Sermon:  Do We Really Have Any Idea?; Ephesians 3:14-21

Posted on July 26, 2021 by patrick h wrisley

This message was delivered July 25, 2021 by the Rev. Dr. Patrick H. Wrisley

            “For this reason, I bow my knees” Paul begins this exclamatory prayer of praise.  The first thing as readers of the text is to ask ourselves, “For what reason is Paul referring about?” So before verses 14 – 21 make any sense whatsoever, we have to stop and go backwards in the letter and find out what Paul is talking about; if we fail to do that, we miss the impact of this glorious prayer.

            Fortunately for you, I have done that homework for you! Going back to chapter 3:7-8, we hear the reason for Paul’s prayer. It reads, “Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the countless riches of Christ.”  Paul is saying that God uses people even like him to bring the winsome news of Christ’s salvation to all who are alienated were from God.

 Ephesians 3:14-21

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.[1]

            Verses 20 and 21 are an outburst of praise to God because through Jesus Christ, a once exiled people (i.e., you and me!) have been brought into an intimate relationship with the Almighty God! Have we fully let that sink into our inner being?  Have we really taken hold of the fact and understand the immeasurable love of God for us and that in turn we are to have for one another?  Do we really have any idea?

            When my girls were growing up, I would just marvel at the depth of my love for them. Because of my wife, Kelly’s, aggressive cancer treatment when she was 18, we were told that the probability of her being able to conceive was nigh impossible. The third year into our marriage began our journey of being parents! All children are miracles to me but my two daughters, they are gifts from heaven; they weren’t even supposed to be here!  As they grew up, I would ask them, “Do you really have any idea how much I love you?”  They would look back at me with a dumb stare and go, “Huh?”  For me personally, it wasn’t until I became a dad that I fully understood the breadth and width, the height and depth of what love is and means.  I became aware of love’s enormity, its intensity, and its boundlessness that moves me along in spiritual and relational growth with God and with others.  The ability to love deeply creates a flywheel effect that gains momentum each time love is expressed to God or towards another person.  The more we love, our desire to love others intensifies, grows and seeks new avenues to express itself!  Do we really have any idea as to the breadth, width, height, and depth of God’s love for you and me?

            Pause a moment and think about it: How does the Great I Am’s love for you make a difference in your life today?  How do our lives show that we are God’s beloved? Do our lives even exhibit that we are God’s beloved apart from going to church once a week? Do we have any idea as to how much we are God’s beloved? Really?

            Our first scripture reading this morning from 2 Samuel dramatically illustrates the breadth, width, height, and depth of God’s love for His created.  This morning’s lection describing the turning point in David’s life when all the wheels began to fall off the bus of his power and success demonstrates this indescribable love of God. As was mentioned earlier, this is not a Bible Story that would makes its way into a Vacation Bible School curriculum!

            It was the springtime of the year when kings were beginning their battle campaigns and have gone to war.  Except David.  He sent others to fight his battles for him. While everyone else was off at the battle lines, we find David napping and slipping into a voyeuristic tendency to spy on his neighbors when they weren’t looking.  He gawks at beautiful Bathsheba as she bathed, and David burned with lust.  He sends for her and demands that she violate her marriage vows; within the next month, she sends word to the King that she’s pregnant with his child. King David sends for her husband Uriah who was at the front lines of battle and invites him to come home on leave and be with his wife Bathsheba. If David could pull that off, then people would think the baby is Uriah’s!  Uriah proved to be more honorable than the King and refused to do it.  After all, his fellow soldiers were deprived of sleeping in a bed and even the ark of God did not have a resting place; who is Uriah that makes him so special and set apart from the others?

            Well, David gets a little desperate and on the second night of Uriah’s leave, David gets him loaded. He stuff’s Uriah with savory food and got him drunk off lots of wine.  Surely now David could coerce him to pass out in his own bed with Bathsheba.  That plan did not work out too well either. So now, David the King, God’s chosen, the composer and singer of all the beautiful psalms plots a murder. He loops his friend and general Joab to help him pull it off, too. David was so cold that he had Uriah unknowingly carry his own death sentence in the message to Joab! The next thing we hear in the Story is that the Jewish battle line pulled back leaving Uriah exposed to the enemy and he was killed.

