Seeds of Love, Harvest of Joy!
Galatians 6:1-10 (MSG)
July 8, 2007
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
Do you ever get depressed with the state of the world? I know I do. I get so depressed that my way of coping is simply to tune out the news, ignore the statistics and focus on just getting on with my day to day living. In fact, I suspect that sometimes I fall into a form of what has been called "psychic numbing," -a deep loss of hope for the future which arises in part from a sense of powerlessness to change anything. What I can do seems so small and the problems seem so enormous, can anything I do possibly make any real difference? Until, thankfully, someone comes along to reorient my thinking, reaffirm my most cherished beliefs and call me to action. Marian Wright Edelman is one of those some ones and her keynote address at the UCC General Synod in Hartford was one of those times.
Marian Wright Edelman's father taught his children that Christianity required service in this world. With a law degree from Yale Law School, she was active from the beginning of her career in Civil Rights and advocacy for the poor of this nation, no matter what their race or creed, eventually focusing more and more on issues relating to child development and children in poverty. Then, in 1973 she established the Children's Defense Fund as a voice for all poor, minority and handicapped children.
In introducing her to the Synod the president of Elmhurst College quoted from her book Lanterns: A Memoir of Mentors. In that book she said that the people whose stories she related provided her with examples "that make me stand up when I want to sit down, try one more time when I want to stop, and go out the door when I want to stay home and relax."
As she spoke, her words about the plight of children without basic health care in this country were powerful. Her call to see every child as our own child and then take action to assure that their basic needs are met stirred my heart. But what moved me to tears and rang with truth in the depths of my heart was her passion and her belief that each of us can and must do something and that our doing will make a difference!
She moved me so much that since Synod I have spent some time reading about her life and her work. In doing so I found some words that ring with truth in the depths of my soul. I'd like to share some of her words with you:
Service is the rent we pay to be living. It is the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time.
When I fight about what is going on in the neighborhood, or when I fight about what is happening to other people's children, I'm doing that because I want to leave a community and a world that is better than the one I found.
If you don't like the way the world is, you change it. You have an obligation to change it. You just do it one step at a time.
You really can change the world if you care enough.
You're not obligated to win. You're obligated to keep trying to do the best you can every day.
We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee.
Marian Wright Edelman is some who makes me "stand up when I want to sit down, try one more time when I want to stop, and go out the door when I want to stay home and relax."
Just because we can't fix everything doesn't mean we shouldn't do something. Just because we may not be able to eliminate every injustice and right every wrong, doesn't mean we do not have an obligation to do what we can do. There is something that deeply stirs each of our hearts if we stop long enough to listen and listen deeply enough to hear. There are actions that each of us must take if we are to live the life we were created to live. The beauty, the power, the truth here is that when we allow God to do the leading and dare to act with courage and love, we will find the joy that can only come from living our life's true purpose. As Frederick Buechner has said so profoundly "The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
What is your passion? What stirs your heart? What need of the world -whether that need comes in the form of a neighbor down the street or a family half a world away- what need of the world causes you to say "someone ought to do something about that"? What brings you joy? What talents and gifts and skills do you have to offer? Whose life can you make better today and tomorrow and the day after that?
What is our vision as a community of faith? How will the world be a better place because Plainfield Congregational United Church of Christ exists in this place at this time?
Since we came back from Synod Tom and I have been talking a lot about church our ministries and what stirs our hearts. In the process a vision for our community began to emerge and I'd like to share it with you:
My dream is that this community of faith becomes
a place where the spiritually hungry find food to feed their souls
a place where the spiritually homeless find welcome
a place where people find healing for their bodies minds and spirits
a place where children, youth and adults engage in regular disciplines of communal prayer, study and sharing
a place where each person discovers their God given gifts -those gifts that in the using of them they will find joy
a place where each person listens deeply to the voice of the Still Speaking God heard in the cries of the world
a place where each person is encouraged and empowered to use their gifts to feed the hungers that tug at their heart
a place filled with the joy that can only come as each of us lives into the fullness of who we are created and called to become
We are in the midst of a Visioning Process that I know will help us get clear about our communal vision and about what we need to embrace and what we need to let go of in order to live into that vision. In the process, I pray that we will each listen deeply to the voice of the Still Speaking God. I pray that we will have the courage to act once we hear. And in all we do, I pray that we will heed Paul's words to the followers of Christ so many years ago-
Live creatively, friends. ... Make a careful exploration of who you are and the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don't be impressed with yourself. Don't compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can with your own life. Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others--ignoring God!--harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds! All she'll have to show for her life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work ..., harvests a crop of real life, eternal life. So let's not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don't give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.
Amen.
