First Place in Everything
Sunday, November 25th, 2007
Twenty-sixth after Pentecost (Christ the King Sunday – last of the Church year)
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
Colossians 1:11-20
Theme: Making Christ Lord of all

11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.


Let’s take stock.

Liturgically, today is the last day of the year. Next Sunday, being the first Sunday of Advent, marks the first Sunday of the NEXT church year. Although I love church history, and have read through the process whereby we came to HAVE a Church year and a secular year, I’m not sure I can explain to you why the Church year and the Calendar year differ, except to say that the Calendar year that is generally observed – the secular year – dates back to Roman times, is connected somewhat to the seasons of the year and the harvest cycles, and at least insofar as the names of the months go, is an essentially pagan construct, since they were named after various gods of the Roman pantheon or in honor or memory of one or another Caesar. Conversely, the Church year is based on events that mark for us events in the life and ministry of Christ.

All that being said, it simply bears noting that it’s not necessarily a BAD thing to be “out of sync” with the rest of the world on certain fundamental aspects of marking our existence. We are meant to march to the beat of a different drummer. We are called to be in the world but not of it. We are SUPPOSED to be something like square pegs in round holes.

We are and have been celebrating the fact that Jerusalem Baptist church has been IN existence as a congregation since August 5th, 1832 throughout this year.

We’ve had ample opportunity to reflect on and explore what that means over the last 11 months, we’ve made note of that passing of time by welcoming back former pastors; we had a model of what that first building may have looked like presented to Jerusalem; we have put together a scrapbook with pictures and notes that evoke memories of decades past; we have invited everyone to participate in a dress-up Sunday to remind us of what we used to wear when coming to church. We have welcomed Pastors and choirs of churches that were once a part of this congregation but which, for one reason or another, formed congregations independent from us. Just as we were formed out of what we call a ‘mother’ congregation, they also were born out of us. In some instances that birthing was painful, in others, joyful. We welcomed former members to our homecoming celebration that in some cases we had not seen in just a couple of years, and in other cases, we’d not seen in decades.

In each of those events, what has been quietly underscored, what has been brought to our attention, perhaps more on a subconscious level, but not focused on in an outright manner, has been the fact of change. To look around is to recognize the changes Jerusalem has been through – not just in the last few months or years, but over her lifetime as a congregation.

It is something that we are aware of in our own lives, certainly on a yearly, but also on a monthly and even on a weekly basis. We have said goodbye to members of our congregation and extended family who had been a part of us since our earliest memories. We’ve given welcome to precious little new lives that plant themselves in our hearts and give us reason to continue to work towards the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God on earth.

We have welcomed new members into our family who have expressed a desire to walk alongside, to put their hand to the plow, to join with us as we figure out what it means to say we are Christ-followers and to live that answer out together.

So, just as we sometimes find ourselves doing around our New Year’s celebrations on the ‘general’ calendar, we can also take time to reflect on the past year and what it has meant for us as a church family.

We have just celebrated a day of Thanksgiving, which is an observed CIVIL holiday, but which allows our nation as a whole to pause and give thanks – whether directly to God or simply in the spirit of gratitude – for what we have, and what we count as blessing, and for what we are anticipating becoming.

This past Wednesday, at the community Thanksgiving service, Michael Dawson, the host Pastor, offered a time in the service for anyone there to express THEIR thank for something in particular.

Thanks were expressed for freedom, for a place to gather, for a community with which TO gather, and for family – more than anything, almost, for family – both immediate family and that family that reaches beyond – the greater family that we belong to—the family that made the way for us and the family that follows behind, the family that surrounds and strengthens, that comforts, that consoles, that celebrates and rejoices.

The traditional ‘name’ for this Sunday is ‘Christ the King’ Sunday. It is the culmination – the peak – of the Church year. Calling it “Christ the King” Sunday reminds us of that fact – that ultimately, Christ IS to reign over all. It is what we proclaim, it is what we believe, it is what we struggle to work out on a daily basis, first and foremost in our OWN lives, and as we live it out, in the life of our community and our world.

So on this morning that marks the end of this year, I’d like to open the floor to anyone who would like to voice something for which you are grateful to God.

Since I’m already talking, I’ll go ahead and start: :-)

I’m grateful to God for a faith family that is engaged in the practice of faith – that really DOES consider it important – consider it CENTRAL to their life AS A CONGREGATION – to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. For recognizing disagreements and yet joining together to worship and ‘do church’ despite those differences. For faithfulness that is a clear reflection of God’s faithfulness to us – in giving, in praying, in presence, in friendship, and in standing beside each other in times of loss and sorrow as well as in times of joy and celebration.

(Voices of the congregation)

Amen, and amen.

