Fill ’Er Up
a sermon by Rev. Rebecca Segers
Psalm 100
Ephesians 1:15-23
Here we are! It’s Pledge Sunday. My former pastor at the Wilton Presbyterian Church in Connecticut used to be uncomfortable with this week and the writing of this sermon in particular – he always called it “The Week of Singing for Your Supper” as a pastor and preacher. The week wherein the minister feels obligated to ask the congregation to ante up enough money so that he continued to have a job the next year. I must admit that his assessment of this week always made me feel a bit uncomfortable and I was grateful that I didn’t have to preach that sermon while I was in Wilton. However, now that I am before you all, I feel very differently about it.
Yes, it is true that some of the monies that you will pledge to the church this morning will go to my salary, but far from feeling as though I am “singing for my supper”, I feel as though I am called to bring us all to common ground as to who we are in Jesus Christ and what God calls us to do and to be as Christ’s body. In order for us to fulfill this higher calling, it will take your money – and mine; it will take your time – and mine; it will take your talent – and mine, as we all strive to be the body of Christ in a world that desperately needs Christ’s eyes and arms and hands and feet out in the world. And this passage from Ephesians is just the ticket to get us going on how we go about that.
I wanted to start this discussion by talking about Paul and Ephesus and their relationship, the reasons behind this letter and what he was trying to accomplish, but it turns out that a lot of that context is contested. Many scholars say this letter wasn’t even written by Paul; that its style and theological viewpoint are different, more erudite with a more mature theology. Others say that this is because it was written later in Paul’s life as he grew more established in his own sense of call, ministry and theological development. Still others remind us that the letter may not have been written directly by Paul, but that it was accepted practice in those days to take the name of a beloved and respected teacher and write from his perspective using his name, so that it may have been written by one of Paul’s apprentices or followers, his beloved Timothy or Silas or another. I could go on and on about the research behind this and we might end this time a little more knowledgeable about historical biblical criticism, but I don’t think we’d be a great deal wiser about how this passage impacts our lives, so with your permission, let’s accept that whether the letter to the Ephesians was written by Paul or a student of his who carried on his work, it is a part of our canon, it is in our Bible and it has lessons for us today.
The section that we heard today begins with a blessing, a thanksgiving prayer that expresses gratitude for the Ephesians faith in Jesus Christ and for their love of those who’ve gone before. The author then goes on to describe how God used Jesus to effect divine purposes and offers four promises to his disciples: “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,” number one: “may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that,” number two: “with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,” number three, “what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints” and number four: “what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”
In case you didn’t get all those, they were: 1) a spirit of wisdom and revelation; 2) the hope to which you have been called; 3) riches of His inheritance and; 4) power. Now these are hefty promises and I’d like to take them one by one, or actually two by two. But first, I want us to tag down to the end of the lesson where we are told that the power that God has given to Christ makes him “head over all things for the church which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
We are the fullness of Jesus the Christ, at the very least, on our worst days, we represent the fullness of Jesus Christ, and we are filled by him to the top, to the brim, to the point where it spills over and out of us. Do you see? Jesus fills us up and in return, we are so full that we show and share Jesus fullness with others.
How does this happen? Well, I believe that it is a two-fold process. We must be filled in order to go out and fill others. The scripture gives us these four promises of wisdom, hope, riches and power. The first two are about the filling of us, and the last two are about the filling of others. The first two equip us to fulfill the last two.
First of all, we are to be given the spirit of wisdom and revelation. How? The whole statement here is: “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him.” So first of all, this is a prayer of the writer’s and not guaranteed. The latter part of the sentence is the kicker. The spirit of wisdom and revelation comes as you come to know Jesus.
I’ve seen a small example of this in our Tuesday Bible Study group. As you may know, the purpose behind this study is to help us imagine, envision and experience Advent and Christmas more meaningfully this season. Get beyond the trappings of the season and truly be invested in Jesus Christ and his coming to earth. This past week I presented to the group that Jesus was coming to visit our church, the Presbyterian Church of Sweet Hollow, on Christmas Day this year. We took four different scripture lessons and broke up into groups to discuss how the different passages might impact our response when he comes. Then we got back together and addressed the things we wanted to do when he arrives. We wanted to share him with the community, of course, so we started making plans for multitudes of people out on the Great Lawn to the east of the parking lot and for putting some sort of balcony on the roof of the sanctuary so that he could be seen by all. We talked about the food we’d serve and the entertainment we’d provide, the choir and the Hand Chimes and the ringing of our historical bell to call all near and far. We talked about the people we’d invite – everyone from members of the town government to the clients of the Huntington Interfaith Homeless Initiative, anyone and everyone who might want to come. We talked about what we’d want to show him. Everything from the new Sunday School classrooms to hiking up in our woods behind the building to taking him to where the needy are in Huntington Station and enjoying a fun trip out to Orient Point. We questioned where he might sleep. At the manse? At the Holiday Inn? At a sleepover with all our kids?
