“God Said to Jesus: ‘Put the World Right’” by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

   If you have ever seen a professional sporting event on television, you have probably seen someone holding up a sign that says: John 3:16. Or if you ever went to Sunday School as a child, in a church where they encouraged you to memorize scriptures, you probably know this one: “For God so love the world, that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” It’s a very common verse.

    I guess folks hold up that sign because they think it might be their one shot at getting some of us to turn to Jesus and get our lives lined up with God’s path for us. It is our message: we want people to “get it” that they belong to God – and life with God is better than life separate from God.

    You could sum up the message of the New Testament like this. God said to Jesus, “Go , put the world right.  It’s a mess down there. Get down there, and get those folks to turn to me. You’re my son; if you can’t do it, no one can.”  Talk about your parents putting pressure on you.

    The Christian movement really is just that simple. We follow the way of Jesus. Our church’s mission statement gets it. If we all follow Jesus we really can change the world. We can help Jesus “put the world right.” It’s really that simple, Follow Jesus, Change the World.  But how do we do that?

    God sent Jesus to do it, to put the world right – with our help. God loves us so much that God sent Jesus, knowing that his love was so radical, that the powers of this world, would likely kill Jesus. He was just too threatening to their political power. Jesus’ message of love was so radical that they could not take it – so they killed him. But he showed them. Jesus never backed down. He never rejected God. He never gave into fear. And when they killed him, he overcame death in resurrection.

    Thankfully, God does not ask most of us to go to the death to stand up for our faith.
Instead, we get face little life choices every day. Choices that move us toward God, or away from God; choices that move us toward the light, or away from the light.  In John’s Gospel, he describes the human condition this way: "This is the crisis we're in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won't come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is."

    John says we seem to have a knack for choosing darkness. It’s as if we’re afraid of God’s light. We make it a habit of doing evil. We are addicted to denial and illusion. But we CAN choose to live in the light and truth and we can choose to welcome the God-light into our lives.  The challenge every day, every day, is to pay attention to those little signals we get from inside that tell us, which way God is leading us to go.

    So I want to tell you a little story about getting one of those signals.  More than 20 years ago now, I was living in Cincinnati, as a young pastor. I was single and I joined some organization of young single professionals in Cincinnati.  This was a social club. They met downtown for social events, going to Reds Games, meetings for mixers after work. They did some community service projects too. I had no family in Ohio and I was trying to make friends, and yes, I’ll confess, I was trying to meet guys.

    One weekend the event was to go to the horse races across the border in Kentucky. I had not been to a horse race since I was a kid, once on vacation. So I signed up to go. I guess was curious. I got there and discovered they had rented us a private room from which to watch the races. There was a bar, and TV’s to watch the races, and windows where we could look out and see the races. And we had our own betting window. I had no idea how to bet. I don’t think I even made one bet that night. It just did not interest me. I was pretty bored most of the night. At one point I walked out into the main area where the “regular” people were, and I saw a couple of sad, old guys wearing grubby old clothes. They looked just like out of a movie --with  rolled up newspaper and a pencil and that look of desperation. They looked like the homeless guys I had worked with when I was in seminary in Atlanta. I don’t know for sure that these guys were gambling addicts. But I can tell you one thing. They were not getting wealthy at the race track betting on the races. And I am pretty sure they did not look happy to me.

    I went back into the room with all the young professionals who were betting $10 or $25 here and there and I thought: “I don’t have money to blow on this. This is just stupid.”  I was bored. I would rather have been at home alone watching TV, than hanging out at this race track. I was not this desperate to meet guys. I might have enjoyed seeing some beautiful horses, I couldn’t see horses, I would have seen them better on TV, and the whole gambling thing just ruined it for me.

    This was not my scene. This did not bring me joy. The scripture from John says that when we are living in God’s way for us that we will have a whole a lasting life. This experience was not giving me fullness of life. When I looked at the faces of those men who clearly spent a lot of time at the racetrack, I did not see people who were experiencing joy and fullness of life.  I didn’t see people who were making choices I wanted to make.  So I made a life choice that day, that for me, gambling as a leisure activity is not going to give me rest and relaxation. It’s not going to restore my soul.

    Actually, this makes me a Methodist through and through. Some of you do not identify as Methodists, and that is fine. Everyone is welcome at The Village Church. Others of you don’t have any idea what it means to be a Methodist and that’s ok too. We are connected to the United Methodist and United Church of Christ. There are many interesting things about our history as Methodists, but one of them is this: we have a history of working against gambling. So in the interest of learning about our roots, I’m going to take just a few minutes today to educate us all about this. Some of you have asked me what I think about the new casino going in and so I thought it was about time I let you know where our denomination stands on the issue of gambling. And by the way, the United Church of Christ shares the view of the Methodists when it comes to casinos.

    There are plenty of Christian denominations that have raffles, and bingo and casino nights. So clearly good Christians are divided on this one. And this is not a litmus test. You are welcome at The Village even if you go to Vegas on your vacation. In fact, my husband will go there for a business conference next month.

    But hard core Methodists, and your pastor, are not gamblers. The reasoning is stated in a book called The Book of Resolutions of the United Methodist Church.  And while I don’t agree with every thing in our Book of Resolutions, I very agree with this one and here’s why:

1) Gambling feeds on greed and materialism. It is based on the value that if we have lots of money our life will be better. This is a form of idolatry. Gambling encourages us to put our trust in possessions rather than God. Oh sure, we can say it’s just for fun. But if the games are just for fun, then why don’t we just play the games for the games, and give up the betting? When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment was, he said, “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.” Putting our love toward money puts it ahead of God, and makes money an idol.

2) Jesus says the second commandment is almost as important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  I’m quoting the United Methodist Book of Resolutions now: “In relating with compassion to our sisters and brothers, we are called to resist those practices and systems that exploit them and leave them impoverished and demeaned. . . . Organized and commercial gambling is a threat to business, breeds crime and poverty, and is destructive to the interests of good government. It encourages the belief that work is unimportant, that money can solve all our problems, and that greed is the norm for achievement. It serves as a "regressive tax" on those with lower income (seen these internet cafes, which are for gambling popping up in poorer neighborhoods? I have). In summary, gambling is bad economics; gambling is bad public policy; and gambling does not improve the quality of life” (From The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church — 2004. Copyright © 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House).

    Yes, of course, again, I have heard all the arguments. I know many people can go to the casino with $X in your pocket and decide that is what you are going to spend. You don’t become a gambling addict. You go for fun just like you would go to the movies or snow skiing. But the other side of the argument is this: the gambling industry also brings with it the potential for preying on poor people, it brings with it organized crime, the victimization of women through prostitution, and host of other problems. Not to mention the fact that for one person to win, lots of people have to lose. The system depends upon lots of people losing.

    The lure of gambling has caused what our church describes in this way: “Dependence on gambling revenue has led many states to exploit the weakness of their own citizens, neglect the development of more equitable forms of taxation, and thereby further erode the citizens' confidence in government”  (From The Book of Resolutions of The United Methodist Church — 2004. Copyright © 2004 by The United Methodist Publishing House).

    So, we have a new casino opening in Toledo. Some of you who need jobs will choose to work there. Others of you will choose to go there.  I know that. And most of you will not turn into gambling addicts. But someone here may have a gambling addiction, or you know someone with one. You may know someone who is buying lottery tickets and really can’t afford them. You may know someone who is getting payday loans months after month and getting deeper into debt and digging a hole that they cannot get out of without help. You may even be that person.

    Or you may have some other addiction, or life choice that you know is pulling you away from the light of God. We make jokes about a slippery slope but it is really not a joke.
It’s life. We all make choices every day, don’t we?

