Re-Membering Jesus

John 6:51-58

 “Re-Membering Christ”

30 August 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

            Recently a presidential candidate was asked if he ever asked God for forgiveness. He stated he hadn’t asked for forgiveness but he did routinely participate in Communion stating, “When I drink my little wine—which is about the only wine I drink—and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed.”

            As a pastor-theologian, that rankled me a bit. It made me say, wait just a second there buddy. There’s nothing “little” about communion. This isn’t some minuscule thing we celebrate here every week. Communion, Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper, however we name this sacrament, is important. The elements may appear simple, but their meaning isn’t. How can someone be so dismissive about such a powerful element of our story?

            And then I answer my own question; I can be that dismissive of the Lord’s Supper. Because it is simple and routine, we are probably all guilty of diminishing the larger actions that occur when we come to this table. We all need forgiveness, spiritual nourishment, community, grace, and a true identity. There aren’t many places where we can find everything we need, but in our Triune God we find all that we need, and this table represents that.

            So what all is going on when we come and “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood?” What does it mean to abide in Christ and him in us? What does it mean for us to come to this table and remember all that it signifies?

            We remember the fact that Christ was fully human and suffered a human death. We are forced to face the fact that he endured a horrific death following a kangaroo court convened on trumped up charges because he spoke truth to power. This meal represents the irony that Christ was sentenced to death by the very people he came to save; us. However, despite this betrayal, Christ stayed true to himself and us and went through with his death on the cross. By doing that, we are ultimately re-membered into the body of Christ and abide in him.

            We remember our own sins and our perpetual state of sin. None of us are perfect, far from it. Sometimes we forget that we are broken individuals in need of grace and this meal reminds us that all of us come to this table broken, yet loved. Sinners, yet forgiven. Sentenced, yet free. Because Christ abides in us and has re-membered the broken parts of our soul

            So this meal represents our forgiveness. Not just for some of our sins, but for them all. Without any reservation. It represents the forgiveness we all too often fail to give to each other. The Lord’s Supper reminds us of a new reality for us in which we are re-membered into a body of unconditional forgiveness.

            We remember with thanksgiving. This meal is called the Eucharist for a reason. Surprisingly the Greek word is Eucharistia, or Thanksgiving. Now, this meal wasn’t named as such by Christ the night he was betrayed. Rather, it came to be known as the Eucharist over time, but it is appropriate to call it a Thanksgiving meal. For when we reflect on the forgiveness of our sins we can’t help but express thanksgiving for the grace we have received. We are thankful that our souls are re-membered through the grace of Christ.

            This meal also points us to remember community. This meal started out a little differently than the manner in which we participate today. At first, it was a shared community meal around a table with your church family. Because of that, this meal isn’t one to be celebrated in solitude. We need each other to fully understand and appreciate this meal. By partaking of this meal as a Christian community, we are physically demonstrating the re-membering of the present Body of Christ, the church.

            We remember hospitality and equality. This table is for all Christians regardless of their background, their wealth, their health, their race, their gender, their age, or their denominational affiliation. Take a look around, we are all different and have different stories united by the story of Christ proclaimed by this table and our presence around it. We re-member the Body of Christ around this table with Christ abiding in us and us in him.

            We remember Christ’s inspiration in our lives. The story proclaimed by this table has outlasted the test of time because 12 men were inspired to spread the Good News that God became human for our salvation. These men endured death to share that story and make sure it was passed down through the generations. The same story that inspired the Apostles inspires us and we are re-membered with the original 12 in this meal.

            We remember that all we need is right here before us. This table provides all of our needs. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure there will be leftovers. When we come to this table we take all that we need to go out into the world. No matter how much or how little we take there will always be more for those that need more. Every time we come here for nourishment, it’s here waiting to feed us. Our cup runs over, even in the presence of our enemies. When we remember this abundance, we are called to live lives of abundance where we know there is plenty rather than lives of scarcity where we fear there isn’t enough.

            So as we prepare to come forward and partake of this feast, let us remember all that this meal signifies. Let us come to the table not only seeking, but also providing forgiveness. Let us remember to not always seek, but to provide out of our abundance at the same time. Let us not only remember what Christ has done for us, but let us actively strive to re-member ourselves within the Body of Christ.