This was the fun part of our discussion, but there was another, a shadow side, if you will to the conversation, as well. We talked about what we would be ashamed of here at Sweet Hollow and in the surrounding community. What we felt we needed to change or clean-up or rearrange. What we ought to address as Jesus’ people called to a better, a more responsible, a more faithful, committed way of life. We wrote all of those things down, too. Then we ended the time together by taking little squares of red and green construction paper and owning the parts of Jesus’ visit that we were willing to implement. After all, Jesus is coming in a little over a month…
The thing that a large number of people participating in the study put their names beside was in the area of environmental responsibility. We decided that we were ashamed of the fact that we recycle at home, but not here at the church. That we don’t use environmentally friendly products with which to clean, but instead products that pollute the earth and its environs. We decided that we want to take steps to change that aspect of our stewardship of these nine acres of ground and the buildings that stand upon it. It will not be a quick and easy fix, but it will take some effort. We will have to research appropriate cleaning products, purchase them and then keep them in stock. We will have to buy and label canisters for recycling and then someone will have to take them someplace – I don’t know where yet – home or to a recycling center, on a regular basis. This will need to become a part of the routine of caring for our church and right now, it’s not even on the radar screen. If this is something that speaks to you, too, I encourage you to write down on your time and talent pledge card that you are willing to participate and in what way you would like to help us become more responsible stewards of the earth and our dominion over it – or at least of these nine acres here on Old Country Road.
Back to the scripture and the spirit of wisdom and revelation that inspired this group to begin taking these preliminary steps to make Sweet Hollow a recycling church: our Study Group whose purpose is to come to know and experience Jesus Christ more fully that we might have a better and more spiritual experience of Advent and Christmas this season. Do you see how this works? Knowing Jesus has sent them a spirit of wisdom and revelation.
So what’s number two and how does it fill us up? “(T)hat you may know what is the hope to which he has called you.” This is another piece of coming to know Christ more fully. It also requires that you open yourself those little nigglings of the soul that end up changing your life. You see, if you are to know Jesus better, you will begin to get an inkling of the hope to which he has called you.
Kay Warren, pastor Rick Warren’s wife, tells of God dropping a little pebble into the pond of her life in the form of a magazine article about HIV/AIDS in Africa. She saw an article with pictures of the pain and misery caused by AIDS that were so graphic, she claims she had to peek through her fingers to read the little quote box that said: “12 million children orphaned in Africa due to AIDS.” Kay says she didn’t know one orphan in her own life, and could hardly imagine 12 million. But that picture of 12 million motherless, fatherless children wouldn’t leave her alone.
After spending weeks trying to block the words and images from her mind, Kay began to get mad at God, praying, “Leave me alone. Even if it’s true, what can I do about it? I’m a white, suburban soccer mom. There is nothing I can do.”
But God had her heart and soon, her husband’s unexpected fame and financial success would change her world forever. Because of the millions in book sales, the Warrens were all of a sudden wealthy. Furthermore, among surveyed pastors, her husband was ranked as the second most influential evangelist after Billy Graham. Talk about the first two pieces of our scripture impacting the last two: the wisdom and revelation and knowledge of Jesus in their lives and granted an incredible amount of riches and power.
With this newfound influence and affluence, the Warrens made five considered decisions: 1) they did not upgrade their lifestyle; 2) he stopped taking a paycheck from his church; 3) he repaid 25 years of salary to the church; 4) they created three charitable foundations and 5) they began reverse tithing – giving 90% of their income away and living on 10%. How many of us are even willing to give the 10?
All this faith has spilled out into a huge hope – a hope for the end of the horrendous pandemic of HIV/AIDS through the development of the PEACE plan, P.E.A.C.E., a five-prong framework to engender massive change that is gaining strength by putting local church leadership into the picture. Rather than mission work that requests, as many of our church giving structures do that we “pay, pray and go away”, the PEACE plan purposefully uses local churches and church members in this grassroots effort to end HIV/AIDS.
Do you long for wisdom and revelation, knowledge of the hope to which he has called you? Who among us doesn’t? Well, then I encourage you to do at least one thing before the end of the year to know Christ better. That’s how the Bible says that we get closer to God’s purpose for us. Through active listening and searching, you will be amazed at what you will find out. How might you accomplish that – besides joining the Bible Study group? Well, you could start on the first Sunday in Advent, next Sunday, November 27th and read one chapter of the gospel of Matthew a night. That would have you at Jesus’ death on Christmas Eve Eve and experiencing his resurrection on Christmas Eve, ready to celebrate the whole of Jesus’ life in song and celebration at the Christmas morning worship service at 10:00 a.m. Wouldn’t that action fill up your Advent experience in a way you’ve never known before? Or you could pick up Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, and read it by Monday, December 5th so that you can come in and discuss it with the Book Discussion Group. Or if you are a female and over 21, join the Women for Women Advent Evening of Guided Meditation on Monday, December 12th at Deborah Verma’s home. Or you could begin singing with the choir or playing the Hand Chimes. I don’t know about you – but music fills me up with God in a way that almost nothing else does. And what better season to sing joyfully to the Lord than this one upcoming? If you have another idea about how you might be nurtured in your love of Christ so that you are filled and ready to go out and fill others, and you think I can help in some way, let me know! We’ll figure out next steps together.
