Soul Artists Never Stop Learning and Growing

Introduction:

The mission statement of the United Methodist Church is, “To make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” The call to discipleship, in part, is one of being a student and learner. The title of the sermon today, which concludes our series entitled, “Soul Artists, is “Soul Artists Never Stop Learning and Growing.” Our call as disciples’ of Christ challenges us to live a life-long journey of discovery, so we can grow, so we can become more and more like Jesus. The second part of the mission statement tells us why.

So we may transform the world. This is a reflection of what we pray as the church, almost every time we gather. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Biblical scholar Marcus Borg tells us that the kingdom of God is what life would look like if God were really in charge. How we would live together if we were following Jesus’ teachings faithfully as has disciples.

This mission statement is the foundation of our work as the Spiritual Growth and Development Committee. The question which guides us and maybe even drives us is, “How can we be even more faithful as the church to help us all respond to Jesus’ calling of come and follow me?” What we learn, how it impacts who we become, all influence how we are artists shaping our own personal lives, but even more. What we learn and who we become makes us soul artists that also shape our lives together as the church, community, and our world. How we, in are artistry with God, help shape life into the kingdom of God on earth.

Today, I want to share some thoughts on what it means to live together in real community. What kind of community helps us all in our journey to discipleship? I am convinced that no matter how well we plan what we normally associate with learning, our Bible Studies, classes, ministries and missions, if these plans are not built upon a solid understanding of living together in genuine community, they will not be fully effective.

The passage you are about to hear from Ephesians describes a community which nurtures us and sets guidelines for us on learning and growing and practicing our faith. It is a letter to a new church start that seeks to shape real community from its inception. The first half of the letter explains to the new learners some of the basic truths of the faith. There are teachings about salvation, new life and being a new creation. The second part of the letter, of which the passage I am about to read is a part, reflects upon what it means to be these new creations in our social and personal lives together. The section I am about to read has been entitled by the translators, “Rules for the New Life.” In this passage we will hear guiding principles for being the church, for being in a healthy and nurturing community that helps us all grow in our faith walk with God through Jesus Christ. Let us hear how we are to live together which then enables us all to learn and grow and become better disciples of Jesus.

Read Ephesians 4:25-27; 29-32

Sermon:

I truly believe that what we hear in this passage from Ephesians is one of the fundamental teachings of our Christian faith. How we choose to live in relationship is the cornerstone for everything else we experience in our life. It is fundamental for what we experience in our families, our friendships, our church, as residents of Prescott, as Arizonans, etc. How we honor or diminish, how we love or ignore, how we feel compassion or greed, influences and shapes not only our characters, but also the relationships we have in our lives.

So what does this letter from Ephesians show us about shaping our characters that allows us to live in real community? As I read these rules for our life together, I heard two very important principles or attributes that we need to live by that not only show us how to live in a true community, but also in healthy and whole personal relationships. When Ephesians asks us to put away falsehoods and speak the truth, we are asked to live with no pretensions or behind the safety of masks. We are being asked to live together from the very core of our humanity. The very first and maybe most fundamental attribute in relationship is a call to trusting each other. Trust is a synonym of faith. Remember a definition of faith is to have a deep belief in or trust in another. Can we trust each other, whether it is in our marriage, our relationships with children and friends, or in our community as the church? Can we trust each other to continue to care about us and love us no matter what?

Trust is fundamental to community, for it allows us to share from the very depths of our hearts. A sermon is for me simply another word for “faith-sharing.” We are all called to faith-sharing as disciples. Jesus’ great commission is to go into the world preaching and teaching the good news.” So what I say about sermons is also true for you as people who are called to preach and teach the good news story. My favorite understanding or definition for sermons, or testimonials, or faith-sharing is that, “we allow people to overhear our prayers.” We let people hear our deepest, most heart-felt beliefs and understandings for the living of our lives in our relationship with God. We let each other into the deepest, most personal part of our humanity. To do that takes a lot of trust.

I believe trust is the greatest gift we give to each other. It hurts deeply when people betray that trust, for we have given the gift from the very core of ourselves. But I am convinced that if we ever stop giving our gift of trust, we have diminished our lives personally, especially in the relationships we build. To not be who we are, to not let people know us and our deepest beliefs in fear of them being rejected, creates for us a life of loneliness. How empty our lives can be, how unloved we can feel, if we never trust others to know who we are.

In counseling books, in books that provide for spiritual direction, I read a common theme. That one of the greatest needs we all have as people is the need to be understood, the need for people to know the real truth of our life as we see it and live it. I suggest that a first step toward real community is all of us seeking to understand each other, without any need to judge each other. When someone shares with you from their heart, you recognize what an incredible gift of trust you have just received.

To be fully present so we may do this means we first take time to listen to each other and get to know each other. What are our hopes. What are our fears. What re our goals? Who is God for me? Where do I find God in my life? That will not necessarily be easy, as someone described listening in our culture as a competitive exercise where the first person to draw a breadth is declared the listener. It truly shows how deeply we all want to be heard and understood.

The second principle we see in this passage and is extremely important to our vitality as a real community is the call to commitment. Scott Peck, in his book, The Road Less Travelled, says that “commitment is the bedrock of any loving relationship.” He says, couples, and I will add church members, community members cannot resolve in any healthy way the universal issues of marriage, or community or relationships of any kind, without the security of knowing that the act of struggling over these issues will not itself destroy the relationship.

Here, I like what Ephesians says, for it is so honest. Even when we understand trust as a gift, there will be those times when we share with each other that it might strike the proverbial nerve, and that we will feel anger. And that is alright, as long as we do lot let it linger and fester. Again, let me come back to faith-sharing. A couple of weeks ago I said something about sermons almost in passing which I want to reiterate today. I said that the mark of a good sermon is not whether you agree with it or not. Not whether it fit with your beliefs or not. The mark of a good sermon is whether it causes you think about it or talk about it later. Did it cause you to think about something differently? It is the basis for learning and deepening your walk with God through Jesus Christ. Scripture tells us that the beginning of the Gospel is repentance, to have a change of mind, change of heart which leads to a change of direction, but not just any direction. For another definition for repentance is to return to the answer. See, we have come full circle to living our discipleship. To return to the answers of life from God, is to return to the one who shows us how to live in the kingdom on earth. Yet the challenge to change can create anxiousness in our lives and in our relationships.

So Ephesians tells us to put away those responses that cause us to hurt each other, to slander each other, to diminish each other, and live from kindness, tenderheartedness or compassion, forgiving each other as God through Christ forgives us. God has already shown us the kind of commitment God has to each of us that ensures we can wrestle with life as we seek to learn and grow. Paul tells us in Romans 8, “That nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate us from the love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Vital churches, real communities people do not always agree with each other, but they can talk about any subject without it destroying, or undermining our love of each other. Scott Peck said that when he sees this expression of community the only word he can think of is “glory.” In real community we are always ready to listen to each other and learn another’s truths. Vital churches can always be trusted to listen and understand and not judge and slander each other. Real community means we have a deep, unshakeable commitment to each other, that says like God, that nothing, absolutely nothing will ever separate us from each other’s love through Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sermon delived by Rev. George Cushman on February 14, 2010.