Swimming With Jesus

Luke 3:15-22

 “Swimming with Jesus”

23 August 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

                        Sometimes a pastor will wonder, how do I introduce a topic as big as baptism to the congregation? Other times, a change in the worship space such as adding a very unassuming baptismal font, will catch the eye of a young girl. Moment of truth; how many of you noticed the simple font last week? Well, last week Bella noticed. She walked right up to it, put her hand in it, and then patted her head with the baptismal water as she headed back to her seat. Kids do the darndest things. But, without saying a word, they speak theology that makes us old folks stop and take notice.

            While you ponder Bella’s theological statement from last week, take a look at another young Christian making quite a theological splash. (Play Cannonball baptism video).

            We all tend to grow up with preconceived notions of what a baptism should look like. Some of us grew up seeing mostly infants trying to figure out why in the world they were dressed up in a long white robe getting water sprinkled on their foreheads by someone in a long black robe. For others, baptism brings forth a vision of people making a conscious decision to invite Christ into their lives and then getting fully immersed into a large pool like the one in the video or into a river, ocean, etc.

            Each of these visions are correct because it isn’t the form of baptism that makes the sacrament work. Baptism is best defined as an outward sign of an inward grace. And when we think about that for a moment it is freeing definition. Calling baptism an outward sign of an inward grace allows us to focus on the grace that has already been bestowed on us. So, what is this inward grace we receive in baptism and how is baptism a freeing event for a believer?

What is more graceful and freeing than the proclamation that we are wonderful and beautiful children of God? When we baptize someone regardless of their age, or the manner in which the baptism was performed, the church is publicly proclaiming that individual as part of the tribe. He is one of us. She is a child of God!

            Not only are we claimed by God as one of his children, God also tells us he is pleased with us. Now, during a baptism I’ve never had the clouds crack open and heard a voice say, “this is my beloved in whom I am well pleased.” But, based on the reactions I’ve seen I know the individual senses that acceptance and love. Again, back to kids understanding theology on a level us adults fail to grasp, look at this photo from the last baptism I had the honor to perform.

Look at young Madaline, in her white dress in front of her dad. Before I baptized her, I had a fun time trying to convince her that I was going to dump all the water in the bell on her head. Maybe that is why she seems frozen in this photo (Madaline’s baptism). Right afterwards, I baptized her little brother. Can you see her reaction in this photo? Let’s zoom in a bit on her. Look at the joy on that face. She gets it. She is on her toes cheering for her brother during his baptism. That is what a free person looks like.

The act of baptism publicly declares that the Holy Spirit is now residing in that person and has endowed them with spiritual gifts that will glorify the Lord. As we discussed a few weeks ago, it could take our entire lifetime to determine what that gift or gifts are. But, regardless of when we discover that gift, we have a purpose. The Spirit gives us that purpose and the church declares its intent to help us discover and nurture that purpose to glorify Christ.

Baptism is also a way in which we state that God is God and we are not. Truly living into this idea is a great way to free ourselves. When we give up our God complex and quit trying to be a messiah of sorts, we free ourselves to not have to fix everything. Our Western culture constantly tells us we need to fix everyone, including ourselves, right now. We aren’t equipped to fix ourselves, much less anyone else. When we live into God and let God handle the big stuff, we free ourselves to live a life that focuses on following Christ and living into the call of our baptism.

Now, don’t take this idea of letting God take care of everything as a license to sit back and let the world pass us by. Baptism doesn’t grant us permission to be passive watchers of the world. None of us are called to sit on the sidelines and watch the game. We are called into the arena of life and to play our position to our fullest. Following Christ is a full contact sport. Because of this we are free to go out and do something. Christ gives us permission to be his hands and feet in the world. As Christ’s ambassadors on Earth, we are called to build bridges and extend relationships. Neither can be accomplished by locking ourselves away from the world.

Baptism also brings us into a community. Not a community where we are all alike, as is the nature of most communities we choose. Rather, we become part of a global community of people of all races from almost every country on the globe. This community of ours is messy and beautiful at the same time. We disagree on one thing, but agree on another. While the Christian community has its internal disagreements, sometimes vehemently, when we live into our baptism we, like the universe point towards justice and reconciliation.

Being part of a loving community frees us to fail. It frees us to try big things. It frees us to love without bounds. Because we know we are supported by all of those around us and that if we fail in the attempt, there are hands to pick us back up, dust us off, nurse our pride, and then send us back out to do God’s work.

