Proper 18A(1) Exodus
12: 1-14; Romans 13: 8-14
Renaissance Sunday!
Grace and peace. “Thirteenth
Sunday after Pentecost” doesn’t sound like much of a festival, but certainly
for us this morning it’s a big day. The
old Sunday after Labor Day “Round Up” at the beginning of the fall this year retitled
“Renaissance Sunday.” Formally marking
the culmination of more than three years of work with the Opening Doors Capital
Campaign, concluding successfully with pledges substantially above our initial
goal of $1.5 Million. A bit more finish
left here and there, as you can see for yourselves, but also a day to dedicate
all the renovations and improvements this stewardship has made possible. Assuring the structural integrity of the
church, providing a new floor, an accessible passageway from the church to the
parish house, the new entries, restrooms, and stairways on all three floors of
the parish house, a new larger meeting room downstairs in the parish house, an
elevator, new heating and ventilation equipment, electrical service,
plumbing. And with the creation of new
resources for a reinvigorated commitment to ministry and mission and outreach
locally and around the world.
It has been quite a year. A year of gestation. As the child is knit together in his mother’s
womb. And now a day of celebration. New birth, getting started again. It’s
going to be a gradual exploration. With
a lot of listening and experimentation. Not
just to go back to what everything was like before we got started, but with a
nicer facility. But to open new doors,
test new possibilities. To ask God to
take this as an offering and to make of it what he will, to guide us in new
directions.
The words at the beginning of the passage appointed as our Old
Testament reading this morning seems to catch something of the spirit of the
day. God’s commands to his people about
the observance of the Passover, which is to be the foundation of their life as
his people. A mighty miracle of
deliverance is about to be accomplished before them. Something never seen before. The great historical anticipation and
foreshadowing of the universal deliverance that was to be known in Christ
Jesus.
You will remember what I am about to do for you, and you will tell your
children and your children’s children forever.
God’s Chosen, those who remember that it was he who saved them, lifted
them from bondage, carried them safely though many dangers, toils, and snares,
to bring them safely home. “This month shall mark for you the beginning
of months. It shall be the first month
of the year for you.”
This is a day of course when we are acknowledging what is in a sense a
great accomplishment for this congregation.
We’re not all that big and strong, and when we first looked at the
challenges we were facing we weren’t at all sure we were going to be able to do
what we thought needed to be done. But
to use a baseball metaphor, the people of this congregation really did step up
to the plate. There are some special
heroes, as we all know. But it was truly
and is truly a team effort. The whole
village. Hard work, creative planning,
excellent leadership, inspired and inspiring stewardship. And a home run, no question about it. A home run.
The reality is and of course the deeper point of this reading from
Exodus is as a reminder of perspective. Moses
didn’t free the Hebrew slaves. Moses
didn’t part the waters of the Red Sea.
Moses didn’t write the Commandments or lead the trek though the
wilderness. Moses didn’t defeat the
enemies they encountered along the way.
Moses didn’t feed the hungry multitudes with manna for the heavens. Moses is chosen by God to tell the people what God is going to do--and then
God does what God does.
So what is God going to do with a reinforced foundation and some new
rooms and improved accessibility and an elevator? I think we’re just beginning to catch a first
glimpse. There’s so much we don’t know
yet, so much we can’t see yet. But if
the past is any indicator, the word we might have emblazoned overhead today is
something like this: “Fasten your
seatbelts!”
And with that word in mind, I would ask us to turn our attention to the
13th chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, verses 11-12, “You know
what time it is, how it is now the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when
we became believers; the night is far gone, the day is near. Let us then lay aside the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light.”
And just to place along side that the words of Jesus himself, in Luke
12: “from those to whom much is given, much will be expected.”
It’s an exciting day. But it
could be a dangerous day, a spiritually catastrophic day, if what we celebrate
today were to tempt us to think highly of ourselves and our
accomplishments.
This is a day most of all for deep humility, and for preparation, and
for commitment.
It’s a great privilege to be here, of course, at this moment of new
beginning. But what is happening today
is not that we are being presented with a prize, but with some new tools, some
equipment that will be necessary for a much bigger job that God now apparently
has in mind for us.
As we have said before, if God gives you a hammer, you are right to
expect that there are nails in your future.
I hope there’s a lot of excitement for that. Time to wake up and smell the coffee, as Paul
has said this morning. The energy of
renaissance. But I hope that there’s
also some anxiety. Something of an
edge. Do I know what I need to know for
the work God is preparing? Am I in the
right kind of shape? Where am I in terms
of my manner of life, my conduct, my relationships? How am I doing in the inner space of my mind
and heart?
Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of
light.
Simply to know that God has moved in this congregation in a new way,
not for our purposes but for his purposes.
It’s an honor for us, something that we will now with all our heart and
mind and strength want to prove worthy of.
As we are honored, so as Paul says, that we would live honorably. To hear the word of the returning master in
the Parable of the Five Talents, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few
things. I will put you in charge of many
things.”
We’ll enjoy the celebration today.
And know that he who has done this great thing for us has more in mind
for us, and better, than we could ever ask for or imagine.
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