    We all make choices and some of them draw us closer to God, and some of them take us farther away from God.  The message of the Scripture from today is that God sent Jesus to PUT THE WORLD RIGHT. More specifically, God sent Jesus to put us right – to draw us into the light. 

    Because you see, for some reason – no matter how much we say that we want to follow Jesus, and stay close to the light – we just seem to veer off into the darkness.  We just get off track. Our world gets off its axis.

    And we need Jesus to pull us back.  What is the thing that pulls you away from God?  It could be any number of things.  You know what it is, don’t you? What practice, thought, or habit pulls you away from God’s desire for your life?

    I’m going to stop here for a minute and give you time to think about that (really, take a minute and think about this: What is it that pulls you away from God’s desire for your life?).

    Here’s the thing, God loves you so much, that God sent Jesus into the world – to pull you away from that practice, or thought or habit – and to pull you back toward God’s love for you.
Here’s what the scripture said, “God didn't go to all the trouble of sending this Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. Jesus came to help, to put the world right again.”

    That’s why God sent Jesus. Because God loves us, and God knows that we don’t want to live in the darkness. We want to live in God’s light. We just need to be reminded of that over and over and over again. That’s why we need Jesus.   So take the time to time to figure out where your darkness is.  And then take the time to find the light. It’s out there.

    If you need help finding the God light for your life, come join us.  We’re at the corner of Conant Street & the Anthony Wayne Trail in Maumee, Sundays at 10:30.  We’ll help you find that light, the light God has for all of our lives.  There are no exceptions, no exclusions, God loves us all.  Come be part of a group of people who struggle, like you with darkness and struggle to find that light.

“Living as the Beloved” by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

    Many years ago, when I went to Christ Church Findlay as pastor, for the first couple of months I was there, people kept talking about these two people who were members of the church but were not there. The names just kept coming up: Bob Chatelain, and his wife Bea Chatelain. Bob and Bea, they would say, “Oh that’s right, you haven’t met the Chatelains yet; they spend the summer in Vermont. It’s too hot in Ohio I guess. Oh you will love them; they are wonderful people.” The mystery just kept building up for me all summer.
    Indeed, it was true. Bob and Bea were wonderful people. And do you know why those two were so beloved by that congregation? There was just something about them. There is only way to describe it really: we saw God in them. Do youi know anybody like that?  They lived as beloved children of God. You would have called them living saints. They have since died. I had the privilege of presiding over each of their memorial services.
    When Bea found out that she had terminal cancer, I remember visiting her in the hospital, just after she found out.  She was well up in years, but she was still vibrant and enjoying life. She said to me, “Well, Pastor Cheri, I would like to live longer, but I’ve had a good long life and I’m not afraid to die.” She died so full of grace, with a peace I would wish for every one of us. No regrets, not angry, not afraid, a beloved child of God, clear that we will all die one day, and move on to another place with God.
    When it came time to plan her funeral, we looked though the anthems that the choir had been singing recently at the church, trying to select something for them to sing at her service. We chose the song: “God is so Good.” Can you imagine? Singing that song at a funeral? For a moment one of the choir members, an older man, questioned my choice. He said, “I don’t know pastor, I’m thinking about Bea’s husband, Bob. His wife has just died. If my wife had just died, I don’t know if I would want to hear the choir singing that God is so good.  I am not sure If my wife had just died, I could stand lisetning to the choir singing that”.
    But you see, her memorial service was a celebration of life. Her husband had a deep faith. Of course, he was sorrowful for his loss. But he loved God and he was thankful for every day of blessing with God. He wept as the choir sang, “God is so good”, it is OK to weep at a funeral you know,  but he knew it was true, and in that moment, he felt I believe he felt blessed as a child of God and he knew that his wife Bea was blessed as a child of God. He knew that Bea had found her eternal home with God. As Christians, this is what we do. We live as God’s beloved children, and we die as God’s beloved children, blessed, every step of the way.

    I saw God  in Bea and Bob, in their love for one another, in the gentle way they treated other people, in their service through their church and in the generous and kind way the loved their community. I saw God in every life choice I ever saw either one of those two make.

    I’m sure they were not perfect. I’m sure someone saw a flaw in them that I never saw.  But they were good people. They were a model to me, as a young pastor. They were a model to the members of their congregation, and to their community.

    Friends, this is what Jesus calls us to be. When we follow Jesus, we are called to claim our belovedness, and live in such a way, that the world will see something in us, that is compelling. We will be a model for others of compassion, civility,  generosity and service. We will reflect Jesus back to the world.
    The writer of the letter that is the book of the Bible we call 1 John, was talking about this, when he wrote these words. Listen to them again:

 What marvelous love God has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who God is or what God's up to.


 But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. …when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him—and in seeing him, become like him…. [We have] Jesus' life as a model for our own.

    So what does this mean for us? It means that we are called to live as people who know we are loved by God and as people who love God in such a way that the rest of the world will SEE a difference in us.

    We usually say that ‘us’ and ‘them’ language is not so helpful but today we’re going to use that language, for the purposes of this message. We’re going to talk about the people who follow the ways of the world, separate from those who follow the ways of God. You know that there are values and desires and forces in the world and pull us away from the values and desires that God has for us.

    When you are walking around, functioning in your day to day life, what is it about you that says to people who are living more by the ways of the world, that you are living in God’s way? What says to people: “Hmmm. . .  there is something different about her. She knows she is loved. She is more confident.  She is centered  She acts in loving ways, and she is serving a higher power. He does not get tossed to and fro by the influences of the world.  “I want to have the life that she has.”

    In my son’s school, which happens to be a school sponsored by a church, they have a student covenant. The covenant says that all students should expect to be treated with certain values. I love it because every line starts with the same words:
“Because I am a child of God,” then it says things like this, “Because I am a child of God, I have a right to be happy and treated with kindness in this school. Because I am a child of God, I have a right to be myself in this school. Because I am a child of God I have a right to be safe in this school. Because I am a child of God I have a right to hear and be heard in this school. . . and I have a responsibility to listen to others” (Gesu Student Covenant). 

    At the Beginning of the year, Jamie said, Mom, my classmates don’t always live up to this.  A few weeks ago, they had each classroom vote on which student in their class best lives out this covenant. One or two students were chosen in each class and those students got some special recognition.

    Most schools have anti-bullying programs, and this school is no exception. Sadly, those programs are essential. But this program goes from a positive starting point. We expect everyone to feel like a child of God, to know we are loved and to treat one another as such. And so then once a year, they have a way to celebrate the students who are modeling these attributes of the Christian life. The students who were recognized felt really special, I can tell you that. It was a great little program at the school.

    Let me ask you this, it’s kind of a personal question,  if the people around you were to give you a score on how you are doing with knowing that you are loved by God, and showing that to the world, how would you do? It’s an interesting question. Would you stand out? Do you stand out among your peers as someone, like my friends from Findlay, Bob and Bea Chatelain?  Are you so full of the knowledge of God’s blessing, that every time your name is mentioned, people smile and say, “Now there is someone you ought to meet! That person is really full of God’s love, and really making a difference in the world.”  There is something about that person, they know they are loved by God and nothing can phase them.

    And if you’re not, because truth be told, most of us probably aren’t there yet, what would it take to live like that?  Here is the starting point: we have to really trust that God loves us. Truly. That basic message that “We are God’s beloved children”. And we have to love God back. Because here’s the thing, once we know that God loves us, and we love God back, then we can’t help but see that everyone around us is also God’s beloved child. And if we all treat every other person on the planet like God’s beloved childr, friends, that changes everything. When we start treating everyone in the world as a beloved child of God -- that is a game changer.