Baptism lets us symbolically participate in the death and resurrection of Christ, especially in an immersion baptism. You are immersed under the water representing a death to all that is sinful in you and the world and emerge washed clean and free of sin through a rebirth in Christ. And if you are reborn, free of the weight of punishment of sin you can make a claim to sin boldly such as Martin Luther.

Let's Pray

 

Ephesians 6:10-20

 "Let's Pray”

16 August 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

            If you are like me, you’ve probably heard or read this passage many times in your life. Paul’s vision of protecting ourselves with the whole armor of God is especially vivid. It brings forth the vision of a knight in shining armor going out to defend what they believe is good and right in the world.

            Looking at the news, or just the world around us, we know this passage is especially relevant today for we see destruction and suffering everywhere we choose to look. Understandably, we want to protect ourselves and our loved ones from every bad thing in the world. A passage like this fills us with hope that we can protect ourselves and stand up to the onslaught of the “powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

            Sometimes we read this passage as a way to build up our defenses and hunker down in our own cocoon shielded by the indestructible force field named God. Other times we read this passage as a call to arms, the Gunny saying stand up, buckle up, shuffle to the door. For there is a battle raging and we need to get out there and do our part.

            But, what if we look at this passage as a daily routine to get ourselves ready to face the world? What if this is the equivalent of waking up, getting dressed, eating breakfast, brushing our teeth, gathering everything we need for the day, and stepping out into the world? What if this is how we should continually prepare ourselves to worship everywhere?

            Truth, righteousness, proclamation, faith, and salvation. These are all the things Paul tells us we need to put on or carry to withstand the evil in the world. Wise words from a spiritual hero.

            But, as I reflect on Paul’s words here, I keep coming back to his emphasis on prayer. While all of the armor of God is important, prayer seems the thread that connects it all and keeps the armor ready for whatever it may encounter. If prayer isn’t vital to our survival, Jesus wouldn’t have taught us a certain prayer to get us started. And it is important to note that what we call the Lord’s Prayer was given during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus’ own kind of call to arms.

            There are two questions we should always ask with a spiritual practice: what it is and how do we do this practice? Let’s explore the what question first.

Many years ago, a series of questions and answers about our faith was written and a few of the questions dealt with prayer. The Larger Catechism defines prayer as, “an offering up of our desires unto God, in the name of Christ, by the help of his Spirit, with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgment of his mercies.”

I belong to the PCUSA and, in our Book of Order, we define prayer as:

“the heart of worship. In prayer, through the Holy

Spirit, people seek after and are found by the one true God who has been revealed in Jesus Christ. They listen and wait upon God, call God by name, remember God’s gracious acts, and offer themselves to God. Prayer may be spoken, sung, offered in silence, or enacted. Prayer grows out of the center of a person’s life in response to the Spirit. Prayer is shaped by the Word of God in Scripture and by the life of the community of faith. Prayer issues in commitment to join God’s work in the world.” Book of Order W-2.1001

Sometimes our needs are such that words can’t adequately express how we feel. So we use dance, song, art, poetry, etc. Or we groan on the inside. All of these are types of prayer. 

Anne Lamott, an irreverent writer who really can speak to our feelings and struggles in our walk with Christ once wrote, “Here are the two best prayers I know: ‘Help me, help me, help me,’ and ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

We may think that statement a bit simplistic, and maybe it is. But, sometimes the simple answer is the best answer. While my denomination defines 6 (not 2) categories of prayer, I think even these formal categories can boil down to Anne’s two:

Adoration-Praise God for being God

Thanksgiving-Gratitude for what God has done

Confession-Repentance for what we have done or failed to do

Supplication-Plead for ourselves and the gathered community

Intercession-Plead for others, on behalf of others and for the whole world

Self-Dedication-Offer ourselves for the purpose and glory of God.

            Now that we are all experts on how to define prayer, let’s turn to how to pray. First off, there is no one right way to pray. Prayer is messy. It looks weird from the outside. Sometimes it is orderly and formal, other times it’s off the cuff and meandering. It can be individual or corporate.

            Well thanks, Chaps you aren’t helping us out. No I’m not. And that’s because it isn’t my job to help you pray, that’s the job of the Spirit and I sure don’t want to stand in the way of something that makes an entrance with “a sound like the rush of a violent wind” filling this entire chapel with tongues of fire gifting us with many gifts including prayer.

