16th Sunday After Pentecost - St. John Luana

Community of Believers:

How now should we live as the body of Christ?

Who is wise and understanding among you? Show it by your good life that your works are done with gentleness born of wisdom!

All that I needed to know about ministry I learned from the rural church.

Gallup Poll

In a yet-to-be-released poll, George Gallup, Jr., reported seven needs of the average American:

1. The need for shelter and food

2. The need to believe life is meaningful and has a purpose

3. The need for a sense of community and deeper relationships

4. The need to be appreciated and respected

5. The need to be listened to and be heard

6. The need to feel one is growing in faith

7. The need for practical help in developing a mature faith

As a church in the community of Luana St. John you have an awesome opportunity to be a provider of many of these needs, give direction on how a person can meet these needs, and be a place of belonging for those who are desperately hungering for purpose and meaning. Do we know our neighbors? Do our neighbors know us? Are we seen as "just another building in town" or a place where it is know that God is here in Word and Sacrament?

"Anyone who thinks sitting in church can make you a Christian must also think that sitting in a garage can make you a car."
— Garrison Keillor

What is this new obedience we are called to as disciples of Jesus Christ? How ought we to live as followers and believers of what Jesus taught and lived?

From earlier in James we hear - "But be doers of the Word and not hearers only." The call to discipleship is a living thing - actively leading us to be hope and peace, presence and friend to our neighbor and for the world.

"For to you I have committed my cause" Few things in this life come with clear instructions:

Migratory birds in the U.S. were tagged by the Department of the Interior with metal strips reading “Wash. Biol. Surv.”—for Washington Biological Survey. The code was changed, so the story goes, after a farmer from Arkansas wrote to the department:

“Dear Sirs, I shot one of your crows, My wife followed the cooking instructions attached—she washed it, boiled it and served it. It was the worst thing we ever ate.”

What instructions are we following as we pursue the life of being a disciple and a member of the Christian community?

Behold, God is my helper; it is the Lord who sustains all life.
Alleluia, Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life, Alleluia.
Lead me Guide me, along the way. For if you lead me I cannot stray. Lord, let me walk each day with you. Lead me O Lord my whole life through.
Search and find the "life's little instruction book" in the instruction book - the Word. See how it comes to life before our eyes in the spreading of the table and the invitation to the feast today. "Take eat, drink - this is my body and blood."

Applying the Word to Daily Life

"For to you I have committed my cause."
How do we live as the body of Christ?
What does it take to build each other up in the faith?
How can we apply the teachings of scripture today to our current situation here at St. John?
Are we servant leaders?

Commitment

A woman's husband had been slipping in and out of a coma for several months, yet she had stayed by his bedside every single day. One day, when he came to, he motioned for her to come nearer.

As she sat by him, he whispered, eyes full of tears, "You know what? You have been with me all through the bad times. When I got fired, you were there to support me. When my business failed, you were there. When I got shot, you were by my side. When we lost the house, you stayed right here. When my health started failing, you were still by my side... You know what?"

"What dear?" she gently asked, smiling as her heart began to fill with warmth.

"I think you're bad luck."

1. Don't be afraid to ask questions when we do not understand.

1. In building up the body of Christ and living out our faith in the community of believers we need to ask questions.
2. "But they did not understand what he was saying and were afraid to ask him."
3. Would we look stupid if we ask for help? How about directions? Would we rather be lost and save our face or found in knowing fully the story of salvation as was this case? Help us to understand Jesus.
   
4. Share the wealth of knowledge that is around us - if we do not understand how to change a tire - wait around long enough looking stupid and some one will help.
5. God rescues us in our lack of understanding as well. Giving us the larger picture.
1. Make peace a priority for our life together as a church and live it out in the community.
1. "And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace."
2. In the words of Cat Stevens,

   Now I've been crying lately,
   thinking about the world as it is
   Why must we go on hating,
   why can't we live in bliss

3. The impact of Peter, Paul, and Mary.
   
4. My peace I give to you, I do not give as the world gives, I give more.
5. All I am saying is give peace a chance. Peace however is not the absence of conflict but rather the commitment towards unity, the ultimate goal of living in a bound of love.
   
6. "Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they come from your cravings that are at war within you?"
2. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.
1. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
2. Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him and if they were to allow His grace to mould them accordingly. Ignatius
3. We struggle with greatness, fitting in, being the best, finding success - and here Jesus takes a child and uses a child as a model of acceptance and welcome.
   
4. With open hearts we welcome children into our lives, in the life of the church, and we are called to live this example out to teh community in which we serve.
   
5. Drawing near to God then we welcome others into this devotional practice:
1. In worship we gather to hear the Word and receive the sacraments. Hear the Gospel and receive Christ.
2. Through personal Bible study and in our times together we read the stories of faith, the proclamation of promise, and the hope that God gives to us through Jesus.
3. God exists in the everyday - be it in the phone call to remind a shut in that there are treasured, an extra touch of grace ad love for our spouse or children, and in the actions we take as a community of faith to declare this as a place of grace.