Sermon - Christian Identity: Trusting the Gift

 Isaiah 55:1-9
Christian Identity: Trusting the Gift
James Sledge                                                                            March 20, 2022

Still Life with Bottle, Carafe, Bread, and Wine,
Claude Monet, c. 1862/1863, National Gallery of Art

When I was twelve years old, my family moved out to “the country.” It was old family land that had once been a farm. It had not been farmed in decades, but when we moved out there we were able to put up a fence so we could have horses. And we didn’t just have horses. We also had a pair of donkeys named Angelo and Annabelle.

How it was that we acquired those donkeys probably qualifies as one of those “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” moments. Somehow my father had found out about an elderly woman who had seven or eight of them. I think she was moving into a retirement home, and so she was trying to find good homes for her pets. We took two.

We tried to ride them a few times, with very limited success. They either just sat there, or they threw you off. And so they were little more than novelties or conversation pieces. They weren’t really good for anything. However, they could bray so loudly that you could hear them for miles. And they were quite good at escaping.

Our horses would occasionally get out, but they would normally just eat the grass on the other side of the fence. The donkeys, on the other hand, would go on excursions. I bet I’m one of the few kids who got pulled out of school to go home to help catch donkeys who were trotting down the road and startling drivers.

Sermon - Christian Identity: Urgent Questions

 Philippians 3:17-4:1
Christian Identity: Urgent Questions
James Sledge                                                                                                 March 13, 2022

The Apostle Paul
Rembrandt, 1633

   There is a famous quote from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that says, “Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?’” The quote pops up regularly on social media, and it always draws lots of likes and shares. But is that really our most persistent and urgent question?

I ask because I don’t know that I see very much evidence that people’s lives are driven by questions of what they are doing for others. Think about it. What are the most persistent and urgent questions in your life? For a young person they might be, “Where am I going to college,” or “What am I going to do with my life?” For others they might be about money. “Can I cover expenses until the next paycheck?” “Do I have enough in my 401k?” “What did the stock market do today?”

For some the most persistent question might be about raising children. For others about getting that new position at work. Some people might be focused on finding a life partner. I have questions about what I’ll do when I retire, whether we saved enough, and what sort of world my grandchildren will grow up in. I sometimes think about what I should be doing for others, but I’m pretty sure that’s not my very top, my most persistent and urgent question.

I started thinking about such questions when I was ruminating over today’s scripture passage and thinking about the theme of Christian identity that I’m exploring in my sermons as we work our way toward Holy Week and Easter. What sort of questions need to be near the top of your list if you’re going to have a legitimate, authentic Christian identity?

In the part of his letter to the congregation in Philippi that we heard, Paul contrasts two very different identities. One lives as an enemy of the cross of Christ, and the other has its citizenship in heaven. One’s god is their belly, a reference to a life driven by every want and desire, and the other lives in way that imitate the Apostle Paul.

Perhaps it would be helpful to say a little something about this first identity that has upset Paul to the point of tears. These people are Christians, but they seem to have misunderstood or misconstrued Paul’s basic proclamation.

Sermon video - Christian Identity: Being Truly Human

 

Audios of sermons and worship available on the FCPC website.

Sermon - Christian Identity: Being Truly Human

 Luke 4:1-13
Christian Identity: Being Truly Human
James Sledge                                                                                                 March 6, 2022

Briton Rivière, 1840-1920. Temptation in the Wilderness,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library

I think I was in ninth grade when the musical, Jesus Christ Superstar, burst onto the scene. It was a huge cultural phenomenon, with some of its songs becoming pop hits. I had the two-album soundtrack and played it frequently. At the time, there was a certain subversive quality to the musical that appealed to a young teenager.

One song that especially appealed to me was a catchy, comic number sung by King Herod when Jesus, freshly arrested, is brought to him for trial. The sarcastic lyrics Herod sings to an unresponsive Jesus include a verse that goes,     

So, you are the Christ, you're the great Jesus Christ
            Prove to me that you're divine - change my water into wine
            That's all you need do, and I'll know it's all true
            C'mon, king of the Jews! 

Another verse issues a different challenge to Jesus.   

So, you are the Christ, you're the great Jesus Christ
Prove to me that you're no fool - walk across my swimming pool
If you do that for me, then I'll let you go free
C'mon, king of the Jews!

I share these lyrics because there was a time when I saw today’s gospel reading as a similar situation. A smug, sarcastic devil, complete with horns and pitchfork, issues challenges to Jesus. “Come on, Jesus. Do a trick for me, and then I’ll believe you really are the Son of God.”

