Micah
6
“Witnessing our Faith”
In Christ, we are a new
creation. We have spent the summer
discerning what it means to be a new creation in Christ. What does it mean for our lives to be
transformed through our faith? Have felt
moments of renewal in your own life, and if so, have you felt God’s presence
within it? Have you participated in
moments of renewal within your greater community and felt God’s presence within
it? Transformations
and renewals are happening all around us, all the time, and God calls us to pay
attention to them. To take the time to
notice them, to take the time to participate within them. Renewal and transformation happened yesterday
as a group gathered together to help complete a Habitat for Humanity
build. Renewal occurred within our
basement several years ago as people worked to clean-up after the flooding from
the hurricane. Renewal and
transformation will be happening over the next year, as people in Texas rebuild
their lives from Hurricane Harvey.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has a
motto: Out of Chaos, Hope. This is the new creation. This is participating in the work of God as
people of faith, reaching out in times of need, in times of crisis, in times of
chaos, and bringing hope. Many of us are
not physically able to muck out basements after floods, or help build a new
home, but here, in this place, we offer many opportunities, for everyone to be
a part of the new creation through donations.
We may not be able to take a group of people to Texas to help with flood
recovery, but the school kits that we will be preparing in a few weeks, will be
used for moments just like this. We
witness our faith, our part in the new creation, through simple ways of love
and compassion by gathering school supplies.
How do we witness being a part of
the new creation? How do we witness
lives that speak to love, that speak to hope, lives that proclaim there truly
is more goodness in this world than bad?
We share our stories. We share
moments that reflect kindness, we tell of the love and goodness and hope that
breaks into this world. We say no to the
negativity, we do not deny it, we cannot live in denial, but we say no to the
violence, the brokenness, the barriers that separate, and we say yes to the
ways in which we can create hope, create love, and create bridges that unite
people.
The Kingdom of God can happen in
simple acts of kindness. This past week,
I was so bummed out that I had not found eclipse glasses. My parents were visiting, and it was a beautiful
day, and I absolutely love the Turtle Back Zoo.
So, off we went to spend the day at the zoo, with the possible hope that
maybe, just maybe the zoo had glasses for sale that day. My mom suggested we bring some notecards just
in case so we could at least make pinhole cameras. Unfortunately, the zoo did not have glasses,
and as the time came for the eclipse, we pulled out our notecards and tried to
watch the eclipse through our makeshift cameras. Our ingenuity was noticed by a father, and he
came over and asked if we would like to use his glasses. We thanked him, we each took a look, and gave
him back the glasses, when he responded, no, just keep them. We have another pair. Now, we could have just said thank you and
moved on through our day. But, we
noticed this as a moment of great blessing.
I said to both of my girls, please pay attention to this type of
kindness. The sharing, the participating
in giving a blessing to others, this man was not just a kind person, but a true
blessing. Yes, the Kingdom of God can
break in the world at the Turtle Back Zoo over something as simple as eclipse
glasses. So, we too, took the
opportunity to share the glasses with another family. Momentary community was created through that
event. And it could just come and go
unless we share the story, unless we name it and embrace it and witness that
this was not just another day at the zoo, but a moment where God’s presence
broke into the ordinary and transformed the moment into a blessing.
Both of the passages I chose for
today are about how we can witness our faith as a part of God’s new
creation. I love the passage from
Micah: what does God require of us? Does God require sacrifice and great
offerings? People often think to be a
Christian, to be a part of the church, one has to make great sacrifices and
live a strict life of holiness. People
will say they are spiritual but not religious, because they don’t like the
rules of the institution. Micah is
declaring, that the rules of the institution are not what God desires – but
rather the way in which we witness our lives, the ways in which we live and
bear fruit for God. In very simple
words, Micah proclaims: what does the Lord require of you but to do
justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?
Do justice, love kindness, and walk
humbly with your God. Do justice, what
does that look like for you? We may each
have a different cause that we feel is seeking to bring justice into the
world. Our denomination and our presbytery
have both been focused on the issue of Racism and at the end of Sept. our
presbytery is offering intense anti-racism training. If you have interest in this form of justice,
all are invited to attend. Others focus
on ensuring that all are fed. That the
hunger in the world, and right here in our own community are issues of
justice. How do we ensure that every
child has enough food to eat? And so
there is a movement of seeking a living wage rather than a minimum wage. We have a huge population of what has been
called the working poor. People that
have jobs, but still cannot pay rent and purchase groceries. Do justice.
For some the calling is health care and for others it is housing. Doing justice comes in many shapes and sizes,
it can be political in nature, or just sharing with others. Here in this place, we seek justice mostly
through food and housing, with our relationships with Faith Kitchen, Roxbury
Social Services, Family Promise, Homeless Solutions, and Habitat.
As we partner with our community, we
are a part of the transformation and renewal that these various agencies are
seeking to bring about. Often, people
mistake the word evangelism, as that negative action of going out into the
community and trying to convert people to Christianity. A few years ago I was at a street festival
and sure enough, there was the street preacher with his megaphone, condemning
people to eternal torment if they did not get their lives together and confess
Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
It really made me sick to my stomach.
This is what pushes people away, instead of bringing them into God’s
love. Another church, in that same
community, gathers under a large tree in a community park with art supplies and
just allows people to gather, spend time doing art, and building
relationships. That church is growing,
it is bringing people to God, not through threatening their eternal salvation,
but through kindness, and goodness, and art. The art allows a common ground to begin conversations,
when people can then witness God’s love, sharing faith stories, not preaching
on scripture, but giving real life stories of renewal and transformation. Allowing a time where God’s light can shine
through the darkness. This is walking
humbly with our God.
Perhaps we too can creatively think
of ways to be a visual presence in our community in a non-threating way, that
can allow us opportunities to share our faith with others, and witness to God’s
love and goodness in the world. It is
through our own witnessing that disciples are made. Amen.
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