Galatians 5: 22-23 What We Model Matters: Faith from a Youth’s Perspective

Galatians 5: 22-23

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

I’ve been giving a lot of thought to youth ministry this year. Our confirmation crew had so much awesome momentum in early March, having prepared a meaningful worship for you all, focused on lives of service  a few days before they could offer their carefully prepared worship, the world turned upside down. Jack, Avery, Sarah, and Jenna and all of our youth have been faced with issues adults have trouble handling, on top of the already tumultuous “being a teenager” stuff.

All the while, it’s not safe to gather together for supportive conversation and prayer- as I have longed to do (maybe they have longed for it too). Sure, we can make contact and enjoy little moments of connection, but what I miss most is the face-to-face opportunity to share deeply of our lives.

Ministry in the teenage years is crucial, in a narrow window of time when meaning-making and identity-formation are strongest. And while I totally think the stories and teaching of our faith should factor in heavily, what I have always valued most in youth ministry is the lasting power of relationships. We have a strong mentor-type model of faith formation in our church, and so even while I mourn the loss of time to gather around content, I trust the very real connections youth make in church and with church friends beyond the walls of worship, will last far longer than the details of a curriculum.

And so I come back to this: seeing a life of faith modeled by adults is the most effective form of spiritual education. And guess what- neither a pastor nor a program is even required for this kind of Christian Education. Of course, I love the chance to be authentic about my faith with our youth (and I cherish each of them and their willingness to trust me in walking alongside) AND our SS teachers are vital…but what we hear time and again from graduates is this: it’s the WHOLE CHURCH FAMILY, in interactions ranging from inside jokes, to celebrating milestones, to a consistent handshake, hug, or smile, that has shaped who they are and how they see God at work in their lives.

That means you are (whether you know it or not) all engaged in youth ministry, all the time.  How we model our faith matters. It matters so much, in fact, that it will influence the way young people experience God. So if we as church want to take youth ministry seriously- we have a simple directive to follow: Live in a way that young people will identify the Spirit at work in our lives.

Recently I listened to Brene Brown speak about the power of vulnerability and openness in parenting, and in one sentence she sums up her parenting advice. I love it for the implication of youth ministry as well. Here it is, no fancy programs required: “be the adult you want your child to grow up to be.”

And I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s this passage in Galatians about spirit-filled living that I want to embody: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”  When we live by the Spirit- we actually produce this kind of fruit. And it’s exactly what I pray our young people will see us embody as a church. We’re not perfect of course, but steadily we can create this type of culture in our homes and our churches.

It’s Father’s Day, so let me offer one personal note about my own experience of growing up in the faith. At the age of 15 (that’s our confirmand’s age), I was asked to preach on Father’s Day. I was given no direction, simply a supportive, “Whatever you want to preach, Emily, it’ll be great.” Okay, awesome! I ended up selecting scripture that spoke of how I saw my own father embody his faith. That scripture was: Galatians 5: 22-23.

Now, I had an awesome youth group and youth minister during my teenage years, but do you know how my faith grew most? By watching my parents model for me a life devoted to the fruit of the Spirit. Are they perfect? Of course not. But day after day and year after year, they produced fruit that spoke of Spirit-filled life. My most vivid memory of faith that I received from my father actually has nothing to do with what he said. I would sometimes sneak to the top of the stairs when I was supposed to be sleeping, and watch as my dad sat in his recliner reading the bible. Sometimes it was a book about pigeons, but mostly it was the bible. As I grew older, same thing. I’d pass by on my way to bed, he’d look up from his bible just long enough to say goodnight, sweetheart. He didn’t have to say much about his faith because he embodied it- he modeled spirit-filled living, and I’m convinced that youth ministry in churches is way more about relationships than it is programs. Those spirit-filled connections can certainly originate in the home, AND as church we can be young people’s chosen faith families, the people who model Christ’s way of living for young people.

So on Father’s Day, here’s a simple and profound gift anyone who wishes to be a father-figure can do: Be the adult you want our youth to grow up and be. That’s true youth ministry. Amen!

Baptism: Hope that does not disappoint Romans 5: 1-8

Romans 5:1-8

"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us."

Why do we practice baptism as a sacrament in the church?

