Reflections on “Sabbatical Snippets: Stories that Shape Us” Matthew 26: 26-30; I Corinthians 11: 23-26

I read through my sabbatical journal to see what reflections seemed worth preaching.  This topic of stories that shape us, which also relates to how we share the stories we tell, was very interesting to me.  When I saw the Lost Cause exhibit at the museum in VA, I was overwhelmed by the intentionality of those who wanted to tell the story in a way that seemed to move away from the truth.  I also discovered that some of those stories had infiltrated my own learning about the Civil War.   

It seems really important that the church find a way to articulate its story of God's saving grace for the world today.  how we tell that story matters.  

“Sabbatical Snippets: Stories that Shape Us” World Communion Sunday, October 6, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Mark 26: 26-30; Matthew 26: 26-30; I Corinthians 11: 23-26 

I Corinthians 11: 23-26

23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Introduction:  This fall, with the exception of the next coupled of stewardship sermons, my sermons will grow out of some insight or reflection I had while on sabbatical.  You may wish you had never let me go on sabbatical it’s all said and done.  

Move 1:  How we tell our stories and how those stories shape us.

a.  I spent about a week of my sabbatical in Richmond, VA, visiting my daughter Caitlin and her husband Charles.

One of the days, I went to the Virginia Museum of History and Culture and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts.

the Museum of History and Culture is a fairly small museum, but had some pretty cool exhibits, including a traveling exhibit about the chef Julia Childs and an exhibit about al th different regions of VA.

I had made my way through the museum and was about to leave, when I saw a door I hadn’t gone into.  Turns out it a coat closet.

But, next to it was another room that I had noticed.   I went in and found a small, but turns out, fascinating exhibit called the Lost Cause.  it was new to me, I learned the Lost Cause is a name for the efforts by former Confederates to tell the story of the Civil War from the Confederacy’s perspective and to glorify the Confederacy.

The Civil War became the “war of Northern aggression.”  

The role of slavery in the conflict was replaced by the issue of states’ rights. 

The defeat of the south was described as the triumph of the Union’s resources - read, impersonal machine without character, over the superior generals and better soldiers of the Confederacy.

part of the Lost Cause’s goal was to control how textbooks were written in the south so that the story could be told from the Lost Cause perspective.

 manifested in different ways over many generations—from history textbooks to street names to various forms of memorialization.  (https://virginiahistory.org/exhibitions/lost-cause)

 The leaders of the Lost Cause knew that the stories we tell and how we tell them shape us.

b. Laster in the sabbatical, on Back to back days, we visited the Whitney Western Art Museum in Cody, WY and the battlefield of Little Bighorn

1.  the  Art Museum had a painting of Battle of Little Bighorn titled Custer’s Last Fight, painted by Edger Paxson.  (https://centerofthewest.org/explore/western-art/research/edgar-s-paxson/)

2. The display with the painting showed how the artist used the painting to shape how the story of the battle was told. pointed out how the painting told the

in the center of the painting was Custer, standing tall, clearly the hero in the battle.

 

on the periphery of the painting and much smaller physically were the native American warriors.

As the painting told the story, it was about the heroic Custer who was defeated by the those who were really not that important.

3. the next day at the Little Bighorn National Park, we saw both the National Cemetery and the battle sites, but also the Indian Memorial, which was added in 2003.  

the Indian memorial brings in the perspective of the Indians who fought in the battle.

its design points to the unity of the 7th cavalry soldiers who died and the Indians who died as they all pass thorugh the gate of death and move into the afterlife.   The monument’s acknowledged theme is “Peace Through Unity.(https://www.nps.gov/libi/learn/historyculture/indian-memorial.htm)

Same story, told differently.

The stories we tell and how we tell them shape us.

c.  That is what Paul is telling the early Christians about the story that had been told to him.

1.  he is shaping the story of Christ’s last Supper for those early Christians and giving it meaning.

2. A story we still tell today.

Move 2:  Of course, out of that story we have the story of World Communion that we tell each year in this congregation - a story that continues to shape us.

a.  World Communion is reflects a big Sunday in the life of this congregation with lots of traditions

Notice how we tell the story and how that shapes us.

1.  multiple voices speaking in different languages.  

not to show off the language abilities of the congregation, but to acknowledge the world wide nature fo the body of Christ.

2. breads from different countries.

3.  we use liturgy from different countries.

