Sunday, October 29, 2017

“A Common Servant ” SAPC, October 29, 2017; Matthew 23: 1-15; Kirkin’ of the Tartans

I preached this sermon as part of a Kirkin' o' the Tartan service.  I had never seen one of these services, so it made for an interesting week of putting together the liturgy and trying to find a way into the sermon.  My friend and colleague Karl Travis, who serves at FPC, Ft. Worth, sent me a couple of sermons he had preached for similar services.  He gave me the idea of preaching on this passage from Matthew, which included the observations about Knox' grave and the statue of James VI. The Scottish liturgist who joined us today is a member of FPC, Ft. Worth, and he noted that my preaching reminded him of Karl's preaching! 
I had some fun exploring some of the Reformation themes in the context of this sermon.  The point suggesting the Reformation's emphasis on bringing leadership to the local level means the accusations that Jesus as for the Pharisees are not directed toward the church congregation made for some interesting conversations after the service.  
I noted Peter Marshall told his call story every year on the anniversary of his coming to the United States  What I did not tell was my own variation of Marshall's pattern.  I happened to read his Peter Marshall's biography, A Man Called Peter, my first fall in seminary.  Although I did not start the habit of preaching my call story every year, I did begin reading his biography every fall to connect to my first sense of call to ministry and be reminded of Marshall's strong sense of call.  I probably followed that pattern for 5 or 6 years.  It was good to skim through this book again as I reflected on this sermon.

“A Common Servant ” SAPC, October 29, 2017;  Matthew 23: 1-15; Kirkin’ of the Tartans

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,[a] and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.[b] And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.[c] 11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them.[d] 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell[e] as yourselves.

Introduction:   Peter Marshall, the Presbyterian minister credited with organizing the first Kirkin of the Tartans service (that was actually the name of the sermon he preached at the service honoring the Scottish heritage of the Presbyterian Church) was, in fact, from Scotland, the land of the kirk.  Kirk, of course, being the name for the church.

Marshall had come to the United States with the intention, no concrete plans, but the intention of figuring out a way to go to seminary (his cousin had suggested he come to the United States because it would be a easier to work his way through seminary).

he became a popular preacher (when I say popular, I mean popular — a church i worked at in Austin during seminary had an older member who lived in Washington DC during Marshall’s tenure at NY Ave Presbyterian Church there.  She told me of going to church to hear Marshall preach and having to stand outside on the sidewalk with others to listen to his sermon piped outside because the sanctuary was too full) and chaplain to the Senate.

Every year, on the Sunday nearest the anniversary, he would tell his call story.   Not just his story, but the story of his brothers and sisters in Christ who encouraged him and helped him along his journey; and the story of the local congregations that supported him, joined with him in ministry, and heeded his preached words.

 A reminder of his roots in Scotland, his roots in the kirk.

This morning we go back to our roots.  all the pageantry and tartans remind us of our Scottish Presbyterian heritage.  

Three things to remember about our Scottish roots.

Move 1:  Scots took their faith seriously.
a.  One of the compelling theological forces behind the Reformation was the theological assertion that the grace of God that did not have to be earned, nor did it have to mediated by a religious authority such as a priest, bishop, or pope.

1.  John Knox joined Luther and other Reformers in this new understanding.
2.  Part of that theological push freed people, but it did not remove people from responsibility.

b. Our Scottish Presbyterian forebears understood their faith to be a serious matter, not to be taken lightly.

1.  The Scripture reading this morning might come across as a bit severe, but it would have a been a typical text to be expounded on in the Kirk in Scotland.

2.  One day a Scottish preaching was going on about hell.  He said that it will be awful, painful, that there will be much gnashing of teeth.
   An old man on the front pew looked up and smiled broadly, smacking his gums.  He had no teeth.
   
The preacher looked him square and replied, “Teeth will be provided.”

c. The love of God did not need to be mediated by the pope or a priest, but it made high demands on the Christian.

Move 2:  Our Scottish predecessors shaped what we know as the Presbyterian church to invite all God’s people to participate.

a.  As the Presbyterian Church of Scotland took on its shape, it was built on the kirk, the local congregation, which was run on democratic lines.

