Side by Side, Matthew 11:25-30

Posted on July 11, 2023 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon delivered by Dr. Patrick H Wrisley on Sunday, July 9, 2023

Years ago, the former President of Princeton Seminary, Dr. Robert Gillespie, was speaking at a conference about the state of the church and culture. He said, “We are living in an Age of Carnival.”  He went on the explain that the culture we are living in today is seriously out of balance.  In the throes of postmodernity, anything goes and the demands of the many voices vying for our attention, affection, and worship are always barking at us.

In the midst of the carnival barkers shouting, the Church has been swept up in this Age of Carnival as well. We simply have to look at the last three years and note how the pandemic threw us into a swirly mess. The Church had to pivot quickly and daily respond to the pressures of “how to do Church” in that time of COVID.  Our text this morning has something to say to us as we live in this Age of Carnival.

Our Gospel reading comes from Matthew 11:25-30 and Jesus has something to say to us and the Church in these swirly times; turn in your Bibles and listen to the Word of the Lord.

25At that time Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Jesus begins by thanking his Father that it’s the little people, the common people, the folks we bump carts with at Target and Walmart who are the ones who have the capacity to hear and receive the Good News of his message. Their minds are not cluttered with pomp, pretension, and an overblown sense of pride that muffles the sounds of God’s whispers of grace. And then he gives us that wonderful invitation “to come unto me all who are weary…” These few verses in our text are a refreshing change to the ones who first heard his words just as they are to us.

Because the promise Jesus makes is so profound, I want us to hear verses 28 – 30 from two other sources. The first is from the First Nations Version of the New Testament written by a council of America’s indigenous peoples. The second is from the late Presbyterian pastor/linguist/new church planter, Eugene Peterson, and the Message. Hear again, afresh, the Word of God.

Then he turned to the ones who walked the road with him. 28 Come close to my side, you whose hearts are on the ground, you who are pushed down and worn out, and I will refresh you. 29 Follow my teachings and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest from your troubled thoughts. 30Walk side by side with me and I will share in your heavy load and make it light.”[i]

            The Message reads,

28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

These two versions of our Story really help me to clear away the dirt in order to clearly see what lies beneath waiting to be discovered…

You whose hearts are on the ground.

Walk side by side with me and I will share in your heavy load.

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me.

Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

Beloved, these are words written to a people who were exhausted by the demands and pressures of their faith. For the Jewish people of the day, they couldn’t do enough to satisfy God’s needs, at least according to the priests, Pharisees, and Scribes. Participating in religious life had morphed from honoring God in all of one’s life to becoming a complex punch list honoring the edicts of what one was supposed to do in order to be loved and approved so as to maintain standing in the religious community or in the Jewish culture. To put it modernly, “Going to church and being part of a religious community was just no fun anymore.”

Has anyone here ever felt that way before? For the Jewish audience who heard Jesus’ words, the word yoke had special significance as the yoke of the Torah was well-known to the people of the first century.  The Yoke was the compilation of the various teachings and interpretations of Jewish Law. Over the centuries, rabbis and Jewish religious scholars kept adding their own nuanced interpretations to what the Torah said and over time those interpretations, called midrash, were considered to be a part of the Law itself. With each passing generation, the weight of the Law kept on getting heavier and heavier and heavier and harder and harder to maintain and keep. For folks back then, having a relationship with God was just plain hard and difficult. There was not enough you could do to be considered good enough to be held in God’s arms. Sadly, in some contemporary Christian churches and circles, that same narrow view is still held.

And then Jesus shows up.

And then Jesus redefines the meaning of the yoke. Jesus’ yoke is defined by the Beatitudes and the spirit of the teachings in his Sermon on the Mount. His yoke is very simply stated that if you want to be loved and cared for by God, then…

Become poor in Spirit;

Be sensitive to those around you and mourn for the things that bring God pain;

Be gentle and meek, hunger and thirst for living a life that is set apart from the rest of the world where people can see you loving others;

Be merciful and show pity to those who are undeserving;

Be pure and clear in the depths of who you are, and you will see God working in and about you;

Become adopted as God’s child when you bend your heart to working towards making peace with others and cease sniping about them behind their backs;

And finally, because you will be living this counter-cultural way of life, be prepared to be mocked and ridiculed because of it.

