where vital ministry is happening NOW just as it has since early Americans began to worship on the ground here and just as it will be in 2035 and beyond thanks to the dedication and faith of people like each of you who are in church and online with us today. Children will be celebrated and provided a home to experience memories of their connection with Jesus Christ looking up at the stained glass of Jesus holding His lambs here at St. Paul’s!
Loving friends and family members have gathered here in joy and in mourning. Friends and families have watched children learn, children be baptized, children be confirmed, and children grow into the leaders of this church. The value of God and the understanding of Jesus Christ’s teachings always essential to the present and the future. A place where the saints of God could serve God, love God and eventually go home to God. And, yes a place where voices rang out with amazing clarity as we focused on Sunday February 4th in 2017 to sing about birds flying towards a championship. We are a community whose members not only put on red Pentecost caps and in this season read a banner that speaks of love but we take those messages into our lives!
Mark’s Gospel also speaks of love … Jesus quoted in a book of history. “The most important commandment is this. LISTEN, our God is the one Lord and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your mind, and with all your strength.” YOU MUST … this is the most important commandment friends so don’t be fooled by those focused on 10 carvings in a rock.
As Christians we are the witnesses to the teaching of Jesus Christ with the full understanding that what Jesus teaches is what God, the Father and Creator, commands. God expects love and today along our baptismal font are candles where we remember special people who served as examples for our lives … our faith lives … whose spirits challenge us even to this day:
Bob Angelow; Bill Coughlin; Mike Drabowski; Bill Fish; Peggy Fish; Dave Jones; Jean Keegan; Harriet Lawson; Judy Muhlbauer; Bob Platt; Bill Schencke; Jack Showalter; Carol Ann Thompson; Barbara Turner; Jim Kingsle; and Frank Parisi.
Our challenge as the survivors … our challenges as people of faith is whether or not we will step on the gas pedal of a Christian life and move faithfully into the unknown of the future knowing God is with us. Are we applying the faith lessons of Scripture to our lives and then finding ways to put our lives to work for God through our church. The saints did not apply the brakes; are you?
When you go home today, read Psalm 46 again because in it God’s priorities are listed. Write them down and pray asking God to identify which priority or two you are called to help achieve. When we ask God to accomplish something in this life aren’t we really declaring that God’s people need to do the lifting? The feeding? The building? The rescuing? We are the ones who can grow Christianity unless we do nothing.
What commandment of life is most important to you? What words do you find essential to pour from your lips or to be written onto your social media? Are they reflective of the Gospel lesson of today?
I pray that we each are the future saints of the church whose memories in the future will be celebrated by others as the individuals who did God’s work in our lifetimes.
Last night I stood bedside with a woman named Nancy, two of her children, and other family members were on speaker phones. We prayed together … I anointed her … they shared stories of her life with me … we cried and we laughed and she died. In the midst of that room in Mullica Hill there was the hopefulness of a reunion with her husband and others in heaven. Her daughter told me how her mom inspired her during Confirmation. They were so glad to have a pastor present to pray with them … Nancy’s time here is gone.
We each are alive today … we each have choices to make and on this All Saints Day … on this New Members Sunday … on this day when we share in the bread and cup of Holy Communion are you … you as an individual willing to state out loud that you are willing to be a member of God’s church; the church of Jesus Christ? Are you willing to do all you can with your time here on earth to grow the church? Make disciples for the church? Using your God-given abilities are you willing to live as someone who on their last day family and friends will remember a faith connection between you and God?
So, as we move forward … as these candles burn … please stand with me both here and at home. Answer out loud the questions that our new members answered a few moments ago … IF …. IF you are willing to make the renewed commitment to God that is implied in your responses to my questions … God will know.
READ THE QUESTIONS ….
And, the legal expert said “God is one and there is no other beside Him. And, to love God with all of the heart, a full understanding, and all of one’s strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself is much more important than all kinds of entirely burned offerings and sacrifices.” Jesus said to him, “You aren’t far from God’s kingdom.”
AMEN