1.  The kirk was free to choose or reject its own pastor.

2.  No bishop or pope told the people who they must have as a minister.

b.  Instead of bishops like the Catholic structure, Knox introduce the idea of ten to twelve superintendents, to diffuse the leadership.
1.  Ultimately, even the presence of superintendents was rejected and shared leadership between clergy and members became the hallmark of the Presbyterian Church.
  2.  Each kirk elected its own elders, to lead the congregation.

3.  this governing body was made up of elders, the English translation of the Greek word Elder is the English translation of the Greek word “presbuteros,” which is why we are known as the Presbyterian Church — church run by elected elders.
4. Beyond the Session, was a presbytery, which was made up of equal number of clergy and elders to ensure the clergy did not dictate policy.

5. at a national level, there was a General Assembly, made up of an equal number of ministers and elders from each presbytery.

6. our structure in the United States looks very similar, although we have an added layer of synods between the presbytery and General Assembly, again made up of equal numbers of clergy and elders.

7. the practice of people electing the elders and voting to call a minister continue in our church today.  In fact, immediately following the recessional this morning, we will live out this practice and elect officers for next year.

c.  John Knox also pushed for national education, which did not pass the Parliament, but reflected the Church of Scotland’s desire and insistence to for the common people to have the ability to read the Bible and live out their faith responsibly.

d. As we remember our heritage and its emphasis on the people leading the church, we might that Jesus’ words we read from Matthew speak directly to the problem of religious authorities and give thanks for the Reformation’s push away from those types of authorities.
1.  It’s true that Jesus hated hypocrisy. 
2. He loved hypocrites, just like he loved sinners, but but he hated hypocrisy.  
3.  he hoped for, he modeled for us, he demanded of us lives of consistence, authenticity, and integrity.  

4.   And Jesus confronted anyone who was pretending to be one type of person by day but another by night, pretending to be one type of person in public and another in private.  
   
5.  Jesus even confronted the religious authorities of his day.  
     
6.   He said that the rabbis bound others up in high expectations,  then did nothing to help them.
      He told people to do as the rabbis said, but not as they did.
      
7.  Jesus called the rabbis hypocrites. They loved public attention.  They loved the prestige of position.  They loved the head table and the black tie affairs and the title and the robe and you have no idea how uncomfortable it is for me to read this passage.
  
8. The Reformation set that straight once and for all, right?

e. Except, except that Jesus shifts the conversation from those religious authorities to “you.”

1.  You, meaning all of us, fall prey to hypocrisy.

2. you, meaning all of us, are called to be servants.

3.  When the Reformation bring leadership down to the level of the common person, it also brings the challenge to our hypocrisy to the common person.

4.  If we find the church hypocritical or not not humbly serving God, we are in the bulls-eye of Jesus’ accusations.

The Reformation invites us all to participate in the leadership of the church, which also invites us to the challenge of leading as a servant.

As Jesus reminds all of us :     “the greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Move 3:  The call to reform continues as we seek to be the body of Christ in the world. 

a.   two images left from the Scottish Reformation that were shared with me by my friend and colleague Karl Travis at FPC, Ft. Worth.

1.  When Knox died in 1572 they buried him in the church graveyard.  In a symbol of something or other, the graveyard is now a parking lot.  John Knox, the father of Scottish Presbyterianism, is buried under space 23.

1.  Perhaps fitting.

2.  Certainly a sign of changing times.

b.  Interestingly enough, above the asphalt, looking down upon space 23 and therefore down upon Knox’s grave, is a statue of James VI.  

1.  That’s James VI of Scotland.  In England they remember him as James I.  He was the first king of the United Kingdom.  

2.  Scotland had been independent before that, free from England.  James VI was therefore seen as a traitor.  
   
3.  Which is why that statue of James VI has a strange feature.  On the nape of James’ neck, maybe four inches tall, barely visible unless you know to look for it, is a small face.  While the statue looks east, this face looks west.  And whose face is this?  Like the front of the statue, it is also the face of King James.  The small addition was the sculptor’s way of saying that James VI was two-faced.

