Scripture:\u00a0 Acts 2-:7-12<\/p>\n
This afternoon, our Volunteers in Mission, VIM Team will head to Omaha.\u00a0 Maybe you could already see the sleeping bags, luggage and tools outside our main entrance as you came in to worship this morning.\u00a0 We\u2019ll pack everything up, get everyone securely in the vehicles, and head out.
\nAnd pray that our drivers don\u2019t fall asleep! I\u2019ve got three things that I do to help me stay awake\u2026 whether driving, or staying up all night with youth at a lock-in, or listening to a preacher drone on and on and one like Eutychus experienced in our scripture this morning.<\/p>\n
In fact, I think if Eutychus had employed these tactics, he never would have fallen out of the window!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
First\u2026 you need snacks!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Not anything heavy, mind you\u2026 that kind of has the opposite effect.<\/p>\n No, you need a snack that will give you just a little bit of energy. \u00a0My go-to is a crunchy and salty item like pretzels, but a sour, chewy item works for me, too.\u00a0 Nuts are an ideal option\u2026 providing healthy fats and protein to keep you engaged.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Second\u2026 you need to keep engaged.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n When driving, I turn up the volume on the radio and sing along. Or listen to a podcast or audio book that tells a story that forces my mind to pay attention. During lectures or speeches, I bring along some knitting or a coloring book\u2026 something that keeps me mentally engaged will often also help me to focus on the road or what is being said.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Third\u2026 it helps to have a buddy.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Whether you phone a friend or have someone in the vehicle with you, having a conversation helps!\u00a0 It also helps to be able to take turns and switch off who is driving to give one another a break.<\/p>\n Lastly\u2026 you have to keep the blood flowing.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n You might think this is crazy, but when I\u2019m really tired, I hold my hands above my head and shake them.<\/p>\n Okay\u2026 you try\u2026<\/p>\n There you go!<\/p>\n Anyone feel more awake?<\/p>\n Sometimes we need to just move our bodies and stretch and send that jolt of energy through our system.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In our scripture for this morning, the apostle Paul comes into town and everyone wants to hear him.\u00a0 They all get together, share a meal, and the conversation goes on far into the night.\u00a0 And this one young man, Eutychus, falls asleep while listening.<\/p>\n I imagine something like this happened countless times as Paul traveled spreading the good news of God.<\/p>\n However, this particular young man was sitting in the window.\u00a0 And when he fell asleep, down he went.\u00a0 He fell three stories from that window.<\/p>\n A fall out of a window three stories up could kill a man\u2026 and Luke tells us in this account in Acts that it did.<\/p>\n VIM Team \u2013 remember that\u2026 practice ladder safety this week!<\/p>\n But Paul rushed down the stairs and through the power of Jesus Christ healed him and they all went back upstairs, ate some food, and kept talking until daybreak.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How many of us are like Eutychus\u2026 sitting out there on the edge of the crowd, unengaged,\u00a0 drifting off to sleep?<\/p>\n In her reflection upon this scripture, Marcia McFee notes that \u201csometimes we simply go through the motions \u2013 in our lives and in our worship.\u00a0 Perhaps it is not about staying awake in<\/em> church, but staying awake as<\/em> the church.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I thought about that a lot in this last week as we as a church were called to respond to flooding \u2013 both in our own building and in the neighborhood and homes of our members.<\/p>\n For years\u2026 before I even got to Immanuel\u2026 we have been talking about being in ministry with our community.\u00a0 We had a Community Outreach Leadership Team \u2013 COLT \u2013 that worked to build some connections with local schools and do some fundraising.<\/p>\n We continue to do things like Donuts for Dudes and Divas at Hillis Elementary that was begun as part of that effort and our book drives for Change a Child\u2019s Story is an extension of that work, too.<\/p>\n But in other ways, those efforts have sputtered a bit.<\/p>\n We\u2019ve kind of fallen asleep at the wheel \u2013 going through the motions as staff, as members, as a church.<\/p>\n There are a lot of opportunities all around us in this greater community to be in ministry with our neighbors, but too often, we let them slip by unnoticed.<\/p>\n Immigration.\u00a0 The lack of a living wage and the impact on families in Iowa.\u00a0 Mental Health.<\/p>\n These are all places where our scriptures have clear commands to welcome and advocate and provide and heal\u2026 but we are missing out on the chance to go out and do something about it with our neighbors.<\/p>\n Sometimes its because we are busy tending to our own internal church programming.<\/p>\n Sometimes its because a need in our community is too overwhelming.<\/p>\n Sometimes its because we fear that a faithful response will appear to be too partisan.<\/p>\n But, as Marcia McFee points out, \u201cthe risk of becoming numb, living our lives as if asleep, is that it begins to affect the way we experience the fullness of God\u2019s abundant blessings and promises, even and especially in the midst of pain.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You see, ministry with* isn\u2019t just about what we offer to the community around us\u2026 it is about how we as a church are re-energized and inspired and brought to life by what God is already doing in the lives of our neighbors.<\/p>\n Over this last week, I\u2019ve been using social media to stay connected with the neighborhood flood recovery efforts.