    So I’m going to ask you now to have a little conversation with one other person  you are sitting near or find someone if you are alone at home. There is one simple question I want you to discuss. Look at the other person square in the eyes and say:

    Do you know that God loves you?

And then wait for the answer. You can say yes, or no. And with either yes, or no, then elaborate a bit. If it’s no, then say what is keeping you from it. If you say yes, then share how you came to this understanding. And after a bit, switch and let the other person, ask the question to the other.

    When you are done, I want you to do something.  I want you to give each other a blessing.  It’s really easy.  Just put your hand on their shoulder (get their permission first) And say this:

God, thank you for loving _(name). Help him/her to love you, and to be a blessing to others. Amen.

    Do you have a church home that helps you feel like this?  That you are a beloved child of God.  That God loves you, not matter what, and has a purpose for you?  If not, find one.  There are many out there.  If you find yourself near the corner of Conant Street and the Anthony Wayne Trail, come wander into the Maumee Indoor Theater.  We are there Sundays at 10:30 and out in the Community the rest of the week. 

Giving Ourselves Away by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

    The knock came at my door one afternoon. We had only been living in the Old West End for a couple of months. I had just starting working as the pastor of an inner city church. It was my dream job. Not everyone would call it a dream job (be careful what you dream for), not everyone would call being the Pastor of an inner city church with 27 members (and attendance of 19) their dream job.  But ever since I had lived in Atlanta and worked at an inner city church while in seminary, I had dreamed of being the pastor of a church in a neighborhood just like the Old West End. It took me about ten years to get here, because the powers that be, sent me first to the suburbs of Cincinnati and then to the county seat town of Findlay Ohio.

    Finally, I landed in the Old West End, at a tiny congregation with a passion for reaching out for people living on the margins. We had an after-school program for children at the local public school. I told you last week about Travis, our children’s leader here at the Village, who was a part of this program years ago. 

    The knock on the door came from a woman I’ll call Toni. She had worked previously at the church as the custodian, on a very part-time basis. Toni lived on social security disability. I did not know much of her story, but I knew that she was economically poor, African American, did not finish high school, and that her disability had something to do with being mentally slow, she had a mental disability. Compared to her, I enjoy great privilege in this world. Toni knocked on my door that day, looking for work. She asked if I had any odd jobs she could do. She needed money. I don’t remember the details of her particular story that day. I don’t recall if I found any work for her. Maybe I gave her a few dollars, as a loan, knowing that I would probably never see the money again. I don’t do that very often, but sometimes I do. Maybe I gave her some food.

    This is what I do remember about that day. I was holding my infant child, and I needed to go into the house to get something. So I asked Toni to come inside and I asked her to hold my baby for a moment while I went to the kitchen. And when I returned, Toni was crying. She was staring at my baby, and then she looked up at me and said, “Oh thank you Pastor Cheri for letting me to hold your baby.”

    I meant so much to her that I asked her to just hold the baby.  She said it had been a very long time since anyone had let her hold a baby. But she also made it clear, that it was a big deal that I had asked her to hold my baby.

    What struck me, was shame. Because I had hesitated. Toni was not really someone I trusted. To be honest, I was not sure I wanted to let her hold my baby. She kind of smelled bad, as if she had not showered in a few days. And I honestly had hesitated before I handed the baby to her. And then, I thought to myself “How stupid is that?” I could not have consciously gone through this thought process, but in a flash it went something like this: “Cheri, You have waited ten years, been dying to come be a pastor in the inner city for the past two years, and you are standing in the safety of your own home, and you are hesitating to let another child of God hold your baby while you walk into the next room?”

    So I handed the baby over.  God taught me so much in that moment. It was a moment of blessing. Toni was blessed in that moment, in the way we are all blessed when we get to hold a baby and wonder at the beauty of any child of God. Toni was blessed that I trusted her with my most precious child. I was blessed, even in my shame, as God showed me that it is in giving and sharing that we bring joy to the world. My baby was blessed too. Of course she did not know it at the time. But she was blessed too. And I have to believe that God smiled in that moment.

    When we give ourselves away, we are blessed.  When we give ourselves away, we experience fullness of joy.  When we give ourselves away, we are living as God’s beloved children.

    In his book, Life of the Beloved, that wonderful spiritual author Henri Nouwen reminds us that our living finds meaning when we live for others (p. 84). He writes: “True joy, happiness and inner peace from the giving of ourselves to others. A happy life is a life for others. That truth, however, is usually discovered when we are confronted with our brokenness” (p. 87).

    Nouwen says that there seems to be a mysterious link between our brokenness and our ability to give to each other. I have to agree. I call it vulnerability, or authenticity. Around here we call it being real, or recognizing that there are no perfect people in the world. You seen, when we own the reality that we all have been through hard times (not that God caused us pain in order to teach us a lesson, I don’t believe that – I think that kind of theology is problematic). But you can look around and see that life includes some hard times. It is what it is. When we live in authentic community, we are honest about our brokenness.

     Then out of the honesty of our shared experiences, we have the opportunity to give to one another – to be generous, forgiving and compassionate.

    You see I can forgive another person for disappointing me, or hurting me, because I own up to the fact that I have been a disappointment to others.

    That is what it means to be in a community of people who follow Jesus: we trust God to use our brokenness, to bless us, and we trust that when we give ourselves away we will all be blessed.

    Our scripture reading for today (2 Kings 4:42-44 from the Message translation for those following along on the net)  is a great example of this. The story is reminiscent of those great stories in the New Testament when Jesus takes a couple of loaves of bread and a few fish and feeds masses of people. Do you remember the stories? And then after everyone eats, they gather up baskets of leftovers, and they have more food left than they started with?

    Well, in this story from the Old Testament, long before Jesus came along, we have a story of one of God’s prophets, Elisha. A servant comes to this holy man and brings a humble offering to God of twenty loaves of bread and some apples. Elisha tells him to use it to feel the crowd. The servant is taken aback because there are 100 people there, and this will never be enough food to be an adequate meal for such a crowd. Elisha says: “Go ahead and feed them. Give what you have. God says there’s plenty.”  It’s always about trusting God, isn’t it? 

    As the story goes, the servant feeds the people. There is more than enough and they have plenty left over. You see, the man focuses on what is lacking. But God blesses his gift, multiplies it, and all are blessed abundantly.

    You see, you can’t out-give God. When we are generous, God always blesses our giving. When we don’t hold back, there is always plenty of blessing. I had no idea what a blessing it would be to Toni that I asked her to hold my baby. But God knew. Even in the brokenness of my fear, God brought about blessing. I trusted God. I took a chance. Not only was my daughter perfectly safe, but Toni and I were both blessed in that moment of connection.

    The servant came to Elisha thinking he was giving an offering of food to the prophet. I don’t think he had any idea that Elisha would try to feed the whole crowd that day. But Elisha and God used the man’s humble gift, and multiplied it. You see with God, every act of love and forgiveness and generosity is multiplied and there are even left-overs (Henri-Nouwen, p. 98).  Leftovers of blessings, I love that image.

    So, here we are Village Church. God has brought us to a new neighborhood. We are still serving the greater community of NW Ohio and SE Michigan but since we have this new home on Sunday mornings, we have a chance to reach out a little more to Maumee and the surrounding neighborhoods. How shall we give ourselves away?

    We are going to start with something really basic: FOOD. In two weeks we are going to sponsor an afternoon of music down the street at The Village Idiot. We’re calling it “Feed Your Village.”  Our band leader Travis has secured a line-up of seven musical acts to perform. We are asking for donations for the “Feed Your Neighbor” food pantries in Toledo.

