Message: Fan the Good Flames by Cheri Holdridge (with an assist by Kurt Young)

   I don’t like to use political stories, but I’m going to use it one more time.  Because, we live in a swing state.  Did you know that?  I hear tell from some of my friends who do not live in a swing state, that the Presidential candidates are not visiting their towns every few weeks like they are visiting NW Ohio. I also hear tell that some media markets are not getting nearly as many political ads as we are getting. Hmm! I had no idea.

    Some of us wish that once we vote early next week, that somehow that would cause the TV ads to disappear from our TV’s. Wouldn’t that be nice? Lots of people tell me that the especially hate the negative ads where one candidate tells us the bad things about the other candidate. We wonder, why do they all have to use negative campaigning?  Why can’t you be positive and get elected in this country?

    Now, my husband happens to be trained in campaign management. And he will tell you that the reason the candidates use negative ads, is because they work. It is sad but true (the husband agrees, but we can change the world).

    I wish, I wish I had the ability to snap my fingers and change human nature.  I wish I could make the whole world more prone to focus on positive rather than the negative.   The fact is that they use those negative ads because they do work.   I wish I could make us focus on that positive.

    And you know, when I think about it I believe that is one of the main messages that Jesus came here to give us. He came to tell us, to quit focusing so much on being critical of one another, think about it.   He came to tell us to do good with humility, and to trust that God will notice and God will join us in fanning the flames of what is good, and God will multiply our good works. God wants to multiply the goodness.

    You see this is my personal metaphor for ministry. When I see someone doing something positive in their life, doing something good.   I love to fan those flames. If you have ever built a fire, out camping, or maybe in a fire place, you know that there can come a time when the fire begins to die out. Maybe there are just a few embers left. This is like a time in our lives, when we are discouraged. We need some direction. We are beaten down, or just worn out.

    But something happens. Something triggers just a little flame. I don’t really know the science of fire, but I think some oxygen mixes with the heat and a flame ignites (science geek husband  - Oxygen + Heat + Fuel). I do know that if you fan those flames the fire can get bigger. If you add more fuel to the fire, some nice dry wood, and more oxygen then the fire can grow from those tiny embers to a blazing fire again. I love to fan the flames in your lives. That is my calling in life as a pastor, to fan those flames.

    Well, Jesus had a conversation with his disciples once and he was telling them that their job was to fan the flames of anyone who wanted to be part of this movement. That was part of being a disciple.  They were to look for that little spark that might ignite into a passionate Jesus follower.

    But you see, his disciples were human beings, like us. They were imperfect people, so they did not always get it right.  Any imperfect people out there?

    In the first part of scripture that we read to you today (Mark 9:33-42 for those following along at home) there was this little scene.  Jesus catches his disciples having a conversation about who was the greatest.   Are you kidding me?  It was all about status. All about competition. Sound familiar? You see they lost track of the goal to help encourage lots of passionate disciples. He had to remind them of what is important. It is not about being the most important disciple. It’s not about putting one person down, so that you can feel superior. Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all.”

    You don’t get ahead in this world by doing good and then bragging about what a great Christian you are -- putting yourself above others. And you sure don’t please God by speaking badly about your opponent. We please God by being humble, and being the best follower of Jesus that we can be.

    So then we come to the heart of today’s story. The disciples say: “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.”  I bet they wanted Jesus to pat them on the back for that.

     That is like us saying, “That church does not deserve to be a church because they don’t do things the way we do things.” Ouch! That sounds familiar,
doesn’t it? Sometimes we can get a little high and mighty around here. Because we really do think The Village is better than most other churches. We are proud of our church. We think we’re the best church.
    Listen to what Jesus says to that kind of thinking: “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath cut me down. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice.”

    So, if someone is trying their best to do something good, they are a friend of Jesus, and they are a friend to us.  We are on the same side and we need to fan their flames. They may be a bit awkward in how they do it. They may not have a cool band like us. They may not let you bring coffee into their worship space. They have mostly older people. But if they love Jesus, and they are trying to spread compassion in the world, then they are with us. We need to remember that. It is not our place to judge them.