Our friend, The Larger Catechism can guide us by describing how the Spirit is our guide in prayer saying, “We not knowing what to pray for as we ought, the Spirit helpeth our infirmities, by enabling us to understand both for whom, and what, and how prayer is to be made; and by working and quickening in our hearts (although not in all persons, nor at all times in the same measure) those apprehensions, affections, and graces, which are requisite for the right performance of that duty.”

Prayer isn’t our words, but rather inspired words. Even when we are asking for supplication, Anne Lamott’s help me, help me, help me prayers. And I’ll admit, that’s probably my most popular form of prayer. Even in what we may view as selfish moments, prayer is guided by the Spirit giving voice to our groans.

When we pray, we typically use more than one of these six categories at a time. The key to prayer is not hitting the categories or trying to pray a certain way. Paul recognized we are horrible at prayer and that we need the Spirit to interpret our prayers to God. Jesus knew we needed help so gave us a starting point. John Calvin once wrote, “Our prayers depend on no merit of our own, but all their worth and hope of success are founded and depend on the promises of God.” The point is not how you pray or what form you use, but that you pray and maintain that contact with God.

            So let’s explore some different prayers. Typically, us Christians find ourselves uttering formal prayers in worship and using laid back and shorthand language at home. Because of the wide variety of language in prayer, let’s have a little audience response. I’m going to read some prayers and we’ll see if we can determine who wrote, said, or even sung these prayerful words.

“In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die. Where you invest your love, you invest your life.” (Mumford and Sons)

 “Make us instruments of your peace, where there is hatred, let us sow love.” (attributed to St. Francis of Assisi)

“My feets is tired, but my soul is at rest.” (Rosa Parks)

“O Lord, break the internet forever, that she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers.” (Tina Fey)

“May the angels protect you, trouble neglect you.

And heaven accept you when it’s time to go home” (Lady Antebellum is one of many to sing this song)

            “You held me down, but I got up already brushing off the dust. You hear my voice, you hear that sound like thunder gonna shake the ground.” (Katy Perry)

            “I’m not trying to stop a hurricane, I’m not trying to part the ocean waves. I’m just trying to find a way to make it back home.” (American Authors)

            As these examples show, prayer is our speaking to God in the best way we know how. But, prayer isn’t always spoken. Here’s a video of a prayer done as a group movement to a song some here may find familiar. (Share the Well).

Prayer doesn’t have to be something that takes energy or movement, it can be sitting in silence waiting to hear the still small voice of God. How we pray is not the point, the point is that we do pray.

            When asked about how to learn the arts, and prayer is definitely an art, David McCullough, the author of books such as John Adams and 1776 states, “The great thing about the arts is that you can only learn to do it by doing it. And if a child gets that idea early, that that’s how you learn things, by doing it, that may be the most important thing you give them.”

Or, in the immortal words of the sage prophet Yoda, “do or do not, there is no try.”

So let us leave here today committed to prayer. It’s definitely something that could use some work and dedication in my own life. Prayer is a practice, which means we may never totally feel comfortable praying. That’s ok, God knows what we’re trying to say even if we aren’t sure. We just need to commit to the act of prayer in whatever way best allows our heart to speak with God.

Worship Everywhere

Here is the sermon from yesterday at the chapel. Sorry it didn't go up last night, I was busy watching Singapore celebrate their 50th birthday. What a party!

Psalm 100

 “Worship Everywhere”

09 August 2015 St. Andrew’s Chapel Singapore

For the next few weeks, my sermons will provide glimpses into my theology and where I see us heading over the next few years. At times these may seem idealistic and unreachable goals. That’s ok. If anything I ever say touches a theological nerve in you let me know and we can chat over a cup of coffee (or glass of soda for those weirdoes like me who don’t drink ground beans).

So, let’s start with a simple question: Why are we here? And I don’t mean the large metaphysical why but rather why are we here to worship? For many, that is a simple because mom or dad made me come. But why do our parents drag us to church (hopefully we’ll be a community where we don’t feel drug to worship)? And even that has a fairly simple answer, because in passage such as the one I just read God tells us to worship. And we always do what God says, right? So maybe the right question isn’t why do we worship, but what exactly is worship?

Psalm 100 is a great example of what it means to worship. We find there are six imperatives within the Hebrew that tell us how to worship. For those of you looking around wondering what in the world an imperative is, it is a command. And don’t feel bad because this engineer had to relearn all of that stuff they taught me in English when I learned Hebrew in seminary.

