The New Circle of Life, 2 Corinthians 5:6-17

Posted on June 17, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

A Sermon delivered on Sunday, June 16, 2024, by Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley.

Turn in your Bible to 2 Corinthians 5 and we are going to begin with verses 6 – 17. The books of First and Second Corinthians are undoubtedly written by Paul the Apostle; however, most folks think these two books are really two volumes of a series of collected letters to the church in Corinth. Corinth was a bustling seaport town. It was an eclectic place and a melting pot gathering people from all over the world at the time. The people, how shall we say, had a zest for life. It would have been a tough place to start a church for sure, but that’s exactly what Paul did. If churches were people, the church in Corinth was the problem child with its behavior. It is a church that turned the Lord’s Supper into a “love feast” in a carnal sense. The church was full of the cultural mores plaguing the secular world and had a very libertine air about it. Instead of becoming a pillar of contrast to the ways of the world, the Corinthian Church simply adopted worldly ways.

Humility was not a practiced virtue among the Corinthians Christians. Believe it or not, there were factions inside the church where a certain group saw itself as the “right way to be church” and then there were others who favored Paul’s leadership and teaching. The Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kettredge, President and Dean of the Seminary of the Southwest writes, “Scholars differ upon how specifically to characterize Paul’s critics. Paul’s self-defense suggests that perhaps he has been criticized for his physical distress, for his mystical experience or lack of it, or for his outward appearance.”[1] So let’s make sure we get this. Dr. Kettredge is suggesting people did not like Apostle Paul because his body was misshapen because of all the severe beatings he received proclaiming the gospel, or they did not think he was spiritual enough, or because Paul was not pleasant to look upon. These are all good reasons for disliking your pastoral leadership, right?  If anything, it gives us a glimpse into some of the church member’s character.

In the part of the letter we are reading today, Paul is making the argument he is more than qualified in his position as Apostle. Furthermore, Paul is redefining what we call “The Circle of Life.” My beloved, listen for the word of God!

2 Corinthians 5:6-17

6So we are always confident; even though we know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord— 7for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8Yes, we do have confidence, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 9So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. 10For all of us must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each may receive recompense for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil. 11Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade others; but we ourselves are well known to God, and I hope that we are also well known to your consciences.

12We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart. 13For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you.14For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore, all have died. 15And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them.

16From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new![2]

The circle of life. Old dinosaurs are now our gasoline. A fire that destroys the underbrush also causes the soil to generate nutrients that bring forth life and growth through new vegetation. Animals that die become the food that gives another animal life. People die and then are reabsorbed back into the earth and there you go. This is “the circle of life.”

I want to introduce to you an animal you may not have heard of before but really gets into this “circle of life” thing. A Civet is a bobcat-like creature that lives in parts of Africa and Indonesia. What is so special about a Civet? Well, the Civet is an animal that has a penchant for finding and eating only the choicest and most ripe coffee beans. It is quite fussy in its choice of beans it eats. The Civet devours the beans, and its digestive enzymes work on the beans as the beans ferment inside the Civet’s stomach. Over time, the Civet passes these beans, and farmers have learned to follow along behind them to collect and harvest them. They wash them off, roast them up, and the result is the most expensive coffee in the world called Kopi Luwak – a pound of which goes for $450 today.[3]  Talk about the circle of life for a coffee bean! I don’t even want to think about how they discovered this delicacy! My former church in Celebration purchased me a quarter pound of it one time and I will say, it has a nice nutty, buttery flavor! For those of you who would like to order some, I will footnote where you can get it when I post my sermon online!

The circle of life. Paul is trying to tell the Corinthians they need to totally upend their understanding of what God values in our world and how God works. Paul is reminding the Corinthians they are living and looking at life through an old pair of lenses that are cracked, broken, and out of focus.

The world and mindset of the Corinthians were all swagger and prestige. This is what the Empire taught and fostered. Paul is telling them God gives precedence and notices the meek and the broken.

The Corinthians gave value to pomp and circumstance and the need to prove their moral righteousness. Paul is telling them God does not strictly look at \what we do and how we behave; God looks deeper into a person’s heart and sees and values what others cannot and do not see.

