Fairhaven UMC – Page 65 – United Methodist Church

Believing In Unicorns

May 15, 2023

Mother’s Day Sermon 2023

Summary

This Mother’s Day sermon celebrates the invaluable role of mothers in our lives. Mothers are not the idealized, perfect figures we often see on TV, but rather everyday heroes who make countless sacrifices for their children. They come in all shapes, sizes, and genders, and their labor, if quantified, would be valued at $162,581 a year. Despite their tremendous contribution, the most common gifts they receive are cards, phone calls, flowers, or meals. However, the sermon emphasizes that the best gift for a mother is a heartfelt expression of gratitude. It highlights the biblical example of Mary, mother of Jesus, who fully submitted to God’s will and remained devoted despite all hardships.

This sermon invites everyone to recognize the irreplaceable role of mothers, who, like the mythical unicorns, sparkle in their uniqueness and continue to believe in their children. It encourages us to express sincere thanks to our mothers, not just on Mother’s Day but every day, and reminds us that their love and legacy persist even after they are gone. Mothers, like the rare and valuable unicorns, should embrace their uniqueness and know that their sparkle does not go unnoticed. Happy Mother’s Day!

Transcript

When I was just a young tot, I remember how television shows portrayed the average mother. She was that person who got dressed up every day in a pretty dress, curled her hair and donned the full face of makeup just to go to the grocery store. She was that mom that looked 100% on point every day. She was so amazing that unicorns had trouble believing she was real.

Oh, how I dream she could be my mom, the perfect mom, a unicorn. To be clear, that was not my mom. My mom did not meet those stringent criteria, not even close. But I envied any child who was lucky enough to have such a mythical creature for a mother.

Being a mom of any age or generation is difficult. A mother is a selfless, loving human being who sacrificed many of her needs and wants for the needs and the wants of her children and her family. She hands out hugs and kisses, helps raise you and loves you unconditionally. She works hard to make sure her children are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to make it as a competent human being in a complicated world.

She is your rock and support system through the good, the bad, and the ugly moments of your life. But being the mom isn’t for the faint of heart. Mothering takes effort, physical, mental, and emotional. It’s tough work, but the rewards are significant.

Mothers come in all shapes and sizes and even genders. There is no perfect mom, nor is there any cookie-cutter diagram of what a mother should be. Moms have a 24/7, 365-day commitment. Interestingly, research shows mothering should be valued at an annual salary of $162,581 a year.

So this one special day, Mother’s Day, gives each of us the special opportunity to show our gratitude to our moms, stop moms, grandmothers, aunts, and other maternal figures in our lives. But instead of that six-figure salary, What do we give mom for her selfless dedication to us? We give her a greeting card. Can you believe this is the most popular gift for Mother’s Day with approximately 152 million cards sent? Big deal. Oh, yeah.

Moms usually get a phone call, too. Reportedly, there are approximately 122 million calls made on the second Sunday of May every year, More calls than any other day of the year. And today, we can celebrate virtually with moms geographically distanced. Boring.

And then there’s those awesome flowers and plants. After Christmas in Hanukkah, more people buy flowers and plants for their moms for Mother’s Day than any other day. You’re killing me. Well, how about eating out? Normally, Mother’s Day is the busiest day of the year for restaurants.

Around 48% of the people make plans to go to a restaurant for Mother’s Day. What a deal. We feed her one day of the year and let her feed us the remaining 364 days. So for her estimated worth of $162,581 a year, She gets a card, a phone call, flowers, or a meal she doesn’t have to cook, or any combination of the above.

That hardly seems fair, doesn’t it? However, the truth be told, material things are nice. But the best gift and the one mum probably values the most of all is a heartfelt thank you and a genuine expression of appreciation for all that she has and continues to do or has done for you. We should celebrate Mother’s Day every day, not just once a year. So take time to thank her often.

I have the highest respect and admiration for anyone God has blessed to be a mother. There are few assignments in the human experience that require an array of skills and wisdom needed by a mom fulfilling her everyday duties. Moms must be a resident psychologist, physician, theologian, educator, nurse, chef, taxi driver, fire marshal, and occasional police officer. And if she succeeds in each of these responsibilities, She gets to do it all again tomorrow.