Jesus makes it pretty simple really. He doesn’t place upon us a bunch of rules to follow; rather, he says the way to be a child of God is simply to live into these simple and basic values like he does.  His yoke is not about sacrificing and doing “stuff” for God to earn God’s favor; his yoke is to model the way God sacrifices and lives for us. His yoke is when his followers start living in a way that makes an impact on their very neighbors and the people they meet at the gas station. If you read the Beatitudes carefully, you will see that what Jesus is asking us to do is live our lives for the other and when we do, God shows up.

And yet, being poor in spirit, gentle and meek, merciful, and persecuted is not always easy to live into, is it? And that’s where the yoke is most important. As one scholar has said, “We do not see many yokes around these days. Indeed, we may forget that a yoke—a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals together so they can pull a heavy load—is not only something that is meant for two but something that was used by farmers to train inexperienced animals for their work. Less experienced beasts of burden would be teamed with more experienced ones so that the neophyte could learn how to pull the weight of the plow.”[ii] And who is the one who promises to teach and place his yoke upon us? Jesus himself. Jesus is inviting you and me to join him, side by side, so we can walk along together as he shows us how to do it, lifts the burden when it’s too heavy for us to plow through alone, and encourages us with words of direction when we get tired and falter in our steps. 

Church, the nexus of today’s lectionary passage and my privilege of being with you today is no accident. For five years, you as a church have been plowing rocky fields as best you have been able. In my heart, I feel called to come alongside you and stand under the yoke with you. I come offering to help shoulder the burden with you, to help cut straight furrows as we live out the Beatitudes together. I come to offer words of encouragement, recalibration, and direction when you get tired and falter in your steps. I am no Jesus, that’s for sure. I’m just a simple shepherd who wants to help carry the load with you.

I want to walk with you whose hearts are on the ground.

Let’s walk side by side letting me share in your heavy load.

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion or Church? Together let’s joyously and winsomely live a shared journey of impact in and through this place.

Together, let’s learn the unforced rhythms of grace so that we can let it overflow into the community. And the people of God all say, Amen.

© 2023 Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, 400 Glen Avenue, Glens Falls, NY 12801, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission.   All rights reserved.

[i] First Nations Version. An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Pres, 2021).

[ii] Feasting on the Gospels–Matthew, Volume 1: A Feasting on the Word Commentary by Cynthia A. Jarvis, E. Elizabeth Johnson. See https://a.co/28nWvTk.

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What’s at Stake?, Genesis 22:1-14

Posted on July 3, 2023 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon preached by Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min., July 2, 2023, Proper 8, Year A

Today’s scripture begins with the words, “After these things”, and being good students of the Bible, our first duty is to ask, “What things?”

Last week, Pastor Nic shared the Story about Abraham, his concubine Hagar, and their child Ishmael. We learned there was some familial discord because Abraham’s wife, Sarah, demanded that “those two get out of my house” for reasons we are not exactly sure about. So, Abraham, who we must remember is an already proven entrepreneur and businessman, an able leader of troops on the battlefield, and who is extremely rich by the time this Story was taken down, dutifully obeyed his wife. He sent Hagar and Ishmael off into the wilderness with a loaf of bread, a skein of water, and I only would hope, a kiss goodbye (21:14). Personally, I don’t think it is one of Abraham’s high points in his story. Just bread and water? Really?

Oh, and then there are the two different times (12:10 ff., 20:1ff.) when Abraham passed off his wife Sarah as his sister to royalty in Egypt and Canaan because he was afraid they would kill him to steal her away because of her beauty. His decision had dire consequences for the unknowing Egyptians and Canaanites.

And one more thing – the first eleven chapters of Genesis describe how God created all there is and desired relationship with the people he created but they kept blowing God off and worshipped handmade gods and built magnificent structures like the Tower of Babel. The people were not too impressed with the Creator God, nor did they think they needed the Lord. This is when God hit the reboot button with Noah and the flood and God would try again; this time, though, God would reveal Godself to one person, one family, and to one particular group of people enabling them to show to the whole world God’s plan for justice and righteousness. And we know this is Abraham, his family, and the generations to follow all the way to Jesus of Nazareth. Listen to the Word of the Lord from Genesis 22:1-14!