     We’ll also set up this Hope Chest in the lobby of the Maumee Indoor for the next 3 months in order to collect food.  You see, we asked the folks down at The Village Idiot, (a local bar and restaurant) what do they think people in Maumee care about and they said people need food, so that’s what we are raising money for. I think most of us have enough food and enough money to buy food. If not, let me know and I can give you a referral to one of the “Feed Your Neighbor” food pantries.

    You see, there is actually enough food in the world, it’s just a problem of distribution.  There is certainly enough food on the shelves of the stores in Toledo. It’s just that some people are out of work. Some children have parents who can’t feed them, and so they need food at these pantries. Everyone in this room has the ability to give something to “Feed Your Neighbor.” More than that, you have a friend who likes music and pizza and who would like to come out to the Village Idiot for our “Feed Your Village” event. So, I want you to invite them to come with you.  We’ve even got a Facebook event to get invited to and let you invite people.

    Now the Village Idiot is a pizzeria, but it is also a bar. We will be there on Sunday afternoon. The music will be family friendly and young people are welcome. But the bar is not your scene, that is fine. We don’t want anyone to come who is not comfortable there. You can make a donation here at the church. This is just a way to get out into the community with folks who might not come to our church without us going out to meet the first.

    Here at the Village, we will have opportunities every month to give ourselves away. Last month we went to the Toledo Seagate Foodbank and sorted boxes of food for senior citizens, helping feed hundreds of people for a month. We will do this again.
Other months we have participated in a community meal at a church in the Old West End. In May we are going to host a Mother’s Day brunch and we are going to give some free tickets to some women who have been victims of domestic violence so their children can bring them for a nice meal. If you want to participate in one of these service projects talk to me, or Patrick or one of our other leaders.

    At the Village, we follow Jesus and Change the World.  We give ourselves away. This is a core value. This is who we are. We are followers of Jesus. We are changing the world by giving ourselves away. I hope you give yourself away. I hope you find ways, on a regular basis, to let go of your blessings so they may be a blessing to others. You see, in this way, our blessings are multiplied. Joy comes when we do something for others and give ourselves away. So let’s live out that calling of Jesus. Will you? Let’s live in that way of Jesus, that way of Joy and give ourselves away!

    Want to be a part of a faith community like this?  We’re now at the corner of the Anthony Wayne Trail and Conant Street in the Maumee Indoor Theater.  We’re here Sundays at 10:30 AM and out in the world the rest of the week.  Come join this group of imperfect people as we try our best to follow Jesus, and to change the world in ever way we can. 

God’s Blessing: Seeing the Small Picture Within the Big Picture by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

    The first book of the Bible, Genesis, tells great sweeping stories of the history of God’s relationship with God’s chosen people, the people of Israel. In one section of the story, it begins with God making a promise to Abraham.  But first God makes a demand of Abraham and his wife Sarah. God tells them (Genesis Chapter 15 for those following along on the internet):  "Leave your country, your family, and your father's home for a land that I will show you.

 2-3 I'll make you a great nation
      and bless you.
…
   All the families of the Earth
      will be blessed through you."

God promises great blessing, and so Abraham and Sarah put their trust in God, and set out on a journey with God to find a new home.

    Then we get to the passage of scripture that Kristen read for us today. This is one of those great visual images of scripture. They paint this picture. God says: "Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You're going to have a big family, Abram!"

    That’s quite a promise that God tells Abraham, dream big. Because you see, he is 75 years old by this time, and he no heir.  Having children, sons especially, was so very important in those days. And Abraham and Sarah have no child. And then God comes along and says they will have as many children and grandchildren and great grandchildren as there are stars in the sky. And God says: “I am leading you to a new home and there I will bless you.”  Do you think Abraham thinks God is a little crazy?

    So if you read the book of Genesis, you will see that God makes good on those promises. Sarah does indeed have a child, when she is well up in years. Abraham is the father of many sons, who become the 12 tribes of Israel.

    So, because Abraham and Sarah were faithful and listened to God, they left their homeland, and went out on a journey with God into a new land. These are our  ancestors in the faith. They built strong relationships with God. They were blessed, and their blessings are our blessings, We have their roots in those people.

    Well today, in our series on the book Life of the Beloved, our theme is “Blessing.” We are blessed. Today is our last day in this building, and I want to give us a chance to reflect on blessing, and what it means to be a community that celebrate blessing. You see, the story of Abraham and Sarah, and God’s promise to give them descendents as many as there are stars in the sky speaks to us too.

    As a new church, I believe God makes that promise to us. I believe God says to us, that if we are faithful, our ministry will touch lives with that same impact. We are coming up on three years of being a church. We have already seen some people come here and go. Sometimes it’s hard to see people go. I need to tell you that it’s just the nature of Church in the 21st century. Some people come to our church for a season, and then they move on. Of course we want to hold on to more people longer, when we can. But sometimes circumstances just mean that people aren’t going to stay with us forever.

     I want to invite us to see that even when people come through this place for a short time, they can be touched by this ministry and blessed. And you just never know how God will use them, and you never know what impact this community has had on them. Just think about how you have been blessed by being here. And even if some circumstance took you out of Toledo tomorrow, you would take with you the blessing of The Village, with you?

    So I’d like to tell you a story about how blessings come back to us.   Thirteen years ago this summer I met a young boy at a block watch party in our neighborhood. I was passing out information about the free summer lunch program at our church and I invited him to come. He was about to enter the 6th grade at the time, at Glenwood Elementary School. Our family had just moved to the Old West End so I could be the pastor of Central United Methodist Church, a 100 year old inner city congregation with about 28 people in worship, about half of them gay and lesbian.

    Central was a site for the summer feeding program for children in the central city who might need a free lunch in the summer. I had only been on the job a couple of weeks, as pastor, when one day the cook for the summer food program did not show up for work, and I found myself in the basement fellowship hall trying to fix lunch for 60 kids. Oh yes, and it was my day off, so I had no child care for  Becca, age two months there with me in her baby stroller. You can imagine it was quite a sight.

    This young man shows up with his smiling face and offers to take care of my baby while I cook. I’m a bit skeptical because I don’t know this kid, but I am desperate, so I let him push her stroller around the fellowship hall while I cook. On that day, our family friendship was born. Over the years he has mowed our grass, (and weaseled way too much money out of us for that service, I might add), joined us for dinner, stopped by our house on Christmas morning for the stocking Santa left at our house, and he even went to Cleveland the next summer with the folks from Central United Methodist Church when we went to a rally to speak out for the full inclusion of LGBT folks in the life of the UMC. I had to call his mom, a single mom who did not attend our church, when he signed up to go on that trip. He was only about 14 at the time. I said, “Now ma’am, do you understand what kind of church we are and that we are going to a national church meeting for a little peaceful demonstration?” She laughed and said, “Yes Pastor Cheri, I know you are good folks, and I told my son he can go anywhere he wants to go with you.”

    Some of you will recognize Travis Williams in this picture. He’s 24 years old now, and he runs our Village Kids program. You see, he still has a knack with children. But life has not been necessarily easy for Travis. He graduated from Scott High School. And even though he grew up in the Old West End, which can be a rough neighborhood for many, he stayed out of the gangs and he stayed away from drugs. But it’s a tough road out there right now for a young African American man without much money, and only a high school diploma from a low performing public school district. He would like to go to college and he has a dream of running his own day care center. But right now the only job he has is this very part time job at The Village. Over the past 13 years Travis has drifted in and out of our lives. He would come to Central United Methodist now and then, he attended worship very little. Our family went years at a time without seeing him, but he would always show back up.