I suppose that my image of the devil became a bit more sophisticated as I grew older, but it was not until I entered seminary that I realized the devil never asks Jesus to prove who he is. His challenges are nothing like those of Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar. The devil in this story knows full well exactly who Jesus is. His challenges don’t ask Jesus to prove anything. Rather they force Jesus to wrestle with just what it means for him to be Son of God.

Sermon video: In the Presence of God

 

Audios of sermons and worship available on the FCPC website.

Sermon: In the Presence of God

 In the Presence of God
Luke 9:28-43a
James Sledge                                                  February 27, 2022 – Transfiguration Sunday

Cara B. Hochhalter, Transfiguration,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,
aproject of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library

 I hope I haven’t told you this story before, but when I was in seminary, I was part of a group that spent three weeks in the Holy Land and Greece. During the trip, we visited the site traditionally held to be Mt. Sinai, where Moses received the 10 Commandments. There’s no real proof that it is actually the same place, but pilgrims have been coming to the site since the time of Emperor Constantine in the fourth century.

Standard procedure for tourists and pilgrims is to arise very early in the morning, around 4:30 or so, in order to reach the summit while it is still dark. The idea is to witness sunrise from atop Mt. Sinai. Our group gathered at the base of mountain where we climbed on camels, accompanied by the requisite jokes about the Camel-lot. Following a dark ride where you could only barely make out the steep drop-off just beyond the narrow path, we dismounted and walked the remaining 30 minutes or so to the top.

We all found spots where we had an unobstructed view towards the east. As the predawn glow began to light up the horizon, you got a sense of what a stark, severe landscape it was.  Other mountains jutted up all around, rocky peaks with little or no vegetation.

Everyone got their cameras ready as the pink horizon grew brighter. Little was said as the sun slowly emerged from behind one of those other peaks. In the desert haze, it was an orange-pink ball that was well up into the sky before becoming bright enough that it bothered your eyes to look directly at it.

Before I took this trip, I had talked with classmates who’d gone in previous years. I’d seen photographs of the sun rising over those same peaks and had heard people talk about what a moving experience it was, and I was ready for an experience of my own. I did get some pretty decent pictures, but I must confess that I was a little disappointed in the moving experience department.

Don’t get me wrong. It was a gorgeous and fantastic vista. I’m very glad I went and would recommend it to anyone, but I was disappointed that I didn’t feel something. I was truly hoping for some sort of religious experience, as, no doubt, were many others who were there with me. Instead I got some nice pictures, a story to tell, and beautiful view of that part of the Sinai Peninsula. 

Some of those in my group did experience what I had hoped to. I don’t know why they did and I didn’t. After all they saw the same scene that I saw. Still, they experienced something. There was no explaining it. It’s not as if they could have told me where or how to look at the sunrise in order to sense what they did. It was something beyond explanations, something that must be experienced to really appreciate.

Sermon video: Embracing Resurrection

 

Audios of sermons and worship available on the FCPC website.

Sermon: Embracing Resurrection

 1 Corinthians 15:35-57
Embracing Resurrection
James Sledge                                                                                     February 20, 2022

Portion of the frescos
in the Visoki Dečani Monastery,
Kosovo, ca. 1335

 When I began thinking about a sermon for today, I discovered that I have never preached on this passage from 1 Corinthians during my twenty-six plus years as a pastor. I’m sure there are other passages that share this distinction, but this passage does discuss something rather critical to Christian faith: resurrection.

Come to think of it, I’m not sure if I’ve ever preached a sermon on resurrection at all. Oh, I’ve preached Easter sermons that proclaim, “He is risen!” I’ve preached sermons where resurrection is assumed or is lurking around in the background, but I don’t think I’ve ever preached a sermon where resurrection itself was the focus.

For that matter, I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard a sermon that was about resurrection, that talked about what it is and what it means. It seems that we in the church often operate as though everyone already knows what resurrection means and what it is, yet in my experience that is far from the truth.

The Bible itself may contribute to this problem. All four gospels are quite emphatic about the fact of resurrection, but none of them describe it or tell us how it happened. They don’t explain how the risen Jesus is different from the pre-Easter Jesus, although they do indicate that he is different.

So how do you understand resurrection? What do you mean when you say the words of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe in… the resurrection of the body”? If someone who knew nothing about Christianity asked you to explain resurrection to them, what would you say?

Sermon video: Joining the Parade

 

Audios of sermons and worship available on the FCPC website.

Sermon: Joining the Parade

 Luke 5:1-11
Joining the Parade
James Sledge                                                                                     February 6, 2022

Draft of Fishes, Peter Koenig, born 1947,
from Art in the Christian Tradition,

a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN

I suspect that many of you have a picture in your mind of Jesus calling his first disciples. I know that I do. In my picture Jesus begins to teach, to proclaim God’s coming kingdom right after he is baptized and then tempted in the wilderness. As he travels along the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee, he encounters a few fishermen. “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people,” Jesus says. And they drop everything and go after him.

