Stetson
Memorial United Church
Independence
Day Weekend
sermon,
July 3, 2016
Raymond
A. Foss
“He’s from away”
Let us pray – Almighty God, we gather here on the Sunday before July 4th,
so happy for our freedoms, both as a nation and as believers in our risen Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ. This is a time for celebration, for gathering as
family, with friends and neighbors. We thank you Lord for our freedom and for
your many blessings.
Lord, I pray that the words I am about to share are your words. Speak
through me or in spite of me. And it is in Jesus’ name that I pray. Amen.
=======================
Today is the seventh Sunday in
the Sermon Series we have been journeying through since May 22, called “Outsiders”
We can almost hear the crowds,
the word on the street, as we have gone through the Sundays. At times I have
heard myself in the words Pastor Ruth has shared, at times they have troubled
me. At times they have given me hope, At times they have challenged me to
change.
-
We heard the internal voice, “Are You Worthy”,
from Luke 7:1-10, and the story of the Centurion.
-
We heard the assurance to the grieving mother,
“You Are Never Alone”, from Luke 7:11-17,
-
We heard the challenge for us are we
“Judgmentally Challenged” from Luke 7:36-8:3, about the woman washing Jesus’
feet and the homeowner,
-
We heard the promise that we have “Broken Chains”
in Luke 8:26-39 in the story of the man who was demon possessed,
-
We heard the welcome of “Home Sweet Home” of Luke
9:51-62, calling us to be that welcome.
-
And last week’s sermon on “The Dust of the
Church”, Luke 10:1-11, 16-20, which asked us whether we are welcoming to the
traveler, to others, to the message of Christ.
We hear the words of the crowd,
so quick to find fault, to find another wanting - He’s from away. He is lost.
He is dirty. He is broken. He is not like us. He smokes too much; He’s a drunk;
He’s a meth-head. His family has always been this way. He’s a bum, look at how
he is dressed.
It is somehow fitting that we
are here on the July 4th weekend, celebrating our Independence as a
nation, this nation of immigrants, this nation of others, of people from away,
gathered together as the Statue of Liberty says, "Give me your tired, your
poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your
teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp
beside the golden door!"
We are all part of that same
story, whether we are newly arrived or immigrants from generations past.
My family too is part of that
melting pot. My paternal grandmother was born two years after her family
arrived from Scotland in Lowell, MA in 1888. On my mother’s father’s side, they
came to America on the Mayflower, so I’m part of the 13th generation
of my family that has called this place, New England, home. But for Patten,
this place, it has been three years, not many generations as many of you can
claim.
Three years ago this week, our
family came to Patten. We couldn’t have been more amazed, even in the first
service, with so many of you offering us warm greetings, by name (with our
photographs on the wall of the back of the church). We may have been from away,
but you welcomed us with open arms. People in the town welcomed us at Ellis’,
at Richardson’s, at Debbie’s, on the street. They all knew us long before we
knew them. That’s one of the great things about living in a small town.
Continuing the sermon series, Jesus
answers an attorney’s questions in the story of the Good Samaritan (and I’m
reading from The Message Bible) =
Luke 10:25-37
Defining “Neighbor”
25 Just then a religion scholar
stood up with a question to test Jesus. “Teacher, what do I need to do to get
eternal life?”
26 He answered, “What’s written
in God’s Law? How do you interpret it?”
27 He said, “That you love the
Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and muscle and intelligence—and
that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself.”
28 “Good answer!” said Jesus.
“Do it and you’ll live.”
29 Looking for a loophole, he
asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”
30-32 Jesus answered by telling
a story. “There was once a man traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho. On the way
he was attacked by robbers. They took his clothes, beat him up, and went off
leaving him half-dead. Luckily, a priest was on his way down the same road, but
when he saw him he angled across to the other side. Then a Levite religious man
showed up; he also avoided the injured man.
33-35 “A Samaritan traveling the
road came on him. When he saw the man’s condition, his heart went out to him.
He gave him first aid, disinfecting and bandaging his wounds. Then he lifted
him onto his donkey, led him to an inn, and made him comfortable. In the
morning he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper, saying,
‘Take good care of him. If it costs any more, put it on my bill—I’ll pay you on
my way back.’
36 “What do you think? Which of
the three became a neighbor to the man attacked by robbers?”
37 “The one who treated him
kindly,” the religion scholar responded.