    The recently when we needed a Village Kids leader, I thought of him because I had heard he was working at a day care center. He is doing a great job.   The Walters family is here, right now, because of how at home their kids felt.

    And as I work with him each week to plan his lesson for the kids, I am reminded of a mission with Native Americans I learned about in New Mexico many years ago. There was an anglo couple that went to live in New Mexico at the edge of a reservation and they started a Christian ministry by having vacation Bible School with the children of a particular Indian tribe. About 25 years later, they had built up a church, with leaders in it. Those adult leaders had been children that had gone to their Vacation Bible School. Visiting that Christian mission in Prewitt, NM and visiting that elderly couple that had spent their whole life working there, reminded me that growing a ministry takes time. Sometimes, it takes a whole generation of work to build a ministry. 

    When I look at this picture of Travis and my daughter Rebecca, I am beginning to see the seeds of a generation of ministry coming to fruition from my work as a pastor here in Toledo.

    Travis was one of the seeds planted at my last church and his ministry is coming to fruition, here, now with The Village Kids ministry. Thirteen years ago, I NEVER EVER in my wildest dreams when I met Travis 13 years ago, and let him push Becca’s baby stroller around the basement of that church fellowship hall, could have dreamed that he would be leading our Village Kids ministry now.

    So when I look at some of the people in our ministry now, some of the people who have already walked through these doors, even those who have moved on, I wonder, what might God do with some of us to change the world?

    I’ll tell you about one. Many of you know Edie. On the first day we opened for public worship in this space, in October of 2009, Edie showed up. At the time, Edie was mostly living as Ed, then, but she knew that she was ready to become Edie. She walked right up to me after that first worship service and said to me, “I read in the paper that you are a pastor who includes LGBT people in your church. Do you really mean it when you say you want to include transgender people? Because we need a church in Toledo that will really welcome us. And we need to start a support group for Trans people in NW Ohio, because there isn’t one.”

    I told Edie, who looked more like Ed that day, that I did not have much experience with transgender folks. Most of my experience thus far had been with gay and lesbian people. But that if she was willing to be patient with the fact that I would probably make some unintentional blunders, that yes, of course, it would be my privilege to be her pastor and yes, we would help start a support group here at The Village. And that’s what we did. One of our first ministries here at The Village was the NW Ohio Transgender support group that had more than 25 people at its first monthly meeting here back in 2010.

    Now some of you have probably noticed that Edie has not been here much the past few months. You might be concerned that she has left our church. When people leave our church, it might make us feel like we have done something wrong, like we have failed them. Maybe they have gone to another church because they don’t like something about this church. This could not be farther from the truth. I asked Edie to write a letter to explain what The Village means to her and why she is not here much anymore, and I’d like to read it to you:

Saturday, February 25, 2012

To my friends and family at The Village,
As the Time draws near for The Village to leave its residence at Monroe and Central and move to the Maumee Indoor Theater, I want to explain my absence. I hope that this letter of explanation will reassure those that feel or think that I have totally left The Village that I have not!

Slightly over two years ago, I was searching and struggling to find a community for my faith, to be accepted and allow me to praise our Creator. The Village was that answer. As time moved forward, through the assistance of The Village, I was able to feel accepted and guided to form the Transgender Support Group, become a charter member to form the UCC GenderFold Action Alliance (for the transgender) and then to sit with the UCC LGBT Coalition to rewrite the educational material for the ONA process to include the Transgender.

All of these things took place as I was struggling with my other personal issues, divorce and transitioning. It was the strength that I received from the community at The Village that saw me through those times. Approximately 6 months of attending The Village I had a conversation with Pastor Cheri and informed her that it had been placed on my heart that I would not remain there for ever. That God’s plan for me had just begun and the Village is where I was to only plant my roots. I was not sure where or when I would be going but I knew that in time I would branch out. That time has come.

This last fall I became aware of the Sylvania UCC starting into training to become ONA certified with the National UCC Church. God guided and supplied me with a means to become involved in that process. I had to make a hard decision prior to Christmas to physically walk away from The Village and the community I knew so well and become active with a new community at Sylvania. I felt this was necessary to help them accomplish their goals and be able to be all inclusive to people. I have since been approached to become a member there, while knowing my ties with The Village.

I have declined and explained to them the same thing I told Pastor Cheri. The difference for Sylvania is that my roots still, and always will, belong to The Village and they are just a portion of the vine I am to create for God’s service.

The work that I am to do was started and reassured while at The Village. I know there is possibly more that I could do at here but it is also in my heart that the “COMMUNITY” I left is strong enough to maintain the soil that my roots are planted in and allow me to thrive in Gods service where ever I am. I will always look to The Village and call it “HOME”!

Let me be an example and challenge the members of my Village family, while maintaining the soil, plant your seed so it can sprout into a form of service for our Lord and allow it to grow and mature, where ever!

In Gods Love and Grace,
Edie

    You see, she can’t stay here with us. There are other churches that need to understand what it takes to be a welcoming church to transgender persons. They can only do that when a transgender person of faith, like Edie, is willing to walk with them, and tell her story, to challenge them and love them. It would be too easy for Edie just to stay here with us and love and be loved. She has a higher calling. And we gave her the strength to go live out that calling.  I wanted her to be here today, but she needs to be the one leading the Children’s Message at Sylvania.  So she sent that letter.

    God said to Abraham: “Look at the sky. Count the stars. Can you do it? Count your descendants! You're going to have a big family, Abram!"  And God made a covenant to be their God if they would be God’s people.

    I can see that God is already blessing us the way God blessed Abraham and Sarah. We are part of that covenant. Travis Williams grew up in one of God’s churches and now comes here to bless our children. Edie found her way here, and now this infant church sends her out from The Village to bless others because of the strength we have given her.

    I see the way God blesses our community every week. I see the way you care for one another, and seek to be a blessing to the greater world out there. We have been a blessing in this location, and we will be a blessing in our next location in Maumee too. We are blessed, just like Abraham and Sarah because we put our trust in God.

    Now I would like to give you a chance to give thanks for the blessings you have experienced with The Village. We are having a little party today to celebrate the ministry that we have birthed in this space, as we prepare to move to our new space, so I’d like to give you a chance to share your favorite memories of blessings. Would anyone like to share a memory of a favorite experience, or give thanks for a blessing of The Village community?

    Cindy shared the blessing of our music and how much it has meant to her.  Rock shared how she thought this was a crazy church, except Betty calling her, connecting with her and inviting her back.  Then she knew she had a church. She said “ I’ve been truly blessed by everyone here”.

    Terri shared how she had met Tianda & Bea at work, had retired and never expected to see them again, but found them here.  She went to check out her Brother Allen’s church family and found hers.  We feed the hungry every month now, thanks to the Village (and the Village does thanks to Allen and Terri).

    Patrick shared how he found God again, having been alienated from religion and now is happy to be back.  Graham found us as a fluke, having been a member of another faith community, but being a part of a group who needed space, checked us out.  Having tried the Village, he thought this was a crazy place, but a place where everyone was never more accepted.  And found himself a part of that community and is excited to be a part of our new home.  The whole world should be like the Village.

    Shelly shared how she never had gone to a church by herself and the first thing someone did was hug her.  The Village has gotten her through a tough year.  Teresa celebrated how in a very short time she and her partner have found a new home and family.  A great big family is what Rock added.  Russell shared how the people, the hugs and the community helped him find himself and the Lord again. Amy grew up in a very Lutheran home.  She was afraid to be a part of a liberal church.  But again, strangers hugged her, welcomed her, let her put herself out there, vulnerable to share who she was, and found a home.