            22.1 After these things God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. And the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them walked on together.

            9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The Lord will provide,” as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Friends, this is a sticky and difficult text because it immediately assaults our sensibilities about how a benevolent God would demand harm to a child.

“What father would sacrifice his son?”

“Are you saying God condones child sacrifice?”

We have read and heard stories of how people have twisted texts like this one to condone child abuse and battery “because the Bible said it’s okay!” Well, let’s get this point straight away: The Bible doesn’t say it’s okay. We must stick with the text!

Verse one reads, “After these things, God tested Abraham.” The purpose of this Story is less about Isaac as it is about the evolving relationship between God and Abraham. God doesn’t want Abraham to kill Isaac; there is no competent biblical scholar who believes God had any intention of having Isaac killed. The late Old Testament scholar Terrence Fretheim writes that it’s not God’s intention to kill Isaac and receive a sacrifice. Rather it’s to test the metal of Abraham’s faithfulness “which is essential if God is to move into the future with him (Abraham).”[1]

We often hear this Story and immediately go to the place where we think, “Look at what’s at stake for Abraham! Look at what’s at stake for Isaac!”  Both are good and reasonable statements. Yet, what I want us to reflect upon this morning is to ask a third question we often don’t think about: What’s at stake for God?

In our mutual faith journeys, if we are honest, we usually focus on what’s at stake for me in my life and you in yours. What are the consequences if I take this job? What are the opportunities if I marry this person? What might happen to us if we get pregnant now? Which cancer treatment should I follow? What will my options be if I fail this exam? These are all natural questions we each ask and think about. I am simply asking us to step out of the “Me Mode” and ponder what the stakes are confronting God at any given time…like in today’s Story with Abraham.

The only ones in this Story who know this is a test are God and each of us. Abraham is clueless he is undergoing a test to plumb the depths of his faithfulness. We might cynically say, “Well God is omniscient and already knew how Abraham would respond” but if that were indeed the case, why did God need to test him?  We also do not have any indication that this is a test to teach Abraham any lesson. Abraham hears God and then obediently reacts to what he is told. The request for sacrifice is to confirm one thing and one thing only: Does Abraham trust God? Or, to put it another, more radical way, can God trust Abraham? The only one who learns anything from our Story is God when he declares to Abraham in verse 12, “Now I know that you fear God.” The test is for God’s benefit.

Church of the Brethren pastor and author, Eugene Roop says that in our Story today, “God took the risk that Abraham would respond. Abraham took the risk God would provide.”[2]  What’s at stake for God in our Story is the depth of Abraham’s faith and whether or not there will indeed be a future with and through him. Even though God likely knew what Abraham would do, God did not have absolute certainty that Abraham would pass the test. You see, God has plans to express himself to all people through Abraham and his lineage culminating in Jesus; God places the shape of those plans in Abraham’s hands.[3] Yes, God and God’s plans have a lot at stake in what Abraham either does or does not do.

I suppose what I want to know is what does God have at stake in your life of Christ-followership and in mine? What does God have at stake in the way the elders of this church steer her and guide her? What does God have at stake by the way you cast your vote or support the candidate you support? Beloved, if we think what we do or do not individually do does not matter or will not impact others, even God, we are deluded.

Each of us is the trim tab on a ship’s rudder. The rudder glides through the water and guides the general direction of the ship but it is the trim tab, a small rudder on the ship’s rudder that gives the ship its precise direction and position. If God’s mission in the World is represented by a ship, the Church is the ship’s rudder guiding it through the water. But, beloved, each of us in our walk with God is a trim tab giving God’s ministry in the church specific direction and precision.

Beloved, God has a stake in you. What you and I do or fail to do matters to God and makes a difference in the world. Each and every day, like Abraham, we are being tested in big things and in small things. How we respond to those tests gives direction to the ministry God has planned for each of us and for this church.

Friends, God knows it’s hard for us. That’s why it’s important to remember that in this powerful meal of bread and wine, we are being fed from the hand of the Savior and are given food for our arduous journey. It is food that will lead us to the land of Moriah, the place for clarity and vision, so we will know how to assuredly walk in the footsteps of Christ. Then again, if we fail or fall during our test, this meal is our source of strength, hope, and encouragement to reach up and grasp the Lord’s hand again as Jesus looks at us and says, “C’mon sweetheart. Let’s try this one more time and see if you can get it right.”