I’m also one that is amazed at the way God designed mothers. It is said that a unicorn doesn’t stand around and worry about what the other unicorns are saying of it or think of it. It just sparkles. Isn’t that what moms do? Moms just sparkle.

Mothering is a lifelong job. My wife Elaine is an incredible mom. I am in awe of her ability to nurture our children still today as she did when they were young. But you know what? According to the Bible, there is a lot more to being a good mom than simply making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the crust.

There is more than applying a Spider-Man bandage or washing the hair without getting soapy water in the eyes. Yes, these are the physical demands on mothers, but biblically, there are spiritual demands as well. And without question, the spiritual needs of children are even greater than the physical needs. God has called moms to pass on more than a good recipe book or a skill in how to load a dishwasher.

Moms are called on to pass on the things of God. One day, the children of the family circus were discussing where babies come from. One of the young experts, Billy, announced, “Storks don’t bring babies. They come UPS.” Youngest Jeffrey had a different idea, but Dolly, the daughter, spoke the most insightful comment of all.

Babies are connected to their mothers by their biblical cord, which brings me to one remarkable biblical mother. When Mary was just a teenager, she was confronted with a challenge to be completely submitted to God’s will. When Gabriel gave her the angelic message that she was to carry the Christ child, Mary was stunned. The key phrase, I am the Lord’s servant.

May it be. Through the years, Mary never wavered from her complete submission to God’s will. Was she nervous? Certainly. Was she unsure of her own abilities? Who wouldn’t be? Was she anxious about the prophecy that part of her future would include pain? Of course.

Mary was like any other mom in this room who wanted only the best for their child. She understood full well that all of life is not pleasant. And she was completely aware that life happens. She was so committed to God that she had no room for commitment to anything else.

And that makes her a mother worth imitating. Like moms of today, the fact that she was the mother of Jesus, Mary wasn’t perfect. Remember when Jesus performed his first miracle? Mary’s conversation is the most unusual part of this water-to-wine story. Jesus said to Mary, woman, why do you involve me? It’s not my time.

Think of the awkwardness of that situation. Mary’s request and conversation with Jesus appears to be out of line with what Jesus was ready to do. And even though Jesus performed the miracle, there’s a feeling that he did so, in part, because his mother put him on the spot. If Mary understood the task of Jesus, would she have tried to interrupt him, or even agree that his ministry needed to be tempered? Was it Mary’s mistake not to stop the ministry of Jesus, even for a little while? Fast forward.

Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother. Mary did not stand there stoically and passively by at the foot of the cross, as she is usually portrayed in stained glass windows. No, she crumpled at the cross. She fell down to the depths there, moaning and wailing and begging the God of her heaven to stop her hell on earth.

The truth of Simeon’s prophecy at the birth of Jesus suddenly became true. The cross cut deeply in the Mary’s heart. Despite the pain, Mary was there. She was a devoted mother from the beginning and a faithful mother to the end.

A mother called by God never relinquishes her title. You’ll find mothers like that in the halls of Children’s hospitals, in funeral homes, in counselors’ offices, and under the rarest of circumstances, giving up their child for adoption. It is sacrificial. It is painful.

But it is a loving moment of care. Mothers never relinquish the title. Even if the child is rebellious, harsh, or cruel, her heart just won’t allow it. Not when she is called by God.

So when a woman becomes a mother, there is an instant realization that the day will almost certainly come when pain dominates the picture. The crosses are different for every family. But frankly, the crosses usually come. There may be a divorce or disease or death.

There may be harsh words or unacceptable actions. There may be tough love and impossible nights. Through it all, mothers called by God never relinquish the title, never. The mother’s love is as rare as a unicorn.

Mary had a chance to see God’s entire plan play out. She suffered through the crucifixion, celebrated the resurrection, and even was a part of the small group that witness the powerful presentation of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. What a gift from God to live long enough for parodying to make sense. Even more of a blessing is that some parents live long enough to see God’s plan for their children and their grandchildren.

But for others, God reveals his plans only from the halls of heaven. There are so many solid principles for parroting in the Bible no mom or parent can afford not to know them. Sure mom you’ve made motherly mistakes in the past you’ll certainly make a mistake or two today and you’ll probably make more mistakes tomorrow. Through it all God will love you, work with you, and accept you as he did with your mom and her mom before.