Number three and four bring us into moving out into the world. We are promised the “riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and his incomparably great power for us who believe”. We are promised that if we believe, when we believe, the world becomes opened up to us. We are granted unimaginable riches and power. Now these riches may be tangible physical riches in the form of dollars and cents, or they may be riches in personal growth, or they may be riches in other ways. Likewise with power. You can never tell exactly how the Lord is going to work. But I will guarantee you this, the Lord will work. If you trust in God and you step out in faith and you take those dangerous, uncomfortable actions of tithing more than you ever have before or studying in a way that you never have or in belonging to a team of fellow believers working on Mission or Christian Education or Fellowship and Outreach or some other Sweet Hollow committee, if you give in new ways that stretch and expand your horizons, God will grant you riches in ways you could never imagine. You will receive power in ways that you cannot today comprehend. Guaranteed. So take that pledge card and add an extra dollar a month onto it. Just one dollar more than you thought you were going to give. If every person in this room today did that, we’d have another ? a year to use in filling others. Tell you what – make it five. J Take that other pledge card – the time and talents one – and don’t simply put on it the things you’ve always done, but add something that you’ve never done before. I will attend a Bible Study this year. Or I will do a coffee hour even though I am a man and I’ve traditionally thought of that as women’s work. Or I will staff a booth at the Fall Mission Fair even though I’ve only come as a customer before. Or I will come as a customer even though I’ve never darkened the door of the Parish Hall during the Mission Fair before. Add something that is within your physical capabilities, but that will fill you up, bringing you to know Jesus more fully. Add something that will fill up others, using the riches and the power that you’ve been granted and watch them grow.
I hope you’ve noticed that the arc of this service follows the scripture – that musically we began with Entering His Gates with Thanksgiving just as the lesson began with thanksgiving and blessing, and moved into Gathering Together as a way of filling up our souls and we end with Crowning Jesus with Many Crowns. That our coming together then glorifies God in community. That we began with prayers and praise and preaching, with filling up our tanks, and then we finish today with giving our tithes and offerings, our riches and our power to the one who truly owns it all.
I’m going to show you how this next piece of our worship service works, so that you are all comfortable with what we’re doing with these pledge cards I’m asking you to mark up with more stuff. First, look out at our beautiful Stewardship Train hanging along the Sanctuary walls. If you will notice, now each car has an envelope at the top of each individual car. As we begin the Offertory Anthem, the ushers will come to the front of the Sanctuary as usual, and pass the plates moving from the front to the back. You will place your pledge for today in the plate and then you will take your pledge cards for 2006, get up and leave your seat through the center aisle. You will find your car, and they are labeled alphabetically, so I’m over here… and you will place your pledge in the envelope attached to your car. You will then return to your seat via the outside row. So you exit into the center and return from the edges beginning with the front rows and moving toward the back in the same sequence that the ushers use in taking your pledges for today. Make sense?
I want to close this talk with a story that I heard yesterday at the Presbytery meeting. The Rev. Jim Reese shared this during worship yesterday. He spoke of Tommy “Hurricane” Jackson, who at one time was the Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World. Now Tommy was not particularly educated and not known for being articulate, but upon his retirement, he said something pretty profound. He was asked what he was going to do now that he was a “has-been”. And Tommy answered, “I can’t be a has-been, nobody can be a has-been, only a gonna-be.”
This is true for each and every one of us in the eyes of God. No matter where we are in our physical journey on this planet, the years of life that we’ve lived and have yet to live. No matter where we are in our spiritual journey, the walk we’ve had with Christ so far and the distance we have to go. We are all on the path to “gonna-be”. As the scripture lesson tells us today, we are called to be the fullness of Christ – we are asked to be Christ on earth, to fill all in all.
What must we do in order to fulfill this request? We must be filled and we must fill. How? Wisdom and revelation and hope through knowing Christ more fully and using the riches and the power we are given through that knowledge. As we pledge our time, our talents, our finances to the Lord this Stewardship Sunday, I ask we give not only those things, those items, those catchwords that we have come to recognize during this season, “time”, “talent” and “finances”, but that we take the upward way and that we truly pledge ourselves – to God in Jesus Christ asking for the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and revelation and hope and the ability to know how we are called to use the power and the riches we have been so graciously granted, that we might be filled and might fill others thus fulfilling God’s purpose for us, one and all. Amen.