April 16 (Easter Sunday)

1^st Congregational Church of Redwood City, UC= C

Carol Barriger

Sund= ay, June 11, 2006

1^st after Pentecost, Trinity

Welcoming new members

“Facing Our Fears”

“Here am I; send me!” (Isa 6:8)

Isaiah 6:1-8; Readings from Paolo Coelho

I don’t think I can remember an ordination I have attended in = the last 20 years which hasn’t included the Dan Schutte song “Here I am, Lord.”

I the Lord of sea and sky, I have heard my people c= ry
All who dwell in dark and sin, My hand will save,
I who made the stars of night; I will make their darkness bright
Who will bear my light to them, Whom shall I send?

Here I am, Lord, Is it I Lord

I have heard You calling in the night

I will go, Lord, If You lead me;

I will hold Your people in my heart.[1]

&= nbsp; It’s a beautiful song – and it certainly portrays the sense of calling and possibility, the hope that, with God’s help, someone might touch lives and change the world. It cert= ainly seems to be a fitting song for those setting out on the path of ordained ministry. But I would like to= lift up two things about that song, on a day when we heard Millie read the Isaiah text on which it is based.

&= nbsp; First, it is not just a song for seminary graduates being ordained as local church pastors. Especially in= the reformed tradition, especially from the progressive Christian viewpo= int, we participate in what Martin Luther called the “priesthood of all believers.” Setting asi= de for a moment whatever inferences or memories you may have around the word “priest,” what this means is that each and every member of the faith community – from the newest to the longest-standing – is a minister. To minister means to serve; to serve with the gifts one has been given – gifts of talent, training, or of the heart. So quickly, that is my first point. The song with its call to “send me” is for every = one of us. I will say more= about that in a moment, and set it in what I hope is a meaningful current context= .

&= nbsp; The second thing is actually a big problem I have with that song. It does two things well. It draws poignant pictures of a tr= oubled world and broken hearts. Then= it lifts up the picture of one called to reach out into all that trouble and b= e a healer and peace-bringer. Wha= t it does not talk about is the fear.&nb= sp; How scary is it for that person, standing on the edge, to face into = all that newness, all that unknown, all that risk, all of those unspoken (somet= imes conflicting) expectations? Th= at is something that we must pay attention to, for the ministry to which we are all called – in reference to my first point – is one= in which there is genuine fear. Ministering in the manner of Jesus – bringing a message of love and welcome to a= ll people, preaching radical justice in the face of calcified authority, leadi= ng on the path less traveled, or blazing a new one – this ministry is a fearsome challenge.

&nbs= p; There are a lot of “call stories&#= 8221; in scripture – Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Samuel, John, Paul. If we look at them as a single met= aphor for that special sense of the Holy moving in one’s life, please note = that none of them take place in ordinary or easy circumstances. They are profoundly uncomfortable = and scary. The way the writers of= these stories know how to describe that was to create visions full of angels, seraphs, smoke, fire, disembodied voices, burning bushes, chariots with fla= ming wheels, and so forth. Scary stuff. It takes exceptional c= ourage to respond. In this st= ory, Isaiah feels a building shake, sees heavenly beings, and imagines his lips touched by a burning coal. The point is, that in the midst of fear, what he says is, “I’ll go. I’ll do it. I trust you. I’ll go where you lead.̶= 1;

&= nbsp; Such is the place that we have been led in our journey as a congregation. We have been called by God to live= in to a new vision. You, your moder= ator, and your Church Council have exhibited that exceptional courage in saying:<= span style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> Here we are. Send us. Send us to be the progressive Chri= stian voice, to offer the love of God, and the hand of Christ, to those who “have not,” those who have been excluded and hurt. You can expect me over and over ag= ain to emphasize that this is a vision far beyond a decision to move this congrega= tion to a new home. That is simply= the strategic move to make the vision possible. The vision also talked about worsh= ip, and mission, and an extravagant welcome to our community. We will structure ourselves for th= at whole vision. The visio= n is not without risk – as all fruitful things are – and since we are not God, and cannot know the future, it is full of unknowns. It will take all of us – not= one, or just a few, but all of us. We are afraid. And it = will not serve us well to be full of bravado and not face our fears. We must name them. What are our fears?

&= nbsp; #1 We are afraid of loss. That is the biggest thing we fear.= We fear it in our daily lives, our= work, and now some fear it at church – losing the familiar, the building – in both its beauty and its beloved shabby places. We are afraid of loss, so we try t= o hold onto the past. Most of us com= e here to be able to share the real losses we experience and know that we a= re held and supported in love. I= have spoken before about how life is full of loss and we have all experienced that. Death, relationships, j= obs, security, home, money … all sorts of things. But you know what? We go on. We are here. We are changed, but we are here. God is at work in us, as individua= ls and as a community. So, in the we= eks ahead, as we start laying specific plans to make our vision come more to li= fe – putting flesh on those bones that Mary Susan talked about last week – let’s also be very specific about our fears. We are afraid of loss. But God fills our losses with possibility – the same possibility that our forebears in faith knew w= hen they first established this congregation.