The Corinthians valued Aristotelian logic and Platonic thinking. People live and people die, their bodies return to the earth and their disembodied souls fly off someplace. Paul’s gospel message about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection sounded crazy and illogical and this is just the point: In and through the Christ, God breaks all the old rules and changes the circle of life. In an ecstatic flourish of praise and wonder, Paul declares in verses 16 and 17 –

16From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!

As Jesus died and rose as the conquering Christ of God, he upended the spiritual and natural status quo and opened the door for a new life lived with different values and aspirations. When we hitch our wagon to Christ, we are letting go of our need for power and prestige, our sense of privilege and pride, and our desire to consume while leaving a mess for others to clean up. We become new people with new identities embracing new ways of living that will be contrary to the way others in the world live. We become people who no longer perceive enemies but view other people through the eyes of Christ as brothers and sisters.

Beloved, are you regarding God, life, and others in the world from your outdated human point of view or are you looking through the eyes of your new identity in Christ? Paul is saying, “Look, folks, there are two ways of looking at things. One is from a worldly perspective and the other is from a heavenly perspective. Each of you is a fresh, new, Spirit-filled heavenly creation in Christ – do the people you rub shoulders with every day see that?”

Do you remember growing up and being shown a picture that either looked like the head of a bunny rabbit or the head of a duck? Initially, you will see one or the other. But then something happens – you begin to see the other animal. If at first, you saw a duck, you now begin to see the head of a rabbit as well.[4] It is right at that point your brain cannot unsee both the rabbit and the duck. Whereas you could only see one before, now you cannot help but see both.

The world looks at you and me and they see an identity. Is it an identity reflecting the world’s ways of power, pride, consumption, waste, irreverence, prejudice, and vitriol? Or do people look at you and me and see identities that are countercultural and kick against the goads of worldly values? Do they see an identity of grace, humility, love, and service? The thing is, like the bunny and the duck, once people in the world can see both in us, they cannot unsee who we used to be before Christ and the new identity in Christ we claim to have.

This week, our basic homework is this: How do I in my life reflect I am a new creation in Christ? Does my outward life reflect this new inner identity in Christ? And friends, if we find there is a gap between our stated identity and what God and others see, that is the place for our spiritual growth to occur.

In the Name of the One who is, was, and is yet to come. So be it.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, NY 12801. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, New York, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season after Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16) (Feasting on the Word: Year B volume) by David L. Bartlett, Barbara Brown Taylor. See https://a.co/4poyRVT.

[2] The New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

[3] To order your pound, simply go to  https://www.omgcoffeecompany.com/product-page/kopi-luwak-coffee?utm_source=google&utm_medium=wix_google_feed&utm_campaign=freelistings&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIst-BwMDehgMVFFBHAR1tyAApEAQYAyABEgJhTPD_BwE.

[4] See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbit–duck_illusion. Accessed on 6/15/24.

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The Answer is Always, “Yes!”, Psalm 88

Posted on June 5, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

A Service of Healing and Wholeness

A Message Delivered on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley

It is always from a particular point of view. If we look at the title of our Psalm for the evening, we see it is a song written by the descendants of Korah who, as we learn in Numbers 16, is a man who led a rebellion of 250 Hebrews against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. Some of his descendants, namely, Asaph, Nathan, and the one mentioned in the title today, Heman, were known for their musical abilities and who penned some of the psalms in the psalter. Tonight’s Psalm, Psalm 88, is written from Heman’s perspective.[i]  We know this because in the psalm’s title, which never gets read in worship, we read that it’s, “A Song for the sons of Korah, to the chief musician upon Mahalath Leannoth, Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.”

As we hear this psalm, you will note the tone and perspective is from a person who is feeling victimized by God. Indeed, Heman is railing against God for God’s utter silence in the face of his multitude of troubles. The tone is not unlike what I often hear from folks who are going through physical or emotional struggles or whose life feels like the wheels have simply fallen off. The complaint goes something like this –

God, I’m a decent person. I don’t hurt people or intentionally do anything wrong. I don’t steal or lie or bully others. I know I’m not perfect but really, why are you doing this to me?