Through it all the task of mothering or a grandmothering is accomplished by the grace of God. And even though your mother may be physically gone, she is still here. Your relationship isn’t over. It’s just changed.

A mother called by God never really enclashes her title. What makes your mom different makes her beautiful. As Robert Brault said, “Enjoy the little things in life because someday you’ll realize they were the big things. Unicorns have rare qualities and great value.

So whether your mom is near, geographically distanced, or has gone on to glory, take a moment today to sincerely thank her for what she does for you or has done for you. You may have stopped believing in unicorns, but she has never stopped believing in you. So mom don’t stand around and worry about what others think of you. Just sparkle and know that your sparkle has not gone unnoticed.

You are a child of God. You are a limited edition. You are that unicorn that one in a million. Embrace your uniqueness.

Happy Mother’s Day. Amen.
Fairhaven Sermon 5-7-2023

May 8, 2023

Summary

This week’s sermon reflects on the fifth Sunday of Easter and the coronation of King Charles III, discussing the significance of stability and permanence in a world where monarchs may live and die. They mention the crown jewels, particularly the Kulinan diamond, as symbols of the United Kingdom. Rev. Peg Bowman then connects this theme to the scripture readings, which talk about valuable stones and the concept of living stones. In these readings, David seeks refuge in God, Jesus comforts his disciples, and Peter discusses living stones in his letter.

Rev. Peg Bowman suggests that living stones represent God’s people, built together into a spiritual house with God as the foundation. They also discuss the idea of Jesus as the chief cornerstone, or rather, the capstone or keystone, holding the structure together. The coronation of King Charles, with people from different tribes and languages coming together to celebrate, serves as a glimpse of the unity that Jesus envisions for his followers. Christians are honored to be part of the eternal King’s living stones and a royal priesthood in the eternal kingdom.

Transcript

Well, welcome to the fifth Sunday of Easter. We were just talking about that before the service. I might have more… We’re going to be in Easter for a little while longer yet, but this is Sunday. This is week five, and I am sure I am not the only person who was up yesterday at 5 p.m., watching the crowning of King Charles III. This coronation will hopefully be a once-in-a-lifetime experience if the king lives as long as his mother did, which of course we all hope for.

His mother, Queen Elizabeth, was already on the throne when I was born, so she is the only British monarch who has reigned during my lifetime until now. And even though we Americans aren’t British, the fact that she reigned so long gave me and a lot of other people a sense of stability, a sense that somewhere in the world there is something that lasts. And that’s what the coronation ceremony is designed to communicate, that even though monarchs may live and die, the kingdom itself is something that is lasting and is permanent, something that will still be here when our children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren are our age. One of the other things that the newscasters have been talking about a lot this past week has been the crown jewels, and particularly that world-famous diamond known as the Kulinan diamond, the largest diamond ever found on earth.

The stone is absolutely priceless, and it has been cut very carefully into nine famous stones plus some smaller jewels made out of the chips. And the largest of the diamonds, which is in the king’s scepter, is over 3,000 carats. The second largest piece is over 300 carats, and that’s in the imperial state crown. So you would have seen that in the front of his crown if you watch this, it was right there.

The other seven stones belong to the king and are held in trust for the nation and for future monarchs. And these stones, all these stones are usually kept very well guarded in the Tower of London, where sightseers for a price can view them, but from a distance.

In a very real way, these stones represent the nation of the United Kingdom, much in the same way that our Capitol building and our White House represent America.

And of course, these buildings are also made out of stones, different kinds of stones, but they’re stones. So the scripture readings for today talk a lot about stones, valuable stones. In fact, the readings say way too much to cover in one sermon, so I’m just going to touch on a few of the highlights today. And there actually is a fourth reading assigned to this Sunday, which I’m not going to read, but it doesn’t really fit in with the other three readings, but it also talks about stones.

It happens to be the story in Acts that talks about the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr. And as he is dying, filled with the Holy Spirit, Stephen prays for the forgiveness for the people who are stoning him. And I mention this because he also prays the same verse in Psalm 31 that we heard today, we read today, that Jesus prayed from the cross, “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” He prays this. Now, this prayer that Jesus prayed was first prayed by King David.

And in Psalm 31, which we saw today, King David talks a lot about stones. And this Psalm, David has gotten himself into a tight spot, and we’re not sure quite what he has done or what’s going on, but it’s some kind of life changing trouble. And he says things like, “My life is spent with sorrow. My strength fails.

