Episodes
Sunday Oct 25, 2015
Living Stones
Sunday Oct 25, 2015
Sunday Oct 25, 2015
A sermon preached by Rev. Ginger E. Gaines-Cirelli at Foundry UMC October 25, 2015,the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost, Consecration Sunday.
Texts: 1 Peter 2:4-5, Mark 10:46-52
There is a place that Anthony and I love to go for vacation, far, far away on the west coast in the woods on a river. It is delightful to hike along and sometimes through the flowing waters, using the larger rocks of the riverbed as stepping stones. In that part of the world it can feel quite remote, as if no one has walked that way before. But often—sometimes right in the middle of the river—a cairn appears, an artfully engineered pillar of stone upon stone, marking the place as one where a pilgrim paused to play, reflect, be. There is something lovely and encouraging about the appearance of these fragile works of art, as they represent a sense of shared space, shared experience, a shared path—the reminder that we are not alone in this life. The river stones provide ample material for creating this kind of monument and I have spent happy hours setting up my own little rock art sculptures along that river, signs—impermanent as they are—that I was there, alive, moving through the world.
In
the Judeo-Christian tradition—as in many other traditions—there is an ancient
practice of setting up a stone or pile or stones as a signpost, as a memorial,
as a marker of a significant moment. An “Ebenezer,” literally “a stone of help”
is a stone or stones that mark a place in which God has been present in loving
and saving ways. This is clear in the
line from the beloved hymn to God, Come
Thou Fount of Every Blessing: “Here I raise mine Ebenezer; hither by
thy help I’m come; and I hope, by thy good pleasure, safely to arrive at home.”
Today, we are literally raising an Ebenezer, a sign and marker of God’s mighty presence with us—a sign and marker of the ways that God has brought Foundry through 200 years—a sign and marker of this moment in history when we are being called and raised up as a congregation to be a living sign of the mighty power of God to bring about reconciliation, justice, and peace.
Over the past several weeks, we have heard the verses from 1 Peter that were read today: “Come to Christ, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…” This letter to the first century churches in Asia Minor was written to encourage the people to be strong in the midst of challenge and persecution. The call to those early churches—and to Foundry church today—is to stand in contrast to the culture as a witness to the power of faith, hope and love. The call is to take courage through the promise that death and violence and hatred will not have the last word. “Come to Christ, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…” God calls you and me to be built into this church. You are Foundry. I am Foundry. Today, not only do we consecrate the collective financial support that we bring, but we also baptize one of our precious babies and welcome folks who are claiming their unique place as part of Foundry Church, by publicly and prayerfully entering into covenant as professing members. [There are also those in different places along the journey—committed to this community, but still discerning the tenets of the Christian faith—and so, not at a place to be Baptized today but making a public witness of their place among us. We also receive with joy friends who had moved away—both their covenant membership and geographically—who are reconnecting with Foundry.] The “living stones” of our lives form and fashion the “Ebenezer” that is Foundry church; and as we bring more of who we are and what we have as an offering, this sign and marker of God’s mighty presence that is Foundry grows stronger and more prominent as a signpost for others seeking to find their way to faith, hope, and love.
As I meditated on the image of “living stones”—and also, interestingly, on the story of Bartimaeus that we heard from the Gospel of Mark—a line from the story of Jesus’s entry into Jerusalem came to mind. In Luke’s version, when Jesus is asked to silence the crowds’ loud praise he responds, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would cry out.” (Lk 19:40)
“The stones would cry out…” When we come across an Ebenezer on a journey, the stones “speak” of God’s presence—even if we don’t know all the specifics, we know that there was a time when someone raised those stones as a memorial of a sacred moment, of God’s loving and saving presence. Today in our Gospel, as Jesus walks along the road out of Jericho, he encounters Bartimaeus sitting by the roadside. Bartimaeus, aware that God’s love-in-flesh is passing by, cries out for mercy. And when those in the crowd try to silence him—implicitly rejecting his hope and affirming the status quo of his poverty and blindness, he cries out even more. Jesus responds with the same question he asked the disciples James and John last week: “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus asks not for power or wealth. He simply asks for vision, trusting in God’s loving presence and ability to heal through Jesus. Bartimaeus came to Christ, THE living stone, the cornerstone, and then—from that place of connection—became like Christ, a living stone crying out—a witness to hope fulfilled and to the power of God’s saving love!
You are Foundry. I am Foundry. Each one of us is called to come to Christ and to be, like Christ, a living stone, built into a spiritual house, a vital community, a signpost of hope, an Ebenezer to weary travelers on the journey of life. We are called to cry out, proclaiming God’s love and mercy. Today we mark this moment, stone by living stone, as a sacred moment, a moment in which we once again commit and consecrate our lives and our resources to God’s loving and saving presence in the world. And as we offer ourselves, as living stones, to be built into Foundry Church, we know that there are those who would want to silence us, who get in the way of new vision, who scoff at the hope we profess, who hate us for our love. But today we raise our Ebenezer and cry out even more loudly for the sake of justice and equality and reconciliation, for an end to racism and heterosexism, for affordable housing in this city and truly supportive housing for sheltered or unhoused neighbors. Today we raise our Ebenezer and cry out even more loudly for the sake of gentleness and beauty, for the sake of all that is sacred and kind. We cry “Mercy!” We cry “Thank you Jesus!” We cry “Help us, Lord!” We cry “Here I am!” We cry “Use us, God!” We cry out—through our lives, our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness—that we are God’s people, a living witness to a living hope that we are not alone in this world. We cry out, “I am Foundry. WE are Foundry. Thanks be to God!”
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