It’s at this point they input their problem or troubles into the prayer.

People over time have not changed much. Both the ancients and people today often hold to the notion that when bad things happen to “me” it is a result of my doing something wrong or a failure to do something right and God is causing the calamity. God is often painted as the scapegoat for our problems. Hear the words of Heman in Psalm 88. Listen and see if you resonate with his prayer.

Psalm 88

1O Lord, God of my salvation, when, at night, I cry out in your presence,

2let my prayer come before you; incline your ear to my cry.

3For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol.

4I am counted among those who go down to the Pit; I am like those who have no help,

5like those forsaken among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, like those whom you remember no more, for they are cut off from your hand.

6You have put me in the depths of the Pit, in the regions dark and deep.

7Your wrath lies heavy upon me, and you overwhelm me with all your waves.   Selah

8You have caused my companions to shun me; you have made me a thing of horror to them. I am shut in so that I cannot escape;

9my eye grows dim through sorrow. Every day I call on you, O Lord; I spread out my hands to you.

10Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the shades rise up to praise you? Selah

11Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon?

12Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your saving help in the land of forgetfulness?

13But I, O Lord, cry out to you; in the morning my prayer comes before you.

14O Lord, why do you cast me off? Why do you hide your face from me?

15Wretched and close to death from my youth up, I suffer your terrors; I am desperate.

16Your wrath has swept over me; your dread assaults destroy me.

17They surround me like a flood all day long; from all sides they close in on me.

18You have caused friend and neighbor to shun me; my companions are in darkness. (NRSV)

Heman is writing from a very ancient mindset that when bad things happen, it’s a form of divine punishment. It is written from the perspective of not knowing the full story. In a flourish of rhetorical zingers, Heman peppers God with a series of questions:

Do you work wonders for the dead? The implied answer is an emphatic, “No!”

Do the departed rise up to praise you? No.

Is your steadfast love declared in the grave or your faithfulness in Abaddon? No.

Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? No.

At least, that’s the mindset of Heman and many others. But beloved, as followers of the Nazarene, we hold a distinct perspective that Heman was not aware of and many folks today seem to have forgotten. We are an Easter people. We would say to Heman like Paul Harvey, “Now, here’s the rest of the Story.”

Do you work wonders for the dead? Yup

Do the departed rise up to praise you? Well, yes, actually.

Is your steadfast love declared in the grave or your faithfulness in Abaddon? Yes.

Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? Absolutely!

Friends, this is when our Christian faith reminds us of Jesus’ words from the gospels that God so loved the world he gave up his only Son so that the world would be saved, literally healed, through him. The answer, friends, is always, “Yes!”

Jesus’ primary work was preaching, teaching, and healing. He spent his life bringing healing to people’s bodies, minds, and spirits. He spent his life trying to reconcile people to one another and to reconcile people to God.

If Heman were with us today, what might we tell him?

Brother, God hears you and has already done what is needed to answer your prayer. God does hear your prayer, but your life is such a screeching train wreck you can’t hear the answer just now. We would tell him to continue in his faithfulness even when he can’t see the fruit of it because God is not only listening but is with him through the Holy Spirit.

Friends, have the answer to your prayers seemed silent? Do you wonder where God is during the storms? Are there those times in your living you feel you are existing in the Land of Forgetfulness? Take heart. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus felt his Father was silent. As he was being paraded around the Chief Priests and Pilate, he felt the storms of our lives. As he uttered his last breath, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,” he too entered the Land of Forgetfulness. Remember, there is no place we have been or gone or shall go that Jesus has not gone there first.

In the name of the One who is, was, and is yet to come. Amen.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, NY 12801. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, New York, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[i] See https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-study/topical-studies/the-other-psalmists-who-were-the-sons-of-korah.html. Accessed on June 4, 2024.

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Creating a Palace in Time, Deuteronomy 5:12-15

Posted on June 3, 2024 by patrick h wrisley
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels.com

A Sermon delivered on June 2, 2024 by Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley.

