SCRIPTURE: 1 Peter 1:17-23
TEXT: 22Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart. THEME: Imagining communities of genuine mutual love. INTRODUCTION The resurrected Jesus is not found in tombs but amongst the living. We may not recognize him at first, but once old paradigms fall away, we can look past the image of the Gardner and get our first glimpse of the resurrection. Our first impressions will give way to something new. Last week we looked at how the resurrected Christ was seen, amongst the faithful, in the life of Representative Justin Pearson, one of the Tennessee 3. His faith could not stay idle in the midst of gun violence that killed six people in his district. Then in light of the slave mentality that sits in the Tennessee General Assembly, in the face of NRA Empire, the social injustice towards the poor, the stripping away of reproductive rights of women and the abuse of state Government power. We see the resurrected Christ advocating for those who suffer. Speaking truth to power, and alive amongst the faithful. This week we will begin to imagine how mutual love will begin to move us away from the current form of the church and create something that is different from what the church has been. SCRIPTURE What is the image of God we invoke in our lives? Is it that of the Father, Creator, Judge? The author of 1 Peter says, “If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile”. The choice to live in obedience to the law, misses the intent of living in relationship with God. The Law is an expression of the will of God and how we can live our lives with God. Jesus’ life in the Gospels is another expression of what living in relationship with God looks like. The beatitudes on the sermon on the mount is another expression of what living in relationship with God looks like. While obedience to the Law is good, it has us living in fear of offenses, incarcerates us because of our sin and exiles us from intimacy with God. We are living in the household of God, like the older brother of the man who had two sons. The older son never knew the compassionate love of the father who welcomed the broken brother, his son who disobeyed, selfishly squandered away an inheritance, but is ransomed with compassion, kindness, forgiveness, acceptance, and grace, love for him was never lost. That is a second image of God; a nurturing parent, who provides more than enough, to execute our liberation away from death, and sets us free to live life in new ways. To invoke this image of God requires us to give up some of the faith paradigms that we have inherited from our ancestors of faith, for a new way of being the people of God. APPLICATION What could the community of the church look like, loved by God, and liberated through grace and forgiveness? The view we have inherited of human beings is that we were perfect until our ancestors disobeyed God’s directive. But if we read Genesis 3 carefully, we will discover that we were ‘good’ (not perfect), capable of change, transformation, evolution and the choice of Good or Evil. So, we did not fall from grace we were always in need of it. Then we came up with the ideas that God required a sinless sacrifice to die as payment for our sins so God could begin to love us again. Is not God’s love for us great enough to forgive us, without some cosmic sacrifice to ransom a balance for our disobedience? As parents, we forgive our children all of the time just because we love them (no ransoming sacrifice necessary). God never stopped loving us either. From Adam and Eve, to Abraham and Sara, All the way to Jesus Christ, the cross, crucifixion, resurrection and beyond. We need not judge the righteousness of others, or have them admit their sins, for Jesus to forgiven them. All we need to do, is love them. In this day and age, with this emerging next generation that holds on to cultural values that seem so different from our own. They question authority and the old answers are received with skepticism and distrust. They are more ready to accept their peers of questioning gender assignments and sexual orientations to reject communities that don’t They are challenged with Creating justice in the midst of Empire where the few controls so much. They accept racial diversity while supremacy fears push for more segregation, and salvation is found in advancing rapidly changing technology in the world. They feel the disparity between the few rich and growing poor. The environmental challenges they inherit from our generation seems overwhelming. They have expanding paradigms of family, identity, and relationships. In the past, the church has been in the business of conforming society into our image of God. We can see how that might have been limiting the power of a compassionate God, who can create life beyond empty tombs of our own construct. The resurrected Jesus can be seen amongst loving communities. Can we trust God to create life in ways and patterns, and in relationships, that we previously have not been able imagine before. The temple worshiping Jerusalem could have no concept of a Wailuku worshiping community 2000 years later made up of Hawaiian, Japanese, Chinese, Portuguese, Puerto Rican, Filipino, Samoan, Choctaw, Korean, Irish, Indian, German, English, and Russian. But God is not finished yet. We have been challenged with love for others in our community from Anglican, Tongan, Marshallese, Kosraen, Pohnpeian, Chuukese, Yapese, Greek, looking at us, for a place to worship. I Recently heard of a 100-year-old congregation (not within our denomination), with established campus here in Hawaii, with its aged congregation of 20, who can no longer take care of its campus, repairs, or school. So, they have their property up for sale and are looking for a place to rent, to live out their days. The cost of materials, engineering requirements, cost of labor, landscaping and building ownership is not sustainable with membership contributions alone. None of us can afford the up keep of a building that we use for only one hour a week. This is where identifying what it means to be the church is important. Verse 22 of this passage identifies ‘genuine mutual love’ as the key. Imagine the church as a community of genuine mutual love that transforms us and create transformative communities. We would be accepting more than judgmental. We would be diverse more than being all of the same. We would be engaged in conversations, respectfully listening to other opinions. We would have people serve according to their abilities not their gender, age, orientation, or influence. We would be open to learning and the food at our pot lucks would be fusion; corned beef cabbage using baby bok choi with oyster sauce instead of steamed vegetables and mustard. Other gatherings would be smaller, on line Our Mission Ground Affordable Housing project would be complete and enable us to support other church gatherings that meet elsewhere; in bars, laundromats, restaurants, coffee shops, on days other than Sundays and we would support their leaders with strings attached to attend a few classes from Pacific School or Religion’s Certificated Theological Education for Leaders program so they can keep learning. When we stop learning we can become literalist to our faith, defending, arguing, and judging. If we keep learning then it gives our theology room to evolve. Our relationship with these para churches would expand their connections with the wider body of Christ and our denomination. The sanctuary would be used by a variety of congregations during the week at a sustainable level so we could support and make improvements to our campus. We would have other activities or businesses use our facilities during the week to bring in an income during the week and make connections with our community. We could entertain other opportunities for service in our community. Expanding a tutoring program, have opportunities to learn Music, voice or dance. Create a mentorship program, Hawaiiana, all different forms of relationships and ways of being church. CONCLUSION I have to tell you that I don’t know what the church of the future is going to be like. But I do know that it is going to be there, and that it is going to be in a different form from what we have today. It could involve us coordinating and sharing our resources with Kaahumanu Church and Iao UCC. It would be something completely new that the Spirit of God will guide us to. We already have mini version of the church in the Food Pantry, the Choir, The Women’s Bible Study, the Deacons, The Council, the Sunday school, and Nursery. Where ever we meet and gather we have a mini church. I want those who clean the church have church, as well as those times when flowers are set and we admire God’s beauty in our sanctuary. In how we treat each other, care for each other, look out for each other’s well-being. The resurrected Christ can be discovered in the community where Christians gather. When we bite our tongue because we don’t want to say something that might hurt someone's feeling, or when we tell the truth instead of a lie, or when we say something in a nice way instead of being rude or stop our story to listen to what is on the heart of another, we are showing how the resurrected Christ is alive in our community. Having good manners. Accepting someone into our conversation. Being patient with another, or just by making an accommodation shows the resurrected Christ is amongst the community. When we practice forgiveness instead of trying to hurt, the resurrected Christ is found in our community. The diversity that gathers to worship here is a sign of the Resurrected Christ amongst a loving Community. The resurrected Christ is found among the living, and in communities of faith that practice a genuine mutual love.
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May 2024
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