So be it.

© 2023 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Terrence E. Fretheim, The Book of Genesis, The New Interpreters Bible, Vol. 1 (Nashville: Abington Press, 1994), 497.

[2] Eugene F. Roop, Genesis (Scottdale, PA: Herald, 1987), 151.

[3] Fretheim, Ibid.

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Pastoral Prayer for Sunday, June 25, 2023

Posted on June 26, 2023 by patrick h wrisley

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, God in three Persons, blessed Trinity, we mark out time this day and ask you to hallow it as we worship, celebrate, and reunite with you and to one another. As you have called Abraham to build a great nation, you have called us through Jesus Christ to build your realm among the neighborhoods and communities in our world.

You have called us to build a realm of justice…

You have called us to build a realm whereby all people are to be treated and loved as children of Light of the Almighty God –

  • gay people,
  • old people,
  • young people,
  • colored people,
  • rich people,
  • dumb people,
  • poor people,
  • homeless people,
  • ugly people,
  • smart people,
  • ostentatious people, and
  • straight people.

Lord, it is so easy in a place like Fort Lauderdale flush with wealth, beauty, style, and large boats and fancy cars to get lost in the extravagant trappings of this world; convict us, Spirit, to turn the rug over so we can see the knots and mistakes on the underside of our community where your ministry is called to go and make a difference. Light a fire under your churches and faith communities to invest in the social fabric and capital of our city.  Let the people see and know that the Church of Jesus Christ is full of and known for our love as opposed to radical nationalism, bigotry, or political zealousness.

  • We pray for single parents trying to navigate work as well as how to care for their children this summer.
  • We pray for our teachers and professors who wonder if they can navigate all the bureaucracy and scrutiny they are under while attempting to help our students think critically.
  • We pray for the executives in our city’s board rooms and city hall that their decisions will be done ethically and for the good of the larger community.
  • Lord, we are mindful of those who serve in the hospitality industry in our community upon which much of our economy derives its strength.
  • There are those struggling with decisions relating to their job and employment, give them eyes to see and hope to buoy their dreams.
  • Watch over those who watch out for us – those in law enforcement, fire departments, sanitation, and our women and men serving in harm’s way.

Hold tenderly the hearts of those who have lost a dear one in death and grant strength and healing to those who are ill or who are waiting for medical test results. Oh, Merciful One, there are so many prayers yet so little time to offer them. Search our hearts and hear them all as we now turn ourselves to you and pray the prayer Jesus taught his followers…

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy Kingdom come, they will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, the and the glory forever. Amen!

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The Essence of a Call, Matthew 9:9-13,18-26

Posted on June 12, 2023 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon delivered on June 11, 2023, by the Rev. Patrick H. Wrisley, D.Min.

As the church calendar moves into the rhythm of Ordinary Time, our Gospel selections running from now through the end of November come from Matthew. If you will remember, Matthew chapters 5 through 7 contain Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount which includes the Beatitudes. In that sermon, Jesus lines out how people in the church are to live together in community. Jesus then spends the rest of the Gospel physically demonstrating what it means to live out the teaching he’s given. He gives the lesson in the sermon and then shows what he means by living what he preached. This morning’s text is a perfect example of his doing this.

            Turn in your Bible to Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26, and listen to the Story. This morning we are going to learn about the essence of what it means to follow Jesus’ call.

Matthew 9:9-13, 18-26

9As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth; and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. 10And as he sat at dinner in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came and were sitting with him and his disciples. 11When the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12But when he heard this, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.13Go and learn what this means, (from the prophet Hosea 6:6) ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” …

18While he was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. 20Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, 21for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” 22Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. 23When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, 24he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. 25But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. 26And the report of this spread throughout that district.[1]

            We miss Matthew’s genius in his writing if we fail to see the potpourri of characters thrown into this one scene. You have the ultra-pious religious hoi poli sprinkled in with a group of first-century rogues and villains smattered with the ritually impure like a dead little girl and a woman who has a 12-year-long period. Irony is laced through our passage from the outset. Here we have Matthew, whose name literally means, “Gift from God,” juxtaposed to Pharisees who both look at and treat him as though he was scum. What we begin to see is that those who think they are in the in-group are really on the outs and those who are on the outs are being invited inside to sit at the Master’s table.

