"To whom can we go"-Sermon for Last Sunday in Cat Hollow Church, John 6:56-69:
We come to a day that feels all at once just another Sunday, if there is such a thing, and…and a significant and monumental Sunday in our 15-year life together as a family of faith. For as you well know, today is our last Sunday worshiping in this church. So, an important reminder here, we won’t be here next week…but we didn’t just forget what day it was…we are just somewhere else, so please remember to come to the new church. 3823 Brushy Creek Road…if you want to write that down. And, I share the specific address, not only so you know where to go next week, but because even the address, the numerical part…3823…feels like another of the many signs we have experienced along the way that have reminded us that God is at work in our efforts…I would say even leading them.
Many months ago, now…I believe it was in about April of 2023…so some 16 months ago…our Bishop’s Committee was meeting at our regularly scheduled monthly gathering. The Bishop’s Committee is the chief leadership team for our church who help me, in all things, spiritual and temporal, lead this congregation, including, overseeing this monumental and complicated building project. So, the Bishop’s Committee was meeting and we were discussing, as we have each month at our meeting for the past couple of years, the building of our new church…when someone asked, “So, what is our new address?” And, honestly, at that point I did not know the answer to the question. I knew we had been assigned an address by the City of Cedar Park…but I did not know it. Now, for this story to make sense, you need to know that my family had just moved the month before this meeting into a new house, after living for 14 years in our previous home. So, again, I did not know the new church’s address, and I believe it was Laura Tomaszewski who then pulled out her phone and googled it. And, sure enough, though over a year away from completing construction, we were already listed online. Thus, the address popped up, again, 3823 Brushy Creek Road…and I was just flabbergasted…my eyes got wide and my mouth fell open…and I shouted out…that’s my new address…my new home’s address…3823…Steck Avenue…not Brushy Creek Road…though I do plan to spend a lot of time at both addresses moving forward. I think we were all filled with wonder. There was a moment of silence, as we all stared at each other across the table at the highly, highly unlikely coincidence. Now, I believe that this was God nudging us, again, reminding us that God is with us in this momentous work…even leading it. But, if not, at least, it will always be easy for me to remember our new address. And, if I ever forget our address, which means I have also forgotten my home address…you will know it is time to nudge me toward retirement.
Friends, God has, indeed, led us to this day, and God will lead us into our bright and undiscovered future in our new home. Now, though I believe that all of you will join me next week at 3823 Brushy Creek Road…and join me there for many years to follow…as my friends and co-ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ…which you are…I want to now sincerely and earnestly invite you to graciously and generously do so…to do so next week, and if up to me, each and every week that follows…for many, many years to come And, I am speaking about our weekly worship…but not Sundays alone. I invite you to join us for bible studies where we find wisdom for the ordering of our days; and Christian education programs where we grow more and more into the full stature of Christ; and community meals where friendships are forged; and Lenten programs where we tend seriously to our spiritual lives; and outreach projects that serve our underserved neighbors; and stewardship programs were we commit the people and financial resources needed to fuel our ministries and care for our new church and staff; and funerals to support our loved ones who are grieving; and baptisms when we welcome new people into this family of faith; and leadership positions that provide God-given vision for our future, and grief groups where we sit on the mourning bench together and find healing, and prayer meetings where God is called upon and met, and Sunday School classes and youth group gatherings where our children discover the love of God that empowers their entire existence, and, again, yes, on Sundays, where we feast on God’s love at this table, which will be same table in our new church, where, as I said last Sunday, Jesus’ spiritual DNA co-mingles with our own making us an expression of Jesus’s own life and love for the very life of the world. I invite and ask you to commit to enter with me into all of this glory…for our own sake and for the sake of our neighbors. For I believe, God is leading us…and is leading us to be a center of redemption, hope, and light that pushes back on all the darkness in this world, a light that cannot be overcome…Jesus’ own light…bringing healing, purpose, meaning and direction for generations of people…long after we have taken our own place among the saints in light.