The Psalm gives us six one word commands regarding what it means to worship. Shout, Come, Worship/Serve, Know, Praise/Give Thanks, and Bless. For once, God breaks this whole following him thing down Barney style. Can it really be that simple? Let’s take a look at each of these and see.

Shout! Worship excites us about our faith. We are to shout our faith from the mountaintops. We tell people when they ask, but use our lives as the reason they ask.

Come! We are called to worship as a group. We can have worshipful moments alone, but we need others to truly experience the power of worship. Matt. 18:20 “Wherever two are three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Coming together in Christ’s name draws him into the worship making the worship perfect. Community gives encouragement, prayer, support, role models and teachers. Coming together shows us we aren’t in this alone. God knows we can’t succeed in this new way of life alone. Plus, we need each other to make worship work because each of us bring a bounty of gifts that enhance each other’s worship experience.

Worship/Serve! Sitting at God’s feet in a room of other believers we learn we are God’s. God is God and we are not. By serving God we acknowledge there is a higher purpose to our being alive. If we focus on ourselves as the center of all things, we’ll never find that purpose.

Know! We worship in order to learn, and not just from the pastor. Pastors don’t have all the answers. The Word of God is our teacher as it is read and interpreted through others. Again, a community is needed to learn and know of God. We ask ?’s of each other, challenge each other and thus dig deeper into our faith and know more. Worship allows us to know a new story that the world won’t tell you. Worship allows us to know our part in the larger story of God both individually and collectively. Knowing this story opens a new pattern of life that will seem at odd to the world because we know that we aren’t the focus of life.

Praise/Give Thanks! In worship we express our thanksgiving for leading a different and renewed life through the grace of God. Our prayers allow us to directly thank God in words. We learn to respond to God’s Word through our actions. Sometimes we are inspired to give financial resources as a means of praise for God’s impact on our life.

Bless! We are called to leave this place and bless the world as part of our worship. This command tells us to take our worship beyond the walls and that worship continues all week long. These services are a recharge so we can go and live into our original call given through Abraham. In Genesis 12 God says: “I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.” We are blessed to go and be a blessing to the world. We are commanded to take worship into the world. We are tasked to worship everywhere. (Play video clip).

What if we took not just improv comedy into the world in creative ways, but what would it look like to worship everywhere?

Over the next few years, let us do our best to worship everywhere. That doesn’t mean that we have to go out and be street preachers. In fact, that could get us in a whole heap of trouble here in Singapore. What we are called to do is to live our lives in a way that we are always a source of worship.

Shout may look like one who is excited about life, living in such a way that people see the joy in everything you do. Come could be that you are always looking for new ways to be a community or that you are exploring ways to deepen your commitment to a particular community such as this wonderful group of people, or even your office mates. We are relational and need others to fully thrive, so we should go out and embrace that facet of our lives.

Knowing plays itself out in reading the Word outside of worship or group Bible study. Those are important, but we need to study on our own as well as read a variety of things where we see God at work. Even fiction has God in there as the Bible has inspired and is a part of so many works of fiction throughout the ages.

We’ll talk more about our call to serve in a few weeks, but that is more than just helping others. It revolves around our knowledge that we are serving the goals and plan of something greater than ourselves, something greater than the military. Praise and give thanks is something we’ll dig deeper into next week as we explore prayer, but we are called to find the best in others. Let us always live a life full of prayer and thanksgiving in the fact that we serve an awesome God.

Because of all of the above commands, we are allowed to be a blessing to the world. We can operate in a way that the tribulations of the world, while significant and burdensome don’t win. Christ has already won and we are the instruments to spread that blessing to the world.

This is how we become members of the gospel troupe Worship Everywhere. Let us take the lessons of Psalm 100 out into the world so that everyone sees our worship not in our words but in our actions, in our demeanor, in our being.

When we do this and take worship into the world, there is a good chance that something amazing will happen. We will become people who see God’s blessing all around us, we’ll see God’s hand at work in all of creation. Because we are worshipping everywhere we’ll see God everywhere. (Show Instagram photo). We’ll even see God at play in a opening door. This photo is from the Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation during Lent with #rethinkchurch. The caption reads, “The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it.”

Let’s not confine our worship to this beautiful chapel. Worship is more than music, or prayers, or silence, or reading the Bible. Worship should be the core of our living. So, as you go about the week and see something that you find sacred and worshipful, take a photo and send it to me through one of the ways on the screen. And yes, your chaplain is on Twitter and Instagram.