            Jesus meets Gift from God sitting at a tax booth and simply says, “Matthew, follow me.” Jesus chooses a hated social pariah and invites him on a journey. Matthew then demonstrates a spiritual person’s foundational quality for a life with God: Obedience. He heard the call to follow, and he got up and went. On an unconscious level, we think Matthew following Jesus would mean he would be associating with a new group of friends. Yet, we see Jesus call Matthew right back into the circle of ne’er-do-wells he has just agreed to leave. Jesus seems to be okay around ne’-er-do-wells unlike the Pharisees, or as scholar Dale Bruner refers to them, the religiously Serious.

            The Pharisees, the Serious, are all about following the Law, the Rulebook.  In Matthew’s gospel, they act like a Greek chorus off to the side of a play’s action yelling directions to actors on the stage. Today, they are on the periphery commenting on what they are witnessing with Jesus and are now sowing dissension and murmuring against him. Instead of having the guts to ask Jesus directly, they pull some of Jesus’ brand-new disciples aside and start grilling them on Jesus’ inability to follow the religious and social rules. “Why is your Rabbi rubbing elbows with THOSE people?”

Jesus, fully aware of what is going on addresses the Pharisees directly, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor; sick people do.” He then pulls a page straight from their fundamentalist playbook, looks at them in the eyes, and then he quotes scripture to them. “Go and learn what this means – “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.”” And since they were Pharisees, the Jewish Ph.D.’s of Religious Studies back then, they would know that Jesus just quoted Hosea 6:6 which was written to the apostate spiritual and political leaders of Israel and Judah centuries before. And no doubt, since they were the know-it-alls of all things Jewish, the Pharisees would know the next line that follows in Hosea 6:7 which reads, “But like Adam they transgressed the covenant, there they dealt faithlessly with me.” Jesus has metaphorically just dropped the mic and has publicly schooled them.

Right at this moment, Matthew shows Jesus physically living out what he was teaching. He has the audacity to touch a dead girl’s body and raise her up while showing mercy to a poor woman who for over a decade has been socially and religiously outcast because of her illness. He is physically demonstrating that the essence of following a call from God is lavishing mercy on those who deserve it the least.

The essence of following God’s call in your life and mine is to lavish mercy on those who deserve it the least. You see, beloved, it wasn’t enough for Matthew to obediently follow Jesus when he called; it was to obediently follow Jesus right back into the people he formally hung out with and show them the mercy he received from the Lord. The Pharisees and the Serious were obedient in following the rules. They knew what it took, they knew the right ritualistic sacrifices that would keep God happy. What they didn’t know how to do was to show people mercy. Let’s face it, sacrificing a dead goat is so much easier than actually showing mercy to those people who deserve it the least. That, my friends, takes hard work!

Sadly, Pharisees were not good students of practical theology. They were not open to having their spiritual, political, economic, and cultural views challenged. It was so much easier just to kill a goat than learn and show mercy. How do we know they were lousy students? Because those first-century religious fundamentalists had Jesus arrested on trumped-up charges and hung on a Cross.  And once again, here’s a flash of Divine Irony and Comedy: The Pharisees and officials thought they snuffed out the problem when Jesus was put to death; yet, it was in Jesus’ death that he actively demonstrated his obedience to the Father and showed us mercy.

Beloved, this is what the Lord’s Supper is all about. It’s about Jesus’ sacrificial mercy shown to us on the Cross. He gave his body for us. He shed his blood for us. This simple meal reminds us and also lets us participate in Jesus’ act of mercy. I want us to leave with Jesus’ words from verse 13 echoing in our minds as we come to the table. He tells us: Go and learn what this means – I desire mercy, not sacrifice. Obedience in following Jesus is important but as we learned today, without demonstrating mercy to those who are most undeserving, obedience is a vacuous puff of smoke. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. So be it.

Prayer: May this meal, O Christ, help us to hear your call, and be obedient to it, but most importantly, may it enable us to show others the mercy you have shown us!