In preparing for my move to Glens Falls last August, I was going through some old things sorting out what I wanted to keep and take with me and what items I needed to toss out. Sitting at my wife’s desk and going through papers that were left there, I came across an envelope that simply said, “Wris.” I turned the envelope around as I had not seen it before, and it was still unopened. Curiosity got the best of me and so I opened it up. “Happy birthday, Wris. I love you.” It was dated April 1, 2021; she died 11 months later. I sat there holding the very last birthday card she ever left me but for whatever reason, forgot to give me.

I looked at her handwriting and re-read her few brief words and simply wept. “How had I not seen this before?” I wondered. “Why had she forgotten to give it to me?” I asked. The answers didn’t really matter; what did matter was that I was holding a gift of great price I didn’t know I had. It was though she was writing me a love note from the grave when I needed it the most in my life.

This morning, we are going to look at a gift that has been lovingly given to us that I will venture to say most of us have not yet opened. The gift I am speaking of is opening the gift of the Sabbath. Turn in your bible to Deuteronomy 5. As you turn there, let me give you a little background.

This is not the first time Moses has spoken about the Sabbath. In the book of Exodus, Moses climbs the mountain of God and God reveals to him the Ten Commandments where Moses and the Hebrew people were told, “Remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy” (Ex 20:8).  This edict was given to Moses at a time the people were escaping from their Egyptian slave owners as God led them through the wilderness. In our text today, though the words are similar to what is written in Exodus, there is a subtle difference. First, Moses is thought to be writing to people who were about to cross over into the Promised Land and lay claim to it. In other words, today’s text is reminding the people they are about to start a brand-new life transitioning from being nomads wandering in the wilderness to become settlers in a new land. Second, Moses alters his word choice in stating the commandment. Listen to the Word of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 5:12-15

12Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. 13Six days you shall labor and do all your work. 14But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you.15Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day. –NRSV

The first thing we notice from our reading this morning is that it is written subtlety different from the commandment in Exodus 20. In Exodus 20, Moses writes, “Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.” In our text this morning, he tells us, “Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy.”  So, what’s the difference?

Well, one is a passive command whereas the other is direct and active. In the first instance, the people are to remember the sabbath, i.e. bring it to your mind, recollect it. In Deuteronomy 5, Moses tells the people to “observe” the Sabbath and keep it holy.  He uses a different word in the command. Moses is not just telling people to remember, to recollect, the Sabbath; he is telling them to actively observe it. The word he uses is the same word as “to set a guard around something,” “protect” and “watch over” the Sabbath. In our Deuteronomy passage, there is an intentional command given to us. It’s not enough to remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy, but you must set a guard around it, protect it, and watch over it.

The second item I want us to make note of is that the command to observe, protect, watch over, and attend to the Sabbath is not meant to be yet another “Gotta’ do” from God. We are being asked to see the Sabbath for what it is – a gracious gift from God to us.[1]

The great contemporary rabbi, the late Abraham Joshua Heschel, describes the Sabbath like this. He writes, “In the tempestuous ocean of time and toil there are islands of stillness where (a person) may enter a harbor and reclaim his (or her) dignity. The island is the seventh day, the Sabbath, a day of detachment from things, instruments and practical affairs as well as of attachment to the spirit.”[2]

Did Heschel just remind us to detach from attachment to spirit? He sure did. Let me tell you why. You see, the Sabbath is not only for the soul, but also for our bodies as well. Comfort, rest, and pleasure in the presence of God is paramount on the Sabbath. It is a day given to each of us where we can mine our spirit’s precious metal, as Heschel says, and construct a palace in time, to create “A dimension in which the human is at home with the divine: a dimension in which (men and women) aspire to approach the likeness of the divine.”[3]

The Sabbath is our way of putting stakes in the ground, creating a specific space, for giving rest to the world around us, for giving rest to those in whose lives we cohabit, and simply delight in the presence of the One Who is, Who was, and Who is yet to come. It’s a day of simply being with God. It’s about creating an atmosphere, a different climate in our lives that indeed something has changed. It’s a day we cease placing demands on our environment, on our neighbors, our family and friends, and enter into the rest that God enjoys. To actively participate in creating a palace in time means trusting the Lord enough that God’s got everything under control for one day so we don’t have to worry about it.