Jesus said, “Go and do the
same.”
Do we see ourselves in the
story? Who are we? Are we the injured person, beat down by someone, something,
some attack which leaves us barely alive?
Are we the Levite, busy doing
church, busy leading their lives, trying to be righteous? Not wanting to become
involved, to get dirty, to be late. Too busy to stop, to change our direction,
too busy doing church to be church?
Are we the priest, heading to worship, not wanting to become
unclear, to get their stink on us, to be forbidden from doing ministry because
of association with this other unclean person? Do we see our neighbor when we
look at the injured man?
Are we the Samaritan, the one
who they all call other? Do we know all too well what it feels like to be seen
as less that they think they are, as someone from away?
What must the Levite have said,
or the church elders, or the priest when they heard what the Good Samaritan had
done? Can you hear them in the synagogue? What would the conversation been
like?
Who does this Samaritan think he
is? He thinks he is better than we are, trying to change things, to go against
our traditions. Who does he think he is breaking our rules?
I started as Town Manager in
Patten in February and it really is my dream job, going back to college in the
early 1980’s. But I also remember part of why I didn’t become a town manager
back then. There was a lot of turnover in town manager jobs because you often
are from away. As a Yankee with 12 generations behind me, moving frequently
wasn’t my idea of fun. I told the Board here that I wanted to retire from here.
But for some, I will always be from away.
This week, we had an issue with
the Rec. Building being unlocked in the morning. We changed the locks but it
continued. We determined that there was a plexi-glass window that could be
pushed in and then put back in place. Kevin used silicon caulk to seal it and
the door has been locked since. Nothing was taken. It appears someone had slept
on mats on the stage.
I was glad that we have been
able to find a way to lock the building, but then I thought about this sermon
series and whether or not the person truly was without a place to sleep at
night. Did I miss an opportunity to help this person genuinely, as the Good
Samaritan did, by securing the Rec. Building, rather than seeing if we could
figure out who it was first. But, then again, if I had known who had done it,
would I have been obligated to have the police become involved. I solved one
problem but was I a good neighbor?
There are many times in our
lives when we feel like an outsider, like we’re from away, that we’re a
stranger, someone on the outside of the group, when we’re captured by demons,
or addiction, or some turmoil in our lives. And there are times when we, on the
other side, don’t even know how best to help, even if we want to, in a given
situation.
But those are the times
when we need to become involved as a church, as disciples, as Christians, to
lift up our neighbors, to bring them into the circle, into the body of Christ.
This is when we have to be the Good Samaritan even if we’re the Levite or the priest
or someone who doesn’t like to get involved usually. We need to break down that
which divides us.
Last summer, I was honored to
give the “Worship in the Park” sermon at the end of Patten Pioneer Days. I
titled that sermon, “Community” and I referenced both the sermon Pastor Ruth
gave the prior summer and the sermon that Pastor Rodney Lord gave in 2013. All
three of the sermons boiled down to the hope we have in community, in the
coming together, in honoring one another, in lifting up our neighbors, in the
sharing of the one gospel of Jesus Christ.
And that gospel is boiled down
to loving God and to loving our fellow man. We have to love like Christ did,
sacrificially, without exception, as he calls us to do in John 13:33-35. We are
to love as he did, not setting anyone else out, separate, apart from us.
There are no outsiders in true
community; we are all friends and neighbors. There should be none left out,
none considered unworthy. All should be welcomed home, into the arms of God,
into the body of Christ, especially in this land of immigrants, where we are
all from away.
That is our calling this
Independence Day weekend and all year long, to open wide the welcome mat, to
extend the words of Christ, of the Statue of Liberty so they are real within
our church, within our hearts, within our community, to truly be the good
neighbors, the Good Samaritans, to be the witnesses for Christ by being his
hands and his feet, getting involved.
Amen.