    As we closed, Cheri reminded us all how we all were out there without the Village. We were adrift, going through the motions, not experiencing the deep joy of God.  There are many more people out there who need this.  Who don’t have church home, a family like this.  They need a place like ours.  And they are out there, waiting for an invitation.  Continue to pray about who might need this blessing. 

    Are you out there, looking for a home like this?  Do wait for one of us to find you in the real world.  We are out there looking for you.  But you can find us yourself.  We were at the corner of Monroe and Central, but next Sunday we will be at the corner of Conant Street and the Anthony Wayne Trail, in the Maumee Indoor Theater, at 10:30.  Come join us, we’ve got God’s love, acceptance, caring to share and we want to empower you to go out and share that with us in our world. 

Turning to God by Cheri Holdridge

    So, it finally happened. It was bound to.  I finally lost my marbles. Literally.
This afternoon I was setting up for this service.  I was over in the kitchen area, getting out the box of candles and other stuff and I dropped a box, and this big glass cylindrical vase in which we keep clear glass marbles went crashing to the floor. All these marbles sprawled ALL over the Village kitchen floor. I had to pick up every one of them. EVERY ONE OF THEM.

    And I just kept thinking: “Yep, I’ve lost my marbles.”  You see, I’ve been a little stressed lately.  As you know, our church is moving to a new location next week. That would be enough. But we are also trying to do a big launch in 6 weeks at Easter time so that folks who have not heard of us will know who we are, so I have to help us get that ready.

     And well, you know, today is Ash Wednesday, so it’s Lent and all. That is a busy time ANYWAY, for a pastor.  But on top of all that, my daughter Becca, who goes to the Arts school downtown is in her first big production at the Toledo Repertory Theater and guess when the show is? Yep! You guessed it! This weekend. The same weekend The Village is moving!

    Do you ever have a week like this?  Yeah. I know you do.  Oh, not the SAME week.
You deal with your own lists of craziness.  Health problems.  Working two jobs to make ends meet.  Maybe you have adult children and older parents who need you. Maybe they should not, but you have gotten into a pattern of doing it anyway.

    We could talk about boundaries all day, but it is what it is.  Some of this stress, much of it, we bring on ourselves. We could set better boundaries. And we try, and some days we do better than others. Some of it’s just life. We have crazy busy lives.

    But THEN, we come to today. ASH WEDNESDAY.  And the Church says: STOP.
The season of Lent, in essence, is a gift that says, “Stop and take a breath.”  Lent is an invitation to slow down and turn our attention to God.

    You see, during Lent, we prepare ourselves to remember the story of Jesus’ journey to the cross. We remember that he died in order to show us how much God loves us.  Suddenly, my little struggles and inconveniences here on earth seem to pale by comparison.

    So I spilt some marbles on the floor today and had to get down on my hands and knees to clean them up. So that slowed me down. So, my daughter’s rehearsal went an hour over time TWO NIGHTS in a row this week. And I missed my book club. In the grand scheme of things, was that such a big deal, really?

    Jesus died on the cross to show us how to love each other. I think I can miss my book club so my daughter can have this experience that means so much to her. Sometimes we just need to take a breath and put things in perspective.

    So I was talking to my 12 year old daughter yesterday, and trying to help her understand about the season of Lent is about. She said, “I think for Lent I’m going to give up brushing my teeth.”   “No,” I said, “That is not an option.”  “Well,” she said, “Then I’ll give up doing my weekend homework on Sunday night. I’m going to do it on Friday when I get home from school.”

    Hmmm. I thought. Well that is something I would like her to do. But it is not really a sacrifice in the same way that giving up some food that you love is a sacrifice. What to do with this?  I thought a moment, and I said, “Well usually we give up something up for Lent, or take on some new practice,  because it frees up space in our lives for God, or points our attention toward God. Do you suppose that on Sunday nights, when you are so grateful that you do not have homework to do, you might say a little prayer, giving thanks to God for the blessing that you got your homework done early?”

    She got a big smile on her face: “Yeah, of course,” she said.  “Well, then,” I said, “That sounds like a great Lenten discipline.” “And in fact, you could pray and ask God for the strength to persevere in your commitment so that when you come home on Friday and you want to slack off, God can help you have the strength to do the think that right now you are saying you know you want to do.”

    I think Becca is on to something with her idea of a new sort of Lenten discipline.  The idea, after all, is to use this season, to take on some new practice, or to empty ourselves of something in order to make space for God. It’s all about becoming more of the person we want to be, with God’s help. She is tired of facing every Sun night, not having her homework done. She wants to be a follower of Jesus. She wants to be the person God created her to be. So why not put the two things together?

    Now, Jesus, he had a much more daunting task leading up to Easter. He had to face the powers and principalities of the world. They accused him of setting himself up to be King of the Jews and they crucified him on the cross for his actions of radical love.

    God asks us, on the other hand, to use these six weeks, to take on some practice to dig deeper in our spiritual life.  We might decide to deepen your spiritual practice of:

Prayer each day

Bible study each day

Read Henri Nouwen’s book Compassion and join the on line conversation

Give a larger portion of your money or your time to help those who are poor or marginalized in our community

Visit someone who is lonely; or write a handwritten letter each week to someone

Mend a broken relationship, with God’s help, that can be a spiritual practice too

Start Spiritual Direction with our Spiritual Director

Make plans to go on a Spiritual Retreat

Fast from something; the thing you give up, is a signal that points you to your hunger for God.

All of these examples are part of the Christian tradition of this season of Lent, of “Turning to God.”

    But let me warn you: when we turn to God, we need to be cautious. That’s why I put this yellow caution tape around our worship table tonight. You see, when we turn to God, we have to be willing to let God change our lives.

    I, for one, believe that when we open ourselves to God, we always open ourselves to change for the good. But change can be hard. Sometimes it feels like it gets worse before it gets better. But when we turn our lives over to God, and truly say to God, that we are ready to line up our lives with God’s desires for us, then we have to let go, and really follow the path God sets out for us.

    As we sing now, let’s consider whether we are really ready to turn to God. Let’s invite God to take our lives, and mold us and transform us into the people God wants us to be.

We Are All Broken by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

    In two weeks, we will have a new home together. We are moving to the Mammee Indoor Theater. The time since we made this decision has gone really quickly, hasn’t it? We started weekly worship here in October of 2009, a little over 2 years ago. This is the place it all started. We will always remember this as our first home. I’m a little sad about leaving. I’m excited about our plans for our new home in Mammee so I’m reminded of a phrase we have used around here before: joy and sorrow live together. I’m feeling some joy and some sorrow as we make this transition together.

    So I think it’s important for us to reflect, as a community, on who we are during this move. Church for us is not about a building.  We will never own a building.  Church is not about bricks and mortar.  We will not fight about what color the carpet will be, etc. 

    You will recall if you have been in worship for the past couple of weeks that we are basing our worship series on the book by Henri Nouwen called Life of the Beloved. You see, here at The Village, we understand that we are God’s beloved children, and we are living as God’s beloved children. That is our reason for being a church.

    We are seeking to be a beloved community – a community of hope for broken people out there, like us, who wander into our community looking for God. They are just like every one of us. Our t shirts tell our story: “No perfect people allowed.” One of our newer members, Jodi, was telling me yesterday that wearing the shirt has caused her to engage in many conversations with people. They love her shirt and they ask her about it, and then she tells them about this new church that she has found for her family.

