October 5, 2014 ~ “Dedicated” from John Knox Kirk on Vimeo.
A sermon preached at John Knox Kirk of Kansas City, Missouri, on October 5, 2014.
Psalm 19
and Philippians 3:4b-14
(Click above link for the Scripture texts upon which this sermon is based)
What an exciting week for us at the Kirk.
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This is true even if you’re not a Chiefs fan,
coming off a thrilling Monday Night Football victory.
In one of his more relevant sermons,
Rob Bell once preached about going to a Green Bay Packers game
one Sunday afternoon—a different sort of church, he called it
with its own rituals and hymns,
its own barbeque shared,
its own ways of making meaning.
Indeed, I’ve heard sports radio spots for a local pub
in a converted church in South Overland Park
calling its Sunday hours of operation “Sunday church”
where you can prepare yourself for the weekly game.
Its an exciting week even if you’re not a Royals fan,
though, if you are, then like me you’ve not slept much this week
after the thrilling victory-out-of-the-clutches-of-defeat
Tuesday night at the Wild-Card game
and then, of course, taking the first two games of the divisional playoff
against the team with the best record, in their own stadium,
all three games going well past their typical nine innings.
If I look tired, you might be able to guess why.
I was lucky enough to be at that wild card game,
where forty thousand fans
(forty thousand five hundred and two if you’re counting)
roared and hollered and almost willed the Royals to victory.
I didn’t know Kauffman could be that loud. My ears are still ringing.
And while I think they’re stretching the definition of the word
I’ve seen more than one person on facebook and twitter
calling that game a sacred, religious experience.
But you can sort of see what they’re trying to say:
when you gather that many people together
and they all share the same emotional journey
the highs, and the lows
in some sense they share something of family, of community.
Its not as deep, or as lasting,
as the sort of holding-in-our-heart we have been discussing
the fellowship of Christian love that marks life in Christ
and that Paul is trying to outline in this letter to the Philippians
but it is deeply moving nonetheless. [Read more…]