I offered some thoughts on this in the email this week. My best assessment of human family is this: most of us try really hard, much of the time, to share love with one another. Of course, any number of fault lines emerge over the years, which can create deep and lasting scars in family dynamics. To be family is to risk failing at love. Baptism offers a redeeming perspective on family in two ways:

1. To be baptized into the Christian faith is to inherent a "chosen family," guided by the faith, hope, and love Jesus embodies for us. That means we've got siblings in faith that don't share our blood, but DO share our joys and concerns as only chosen family can.

2. When our "chosen family" at church fails in love, which we inevitably do at times, baptism offers us the kind of hope that does not disappoint: to be affirmed as a child of the living God is to be in relationship with the only true source of unconditional love in this world.

And that, my friends, is what we all remember as we celebrate baptism this week!

I was reminded of the significance baptism holds for each of us uniquely, as I stood with Enid Hyde’s daughter Helen in our sanctuary this week. I listened as she recalled the memory of her own baptism. She described the dress she wore, how she tried her best to be well-behaved. And she paused for a bit, then wondered aloud why she was old enough to remember it- before getting baptized. I too recalled the memory of my own baptism. 10 years old, waiting in line with other kids and adults to be dunked in the tank built into the structure of our sanctuary.

I grew up with a believer’s baptism theology, and today I celebrate an “at any age” baptism theology. Why? In short, because it’s always Christ’s story we celebrate in baptism, alongside our own. And Christ’s story is powerful enough to be relevant for babies, children, youth, adults, everyone.

In the immersion baptism world, the expression of submerging under water symbolizes dying with Christ, so that we might be raised with Christ- as expressed when a person re-emerges at the surface of the waters. Now if you’re really into it, you get submerged three times- in the name of the Father (dunk), and the Son (dunk again), and the Holy Spirit (three times the charm). I love this idea of symbolizing God’s grace with water, and I’ve come to understand that symbolic promise is less about the “how,” and more about the “why.” At the core of Jesus’ story is a deep expression of empathy. The dying and rising to be unified with all of us humans. As all sacraments go, the “why” is in a way unique to our individual walk with God. But could it be, that in order for baptism to truly shape us as a faith community, we need it as a reminder of Christ’s compassion.

 Henri J.M. Nouwen, 20th century
"Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish. Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable, and powerless with the powerless."

And so my current practice of baptism usually involves the sign of the cross three times on the forehead, as you witnessed with baby Otto. I love immersion too- if you’d like to be baptized that way, we’ll head out to the river for yours! See, no one expression of God’s grace is better than another, so long as it connects us with a community willing to walk with Jesus toward becoming a more selfless, compassionate “chosen family” for one another.

For me, that’s absolutely the “why” of baptism: it’s an act of gathering in community to affirm God’s selfless love on behalf of each of us. Today we affirmed that Otto is indeed God’s beloved child, and as Christ’s body, we make particularly commitments. To show Otto, by teaching and modeling, a kind of Christ-like love. We don’t have to be martyrs like Jesus (that’s why Jesus did what he did), but we do make a commitment to one another that affirms this about the Christian life: “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.”

So we walk a particular way of faith alongside Otto, encouraging him to persevere in difficult times, celebrating alongside him in joyful times, and committing to hope, because God’s hope does not disappoint.

Even as we celebrate Otto today, we also re-affirm our own baptism, because the story of belonging to God never gets old. I need reminders of my own belovedness, like, 4 times a day. It’s the best fuel I can find to keep running the race for God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Justice, peace, unity, solidarity, and compassion. When someone suffers, we suffer. None of that is possible unless I place my life and worth and belonging into the hands of God, rather than a particular ideology. That’s the power of baptismal waters. So when you’re feeling unloved, discouraged, unworthy, maybe even abandoned by your own family, find a bit of water, place it on your forehand, and remind yourself what God longs for us to truly know: “You are a blessing.”

Hebrews 12: 1-3 Running the race: encountering and persisting through discomfort

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

Last week on Pentecost Sunday, I spoke briefly about spiritual practices being one way that we ready our hearts to be set on fire by the Spirit. I’ve recently reclaimed one of these practices in my own life: running. For some, it might be like an anti-spiritual practice, but for me it works.

It also happens to be an image the author of Hebrews uses to convey something about the Christian life. So I’ve been letting this image stir in me this week as I begin again to develop the spiritual discipline of running. Like many worthwhile things in life- it requires practice and perseverance. There’s this moment during a run when I want to give up. Do you know this feeling? You’ve come a long way, but your legs begin to weary, and you see how far you are from the finish. And that’s when the discomfort sets in.

