Canton Community Baptist Church
Twenty-fourth Sunday After Pentecost
October 30, 2016
​Arts Sunday

We Gather as God’s People
Prelude & Preparation for Worship
Welcome & Call to Worship:  #64  Praising God of Many Names
*Opening Hymn:  #70  God Is Love, Let Heaven Adore Him
*Prayer of Invocation & Lord’s Prayer (#632 in hymnal)
*Greeting One Another in Christ
Heavenbound:  Three Wooden Crosses, by Randy Travis
Announcements

We Proclaim God’s Word
Bible Reading:  Romans 3:21-26  (p. 1750)
Contemporary Reading:  “Sinner,” from Amazing Grace:  A Vocabulary of Grace, by Kathleen Norris
Dance:  “The Serpent”
Responding to Our Sin:  #457  Prayer of Confession
Bible Reading:  Genesis 28:10-17  (p. 43)
Contemporary Reading:  “Grace,” from Amazing Grace:  A Vocabulary of Grace, by Kathleen Norris
Song:  Break Every Chain, by William Reagan
Responding to God’s Grace:  #69  God’s Love and Mercy
Worship Choir:  The Eternal Gifts of Christ the King, arr. Henry Ley
Children & Youth Time

We Respond to God’s Word
Sharing Celebrations & Concerns
Pastoral Prayer 
Organ Response
Invitation to the Offering:  Hunter’s Chorus, by Weber arr. Suzuki
*Doxology (#809 in hymnal)
*Prayer of Dedication
*Organ Response

We Go Forth to Serve
*Closing Hymn:  #519  It Is Well With My Soul
*Benediction
Postlude
​
* Please stand as you are able.

Canton Community Baptist Church
Fourth Sunday After Epiphany
January 29, 2017
Arts Sunday

We Gather as God’s People
Prelude & Preparation for Worship
Welcome & Call to Worship  (insert)
*Opening Hymn:  486  There’s a Wideness in God’s Mercy
*Prayer of Invocation & Lord’s Prayer (#632 in hymnal)
*Greeting One Another in Christ
Heavenbound:  Our God, by Redman, Myrin, Tomlin, and Reeves

We Proclaim God’s Word
Old Testament Reading:  Micah 6:1-8  (insert)
Song:  Redeemed, by Nicole Mullen
Unison Psalm Reading:  Psalm 15  (insert)
Poem:  “The Face of Christ,” from Under the Fig Tree:  Visual Prayers and Poems for Lent, by Roger Hutchison
Epistle Reading:  1 Corinthians 1:18-31  (insert)
Worship Choir
Gospel Reading:  Matthew 5:1-12  (insert)
Hymn:  #603  O How Blest Are the Poor in Spirit
Contemporary Reading:  “Beatitudes,” from Whistling in the Dark:  A Doubter’s Dictionary, by Frederick Buechner
Spirit Time:  Time for those moved by the Holy Spirit in the moment to worship and praise God

We Respond to God’s Word
Sharing Celebrations & Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
Organ Response
Invitation to the Offering
*Doxology (#809 in hymnal)
*Prayer of Dedication
*Organ Response

We Go Forth to Serve
*Closing Hymn:  #603  O How Blest Are the Poor in Spirit
*Closing Pledge:  #572  Responsive Act of Submission
*Benediction
Postlude
​
* Please stand as you are able.

Canton Community Baptist Church
Third Sunday of Easter
Arts Sunday
April 30, 2017

We Gather as God’s People
Prelude & Preparation for Worship
Welcome & Call to Worship  (insert)
*Opening Hymn:  #248  He Lives
*Prayer of Invocation & Lord’s Prayer (#632 in hymnal)
*Greeting One Another in Christ
Heavenbound:  Jesus in Disguise, by Brandon Heath, Ross Copperman, and Lee Miller
Announcements

We Proclaim God’s Word
Acts Reading:  Acts 2:14a, 36-41  (1692 & 1694)
Poem:  The Word, by Isaac Wimberly
Unison Psalm Reading:  Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19  (p. 955)
Worship Choir:  Now the Green Blade Riseth, arr. Alan Bullard
Epistle Reading:  1 Corinthians 15:1-11  (p. 1789)
Unison Reading:  #466  These Are the Facts 
Gospel Reading:  Luke 24:13-35  (p. 1642)
Skit:  “The People’s Court:  The State Against the Followers of Jesus Christ,” by Lucia LeConey
Song:  What If, by Nichole Nordeman

We Respond to God’s Word
Sharing Celebrations & Concerns
Pastoral Prayer
Organ Response
Invitation to the Offering
*Doxology (#809 in hymnal)
*Prayer of Dedication
*Organ Response

We Go Forth to Serve
*Closing Hymn:  #255  Good Christians All, Rejoice
*Benediction
Postlude

* Please stand as you are able.