I have become like a broken vessel.” And I think most of us could probably relate to those feelings at one time or another in our lives. When we find ourselves in times of trouble, I hear it, we can pray as David prayed. “Oh Lord, in you I seek refuge.

Be to me a rock of refuge and be to me a strong fortress.” David understood the power and the protection and the security of a fortress built out of stone. And in the reading from the Gospel of John, we also come across buildings made with stones. Jesus says, “In my father’s house are many mansions,” which might be built out of stones, I imagine. And Jesus speaks these words to comfort his disciples, because Jesus has just told them that he’s about to die.

And he has told them that where I’m coming, you cannot come. And the disciples are heartbroken. And they don’t understand yet that Jesus must die, and they don’t understand yet that he will come back in three days. And they don’t understand yet that Jesus will ascend into heaven where they can’t come just yet.

But Jesus’ resurrection makes the ascension necessary, both for Jesus and for us. And so Jesus encourages and reassures the disciples by describing a place in the kingdom to come that Jesus is making ready for us. And this is not a fable. It is a reality as indestructible as the Kulinan diamond.

So when you and I get to God’s kingdom, each one of us will have a place, not so much a room as a role to fill, a purpose for being there. And we arrive the same way that David did, by trusting God and by trusting in the Messiah. We live in Jesus, and Jesus lives in us. Okay, we are being knitted together into God’s house.

We are, as one theologian said, a plurality of people with a single heart. In fact, Jesus says, “Let not your heart be troubled.” And the word heart is singular, not plural. We are being built together into one, let not our heart be troubled. The Holy Spirit-directed Church becomes a living part of God’s work in the world.

Wherever we pray or act, in Jesus’ name, we are declaring loyalty and allegiance to Jesus as our King and to God’s kingdom, and the Church becomes a fruitful community alive with the Spirit. The Apostle Peter, in that reading, picks up on the idea in this letter where he talks about living stones in his letter. And I love that our Sunday night dinners are called living stones because that’s exactly what we are, God’s people, living stones, being built together into a house. This idea of living stones, of course, is a metaphor, it’s kind of a parable.

But what does it refer to, what on earth is a living stone? Well, here’s one possibility, something that I’m sure Peter knew about back in the day that might have inspired the thought. Do you have those slides up there? Let me see the first one. Check that out. In Africa, this is where these things come from, there’s a plant that looks like stones.

They’re called lithops, which basically means stones. And before they bloom, they look like this and they could be mistaken for stones. But when they bloom, next one there, check that out. They produce, each stone produces one beautiful flower. And these flowers have no stems, and the part that looks like stones, as are actually the leaves.

But one of these things by itself probably wouldn’t be noticed, in fact, one of the things by itself probably wouldn’t survive. But you put a whole bunch together and they’re beautiful. And with the proper foundational materials, they could be built into something resembling a building of living stones. God is the proper foundation that we living stones need to thrive and to be built together.

God is also the artist who knows exactly where to place each stone in the building, how to place us in the building for maximum beauty and thriving. And we are then taken together, one of the outcomes of God’s creativity. And in a sense, resurrection for all of us can be thought of as repurposing a building, as we are built together into this spiritual house, into this living community. One other thing that’s worth noting about the readings that we had today, and that is that Jesus is referred to as the chief cornerstone.

Again, talking about stones here, a stone that the builders rejected, but a stone that God chose and honored. Now I found out this last week that the word cornerstone in this passage is not really quite the correct translation. A cornerstone is usually low in the building. I mean, we have one in this building, it’s like in the low corner of the building.

But the word in Scripture should actually be translated capstone or keystone. There you go, there it is. Describes the one stone at the top of an arch that holds the structure together. The weight of that stone pushes the others down like this, diffuses the gravity so that the arch doesn’t fall.

This is put together without mortar, and they built these things back in Jesus’ time. In fact, the Romans, I’m not sure the Romans invented it, but the Romans had them and used them a lot. So this again was very common in Peter’s time. So he’s talking about this keystone. Jesus is the keystone who holds the building of living stones together.