Use #worshipeverywhere and we’ll incorporate those into our worship experiences. Live tweet our services. I’m working on getting WiFi in here to facilitate that, but give me some time.

For many Christians the idea of having a “liturgical chaplain” is a bit scary. Many people are skeptical of liturgy for fear that it makes church feel like a stuffy service from the frozen chosen of the Presbyterians (and yes, I can pick on them because they are my people). But, I want you to provide me a bit of grace and space to briefly explain the structure of this new worship format and hopefully make liturgy a word that you love.

Liturgy provides a form to our worship time. How we follow that form is meant to be fluid, allowing space for the Spirit to move in our worship and in our lives. By providing a repetitive structure each week, we provide ourselves with space to practice out our faith so that we can take a strengthened faith out into the world and, like our comedic friends we met today, truly worship everywhere.

If we look at the order or worship, there are four movements to our worship, and all of the elements under each movement relate. When we arrive, we gather as a community offering praise and thanks to God through prayer, song, and greeting each other in the name of Christ. Soon we’ll add a prayer of confession into our gathering movement. This sets our frame of mind for what comes next, our proclamation of God’s Word where we can hear, or maybe see, Scripture and then meditate on how we can apply that word to our lives.

After hearing God’s word, we are called to respond to that word in a variety of ways. We’ll sing, offer our time, talent, and treasure, proclaim our faith, pray for God’s help in living out our calling, and participate in sacraments. Finally, we will take the world into the world so we can #worshipeverywhere. We do this by singing together and receiving a blessing on our way.

If comedy can work everywhere, we can take this liturgy, this basic structure for telling the greatest story ever and apply it to anytime we gather together for worship and study and let it soak into our lives so that it structures how we live every day. Gathering together as brothers and sisters in Christ, opening ourselves to hearing God’s word and seeing the worshipful moments all around us, then discerning how to apply that word, or object lesson into our lives, and finally, blessing the rest of the world with that worshipful moment. When we let the liturgy of worship guide the entirety of our lives, then we truly are a community that worships everywhere, because God is everywhere.

Sermon: Finding Our Story

Ephesians 4:1-16

 “Finding Our Story”

02 August 2015 St. Andrew’s Military Chapel Singapore

There is so much to this passage, but that is what we’ve all come to expect from Paul. Letters to congregations chock full of theology. Before we dig a little deeper into these words I want to sum everything up right now. I need your help to make this whole church thing work. Together WE, every single one of us here today from the newest baby to the crustiest Master Chief, make up the Body of Christ and are how people come to know Christ in his material absence. Through grace we all have been given gifts with which to radiate Christ’s love to the world.

The church in Ephesus was divided with people doing their own thing so these words ring true to the individualistic culture in which we find ourselves. The world, especially the military, tells us to get ours. Step on others for promotions. Take advantage of people when you can because it’s their fault they are naïve or don’t know the way things work. The cashier gave you too much change, you just got one over on the man. Finder’s keepers.

Paul says, wait just a second. As Christians we all follow the same Lord, have the same faith, received the same baptism, and were all endowed with gifts to make this whole thing work. Because of this we aren’t here to mimic the world, but rather to be in the world as Christ’s ambassadors to a broken and fractured world. Our faith, our baptism comes with a responsibility not just for our selves, but extends to our families, our friends, our neighbors, our communities, our nation, the world. Not only that, we are expected to lovingly speak the truth of Christ to the world. 

Now, when we look at the world it would be easy to throw our hands up in the air and say there is too much to do, too much pain, too much suffering, too much corruption, too much. And if Christ had looked upon only one of us and said, “Hey you, yeah you. You look like a smart woman who will represent me well to the world. I want you to fix everything you see wrong in the world. Go forth and do good things in my name.” We’d have reason to say it’s too much.

However, Paul tells us it isn’t on any single individual. The Spirit resides in all believers of Christ and blesses each of us with a gift or gifts that will glorify God in the presence of the world. We aren’t in this alone. We are in this together.

There is a rich diversity in Christ, one that we tend to overlook to our detriment. If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m new here so I don’t know the breadth and beauty of the diversity upon which I see right now. And I’m not talking about the standard Navy definition of diversity. Sorry, I mean military diversity. It’ll take me a while to get used to being at a Navy command that has Soldiers, Airmen, and Coastguardsmen. And I’m not talking about the typical visions of gender and race we see when we hear the word diversity.