And, friends, becoming that center of redemption will take all of us…our unique gifts…and you are a profoundly gifted lot…our prayers, our time, our attention, our generosity and, most of all, our love. I am reminded of a quote by the Rev. Charlie Cook, a long-time professor at the Seminary of the Southwest who said in the context of stewardship…but I think it equally applies to our time and talent, “God does not want 10% of your money. He wants it all. God wants your whole life.” And, we will need “all” of you, in our bright and undiscovered future, as much as we ever have. For, the road ahead is paved by God who does lead our way…and it will be a glory to behold…but it will not always be easy. Sustaining our new church over the long-term will require filling it…and the work of evangelism in our day requires hard and intentional relational work. And, we will come to forks in the road and discerning which to take will require hand-wringing, prayerful discernment. There will be disagreement and hurt…for humans hurt each other…and the work of forgiveness and reconciliation is challenging soul work. It won’t always seem like things are as glorious as it might feel today. Doubt will creep in. Hard questions will emerge. It might not always seem like God is leading the way, and it might feel like the best option is simply to walk away.
I think of the disciples in today’s Gospel reading. They were faced with hard truths that were not easily understood and, perhaps, even harder to believe…that the flesh and blood human who stood before them…Jesus…was no mere mortal…no mere rabbi…but spiritual food that sustains human life…the life of the whole universe really. That the flesh and blood human who stood before them…Jesus…was no mere mortal…no mere rabbi…but the Son of God birthed into the world to overcome all the world’s darkness beginning with death itself our most ancient foe. And, let’s not forget that Jesus’ claims about being the Christ, the Messiah, and his teachings were being contradicted and admonished by their own trusted religious leadership. Who should Jesus followers believe…this seemingly human, albeit loving and wise, miracle worker…who they are just coming to know…or the established tradition and authoritative religious leaders who hold the wisdom of many generations of rabbis and prophets. John tells us for some of Jesus’ early followers it is too much to comprehend…too good to be true…and they begin to walk away…walk away from Jesus and their fellow friends and followers they have been on this journey with. And, though I would like to be like Peter, who responds to Jesus’ question to his closest friends and companions…asking them if they too want to walk away…I want to be like Peter who boldly responds, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” But, the truth is, I, for one, have great sympathy for these folks, who I believe are faithfully struggling to understand and to believe.
Though much of this sermon…especially how I began has been forward looking…on this day, our last day in this worship space, I now invite us to look back rather than forward…back on the times we have shared to this point in our journey together…while this has been our spiritual home together…and remember…remember when the words of eternal life of which Peter speaks…that is Jesus who is the Word of God…God’s life among us…has shown up and been present for you. When someone or someones stood with you in the name of God when you faced unimaginable loss and helped get you through at least that day which you felt you couldn’t survive. When a hymn lyric, or sermon, or teaching, or line from scripture provided you an “aha” moment that began to unravel a difficult problem. When someone from this family of faith was just the listening ear that you needed when you had to get something off your chest to breathe. When we prayed together in a time of great fear or unknowing and the prayers were answered with a hopeful path forward discovered. When we found 200-year-old stained-glass windows to decorate our store-front church in a shop in Gruene, TX that came out of a church in Norwich, England. When you made a life-long friend at church when you had just about given up on people. When Jesus’ forgiveness gave you courage to say “I am sorry” or “you are forgiven” that began a reconciliation you thought would never happen. When your child came home from church excited to talk about their faith. When you received that simple text checking-in on you and believed a church can really care for you. Friends, the God nudges I could share, that we have experienced together in this place are too many to recount. And, I know this…for all I have just described…comes from stories that those among you have shared with me.
Please take the time to remember, with grateful hearts, how Jesus, God’s eternal Word of life and love, has shown up personally and powerfully in your own life….in this time that we have shared together…while in this spiritual home. For, I believe those most blessed moments and memories will be where we find the healing balm…light in the darkness…power and commitment to walk together following God’s lead…when we face those very real future doubts and questions and challenges. Such moments and memories assure us that God is leading the way…in the triumphs and in the trials…in our new home…in our bright and undiscovered future…where there will be much glory to behold. I can’t wait to see you next week in our new church…just in case…again…it’s 3823 Brushy Creeks Road. Amen.