Heschel reminds us, “The Sabbath is not an occasion for diversion or frivolity; not a day to shoot fireworks or to turn somersaults, but an opportunity to mend our tattered lives; to collect rather than dissipate time.”[4] Collecting time. I like that. The Sabbath is our intentional harvesting of time to restore our broken selves in the presence of God. It is a time to make and reclaim time in order to allow to focus on the crucial matters in our life.

Years ago, the demands of ministry wed to the workaholic tendencies I catered to caused marital drift in my marriage.  It led me to displace priorities and values I held so dear and become distracted to the point my marriage was in trouble. What became clear to me and Kelly was we both needed to work on recalibrating our orbit around what was important and life-giving to both of us in lieu of what my job and the culture was screaming at us. So, we made a pact. Together, we were going to honor the Sabbath with each other every week.

For us, Sunday was not the Sabbath because I worked, and she was busy with demands parishioners placed upon her being the pastor’s wife as soon as she stepped into the church building. We made the decision that for us, we would make Fridays our Sabbath. We created a palace in time on Fridays that belonged to God and to one another. In society’s eyes, we were lazy that day. We refused any Friday night invitations to go out to dinner with others as it was always reserved for just us. We had extended personal worship on those mornings and then slowly got ready for the day. Oftentimes, we would go out and have a late breakfast with each other. We would take walks in the woods. Take rides on my motorcycle. We would find a picnic table along A1A on the Atlantic Ocean and just sit watching and listening to the waves and seagulls. It was our way of intentionally creating space in our time for one another and for reveling in the goodness God showered us with each day.

My dear friends, my earnest prayer is that you will discover and unwrap this beautiful gift of Sabbath in whatever way works best for you. My prayer is that you will intentionally guard, watch over, and care for your own palace in time. Stake out, collect time, for you to simply be with God and with those you love for the simple and sole purpose of getting rest, discovering the peace and joy that God has within Godself, and discovering the tranquility that comes from realizing you are really not in control of things (and that quite honestly, that feels rather liberating!). Holy Spirit reveal Sabbath’s holy rhythms to you as you build your own palace in time.

Let us pray.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, NY 12801. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, New York, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] “The Sabbath is the most precious present mankind has received from the treasure house of God,” Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath (Boston: Shambhala Publications, Inc., 1979), p. 7.

[2] Ibid., p 20.

[3] Ibid., p 4. Words in parentheses were edited for rhetorical clarity.

[4] Ibid., 7.

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Tag! You’re It!, Isaiah 6:1-8

Posted on June 3, 2024 by patrick h wrisley

A Message for Trinity Sunday

Photo by Ahmed akacha on Pexels.com

Turn in your Bible to Isaiah 6:1-8. Our Story today is a call Story when God has a job to do and taps someone on the shoulder to go do it. Unlike Moses, who when he was tapped by God, made five different excuses for not doing what he was asked to do like, “What if they don’t believe me?”, “I don’t speak too good,” or my favorite, “Can’t you send someone else to do it?”[1] The same goes for the great prophet Jeremiah, who when God said, “I appointed you to be a prophet,” Jeremiah whined back, “But c’mon, God, I don’t know how to speak! I’m only a kid!”[2] Isaiah, when confronted with God’s call begged God, “Send me! Send me! Oh, oh, oh…Me! Send me!”

The book of Isaiah was more than likely written by at least three different writers based on the different writing styles scholars have noted. The early portions of the book were written most likely by the character we meet today whose name was Isaiah. He focuses on the impending collapse of the Judah’s empire. Another writer using Isaiah’s name and style speaks about the Jewish deportation and exile. And the final Isaiah who picks up at chapter 40 speaks of Israel’s restoration.

Our Story today mentions King Uzziah who ruled the throne for 50 plus years. His father was killed while escaping a coup attempt and Uzziah became king of the southern kingdom of Judah when he was 16 years old. He was an okay King as far as that goes. He started off well and made sure everyone was worshipping the Lord the way Moses proscribed but as he got older and entrenched with power, his pride seems to have gotten in the way of his faithfulness. He died roughly around 740 years before Jesus was born.  As you listen and read, see if you can determine why this text was chosen by the lectionary composers to be read on what the Church calls Trinity Sunday. Hear the Word of the Lord.

