“Letter to the Anokans” – Sermon in the style of Paul’s Letter to the Romans, on the occasion of

                     Appreciation Sunday, May 17, 2009,                   by Rev. Sharon James Fazel

Sharon, a minister of the church, called to be an apostle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ among those people of Anoka who frequent, and who serve, the United Church of Christ congregation there.

To God’s beloved congregation at First Congregational UCC of Anoka.

Grace to you and peace from God our Creator and our brother Jesus, the Christ.

First, I thank God through Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed throughout the Minnesota Conference, United Church of Christ. I remember you in my prayers, and ask that by God’s will I may somehow succeed in worthiness of your trust, and your confidence.

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that I have often wished to spend time in thanking you for your service, in praising you for your devotion to each other as a community. My decision to do so this morning is in large measure prompted by my recent renewed understanding of the transitory nature of life, in having stood witness of late to so many deaths among our congregation and its extended family. Saying goodbye to individuals in this community who have touched my life in countless ways, and standing with those among us whose loved ones of many years, slipped silently from this world, has exacted immediacy in my need to express my appreciation for the many gifts you offer in love, to one another, and lo, also to me.

I have been thinking of late about my own calling to this “Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Gospel is “the good news,” of course. But what is the “good news” in the life and mission of Jesus? Why do we call him “the Christ” – “one anointed by God with a special mission among humankind”?

We know from reading what we Christians call “the Old Testament” that for the Hebrews, God was not only a loving and redemptive entity, but was also at times a jealous and fearful entity, one whose wrath might unleash destruction at the hands of enemies, disaster in the design of nature, or terror upon those who sought solace in ancestral objects of worship.

And yet, the pattern set in the life of Jesus was different. “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your God in heaven (Matthew 5: 43-45a). “Whoever wants to be first must be last of all and servant of all”(Mark 9:35). These are the words of Jesus. In Jesus, God assumed an understanding of the human condition – the need for food, for drink, for shelter, for love, and for sustaining relationship.

And it is in community that relationship thrives, for community is itself born of relationship. And I have come to realize that it is in the relationship of community that I myself best recognize the presence of Christ. Yes, God is indeed in a flower; God is in a towering tree, in a majestic mountain, in a pristine landscape. But for me, Christ lives in the relationships fostered among human beings, one with another.  The presence of the Christ Spirit is, in my experience, most intense when it lives and grows in communities such as this one, First Congregational United Church of Christ, of Anoka.

I commend you therefore, brothers and sister, by the mercies of God, that you have indeed presented your bodies as living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, as your spiritual worship. You have done so in a multitude of ways:  by showing up at 6am to set out parking lot cones for a funeral service, whether you know the deceased or their families or not;  by digging in the dirt at the first sign of sunshine, clearing the flower beds of brush and aerating the soil to foster new beds of floral beauty which you will carefully water and feed as the summer encroaches;  by planning, buying and preparing food over and over again, for first one event and then another, and spending hours just waiting to serve that food to, and then clean up after, people who may never cross the threshold of our church again;  by sorting and cataloging books, cleaning out closets, organizing supplies, changing light bulbs, hauling truckloads of paper from COSTCO up and down stairwells;  by spending time with babies and toddlers and preschoolers, until they wake their parents on a Sunday morning asking to be brought to church, just to be in your class;  by visiting, feeding and sitting with those who fall ill from one disease or another, whether of body, mind or spirit, respecting each one with dignity and loving kindness, and never lagging in zeal for such service wherever and whenever it is needed;  by stopping by church 2,3,4, or more times a week if someone needs a bill paid or a check cut or a financial report produced, and never complaining about it;  by phoning each other when someone has been missing from church for awhile, just to “check in;”  by jumping in to help usher when help is suddenly short;  by offering regular guided and silent prayers  and meditations for the peace of our world, and remaining devoted to that commitment, regardless of attendance;  by coaxing those who work well with their hands into a ministry of knitting and crocheting that has warmed many an ailing body and mind, whether just off the street, in the hospital, or recovering at home; by providing rides to those who need them in order to get to church on any day when something’s going on;  by teaching and mentoring our young people;  by sharing resources and knowledge with our adults;  by giving generously of your financial resources, even in tough economic times; by hauling a dock out and pulling it in, and cleaning grounds and cabin twice yearly without fail at the campsite, and at the church as well;  by constantly extending hospitality to strangers;  researching systems that make the church safer and more hospitable; by working tirelessly, even when dog-tired yourself, to bring scattered notes and chords into the focus of harmony, transforming it into the ministry of healing that lives uniquely in music…

In all of these ways, and in many, many more too numerous to name, you – brothers and sisters – have served and continue to offer your many and diverse gifts in this congregation.  And in so doing, you manifest the body of Christ. “For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another.” (Romans 12: 4-5) 

Friends, I live in the assurance that you will continue to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those who weep. That you will live in harmony with one another, without being haughty, but associating with all, and not claiming to be wiser than you are. And that you will continue to spread the good news of this gospel of Jesus Christ – this message of radically inclusive, accepting, long-suffering and abiding love -- for which you are today so appreciated.

Remember the commandment Jesus spoke to his followers, and which the Spirit of Christ speaks to us now as we gather in this community:

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”  

In honor of these two commandments, I commend you today, brothers and sisters, saying:

“Well done, good and faithful servants.” (Matthew 25: 21, 23)

Well done!  And thank you.  Amen.

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