            Friends, this Story about David reminds us that he is an archetype for you and me.  In David’s fall, we can see our own.  In just 15 verses in our Old Testament Story, we read how David broke at least five of the Ten Commandments and committed the sins of sloth, lust, adultery, hubris, lying, showing deceit, creates a conspiracy, planned the harm of another person, and commits murder. By now as readers of this Story, we are shouting, “If only David had gone off to war like the other kings did!  If only David did what he was supposed to be doing!”

            But David didn’t.  David wasn’t. David went from being way up here to throwing himself way down there. What we don’t hear in our David Story today is what happens following.  You see, David is confronted with his actions, confesses his sins, and makes right with God but his life was never the same. There’s a cost to and for sin and there’s a cost in our relationships with God and with the Bathsheba’s and Uriahs of our lives when we sin and break relationship with God and neighbor. And David, like Paul, looks at you and me and asks, “Do you really have any idea?”  Ironically, it’s only through his gross sin and restoration from God that David learned the answer to that question.  The answer to the question is this:  No, we really have no idea how much God loves us, will do for us, or be patient with us. It’s only after David figured out the answer to that question that he able was to compose a hymn, Psalm 103 where he writes,

9He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.[2]

            Isn’t this what Paul is talking about in our Ephesians text as well as he prays for the Ephesians Church? He wants them to know and experience the immeasurable breadth and width, he wants them to swim in the unfathomable height and depth of God’s love in Christ.  He later describes it to the Church in Rome this way:

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.[3]

Do you, do I, do we really have any idea as to how much God loves us in and through Christ?  Have you, have I, ever stopped to think about the profundity of that simple question? For those of you asking, “Well, Preacher, so what? I know God loves me,” let me simply say…

Beloved, the “so what” makes a difference in your Christian life this very day. If we take God’s love for granted or treat it lightly, we end up treating our relationship with God and our relationships with ‘the least of these’ in our community lightly as well. But if we contemplate and reflect upon the breadth, width, height, and depth of God’s love for us, then love regenerates in us exponentially and we become the phalanx of the Kingdom of Heaven right here, right now!

Do you really have any idea how much God loves you?  Let’s chew on that today as our spiritual homework.

Let us pray.

© 2021 July 25 by Patrick H. Wrisley. Sermon manuscripts are available for the edification of members and friends of First Presbyterian Church, 401 SE 15th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 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.

[2] New International Version (NIV). Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

[3] Romans 8:38-39.

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Pastoral Prayer for Sunday, July 18, 2021

Posted on July 19, 2021 by patrick h wrisley

God of Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Joseph, we offer up our prayers and unite them with all the saints and with your angels in heaven. You are a God is who is mighty but gentle and who openly reveals yourself to us but who also desires to be sought after and wooed. You have created the community of faith called the Church, the very Bride of the Christ, so we can worship You, learn about You and have a place to practice how we are to love one another in this fractured world. Come, Spirit of Life, fill this room, saturate our hearts and lives with Your Presence!

Lord of Creation, we come this day and thank you for the gifts our fragile planet provides us from water, minerals, and trees to soft breezes, gentle rains, and nudges from a dog’s nose asking us to scratch it behind their ears. We acknowledge we have not been the best trustees of Your Creation, however. Recent news headlines indict our inability to care for your planet through poor forest management, rising seas and coastal flooding, sustained droughts and through causing the extinction of species. Forgive us and direct our ways to care for our world and for each other before it’s too late.

We pray for those living out West amongst the wildfires raging there. Particularly, bless those who have placed themselves in harm’s way to fight these blazes and bless their families who await their safe return.

We are mindful of those impacted by the horrible flooding in Germany and Belgium and the loss of life and livelihood from the recent rains.

We lift before Your Face our neighbors in Cuba and Haiti as their citizens clamor and cry out for justice, freedom, and political and social stability.

This morning we thank you for the freedoms and liberty we share in our nation and for the gift of the separation of religion and the government. Hold close to Your heart those who suffer from religious persecution at the hands of others who discriminate and oppress because of one’s faith, nationality, or identity.

Lord of Justice, we pray for our community leaders beginning with the President and Vice-President, Congress, the Court, our Governors and legislatures, our Mayors, Commissioners and heads of police, fire, and education; dog them to lead apolitically with justice, and fairness.

On this day, we are grateful for doctors and nurses who place themselves in harm’s way in this latest spike in the pandemic. We have been reminded our health is not bulletproof and give us the grace and sense to do all we can to remain safe.