Isaiah 6:1- 8

6In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. 2Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. 3And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.” 4The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.

5 And I said: “Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: “Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.” 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!” -NRSV

So, could you hear and figure out why this particular text was chosen to be read on Trinity Sunday? The most obvious reason is there in verse 8 when Isaiah hears God talking out loud saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Though the word Trinity is not used, and neither are there specific references to Jesus or the Holy Spirit, we get the sense of a unified community within God in the heavenly Temple setting. Also, we see the Trinity at work in the missional command of Isaiah to go and proclaim to the people. Let me show you.

On Thursday evening, I snuck off to Roger’s Rock campground up near Ticonderoga. I hadn’t gone camping in fifteen years and felt the need to get back into the woods before the rush and heat of summer hit. I had the place to myself that first night and it was so very quiet. Gone were the screaming ambulances I heard every night from my apartment near the hospital. Many trees had fallen this winter and there was cut and stacked wood everywhere from the cleanup. A campfire was in order! I got one going in short order and sat up past midnight just listening to the wood snap while the flames lapped at the logs. Owls were talking back and forth. Time seemed to stop.

Campfires can’t just be lit and then left alone. Like a relationship you have to tend to them and make slight adjustments with the logs to keep them burning. Sometimes you have to add more fuel and kindling. Throughout the evening, it hit me. The Trinity is like a campfire tended with care.

If I took a single log and set it on fire, it would burn on its own for a while but would have the tendency to go out. If you add a second log, the first log can share and receive the energy and flame with another log next to it but will tend to burn out leaving two unconsumed logs. But what I noticed, is that when you add a third log to the first two, the fire gets roaring! When the combined energy of three burning logs comes together, the flames swirl, spark, and wrap themselves in and throughout all three at once.

Think of it like this: You have a single log and cut it up into three equal pieces. The first log will call God the Father. The second log is Jesus, the Son. But even Jesus said to us that God would send another Counselor and Advocate on our behalf who would show us and teach us what to do. The third log is the Holy Spirit. When the three logs are burning together, feeding off while at the same time enhancing the energy of the other two, lapping, dancing flames are created.  The flames of the three logs, i.e. the flame of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, create outwardly directed missional service in the world. Friends, this is a very imperfect example but hopefully, it paints an image for you.

When we think of the Trinity, we often think of a triangle. Go ahead and make one with your fingers! Culture has taught us that the top of the triangle represents the Father. The bottom right corner represents the Son and the bottom left corner represents Spirit. This is very hierarchical and some would say, patriarchal, way of understanding it. But let’s try something different. With your fingers in the shape of a triangle, lower them together so they’re parallel with the floor and adjust their shape so it becomes circular. You see, the hierarchy disappears! Father, Son, and Spirit are all on the same plane and like a campfire, share each of their energies this way and that, to and fro, like they’re dancing in a circle.  The energy this dance creates are flames of ministry and as a dance, the Trinity invites us into the circle to dance along with it. The fifty-cent word for this is perichoresis.[3]

The power of the Triune God is it creates energy and spins it outward in ever-enlarging circles of grace in which you, me, and Isaiah, are called to participate and share. When Isaiah had his vision, God asked him to join the heavenly dance and share in the labor of worship and service.  As we hold hands with God and with each other in this divine dance of worship, God looks at you and smiles, saying, “Who will go for us?” As you and I are whirling around in this perichoretic dance with Father, Son, and Spirit, how do we answer?

Think back to when you were in middle school. There’s a big dance in the gym that Friday night and you’re filled both with excitement and with a little fear.  You’re excited because you are going to be with your friends and if you’re lucky enough, or courageous enough, you might even get to dance with that favorite boy or girl from your class. But you’re in middle school. It’s the first dance you’ve ever been to and you’re not sure what to do. So, you and your buddies begin to make bets on who will go first. Finally, someone says, “Oh get on with it; tag, you’re it!” and they push you out on the dance floor and it’s awkward at first. But then you begin to feel the energy out on the floor and start to find your groove. The next thing you know you’re smiling, laughing, sweating, and having the time of your life.