This living stone is this building is made up of every person on earth who believes in him, in every church, in every denomination, from every nation around the world. So looking at the congregation, at the coronation of King Charles, have you got a chance to see the people who were there? We saw a little bit of a foretaste of what this building is going to look like, because there’s people from all over the world. People from different tribes and languages coming together to celebrate the King. That is what Jesus has in mind for us.

We as Christians are honored to be among the eternal King’s living stones, a royal priesthood in the eternal kingdom. In Jesus’ name and to his glory.

Amen.
Announcements 5-7-2023

May 7, 2023

Daily Bread Ministry: This Wednesday, May 10th, the Daily Bread Ministry on the north side will be serving a lunchtime meal. Spencer is coordinating food and volunteers for the event, which starts cooking around 9 a.m. If you’re interested in helping, contact Jamie Graham for more information.

Beyond: Beyond is back: Join us at Spencer on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. for a light meal, followed by casual, contemporary worship at 7:15 p.m.

Zoom Bible Study: If you prefer to stay at home, join us for our Zoom Bible study on Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m. Contact Dave Smoyer for more information on receiving the Zoom link.

Primary Election Day: Don’t forget to vote on May 16th! The United Women in Faith, formerly known as the United Methodist Women, will be selling delicious soups and sandwiches and baked goods at Fairhaven. Contact Betty Kohley to volunteer or to sign up to donate baked goods or even money.

Annual Dollar Market: The 30th annual dollar market is scheduled for the first Saturday of June. Donations of new seasonal clothing and gently used household items are needed. Volunteers will be needed to work that day at Fairhaven. Contact Stormy for more information.

Vacation Bible School: Kelly announced that Hill Top will be hosting a vacation Bible school from July 31st to August 4th. Volunteers are needed to help out. Contact Kelly with your name, email, and phone number if you’re interested in volunteering.
The Importance Of Captions In Church Media

May 3, 2023

As a church that produces video and audio content, I understand the importance of captions in making sure that our content is accessible to all. With this article, I hope to offer some insights that can help other churches create more inclusive content for their audience.

Why Captions Are Important

Including captions in our media will benefit everyone. For example, they make Fairhaven’s content accessible to a wider audience, including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Captions also benefit individuals who may not have access to sound, such as those in noisy environments or public places.

I have been using MacWhisper. It’s a macOS app that uses artificial intelligence from OpenAI to transcribe audio and video files into text. It supports multiple languages and it can also generate subtitles and timestamps. You can edit the transcripts and export them in various formats, such as SRT, VTT, Text, CSV, HTML and PDF.

Whisper is the original application from OpenAI that preforms the same functionality but uses the command-line. Both of these applications are free to use, however MacWhisper has a paid upgrade.

Another option that I have been using is DaVinci Resolve Studio It utilizes the DaVinci Neural Engine to create subtitles from audio, specifically analyzing English audio on the timeline to generate text captions automatically. DaVinci Resolve Studio is a video editing software that costs $300, but there is a free version available to start out with.
Fairhaven Sermon 4-30-2023

May 2, 2023

Summary

This weeks sermon by Pastor Dylan Parson explores the concept of intelligence and obedience in dogs and applies it to the Gospel reading of John, where Jesus describes himself as the Good Shepherd and his disciples as his sheep. The sermon suggests that obedience and intelligence are often separate qualities in dogs and that the same applies to humans as followers of Jesus.

The sermon emphasizes the importance of dependency and trust in Jesus, as well as the need to listen to his voice and follow him as the shepherd who leads his sheep to green pastures and still waters. The sermon also notes that being called a sheep is often viewed as derogatory, but in the context of the Gospel reading, it is a positive quality that reflects trust, obedience, and reliance on Jesus.

Transcript

I read a few years ago, I remember, about whenever we were adopting beans, that there is this authoritative list of the smartest and, you know, accordingly dumbest breeds of dogs. It was developed by a canine psychologist about 30 years ago who knew there was a profession called canine psychology. As anyone who’s ever had a dog, or more appropriately, more than one dog, so you can compare, as you would know, there’s an extreme variation in dog intelligence. Growing up, my family always had golden retrievers, and that was kind of my baseline, and they tend to be extremely smart.

My dad has always said that whenever you look at them in the eye, you can tell that they’re thinking, that they’re looking back at you. Not all dogs are that way.  He’s He’s in the same way, he’s half beagle, he’s half Australian cattle dog, those ones are up there on that list. He is very, very smart. He’s almost certainly the most intelligent dog I’ve ever had.