    There may be more churches out there that are with us than we think.  Yes, I know some of us have been hurt by the judgment of some well-meaning church folk. I am not trying to diminish that. But let’s not let the hurtful actions of some, cause us to cut ourselves off from our Brothers & Sisters in Christ.

    Instead let’s be people who focus on the good. Let’s join in, and work WITH those who do good. Let’s do good with humility, because Jesus says that God will notice. And I believe that God will fan the flames alongside of us and multiply the good that will come.

    Jesus said, that when someone is giving even a cup of cold water in his name, then that person is on his side.  Do you know what disappoints me? It disappointments me when I see Christians bickering with one another, when I see us being so critical of one another. It happens from church to church, from denomination to denomination, and it even happens within a local congregation like The Village.

    What!   What did she say? Do we have bickering here at The Village? Yes. For example, when we first opened up we had some differences of opinion about whether or not we should have white or black table cloths out in the hospitality area. And sometimes we have differences of opinion about the music. Some people like a song the band plays and other people don’t! Imagine that. Some people think having a Village kids program is so important that we should pay to have leaders for it, and others wonder why we don’t just keep the kids in here with us and save some money!  I hear tell there are even some people that don’t like every decision the pastor makes! Say it isn’t so! Differences of opinion at The Village!

    These sorts of things are just the sort of things that can split apart a community. You’ve seen them if you’ve been a part of a community for more than a month. That is why this passage of scripture is so important. Think about some of the things I just listed, in light of our scripture for today.  “Jesus, there are some people casting out demons and they are not part of our group.”

    Jesus asked his disciples: Were you just arguing about who is the most important? Jesus’ response was clear: It’s not about us, and who is first and who leads and who decides how we do things. It’s about all of us putting Jesus first, and putting ourselves last. It’s about looking for ways in which the love for God is being acted out in the word, like the action of giving a cup of water for someone who is thirsty.

    Look for an ember of compassion or kindness and then fan those flames. Don’t worry about who got there first, or whether the person did it the way you would have done it.  It doesn’t really matter what color table cloths we have.  If you see Jesus in a person, if you see God’s goodness in a person, then encourage them. If you know someone has claimed to be a follower of Jesus and they are trying, then don’t beat them down with negative energy. Fan those flames!

    We are all in this together. This work of being a Christian community is hard enough. But there are enough negative forces in the world already. We need to pull together.

    The message of Jesus is clear: “If [s he’s] not an enemy, [she’s] an ally.” Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice. When we do good, with humility, God will notice. God will join us in fanning the good flames and our good works will multiply.

    I’ve invited one of our members of The Village community to come tell her story now. Kelly Phillips is going to tell a story of situation when someone gave her an opportunity to do good. She did; and as she showed compassion, God fanned the flames and the blessings just kept multiplying.  Kelly shared this story with us:

It started when My friend asked me for help. She needed compassion and because of the situation we both shared, of course I gave it to her.  That situation was being the victim of sexual assault.  Because of going through that, I was able to show her compassion, to give her encouragement and be there for her.
Then I saw how strong she was.  Her strength, gave me the opportunity to be strong.  Her courage not only inspired me, but fanned the flames inside of me.  Thanks to that I was able to turn this dark time into something positive and to share that with others.      Kelly did not worry about whether or not she was qualified to help her friend. And she certainly did not judge her friend for what happened to her. She showed compassion. And God blessed them both.   Giving Kelly a new career and way to serve.

    As a result, God created space for Kelly to be strong enough to deal with her own situation and now she has found a calling to work professionally in this career.

    When has God given you an opportunity to fan the flames for good, and how did God help you fan those flames so that the goodness could multiply in that situation?  If you’ve not had a place where the embers of the flames are fanned, find one.  There are many places out there.  One is at the corner of Conant Street & The Anthony Wayne Trail, Sundays at 10:30 AM.