    A critical part of being God’s beloved community, is this. We understand that people are not perfect. People are hurting. People have made mistakes. People have done bad things. People have had bad things happen to them, people have made mistakes, and they are looking for hope and healing. God is the source of that hope and healing. And in this community we can live that out with one another. But it means we have to be real with each other. People need authenticity. They don’t want churches filled with plastic people who are all pretending that everything is perfect. Show them a church that is fake and they will run screaming into the night.

    Our friend, Rock, tells me that when she first came to The Village she went home and told a friend that she found this church where the people really seem to genuinely care about one another, but she figured we all went home and yelled at our partners and cheated on our taxes.  Rock is kind of cynical.   She said we could not really be for real. But over time, she decided we are for real. Not perfect, but real, an authentic community where we can all be who we really are.

    So let’s take a look at today’s scripture and see what Jesus has to teach us about what his vision is for the “Beloved Community” of his followers. First, we’ll see what a group of religious folks of his day thought was good and proper. Now, in their defense, they were following the law of Moses. (1John 8:1-11 from The Message translation for those following along from the Net):

 1-2 Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them. 3-6The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone and said, "Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery. Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?" They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him.

 6-8Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt. They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, "The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone." Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.

 9-10Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone. Jesus stood up and spoke to her. "Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?"  11"No one, Master."  "Neither do I," said Jesus. "Go on your way. From now on, don't sin."

    So here is what happened: Jesus modeled a new way of being community. In the Old Way, you judge a sinner, have no grace, put her to death.  In the New Way, have some grace, consider the reality that we all sin, treat your sister or brother with some love; give an opportunity for healing.  Decide if you are really perfect and blameless before God.  Are you loving and kind and generous and forgiving when you are slighted?  If so, go forward with your judging.  But if you have faults, then give some of the grace you get. 

    Now, we don’t know what happens next in the story.  I would so love to know what happens next in the story, wouldn’t you? Because you know that someone in that crowd had sympathy for the woman and wanted to reach out to her, right? Perhaps another woman who had made the same mistake? Or maybe the woman’s best friend from childhood who wanted to hear her side of things, but was forbidden from talking to her because of the rules of the day? But perhaps another person, who had also been touched by the healing love of Jesus, snuck over to her house later than day, and over a cup of tea (or whatever they drank in those days) they had a good cry, and some healing began. Isn’t that what Jesus would want?  Isn’t it the beloved community.   And don’t even get me started about how little power a woman had in that society anyway and where was the man in this story? But we don’t go there today.


    Henri Nouwen, in the Life of the Beloved, has some good words for the woman in the story, and for us, when we get caught up in our own human brokenness and sorrow. He encourages two responses. First, he says, we should just face our brokenness squarely and befriend it, “step toward it” and “embrace our brokenness” (p. 75). 

    He talks about being with a friend who realized that his marriage was over. Henri went to visit this friend. No words can fix the brokenness in this sort of situation, but the presence of a friend with us, can provide some healing. In seminary, we call this the ministry of presence. There is power in being present without trying to fix someone, recognizing that a situation can’t be fixed, but we just have to sit with someone in the pain and let them know they are not alone. Henri wrote about a friend going through a divorce and how Henri was there with him and that all his friend could do was “stand in [his] pain and grow strong through it” (p. 77).  Have you ever watched someone stand in their pain and just be strong as they grow through it?

    It’s not so hard to say to someone, when something good happens, that this is a blessing from God. That is easy.  This is the hard thing, writes Nouwen: “Didn’t you know that we all have to suffer and thus enter into our glory?” (p. 77)  He goes on to say that “Real care means the willingness to help each other in making our brokenness into the gateway to joy” (p. 78)

    So he invites us, and challenges us to embrace our pain and lean into it.   Here’s the thing, no one gets through life without pain.  Then he says, the second thing we can do, is to “Put it under a blessing” (p. 78). This is really a stretch for us, but try to hang in here with me.

    He says “Our brokenness is often so frightening to face because we live it under the curse. Living our brokenness under the curse means that we experience our pain as a confirmation of our negative feelings about ourselves. It is like saying, ‘ I always knew that I was useless or worthless, and now I am sure or it because of what is happening’” (p. 78).

    So when we are living as Beloved Children of God, and being the Beloved Community, our call is to pull our brokenness out from under the shadow of the curse and into the light of blessing. This is not an easy task. It takes some spiritual muscle. This is why we need this community to help us.

    The world is much more likely to support us in our self-rejection than in our self-love. But God is calling us to self-love and self-acceptance and that is the voice we want to listen to.   Remember that a few weeks ago we talked about listening to God’s voice of love and acceptance.
We need to do everything we can to allow God’s blessing to touch our brokenness. Gradually, (Nouwen writes), “the brokenness will come to be seen as an opening toward the full acceptance of ourselves as the Beloved” (p.80).

    Twelve Step programs know this process quite well. Addictions make us slaves but when we confess our dependencies and express our trust in a higher power, then we can be set free.  When bring it out into the open, the source of our suffering becomes the source of our hope. We put our brokenness under a blessing (p 80).

    I see us, at The Village, being this kind of community for one another. I see us sharing our brokenness and encouraging one another. We offer grace to one another. But we can always do better.   That’s why we have to come back every week. 

    You see the question is this, do we embrace our brokenness and put it under a blessing, in a way that we can move on with God’s healing, or do we just get stuck in that mess of brokenness, never to break out?   Ever see anyone get stuck in their brokenness?  Ever been their yourself?  Held your own pity party?

    Being the beloved community for one another, means that we call one another out, from sorrow to joy. Yes, joy and sorrow live together. This means we don’t hide from our sorrow, but it also means that we don’t stay there. We live as God’s people of hope and joy.

    For the woman in the Bible story, there was a second chance at life, literally. She could have been stoned to death. But she lived. She had a choice then. She could live as a condemned woman, an outcast, who had been shamed by her community. She could have lived as a broken woman for the rest of her days. Or she could have chosen to put her brokenness under a blessing, and live with the joy of having her life restored. She could have decided to wake up every day thankful that she is alive, and to live every day to the fullest. I hope she became the most passionate evangelist for Jesus on the planet. I mean, what a story she had to tell: “My life was saved because Jesus forgave me, and told the other people in my village to forgive me. We need to live as broken people who know that we are all forgiven!” What a message! 

    So, my friends, what will be our message? In two weeks, we are moving to a new home. A new home gives us a chance to get some new attention from a new crowd of people. Folks are going to be watching us, and asking, “What’s up with The Village Church? Who are these people and what do they have to offer me?”

    What will we tell them?  I hope we will tell them this:   We are part of God’s beloved community. We know we are broken, just like you. There is no secret we are broken, but joy and sorrow live together. So we will walk with you through your brokenness. We invite you to face your brokenness, and put it under a blessing. Let God turn your sorrow into joy.


    We have an amazing community here, and there are other people out there in Mammee and across NW Ohio and SE Michigan who are waiting to be part of our beloved Village community. Let’s get ready to be a part of God’s beloved community with them! Amen.

“Chosen” by Rosie Best (with an assist by Kurt Young)

    It’s really lovely to be with you today, when Cheri asked me if I would come and preach I felt honored to be CHOSEN to step in. Then she told me it was because she was going to be in Florida this week, and I tried not to be jealous!

    Last week Cheri was talking about the book, Life of the Beloved, by Henri Nouwen. She spoke about what it means to be the Beloved, the subject of that book. I hadn’t read this book before preparing for today, and I found it really helpful in understanding something that I believe all of us need to understand. It was helpful to me in a dry place, but more on that later…

    Nouwen uses the analogy of the communion to talk about what it means to be BELOVED. In the communion service, the pastor or priest will take the bread and wine and they are TAKEN, BLESSED, BROKEN and then SHARED. If we are to understand what it means to be BELOVED, then we have to understand that God has done the same thing with us… Cheri in the rest of the series is going to talk about the other aspects of this, but for today, we are going to concentrate on the idea of being TAKEN.