The Priesthood of All Believers
(Acts 6:1-6; Psalm 110:1-4; 1 Peter 2:2-10; John 14:1-14)
 
Last week the sermon was about what makes a church successful.  Acts 2:42-47 taught us that the first church had six characteristics:  Bible study, fellowship, communion, prayer, worship, and generosity.  These are the essential characteristics of a successful church.  This week we will learn that every member of a church is a priest.  Not everyone wears a priest’s collar or robe, not everyone baptizes or serves communion, not everyone preaches or prays publicly, but ALL are priests.  We are Christians, disciples of Jesus Christ, so we are priests.
 
The biblical basis for the understanding that all Christians are priests comes mainly from 1 Peter 2:9: 

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” 

The belief that all Christians are priests is called “the priesthood of all believers.”  It is a central belief in the American Baptist tradition.  Jesus Christ, through his life, death, and resurrection, once and for all did away with the separation between God and human beings.  In his life, he taught us how to live in communion with God and with our fellow human beings through the two greatest commandments.  In his death, Jesus broke the power of sin and evil by his sacrificial obedience to the way of God and the will of God unto death, “even death on a cross” (Phil 2:8).  In this way, he restored the possibility of communion with God (what is often referred to as atonement).  In his resurrection, Jesus revealed that the way of God is the way of life.  As Paul states in his letter to the Romans, not even death “can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:39).  We have no need of priests separate from all believers because Jesus, as high priest, is all we need.  Hebrews 5:7-9 states: 

“Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.” 

As Jesus breathed his last and died on the cross, the curtain in the temple that separated the Holy of Holies from the people was torn in two, signifying that God and God’s people were no longer separate, and that all who desire to do so have direct access to God through Jesus Christ, our high priest. 
 
The priesthood of all believers is described in the brochure, “Ten Facts About American Baptists,” which states,

“American Baptists believe that the committed individual Christian can and should approach God directly . . .  [They] hold that all who truly seek God are both competent and called to develop in that relationship.  They have rejected creeds or other statements that might compromise each believer’s obligation to interpret Scripture under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and within the community of faith.  
(By the way, the contents of that brochure is on our church website under the tab, “Believe,” in case you want to read it.)
 
If all disciples of Jesus Christ are priests, then why do we need professional clergy to lead us?  This is a legitimate question.  The truth is, we don’t have to have professional clergy.  Any disciple could do what professional clergy do.  He could visit and pray with the sick.  She could serve communion.  He could lead a worship service.  She could preach.  He could baptize.  She could officiate at a funeral service.  One of the reasons we have professional clergy lead us is so that we have trained people lead us, people who have studied the Bible in depth, learned the history of Christianity, been taught how to put a sermon together and preach it, practiced crafting a worship service, learned how to navigate a hospital, had psychological testing to verify their psychological stability, and so on.  We have professional clergy for the same reason we have professional teachers, or professional musicians, or professional electricians, and so on.
 
Another reason we have professional clergy is related to spiritual gifts.  Those who become professional ministers have (hopefully) the gifts required to do the things that professional clergy do.  They have church leadership ability not only because they are trained ministers, but because they were given that gift by the Spirit.
 
The difference then, between laity and clergy is not hierarchical, but functional.  All are priests, but they express their priesthood through different functions in the church.  The functions of the professional clergy are preaching, teaching, administering,[1] nurturing faith life, and designing and leading worship.  Lay members of the church may do some of these things, too, but not to the extent that the professional minister does them.  Chairs of boards and committees will administer; Sunday School teachers will teach and nurture faith; and members of the church may participate in leading worship and, even, preach, on occasion (as, for example, Jon does).  But the pastor takes a leading role in “equip[ping] the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:12) in these ways.  Lay people may do some of the things professional clergy do, but they are not responsible in the same way that clergy are for those things.
 
