Giving--Growing in Grace 11-4-12--Consecration Sunday

The Reading— Romans 12: 4-8 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. The Gospel Reading: Matthew 13: 31-33 “God’s kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it.” Another story. “God’s kingdom is like yeast that a woman works into the dough for dozens of loaves of barley bread—and waits while the dough rises.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Giving: Growing in Grace 11-4-12 God of ages past and all time to come, show us the way you have planned for us. Plant our feet in the footprints of those who come before. May your truth be in all that happens here today. Amen It feels as if this Sunday has been a long time coming—particularly for those of us who have monitored the ongoing transformation of the property that we will consecrate later today. And yet, as time goes, it has not been that long. Today is one of those Sundays when church just seems to come together. We celebrate All Saints’ Day on this, the Sunday after the official feast day and we honor all that we are and will become in this special church on this very special day. We celebrate all that has come before, all who have come before, all who make it possible for us to be in this place. We honor the saints in our lives—the founders of MCC Churches all over the world and those individuals in all times and places in our private and communal lives who have taught us what it is to be a child of God. So, it makes sense that we would talk about grace, because, in the end, it’s all about God’s wonderful, matchless grace in our lives, in the lives of those gone before, and in the hopes and dreams of those still to come. And, so here we are on Consecration Sunday, one giant day of consecration and commitment. We’ve spent the last month looking at various aspects of giving, and many of us now look at giving just a little differently. Today is no different, so I start with a story. Many of you will remember the story several years ago about the Women’s College Softball Regional Tournament where the winners appeared to be obvious even before the game was played. Then something strange happened. One young woman, who had never hit a home run in her life, hit one over the fence. It was a grand slam, or so they thought. But this woman was suddenly and inexplicably hurt and fell to the ground. Later she learned it was a torn ACL, at that point all that was clear was that she could not get around the bases. Now the rules of softball are a little more complicated than they look. Her team knew that they could not help her or touch her in any way or the run would not count as a home run. But one young woman on the opposing team, a hitter of more home runs than any other player on the field that day, knew what to do. In an act of complete unselfishness, she and another player picked up the injured player and carried her around the bases so that her homerun would count. It lost them the game, but it made them women their parents, coaches, and friends could be proud of. The story was all over YouTube, and both of the young women who sacrificed their own needs to help this injured player simply said, “she hit a home run, she deserved to see it count.” To this day, I cannot watch the video of these women helping an injured stranger across home plate without tearing up. This story is not singular, but it is an important one that shows us what a simple act can accomplish across the world. In those little seeds of grace, the Reign of God’s Justice is born in our hearts. Those young women did not do what they did to inspire people all over the globe, but they did just that. The number of hits on the various postings of this story is phenomenal. And, to this, Jesus, I believe, would say “Amen, do you get it?” Jesus starts our Gospel lesson this morning with perhaps one of the most famous of all parables. Our contemporary interpretation changes the species of tree, but you recognized it, nevertheless. One little seed, be it pine nut, or mustard seed, grows into a tree large enough for birds to build their nests in. One tiny seed. Now one day this week when I arrived at the Campus, I found Joe, the general contractor, planting grass seed in the place where the little house had stood before we tore it down—not because we paid him to, but because he wanted to contribute to the beauty of the Campus. I told him he was doing great, and he responded that he was planting seed for the future. I told him that the sermon would reflect the same story and he was very excited—it’s been interesting to talk to Joe along the way about what makes this church, well, this church. We are, each of us, quite small seeds, but when watered by God’s grace and formed by God’s unconditional love and acceptance for each of us, a great ministry will continue to grow. Paul reminds us and the Christians at Rome that all of our gifts are different, but are all manifested through the same blessing of grace—the grace of being gifted by God. “Amen, and do we get it?” This day has come with great sacrifice on the part of some and the prayers and time and talent of many. It’s a day when we rejoice, it is also a day that should give us pause. For almost three years, the phrase “when we have space of our own” has pervaded every conversation that we have had about our future ministries and our call to live out God’s justice in this world. My friends, today we have our own space—“amen, and do we get it?” Do we get that with the blessing of God’s grace comes the call to divine responsibility. Why divine responsibility? Because God has both planted and watered the seed, and we are set to harvest it. “Amen, and do we get it?” Do we get that Jesus is calling us to greatness—a greatness that can only be called forth through the sacred grace of our Creator’s love. Do we get that Jesus is calling us to greatness because the world, our world, needs greatness today; more than anything else, the world need those of us who are willing to stand up and be great—to do not just the right thing, but the great thing—to bring the glorious good news that our Creator loves us, each and every one of just as we are divinely created—all as sacred children of God created to bless and be a blessing to each other—“amen, do we get it?” And so we turn to the second short little parable for today. It’s about flour and yeast, mixing and kneading many, many pounds of flour. This woman, so trusts and follows the call of Christ to make a difference in the world that she understands just how much she can do with the right ingredients. The proportion of yeast to flour is small, but each small bit of yeast, just like each small touch of grace, moves through and radically impacts the world for God’s Reign of Justice, Equality and Peace. “Amen, do we get it?” I think we do get it, but the proof will be in what we do with these blessings that we have received. As we walk the land God has given to Open Circle today, and view the beautiful offices and meeting spaces, may we keep our eyes focused on the call to greatness. May our celebration be a glad rejoicing that God has chosen us to inhabit this sacred land, and may we seek to ever and ever in new and deeper ways understand the power of God in us to change the world. Amen and amen.