Just a reminder: Every time I re-read the sermons, I find different ways of wording things. The story of Joseph from Genesis needed fuller explanation, so I added it extemporaneously. There may be times that I have to make a quick adjustment while presenting the sermon. Thank you for reading and especially a thank you to Matthew West for such an important song.
given on Trinity Sunday, May 31, 2015
God created this world to meet the needs of all living things that exist. No one or no thing should ever have had to worry, but mistakes were made and the Garden of Eden was lost.
All is not lost, though! God never gave up hope in his creation and all he asked is that we humans take responsibility. We were told to “do something!”
Genesis 1:26, 28– 26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings[a] in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth,[b] and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” . . . 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
The words of the creation story are so familiar that we can recite it from memory. We know that God was pleased with his creation and after six days of creating this delightful setting, he took one day of rest. Remember those final words:
1:31Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day. 2:1So the creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2 On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested[a] from all his work.
God created, but he also left the responsibility for this creation to Adam or [a dam], the Hebrew word for humanity. Humans were not to just sit around and enjoy what God created; humans were to be responsible for maintaining this creation.
Humanity’s legacy is the well being of God’s creation. Each individual has a personal responsibility not only for the care of self, but for others, for the soil, the air, and the water, too. That responsibility expands, too, to all regions of this earth. Our legacy depends on how well we respond to God’s direction to care for his creation.
How does one do that? Certainly not alone! One can indeed make a difference, but working with one another to do all that we can for all we can. Obviously we cannot imagine that responsibility alone, we know it takes the church.
When I first heard Matthew West’s song, “Do Something,” I could only agree with that first statement:
I woke up this morning
Saw a world full of trouble now
Thought, how’d we ever get so far down
How’s it ever gonna turn around
Our world today does seem such a mess, but reading the Bible, the same can be said about the world over 5,000 years ago. The world is a mess, and that mess is evident right here in our communities.
The song continues:
I thought, “God, why don’t you do something?”
Well, I just couldn’t bear the thought of
People living in poverty
Children sold into slavery.
So, I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t you do something?”
How easy it is to say to God, “Why don’t you do something?” All too often we even add that to our prayers. We want someone else to fix the problem. We want someone to stop the poverty. We want God to fix the natural disasters. We want the police to stop crime—all kinds. The lyrics speaks the painful truth:
So I shook my fist at Heaven
Said, “God, why don’t you do something?”
He said, “ I did, I created you”
As God’s children, we have a responsibility.
In Genesis 43, the story of Joseph revealing himself to his own brothers who had sold him into slavery in Egypt, includes another reminder of our responsibility. Jacob took his brother Benjamin back to ask for more supplies to survive the famine. He had to accept responsibility for his brother:
9 I personally guarantee his safety. You may hold me responsible if I don’t bring him back to you. Then let me bear the blame forever.
A study note for this verse adds the deeper meaning to this simple promise:
Accepting responsibilities is difficult, but it builds character and confidence, earns others’ respect and motivates us to complete our work. When you have been given an assignment to complete or a responsibility to fulfill, commit yourself to seeing it through.
The Old Testament repeats this theme in stories throughout the books of The Law and of the judges. Scriptural references to our responsibility continue in the New Testament, too.
How does this church leave a legacy? We simply must do something. That is what God has tasked us to do, and what we do establishes the legacy of this church. Stop and think about what the church last became totally invested. Was there a specific project that members felt it was up to them to do? Did the reach of a project stay only inside the church, or did it involve serving beyond the walls of the church? Was the outreach even beyond the geographic boundaries of this church?
In the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus did not define any limits. Instead. . .
18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[b] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
The Apostles didn’t get mad and say to God, “Why don’t you do something?” They did it. Reading the letters in the New Testament, we learn that there was no boundary prohibiting the work of the newest disciples. The word was spread, and new disciples carried the message around the world.
John Wesley, too, did not ask God why he did not do something; he just found ways to meet all the problems he identified in his community. He saw poverty, and he found ways to fight it. He saw poor health, and he found ways to teach about healthy practices. He believed that he had a responsibility to do all the he could for all he could in any way he could. Do we?
Returning to Matthew West’s lyrics:
Right now, it’s time for us to do something
If not now, then when
Will we see an end
To all this pain
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something . . .
A church that does not do something is a church that dies. A church that can no longer do something as disciples, then there is no legacy for that church, there is no responsibility for the well being of God’s creation.
Today, we must do something. The decision has to be what do we do at this church. Is there a local ministry that has gone untouched? Is there a conference initiative that needs this church’s help? What can this church do?
Locally, there are the food pantries and the clothes closets. Maybe they need workers more than they need items donated. Should the money sitting in the bank be allocated to special needs in the area?
The Missouri conference has identified three ministries for the UM churches to receive conference special offerings: the Church in Ferguson, the Mozambique Imitative, and the Haiti Clean Water Project. Does this church feel called to send a donation for one or all of these projects?
Maybe this church decides to buy a heifer for the Heifer Project. Another possibility is to find ways to help the local schools who are battling low funding, large populations of low income families, or even special needs that cannot be provided for the students such as counseling for non-school related issues.
As the lyrics say:
It’s not enough to do nothing
It’s time for us to do something
I’m so tired of talking
About how we are God’s hands and feet
But it’s easier to say than to be
Live like angels of apathy who tell ourselves
It’s alright, “somebody else will do something.”
A legacy does not come from somebody else doing something; it comes from accepting our Christian responsibility and doing whatever we can for whomever we can in whatever way we can.
Closing prayer:
Dear God,
Thank you for words that express
how Christians accept responsibility
caring for this world you created.
Thank you for the stories how others
manage life’s various challenges
to serve one another.
Guide us in accepting responsibility
to do whatever we can to care for each other.
Guide us in working rather than bickering
to find the ways to minister to others.
Guide us to think beyond the problem
finding solutions that spread your love.
Guide us to simply do something
continuing the legacy of your son Jesus Christ.
Amen.
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