Sharing Our Love of God

May the spirit of God infuse my words and carry them forth with God’s purpose.  Amen.

“O Lord, how manifold are your works! In wisdom you have made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.”

Last week we I asked you to name some things that are important to you about this church; some things that you love.  Here is what you came up with.

This church is intimate.  Everyone knows everyone else.

This church is a focal point in the community.  With all of the baptisms, weddings and funerals that have taken place here over the years, almost everyone in this community is connected in some way to this church.

This church is a peaceful place.  If you come inside and just sit for a bit, you can feel God’s presence.

I’m sure that over the past week, some of you have thought of some other things that you love about this church.  I would love to add them to the list.

 

“Yonder is the sea, great and wide, creeping things innumerable are there, living things both small and great.  There go the ships, and Leviathan that you formed for to sport in it.  These all look to you to give them food in due season: when you give it to them, they gather it up: when you open your hand, they are filled with good things.”

What I love about this church is that I am spiritually fed by what we do here each Sunday.  When we worship together, when we break the bread and share in the eucharist, I feel the peace that comes from listening to God’s call.

 

“When you hide your face, they are dismayed; when you take away their breath, they die and return to their dust.”

These things that we have listed, these things that we love about this church, the reason that we love them is that they are God’s face revealed to us.  Fellowship, community, peace, worship … these are all things that God calls us to share.  They are important things.  In this place, God’s face is not hidden.  Halleluia!

But what about the rest of the time?  When we go out from here and lock the door after us?  Where is God’s face then?

“When you send forth your spirit, they are created; and you renew the face of the ground.” 

Today is Pentecost.  Today is the day that God sent out his spirit upon the earth in such abundance that people began to speak in tongues.  Today is a special day for celebrating the individual gifts that we have each been given.  We have all been abundantly blessed with gifts of the spirit.

“May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works – who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.”

God’s gifts have been given to us with a purpose.  We are all here because we hear God’s call.  We are all here because we know that God has a purpose for us and for our gifts. 

But what is our purpose?

“I will sing to the lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.”

We are called to be intimate with one another and with those around us.

We are called to be a unifying force in our community.

We are called to share the peace of God with all that we meet, whether here in this place or outside in the rest of creation.

We are called to break bread together and to praise God for the wonderful things that God has done.

These are all things that we know how to do.  We do them very well here in this place.  Now we just need to figure out how to do them better out there.

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, Praise the Lord!