Free-Loading

I preached at Wellington UM Fellowship today. Here is the text of the sermon:

Deuteronomy 10:12-13, 17-21/The Essence of the Law
So now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you? Only to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord your God and his decrees that I am commanding you today, for your own well-being. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who is not partial and takes no bribe, who executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and who loves the strangers, providing them with food and clothing. You shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God; him alone you shall worship; to him you shall hold fast, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise; he is your God, who has done for you these great and awesome things that your own eyes have seen.

Galatians 6:1-10/Bear One Another’s Burdens
My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves. All must test their own work; then that work, rather than their neighbour’s work, will become a cause for pride. For all must carry their own loads.
Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher.
Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.



When I was a little girl, I loved the Fourth of July. I have such fond memories. I grew up in East Tennessee, so it was always too hot and way too muggy—the humidity was way up there and just standing outside for a few minutes made us sweat. But that was ok, because we had watermelon in the big galvanized tub full of ice, and coke (which is what we call all soft drinks) and jugs of sweet tea. My parents had a motor boat, so there were always boat rides, too, and we could stick our feet in the lake and cool off. The relatives from Virginia came to visit. Ruth and ‘em are coming we would say. That meant Aunt Ruth, Uncle Sam, her sister Aunt Marie and Uncle Joe, but we always just said, “Ruth and ‘em.” As if NEM was part of the family. Late at night, the men would gather up all us kids and we would watch them shoot bottle rockets in the back yard of my grandmother’s house. And we would get to hold a sparkler while it dazzled us with its amazing stream of light. There is little to me more memorable than Fourth of July holidays.
I grew up in the bicentennial era, as well. I was 9 when we celebrate the bicentennial of the nation in 1976. The hoopla that surrounded that big national celebration went on for years before and continued for years after. It was so wonderful to be an American. We were all so proud we had made it as an independent nation for 200 years. The pride surrounding the bicentennial was fierce and strong. And we all loved it, at least where I was.
Now, some people have co-opted patriotism as a religious value. Some people think being patriotic means you love a certain kind of God, and believe a certain kind of way. Patriotism somehow got tangled up with religious fervor in ways that are not necessarily particularly favorable for religion or for the country. So, on this Sunday of Fourth of July weekend, this Sunday when we celebrate the sacrament, a reminder of the freedom we have in Christ, lets look at ‘being free’ in Christ, and maybe how we can relate that to being a good citizen of this country while also being a good citizen of God’s world.
The scriptures today tend to point us toward two basic tenets in terms of behavior. One is to be responsible for yourself, be sure that all your ducks are in a row, be who God wants you to be, be the model, set the stage.
The other is to share your neighbor’s burdens. Help out the one that has no voice, help the stranger, and be there for your friends. Help them in times of trouble. Put simply 1) Be who God wants you to be, and 2) Help others to do the same.
Jim Wallis reports in his book God’s Politics an uplifting story. In Madison, Wisconsin, Baptists fund affordable family apartments and formerly homeless children who move there see a jump in their GPA’s from 1.2 to 3.2. These same kids eventually all graduate and all go on to college. When the Baptists of Madison became the people God expected them to be, they funded the housing that created stability that led to success for the children and helped them be who God wants them to be.
Looking for ways to make a difference in someone’s life. Looking to offer a shoulder to carry the burden while also looking for a way to prevent such burdens from hindering one another. This is being a citizen of God’s world. William Booth founder of the Salvation Army said, “We can’t just keep picking people up at the bottom of the cliff and not climb the mountain to see who is throwing them off the edge.” (Wallis, God’s Politics, 255-56).
Who is God calling us to carry burdens for today? Who is being called to help us carry ours? Here in Wellington, people are in need of support. And, other folks are looking for ways to make a difference in someone else’s life. The great thing about being a new fellowship, a new presence here in this community is your identity can be formed here and now. You can determine how the world views this community of faith. By offering yourselves to the task of bearing one another’s burdens, both within this community and especially outside of it, you will be the community of faith God wants you to be. And you will be an example to Wellington and to the world.
Emma Lazarus is the poet who penned those powerful words we read on the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor. Those words, “give me your tired, your poor, yearning to be free” are a prophetic vision of what America was seen to be. America exhibited, in that time, the bearing of one another’s burdens, the godliness that was so brilliantly shining around the world. Immigrants from all over the planet were streaming in, poor, tired, hungry, homeless, dejected, rejected. And we, as Americans, offered our towns, our villages, opened our hearts, minds and doors to the world. And we were so admired for that.
Fourth of July is full of fond memories for me, and for many others, I hope for you. But it’s more than watermelon slices and firework displays. It’s more than a parade. It is a time to remember our goodness as a nation. It is a time to remember what we believe at our very core as Americans. Freedom is a value worth the struggle to maintain it. Freedom doesn’t mean we don’t have any responsibilities, but that we have many. Freedom in Christ, Paul tells the Galatians, means carrying the load for someone else. Free-loading redefined. FREE LOADING: to carry the load that frees someone else so that you may also be free, to bear a burden for another and, thus, become more Christ-like, the Christian you should be.
To open your arms to the world. To show godliness in all you do. As you move into a new era in this young community of faith, with a new pastor appointed by the bishop coming this week, and on this weekend of patriotic memory, consider the fledgling nation and all its ideals of offering freedom to a world oppressed.
Hear your own call to be a community of faith that knows what it means to walk in the way of Christ.
Hear this church’s call to Wellington in these words from Emma Lazarus:


The New Colossus (1883)
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Women's Sunday

This year's Women's Ministry Sunday will be October 5. We are privileged to have the Rev. Joyce Curtis return to our church to lead the service.

The starting point to our planning of this service comes from this poem about Mary.

Check it out!  If you want to help or offer ideas, email Rev. Pam Everhart:

pameverhart@fcfumc.net