4. A comment about hypocrisy among leaders.

c.  Time passes.

1. the world changes.

2.  Graveyards become parking lots.

3. The demands on God’s people change.

4.  The clans we celebrate today spawn familial connections that expand and integrate all sorts of different ethnicities.  

d. the Israelites learned this truth.

1.  Moses, the great leader, will die.

2.  In fact, he will die without completing his task of settling in the Promised Land.

3.  His mantle of leadership will pass on to Joshua.

4.  the tasks change.  the leaders come and go.
e. our Scottish heritage provides a meaningful and powerful background that has shaped us and who we are.

1.  From our past, we move into the future.

2.  Scotland of the 16th century is not Denton of the 21st Century.

Conclusion:  But we worship the same God, the God who meets us in Jesus  Christ, the God who calls us to be humble servants. 


Sunday, October 15, 2017

Reflections on "Giving as A Sign" Jeremiah 32: 1-15; Leviticus 25: 25-28

I have wanted to preach this text for a long time, but never had before today.  I really enjoyed working through this text, although there was a lot of background material for both the Leviticus passage and the Jeremiah passage that I did not get to in this sermon. The redemption of property and Year of the Jubilee themes in Leviticus offer rich material for future sermons.  because it was commitment Sunday here (the Sunday people turn in their pledge commitments for 2018), I geared the sermon toward giving as a sign. 

It was a fun sermon to preach, especially with the addition of the "hokey-pokey" to the sermon.  I actually was part of a worship service where a colleague was installed where the preacher used the "hokey-pokey" as a way to encourage the congregation make a commitment to ministry with the minister.  In her story, she did not realize that the wait staff were the only ones doing the "hokey-pokey," so she joined in with them.  My story did not include her experience, but since I've been at Babe's and observed the same thing she has, I could relate about the "hokey-pokey."  The organist played the melody with us, which added to the fun (we have a big pipe organ).  

Jeremiah 32: 1-15 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the tenth year of King Zedekiah of Judah, which was the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. At that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem, and the prophet Jeremiah was confined in the court of the guard that was in the palace of the king of Judah, where King Zedekiah of Judah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, “Why do you prophesy and say: Thus says the Lord: I am going to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; King Zedekiah of Judah shall not escape out of the hands of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be given into the hands of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him face to face and see him eye to eye; and he shall take Zedekiah to Babylon, and there he shall remain until I attend to him, says the Lord; though you fight against the Chaldeans, you shall not succeed?”
Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me: Hanamel son of your uncle Shallum is going to come to you and say, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth, for the right of redemption by purchase is yours.” Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the court of the guard, in accordance with the word of the Lord, and said to me, “Buy my field that is at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, for the right of possession and redemption is yours; buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that this was the word of the Lord.
And I bought the field at Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. 10 I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales. 11 Then I took the sealed deed of purchase, containing the terms and conditions, and the open copy; 12 and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch son of Neriah son of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans who were sitting in the court of the guard. 13 In their presence I charged Baruch, saying, 14 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this sealed deed of purchase and this open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, in order that they may last for a long time. 15 For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.


“Giving As a Sign” SAPC;  October 15, 2017; Leviticus 25: 25-28; Jeremiah 32: 1-15; Commitment Sunday

Introduction: Final story on resources.  We have reflected on the stealing of resources and the power behind resources; 

we have heard some hard sayings from Jesus and been challenged to think about what is God’s and what is ours;

we have considered the importance of putting our resources to good use;

We have heard of the extravagant grace that God offers us;

This week, we read about Jeremiah buying some property.  Perhaps not as familiar a story as some of the others.

Move 1:  Let’s take a look at the situation in Jerusalem at the time of this story.

a.   God’s people are in trouble.

1.  Babylonian army besieging Jerusalem; 

2.  Rising power in the world which has been overrunning other countries is now at the doorsteps of Jerusalem.

3. Exile appears to be imminent.

b.  Jeremiah, God’s prophet, is having some personal trouble as well.