Even so, lay people are not off the hook!  They, as well as clergy, are priests!  We all are called to serve God with the gifts we have been given by the Spirit for the work of ministry and the building up of the body of Christ.  The only difference is that we do so through different gifts and thus have different functions.  We can see this in the passage read today from Acts.  As the number of disciples increased, the Twelve (the original 11 disciples and Matthias, who replaced Judas) weren’t able to do everything there was to do.   The Greek converts complained that their widows were being overlooked in favor of the Hebrew widows in the daily distribution of food.  (The disciples of Jesus were faithfully taking care of the “least of these” by making sure widows, who were vulnerable in the patriarchal society of that time because they didn’t have husbands, had food to eat.)  The Twelve felt that their main role was to the ministry of the word of God and to prayer, not the distribution of food.  They were the ordained clergy of their time and felt they needed to focus on preaching, teaching, and prayer.  So they gathered all the disciples together and chose seven from among them that were full of the Spirit and wisdom.  These seven would take over the distribution of the food.  Then the apostles laid hands on them and prayed over them.  The “pastors” were free to do the work they were called to do, and the “lay” people were free to do the work they were called to do. 
 
We are all priests, called to “proclaim the mighty acts of him who called [us] out of darkness into his marvelous light” (Peter 2:9).  We have “tasted that the Lord is good” (Peter 2:4) and we “long for the pure, spiritual milk” by which we may “grow into salvation” (Peter 2:2).  We are “living stones” being built into a “spiritual house,” which is our church (Peter 2:4-5).  We have received mercy and are now to give that mercy to the world in the various ways the Spirit has gifted us (Peter 2:10).
 
I’d like to share the story of a way I feel that God’s mercy flowed through me and to me this year.  This past Thursday, I completed a semester of tutoring at the Gateway Community College (GCC) Writing Center.  I took on this job because my family needed the money I would make at it.  I know how to write and have taught students before, so it seemed like a good way for me to use the talents God gave me to contribute to my family’s financial needs.  Even though I had some apprehension about taking on 12 hours of work and commuting time in addition to everything else I do professionally and personally, I felt like I could handle it. 
 
The semester began in late January.  I tutored all kinds of students working on all kinds of writing projects.  I learned about subjects I didn’t know about through their papers, which I found interesting.  I was exposed, also, to these students’ lives:  their dreams, desires, struggles, accomplishments, and so on.  There is a wide variety of students that attend GCC.  Some of them and their stories have stayed with me, including:

• the young woman from Iran who wrote a paper about the oppression of women in her country.
• the young man from England who was lonely in a new country and who was wondering if he should just go back home.
• the retired police officer who is getting a degree in Drug and Alcohol Counseling because he is struggling with how to help his son who is a heroin and crack cocaine addict. He also has a daughter who was diagnosed with breast cancer and is recovering from a double mastectomy.
• the young man with a disability who is struggling to learn how to write correctly.
• the many, many ESL students who work hard to communicate correctly in a language that is not their original language: from Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Central and South America, the Philippines, and Europe.
• the middle-aged woman with a chronic illness who has a passion for healthy eating and wrote numerous papers about the food industry.
• the young woman who returned to school despite wondering if she would be successful at a career change.
• the middle-aged man who had lost his job and was retraining and hoping for a new career.

 
My exposure to all these people from all walks of life and all places made me reflect on the beauty of our country's ideal laid out in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  It also brought to mind the words on the Statue of Liberty: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”  All these people I met with; all seeking life, liberty, and happiness; all working hard to achieve those things; all struggling with their own challenges and difficulties; some tired, some poor, all yearning.  Although I was, often, tired and, at times, challenged when working with the students, I realized I was grateful for the opportunity to participate in their lives in a small measure and contribute to each of their dreams a tiny bit.  It was glorious to see what our country and its institutions can give to the "huddled masses" that live here. 
 
By taking on this extra job, God’s mercy flowed through me to them and through them to me.  They received writing tutoring and a sympathetic ear, and I received knowledge about subjects, exposure to life around the globe, and a deepened appreciation for what the country I call home can do for the “least of these” who are either born here or immigrate here.  I’m happy to have completed the semester and be able to use those 12 hours to do others things I need or want to do, but I’m grateful God was working alongside me while I did the job.
 
