March 20, 2022

3rd Sunday in Lent
Sermon series on mission statement: Nurtured in Faith

Readings
Isaiah 55:1-9
Psalm 63:1-8
1 Peter 2:2-5
Luke 13:1-9

Dear fellow ministers of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
 grace and peace to you from the one who nurtures our faith. Amen
 
This lent we are spending our Sunday sermon time
revisiting our congregational mission statement
and thinking about what it means for us and the ministry that we do.
 Two weeks ago we explored the first statement:
Saved by God’s grace, through which
 
We acknowledge that we are gathered together,
not because we are better than everyone else,
or because we are trying to be
 
but because God has gathered us together,
as unworthy as we are,
 to proclaim to us that we are loved by God
And that salvation comes from God, as a gift.
 
Last week we explored the second statement: Rooted in Christ 
 
Because of Christ we know who we are,
whose we are, and our purpose,
 we are children of God,
 
Rooted in Christ,
through whom we are anchored and nourished,
who through this grounding and nourishing
calls us to flexibility and continual growth.
 
Which leads us to this week
 and the third part of our mission statement: nurtured in faith,
Where we acknowledge that if we are to continually grow in our faith
that faith needs to be cared for
in much the same way as our bodies,
 
We hear this in the words of the psalm this morning
As the psalmist cries out: 
O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you;
  my soul thirsts for you,
 
 my flesh faints for you,
 as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 
 
The needs of our soul, our faith,
 are as real as our need for water and food,
but it is so easy to get distracted,
or to try and fill that need with something else
 
In Isaiah we hear God calling out to the people
 to attend their relationship with God,
asking “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,
  and your labor for that which does not satisfy?”
 
‘Why are you working hard to try and fulfill your needs
 with things that won’t satisfy you,
when I am offering that which will fill you up for free?’
God asks the people
 
and it is so easy to do,
 to think we can slake our soul thirst
with something other than God,
 
we try to satisfy our need by working hard and building careers,
or through appearing to be perfect,
and when those don’t work
we turn to shallow relationships,
or shopping, or entertainment,
 
things that will distract us for a moment
but will never satisfy the hunger in our souls,
because they do not nourish us
the way time spent in prayer and worship do,
or the way being part of a community of faith
strengthens us because there are others around us
 to encourage and uplift us
 when the way becomes difficult.
 
 Sometimes we’re like the fig tree in the gospel,
 we need someone to advocate for us
when others want to cut us down,
 
 we need someone to see our potential,
 see our value in who we are right now
as well as who we might become.
 
 Just before telling this parable
Jesus is responding to some people
 who have asked about the cause of some local tragedies,
and he rejects the notion
that the people killed tragically died because they were sinners
whom God had arbitrarily decided to punish.
 
 God doesn’t work like that, Jesus says,
but at the same time
life is uncertain and death is a reality we all must face,
even with the mercy of God.
 
So where does this all leave us?
 We are saved by God
who gives us faith
but how we act is still important,
 but we still can’t control all of our lives through our actions
…this is getting confusing,
 
it is confusing,
which is why we have so many letters in the Bible,
 to communities who are confused.
 
Today we heard the author of 1 Peter
write to a community who is confused over just this contradiction,
that they are saved and yet are still experiencing suffering,
and to them the author writes: “Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation- if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.”
 
“So that you may grow into salvation”
 
This line really caught me this week,
as we’re thinking about nurturing faith,
even as we have been saved by grace
there is still room to grow.
 
Think of it like this:
salvation is like a big pair of pajamas
(Joy has been outgrowing her pajamas lately so I’ve got pjs on the brain,
especially cute footed ones with dino toes)
anyway, God gives us the pajamas as a gift,
that’s the grace part
 but these pajamas don’t do us much good
unless we put them on,
 
that’s what faith in Christ does,
dresses us in these pajamas,
sometimes we help put them on
other times we struggle with it a bit
 but however it happens we end up with our jammies on
 
and we find that like all practical parents
 God has given us this gift with room to grow into it.
The sleeves are flapping over our hands
and the neck hole is sliding to the side a bit,
 
these pajamas still surround us and keep us warm
 but they’re so big that sometime we trip on the feet,
or we push the arms out of the way
or we find ourselves all tangled up,
but as we grow, we find ourselves tripping less,
and getting less tangled up.
 
That’s what nurturing faith does,
 help us grow into the gift
that God has already given us through Christ.
 
As a congregation we are committed to nurturing faith,
for all ages,
and this goes beyond Sunday or Wednesday School or even confirmation
 
faith is nurtured when we worship together,
in joining our voices as one in the hymns
in passing the peace, the prayers,
in the sharing the Lord’s supper,
 
and nurturing faith goes beyond worshipping together
faith is nurtured through reading and discussing the Bible,
through working to understand the world around us
  
and faith is nurtured when we build relationships,
and uphold those who are struggling
and let others care for us when we struggle,
 
faith is nurtured when we pray for those who are different from us
and then we go seek to understand them.
 
Faith is nurtured
when we follow Jesus’ call to bring the kingdom of God near
and love one another as Jesus has loved us.
 
Here we are saved by God’s grace
 rooted in Christ
and nurtured in faith. Amen