Each of us comes this day with our own lists of joys and concerns and place them upon your lap. Receive our prayers of concern over illness, pain from physical or emotional injury, and grief over the death of one close to us. Spirit, pray with us in this time of silence…

And now, O Christ, we weave our prayers together using the prayer you taught your disciples as we pray simply, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name.  Thy Kingdom come, Thy 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.  Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever.  Amen!

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The Message: Now is the Time!, 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Posted on June 21, 2021 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon preached by Patrick H. Wrisley on June 20, 2021.

In previous weeks, we have noted the strained relationship between Paul and the church he founded in Corinth. In essence, he is reminding them to be the Church and stand out from others in the world. Thus far in Second Corinthians, Paul has been talking with them about the ministry of reconciliation and their involvement in it. Just sentences before our text this morning, Paul makes the appeal, “So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God!”[1] Interestingly, the word “ambassador” is the from the same Greek word we get the word “Presbyterian.” Just think about that for a moment and let that sink in! You are an ambassador!

Our scripture today is Paul’s plea for the church to not take their relationship with God for granted. They were not bearing the fruit of a close relationship with God in their community; they were acting like what we would call Sunday morning Christians. They dressed up and acted like good Christians when they went to church once a week but then went on to reflect the values of the world the rest of the time. Worse yet, they were living out the world’s ways within the church community itself and it was tearing them apart. As you listen, note how Paul is calling them to account and is letting them know in not-so-subtle ways that they need to be experiencing the same issues he is experiencing in his ministry; after all, he says, they are in the ministry together. Listen to the Word of the Lord.

2 Corinthians 6:1-13

6.1 As we work together with him, we urge you also not to accept the grace of God in vain. 2 For he says (in Isaiah 49:8),

“At an acceptable time I have listened to you,
    and on a day of salvation I have helped you.”

See, now is the acceptable time; see, now is the day of salvation! 3 We are putting no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 4 but as servants of God we have commended ourselves in every way: through great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, 5 beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; 6 by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, holiness of spirit, genuine love, 7 truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; 8 in honor and dishonor, in ill repute and good repute. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; 9 as unknown, and yet are well known; as dying, and see—we are alive; as punished, and yet not killed; 10 as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing everything.

11 We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; our heart is wide open to you. 12 There is no restriction in our affections, but only in yours. 13 In return—I speak as to children—open wide your hearts also.[2]

 Have you ever wondered what it would be like to listen to one of the spiritual giants of the Bible preach? Just imagine what it would be like to hear the words straight from Jesus’ mouth, from Peter’s lips, or from Paul’s first-hand story. Do you really think we would take their words more seriously if we heard them with our own ears? From our standpoint today, we might wistfully think to ourselves, “Well, if I were alive back then and heard them speak, surely I would understand what they said and would believe and live the life they are describing!”

Well, I just don’t know. Would we? Lest we forget, Paul is known to have literally killed someone with his preaching! In Acts 20, Paul is in Troas waxing eloquently way past midnight when young Eutychus drifts off to sleep with Paul’s droning on and he falls out a three – story window and dies![3] Dear Paul was not known for his great delivery.  And just for for the record, I’ve never killed anyone with my preaching!  (Not to say that some of haven’t muttered, “You’re killing me, Preacher” as I am proclaiming the Word!).

People today judge preachers just like they did Paul in Corinth centuries ago! Pastors are judged oftentimes by their ability to deliver a decent sermon. People want to be inspired, encouraged, fed, and entertained by a message that does not make them feel uncomfortable, agrees with their political views, and does not last too long so that we can beat the Baptists and Methodists to our favorite brunch spot. Surely people will listen to their pastor who is invested in them physically, spiritually and emotionally and heed the call to follow and live like Jesus. The deal is this, Church: It does not matter who the preacher is, whether it’s Paul, Pam, Nic, or me because what matters is that the message is the same: Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation!

A Christian life exists at the nexus of the already and the not-yet. The Church was birthed by Spirit to tangibly live out of the fact we, indeed the world, have been redeemed by Christ and that we are to help usher in the Kingdom of God until the fulfillment of time when the Lord comes again. Salvation is a present reality that begins this very moment and extends into the future. Paul is cudgeling the Corinthians to be a part of that process in their own life and in the life of the Church.

Paul is reminding the church that because God has reconciled with them, “Then why, Corinthians, doesn’t your life show it?” I love what commentator John McFadden writes, “Paul’s pastoral message to the self-absorbed Corinthians was, in effect, ‘get over yourselves!’” In Christ we are a new creation, a new missional community so let’s live a life that demonstrates that.[4] The problem is that when you and I don’t, when the Church fails to live into its mission, we end up doing what Paul warns us of inverse 1: We end up taking the grace of God in vain.