Wherever we are, whatever we are doing, we are ALL priests.  Although we don’t all wear a collar or a robe, we must remember that we carry the love and grace of God with us wherever we go.  We can bless or curse each moment, each interaction we have – whether it is with a clerk in a store, a beloved family member, or a student at the local community college – for we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, who have the honor and responsibility to proclaim the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.  Amen.
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson at the Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, Sunday, May 14, 2017, the Fifth Sunday of Easter.

[1] Bartlett, David.  Ministry in the New Testament, Minneapolis:  Fortress Press, 1993, 193.

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The First Church
(Acts 2:42-47; Psalm 23; 1 Peter 2:19-25; John 10:1-10)
 
For those who care about such things, much can be said about what a successful church looks like.  We Christians can discuss this topic endlessly.  Included in the discussions are opinions about:

• Membership:  the number of members, the number of active members, the number of inactive members, the number of new members, the number of new Christians, the number of baptisms, not enough young adults, not enough families, too many older people
• Preaching:  biblical preaching, topical preaching, justice preaching, political preaching, short sermons, long sermons, boring sermons
• Sunday School:  Sunday school for children, Sunday school for youth, Sunday school for adults, Bible study
• Programs:  not enough programs, not enough people for programs, too many programs, no programs
• Music:  traditional music, contemporary music, rock music, folk music, electronic music, organ music
• Sanctuary:  too cold, too hot, uncomfortable pews, unmovable pews, movable pews, chairs instead of pews, stained glass, clear glass, too big, too small
• Children in worship:  good thing, bad thing, don’t care as long as they sit quietly
• Community outreach:  church doesn’t do enough in the community, church dominates the community, church doesn’t do the correct things for the community
• Fellowship:  church is welcoming, church isn’t welcoming, not enough gatherings, too many gatherings
• And so on . . .

 
We can endlessly discuss what makes a successful church, and we can agree and disagree about it, but the scripture passage from the Acts of the Apostles today gives us the description of the first church and the characteristics are really quite simple.  There are just a few.
 
First, we read, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching . . .” (42).  At that time, there was no Bible, so the first Christians devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings.  Today, we would call that Bible study.  Characteristic #1 is Bible study.
 
Second, we read, “They devoted themselves to . . . fellowship . . .” (42).  Gathering together was necessary because, where two or three are gathered in his name, there Jesus is (Mt 18:20).  Characteristic #2 is fellowship.
 
Third, we read, “They devoted themselves to . . . breaking bread . . .” (42).  Eating together was part of what the first Christians did.  Remember, when Jesus met the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they didn’t recognize him until they broke bread together?  We experience the risen Christ when we break bread together, which we now call “celebrating communion.”  Characteristic #3 is celebrating communion together.
 
Fourth, we read, “They devoted themselves to . . . prayers” (42).  Praying together was essential.  Prayer is how we connect to both God and each other.  The two parts of the cross – vertical and horizontal – take shape spiritually when we pray.  The connection goes both up and out.  Characteristic #4 is prayer.
 
Fifth, we read, “Awe came upon everyone . . .” (43).  Other words for awe are “reverence” and “wonder.”  The first Christians revered God and were full of wonder at what God had done throughout salvation history.  There was a sense of gratitude and thanksgiving among them.  Today, we experience and express those things in and through worship.  Characteristic #5 is worship.
 
Sixth, we read, “All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need” (44-45).  The first Christians would share their wealth among them so everyone’s needs were met.  They attended to each other, not only through fellowship and prayer, but through money.  They were generous.  Our church does this through the Fellowship Fund (which you can contribute to today).  Characteristic #6 is generosity.
 
The first church had these six characteristics:  Bible study, fellowship, communion, prayer, worship, and generosity.  These six characteristics created a community of spiritual and material abundance, a community to which all were welcome.  In the gospel reading today from John, Jesus states, “I came so that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (10:10).  The first church offered abundant life to all who desired it.  According to the first church, only these six characteristics make a church successful, because these six characteristics create a community of spiritual and material abundance.  The description of the first church teaches us that a church doesn’t have to be or do anything more than these six things to be a successful church.  It’s really quite simple. 
 