1.  Imprisoned for making King Zedekiah angry with his prophecies.

2.  Note to self:  if you tell the king he is going to be defeated; that he is going to taken into exile; and it is his fault, there’s a good chance you are going to end up in prison.

c.  There is Jeremiah, his world is a prison cell and Israel’s world is best defined as being surrounded by the Babylonians. 

1.  What should he do?

2.  God has an idea for him.  

3. Jeremiah, when you cousin comes and tells you to buy some family property, a field in Anathoth, buy the field.”

4.  Just what Jeremiah is looking for - a chance to invest in the future when the world seems to offer no future.

5.  what better deal than that?

5.  Should Jeremiah buy land?  

7. What would you do? 

8. I am reminded of a cartoon:  Minister marching carrying sing that says ‘The end is near.’  Woman, maybe his wife, is following him with sign: ‘last chance for shopping.’”

  d.  In this moment, when the world is crashing in, Jeremiah, the prophet who speaks God’s word, goes shopping.

1.  He buys the field.

2.  With seemingly no viable future except exile to Babylon, Jeremiah puts his money down to redeem the field in Anathoth.

3.  Well, not exactly Jeremiah.

4.  Five times Jeremiah notes that this is the “word of the Lord.”  

5.  The business deal going down is not Jeremiah acting on his own real estate acumen, but God acting through Jeremiah.

Move 2:  Not a good investment, but a great sign of God’s desire to redeem.

a.  not a simple land transaction, but a purchase that acts as a sign of God’s redemption.

1.  The Israelites know about buying resources as a way of redeeming.  

2.  built into their system.  

3.  Leviticus passage lays out the provision in the rule that govern the Israelites about redeeming property.

4. if a family member has financial difficulties and has to sell the family property, the next of kin can, indeed some might say has the responsibility, to buy the property and redeem it.

b. Jeremiah’s action on behalf of God acts as a sign of what God is going to do — redeem Israel in the future.
1. that’s why Jeremiah makes a big, public scene when he buys the field.

2.  not a side deal off where no one can see it.

3.  But a transaction that everyone can see or hear about later.

5.  The gossip lines light up after this purchase.

“Did you hear what Jeremiah did?  He bought property.  And you know it’s going to get taken over by the Babylonians.  Is he crazy?”

6. No, Jeremiah is not crazy.  He is acting at the command of God whose word in these dire circumstances is  “Houses and fields and vineyards shall again be bought in this land.” 

6. With God there is a future.

7.  Not only a word of hope in the moment, but a story the exiles can tell long into the future to remind themselves that God’s future includes them.

8. Defeat may be at hand in this moment, but God is not done.

9.  God not only will redeem a field, but redeem a people.

Move 3:  Fast forward to our pledge commitments. 

a.  We all have different reasons for making a pledges and our own formulae for determining what our pledge will be.

b.  Regardless of why or what, our giving is also a sign.

1. A sign of our belief God is still at work in the world and God’s future is still being played out in our world.

2. If finite time ended 12/31/17, there would be no need to make a pledge for next year.

3.  If God were to quit engaging our world, there would be no reason for the body of Christ to continue its ministries in the world.

3. But God is not done, so we are not done.  

4. In fact, as we look around our world we see so many needs for God’s presence.

d.  Our pledge is also a sign of our commitment beyond our financial resources.

1.  A concrete expression that says, “I’m in.”

2.  God desires not just a financial commitment, but a total commitment.

2. Visiting TX meant through the years going to eat as a family at Babe’s.

3. Family style serving; chicken fried steak you could not find in OH.

4.  Ever once in a while the wait staff quits serving, gather together and sing.

5.  If you’ve been there, you know they sing The Hokey pokey”  You know, “you put your right foot in, you take your right foot out”

6.  Do you remember what the last verse of the Hokey-pokey is?

7.  You put your whole self in
You take your whole self out
You put your whole self in
And you shake it all about
You do the hokey pokey
And you turn yourself around
That's what it's all about

(Everybody stand up and do it - okay, you don’t have to, but you probably want to so that one day you can say, I stood in sanctuary of St. Andrew and sang the hokey pokey…”

Conclusion:  Today you are invited to make a pledge to the God whose future is ever before us.