That means we take it lightly. Flippantly. Carelessly. We fail to receive the gift. Professor Scot McKnight says this is Paul’s “Not so subtle way of saying (to us) “Be reconciled to God by being reconciled with the Gospel Mission (of being ambassadors).”[5]  Verses 4 through 13 are Paul’s way of proving to the Corinthians that he has done his job; he’s begging them to enter into the work and do the same.

Friends, yesterday history was made in our nation as collectively as a country we recognized Emancipation Day.  Emancipation Day, Juneteenth, is a day African American brothers and sisters commemorate when the very last slaves in Texas heard about emancipation and were set free. As of yesterday, all of us were invited to commemorate it, too! Emancipation Day is a day that I as a white man can pause and reflect upon my own life and assess whether I oppress others with my words or behavior or am I liberating others with acts of grace and mercy. Juneteenth is a celebration of moving from bondage to liberation and freedom! This is exactly the message Paul is trying to get across:  Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of your salvation, your liberation, your freedom! So, live into that freedom, Church!

Say yes to a new life beginning this day!

Say yes to an intimate relationship with God today.

Say yes to renewed relationships with those you have strained ties with and are now separated.

Say yes to moving from a Sunday morning spectator of the Christian faith and become a presbyter, an active ambassador, letting others know of God’s love for them through Christian acts of service and mission.

When Paul says now is the acceptable time and now is the time for our salvation, it’s his way of reminding us we have been liberated and our rights have been restored.  It’s his way begging us to Say, Yes! to new life.

Friends, from what do you need liberation from? How is God urging you to live your life as an active, vital disciple of Jesus Christ in and through this church and in our community?  How do you personally make the engine and ministry of this church run? Oh, may the Holy Spirit haunt each of us until we know. We have been lulled over the last year to say ‘no’ to many things; now is the time to say, Yes!  Amen.

© 2021 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] 2 Corinthians 5:20.

[2] 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.

[3] I was reminded following the service this was preached that I failed to mention the important part where Paul went downstairs and brought the boy back to life.

[4] John T. McFadden, Feasting on the Word: Year B, Volume 3: Pentecost and Season after Pentecost 1 (Propers 3-16) by David L. Bartlett, Barbara Brown Taylor, et el. -Kindle

[5] Scot McKnight, Connections: Year B, Volume 3: Season after Pentecost (Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship) by Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, et al. – Kindle

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The Message – The Whimsical Hand of Providence, Mark 4:26-34

Posted on June 14, 2021 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon preached by Patrick H. Wrisley on June 13, 2021

Mark 4:26-34

26He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.”

30He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.”

33With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples.[1]

I want you to imagine that you’re living in early first century Palestine. Is there really any question about who is in charge and running the show? It was Caesar and the power of the Roman empire. Rome imposed the taxes, built the civil infrastructure in the cities as well as a huge, conscripted army to be feared; its legal system favored the well-connected and wealthy. There was no confusion as to who was “in charge”: Tiberius Caesar. The Romans were swift to silence those who challenged Caesar and that’s why our text this morning is really quite scandalous. Jesus is describing a different type of kingdom that is over and against that of Caesar. Jesus was making a political statement that in contrast to the kingdom of Caesar and Rome, he’s saying, “let me tell you about the Kingdom of God and what it’s like!”

The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who slept through growing season only to wake up and find a bountiful crop had grown while they slept. Forces that are greater than the farmer and the very earth itself are at work to produce the grain.

The Kingdom of God is like a little tiny weed that grows so large so quickly birds make their nests in it. The Kingdom of God will spread its subterranean roots where it wants and will grow as God sees fit whether we want it to or not. Weeds are like that, aren’t they?

Yes, Jesus was describing a revolutionary new kingdom in contrast to Rome. The Kingdom of God is one that arises out of surprising grace instead of violent power. The Kingdom of God grows whimsically fast and in unexpected places. If you were Tiberius Caesar and heard these parables and understood what they were saying, you’d become anxious because these words are subversive to your power and rule. This backwater Rabbi Jesus is describing a competing system of power and governance that is not in synchronicity to Roman rule!

Jesus’ audience struggled to understand this fact expressed in these parables about seeds. So did the Romans and religious officials. If we’re honest, we live our lives as though we have forgotten the meaning of these parables, too. We have forgotten Jesus is trying to describe a different way of living and relating to one another. One that is governed by the ever-gentle hand of Providence in the most whimsical way.