As we wonder and, even, worry about the future of the Church, in general, and this church, in particular, it is comforting to realize that all we have to do to be a successful church are these six things, which are six things we are doing already and will continue to do, God willing!  It’s simple, really:  study the Bible together, gather together, celebrate communion together, pray together, worship together, and be generous together.  The key word is “together,” which makes sense because, where two or three are gathered, there Jesus is, and where Jesus is, there is life abundant.  Amen.
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson, Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, May 7, 2017, the Fourth Sunday of Easter.

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The Peace That Passes Understanding
(Psalm 16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31)
 
The Gospel According to John scripture passage read today contains no less than three times when Jesus says to his disciples, “Peace be with you.”  He says this after he miraculously appears among them despite the locked door (19); after he shows them his hands and side, where the wounds from the crucifixion and stabbing are, and they rejoice that it is truly him (21); and, a week later, when they are again gathered behind closed doors and he appears miraculously among them so that he can show Thomas what the other disciples have seen (26).  In the space of 12 verses of scripture, Jesus says to his disciples, “Peace be with you,” three times.  That’s a lot of peace being given to them!
 
The first time Jesus gave his disciples peace was at the last supper.  In John 14:27, he states, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” 
 
In both John 14 and John 20, the peace that Jesus gives is linked to the Holy Spirit.  In John 14, before he gives his peace to the disciples, he tells them, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you” (16).  And in John 20, after he gives them his peace, he gives them the Holy Spirit, breathing on them and saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (22).
 
Peace goes hand in hand with discipleship.  When we become disciples of Jesus, we receive his peace through the Holy Spirit.  It is his gift to us.  The thing is, however, we often have to grow into the peace he gives.  We may not be able to experience it fully and at all times, particularly when we are new disciples.  The seed of peace is planted in us, but it has to be nurtured, watered, and fed in order to grow into a mature plant that blossoms in our hearts and minds.
 
When Jesus first gave his peace to his disciples, he told them that he gives to them not as the world gives.  The world gives that which is temporary, fleeting, and corruptible.  It gives, and then it takes away.  It gives, and then what it gives decays.  Because of the nature of what the world gives, we feel anxious, worried, and troubled.  We may have enough money today, but will we have enough tomorrow?  We may have enough food today, but will we have enough tomorrow?  We may be alive today, but will we be alive tomorrow?  We may be healthy today, but will we be healthy tomorrow?  Today is a good day, but will tomorrow be a bad day?  You get the idea. 
 
But Jesus doesn’t give as the world gives.  Jesus gives as God gives, and God is the opposite of the world:  unchanging, eternal, and timeless.  Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 22:13), and it is to him that we belong. We live in the world, but are not of the world – but we don’t know that, at first.  When we’re one year old, we’re not thinking that we are in the world but not of the world!  We’re thinking that our hunger feels like all there is, our thirst feels like all there is, our fatigue feels like all there is, and, if someone doesn’t change our diaper soon, we’re going to completely lose it!  The world feels like all there is for a long time after we’re born into it!  It’s only after we become disciples and listen to and learn from Jesus, guided and inspired by the Holy Spirit, that we begin to understand that beyond, below, behind, beside, above, and – even – in this world, there is God.  And God’s reality is the only eternal reality.  All else will pass away.
 
Our challenge, then, is that we live in the midst of change, tension, decay, corruption, and imperfection, but we don’t want to let those things define our existence because they aren’t the ultimate truth.  They are of the world and will pass away.  They are not God and we don’t belong to them!  We belong to God.  Despite whatever else is going on, we know that God and His love are real, and it is that reality we can choose to experience, even while in the world, through a leap of faith.  We can see, hear, read, and experience the chaos in the world and, still, choose peace through a leap of faith in God and God’s reality.  Over time, the discipline of choosing to have faith in God and God’s reality, and the daily and weekly disciplines of Bible study, prayer, fellowship, and worship, nurture the seed of peace we were given when we became disciples so that it grows and blossoms in our hearts and minds.
 
I was the pastor of the United Church of Stonington when 9/11 happened.  As a matter of fact, the grandson of a member of the church had just begun a job at the World Trade Center and was killed during the attack.  It was, of course, a shocking and deeply upsetting time in our country.  Over the next few months, many people said to me that I must be having to do a lot of extra pastoral care due to the anxiety and fear caused by the attack on the World Trade Center.  The truth is, however, that I didn’t have to do a lot of extra pastoral care.  I thought about that and came to the conclusion that the faith of the people I served enabled them to handle the anxiety and fear caused by the terrorist attack with faithfulness.  They had received the gift of Jesus’ peace and were able to access it despite what was going on in the world.
 
