This
past semester just ended on Thursday. I still have one paper to turn
in, but thanks to the miracle of the internet I can hand it in online
this week. This past semester I took a course called Foundations of
Christian Worship in which we learned about how Christians have
gathered for worship since the beginning of the Christian movement
with the apostles up to the present day. We learned about how music,
words, space, and movement are used and have been used to contribute
to the offering of worship when Christians gather. I also took a
course called Pastoral Theology and Care. I found this one to be
more stretching, more challenging than the other one, teaching me
about all of the ways that we relate as human beings, what kinds of
things enhance our ability to relate to one another, to connect, and
what kinds of things serve as barriers.
How do we offer ourselves to
one another in a way that is truly serving, truly loving? If you've
gotten sick of hearing me say things like slow down and listen, it's
because that has been a recurring take-home point from that class.
We cannot be present to God and present to one another if we are too
caught up in ourselves.
Next
semester I am planning to take another course on Pastoral Care,
focusing on mental illness as it relates to Pastoral care. And I'm
planning also to take a course called Principles and Practice of
Preaching. And that's the round about way to introduce the story I'm
going to share. It's a story told by the man who will be my
professor next semester. His name is Thomas Troeger.
Several
years ago I was in a small airport far away from home, washing my
hands in the men's room. It was the most immaculate public restroom
I had ever used. Everything shone. The floors looked as clean as
hospital floors. Out of the corner of my eye I caught sight of the
janitor polishing one of the mirrors. I could see how he eyed his
work to make sure it was perfect. When we came face-to-face, I
spontaneously blurted out, “Thank you so much for the way you clean
this place. I have never seen such a clean restroom.”
With
equal impetuosity, the man looked at me with tears springing to his
eyes and said, “Thank you for noticing. No one has ever thanked me
in all the years I have worked here.”
I
do not know what possessed me to speak to the man. It was just one
of those promptings that leapt out of me. What I have never
forgotten about that brief exchange are the tears in the man's eyes
and the mixture of sadness and gratitude in his voice: sadness for
all the years of never being acknowledged, gratitude for a brief
encounter with another human being who appreciated his work. It gave
me a profound glimpse into the human heart: we yearn and hunger to
have someone recognize and celebrate the value of what we do and are.
With
deep feeling, the Apostle Paul speaks to this yearning and hunger.
He asks the Thessalonians, “How can we thank God enough for you,
given all the joy we have because of you before our God?” (1
Thessalonians 3:9). He declares in Philippians 1:3-5: “I thank my
God every time I mention you in my prayers. I'm thankful for all of
you every time I pray, and it's always a prayer full of joy. I'm
glad because of the way you have been my partners in the ministry of
the gospel from the time you first believed until now.”**
As
we begin a new year together, I want to say two words that
appropriately express my feelings toward all of you.
Thank.
You.
We
are trained in this day and age to think of ourselves as independent,
as free. And so we are. We can all vote, make our own choices, etc.
But
part of what happens to us is that the more we think of ourselves as
free and independent the more we forget that while we may be free to
make our own choices, we still always live in a community of support.
We have friends and family, coworkers and even strangers, that at
one time or another, in the past, maybe now, but certainly in the
future will step into our lives and lend a hand, give a word, or an
embrace, or a much needed gift.
I'm
captive to this story about myself and it's one of the reasons I pray
to God. I know I can't do it on my own. No one is an island – we
all need each other.
And
this is especially true as we seek to join together in ministering to
one another and to the community of Acworth.
No
pastor can minister by her or himself. Many would perhaps prefer to
think that they can – in a kind of stubborn and deceived
self-sufficiency – but the reality is always that we have been
called out into a community of faith in order to bear one another's
burdens, and minister the good news of the grace of God to the
community.
After
Paul exclaims how thankful he is for the Thessalonians he writes,
“And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one
another and for all, just as we abound in love for you.”
Thankfulness
and love have a symbiotic relationship. Because when we thank others
we recognize the gift that they are in our lives and that increases
our affection for them. And when we love someone we are more likely
to be thankful for their presence in our midst.
I
want to echo Paul's words here and give to all of you my heartfelt
thanks as a pastor. You minister to one another in your presence to
one another, your longing to give to those in need, and your desire
to come together and worship God even on a cold wintry morning like
this.
I
want to start this new church year off right and say thanks for all
that you do.
Too
often we act as if we are solely responsible for who we are – let
us remember that ultimately all that we have and all that we are is a
gift of God, God's amazing grace which has brought us through so many
dangers toils and snares and will continue to lead us home.
Many
Christians call the Lord's Supper the Eucharist which is the Greek
word, meaning “thanks”
And
as we go now to celebrate God's presence to us as bread of life and
cup of salvation, as our continual nourishment along life's journey,
our sustaining power and hope, let us give thanks in our hearts to
God for all of God's gifts. Amen.
**Thomas Troeger, Sermon Sparks (Abingdon Press, 2011)
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