Beloved, being in a church, being in worship is a holy gala and ball. Within the church, within our worship and missional service, our Lord God is reaching out and trying to get us to join in the movement.  “C’mon and join us. Tag! You’re it” the Lord God shouts. What do you do? Do you, are you, will you get out and dance, or shall you be a wallflower and miss all that exciting energy?

Our church’s purpose is for its members to be loving, learning, and making a difference through Christ. To fulfill this ministry, we gotta’ dance!

                  Let’s pray.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, NY 12801. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, New York, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] See Exodus 3 – 4.

[2] See Jeremiah 1:1-10.

[3] See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perichoresis

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What’s A Church Member’s Greatest Fear?, Romans 8:22-27

Posted on May 20, 2024 by patrick h wrisley
Photo by Helena Lopes on Pexels.com

It’s taken some time but after thirty-six years of ministry, I do believe I’ve narrowed down what for many members of the church is their greatest fear. In other words, what is the one thing you could be asked to do in church that would totally unnerve you?

Reflect back to elementary school and the teacher says out loud, “Ok Patrick, a train is moving 60 mph going north and leaves Saratoga Station at 12:13. A southbound train left Montreal at 9:47 moving at 48 mph. The track is 346 miles long. At what mile marker will the trains pass each other?” How’d you feel? Well, this is the kind of feeling I’m talking about when you’re asked to serve or do something in church that is scary to you.

There’s the fear the preacher knows how much your pledge is for the year. I’ve always loved that fear; I can hear the most salacious, lurid details of someone’s relationship, but God forbid I know anything about how much you give to the church (and for the record, I don’t).  My former boss, Frank Harrington of Peachtree Presbyterian in Atlanta used to take high-power executives or attorneys to the Peachtree Driving Club for lunch.  People knew that when Frank asked you out for lunch, you better leave your checkbook at home!  You would sit down, and Frank would say, “So Chuck, how is the family?  Are the kids well? Hey, I saw you just bought a new third home up on Lake Lanier. I think that’s great. But, Chuck, I was looking at your pledge for this year and it really doesn’t show the same value you have for all your properties and club memberships.” Bless him, I guess that’s why Peachtree was at that time the largest Presbyterian Church in the United States with 12,000 members with a multimillion-dollar budget.

The second and third fears are tied. One is to serve as chair on the Evangelism Committee and the other is to be one of two adult chaperons for a co-ed camping trip with twenty middle school kids. But I have to say, the one thing that strikes more fear into people’s hearts is when I ask them this simple question: Will you open us with prayer? This simple request causes many people to get clammy hands, squirm, smile nervously, and mutter, “Oh no, I can’t do that I don’t know how.” It seems we have lost touch with prayer and “the how to do it” part. The funny thing is that we actually don’t have anything to do or need to know about “how” to do it.

Today is Pentecost, the birthday of the larger church. We remember it as the day the Holy Spirit of God is sent like fire and anoints members of the church enabling them to speak different languages with just the right dialects of the many visitors flowing into Jerusalem for the Jewish celebration of Pentecost. For our Jewish neighbors, Pentecost is referred to as Shavuot, the Feast of Weeks, and is the celebration of the first harvest of the year and a time to remember when God gave the Law to Moses. What we have forgotten is that it’s the Holy Spirit who is the one who teaches us how to pray and in fact prays on our behalf.

Most Pentecost Sunday sermons are read and based on Acts 2 and remind us of the Spirit’s power and glory. Remember the scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark when the Nazis remove the ark’s lid and exploding out of it were terrifying flames of fire that split and landed on people? We love the drama of the roaring sound of how Spirit came like a rushing wind and tongues of fire rested on those first disciples! But there is more to the Holy Spirit than that. Turn in your Bible to Romans 8:22-27.