He learned to roll over in like two minutes, I’ve never had a dog that can roll over before. He was potty trained pretty much instantly. He knows how to let himself out the storm door and into the backyard, he does that all the time, and I’m pretty sure he could learn to reliably operate a doorknob if he wanted to, and that’s really scary to think about. Pretzel, on the other hand, our big, sweet, gentle boy, is simply not very smart.

His mother’s very smart, he’s not very smart. If we have a gate up between rooms, you know, we like to block off the kitchen sometimes, and crack it open for him to come through, and he’s still behind the bars, he cannot figure out how to get around it. He’s fled in fear at the sound of a Dollar General plastic bag, smack-knacking against the fence, he’s unable to figure out what’s going on, and if you sit him down and say “Paw,” he’ll just lick your fingers. He has no idea.

Here’s the thing about smart dogs and dumb dogs, that standardized list that categorizes breeds by their intelligence heavily waits not just their understanding, you know, they’re learning a new word or a command, but their obedience to ranking dogs in large part by how often they obey a command the first time it’s given, not just that they can learn it, but then that they can actually do it. My experience with dogs is that obedience and intelligence are often two completely separate things, maybe even opposite things. Beans is brilliant, but he is not particularly obedient if he knows there’s no treat in your pocket. He’s gonna lay in the sun in the grass until he’s done, unless you physically go and move him inside.

You know, Finn, whenever we had him a few years ago, every single morning I would lose my mind, he would sit at the top of the stairs and look at me, and I would call him to come down to go outside to eat breakfast, and he would just stand up there and look at me as I just slowly got angrier and angrier. And Pretzel on the other hand is dumb, right, but if you walk him into the yard and say “Go pee, immediate, he does it,” call him to come back in, and he does. And if we were to go on a walk through unfamiliar woods without a leash, I would prefer to go with Pretzel any day, because he’s way less likely to get himself into trouble, not because he’s smart, because he’s not, but because he listens to my voice. Beans being smart means that he’s much more likely to put himself in danger, actually, in almost any circumstance, whether that’s by tracking an animal down way out there and running away, or by figuring out how to open a locked garbage can to eat a ball of tinfoil.

He’s smart, and it gets him into trouble. And so you see where I’m going with this, with the Gospel reading today. John describes what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. The sheep belonging to the Good Shepherd know his voice.

He calls them, and they follow him out of the gate wherever he leads. He sets the boundaries, because he is the gate, he’s the shepherd of the sheep and the gate of the sheepfold. And the sheep come and go and graze in peace and then sleep in safety so long as they listen to his voice. Jesus tells of thieves and bandits who have come, seeking to steal the sheep away, but because they know his voice so well, they aren’t led astray.

They know him, they trust him, they love him. And in turn, he leads them to these green pastures to feed their hunger. Besides still waters to quench their thirst, he restores their soul, he leads them in paths of righteousness for his namesake. And this is a vision of what being a follower, a sheep of Jesus should look like.

There’s this real sense of dependency, one that’s really counter-cultural. We don’t like to speak of ourselves as dependent, but that is what sheep are. If you’ve ever spent any time on Facebook or in the comment section of any online news article, you know that calling someone a sheep is like the most derogatory thing you can call them. They don’t have a mind of their own.

They’re a follower. You’re too dumb to chart your own way, right? For Jesus and for Christians, behaving like a sheep is not a bad thing at all. It’s recognizing who we were called to be, who we were created to be. From the very beginning, Adam and Eve first brought harm on themselves when they decided that their judgment was better than what God told them to do.

Don’t eat the fruit. Okay, we’re going to eat the fruit. And if there’s one thing that we’re prone to, it’s being too smart for our own good. It’s devising ways to live out of harmony with God’s justice, love, mercy, and wisdom, while also justifying how we’re doing the right thing.

We move first, and we take God’s leading into account afterwards. That’s not what sheep do. Listen again to verse 4 here of John chapter 10. “Whenever he has gathered all his sheep, he goes before them, and they follow him because they know his voice.” Is that what you do? Does he go first and you follow him? Is that what we do as a church? He goes first and we follow him.