I’m talking about a rich diversity of gifts that provide the stunning, Newberry Award winning illustrations that bring the most amazing story ever told to life in such detail that one can’t help but want to enter into the story. Our specific gifts make Christianity a page-turner that every other piece of literature copies in some form or another. When we truly embrace our gifts we show the world what it can be and we see echoes of this in some of the greatest art and literature throughout the centuries.

Some of you are looking at me thinking this new chaplain is totally off his rocker. Over the next few years I will more often than not prove that to be a fairly accurate assessment. However, I’m just telling you what Paul is saying. Each of us has a specific purpose in life that is gifted upon us by the grace of God through the Holy Spirit. Discovering just what that is can take us a lifetime and is part of what makes following Christ, and frankly life, so interesting and frustrating.

So, how do we determine the gift or gifts the Spirit infused into our souls? That may be the question of our lives. There is a fancy theological word for how we go about figuring out our place in the world and what we are called to do on behalf of God: discernment. In other words, finding our individual story within God’s larger story.

Finding our story as individuals and the collective story of St. Andrew’s Chapel can prove harder than it sounds. That is why the Navy has sent Glen and myself to this wonderful community. We are here to sit in community with everyone and help discover those stories by listening to and telling your stories. But, Glen and I aren’t the only ones tasked with that job.

We all need to pay attention and listen to individual stories and look for where those stories fit into God’s story and plan for our individual lives and the collective story of Christianity. If we try to do this alone, we run the risk of making God’s story the story we choose. So, we have to help each other tell and hear God’s story each and everyday.

Now that is a tall task and we have every right to ask, “How do we ever learn how to listen for God’s story amongst the noise of our own making and that of society?” Well, I’m glad you are asking such insightful questions. That is what the church is for. Whenever we gather as a community, be that two or thousands, this is a learning laboratory. And this is where I need your help.

Because this space, this congregation is a laboratory of learning and discovering how our story fits into God’s story, we need to explore. So, if you have a talent, a gift given in grace, we want to hear about it, we want to see it in action. If you want to explore how dance can benefit worship, we’ll make space for you in worship. Are you a technological genius? Well, we can use you in recording and getting sermons on a podcast for our brothers and sisters underway or on travel. Unlike me, do you have an angelic voice and want to offer that gift to God? Then let us know and we’ll allow that offering in this space.

Do you find yourself artistic? Can you see Christ in everyday things and have the ability to capture that on film? These walls are looking pretty bare and could use some worshipful images to help us meet God in this space. Do you have a heart for service? We’ll start doing some congregational community service events and you can lead one. Have you always wanted to teach Sunday School or work with youth? Then you are truly a saint and Glen and I will ensnare you quickly. If you are a thinker and planner and have ideas of other ways we can hear each other’s stories and place them in God’s story, let me know.

Now, don’t think that you have to be an expert in these areas to offer that gift to this community and thus God. Even if you aren’t sure of a certain gift and you want to explore that in a safe place, this community is where you will be able to see where your story fits into God’s story. Because, in here, grace abounds. You have the freedom to fail.

Sometimes it takes a lot of crumpled paper and frustration before we stumble upon the story arc God has crafted for us. That is why God needs each and every person here today (and even those who couldn’t make it today). Together we’ll stumble along and support each other in finding the narrative that was crafted, the path that was cleared for each of us. We’re in this together. We are the Body of Christ, doing his work with our bodies and telling his story through our stories.

The only thing that matters is doing the best with the gift and talents we have been given. I want you to take a few moments and listen to a song written by a guy named Si Kahn that beautifully describes living into the story we received from the Spirit. And feel free to sing along with the chorus, which will be on the screen. (Play Song)

Discernment, just like story telling, is hard, it’s frustrating, it’s scary, it’s unpredictable. But, when you find your calling you’ll know and it will change the world. Maybe not on a grand scale, but will change yourself, your family, your neighbors, your community, this congregation. People will have no choice but to see Christ radiating from you and will want to hear your story and be a part of God’s story.

New Beginnings

So, now that I am officially living in Singapore and am one of two US chaplains in country, this blog will most likely focus on two things: me living here in Singapore and all this amazing country has to offer and also as a way to communicate sermons and events from St. Andrew's Military Chapel to sailors who are deployed in our area or those from my command that are on travel. As this remains a personal endeavor, nothing posted here is official in any way, shape, or form, but rather a way to reach a few more people than those sitting in the pews each week.