The same thing happened during this past election year:  People assumed I was having to do a lot of extra pastoral care related to anxiety and fear around the election process.  While there was tension around the election process, and a lot of feelings, I felt like the members of our church took things in stride, for the most part.  Again, I chalked that up to faith.  We have received the gift of Jesus’ peace and are able to access it despite what is going on in the world.
 
After Jesus’ was crucified and buried, the disciples escaped to the upper room and locked the doors.  They were afraid.  They were anxious.  They were worried.  While together behind those locked doors, however – minus Thomas – Jesus came to them and gave them peace.  Not sin, not evil, not even death could defeat him.  He had conquered everything that could separate them from God.  Even though living in this world, they would go home to God one day.  If it were not so, would Jesus go to prepare a place for them (Jn 14:2)?  And so, he said – not once, but two times – “Peace be with you.” 
 
Thomas, who had missed the miraculous appearance of Jesus and the reassurance it brought, was not peaceful.  He proclaimed, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe" (20:25).  Jesus, ever the faithful shepherd, gave Thomas what he needed.  He appeared again among the disciples while Thomas was present.  Thomas received Jesus’ gift of peace and was able to proclaim, “My Lord and my God” (28)!
 
We who follow Jesus have received an incredible gift:  The gift of the peace that passes understanding.  While the world rages around us, we can be at peace, knowing that all this will pass away, but God and his realm will remain, and we will be at home in it. 
 
While I was thinking about the topic of peace in preparation for writing this sermon (a lot of the preparation happens in my head and heart during the week), I read the following devotional on April 20, written by Sarah Young as if Jesus were speaking:
 
"Do not be afraid, for I am with you.  Hear Me saying, 'Peace, be still,' to your restless heart.  No matter what happens, I will never leave you or forsake you.  Let this assurance soak into your mind and heart until you overflow with Joy.  Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, you need not fear!
 
The media relentlessly proclaim bad news:  for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  A steady diet of their fare will sicken you.  Instead of focusing on fickle, ever-changing news broadcasts, tune in to the living Word – the One who is always the same.  Let Scripture saturate your mind and heart, and you will walk steadily along the path of Life.  Even though you don’t know what will happen tomorrow, you can be absolutely sure of your ultimate destination.  I hold you by your right hand, and afterward I will take you into Glory."
 
And, with that, I will say, “Peace be with you,” because it is and always will be.  Amen.
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson at the Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, on Sunday, April 23, 2017, the Second Sunday of Easter.

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Fear . . . and Faith
(Mark 16:1-8)
 
No matter who we are or what we are doing there are always things to fear in life.  Some people are born worriers.  For them, fear is always close at hand.  When a loved one travels, they fear that the airplane will go down.  When they begin a new job, they fear that they won’t do well.  When they pack for a trip, they fear they won’t bring the right clothes.  When they find a spot on their skin, they fear it is cancer.  Others hardly ever worry.  For them, fear is almost an unknown.  When a loved one travels, it doesn’t even occur to them that the airplane could go down.  When they begin a new job, the thought that they might fail doesn’t even enter their heads.  When they pack for a trip, they don’t spend a minute wondering whether they’re bringing the right clothes.  When they find a spot on their skin – well, they don’t even notice the spot on their skin!  Now, neither of these groups is better than the other.  Those who don’t worry may enjoy life more easily, but those who do worry may actually catch the cancer before it spreads.  There are pros and cons to being either a worrier or a non-worrier.
 
Whether a person is a worrier or a non-worrier, there are certain things in life that cannot help but cause fear.  One of those things is the reality of death.  Soren Kierkegaard, a famous Christian existentialist theologian who lived in the eighteenth century, believed that the inevitability of death is the central anxiety of being human.  The knowledge that one day we will die is with us at all times, shaping the decisions we make and how we live at each moment, whether we are aware of it or not.  I guess he would say that some of us are just more aware of it than others – hence the existence of both the worriers and the non-worriers.
 