Put your whole self in.  Amen.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Reflections on "Put It to Use" 2 Kings 12: 1-16; Luke 6: 46-49

I have never preached the text from Exodus before, but I have preached similar texts from Chronicles.  As I worked with the text, I discovered this text could also be used to reflect on different kinds of givings, particularly since the different kinds of giving in the Israelite/Temple world are shared.  I only made brief mention of it, but it could be a good place to come back to in the future.

I'm not sure it was a particularly strong sermon, but we had a terrific worship service for Wold Communion.  Good worship makes the sermon seem better!

To tell the truth, I used the Luke passage, in part, because it was a short passage and we were having it read in both English and Arabic.  It turned out to be a pretty interesting passage, although I did not develop it much.  In my original notes, I had an illustration about a home that survived the hurricane in FL because it was built with Category 5 rules.  But, I thought it might send a mixed message, as if the houses that survived had a strong foundation with God and vice versa.  


another week looking at different stories in the Bible that deal with resources, although the story we just read is probably not as familiar as some of the stories we have read previously.

2 Kings 12: 1-16  In the seventh year of Jehu, Jehoash began to reign; he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all his days, because the priest Jehoiada instructed him. Nevertheless the high places were not taken away; the people continued to sacrifice and make offerings on the high places.
Jehoash said to the priests, “All the money offered as sacred donations that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each person is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money from the voluntary offerings brought into the house of the Lord, let the priests receive from each of the donors; and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered.” But by the twenty-third year of King Jehoash the priests had made no repairs on the house. Therefore King Jehoash summoned the priest Jehoiada with the other priests and said to them, “Why are you not repairing the house? Now therefore do not accept any more money from your donors but hand it over for the repair of the house.” So the priests agreed that they would neither accept more money from the people nor repair the house.
Then the priest Jehoiada took a chest, made a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one entered the house of the Lord; the priests who guarded the threshold put in it all the money that was brought into the house of the Lord. 10 Whenever they saw that there was a great deal of money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest went up, counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and tied it up in bags. 11 They would give the money that was weighed out into the hands of the workers who had the oversight of the house of the Lord; then they paid it out to the carpenters and the builders who worked on the house of the Lord, 12 to the masons and the stonecutters, as well as to buy timber and quarried stone for making repairs on the house of the Lord, as well as for any outlay for repairs of the house. 13 But for the house of the Lord no basins of silver, snuffers, bowls, trumpets, or any vessels of gold, or of silver, were made from the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, 14 for that was given to the workers who were repairing the house of the Lord with it. 15 They did not ask an accounting from those into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workers, for they dealt honestly. 16 The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the Lord; it belonged to the priests.

“Put It to Use” SAPC;  October 1, 2017; 2 Kings 12: 1-16

Introduction:  During stewardship season, I often get asked questions about giving.  I have learned there are basically three questions people want to ask the minister about stewardship.

Most often asked question:  “Do I tithe off of my gross income or my take-home?”

Second question:  Does all my tithe have to go to the church, or can some of it go to other groups?

Third most often asked question:  Do I have to give to the church if the church is not putting my money to use wisely?

After Joe’s Minute for Mission last week, I am referring the first two questions to him.

Third question, how the church is putting money to use, is addressed in our stories this morning.

Move 1:  Let’s first look at the story from 2 Kings.

a.  Background

1. I and 2 Kings are stories about the Israelite kings after King David.

2.  Some have lots of information told about them (King Solomon, for instance); some not so much.  Some have stories told about their evil deeds (look up King Ahab stories in I Kings); some have stories told about their good deeds.

3. All of the stories are told in the context of the question - was the king was faithful to God?

b. King Jehoash, whom we read about today, had a little bit told about his reign.

1.  As we hear his story, we realize that he was a mixed bag - some good; some not so good.

2.  On the good side, he led the Israelites to rebuild the Temple, which is a good thing.

3. But he also did not tear down the “high places,” the altars built on mountaintops where sacrifices were made to Canaanite gods.

c.  King Jehoash has a great idea.

1. the offering made the priests would be put to use repairing the Temple.