In this picture there is simply something about Jesus and his invitation that draws these fishermen from their old life to a new one. It is incredibly dramatic. One minute they are making a living by fishing. The next minute, a stranger speaks to them and they are forever changed. And I think this picture has had a significant impact on the idea of evangelism as a dramatic event where one meets Jesus for the first time and is changed forever.

My picture of Jesus calling his first disciples comes straight out of Matthew and Mark’s gospels. But today we heard a very different story from Luke. Over the years Christians have often tried to harmonize these stories, but I think that misses the point. The gospel writers were often less concerned with telling precise history than they were with making a point. Luke writes for a different audience and paints a very different picture than Matthew and Mark, one that may actually have more contact with some of our lives.

To see Luke’s picture, we need to step back a bit and glimpse the entire canvas. As with Mark and Matthew, Jesus has been baptized and tempted in the wilderness. But then he has begun his ministry, taught in his home synagogue at Nazareth, come to the region of Galilee and healed a man with an unclean spirit. Then Jesus has visited Simon Peter’s house, cured his mother-in-law of a high fever, and then cured throngs of sick who were brought to him there.

In Luke’s picture, Simon already knows Jesus, has already met him prior to finishing a long night’s work with nothing to show for it. But then Jesus asks to borrow his boat. Surely Simon is tired and wanted to say, “No.” But after all, Jesus had cured his mother-in-law. 

Luke seems uninterested in what Jesus taught the crowds who gather on the shore. He skips over that, moving quickly to where Jesus tells Simon to put out into deep water. Once again, Simon would rather not, but he obeys this remarkable rabbi. In an instant there are more fish than anyone has ever seen before. Suddenly, Simon is frightened of Jesus and wants to be far away from him. Simon has met Jesus before and knows about his ministry, but all of a sudden Simon senses that he is in the terrifying presence of God. Simon, a rough, uneducated, hard living, hard swearing, dirty and sweaty fisherman, finds himself where ritually purified priests fear to tread, and all he wants to do is escape. “Go away from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man!”

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Sermon video: Scandalous Grace

 

Audios of sermons and worship available on the FCPC website.

Sermon: Scandalous Grace

 Luke 4:13-30
Scandalous Grace
James Sledge                                                                                     January 30, 2022

Jesus Preaching in the Synagogue at Nazareth
14th century fresco,
Visoki Decani Monastery, Kosovo

In the fall of my last year at seminary, I preached during Sunday worship at my home church. It was a strange experience. It is odd to stand up and preach to people with whom you used to share the pews. It’s a little unsettling to have your pastor serving as a worship leader, reading a scripture lesson, praying the prayers, and so on.

I still have vivid memories of that day. I sort of fumbled through the children’s message. I remember catching glimpses of familiar faces, trying to gauge from their expressions whether they thought I was making sense or not. I also remember the kind comments after it was all over, people telling me how much they enjoyed my sermon, and especially a compliment from my pastor. 

Of course they had to say such things. After all the session of that church had voted to recommend me as a candidate for ministry, one requirement for becoming a Presbyterian pastor. People had told me how wonderful it was that I was going to seminary. The church had even contributed several thousand dollars to help pay for tuition. They certainly weren’t going to let on that it had all been for nothing.

Besides that, many churches take pride in being able to claim pastors from out of their membership. Congregations that have produced a number of pastors sometimes display their names and pictures like merit badges. They’re a kind of validation, a symbol that a church must be doing something right. Pastors at such churches enjoy the validation as well.

  It’s not just churches that like to take come credit for the success of their own. Families and towns like to brag about those who’ve made it big, whether making it big means the first one to graduate college or becoming a movie star. Families and hometowns usually expect a little windfall, a little secondhand prominence, when their own are big successes. No one appreciates a hometown boy who goes off, makes it big, then forgets where he came from.

My mother was from a small town in the Florida panhandle, the part that is in central time zone beneath Alabama. She told me that they had one famous product, a pop singer of the 60s and 70s named Bobby Goldsboro, whose family ran the local florist shop. But when Goldsboro became famous, he told people that he was from Alabama. That really burned my mom, as I imagine it did lots of other folk from Marianna, Florida.

In our scripture for today, Jesus makes a visit back to his hometown. A version of this visit is told in all three synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, but Luke’s telling is quite different. Matthew and Mark place the visit well into Jesus’ career as teacher, preacher, and miracle worker, but Luke puts it at the very beginning. In Luke, Jesus looks a little like a politician who has just burst onto the national scene, and who returns to her hometown to announce she is going to run for president.