    When God gets a hold on our lives, we are taken… all of us. It’s essential for us to know this in a very deep place in our lives. It’s kind of hard to relate to the idea of being TAKEN or chosen , so Nouwen immediately uses, what he considers a warmer way of thinking of this: “As children of God, we are God’s chosen ones.” (51)

    In Kenneth Grahame’s book, The Wind in the Willows there is a beautiful chapter called Dulce Domum (chapter 5). It tells the story of Mole, who steps out of his house for the first time.  After a long adventure, he suddenly realizes he is close to home and recognizing it as a place long forgotten. I believe that in this way, we have a sense of God’s truth in our inner being… and that sometimes we feel so very far away from God that we feel flooded with despair … Today is about reclaiming our chosen-ness and about coming home… Having that realness of being chosen to be close to God.

    CHOSEN  You have been CHOSEN…

    There are, of course, circumstances where we’d rather not be chosen – a Tax audit, or as the subject for a bully, for example. That isn’t the kind of chosen I mean.  The Scooter Store & AARP haven chosen me for spam emails and I don’t really want that.   It’s the being picked out of a crowd chosen. That is an idea that most of us like. It brings with it the idea of being special… of being something… of being unique… of being wanted. Somehow, being chosen can help us get through the humdrum of daily life… I want to show you a cartoon (and we did in worship but can’t on the net due to copyright issues) that I came across just after I knew I was going to be speaking on this subject.  But in it’s three frames, a rabbit is at a computer working when it asks “God all I do is sit behind a computer all day.  Surely my life has some greater purpose than this.  A light comes down from heaven, centered on the rabbit, followed by the trumpets of heaven. 

    Oh boy, isn’t that sometimes how the day to day existence seems to be… we are going about our day… maybe thinking, “I’d rather sandpaper my armpits than put up with this!” and we hope, pray, yearn for the heavens to open up, and the trumpet to proclaim that what we are doing MATTERS! We want to feel special! Loved! Chosen!

    Okay, so I want to acknowledge that the cartoon came from MthruF.com and that the third frame isn’t the last frame… There’s one more, where the booming voice of God announces “Actually . . . No - This is not for you”.   Please tell me I am not the only one who worries that this is what the real answer is going to be!

    CHOSEN… it’s not a trick. God has chosen us and that doesn’t change.   Let me tell you I believe that God does not make junk.

    I need to tell a personal story here. I came to this country in 1993 and joined a church in town. I was a Youth Pastor and Children’s minister for several years. I was loved! I was considered to be an intelligent, caring, enthusiastic, and creative member of the team. Then after nine years, something changed. All my life been looking to marry a 6’4” Rugby playing Prince, shining armor and trusty steed optional, however, I had started working at a local school and I met a 5’3” Jewish American Princess and I finally understood what it meant to lose your heart to someone! I wasn’t planning to be gay, I didn’t want to be gay… but sometimes GAY happens!

    Suddenly the church, which shall remain nameless, forgot everything about me, and as quick as you could say, “Oh no she di’nt!” I was no longer chosen… in fact I was asked to never step foot in the church again. It was a very GRACELESS act.
Some of you can relate to being unchosen…

    Cheri talked last week about parents who get excited about children being born. I’m the youngest of 5 children. My parents decided they were done with children when they had a daughter. Unfortunately she came in at number 4. I was described as “the shakings of the poke.” The “unexpected package,” the “surprise.” For all these words, you can begin, if you are a sensitive child, to think… unwanted, in the way, taking up space…

    Some of you can relate to being unwanted.  Let me it clear, I am not trying to shame my family.  I am an actor and director. One of the great things that people describe about theatre is the great feeling of family, community, standing in the spotlight feeling special. I wish this were the only story. But for every moment of the special feelings… Theatre is a world that can be spoiled by petty dramas, divas, and the rejection, of running to see when the cast list goes up with all the excitement of I did great in the audition, only to find that you got the role of TREE #17… AGAIN!!!!  Or understudy as someone cried out in worship.

     You can feel pretty dejected, and rejected when that happens. Even getting the lead doesn’t protect you from trouble… then you have to deal with the looks from others who think, “She didn’t deserve that role,” “He’s just the teacher’s favorite!” “She must think she’s all that.”

    Some of you can relate to being rejected…  But this isn’t Debbie Downer does the gospel. This is GOOD NEWS. YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN! Part of the mystery is this (quoting Nouwen):  “When love chooses, it chooses with a perfect sensitivity for the unique beauty of the chosen one, and it chooses without making anyone else excluded” (54)

    Hours could be spent telling stories of the lack… but the Gospel… or Good News is that we don’t have to live in the bad place anymore. This truth is in each and every moment we live and we have a choice to embrace this truth with every single ounce of our being…

    I don’t know what your story is… I know that there are many voices around you that would try to minimize who you are, or undermine your creativeness, or tell you that you are useless, worthless… fill in the gap with your favorite things that pull you down…

    It’s not the truth about who you REALLY are. YOU ARE CHOSEN!  You can let any number of people try to tell you who you are… BUT YOU ARE CHOSEN!

    God is about reclaiming what has been beaten, abused, rejected and outcast. God is about healing the broken hearted. Building up, restoring, recreating…and setting you free into what you are created to be.

    Nouwen has an action plan to help you embrace this reality.

·    Unmask the lies: Start believing the truth about you. Reject all things that diminish who you are. Expose those lies. Don’t give into the voices of doubt and destructiveness. “Let the word of God dwell in you richly.” You have to live in the truth - embrace your God-given dignity and chosen-ness. When I was really struggling to make this a reality in my life, several years ago, someone challenged me to ‘live’ in Ephesians 1-3 and to rewrite it as a personal letter to me from God. This is why I chose the scripture for today.
·   
·    Surround yourself with Truth: Look for people and places where truth is spoken and where you are reminded of who you are called to be.  The Church I was at before was not going to do that.  They were not going to set me free.  Because I was kicked out, I discovered what it was to be me.  God is like that.  God doesn’t cast you out, God uses that show you what God already knew about you.
·   
·    Celebrate your chosen-ness: Maintain an attitude of Gratitude. Live in thanks when truth is spoke, say “thank you” when someone acknowledges who you truly are. 

    You have been chosen, but you have a power to choose. You are chosen, and you can choose to live by these guidelines or not. I pray that you will. “Our lives are unique stones in the mosaic of human existence – priceless and irreplaceable.”   Or you can slough things off. 

    Each of us has had those experiences with the Church.  As the old saying goes “Jesus I love you, but I can’t stand your wife”.  You see the Church is called the bride of Jesus. There are so many who have been hurt and blinded by the church.   But there are places like The Village where this is something is being challenged, where people are trying to change this.  And I salute you for this.  This is a struggle for many.

    So, for today, I am going to invite you to make a choice in the right direction… If this has been a struggle of yours, or if you just want to be reminded today of the place you have as one of God’s chosen, then I am going to invite you to step forward for a blessing… by making the mark of the cross and affirming that you are God’s chosen.

    Do you have a place where you feel like this?  A group of friends and believers who affirm you?  If not, look, these places are out here.  If you are near the corner of Monroe & Central in Toledo through February, or The Anthony Wayne Trail and Conant Street in Maumee thereafter, come join us.   We believe you are chosen by God for something amazing and we’ll try to help you figure out what that is.