And I want to stop. Walk. Maybe head back altogether and say, “to heck with running. It’s too hard.” Here’s the truth, though, it’ll never get easier until I decide to push through the discomfort. Until I believe I have it in me. Until I know it’s worth it. Until I get that my muscles and my lungs- they actually increase in capacity as I lean into what is hard.

On Thursday, I developed a mantra for myself (a little weird, maybe, but it works for me)- it steadies my pace and increases my perseverance. Here it is: chin up. Abs in, full stride, pump those arms. And I need it. When the going gets hard, I need constant reminders that pushing through discomfort actually makes me stronger.

In this season, we have many races to run. Sorting out this new world in the midst of (and hopefully one day post-) Covid-19. A fresh reckoning with the racism that has been a part of our DNA as a nation since the beginning. Political tensions running high. Mistrust of one another. An economic crisis that increases anxiety about the future (especially for those in low-wage jobs), and in the midst of it all, we’re just trying to tend to one another; be present to our families; deal with everyday struggles.

I have days this race feels too hard to run, I know. So did the early Christian who writes in Hebrews about how we run with perseverance. So what motivates this guy? Jesus. “The pioneer and perfecter of faith. Of all people, Jesus knows what it’s like to persevere. He could have quit. He didn’t have to finish dragging that cross up the hill. He had the internal power to shift everything around him for his own comfort- and still he chose to give his life. “For the joy set before him.” What was that joy? To give humanity hope. To tackle injustice by enduring the ultimate injustice: death at the hands of power. And this legacy Jesus leaves is meant to motivate us to run the race of our lives (and maybe sometimes on behalf of one another) without growing weary or losing heart.

In the light of what Jesus endured, having a difficult conversation about political differences doesn’t seem quite as hard. In the light of what Jesus endured, gathering in a park rather than a sanctuary, or wearing a mask, standing 6 feet apart, it seems like a cake walk. In the light of what Jesus endured, giving up my comfort to work toward the full dignity of my friends and neighbors of color seems like a no-brainer. Thank you, Jesus, for being the pioneer of faith, so that we know the race is not always easy, but it is worth it.

Here’s the best truth of all- when we choose to persevere in these practices, when we refuse to stay in our comfort zones, when we have hard conversations and push through- we actually grow. We learn something new about ourselves and our God of all creation. Our spiritual muscles and lungs increase in capacity, and slowly, at the pace we are capable of sustaining, we get stronger- so long as we keep at it.

That’s the race we’re in, friends. A marathon, not a sprint. And we needn’t push to the point of injury (because let’s face it, we’re more likely to quit if we do), we simply push through the discomfort that keeps us from real change. One run, one conversation, one prayer, one change of heart, one new friend, one educational opportunity at a time. And before you know it, we are stronger- and the world around us is too.

So let’s consider what our unique and collective race might be. If we’re wondering, the answer might lie in the moments that we’ve experienced discomfort the past few weeks and months. Those are the races that require true perseverance. Are you ready? Let’s run, fixing our eyes on Jesus. He has shown you, O Mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. (Micah 6:8)

The race is clear- the way is hard, which is why we need one another. When I get weary in helping God bring kingdom life on earth as it is in heaven, I need you to inspire me to reach beyond my comfort zone. Will you do that for me? Let’s run this race, side by side, a great cloud of witnesses. Chin up, abs in, full stride, pump those arms. Amen.

Acts 2 The Spirit in Me Acknowledges the Spirit in you

SCRIPTURE: Acts 2 (waving involved Holy Spirit Sticks)

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind (WAVE), and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. (WAVE) All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. (WAVE)

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, (WAVE) they asked, "Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs - in our own languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power." (WAVE) All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, "What does this mean?" But others sneered and said, "They are filled with new wine."