4.  we have worship leadership from all ages.

b.  this year the invitation will come to us in all the different language.

1. The invitation to any who seek Christ, and invitation that know no geographical bounds.

2. the invitation connects us to each other in the place and beyond this place.

4.  As you see the many people involved in worship today, it is a sign of the breadth of people who come to our Lord’s Table.

4.  In Christ, we are connected to them.

5. A bond that transcends culture, language, or place.

6.  As you hear the words of invitation, imagine all those around the world who accept the invitation and come to the Lord’s Table.  

We intentionally tell the story so that visually and audibly we are reminded of the global nature of God’s claim and call.

c.  Our story of World Communion has as its centerpiece that story of Christ’s last supper. 

1. As we gather around our Lord’s Table, we remember how that story took place and how Paul shaped the story for the early Christians and for us.

2. The story ties the Lord’s supper to covenant.

` 3. This Table is an extension of God’s covenant and an expression of God’s love for us.

4. The story speaks of Christ’s gift of his body and his blood,

a gift that redeems us and frees us from our sins.

when we come to our Lord’s Table, we come at the invitation of the God whose covenant with us has been lived out in Christ’s death and resurrection.

5.  It comes to us as gift:

a life-changing gift that binds us to all the people in the world Christ has come to redeem.

c.  As many of you know, here at St. Andrew we come to our Lord’s Table in different ways;

sometimes we serve communion in the pews;

sometimes we process forward and have the bread and cup provided for us

sometimes we come forward and take communion by intinction, tearing the bread and dipping it into the cup.

1.  on World Communion Sunday, we always process forward and receive the elements by intinction.

2. This is intentional.

It emphasizes the coming and the going to our Lord’s Table.

3.  The coming in which we humbly move forward to accept the gift Christ has offered to us.

no one forces you to come, but Christ invites you.

4. Likewise, there is no gate on the way for which you have to have some type of key or perfect answer to get through;

As the Spirit moves you, so you come.

But we come at Christ’s invitation because we feel the pull to come to the Table.

4. then we go from the Table

back into the world

Christ’s gift is not for keeping, but for sharing

We go out with our brothers and sisters in Christ to all the world to join with the Risen Christ, who has met us at his Table.

Conclusion:  23 For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ ²⁵In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ ²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Listen to the story.  Be a part of the story.

Reflections on “Wrestling with Resources” Genesis 32: 22-29; I Timothy 6: 17-19

 “Wrestling with Resources” September 29, 2024; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; Genesis 32: 22-29; I Timothy 6: 17-19; Stewardship series

 Genesis 32: 22-29

²²The same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had.

²⁴Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. ²⁵When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” ²⁷So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” ²⁸Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” ²⁹Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him.

Introduction:   Last spring, our stewardship committee took the idea that prayer shapes committee work to a new level.

I had been telling the committee that I would have a good idea, or maybe someone on the committee would have a great idea, about a theme for the stewardship campaign this fall before I left on sabbatical. 

I told them that in Jan.

then, I told them that in February,

then, I told them that in March

now, it was the April meeting.

as the committee members gathered, we were talking before the meeting, and I said I had some thoughts, but didn’t really have a great idea. 

then, everyone was there so we stopped our pre-meeting chatter, and I offered a word of prayer to start the meeting.

In the moment, I prayed among other things for the Spirit to guide us as we wrestled with the church resources

when i finished the prayer, one of the committee members said, ‘I thought you didn’t have a theme.”

“I don’t” 

“Well, you prayed about wrestling with resources - that would be a great theme!”

then, we were off and running with lots of comments about wrestling, the von Erichs, the latest movie about them.

when I left for sabbatical, they were still talking about dressing up in wrestling outfits and having a wrestling match for the Moments for Mission.

I think that disappeared during my sabbatical, for which you are probably grateful.

so here we are, three of the next five weeks (with a break next week for World Communion Sunday and then the Fall Festival of Faith on October 20) wrestling with resources.

If you Google stewardship scripture lessons, you would probably find the passage from I timothy (might even be in some Top Ten or Top Twenty lists)

I doubt you will find any list of stewardship Scripture passages that has this story from Genesis (even if you go to Top 750 Stewardship passages).

But, if you want to read about wrestling in the Bible, this is number one on any list - jacob’s famous wrestling match.

Let’s see what we can learn about stewardship from this story.

Move 1:  first of all, we are reminded that a stewardship campaign calls us to be intentional.

a.  Jacob’s wrestling match takes place at a challenging time in Jacob’s life.

