Chad Herring

Sermon of the Week:
Who Goes First?

An online sermon preached with The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on July 5, 2020.

Week one of a four part sermon series: Good Vibes: Finding Joy

Keywords: Community. Non-Competitive Relationship. Hold in the Heart. Leroy Sutton. Koinonia #pcusa

Scripture readings (which you may wish to read prior):
Psalm 145:1-8
and Philippians 1:3-11

There was a moment, ten years ago,
that was seared into my memory.

It was a weeknight, in late October, 2010,
and we were almost through with Nora and Tessa’s bedtime routine.
Teeth had been brushed. Pajamas were on. Books had been read.
One last playtime for the night,
and now it was time to say our parting words
turn off the lights
and go to bed.

We had been trying to prepare them for a few days now
that their daddy would be leaving the next morning for Guatemala
as part of our Presbytery’s delegation
to our friends in the Maya Quiche presbytery
in Quetzaltenango.

But they were four,
and they had no real concept of where Guatemala was
all they knew was that I was going on an airplane
for a whole week!

I had been away on trips many times,
and sometimes even for a whole week
but when you add an airplane to the mix
it’s a completely different deal.

So I lingered a bit on our bedtime routine, as I tucked in my daughters
and kissed their foreheads
and we sang them their good night song,
when my daughter stopped me with a smile.

Daddy, she said, Give me your hand. [i]

And so I dutifully gave her my hand, which she took, gently,
and brought it up to her lips.
And she kissed my palm with a loud smack.

Put it up on your cheek, she instructed. And I did.

There. Now you hold my kiss in your heart.

When you go on the airplane, and when you miss me
just put your hand on your cheek and you’ll feel my kiss.

And she had me kiss her hand, too,
whereupon she put it on her cheek with a satisfied smile
and she turned over to go off to bed.

///
It is a wonderful thing, to be held in the heart.
It is the seat of happiness, the feeling of salvation.
The assurance of belonging.

In this age, with so many people hurting, struggling, yearning, aching,
so many people lonely, or wanting to connect
this kind of community is so important.

What is it we are doing here?
What am I to you, and what are you to me?

///
Do you ever wonder:
Is there anything special about the Christian Community?
The Christian Family?
The Congregation?
The Church—the called-out people…
Us…you, me, all of us, who are following God on the way of Jesus Christ.

Is this just a glorified volunteer group?
Do we come together for our own selfish reasons—
each of us trying to get something more out of our interactions
and our experiences
than what we put into it….

Or is there something ELSE going on when you boot up facebook or zoom on Sunday morning
join a bible study…
decide to go give of your time on a work project
while understanding that time to be in service of something bigger, something holy…
call on another church member with some soup for them
after he got some pretty harsh news.

////
For the next several weeks we’re going to be looking at this question
as we ponder Paul’s letter to the Philippians.

For Paul, the idea of community is central
to his experience of faith
to his effort to walk on the path of Jesus Christ.

And Paul explored the idea of community
through a particular Greek word that he liked to use–
KOINONIA doesn’t have a clean, clear, crisp translation into English.
The sense of it is suggested by our English words FELLOWSHIP
or PARTNERSHIP
or SHARING

And, for Paul, this idea of Koinonia was really important.

Because it cut to the heart of something helpful for us to think about:
what is unique, special,
indeed, what is vital about the Christian community,
the Christian Koinonia,
that you can’t get just anywhere else.

There’s something about the community that forms around God’s love
that the world hungers for, that you and I hunger for…

///
Community looks different, in this time of coronavirus,
than it did even a few months ago. [Read more…]

Sermon of the Week:
What Goes Around Comes Around

An online sermon preached with The Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on June 28, 2020.

The fourth of a four part sermon series: Do Unto Others–Being Good Neighbors in a Pandemic

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Keywords: Golden Rule. Preach to Yourself. Christian Ethics. Sermon on the Mount. #pcusa

Scripture readings (which you may wish to read prior):
Joel 2:21-27
and Matthew 7:7-12

I was talking with a pastor friend about this sermon today,
about this sermon series looking at some foundational aspects of the ethics of following Jesus
the greatest commandment
the requirement to care about what other people think and feel
the urging to go the extra mile,
and then this, maybe the best known teaching of them all: the golden rule.

And my friend told me a story
about when he was first starting out working in ministry
and he was a student pastor
eager to learn from a mentor he regarded as a gifted preacher
inspiring and relevant and a joy to listen to.
She could certainly help him stretch his talents a bit further, he thought.
She could help him grow into a well-rounded speaker and preacher.

The first week he was there
the time came for his meeting with the mentor,
and he was excited.
They sat down and started to talk a bit about ministry in general
and soon the conversation turned to worship, and to giving a sermon.
She said she wanted to give him a word of encouragement to get him started.
“Preach the word that you would want preached to you” is how she put it.
He thought about that.
Now there’s about as good an application of the golden rule
as a preacher might find, don’t you think?
“Preach the word that you would want preached to you.”
And then, without missing a beat, she finished her thought:
“Short and sweet.”

///
Maybe good advice for this preacher to heed.
And I will today, honest.

But we should note
that the Golden Rule, the focus of our final sermon in this sermon series,
itself stands at the end of a rather long sermon:
Jesus’ sermon, the one we call The Sermon on the Mount.
Four weeks ago, we looked at the beginning of that sermon
all the way back in Chapter 5,
which opens with the pronouncement of the blessing of God
for the poor in spirit
the peacemaker, the one who thirsts after righteousness
the one persecuted because they seek to be agents of the good in the world.

Between those beatitudes, and this reading
there’s so much good stuff to think about,
a meandering but meaningful collection of teachings
that could, if we’re honest, take us a whole year,
maybe a whole lifetime, to sift through properly.

You might remember some of it if we just name the highlights:
Let your light shine!
Don’t hide it under a bushel,
and a city on a hilltop cannot be hidden.
A lamp on a lampstand gives light to the whole house.

That’s Jesus, asking us to take seriously the impact of our actions in the world
the way light spreads out in all directions,
illuminates our lives,
refuses to let evil hide in the darkness…

Or then there’s this:
you are the salt of the earth! Jesus says.
But if salt loses its flavor, what good is it,
other than to be tossed out and trampled under foot…

Is that Jesus, showing a spectacularly unexpected sensitivity
to the winter weather we get here in the heartland?
No, not so much, but it is Jesus saying that your actions ought to matter,
ought to be like seasoning, bringing out the flavor of life.

There’s the antitheses, which we talked about last week:
six sayings that start with some retelling of the law
you have heard it said….
and then Jesus offering a different take, but I say to you…

Here we have Jesus urging those listening to his sermon
to take seriously the teachings of their tradition
while at the same time showing why it might be better
if you take the time to understand it, and apply it
and not try to explain it away.

The sermon’s not done yet. [Read more…]

Sermon: Who Goes First?

Sermon: What Goes Around Comes Around