First Presbyterian Church
Demonstrate the Gospel
Sermon for September 18, 2005
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Our unison reading is from psalm 105. psalm 105 recites the history of god's people. It names the names, places, and events fro the past, and puts it in the context of praising God. It comes from the time of the exile. We'll read verses 1-6, then jump to verse 37.

Listen for the word of God as we read it together from Psalm 105:1-6 and 37-45.

1 O give thanks to the LORD , call on his name, make known his deeds among the peoples.

2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wonderful works.

3 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

4 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually.

5 Remember the wonderful works he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered,

6 O offspring of his servant Abraham, children of Jacob, his chosen ones.

37 Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold, and there was no one among their tribes who stumbled.

38 Egypt was glad when they departed, for dread of them had fallen upon it.

39 He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light by night.

40 They asked, and he brought quails, and gave them food from heaven in abundance.

41 He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed through the desert like a river.

42 For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham, his servant.

43 So he brought his people out with joy, his chosen ones with singing.

44 He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took possession of the wealth of the peoples,

45 that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the LORD !

This ends our reading from the psalm. Our Bibles translate verse 4 as” seek God's presence continually;” but literally it is ‘seek God's face.' When we seek God's face, we entrust our whole existence to God. We recognize God's sovereign claim on us. One theologian said, “The act of remembering, which Psalm 105 represents, is a fundamental first step toward participation in the paradox of being strong by yielding the self in order to be God's servant, which is what the sovereign God intends the ‘chosen ones' to be.”

Remembering the stories of our ancestors reminds us that we are part of God's story. We ask God for the same things they asked of God. Listen to the choir sing “Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah.”

The letter to the church at Philippi was written by the apostle Paul from prison, as he awaited his trial. He is uncertain if he will die in prison or be released and live. He isn't afraid to die. He encourages the church at Philippi to continue to believe, despite their suffering. Listen for the word of God as it is found in Philippians 1:21-30.

21 For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.

22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer.

23 I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; 24 but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.

25 Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, 26 so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

27 Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, 28 and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God's doing.

29 For God has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well-- 30 since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

This ends our reading of the word.

Those of you who read the press release in the Baker City Herald might have wondered how I was going to work the computerized cartoon wrestler StrongBad into my sermon. He fit in beautifully in the middle of the week when we had to send in the press release. But with what happened this week, I couldn't make him fit, so I'll have to leave him for another day. No one is more disappointed than Lucas, who is a StrongBad fan.

As I read this text from Philippians, the phrase that jumped out at me was the phrase “in no way intimidated by your opponents.”

Who are the opponents? We don't know. The word can also be translated enemy or adversary; they are the people who oppose you. The Philippians were probably facing the same struggles with civil authorities Paul was. In Acts 14, Paul struggles to make the crowds understand he was not a god, but a man telling the gospel. They tried to bring garlands and sacrifices to him, and he spoke to them of the living God, and they stoned him. In Acts 16, Paul was imprisoned because he healed a slave who earned money for her owners by fortune-telling. In Acts 17, a friend and host was hauled into court for providing Paul lodging. Throughout his ministry, Paul was harassed and jailed. Paul endured it all, told the gospel, appealed to the authorities, and was released.

Our opponents are not crowds who want us to stop spreading the gospel and to put us in prison. But we do have opponents.

Our opponents try to seduce us into acting another way. They want us to behave as if other things are more important than living the gospel: things like getting money, aligning ourselves with the rich and powerful, disdaining the poor, avoiding the sick, and covering our errors.

So it's good to be able to do something concrete to demonstrate our faith in the gospel.

And that's why last week I was so pleased that the Sunday school and youth group made up personal health kits for hurricane survivors. This was a life-affirming activity we could participate in which would be of some use. Here was work we could do that mattered, and the children could do it. In the face of the horrible news stories, the angry analysis, the plight of so many people, we, seven states away, could do something. There was a warehouse ready to take our donations.

The day I was going to mail the kits, I checked the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance website to make sure I had the right address. Here's what I read:

“The response to PDA's request for special personal health and hope-in-a-box kits to the warehouse in Houston has been overwhelming. All kits have been committed to regional shelters for hurricane evacuees and with the rapid relocation of evacuees we don't anticipate a mass distribution will be required again in the near future. Therefore, if you have assembled kits please do not ship them to our Houston warehouse.

The very best use for your kits now is with local and regional shelters that have been spontaneously established in your area.

You could also house the kits on-site for future needs. As you know this unpredictable hurricane season won't be over for two months (November 30) and additional needs could arise quickly; your kits would be a tremendous advantage. We are readying another warehouse and will advise you on when that space comes available. The current need for kits appears to have been met so the additional assembly of these special kits is not encouraged.”