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: (WAVE) "Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say. Indeed, these are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only nine o'clock in the morning. No, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
   'In the last days it will be, God declares,
      that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, (WAVE)
         and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, (WAVE)
         and your young shall see visions, (WAVE)
         and your old shall dream dreams. (WAVE)
   Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
      in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
         and they shall prophesy. (WAVE)
   And I will show portents in the heaven above
      and signs on the earth below,
         blood, and fire, and smoky mist. (WAVE)
   The sun shall be turned to darkness
      and the moon to blood,
      before the coming of the Lord's great and glorious day.
   Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.' (WAVE)

Spirit energy breathed life into the early disciples- connecting them across space and time and language and nationality. (WAVE) Spirit energy that has persisted across generations and millennium to meet us here today. (WAVE) Spirit energy at work within all gathered bodies witnessing to Christ’s presence in the world. (WAVE) Spirit energy that brings us hope and lifts us to new visions of what church can be. (WAVE)

We know how significant connection really is, maybe more poignantly than ever. And we know the early disciples did not live spiritual lives alone. Their faith formed in communities of belonging through the gift of story; they got to haggle over Jesus’ teachings, pray for direction in their lives, and share their visions and dreams. All evidence that the Holy Spirit had indeed been poured out for all and for the sake of saving the world.

I’d like to share with you today an experience where the Spirit moved me to a new understanding of how much work is ahead of us if we’re to reach that great and glorious day of the Lord’s coming together.

I spent a year after seminary living and doing a bit of social work in Newark, NJ. I lived in a neighborhood that was predominantly home to people of color. And so this week, with the news of George Floyd’s death, my heart was drawn back to Newark. See, this public murder of yet another black man by white officers representing power, reveals how far we are from what Jesus intends for our world. Racial acts of violence are not isolated to this incident. How do I know this? Beyond statistics, one of the profound gifts I received from my brief season of work in Newark was learning the stories of young men and women of color. Let me say, their stories do not mirror my own privilege as a white woman. My privilege allows me to trust that officers are here to help me. I say this, because we know SO many dedicated officers of the law, so it’s really hard to believe that police would be capable of racial profiling, until, that is, you hear the many, many stories. Xavier, one of the young adults I was assisting in our program, was a black man dating a white woman from a different part of town. And he tells of the day he was walking from her place back to the bus stop- when he got pulled over by the cops- for walking in a white neighborhood, in 21^st Century America. That story burns, and when I expressed to Xavier how awful that must be, he looked at me (almost puzzled by my response) and says- “Oh, that happens almost every time I walk back to the bus station.” Racial profiling has become for him (and countless people of color) almost normal.

Friends, it’s not okay that that happens in America. And it’s also not okay that I didn’t realize this was a 21^st Century problem until I saw it up-close. My time in Newark taught me to listen to the stories people of color are telling, because they’re true- and they’re terrible. Here’s why it needs to change: because my liberation as a human is woven together with the liberation of all humans. That’s the story of Jesus, crucified and risen. Here’s how we can begin that change: Using power of the Pentecost story, we can practice this simple and profound phrase: “The Spirit in me acknowledges the Spirit in you.” (let’s do that, together). This practice is especially important with people who don’t share our culture or skin color. Because if we do that, then the stories of people who are different from us will matter to us. Our Spirits and our destinies will be tied together. And what is revealed in those stories will move us to new ways of creating justice, which always precedes peace. So if you feel grief about the state of the world, there’s power for you yet in the Pentecost story.

Hear it again. (Spirit sticks) Spirit is here among us even now, and Spirit will prevail:

   'In the last days it will be, God declares,
      that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, (WAVE)
         and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, (WAVE)
         and your young shall see visions, (WAVE)
         and your old shall dream dreams. (WAVE)
   Even upon my slaves, both men and women,
      in those days I will pour out my Spirit;
         and they shall prophesy. (WAVE)

You know what this means? It means in the exchange of life stories, we begin to see new visions of what is possible. Xavier taught me to never ignore how vast the difference is between his safety and mine. And because of it, I have a new vision of what using my voice to speak up for him (and countless others like him) can do.

And if you feel powerless when you hear news of racial violence, don’t believe it- because you’re not. If you’re in the Pierre area, you know we still have work to do with racial misunderstandings and sometimes violence based in ignorance. That’s why the work starts here & here (point to heart & ears), You and I, we can all start by listening to the stories of others that point us to new and life-giving visions for every single person, no matter their skin color.

“I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh,” God says. That’s the life-giving promise of Pentecost- we couldn’t be at a more important moment to receive it in human history.

Howard Thurman, 20th century
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive."

Let’s recommit- or maybe commit for the first time- to doing the hard and good work of acknowledging the Spirit in someone whose story we don’t yet know. If we do that, we will come alive- and so will Christ’s church.  That is the spark that will set our hearts on fire.

Holy Spirit, Come Quickly, and set our hearts on fire.