2.  there are three sources of donations made to the priests - sacred donations; assessments - sort of per capita tax; voluntary donations -  and all three are to be funneled to the repair of the Temple.

3.   A worthy goal.  the Temple is an important sign to God’s people of God’s presence in their midst; the Temple was also the actual place where God’s people go to worship.

d.  Twenty-three years into this project — not sure why it took Jehoash twenty-three years to check and see how the priests were doing - King Jehoash discovers the priests are not doing what they are supposed to be doing with the offering they are receiving from people.

1.  Jehoash responds by telling the priests they can no longer receive the contributions.

2.  and the priests are no longer in charge of the Temple repairs.

3. The priests have not been using the funds given to the Temple properly, so they are removed from their responsibilities.

4. The people are still expected to give their offerings; the work will happen because it is important work; but the priests will no longer responsible for it.  they are relieved of their duties.

e.  As we live into our call as the disciples of Christ, stewardship is not just a question of giving.

1.  We also have the responsibility as the church to put to use the resources we have been given to good use.

2.  the stewardship campaign committee has been asking us to point out the give thanks for what God has done in our lives and world through the work of St. Andrew.

3.  that question is not just about giving, but also about how our gifts are utilized.

4.  All year round, what we do and how we spend our money ought to reflect our commitment to serving God.

Move 2:  Jesus tells a story in Luke that speaks to this issue as well.

a.  this passage is at the end of series of stories in which Jesus is describing how his disciples ought to act.

1. “If you are going to call me Lord,” he tells them, “You need to be living lives that reflect my ways.” 

2. Jesus offers two examples:  one person builds their house on a rock-solid, literally rock, foundation; the other builds the house with no foundation.

3.  No surprise, when the flood comes, the house with the rock-solid foundation survives and the other house does not.

4. the rock-solid foundation is formed by hearing Jesus’ words and acting on them.

b.  Part of the rock-solid foundation for our stewardship is responding in thankfulness to God’s gifts; part of that rock-solid foundation is using those gifts in response to Jesus’ call to be his disciples.

1.  What we do with the resources given to God through the church matters.

2. We have the responsibility to use them for to be Christ’s hands and feet in our world today.

3. Anyone ought to be able to look at our annual budget and see that what we do serves God’s purposes in the world.

4. We do not have King Jehoash in our midst to look and see if we are using the money appropriately, but we have that responsibility

5.  A responsibility for our members and our leaders to make sure that we put the gifts given to St. Andrew to use in ways that show Jesus is our Lord.

conclusion:  World Communion Sunday.  I mentioned in this week’s newsletter the history behind World Communion Sunday.

In 1930, Dr. Hugh Thomson Kerr, the minister at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, served as the moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (northern branch).  As he ministered in the midst of the economic upheaval of the Great Depression, watched the instability and unrest in Europe grow, and traveled among Presbyterian churches and other places moderators go, he began to imagine a better way for our world that grew out of Christian unity.  The Stewardship committee at Shadyside decided to call for a World Communion Sunday, when all Christian churches in the world would lay claim to their unity in Christ as they gathered around our Lord’s Table.  The first World Communion Sunday was held in 1934; in 1936, the Presbyterian Church (northern branch) adopted World communion Sunday; in 1940, the Federal Council of Churches (now the National Council of Churches) endorsed World Communion Sunday and began to promote it worldwide. 

Neat story.  Feel good Presbyterian story.  Almost 90 years ago something Presbyterians started Christians around the world are still doing today.

But,  I guess I’ve been Presbyterian enough to notice the process.  I keep wondering, “Why would this go through the Stewardship committee?”

World communion takes place in worship so maybe the worship committee.  It seems like a mission goal to be united with other Christians, so may the mission committee.

But stewardship?  I don’t know why.  Probably the reason is not as ideal as I might imagine.

Maybe, it came through stewardship because the church said how we spend our money ought to reflect our call to be united in Christ with all Christians around the world.

Why not make World Communion Sunday part of Stewardship.

After all, how we put our resources to work matters.

it went through the Stewardship committee of the church.  Rather odd. 

Makes sense.  how they spend their resources ought to reflect their calling as the body of Christ.  their desire to be united in Christ.