Well. I was so disappointed. After all the work that everyone did, they didn't need the kits. I really didn't want to disappoint the Sunday School kids and say we didn't mail them. I have to admit, I thought of mailing them anyway, and pretending I had done it sooner. I read on:

“As you've seen and heard on the news, due to the overwhelming scope of damage from Hurricane Katrina, the relief and recovery process for survivors and evacuees has changed daily, sometimes hourly. In some ways, it has been completely re-created.

One of the most dramatic shifts has been from national coordination of mass shelters by Red Cross and FEMA to localized initiatives by states, towns, and the faith community. Unlike past disasters, disaster survivors are now being processed and relocated to a variety of places. This has prompted us to revise our efforts — on the fly — as we try to stay ahead of their needs.

Many of you have generously offered to house displaced persons in homes, apartments, or other facilities and have registered to do so here on our Web site. Our original understanding was that families living in large temporary shelters such as the Astrodome in Houston would be identified and connected with faith communities that were offering homes and assistance; unfortunately, that has not happened with any consistency. We have advised the Red Cross and FEMA that we have host families available and anticipate that they will notify us when a home is needed. We do not know when that might be; a structure and screening process has not yet been developed to address this issue.

Here in Louisville, for example, a large convention hall outfitted to receive thousands of survivors now sits empty, because our hometown civic leaders were informed only yesterday our guests would not be coming. Many faith organizations, including Highland Presbyterian Church, contributed mightily to that effort with living spaces and related material donations.

Fortunately, these efforts won't go to waste, because they're actively looking for ways to re-direct the materials and efforts to where they're now needed locally. We need your understanding and cooperation in doing likewise.”

They go on to say we can let them know how many kits we have, and they'll let us know later where we can send them. Or we can change out a few of the items, and turn the towels into a “Gift from the Heart” kit for Church World Service. Their needs are ongoing.

So part of what we do is not contribute to creating a problem by sending too much stuff. We save our stuff for another rainy day, when we are asked to help.

One of the things we do routinely that helped people directly after the hurricane was send money to the Presbyterian Church USA. We do that with our per capita contribution. One of the jobs the national office does is house Presbytel. It's an information center. The consultants who answer the phone can tell you where to find a prayer about any topic, or a hymn, or order curriculum, or reach the moderator. Normally they get about 60 calls a day. After hurricane Katrina, it went up to 700 calls a day.

They called from phone booths and from borrowed cell phones. Many had found the PC(USA) number on a help list. Louisville is in Kentucky, 4 states away from New Orleans. Barbara, a Presbytel consultant said,  “They were calling us from highways where they had run out of gas. “We all just want to reach out through the phone and hug them — so we do what we can with our voices,”

The PresbyTel staff also has given out a wealth of information, including the numbers of Red Cross offices, PC(USA) synods and any other sources of help they can think of.

The team also has taken in a wealth of donations for the Katrina evacuees. Dee Dee Walls said many callers just wanted to know how to help.

“One of those calls was for (a donation of) $10,000,” said Walls, who has worked for PresbyTel for nearly nine years. “It was overwhelming.”

Another was from a woman nine months pregnant who had made it from New Orleans to the Fort Worth/Dallas area, where she ran out of money and was stranded.

Walls referred her to an area presbytery, but the woman couldn't get the help she needed. She called PresbyTel again, and a consultant then rang up the presbytery and got officials' attention.

“We finally got some help for this woman,” Walls said. “We made sure that each person in that presbytery knew” about her situation.

At the height of the crisis, all eight of PresbyTel's phone lines were in constant use, she said, and calls were coming in every few seconds.

The manager said  “I could not have asked for a better staff. They handled each call with concern, with compassion.” A number of volunteers and two full-time staff members who are not PresbyTel consultants helped answer the phones. Because they were there, they could help. They were there, because we are here.

Paul's letter reminds us that the work we do everyday matters. Each time we say, “No, I'm not going to earn money that way.” “Yes, I can volunteer to help with that.” “No, I'm not going to join in the bullying.” “Yes, I'm going to help the victim up.” “No, I'm not listening to this gossip.” “No, I'm not going to take these office supplies from employer.” “Yes, I'll buy my own.” “No, I'm not going to get drunk tonight.” “Yes, we can still be friends.” “I'm sorry. “ “I forgive you.”

It is these small acts of gospel life that make a big difference-- a kind word, fitly spoken. Remembering to say our prayers. Sending a card.

Sitting here in church, as a community of faith, where we come to worship God, to remember the story of God's faithfulness through the centuries, to learn about Jesus, and find out how we can be like Jesus, to be reminded of what's important in this life, so that we all can live our lives in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. It is Christ who invites us to this table.