&= nbsp; #1A Sort of a corollary to the fear of loss is the fear of pain. We’re afraid this is going to hurt. Well, it may. But it will most likely also yield= joys beyond our present imagining. Anyone here who has given birth, or raised a child knows that pain i= s an inevitable part of the birth, growth and change. We have known for three years that= we must change. In the Paolo Coe= lho excerpt that Millie read, the boy says:&nb= sp; “My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer.” The reply is: “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no= heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every secon= d of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.”[2]

&nb= sp; #2 We are afraid we won’t ge= t our own way, that somehow our voice won’t be heard. We know our frailty as human being= s, and so we try to control outcomes, to be able to say that we were the on= es who “kept it like it was.”&nbs= p; But this is not about getting our own way. We are in covenant with one anothe= r, and covenant with the God of Love and Life.&nb= sp; This is about God getting God’s way, and us not getting in<= /i> the way. We are going to disa= gree, but we are going to work together – communicating in truth and love, trusting our leaders and working for the good of a thriving church.

&n= bsp;         #3 We afraid we cannot actually accomplish what we set out to do. This is what often keeps individuals and groups in what is called the “paralysis of analysis.” It seems so big. We ju= st talk things to death, and never do anything really differently from what we have always done until the world crumbles around our ears. It is a paradoxical fear of success. Perhaps you have hea= rd Marianne Williamson’s statement, often mis-attributed to Nelson Mande= la in his inauguration speech. I= t goes like this:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most fright= ens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulou= s? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your p= laying small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinkin= g so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine= , as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within = us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we = are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.[3]

   &nbs= p;        It is incumbent upon us to understand in this time, that we must not shrink ba= ck from realizing our hoped-for dreams and achievements, but know, instead, th= at they are the vehicles for liberating others. For changing the world. Jesus walked directly into that uncertainty. This is a “= ;God job.” The world is full of things to be afraid of without making up new ones. One of the latest examp= les in the news, but not for the first time, is the question of banning gay marria= ge in this country. I am convinc= ed that when a power seeks to forbid or stop something, when there is pressure to stop the natural and inevitable opening of people’s minds= and hearts – that there is fear there.&n= bsp; In the wake of this week’s Senate vote, one Senator was quoted= on the radio declaring that “people back home want marriage between a man and woman protected.” W= hile I will speak about this another day – I lift it up as a perfect example= of manufactured fear. Heterosexu= al marriage is not threatened by permitting that sanctification for all commit= ted and loving people. The majori= ty has nothing to fear. Their rights= are protected in thousands of ways. We have more to be afraid of from rampant disease, hunger, torture, war, and global warming than we do from committed people seeking to sanctify their relationships.

        &= nbsp;   In the same way – the past often carries the weight, the weight of inert= ia, in the thinking of any society, country, or group. There’s more behind us than = before us. It’s weighty. But friends, the past will alwa= ys be preserved in precious recollections.&nb= sp; Nothing can take away memories and experiences. Advocates of the past are protecte= d by the mechanism of memory. They= are protected. We have to face fo= rward into our fears and live. That= is what we have chosen. And I am heartened by Bishop John Shelby Spong’s observation that no society, = no group goes backward after hearts have been opened. We have looked at death and decide= d to live. So I invite each of you= to bring your heart, your self, your talents, your love, your time, and your g= ifts into the journey

        &= nbsp;   Right now, my son is driving west, a new college graduate, with a loaded car and without a job. That season of= his life is past, but the memories are a joy forever. Is he afraid of the future? Certainly not that he has told me – but since we have had the gift of being extraordinarily well-connec= ted, I suspect that a fear may be in there somewhere. He brings everything he has to this time. Do you? Do you remember that time in your = life when everything was possible? Everything is possible again.

        &= nbsp;   Yield to the vision. Start sharing = the vision – what will our new church look like? Not the building, but in our hearts?! Here we are, Lord. Send us.

   &nbs= p;        Amen.

Isaiah 6:1-8

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.

2 Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew.

3 And one called to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the= God of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory."

4 The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who cal= led, and the house filled with smoke.

5 And I said: "Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the = God of hosts!"

6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had = been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs.

7 The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: "Now that this= has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.&quo= t;

8 Then I heard the voice of God saying, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I; send me!"

From “The Alchmist” A Fable About Following Your Dream”, by Paolo Coelho

“My heart is afraid that it will have to suffer,” the b= oy told the alchemist one night as they looked up at the moonless sky.

The alchemist replied: “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no= heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every secon= d of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.”<= /o:p>

You have to take risks, he said. We will only understand the miracl= e of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.

From “By the River Piedra, I Sat Down and Wept”, by Pao= lo Coelho

Every day, God gives us the sun--and also one mome= nt in which we have the ability to change everything that makes us unhappy. Ev= ery day, we try to pretend that we haven't perceived that moment, that it doesn= 't exist--that today is the same as yesterday and will be the same as tomorrow. But if people really pay attention to their everyday lives, they will disco= ver that moment. That moment exis= ts – a moment when all the power of the stars becomes a part of us and enables us to perform miracles.