What is Providence?  Providence is the unseen but ever-so-intentional care of God that works in your life, my life, this church’s life even when we are not aware of it; it’s kind of like a seed that is planted and grows grain while we sleep.

What is whimsy? Whimsical is someone or something that acts in a playful, fanciful, or amusing way.[2] It’s like having a bird make its home in the middle of a giant weed instead of a solid, sturdy tree; the Kingdom of God grows on its own and in places you would not expect.

I like to think of our parables this morning as our reminder to remember God’s whimsical hand of Providence in our lives and in the life of this congregation. Just as Jesus’ listeners centuries ago did not understand the parables he told them about the in-breaking Kingdom of God in their Romanized world, so it’s difficult for us to discern the movement of God’s whimsical Providence in our coronavirus-plagued and fatigued world. Friends, Jesus’ parables today are our reminder that though our lives and our world today is not what it was like 14 months ago, God has been at work expanding the realm of Christ’s reign in ways we may have not noticed. Let me give you some examples.

For the last year, we have been a church distributed. In other words, we have been separated by time and place and have been worshipping from our homes, hospital rooms, or offices as we engage in worship. The spread of the Good News has emanated from this church to literally all over the world from Taiwan to New Zealand, from Miami Gardens to Clewiston as a result of Livestreaming!

The Kingdom of God has been growing while we ambled through the pandemic in the way you have faithfully given to maintain the ministries of your church. If I were a Happy Land teacher, I would hold up a little clear cup of dirt that had a seed put in and we could watch the sprouts begin to snake their way to the surface. You have trusted God’s unseen hand of Providence to take what you give and join it with other faithful givers to spread the canopy of coverage the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God has been growing through your spiritual depth as a people of God. This congregation is not the same as it was five years ago. It is a congregation that has evolved from conflict to a congregation of grace.  There was a time when this church was known for what it was against; today, the whimsical nature of Providence has us known as a church for who and what we are for and about. We are becoming a place where we can model to the community what it means to “come and reason together” about those hard issues and seek to learn from one another.

The Kingdom of God is reflected in relationships that were once torn but are now healed between the church and the presbytery. We are truly partners in ministry again and are making a difference!

The Kingdom of God is sprouting with a passion to make Sunday the best two hours a week you can have as we move to a two-service worship model with fellowship and spiritual nurture sandwiched in between Contemporary and Traditional worship! Your Elders have said we need to spend more time together in fellowship and in growing our faith, so we are building schedules and structures to make that happen.

The whimsical weeds of the Kingdom are showing forth in the students who have received the $115,000 in scholarships we awarded to both undergrad and graduate students this year.

The Kingdom of God’s roots have been quietly burrowing in the soil as we work on our twenty-first Habitat House.

The Kingdom of God is budding with our new Minister of Music, Reid Masters, and his infectious enthusiasm and vison for all ages of this church to sing and play music to the glory of God.

Friends, the Kingdom of God is when a community realizes that that even though there is no “going back to what was normal” because everything has changed, the whimsical hand of Providence is on the tiller steering the ship.  Beloved, all I know is that while the economy has held its breath the last year, as our nation was fighting for its soul, as we buried our loved ones who died from the pandemic, God’s Holy Spirit was moving in and through this place, through you, in ways that have made us stronger, more resilient, more accepting, and more welcoming and affirming.  Beloved, the overarching trajectory of God’s character is bent towards love and justice, and we recognize the fruits of the Kingdom of God when love and justice are visible.  Look around you! They’re sprouting here!  

This week, I ask you intentionally set aside at least 15 minutes to pause and reflect over the last fourteen months.  It’s so easy to look over the year and see all of the no’s and negatives it brought, but I want you to reflect upon all of the yesses and positive outcomes that have emerged as well.  Think upon where the whimsical Hand of Providence has been at work in your life. Once you recognize it, turn into a prayer of praise to God! Amen.

© June 13, 2021. 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.

[2]See https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/.

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The Message: Down, but Not Out!, 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

Posted on June 7, 2021 by patrick h wrisley

A sermon preached by Patrick H. Wrisley on June 6, 2021

Over the years, I have learned something that they don’t teach you in seminary: There are churches out there where the pastor and the congregation don’t get along. Sometimes the relationship gets so bad they have to part ways. If this is a pattern with a succession of the church’s pastors, then the church becomes known as a Clergy Killer Church.  These are churches that have the propensity to run its pastors off.

