Text: Isaiah 12:1-6, Philippians 4:4-9
Holy God, speak into our midst this morning. Fill us with hope, grace, and peace. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all our hearts and minds honor You this morning. May they be worthy of your calling and accomplish your faithful work in our midst. Amen.
I thank God for you.
I do. I really do.
I thank God for you, the people of Immanuel United Methodist Church.
I thank God for how the love you all have for each other and the world is increasing.
Robert Dunham wrote that “common struggle often forges an uncommon unity and love for one another. Like the peace that holds the community fast in turmoil, love for one another and congregational unity are best received and celebrated as gifts.”
And as we gather today, I cannot help but reflect upon some of the common struggles that we have shared over these last nine years of ministry together.
Some of them were challenges that we set before ourselves: raising money through a concert for DMARC, a gigantic garage sale for Joppa, or purchasing five brand new books for every student at Hillis Elementary.
But we have also been held together through turmoil.
Some of them are simply the realities of human life:
the illnesses, the injuries, the loss of treasured members of our community.
We have prayed and grieved and supported one another – offering God’s strength and peace.
And then there were the realities that we didn’t see coming.
Truly adaptive challenges we faced as the world changed… and is changing… and we’ve had to figure out how to reach new people in new ways.
We have gone through a pandemic… learning how to move worship online and connect with one another in new ways.
We have navigated conflict and conversation about human sexuality and racism and how to welcome immigrants and what kind of church we want to be for the future.
A changing economy impacts not just our church finances, but also demands more of us as we reach out to care for the hungry and the homeless on our doorstep.
When I think about our scripture from Isaiah today, I remember that much of this text was written in a time of great difficulty.
The first half tells of the judgment of the people, who weren’t following God’s will.
And the second half is full of hope and promise… but written from exile, having lived through destruction and removal.
And yet, in all of it, Isaiah keeps an eye on what God has done.
On the grace and mercy of God.
Joy and praise and thanksgiving ring out…
not because everything is hunky dory… but because it is not.
And in our own situations… we didn’t always know what we were doing, or how to do it, but by the grace of God, we’ve found ways to love, serve, and pray together.
Not because we had the answers… or because the work was easy…
but because we knew that God was with us and would help us through.
It is the challenge of Paul and Timothy as they write to the people of Philippi. This is from the Message translation:
“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
Although you have every reason to be anxious… and you have needs and requests to share with God… there is also reason to give thanks.
Or… as Anne Lamott so honestly puts it in her book about the three essential prayers: Help, Thanks, and WOW! :
“…at some point, we cast our eyes to the beautiful skies, above all the crap we’re
wallowing in, and we whisper, ‘Thank you.’
Thank you, God.
And in so many of those kinds of situations, there were moments when we got a little grumpy with one another.
We are human after all, and we are still learning and growing and figuring these things out…
but we are doing it together…
And we’ve taken the time to share when things weren’t working out and have reached out when feelings were hurt and have tried to find a way forward.
Anne Lamott describes the prayer of thanks as a tool to move from “rashy and clenched to grateful.”
I just love that imagery… and I can actually sense it in my body.
There are those moments when we are frustrated or in conflict and we truly are clenched.
It is a posture of being on high alert, always ready to fight or flee or even freeze.
In a world that is so divisive, we see that all around us.
But I think that God has used us and shaped us through gratitude, love, and grace to be God’s people and demonstrate a different path.
We have tried to live out the advice from Paul and Timothy to be gentle with one another and to seek the peace of God.
We’ve stayed in conversation. We’ve taken the time to listen.
And we have found ways to give thanks and celebrate the people who have come into our lives…
All of which takes that posture of abrasive and clenched living and turns it into a posture of openness and grace.
The love we have for one another is a gift…
the bonds formed in the midst of common struggle are a blessing…
and they should be celebrated as such.
Thank you, God.
Anne Lamott writes that “Gratitude begins in our hearts and then dovetails into behavior. It almost always makes you willing to be of service, which is where the joy resides.”