1. Trying to figure out who he is, 

what his relationship with God is,

and who God is.

2.  Jacob intentionally isolates himself.

3.  We do not know if he planned on spending the time meditating,

or reflecting,

or he just wanted to be alone,

No surprise he ends up wrestling since his name Jacob sounds like the Hebrew word for wrestle 

and as the story goes, Jacob wrestled with his twin brother Esau in the womb.

4. So at this pivotal moment in his life, Jacob intentionally turns to God in the night — and wrestles.

b. As we spend three of the next five weeks reflecting on stewardship here at St. Andrew, we invite you do some some wrestling as well:

wrestling with your reflections on how you share and use your resources like your talents, your money, and your time.

1.  You are not being asked to intentionally isolate yourselves!

2.  it would be great for you to talk to the other people in your household;

share with the kids 

talk to the people in whatever small groups you participate.

Reflect with God, 

reflect with yourself, 

reflect with those to whom you turn for thoughtful conversations.

Not a solitary journey, but a reflective journey of wrestling wtih your resources.

after all, it’s hard to wrestle by yourself.

Move 2: .  Jacob also reminds us of the importance of being intentional.

a.. Jacob always seems to have a plan.

1.. Whether it’s how to take his father’s blessing and birthright from his brother for himself,

or how to deal with the dividing up of the flocks with his father-in-law 

or how to plan his first meeting with his brother Esau (all are great stories to go and read),  Jacob i always has a plan.

2. So now at a pivotal time in his life, he is taking time to come up with his next plan.

d.  that is the primary point of stewardship campaigns - to give us all time to plan how we want to use our time, our talent, our financial resources so they reflect our call to discipleship.

1.  it sometimes feels like stewardship campaigns are only about the bottom line dollar figure of pledges we get for next year’s budget.

2.  No doubt, we do use that number.

3.  But, the process, the invitation from the Interpretation and stewardship committee 

is to reflect and consider what God is doing in our lives and how that is reflected in all aspects fo our lives, including in the stewardship of all our resources.

4.  to put a plan in place for our own lives.

Move 2:  As you wrestle with your resources, make sure it is in the context of how God is shaping you.

a.  First capital campaign

1. My first call in KY

first campaign in as long as anyone could remember

brought in CFCS from the PCUSA (love those acronyms)

two representatives showed up - the older veteran guy and the new, young staff member.

the Session was very quiet at the end of the meeting when the older, veteran guy said his colleague would be our person for the campaign.  I actually had a couple of Session members immediately following the meeting ask if we could request him, not her.

We did not.

for the next six months or so this young, energetic minister with her Puerto Rican accent that seemed particularly different than the KY accents in the congregation worked among us, swept the congregation off its feet, and then led them through a powerful week-end finale to the campaign.

We talked often, and I learned a lot from her.

One of the important lessons she taught me was that she understood her job to be getting people to STOP - stop their normal routines to take a moment and look anew at their lives of faith and how their giving fit into it.

her job, as she explained it, was not to get people to pledge a certain amount of money but to ask people to stop and explore how their pledge reflects their sense of discipleship.

2.  It is never about the dollar amount we pledge;

 Bigger pledge does not necessarily mean better disciple;  

smaller pledge does not mean lesser disciple

Jesus clarifies that for all of us wiht his example of widow who offers her mite.

3. it is always about how we choose the dollar amount and how it reflects where we are in our lives of discipleship.

b. A couple of years ago, a colleague told me this story that took place in the congregation she served.

1.  It was stewardship season at their church.

the sermon had been on stewardship, so the time with young disciples had heard about stewardship.

A ruling elder was driving home from church.  One of her sons was in the backseat of the car and says, “Mom, I have a question.”

Ok

“Do you give more to golf or to God?”

2. guess what? That Ruling Elder started wrestling with her resources a bit more.

c. that is the invitation to all of us - to stop and consider how our pledge can be a part of our discipleship journey.

Conclusion: Jacob comes out of his wrestling match marked for life (He even gets a new name - Israel).

Might be a bit melodramatic for me to say we should come out of a stewardship campaign marked for life.

But as we wrestle with our resources;

wrestle with what God is nudging us to do;

wrestle about the way we spend our time, 

wrestle with how we our money,

wrestle with how we use our talents

 we might be marked in a new way at this time in our lives of discipleship.