\u00a0 Not only was it a great opportunity to share about the work of UMCOR and flood buckets and to offer help, but I was so inspired by the ways that our neighbors were helping one another out.\u00a0 There is a great spirit of compassion in Polk County and Iowa that truly is amazing.<\/p>\n But I also think we should see this flooding as a wake-up call for us as a church.\u00a0 Because it is a reminder of the vast opportunity for partnership right outside of our doors.<\/p>\n In that spirit of \u201cstaying awake\u201d let\u2019s go back to my travel tips for some lessons we as a church can remember as we partner with our community.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n First- we need snacks!\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n We\u2019ve got to eat, after all.<\/p>\n So to stay awake as a church, I think we need to look towards all of those times we gather around food as an opportunity to pay attention to what is happening in our community.<\/p>\n How are we creating space and inviting people to join us for coffee time and our Wednesday meals or our other big celebrations?<\/p>\n And how can we take our church out into the community for more gatherings at local restaurants.\u00a0 When we hold small groups at places like Christopher\u2019s or Java Joe\u2019s \u2013 we are building relationships with our neighbors, supporting their businesses, and creating opportunities to over hear and find new ways to partner.<\/p>\n I had a meeting with one of you at a local coffee shop not too long ago, and it was amazing how the table next to us were intrigued by our conversation and asked questions about how they, too, could get involved.\u00a0 That doesn\u2019t happen if that same meeting had taken place here at Immanuel.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Second\u2026 you need to keep engaged.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n As I think about all of those tactics I use to keep myself occupied while driving or during a long meeting \u2013 knitting, coloring, singing \u2013 I realized that they are all things I already love to do.\u00a0 I\u2019m keeping engaged by tapping into a passion of mine and allowing that to be the vehicle that helps me stay focused. As individuals within this church, we all have passions and gifts that bring us energy and life.\u00a0 Maybe its pottery or acting or woodworking or yoga or animals or crossfit.\u00a0 Whatever it is, when you offer that activity up to God and allow God to work through it then you\u2019ll find your spirit re-energized.<\/p>\n Many of you know that I\u2019ve found this gym that I love and I\u2019ve been part of it for just over a year.\u00a0 I\u2019ve made friendships there with people I never would have come across in my daily journey before\u2026 but found community around a shared passion. \u00a0And together we share about opportunities to help one another out \u2013 whether it\u2019s all wearing purple for pancreatic cancer awareness or food drives or inviting each other to come and check out our churches.<\/p>\n Do what you already love to do\u2026 but intentionally look for how God is already moving in the lives of the people you meet. We do have individual passions, but ministry happens wherever two or more are gathered.\u00a0 And that means you need to bring someone along with you or keep talking about what it is you are experiencing.<\/p>\n As a church, I think we don\u2019t do a very good job of this.<\/p>\n I know that so many of you are actively involved out there in the community, but we never talk about it! \u00a0We fall into that midwestern trap of being humble and self-effacing rather than shouting from the rooftops where we are out there in the world sharing God with other people.<\/p>\n So, this morning, we are going to practice.\u00a0 I need five volunteers\u2026 and I want you each to tell me about a way that you (or someone here in the church) is out there in the community loving, serving, or praying\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Lastly\u2026 you have to keep the blood flowing.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, shaking our hands above our heads is crazy. It made you feel silly\u2026 and to be honest, I feel silly every time I do it in the car.<\/p>\n But you know what, being silly, keeping loose, being flexible \u2013 those are all things that we need to keep in mind as we partner with our community.<\/p>\n We won\u2019t be able to control everything.<\/p>\n We won\u2019t like the direction every activity takes.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because it\u2019s a partnership.<\/p>\n And when we allow our selves to stay loose, to be flexible, to go where the Holy Spirit leads us, it might feel awkward or uncomfortable or silly\u2026 but it\u2019s also holy and good work.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Friends, the good news is that even if we had closed our eyes in the past\u2026. Even if we were nodding off\u2026 even if we stopped paying attention\u2026 heck, even if we fell asleep and fell out of the window, three stories down, and perished\u2026 we can wake up.<\/p>\n God\u2019s eternal alarm clock is sounding off, calling us to shake off the slumber, to get up, to go out, to grab a hold of the life-giving energizing power of the Holy Spirit and be about the work of the church.<\/p>\n So friends\u2026 it\u2019s time to not only stay awake.\u00a0 It\u2019s time to get going for God.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Amen and Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scripture:\u00a0 Acts 2-:7-12 This afternoon, our Volunteers in Mission, VIM Team will head to Omaha.\u00a0 Maybe you could already see the sleeping bags, luggage and tools outside our main entrance as you came in to worship this morning.\u00a0 We\u2019ll pack everything up, get everyone securely in the vehicles, and head out. And pray that our…<\/span><\/p>\n
\nThird\u2026 it helps to have a buddy.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n