Let’s pray.

Weary in Doing Good
Sunday, November 18th, 2007
Twenty-fifth after Pentecost
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton VA
2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Theme: Renewing our Strength When we are Tired of doing what is right

6 Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. 9This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Bone weary.

Stumbling exhaustion.

Glazed-eyed.

It is true. There are times in this life of ministry that one wonders when the next chance will come around to grab a few winks, preferably in a row, preferably in a horizontal position.

The demands of making oneself available to a larger family than the one God has blessed me with as my IMMEDIATE family ARE sometimes high, and at times frequent if not nonstop. There are weeks which in retrospect become a blur, sometimes a haze of coming and going and meeting and talking and visiting and calling and driving, always driving.

It is a hard task, at times, but it is always tempered by joy. It can be exhausting, but it is still, even now, energized by something other than my own physical stamina – or lack thereof.

As you know, the pastors of the Rappahannock Association periodically get together – on the first Monday of each month – to visit and pray and spend time together sharing our experiences, joys, cares and concerns, in many cases sharing a particular burden with the group with the express purpose being to serve as encouragement to each other. It is a forum for questions as well as advice to be shared. I remember one of the early conferences I attended, one of the pastors prayed our opening prayer, and his words were “Thank you God that another Sunday is over.” This was coming from a pastor who had been at his church for nearly two decades at the time, and I remember being struck not by the thought, but by the honesty of the words.

Not that I was surprised either. The emotion behind it was not of disgust or disillusion with the responsibilities of a Sunday, but it was more a mixture of … loving exasperation and … maybe weary anticipation of the NEXT Sunday to come. It was the natural relief one feels when a difficult taks is done.

The world seemed to respond in stunned surprise at the revelation in reading the book of Mother Teresa’s writings that for the last 50 years of her life she felt totally disconnected from God – she had no sense of God’s presence in what she was doing. I heard or read a reviewer comment that perhaps that was the only way she herself would be able to identify completely with that portion of the population of India which she served so admirably and selflessly for all those decades.

There are literally countless millions who work just like her. Men and women, saints of God who give themselves completely to the work of the Lord and receive NO recognition, who seldom are named or even mentioned in conversations, and who pass into the anonymous annals of history but without whom the church would be a shadow of itself.

It is to them that we owe a debt of gratitude in this season of Thanksgiving, as well as, of course, to God, for building on the foundations laid by Christ and following the example set by Paul, those who had the right to ‘eat someone’s bread without paying for it’, as Paul writes, but who, like him, did not.

It is one of the most repeated nuggets of advice I’ve heard over the last four and a half years, from fellow Pastors and others – know who you are talking to. Know what their lives are, what their worries are, what they like and dislike, what MOVES them. And as much as I am able, I’ve tried to do that. At the same time, the burden of the ministry of PREACHING – not Pastoring, but PREACHING – is to call us ALL out of our comfort zone, to face us ALL with the demands of the Gospel as WELL as the blessings of it, to confront us ALL with the fact that we live in a world that IS too dangerous for anything but truth AND too small for anything but love.

So in sharing with you about feeling tired, I’m not limiting that feeling to the tiredness that comes from being a full-time minister. It is the same tiredness that comes from being a full-time student or sole provider, eighty-hour-a-week employee, grandparent, caregiver, errand-runner, behind-the-scenes coordinator, or full-time mother.

What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton on November 18, 2007?

We are all called by God to a specific task – to love God. And we are all called by God to one Joy – to live the life given to us in such a way that IT will be our witness to HIS love for us.

I know you’ve heard me say it time and time again, but it bears repeating, because we need reminding. On those days when we look back on the week and wonder why we do it, wonder if there isn’t something better we could be about, wonder if we really ARE answering God’s call in carrying out the duties we are carrying out, WHATEVER THEY MAY BE – we need to find those answers in the combination of our prayer life, our devotional life, and the fellowship of believers we call our faith family. Because it is within this fellowship that God provides us perspective. It is in this fellowship that God provides us with the points of view that we couldn’t think of on our own, that we have trouble understanding, and that we NEED to see in order to WALK in the other person’s shoes.

We are all prone to the same trials, temptations and sorrows. We are all subject to the same stumblings. But thank God, we are all called to face them TOGETHER. God’s message to us is that we are not alone. We have a Savior who is also our friend. And we have the comforter – the Holy Spirit – to guide us along, to PROD us along, at times, and to illuminate our minds and FIRE our hearts as we follow Christ.

Paul’s exhortation to not grow weary in doing what is right is a word directed to a family of faith that is continuously learning that its source of strength is not in its own abilities and skills and talents, but ultimately on the wellspring that flows directly from the heart of God.

Let’s pray.