The reality is that we human beings are vulnerable creatures.  Our skin can cut.  Our bones can break.  Our organs can disease.  Our minds can crack.  Our hearts can stop.  Our bodies can die.  Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
 
Most of us are uncomfortable with the fact that we’re so vulnerable.  We spend a lot of time and energy protecting ourselves from that reality.  There are countless ways that we do so.   We don’t want to get old because getting old means that we’re closer to death.  So, what do we do?  We work out so that our muscles and heart maintain their strength and elasticity.  We use special skin creams so that our skin doesn’t wrinkle or spot.  We dye our hair so that it doesn’t go gray.  We get plastic surgery so that our skin doesn’t hang.  We diet so that we maintain the shape of young bodies.  Okay, not everyone does these things, but if you look at television or the movies, youth – or, at least, the look of youth – is the ideal.  Because youth is invulnerable, right?
 
Another thing we do to protect ourselves from the reality of our vulnerability is to protect ourselves from violence.  We have alarm systems in our cars and our homes.  We move into gated communities so that not just anyone can get near our homes.  We move out of the inner city into the suburbs – until the inner city moves out to the suburbs, and then we move out to a further suburb.  Of course, this creates suburban sprawl, which makes us vulnerable to other things, like individualism, isolationism, homogenous communities, and damage to the environment.  By protecting ourselves from one kind of vulnerability, we create another kind.
 
Another way that we protect ourselves from the reality of our vulnerability is that we refuse to be intimate with one another.  We hide our true selves because, God forbid, if anyone should really know us, they might reject us and we could never survive the rejection so we just forgo the intimacy altogether.  Better to be lonely and safe, than to be intimate and hurt.
 
Another way that we protect ourselves is that we store up treasure.  We have retirement accounts for ourselves, college accounts for our children, investments, stock options, bonds, and CD’s.  We’ve thought of every possible rainy day scenario and done something financially to protect us when the rain finally comes.
 
These are some of the ways that we protect ourselves from the reality of our vulnerability.  We build fortresses of one type or another around ourselves so that we aren’t vulnerable to a surprise attack.  Even so, despite all of our efforts to protect ourselves from any possible misfortune, we are not immune to fear.  We look 15 years younger than our age, but we’re aging, anyway – death will surely come some day.  We’ve moved to the suburbs, but our neighbor could be a closet pedophile.  We’ve kept an emotional distance from others, but there just might be that special someone who someday steals our heart from across a crowded room.  Our stock portfolio is performing fabulously, but there could be another economic downturn tomorrow.  No matter what we do to protect ourselves, there is always something to fear.  Being vulnerable is the nature of being human.
 
The disciples of Jesus felt the full weight of their vulnerability when Jesus was arrested, condemned, crucified, and buried, with a stone rolled resoundingly into the opening to the tomb, closing it off from the light and air and activity of the world of the living.  They felt the weight of their vulnerability so fully that they scattered and ran.  After the amazing welcome they had received when Jesus had entered Jerusalem, this turn of events came as a shock.  Despite the warnings that Jesus had given them, they were unprepared, and fear gripped them.
 
Apparently, the disciples were still gripped by fear on the morning of the third day, for it was the women who brought spiced oil to anoint Jesus’ dead body.  Perhaps, being women in a culture in which women didn’t have much power, they were used to being vulnerable, and instead of being gripped by fear they were overcome by grief.  Perhaps they felt that fulfilling the rituals of death would comfort them in some way.  And so they went to the tomb early in the morning to anoint the body.
 
The women weren’t afraid as they approached the tomb, but they were as they left it.  When they arrived at the tomb, the stone had been rolled away and inside the tomb sat a heavenly being that spoke to them, saying, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has been raised; he is not here.  Look, there is the place they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you” (Mark 16:6-7).
 
Jesus’ death had brought them grief, but his rising brought them fear!  They fled from the tomb, seized by terror and amazement!  Death, although something to fear for oneself and those one loves, is to be expected.  Once it occurs the fear is gone, replaced by grief.  But rising from the dead is not to be expected – it is so awesome, so not-of-this-world, that it is to be feared.  If Jesus could be raised from the dead, then anything could happen.  The normal rules, the normal limitations, the normal vulnerabilities of life no longer applied.  Reality as these women had known it was torn open.  They had always known they were vulnerable to death, but they had not known they were vulnerable to life after death.  What other rules would God break?  What other limitations would be removed?  Just what could God do, and just what would God do?  Even though the finality of death no longer applied, the women were still just as vulnerable to God as they had ever been.  As I said before, being vulnerable is the nature of being human.
 
