St.
John’s, Saugus, Massachusetts
June
16, 2019
The
Rev. Nancy E. Gossling
Trinity
Sunday and Fathers’ Day
St. Paul’s letter to the Romans was written from Corinth
in 58 AD and carries his gospel message to an audience mostly unknown to him.
In it, he writes about the purpose of Jesus, God’s desire for reconciliation,
and the gift of the Holy Spirit that has been given to us, which pours God’s
love into our hearts. After leaving Corinth and going to Jerusalem, St. Paul
stopped in Rome on his way to Spain; for Paul had sensed that his ministry as
an evangelist in the Aegean region was completed.
As a self-identified missionary and evangelist like St.
Paul, I was happy that I could be with you here today at St. John’s. I love to
talk about the good news of Jesus Christ in many places and contexts. Like St.
Paul, I have learned repeatedly how to trust God in all manner of conditions,
and to rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit wherever I am. I have known good
times and bad times, and the temptation to fall back into fear; but St. Paul
reminds us that “the Spirit of God will help us in our weakness, pray for us,
and intercede for us with sighs too deep for words.”
I spoke with Sarah last week and I am delighted that she
can have some vacation time before she assumes her new role as a full-time
rector in Haverhill. In our conversation, I asked her about you and some of
your history, and I learned that her time with you has been wonderful, and yet
shorter than expected. Transitions can be fearful times. In every transition
there are losses and disappoints that sadden us, as well as hopes and blessings
for the future that begin to appear.
I spent this past week at Virginia Theological Seminary
at a conference intended to nurture our passion for preaching. It’s called
“Deep calls to Deep.” Knowing that God calls us into deep relationships with
God and one another, we are continually invited to listen to God’s Spirit.
While our lives are a blessing, no one escapes life without suffering, and
while some people will struggle with the concept of God suffering, I find it
comforting. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into the
death of Jesus were also baptized into his resurrection?” St. Paul reminded the
Romans that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus
our Lord.
My God knows what
it is like to be human and to suffer; and St. Paul claims that our suffering
has its benefits. For example, it will produce endurance. Now, if you’re
anything like me, you will want to run from suffering as fast as you can, or
get out of its way as quickly as possible. We avoid suffering like the plague;
but there’s no escape. Whether we like it or not, we suffer and we see the
suffering of others.
We must endure
these hard times whenever they come and however long they last, not as victims
on the cross but rather as believers in Jesus, with the victory of Christ in
our minds, and the joy of his resurrection in our hearts. In March, when my
daughter was pregnant at 25 weeks, she gave birth prematurely to fraternal twin
boys, and our family endured a season of suffering. Riding the roller coaster
of emotions that comes with having someone you love in the intensive care unit,
we prayed daily for their lives, hoping that each boy would not only survive
but thrive. Today they are each 7 pounds of life and growing well. This
afternoon, I will fly to Minnesota to hold them for the very first time.
Perhaps you can see the character lines in my face. I
know you have them too. When we endure hard times, it will reflect not only in
our bodies but also in how we live. We always have choices. We can give up in
despair, blame others for our pain, and play the victim, or we can learn to
rely more deeply upon God’s love, and find the courage to change or to endure our
times of suffering until they pass. We can choose our attitudes and actions. We
can pray with an urgency that we neglected before, going deeper into our
relationship with God. We can look to our family, friends, and our church
communities for encouragement, support, and to help us remember our gospel
story.
When we endure suffering, perhaps our hearts will be
softened. Maybe, through our tears, we will see life more clearly, follow Jesus
more nearly, and love people more dearly. Hopefully, we will speak words of
love and offer small acts of kindness to others; for as baptized Christians, we
promise to proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ, seeking
to serve Christ in all persons, and loving our neighbors as ourselves. With my
faith communities, Facebook friends, and Caring Bridges around the world my
heart is glad, and my spirit rejoices because I know I am not alone.
St. Paul reminds us that “the sufferings of this present
time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us.” He
reminds us to have deep trust, indeed total trust in God. To the Romans, he
proclaimed that we are justified by our faith in Christ, not by our works, nor
by our achievements, but rather by our belief in the grace of God. Therefore we
boast in the Lord, who gives us hope.
Although we may
have been walking crookedly, even bent over by the weight of our sins or the
suffering we have endured, in Christ we become worthy to stand upright before
God. When we have the mind of Christ, and listen to the Holy Spirit, we will
find new life and a peace that surpasses all understanding. We can boast in our
suffering because we know that suffering has its benefits; it produces
endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope
does not disappoint us, because God’s power is greater than even death.
Yes, Jesus gave us hope. The Son of God, who had not
finished his message to his disciples before he was crucified, knew that they
would not understand why he would have to suffer, and even die. Yes, Jesus gave
us hope, because He promised that although He still had many things to say, He
knew that we can only handle so much at a time, and that God will not give us
more than we can bear. Yes, Jesus gave us hope, and that hope will not
disappoint us.
So Jesus and his Father in heaven sent the Holy Spirit to
pour God’s love into our hearts, and promised that this Holy Spirit would help
us to endure our sufferings. In a daily meditation for
young adults called www.d365.org, Erin Hutchison wrote, “When you walk down to
a creek or river and look around, you are sure to find smooth rocks. Once
jagged, the rocks slowly but surely become smooth under the steady flow of
water. Rocks, of course, can’t object and walk away. No, they stay put, allowing
the water to pour across them, refining them.” No, we cannot avoid suffering
but we can allow the Holy Spirit to smooth our sharp edges and refine our
lives.
Personally
and professionally, I am on the road and in the air a lot. Felipe Martinez preached
a sermon about the various ways that he travels.(May 31 2005 Christian Century)
He said, “If my priority is to get to my destination quickly, I map out a
route, get in my car, set the cruise control, turn on the radio, fly through
the countryside, and stop only when absolutely necessary. But if the weather is
right and time is no factor, my priorities change. I grab my helmet and off I
go on my motorcycle.” At a slower pace, he is able to look at the scenery, see
the signs along the way, stop in small towns, and enjoy a meal even when he
doesn’t need to refuel.
Martinez suggests that we all have
our own “small towns” named suffering, endurance, character, and hope. Like us,
he wants to get to the town of hope as quickly as possible. And yet, St. Paul tells
us that hope is always present and does not disappoint us. We can always see
signs of hope if we’re looking for them, even when we’re in the town of
suffering. We can trust God, who created us, Jesus who saves us, and the Spirit
who will guide us.
In
a Taize meditation that I found on your website, the author wrote, “Although
there may be shocks and even upheavals in our lives, Jesus is present by his
Holy Spirit. He will always say to us: “Even when you are going through the
harshest trial, I am present underneath your despair…and I am also there deep
within your hope.” Deep calls to deep. Jesus calls from the deep of God’s heart
to the deep of our hearts and inviters us to stop and eat at His Table today,
in this town called Saugus.
Dear
Christian friends in Saugus, maintain your hope. Whether you take the highway
or the backroads, remember that God is with you on the journey, no matter which
town you’re in. Listen to the Spirit. Then fasten your seat belts, and enjoy
the ride!
Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31
Romans 5:1-5
John 16:12-15
Psalm 8
or Canticle 13 (or Canticle 2)
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