Laity Sunday Sermon

Will you pray with me? 

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen. 

Please excuse me if it takes me a moment or two to get comfortable up here.  In church, I’m normally sitting in the back pew or sometimes up in the balcony, so I feel physically out of place standing here in the pulpit.  But even more than that, I don’t consider myself to be an especially spiritual person, so it’s a little awkward for me to be speaking to you from up here.  Yet, for reasons I will try to explain, I quickly volunteered when given the opportunity to talk to you this morning. 

One of the takeaways from today’s reading from John’s Gospel is the passing of the torch from Jesus to Peter, as Jesus tells Peter three times to care for his sheep, or in other words, to continue to spread his message.  And so, over the centuries, that torch light has continued to be passed down and dispersed, so that, today, a part of that torch resides here, in our Spring Glen Church community. 

Unfortunately, however, the messages passed down from Jesus are often muffled by the messages we receive in our daily lives.  For instance, one of my favorite things to do on the weekends is to read the New York Sunday Times.  While the news changes from week to week, there are certain things that appear in the paper every Sunday, such as ads from Tiffany’s, Rolex and the like, the photos of people in tuxedos and designer dresses attending fancy parties and the stories and photos of exotic (and expensive) places to visit around the world.  Of course, the Sunday Times is just a reflection of our broader society that defines and emphasizes success as the achievement of material wealth and professional and social status, and we are constantly bombarded with those messages, whether through advertising and the media, in our workplaces or in our communities at large.   

Luckily, though, through our experiences in this church, we are reminded that those things are not important in the eyes of God.   One of the key messages that we are reminded of here is that what truly matters, and what is so much more important than money or status, is how we treat others.  That message is repeated and reinforced in a variety of ways.  Sometimes we are reminded of this from the biblical teachings of Jesus that we are all very familiar with:  

“Do for others what you want them to do for you.”  

“Remove the log from you own eye before commenting on the speck in another’s eye.”  

“Be charitable, but don’t make a big show of it.”  

Often, we are reminded of this message by listening to the sermons that come from this pulpit each week.

 But, to me, the most meaningful way that message is expressed is through the people of this church.  Whether it’s the example of Pastor Jeff, who gave up a successful and lucrative career because he was called to serve a greater purpose, or the example of Kellyann Day, who has dedicated her professional life to aid those who need it the most.  I am also inspired by serving with a fantastic group of deacons, people like Carolyn Cary, Sue Spight, and Laurel Laster, who amaze me with their commitment to others and who seem to radiate such a fundamental sense of goodness, which I hope could somehow rub off on me just a little by serving with them.  

Whatever the manner in which the message is delivered, however, I believe it is also important to have this message continually reinforced to counter balance the societal messages we are faced with on a regular basis in our daily lives.  For example, I used to question why so much of the liturgy in church is repeated on an annual basis, instead of exploring new passages and topics.  But now, I better appreciate the wisdom in the choice of repetition.  In addition, being exposed to Christ’s message on a repeated basis can also be critical to maintaining a proper sense of perspective.  Personally, whether it’s after receiving a big promotion at work or after learning that I will soon be joining the ranks of the unemployed, the messages that I am reminded of here help to prevent me from taking either of those events too much to heart, because neither event says all that much about what is truly important. 

In the end, I realize that nothing I have said this morning is particularly original or insightful, but then again, neither are those ads that are in today’s Sunday Times.