The church in Corinth could be called a Clergy Killer Church.  It has a fierce relationship with its founding pastor, the Apostle Paul; indeed, the church in Corinth put the ‘fun’ in dysfunctional. On one hand, it was a church whose members practiced incest, they fought with one another and segregated wealthy Christians from the poor ones during communion. On the other hand, the church openly challenged Paul’s authority, credibility and character. It’s believed that both First and Second Corinthians are really a composite of perhaps five different letters that Paul sent to them in response to various crises. We are picking up today with Paul in the middle of a theological discourse and pastoral pep-talk on how Jesus-followers are to be encouraged when anything and everything around us seems to be falling apart. He’s reminding the church to look beyond the pending crisis to the larger scope of God’s care and future. Listen to the Word of the Lord from 2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1.

2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1

13 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and so we speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus, and will bring us with you into his presence. 15 Yes, everything is for your sake, so that grace, as it extends to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.

16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. 17 For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, 18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.

5.1 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.[1]

Paul is writing to say that his ministry has been a challenge and although he may appear to be knocked down, he’s not out.  He sends his colleague, Titus, with this letter to the Corinthians reminding them get their business in order because Paul is coming back and is eager to see them. Paul is confident they will be reunited again; if it’s not in this life, then it will be when Jesus brings us all together in his presence in our eternal life.  Though our bodies are getting older, slower, heavier, creakier, and achier, our innermost being is getting renewed and strengthened by God day by day. Paul reminds the Corinthians, he’s reminding you and me, that when things seem bigger than we are, it’s going to be okay because God is bigger still! We may get knocked down, suffer set-backs or illness, lose jobs or loved ones but because of Jesus Christ we are never ever out! We cannot out god God. We cannot out god God.  God is always bigger, grander, and sovereign!

Say that to yourself! “I cannot out god God.”  In other words, friends, Paul reminds the Corinthians that God takes what we have to offer and will turn it, will bend it to His divine purposes. Even when things appear to be going badly, God has a way of turning it to our good!

Note with me verse 16. Paul writes, “So we do not lose heart.” The King James Version poetically says it this way: For which cause we faint not. Eugene Peterson in The Message translates it bluntly, “So we’re not giving up.” What Paul is literally telling us is that followers of Jesus don’t give up because we cannot out god God! When our spirit fails us, Holy Spirit fills us. When we fall down, Jesus reaches out and picks us up. When we are weak, then what? Then He is strong! We may get knocked down, but we are never out!

Have you ever heard of the ancient Japanese art form called, Kintsugi?  It’s the art of taking broken pieces of pottery and putting them back together again with gold as the binding agent. Writer Tiffany Ayuda comments that Kintsugi is “built on the idea that in embracing flaws and imperfections, you can create an even stronger, more beautiful piece of art. Every break is unique and instead of repairing an item like new, the 400-year-old technique actually highlights the “scars” as a part of the design.”[2]

Friends, this is what Paul is talking about. We may get knocked down and broken but God delicately takes our broken pieces and binds them back together again through the golden, sacrificial life, death and resurrection of Jesus and makes us more beautiful and stronger than ever before!

The most obvious sign that God practices Kintsugi with members of the Church is our communion supper. Jesus who was beaten, battered, and left for dead by the spiritual and political systems of his day appeared to be down and out. Lest we forget, we are an Easter people and Paul is reminding us not to stay camped out and living in the shadows of Good Friday! Our Lord’s Supper is the tangible way the Son of God is telling you and me, “They thought I was down but I busted out!”  The Supper reminds us God practices the art of kintsugi as the Creator God takes what is broken and makes it complete again, stronger and more beautiful than ever. We do not lose heart, beloved. Why? Because we can’t out god God.

Friends, as we come to the Table today let us gather up all the broken pieces of our lives and bring them before the Lord. Whether they are pieces of shattered dreams, jobs, health or relationships, let’s come as brothers and sisters and ask the Spirit to put us back together again stronger than before.  Let’s pray.

© 2021 June 6, 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.

[2]Tiffany Ayuda, How the Japanese art of Kintsugi can help you deal with stressful situations. Whether you are going through a job loss or divorce, this practice of fixing broken things may help heal what’s broken in you, April 18, 2018. See https://www.nbcnews.com/better/health/how-japanese-art-technique-kintsugi-can-help-you-be-more-ncna866471.

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