06/24/2012 ~ Proper 7 ~ Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time ~ Fourth Sunday after Pentecost ~ 1 Samuel 17:(1a, 4-11, 19-23), 32-49; Psalm 9:9-20 or 1 Samuel 17:57-18:5, 18:10-16; Psalm 133; Job 38:1-11; Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13; Mark 4:35-41 ~ Annual Organizational Meeting in Our 198th Year; A Ceremony of  Shalom for Martha and Bob O’Keefe ~ a Ceremony Honoring Members in Long Standing.

Open Wide Your Hearts [1]

“We have spoken frankly to you Corinthians; we have opened our hearts wide to you. There is no restriction in our affections; we are not holding anything back; you, on the other hand, are holding back your affection from us.  It would be fair— I speak as to children— if you would open your hearts as widely to us as we do to you.” — 2 Corinthians 6:11-13.

As you are probably aware because of the picture on the front page of The Evening Sun Wednesday, I once again hosted the Community Honors Banquet, the 15th time we’ve celebrated the honor students.  This year I decided that, instead of asking one of my colleagues to offer the Invocation and Benediction, I’d do it myself.

This is part of the prayer I used as a Benediction (quote): “Give us, we pray, gentle reminders that true love is a discipline and is, therefore, not arrogant or boastful or rude.  Grant us the grace that we may we be strengthened to work in Your service among all people.”  (Slight pause.)

Love as a discipline: I’ve said that from this pulpit.  But, I suspect, I’ve not repeated it in a while.  I think it’s a worthy concept— love as a discipline.  But further and also, love is the discipline through which we do accomplish the work of God among all people.  (Slight pause.)

Yesterday morning on National Public Radio, Scott Simon interviewed three-time Olympic swimming gold medalist, now a law professor, Nancy Hogshead-Makar.  Among the interesting things she said was that those gold medals were not the most important aspect of her participation in sports.

The most important aspect, she said, was that she did it.  She said she went to practice on days she did not want to go to practice, when with every cell in her body did not want to go to practice.

But she also knew she needed to be committed to something bigger than being in a good mood on any particular day.  In short, participation was a discipline.  And success, she discovered, was not in the medals.  The medals were a side-effect.  The discipline, itself, was the success.  (Slight pause.)

We, in the church, are or should be engaged in the discipline of love.  I want to suggest that, just as an athlete needs to go someplace to practice, it is a good idea to gather for worship.  It is a place we can practice the discipline of love just through out interactions with one another.

But we also know the discipline of love needs to go beyond these walls.  On the other hand, if we do here what we are instructed to do in Scripture— instructed in Scripture— love one another— this becomes and is a safe place to practice.  If any of us takes a tumble while we practice, we are surrounded by coaches who will help us.

Hence, I want to offer this reminder: this building is not the church.  You are, we are the church.  And how do we ensure that we remain vital as we practice?  I think Paul has a pretty good answer: “open wide our hearts.”  Amen.

06/24/2012
United Church of Christ, First Congregational, Norwich, New York

ENDPIECE: It is the practice of the Pastor to speak after the Closing Hymn, but before the Choral Response and Benediction.  This is an précis of what was said: “In the work Christianity After Religion Diana Butler Bass says this: if you want to knit, you don’t study the doctrines of knitting.  You go find a knitter, someone who will teach you knitting.  You form a relationship with that person, you sit with a group of knitters and then you start to learn by doing and by practice.  Christianity is something we do, a practice.  You can, indeed, study Christian doctrines.  But Christianity is learned by forming relationships with practitioners and then by doing and by practice.”

RESPONSIVE BENEDICTION:
PASTOR:        Now go!  Go, led by the marvelous light of Christ!  Go, be a blessing!
MANY:            Let us be a blessing!  Let us be a light for the world!  Let us be the Body of Christ!  Amen!  And again— Amen!
ONE:                    And may we love God so much, that we love nothing else too much.  May we be so in awe of God, that we are in awe of no one else and nothing else.  Amen.

[1]  Note: this is a homily— a short sermon— in part because of the Ceremony of Shalom and the Annual Meeting both of which took place in the context of this service of worship.