Winter in South AfricaThe requests for copies of the Trinity Sunday Sermon are being met, by posting the sermon here.
Trinity Sermon::: 2
You have heard this lesson in five languages. What does it mean for the children of God? What does it mean for the students who study at LTI? What does it mean for those gathered here for worship on this Trinity Sunday?
Well for the Children of God, we have some work to do. On Monday, Alison challenged those of us on campus to be disciples. But what kind of disciples, we are to be disciples who have read our scriptures and have a clear understanding of who Jesus is not only in our scriptures, but who is Jesus for us, Who is Jesus today. Jesus asked his disciples, who do people say that I am. That question and its answer are just as important today as it was when Jesus first uttered that simple sentence to the Children of God gathered around him. The answer has to come from within. Within us. We are not just reflecting who people say Jesus is, we are affirming who we believe Jesus to be today in the here and now. We are not playing a word game. We are declaring the core of our faith. This Jesus who sent out 12 disciples, somehow got ahold of me and sent me out not once, but to four different places to share his call to me to be his disciple. This last call has lasted nearly 20 years, and in the midst of it I have been sent to two different congregations to be an interim pastor and to one church to be a Sunday School teacher. Most recently I’ve had the opportunity to be in this place teaching, talking, laughing, worshipping, enjoying your sports teams and the ‘a cappella’ singing. In the midst of that I hope that I have been answering that continual question, who do you say that I am.
On Tuesday Hans Peter, reminded us that the Holy Spirit, spoke through the mouth of the Father of Jewish community King David. But he reminded us that the Holy Spirit continues to speak to us today. Not just those of us gathered on this campus, but it speaks to the students who walk the pathways of the campus across the street. The Holy Spirit speaks to all those who are not students at LTI, but are here this morning to be a part of this worshipping community. The Holy Spirit has not left us, but is constantly putting new challenges in front of us. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us to raise questions of what is going on in some of the communities of
Caleb on Wednesday was clear in letting those of us gathered for early morning worship that the power of the Holy Spirit was a gift. It could not be purchased, no matter how much money was offered. The Holy Spirit comes freely to the Children of God, and the we are the managers, the Stewards of this Gift of God that has power that exceeds all the images created by our fellow human beings. Remember I’ve been teaching the Ministerial students. Four of you are ready for parish placement. [Assuming all the assignments are in…..], and Four of you are ready for supervised placement. Now it is your turn to see if you can use those spiritual gifts that are given to you by the Holy Spirit in sharing the work of spreading God’s Good News to those have heard it and need to hear it again, and sharing God’s Good News in ways that some might hear it for the first time. Our calling is not just to minister to the saved, but our task; that is everyone in this room, laypersons and those preparing to be clergy and those who already are clergy; our task is to share with all the world what God has done for us and what he can continually do for those who place their trust in Him.
On Thursday we had a hiccup. Chaplain Modisane, was unable to be with us. But that did not mean that the Word was not read and shared. IN that word we found that Peter, the one upon whom the church is to be built, has been criticized because he went into the house of the uncircumcised and ate with them. What that physically means that if Peter had been in Pietermaritzburg and had found his way to our chapel and after chapel had found his way into our cafeteria, where we ate with him. He would have been criticized, BECAUSE HE ATE WITH GENTILES. Children of God, I got news for you. We may not be God’s Chosen People, by way of Abraham, but we are Jesus’ chose people by way of Peter and Paul. I’m a GENTILE and proud of it. I am an adopted Child of God, and Jesus told me that I would be an heir in God’s kingdom. Luther helped me understand that by helping me to know that I didn’t make my self a child of God. Jesus did when he died for all of my and our shortcomings on the cross. We are saved by The Grace of God. We are justified by our Faith in God. Jesus did all the work for us and is present with us today when we celebrate his gift to us in the breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup.
Then came Friday and Dr. Tonsing spoke of the attacks on the Christian community that seemed to disperse it in multiple places around the world. While the aim was to destroy this religious sect, the dispersion had an opposite effect. IT SPREAD GOD’S MESSAGE to multiple places around the world. Did you hear God’s word this morning? It came from Tswana, Zulu, Sepedi, Shona, Afrikaans, German. I’m preaching in English, but when I serve you the Body of Christ, my words will be El Cuerpo de Cristo, The Body of Christ in Spanish.
Earlier in the sermon, I asked the question what does it mean for each of us who gather here for worship. We come for a variety of reasons. Some of us are just looking for a place to hear God’s word and have an opportunity to praise God and hear a message that will inspire our work and our living for the week ahead.
Some of us are students preparing to be ministers. We are trying to take our lessons and find out how they apply to the work that will be ahead of us in congregations. Sometimes our gathering here is sort of like practice. But I’ve got news for you. As a Baptized Christian, THERE IS NO PRACTICE. Once baptized, you are a Child of God. You are an heir of God’s Kingdom. You are a disciple. Some Disciples are called to be the lay leaders of the church and some are called to be the Ordained, the set apart for leadership in the church. So we gather here for our own version of refueling for the week ahead of study and thinking and writing, and visiting and learning how to be a leader among God’s gathered people.
Some of us are ordained. We have been set apart for leadership, and we have been called to new roles of preparation for leadership in the church. There are those who are the graduate students who have been sent by the church to develop additional leadership skills for a church that has to face an increasingly complex society. So will be teachers, some will be church executives, some will lead NGO’s, but while that train and when they lead they will still be Children of God. They will be disciples who have been asked to abandon the familiar fishing boats and become fishers of people in new fields.
Some of us are called to be teachers. We have been asked by our churches to share the knowledge and the experience that we have gathered and to the best of our ability give that knowledge to others so that they can lead the church in new an creative ways. Almost each day as I teach, I am reminded that I am still and will remain a Child of God, a disciple who has been called, and at least for a brief time, called to be here in
Finally, brothers and sisters, Remember these words from our brother Paul, the one who had his mission changed on the Road with a blinding light. He says to the Corinthians in his second letter “…farewell. Put things in order, listen to my appeal, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” That is a directive that still fits today. For we have much work to do in our own midst. Some of our sisters and brothers are still trying to get aid to
AMEN.
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