“Whenever we come up with new ideas or continue old ideas or make any sort of decision personally or together, is it because we’re obedient or because we have a good idea?” In today’s Acts reading, we’re given a concrete vision for what a church full of obedient sheep looks like, who hear their shepherd’s voice, who follow his leading. So listen to that Acts reading again. This is from this common English version. “The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals and to their prayers.

A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs for the apostles. All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them.  Every Every day they met together in the temple and ate in their homes.

They shared food with gladness and simplicity. They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everybody. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved.” It’s a short, sweet, simple way of living that they had. The people trusted God.

They trusted each other and the body of Christ. They trusted one another to the point that they totally gave over their own comfort, their own desires, their own possessions even, to the greater good of building God’s kingdom among them. And how did this come about? How did they get to this point where the church was growing by leaps and bounds? That God was doing miracles among them all the time.

And that’s because they spent time seeking to learn from the apostles God sent them. They devoted themselves to the church and to the world around them. They ate together and they prayed together all the time. And in turn masses of new people were joining them every day.

God added daily to the number of them that were being saved. And they weren’t impressing all these new converts with their wisdom or their power or the cool stuff that they were doing or their knowledge or philosophy. They were just obedient to God and things fell together. The world opened up before them.

And it almost looks too easy as we read about the church in Acts. They let the Holy Spirit roll among them, ready to do whatever God wanted to do with them. And lo and behold God did. God gave them everything they needed to thrive, to survive.

God changed their lives. God did miracles and wonders among them constantly. And let me suggest something to you. And I want you to try it on and see whether I’m right, but see whether this feels right.

Right now in this very moment, as you have heard this story about the Jerusalem church in Acts, you are mentally working out some reason why a mighty act of God, why an outpouring of the Holy Spirit like that can’t happen for you and for me and for us. I strongly suspect that you’re doing that because I know that I do that every time I read this story myself. There’s some rational reason why that happened then, but can’t happen now, right? Maybe the Holy Spirit doesn’t do that anymore. Maybe the early church had a special thing that we don’t have anymore.

Maybe you just don’t fully believe this story happened the way Acts says it did. Maybe you think where you and where we are right now is good enough anyway. You’re as deep as you want to go and following God in a nice comfortable place. And something as radical as what we see in Jerusalem there is just far too much anyway.

And so answer me this too, if that is the way that you’re thinking. Are you, are we too smart to be obedient? Are you Finns at the top of the stairs, carefully ignoring God’s clear command to come down and and get going? Are we beans sitting in the yard remaining right where we want to be until we’re really sure God has a treat for us to make our obedience worthwhile? Are you a sheep who obeys and knows the sound of the shepherd’s voice or do you hear it and know how not to obey? I guess that’s why English and Spanish and so many other languages have two words that superficially seem to mean the same thing but are really quite different. Hear versus listen. Maybe you and I know the shepherd’s voice just fine and we hear him but we’ve got good at tuning it out so we can just carry on our business, just letting that voice blend in with all the others within and around us.

Listening to Jesus’ voice results in this radical transformation of our daily lives as individuals and together. We can see that very clearly in Acts. Look at how those in that church who heard their shepherd’s voice dropped everything to follow him in a way that would have looked bizarre to the people around them. Is that what happens for you when you hear Jesus’ voice? You start making decisions that are completely out of character, that are completely on faith? Is that what happens in this church when we hear Jesus’ voice? It is extremely scary to follow the shepherd out of the sheepfold, out of the gate and into the world.

It’s scary to read about this church in Acts that as inspiring as it is, is so totally devoted to Christ that they shared everything. They spent all their days in community and service and prayer and had to constantly adjust to exploding numbers. They regularly witnessed miraculous signs and wonders. That might throw us off a little bit.

That would really disturb things. And yet Jesus promises in the uncertainty of total obedience to lead us beside still waters, to feed us of green pastures, to restore our souls. He promises to lead us on right paths, to protect us in the darkest valleys, to set up a table of grace for us even in front of our enemies. He promises to overflow our cup with goodness and mercy.

This is something I love about the CEB translation of Psalm 23. It says that God’s goodness and mercy will pursue us all the days of our lives, not just that it will follow gently behind, but it chases us down all the days of our lives. This is what lies on the other side of that sheepfold gate. This is the life that the shepherd calls us to.

He has come that we might have life and have life to the fullest. They hear his voice calling you, calling us, and maybe for the first time let us truly live. The name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.