====
July 5, 2016
how can we exclude the
outsider
July 4, 2016
a people stitched together
July 4, 2016
a nation of immigrants
July 4, 2016
we are adopted sisters and
brothers
edited/ new July 4, 2016
we were all outsiders
July 4, 2016
we are all neighbors
July 4, 2016
open your heart - 2
merged/ edited July 3,
2016
There are no outsiders –
v2
July 3, 2016
there are only sisters and
brothers
July 3, 2016
open the doors
July 3, 2016
welcome them
July 3, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 30:1-5
Luke 10:25-37
The Good Samaritan
and sermon, “He’s from
Away”
text
draft
text – 7/2/16
video
by Raymond A. Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by
Chrissy McCarthy
Pastor
Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
July 3, 2016
&
July 2, 2016
welcoming to them
edited July 2, 2016
from the “outside” in – v2
June 27, 2016
from the “outside” in
edited June 27, 2016
Those People – 2 – v2
June 26, 2016
Those People - 2
June 26, 2016
do not lose focus
June 26, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 16:7-11
Luke 10:1-11, 16-20
and sermon, “The Dust of
the Church…”
text
video
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June 26, 2016
&
edited June 25, 2016
love the stranger – v3
edited June 25, 2016
love the stranger – v2
June 25, 2016
love the stranger
edited/ merged June 25,
2016
Jesus came for those who
were unworthy – v2
June 25, 2016
Jesus came for those who
were unworthy
June 25, 2016
do not cry, do not weep
June 25, 2016
in the midst of her pain
June 25, 2016
bring them in
June 25, 2016
no one wants to be alone
June 25, 2016
we don’t see them
June 25, 2016
Christ sought those
June 25, 2016
Lost and Alone
written June 22, 2016
May 29, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
The Lonely
Luke 7:11-17
Psalm 96
and sermon, “You Are Never
Alone”
text
video
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
May
29, 2016
&
June 25, 2016
We are not alone - 3
Psalm 77:1-2, 1-20
Psalm 77:1-20
devotion for June 23, 2016
read June 23, 2016
“Learning from What We Would Avoid”
Disciplines June 20, 2016 to June 26, 2016
by Robert P Fugarino
Upper Room Disciplines for 2016
&
edited June 19, 2016
open our arms – v2
June 19, 2016
open our arms
June 19, 2016
let light shine in
June 19, 2016
open our doors
June 19, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 8
Luke 9:51-62
and sermon, “Home Sweet
Home…”
text
video
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June 19, 2016
&
June 18, 2016
make this a place of
welcome
anticipating tomorrow’s
sermon
June 19, 2016
&
June 18, 2016
were they demons
June 18, 2016
chains that bind us
June 18, 2016
release the demons
June 18, 2016
the demons leave us
June 18, 2016
we free others
June 18, 2016
Freed of our chains
June 12, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 139
Luke 8:26-39
and sermon, “Broken
Chains”
text
video
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June 12, 2016
&
June 11, 2016
he missed a blessing
June 11, 2016
he couldn’t see her
June 11, 2016
he didn’t see her gift
June 5, 2016
she gave her all
June 5, 2016
offering to Christ
June 5, 2016
washing His feet
June 5, 2016
dividing the flock
June 5, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
“Senior Recognition
Sunday”
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
Psalm 146
Luke 7:36-8:3
and sermon, “Judgmentally
Challenged”
text
video
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
June 5, 2016
&
May 29, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Sermon Series:
“Outsiders”
The Lonely
Luke 7:11-17
Psalm 96
and sermon, “You Are Never
Alone”
text
video
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
May
29, 2016
&
merged May 26, 2016
by the grace of God – v2
May 24, 2016
we are worthy
May 24, 2016
by the grace of God
edited May 24, 2016
Jesus was welcomed by the
outsiders – v2
May 24, 2016
who is unworthy of God’s
grace
May 23, 2016
who is unworthy of my
grace
May 23, 2016
until we claimed Jesus
May 23, 2016
I am worthy
May 23, 2016
you are worthy
May 23, 2016
by grace we are on the
inside
May 23, 2016
we are all unworthy
edited May 23, 2016
we are unworthy
May 23, 2016
he was unworthy
May 22, 2016
why are they kept on the
outside
May 22, 2016
who are the outsiders
May 22, 2016
are they welcome
May 22, 2016
Jesus was welcomed by
outsiders
May 22, 2016
silencing his voice
May 22, 2016
who is worthy
May 22, 2016
who are the outsiders
May 22, 2016
who do we find unworthy
May 22, 2016
Stetson Memorial UMC
Trinity Sunday
Psalm 8
Luke 7:1-10
and sermon, “Are
You Worthy?”
text
video
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Children’s Message from Mystery Box
-
Smokey the Bear and one of Pastor Ruth’s business cards
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
May
22, 2016
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2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016. All rights reserved. Contact me at
Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage.
See all 41,390+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com
Poetry Where You Live.
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