A Year of God’s Favor
Rev Jim Merritt
Trinity MCC Gainesville
January 24, 2010
Good morning again and welcome to Trinity Metropolitan Community Church in Gainesville. I am aware that our first welcome occurs too early in the service for some of us and I just want to make sure that you know whenever you arrive, we really are glad you are here with us. Just one word of personal news; my mother saw her surgeon on Wednesday and he has confirmed what we already knew, that my mother is experiencing a miraculous recovery. Her x-rays are all good, her wound is healing quickly and appropriately and he has even released her to drive on short trips. I share that with you this morning for two reasons; first to thank you for your ongoing prayers for us. It meant so much to me last Sunday to hear during the community prayer that someone other than me had written her name in the Prayer Book. You really are an amazing congregation! The other reason is because it is an excellent illustration of our sermon topic for today, “A Year of God’s Favor.” I stake this claim openly and publicly and in the name of Jesus, my brothers and sisters we ARE living in a year of God’s Favor. We know that we have come a long way together and we are making progress in this very moment. Here is the really good news. THE BEST IS YET TO COME. We’re going to baptize several people next Sunday and we’re going to take in a whole bunch of new members and even in the midst of all that, about which I am very excited, I stand here before you this morning to proclaim in the name of Jesus that the best is yet to come because this is for us and for so many like us, “A Year of God’s Favor!” Doesn’t that make you happy this morning? Doesn’t it just make you want to shout, “Hallelujah, Glory to God in the Highest?” Whew….are you with me this morning?
Gospel
The first question I had when I came to this Gospel lesson is “From what or whence is Jesus returning?” So let me remind you that Jesus is returning from his period of temptation. He is tempted by food, and you have to know that bread looked awfully good to a very hungry Jesus. He was tempted with power; power to rule all the kingdoms. Since you’re getting to know my theology pretty well by now, let me assure you I use the work KINGdom today intentionally. This was not the beloved KIN-dom we so often describe as the inclusive loving family of God. This IS or would have been a kingdom based on power and might. More importantly for us, it would have been a kingdom for which Jesus literally sold his soul to the devil, and we know Jesus better that today. Don’t we? Finally, Jesus is tempted jump from the pinnacle of the temple, and to give God an opportunity to prove that God was and is who God said and says God is. Notice that Jesus quotes scripture in the face of every temptation. The devil know scripture, too and ultimately gives up…for awhile. And I think we need to take note here. It is important for us as followers of Jesus to hide the word of God in our hearts, to know it like the back of our hands because we know that our struggle with evil is a daily, hourly, sometimes moment by moment, struggle. We know that temptation is never far away from us and that just because we’re in the center of God’s will for us at this moment does not automatically mean we will be there in the next moment. And what a victory we can win when temptation comes our way and we can refer back to what God has taught us, to the example of Jesus and resist temptation, and that my sisters and brothers is one way that we can truly experience a year of God’s favor. Resist temptation in the name of Jesus. Hold on to the promises of God. And having done all to stand, STAND in the name of Jesus. Let’s be a people known for working our faith and for doing good, living the loving way even in the face of severe temptation.
So Jesus goes to the temple as is his custom. A lot of people make statements like, “My church is in my garden,” or “My church is in the woods,” Or “I go to the church of the pillow.” I must admit, I find church at times in all of those places. I find God in the trails around here nearly every day as I walk and pray. God always meets me here. I find God in little things like flowers and sunshine and leaves and wind and rain, I take on these parts of God’s creation as my own daily seeds of happiness and I am truly thankful for the way these seeds of happiness nourish my life. And sometimes I need to be alone. I can sit for hours in my apartment or in some other place with incense burning, meditation music playing and just release my mind to receive what God has to give me. What I receive in those times is always very good and calming and peaceful. I love those times. And I find God here in our temple, in our church and I stand before you this morning saying, once again, follow the example of Jesus. Come to church, make coming to God’s house a part of your regular practice. You see Christianity is personal and we know all through our history with God that it is a communal faith, too. People walked from miles and miles to get a glimpse of Jesus. I know some of you come from places very far to be with us and I want you to know what a blessing you are to this community. I’m not just blowing smoke up your skirts when I tell you, it won’t be the same without you. It never is. And today I tell you that we need you to help us as we live into this year of God’s glory. We need you on a team, we need you in the choir, we need you as an usher, we need you to pray, and we need you to surprise us with what God can do through you. Last Tuesday night I had the wonderful joy of joining the Gospel Choir at the University of Florida for one song at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Candlelight Vigil. By the way, I appreciate those of you who came out to support those amazing students. And we sang Hezekiah Walker’s amazing song,
“I need you, you need me, we’re all a part of God’s body. Stand with me, agree with me. We’re all a part of God’s body. It is God’s will that every need be supplied. You are important to me, I need you to survive. I pray for you. You pray for me. I love you, I need you to survive. I won’t harm you with words from my mouth, I love you I need you to survive. It is God’s will that every need be supplied. You are important to me, I need you to survive.”
That’s what being a part of a community of faith is all about. That’s why Jesus made it part of his regular practice and that is why we need to make it part of ours, too. We love you, sisters and brothers, and we need you to survive.
And what did Jesus say when he stood? “The Spirit of God is upon me, because God has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, 19to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
Good news to the poor; You will live in abundance
Good news to the captive: You will be free
Good news to the blind: You will see
Good news to the oppressed: You too will go free!
And in such a time as that, we will experience a Year of God’s Favor.
Conclusion:
How will we do it? In her book, A House of Prayer for All Peoples, The Reverend Doctor Sheryl Kujawa-Holbrook writes, “We, as the people of God, are called to respond to a world groaning under the weight and injustice and broken relationships. Our differences and our interdependence are intended to be a source of strength and a gift from God. As people of faith, we know that the reign of God will not ultimately be built on separatism or political arguments, but on the transformation of our hearts – new life, not just re-ordered life.”[1]
That is how we bring about A Year of God’s Favor. We allow our hearts to be transformed. We celebrate our differences and our interdependence on each other. We allow new life to begin in us. In A Whosoever Church, The Reverend Doctor Yvonne V. Delk suggests, “Hold on to the love ethic and allow that love ethic to lead us into places which will open up even more tables, more newness, and a more inclusive society that we can be a part of.”[2]
Hold on to love and be ready for A Year of God’s Favor. God bless you…AMEN.
