A Sermon by Rev. Henley on June 14, 2009
Eichelberger’s words from our first reading:
The task of the church is to look for the signs of the kingdom which may be no larger than a mustard seed; to live and love with a new perspective; and to offer that perspective in the name of God to men and women caught in the bondage of disappointment about life and in prisons of negative thinking.
Without looking at another person, I want you to look around. What do you see? Do you see this sanctuary with the eyes of our friends from Silver Spring, our offspring? One of their children said, “It makes you feel like you are in a real church.”
Without looking at another person, take in the windows, the stone and plaster. The mosaic with the gold flecks and the stone cross made by Tiffany of New York. Read the carved words at the back of the chancel. God is love and he that dwelleth in love God dwelleth in him.
"Mother Teresa," her superiors chided gently, "you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies...with three pennies you can't do anything."
Without looking at another person, look at the back of the seat in front of you. There you will most likely see a Bible—revised standard or the old King James Version—a red hymnal, Hymns of the Spirit for use in the Churches of the Free Spirit printed in 1981 by the Unitarian Universalist Association. Beside that is the gray hymnal Singing the Living Tradition, a hymnal revision printed in 1993. The music commission who put the gray hymnal together wanted to have hymns that included everyone that could walk through our doors. Gender inclusive, interfaith, multicultural, multiethnic, diverse, and with hymns that respected earth-centered beliefs.
Can you imagine yourself sitting in this church alone? Coming on a Sunday morning and being the only person who wanted to be here? Sure, you can sit for awhile and pray and contemplate. You could sit for as long as you wanted—but you would be by yourself. You may find yourself at a place where you have emptied your cares and stress into this beautiful, cavern of a church, and open yourself up to the spirit of God, and find yourself in a place where people find themselves when the take the time to open themselves up to Godself.
But, as a human being, you would still be alone.
"Mother Teresa," her superiors chided gently, "you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies...with three pennies you can't do anything."
This church was not built for one person; it was built for a gathered people to do God’s work. It was built by the thousands and thousands of Universalists of America to have a presence in the Capitol, it was built to live out Jesus’ words and ministry, it was built so the people who came here could give love, live love.
We are about to enter the season of summer. During the fall and winter and spring, farmers prepare the land, work on their equipment, and makes sure they have all the seed they need to plant. When spring comes, they “scatter the seed” and plow it under. There is a lot of work to be done before the plow turns the earth. It is a miracle how they plants grow; yet they still need watering and weeding.
In Mark, Jesus tells us the Kingdom of God is something we do with God. We scatter the seed and the seed grows. It is by God’s creative process, that it grows. When Jesus was asked to explain it in a parable, he says, take a grain of mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds; sow it in the earth, and it grows into a great plant that even the birds can use for shelter.
For Jesus, the mustard seed represented faith, in Matthew 17:20b he said, “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”
He uses the mustard seed twice in the Gospels. Jesus said that small grain of mustard seed is like our faith. The faith that Mother Teresa had was represented by three pennies. And with three pennies and God, she built her orphanage.
This edifice is only a sacred space, is only a congregation, when two or more are gathered. But two or more is not enough, Jesus called many more than twelve to share his words and ministry. He sent out seventy at one time, remember.
How much faith do we have? How many grains of mustard seed represent the faith in our hearts. One—two—three—more?
What does our faith call us to sow? What gifts do we bring to create the Kingdom of God, with God? What kind of love will we give and live with God?
"Mother Teresa," her superiors chided gently, "you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies...with three pennies you can't do anything."
This summer while the plants we scattered in the spring grow—by the miracles of God—in the ground prepared during the fall and winter, let us continue to live out Jesus’ words and ministries. This is a wonderful building, built by hands other than our own, by people giving and living their love, their faith.
Let us fill this Holy Place with a giving and living love. Let us fill this church with the spirit of the kingdom of God, with our own three pennies and the grain of one mustard seed.
Opening Words
Matthew Henry Commentary on Psalm 92
Other trees, when old, leave off bearing, but in God's trees the strength of grace does not fail with the strength of nature. The last days of the saints are sometimes their best days, and their last work their best work: perseverance is sure evidence of sincerity. And may every sabbath, while it shows forth the
Divine faithfulness, find our souls resting more and more upon the Lord, our righteousness.
First Reading by the Late Rev. Dr. Hugh Eichelberger, Presbyterian Minister “A New Perspective” Sermon dated June 23, 1996
The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, began her orphanage with such a vision. She told her superiors, "I have three pennies and a dream From God to build an orphanage."A dream and three pennies represented resources as small as a mustard seed.
"Mother Teresa," her superiors chided gently, "you cannot build an orphanage with three pennies...with three pennies you can't do anything."
"I know," she said, smiling, "but with God and three pennies I can do anything."
The parable of the mustard seed reminds us that God's beginnings may be small, but His results are great.
The task of the church is to look for the signs of the kingdom which may be no larger than a mustard
seed; to live and love with a new perspective; and to offer that perspective in the name of God to men
and women caught in the bondage of disappointment about life and in prisons of negative thinking.
Jesus Christ has called you to be His disciple. No matter what your situation or condition, He has
something important for you to do. Believe that and it will change how you think and how you live in
the world. Believe that and you will receive a new enthusiasm and excitement about life. Believe that
and you and the world will be different.
Second Reading
Mark 4:26-34
And he said: So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the earth, And should sleep, and rise, night and day, and the seed should spring, and grow up whilst he knoweth not. For the earth of itself bringeth forth fruit, first the blade, then the ear, afterwards the full corn in the ear. And when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. And he said: To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? or to what parable shall we compare it?
It is as a grain of mustard seed: which when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that are in the earth: And when it is sown, it groweth up, and he cometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches, so that the birds of the air may dwell under the shadow thereof. And with many such parables, he spoke to them the word, according as they were able to hear. And without parable he did not speak unto them; but apart, he explained all things to his disciples.
Posted by UNMC Office at June 15, 2009 09:35 PM