© 2023 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 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.

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God’s Border Collie, 1 Corinthians 12:1-13; Pentecost Sunday

Posted on May 30, 2023 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon delivered by the Rev. Patrick H Wrisley, D.Min. on May 28, 2023

In a church I served in north Georgia decades ago, there was a dear older woman who invariably would come up and hug me each week saying, “Thank you, preacher, for the message!” It was awfully sweet of her, but she had this proclivity to go overboard on the gardenia-scented perfume and it clung to me long after she left as the gardenia scent followed me around all day long like a dog waiting to get fed.

            Have you ever met a Christian whose sense of Christian piety carries the odor of a Christian know-it-all who definitively knows exactly how Jesus votes and which books should be in a school’s library, knows for sure who is going to heaven and who is not, makes moral pronouncements about other people’s behavior, and who reminds us of what a good Christian they are from all their prayer, Bible study, and worship attendance?   Have you ever met one of these uber-Christians whose Christianity is so odiferous that it makes pre-Christians think, “Why would I want to follow Jesus if they act like THAT!”[1]

            Well, this is what Paul was experiencing and addressing in the churches in the city of Corinth, a crossroads for merchants traveling by land or sea. As pastor and professor, Greg Cootsona writes, “Only two decades after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Christian community in this cosmopolitan center are a confused mayhem of competition.”  It was a church whose membership had a high opinion of themselves and there were divisions in the church based on wealth, class, social respectability, and of course their outward display of the spiritual expression of speaking unintelligible tongues no one could understand. Those people who spoke in tongues firmly felt they were more special and closer to God compared to those who simply handed bulletins out at the door. Paul had to address this spiritual elitism that was wreaking havoc in the church. The Corinthian church was structuring itself hierarchically just like the culture around it where the privileged, family-connected, and specially gifted are at the top of the pecking order and the rest of us are clamoring for various gradients below them.

            Paul spends three chapters of his letter to Corinth addressing this culturally formulated hierarchical mindset that was sifting itself out around spiritual behaviors and gifts. Today’s passage is setting up the next three chapters. Specifically, today Paul is addressing the fallacy of congregational hierarchy based on status or one’s spiritual endowment. He is reminding them, alas – he is reminding us, Jesus doesn’t structure our faith and Church like the culture does and yet we forget that. Too often the church imports the hierarchical models of our surrounding culture instead of exporting the flattened, egalitarian way of organizing the church community as Jesus did. The Church, we learn, has a level playing field where all members matter and are needed to contribute to making a difference for Jesus. Hear the Word of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 12:1-13

            Now, concerning spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2You know that when you were pagans, you were enticed and led astray to idols that could not speak. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking by the Spirit of God ever says, ‘Let Jesus be cursed!’ and no one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit.

            4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 6and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone.7To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.8To one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gift of healing by the one Spirit, 10to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the discernment of spirits, to another various kind of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11All these are activated by one and the same Spirit, who allots to each one individually just as the Spirit chooses.

            12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.13For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.[2]

            What can we learn about the Spirit, the Church, and spiritual gifts from our text?

            First, what is important is not the gift or its expression; what matters is the Source from whence the gift comes. It’s not about Patrick’s spiritual gift of preaching; it’s about whatever gift you and I have, it comes from the Spirit of God. You and I have nothing to do with it. The Bishop of Jerusalem, Cyril in the year 350 says it beautifully. He describes it like this:

            “One and the same rain comes down on all the world, yet it becomes white in the lily, red in the rose, purple in the violets and hyacinths, different and many, colored in manifold species. Thus, (rain) is one in the palm tree and another in the vine, and all in all things, though it is uniform and does not vary in itself. For the rain does not change, coming down now as one thing and now as another, but it adapts itself to the thing receiving it and becomes what is suitable to each. Similarly, the Holy Spirit, being One and of one nature and indivisible, imparts to each one his grace “according as he will.”[3]  It’s about the rain and not about the tree or plant. It’s about the graciousness of the God-giving Spirit; it’s not about the gift itself.