The challenge for us is to embrace our vulnerability and to learn to live with the fear that comes with it.  If we try to deny our vulnerability, if we try to deny our fear, then we deny our very humanness.  We lose the opportunity to be the beings that God created us to be.  He created us to be vulnerable because vulnerability keeps us humble and open, to God and to each other.  Vulnerability enables us to have satisfying, fulfilling relationships with one another.  Vulnerability allows us to be compassionate to those in need.  Vulnerability forces us to accept help when we are in need.  Vulnerability prevents us from becoming arrogant or proud.  Vulnerability reminds us that we cannot depend on the things of this world.  Vulnerability keeps us focused on God – on what God is trying to tell us, on where God is trying to lead us, and on what God is asking us to do.
 
Nelson Mandela once said, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.  Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. . . .  Your playing small doesn’t serve the world.  There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking.  We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.”  Perhaps the women who went to the tomb in grief fled away from it in fear because, all of a sudden, they were faced with the awesome power of God, a power that they could make manifest in the world as faithful disciples of Jesus.  Perhaps their deepest fear was not about their limitations and inadequacies and vulnerabilities, but about the responsibility that would come with such power.  Perhaps they were afraid they could not live up to it.  Perhaps they were afraid they would be asked to do too much.  Perhaps they thought living into and up to that power would require more faith than they thought they had.  And so they fled in fear and said nothing to anyone.
 
Even though the Gospel According to Mark continues after this passage, most biblical scholars consider this account of the women fleeing from the tomb to be the original end of Mark’s Gospel.  They think that the other accounts are later additions.  They think this because the longer ending is missing from the earliest, most reliable Greek manuscripts of the Gospel According to Mark. 
 
Let us, today, consider the end of this passage to be the end of Mark’s gospel.  If the women fled from the tomb, terrified and amazed, and said nothing to anyone, then how did the disciples find out that Jesus had been raised?  How did the story get told to others?  How did Christianity survive and thrive?
 
I would like to imagine that, after the women had absorbed what they had seen and heard and were able to process it, they were filled with an abiding faith.  Not an abiding faith in themselves or in the things of this world, but an abiding faith in God – in his love and his power.  And, filled with that faith, they believed they could live into and up to whatever it was God had in mind for them to do.  So, they shared the news with the disciples and went with them to Galilee to see Jesus, believing that he would be there just as he said he would.
 
This doesn’t mean that they were no longer vulnerable to their own failings or to the misfortunes of the world.  They and the world were not suddenly made perfect.  No – they were just as vulnerable as they had always been, and they felt fear just as they always had.  They just didn’t let that stop them from living the lives God was calling them to live as disciples of Jesus Christ.  They added faith in the love and power of God to their vulnerability and fear.  Adding faith to the other two made all the difference.  They found the rest that Jesus had promised to all who are weary and carrying heavy burdens because they placed their faith in a God who was more powerful than sin, more powerful than evil, more powerful – even – than death (Matthew 11:28).
 
This is the God we worship, the God that raised Jesus from death.  This is the God Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows.”  This God “is our hope for becoming better men and women” and “our mandate for seeking to make a better world.”  This God empowered the women at the tomb to become better women and to seek to make a better world.  This God empowers you and I to become better women and men and to seek to make a better world.  This God does so in many and various ways according to the gifts he has given us.  This God does so despite our vulnerability and despite our fear, as we go forward into the future led by him.
 
Jesus Christ is risen!  Alleluia!  The normal rules, the normal limitations, the normal vulnerabilities of life no longer apply, for the God of the resurrection is alive and well and moving among us, making a way out of no way, transforming dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows, taking regular women and men and turning them into amazing, awesome disciples of Jesus Christ.  Amen.
 
 
Sermon preached by the Rev. Amy Johnson, Canton Community Baptist Church, Canton, CT, Easter Sunday, April 16, 2017.

Image is from http://www.thequotepedia.com/images/05/we-were-born-to-make-manifest-the-glory-of-god-that-is-within-us-its-not-just-in-some-of-us-its-in-everyone-nelson-mandela.jpg

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