And friends, as we have been grateful for the love of God… we have also let those prayers of thanksgiving turn into joyful service.
[the numbers represent images of ministry projected during the worship service]
[1] Thank you God for the deeper relationships we formed with our neighborhood elementary school, Hillis, as we brought books for so many children and we have more and more people taking just an hour a week to read with those who need some extra help.
[2] And thank you for helping us to continue efforts like Donuts for Dudes and Muffins for Moms where we can be present in our neighborhood and share God’s love with breakfast.
[3] Thank you God for the ways that young people and their mentors here at the church bonded through hard work, study, and recreation at things like confirmation.
[4] Thank you God for the impact you had on children in our church and community as we worked to help them learn more about your powerful and never-ending love.
[5] Thank you God, for calling us to have hard conversations about your calling for our church in this world.
[6] Thank you God, for bringing us together in fellowship and for new relationships formed over barbeque and basketball.
[7] Thank you for challenging us to stretch beyond our own teams and ministries to build new partnerships with others, like the Interfaith Green Team Coalition.
[8] Thank you God, for those who give so faithfully of their time and energy behind the scenes to make ministry here possible.
[9] Thank you God for the faithfulness of our predecessors like Mrs. Simser and the bibles we give our children and the faithfulness of third grade bible partners and teachers.
[10] Thank you God for a seven year partnership and relationship with Imani church…
[11] … and for our new relationship with Immanuel Gospel Fellowship.
[12] Thank you God for the opportunity to go into the world to serve you through Volunteers in Mission, in our neighborhood, but also as far away as Omaha and Memphis.
[13] and thank you for challenging us to do hard things to raise funds and give time for ministries like Joppa and DMARC.
[14] and for the deep connections that are created when we labor together for a common good.
[15] Thank you God for those who not only prepare meals for us every week, but who care for and minister to one another in good times and in bad.
[16] Thank you God for those who knit and crochet blankets, for folks who feed and care and support, so that we can extend the love of Immanuel to those who need it the most.
[17] Thank you God for our staff and their faithfulness and willingness to serve.
[18] Thank you for the youth and volunteers and chaperones who go out and represent us so well in the community.
[19] Thank you, God.
Thank you.
You know, I started out just trying to find a few highlights of the amazing work God has been doing here among us and the list just kept going on and on and on.
As Paul writes to the church at Philippi, there really is so much to brag about.
He praises their generosity, their support for his ministry.
He encourages them for the work that is still to come.
But really… that’s the outline of all of Paul’s letters.
And I can’t help but borrow Paul’s words… or rather, Eugene Peterson’s translation of Paul’s words.
“My dear, dear friends! I love you so much. I do want the very best for you. You make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. Don’t waver. Stay on track, steady in God.” (Philippians 4:1, MSG)
Over these past nine years, you’ve made some tough decisions and have stretched in new ways.
I thank God for how you’ve been willing to answer God’s call.
And as you continue to implement some of these changes…
And live out a new kind of welcome…
There will be bumps in the road.
It won’t all be easy.
But in the midst of the muck and the hard stuff, keep your heart full of gratitude and your eyes on Jesus.
As people of faith, God is continually calling us to do hard things.
God is calling us to leave our comfort zones go and be in ministry with the least and the last and the lost.
God is calling us to welcome the little ones and the stranger and whomever else shows up.
God is calling us to give up our preferences for the sake of the mission.
And maybe the hardest of them all…
God is calling us to be honest and real about our own vulnerabilities, our own brokenness, struggle, and pain, so that this community can walk with us, can love us, can remind us over and over again about the love of God in Jesus Christ that can transform even our broken souls.
That’s what church is all about.
Growing in love for each other and in love for God.
Giving thanks in every circumstance.
Singing and shouting to the Lord for the excellent things God has done among us.
May you continue to do hard things.
May you continue to hear and be faithful to God’s call.
May you continue to be formed in love born of our common struggle to truly be disciples of Jesus Christ in this world.
And through it all… may you continue to give thanks… keeping that attitude of gratitude that keeps your eyes above the muck on the one who gives us strength. Amen.