            Second, Paul reminds us that all of us are needed to have an impact in ministry for Jesus. In Paul’s day, the body metaphor was a popularly used one. For the Greeks, they would talk about the polis, the city, as a body, and some parts of the body, the community, and society were more important than others. Paul takes this well-worn metaphor and gives it a twist. Instead of saying some parts are more important than other parts of the body (like the city’s mayor is more important than the garbage man), Paul is saying all parts of the body, the Church, are important because each of us has been baptized with the Spirit of Christ. This is Paul’s way of describing how the Church is differentiated from the rest of how the world works. Sure, the mayor is important but if your trash isn’t picked up in weeks, the importance of the garbage man rises to the top! Paul is telling us how hierarchy has been flattened when it comes to the Church. As we are reminded in verse 13, “For in the one Spirit we are all baptized into one body – Jews or Greeks, slaves or free – and we are all made to drink of one Spirit.”

            Beloved, hierarchy has been flattened. For all people who have confessed by word and action “Jesus is Lord” are baptized by the One Spirit; we’ve all been equally adopted as brothers and sisters of God whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, white or black, straight or gay, and dare I add Republican or Democrat – we are all children of the King, and the Lord needs your gift to be put to work!

            Third, it reminds us that there is no “I” in Team. Verse 7 declares, “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” This was a tough thing for the Corinthians to hear. They were priding themselves that some in the community were more important than others based on their particular spiritual gift. Paul is hammering home the point that each of our particular gifts is not for our personal benefit and edification; it is for the benefit of the rest of the community.

            Saint Basil in the mid-third century wrote, “Since no one has the capacity to receive all spiritual gifts…the grace of the Spirit is given proportionately to the faith of each. When one is living in a community with others, the grace privately bestowed on each individual becomes the common possession of the others…One who receives any of these gifts does not possess it for his own sake but rather for the sake of others.”[4]

            So, if you have been given the gift of leadership, it’s not solely to advance your career; God is expecting you to use it for the Church. Do you have the gift of the Midas Touch in that you know how to make business decisions that make great revenue? Well, guess what, God blessed you with that gift to apply that touch and your wealth for the common good of your faith community. Do you have the gift of empathic listening and do people experience safety with you? God is expecting you to use it for the common good of your fellow brothers and sisters in the church. Do you have the simple gift of being perceived as a friendly human being? God wants you to use that gift whether it’s handing out bulletins and greeting people at the door or making a call to welcome a guest to church. You get the point. Your job is to figure out what your gift is and how, or even, if you are even using it for the body of Christ or not.

            My brother-in-law, Rick got a border collie a few years back. His name is Bear and he’s about 30 pounds, has a blue eye and a green one, is brown and white, and has boundless energy. Border collies are bred for one thing: They herd. Not only are they the smartest dog breed, but they are also one of the most active. They must be exercised and run hard. Bear herds anything that moves!

            One morning when Bear was still less than a year old, he was on the second floor of their house when he spied Rick’s two cats downstairs sauntering at the base of the stairs; Bear instinctively went into action. He launched himself through the air from the top of the stairs and miscalculated the angle of descent and crashed into the front door below. He then got up and began herding the cats! Never mind he fractured his front leg! A border collie has to do what a border collie does- herd! As pastor and author Heidi Haverkamp says, “The Holy Spirit is like God’s border collie – trying with boundless energy to herd us together into groups, to testify in word and action to all the world that “Jesus is Lord!” and that God is love!”[5]

            Beloved, over lunch today, ask those who are with you, “Do you see a spiritual gift in me? If so, what is it? Am I using it for the common good of our church?” If so, praise God. If not, why not? In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

© 2023 Patrick H. Wrisley, Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, FL. 33301.  Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and may not be altered, re-purposed, published, or preached without permission. All rights reserved.

[1] Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: Year A, Volume 2, Lent through Pentecost by Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, et al. https://a.co/6ZohXYd

2 New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

[3] Cyril of Jerusalem, The One Spirit Adapts to Personal Diversity from the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, VII, Thomas Oden, General Editor (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p 117.

[4] St. Basil from the Long Rules 7 from the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament, VII, Thomas Oden, General Editor (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 1999), p 118.

[5] Heidi Haverkamp, Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship: Year A, Volume 2, Lent through Pentecost by Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, et al. https://a.co/75kIJV9

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