Romans 8:22-27

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

26Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.[1]

This Pentecost, I want us to look at “the softer, more gentle side” of the Spirit.  Thus far in Romans, Paul has painted the picture of humankind’s chosen self-exile from God and the consequences of that decision. He reminds his readers that the Law, as wonderful as it is, cannot help us bridge the gap in our broken relationship with God; this is where Jesus comes into play. Yet, it wasn’t enough for Jesus just to come and reconnect a healthy relationship between us and God. God sent God’s very Spirit to us to help us on our way in this life until we are reunited with God and with all those we love at the fulfillment of time. This is why communion is dear to us; we get a foretaste of the fulfilled moment in time when we are in communion with Jesus and all the saints of God. 

All of us are given spiritual gifts for service to the church and to others out in the community. It is the Spirit who gives us the grace we need to love others who are particularly annoying or just hard to love. Spirit is the core generator in each of our hearts that caressingly shapes our souls, gives us wisdom and understanding, and is the spark that keeps our hope burning when all seems hopeless. The Spirit gives us courage and boldness. The Spirit is the conduit of God’s loving grace in Jesus given to us today. Spirit is the very essence of God that was with Jesus when Jesus walked among us. Spirit is the very essence of both the Father and Son walking with and within us at this very moment.

How can I best describe this? In quantum physics, there is that which is known as “spooky science” which says that when two individual molecules touch just once, regardless of the distance between the two molecules, when one moves the other reacts. They have proven this scientifically. Whether the molecules are just inches or feet from one another or are as far apart as New York is to Seattle, when one moves, the other one will react. They are molecularly interconnected.[2] So it is with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God, I would say, is molecularly, spiritually a part of us.

One of the more important aspects of our faith is we tend to forget the Spirit prays in us and for us.  Listen to verse 26 once more:

Likewise, the Spirit helps us with our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes with us with groaning and sighs too deep for words.

For all those who worry they don’t know how to pray, God’s got you covered! The Spirit of God is within you and prays for you in ways you don’t understand or even in ways you didn’t know you needed. In prayer, all we have to do is to show up.

Writer/professor/contemplative, the late Henri Nouwen says, “Prayer is our being empty and useless in the presence of God.”  He says our prayers are proclaiming our basic belief that prayer is all about grace and is not the result of hard work or prayer methods. Nouwen writes, “It is indeed a hard discipline to be useless in God’s presence and to let him speak in the silence of my heart. But whenever I become a little useless,” he says, “I know that God is calling me to a new life beyond the boundaries of my usefulness.”[3]

The Spirit of God – she is gentle and loving. She whispers wisdom in our hearts if we but just listen. She directs our steps if we would just trust and follow. She emboldens us when we are challenged and reminds us of Whose we are. She convicts us when we stray from the paths of love and grace, of forgiveness and reconciliation. She fills us with the love of Jesus because love is her very essence. And my beloved, she prays for us.

Ok, some of you may never be able to pray “out loud” or publicly and that’s okay. And there will be those times when the tidal waters in your lives will get so rough, scary, and overwhelming that you will look up to heaven with tears streaking down your face because you don’t know what to feel, what to do, or even what to say. And when that happens, you are to take heart because those very tears mean the Holy Spirit is praying for you during times like that – times when death visits your home, when you get a dire diagnosis, when your relationship rips up in divorce – during all these times of crisis when you just don’t have the words.  Your tears, your sighs, your groans are the Spirit praying for you at that moment.

The night Jesus was betrayed, he went to the Garden with his friends and he prayed, and the Spirit was crying and praying with Jesus through his tears that night.  This Pentecost, leave today remembering you are never, ever alone, and the precious Holy Spirit of God is\ within you, a part of you, and is praying on your behalf even if you don’t know what to say or are even aware. This, my friends, is gospel – good, winsome news!  In the Name of the One who is, who was, and is to come. Amen.

© 2024 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church of Glens Falls, 8 West Notre Dame Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801, and may not be reproduced or repurposed without permission from the author. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org.

[2] Patchen Barss of The Perimeter Institute, The World is Non-Local All the Way Down, June 18, 2021.See https://insidetheperimeter.ca/the-world-is-non-local-all-the-way-down/.

[3] Henri J.M. Nouwen, You Are the Beloved. 365 Daily Readings and Meditations for Spiritual Living. A Devotional, ed. By Gabrielle Earnshaw (New York: Image Books, 20170, 149. Words in parentheses were added by me for rhetorical clarity.

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