A Worshipping People

Buzz About the Kingdom

First Congregational Church – Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
First Sunday in Advent – November 20, 2005
Rev. Carrie Kreps Wegenast and Christopher Fink
[Texts: Ephesians 1:15-23 /Psalm 100]

This sermon was a corporative effort between Rev. Kreps Wegenast and Christopher Fink, an eighth grader in the Pilgrim Fellowship. Notataions have been made to explain who was speaking when. Thirteen middle school youth assisted with this service by reading, providing instumental music and performing in the Junior P.F. Bell Choir.

[Rev. Kreps Wegenast] My name is Rev. Carrie Kreps Wegenast. I am no longer in middle school, but I have a vision for the youth of this church. Before I begin my sermon I would like to share with you my vision for the youth program of our gathered community. My vision for our young people is for them to be part of a fried egg model of youth ministry. Let me explain. There are two models commonily used to describe church youth programs. The first is the one-eared Mickey Mouse model. I am sure most of you can imagine Mickey Mouse. Now, take off one of his ears. In this model, the youth are the ear, stuck out away from the face. The congregation is the face. The congregation only calls upon the youth when they need people to serve and the youth only call upon the congregation when they need money. I don’t want this. What I want is the fried egg model. The youth are the yoke, smack in the middle of the congregation. The congregation and the youth interact with each other. The youth participate in the life of the congregation because let me tell you something, someday these folks are going to be the congregation. In this model, youth lead worship, participate in the life of the congregation, and are affirmed for their role within the body of Christ. They still serve, but they serve because Jesus served not because it is their only role in the gathered community.

Sometimes after a service like this I receive a letter saying youth or children should not participate in worship. Today I answer these letters by telling you, but they are a part of the worship because they are children of God, too. I am glad that they are part of today’s worship. I am excited that we have thirteen middle school youth who have the courage to speak in public, to share their love of God, and who are here to help us worship. Our young people have worked so hard in these last few weeks preparing their introductions, practicing their readings every day, giving up games in PF to practice the bells, and I think it is wonderful that they can be here today to praise God and lead you in worship.

Now to the sermon…

At the Covenant Class Retreat this weekend we studied church history. We began with the birth of Christ in approximately 4 B.C. and ended with Henry the VIII’s separation from the Roman church in 1534. In the midst of these history lessons we talked about Augustine. His book City of God is still viewed as one of the most important theological works ever produced. Augustine writes about two cities. The Worldly City is full of godless people. They seek temporal things. The other city, the City of God, is full of spiritual people. They are bonded by the love of God. This city can never be destroyed or decay. For the first readers of Augustine’s City of God this idea of two cities brought hope. In the late 300s Christians had just begun to experience true religious freedom. Christianity had only been legal since 313 and Christians were in the midst of organizing. A future kingdom reigned by God was something to anticipate in this turbulent time.

Augustine wasn’t the first to use kingdom language. Jesus used this phrase frequently according to the Gospel narrators. The Lord’s Prayer even makes reference to the Kingdom that will come. Matthew 25, our Gospel lectionary text for today, falls in the midst of several apocalyptic stories. The previous chapter begins with Jesus’ promise that the temple will be destroyed. We are also reminded that no one knows the last day or hour except for God. The story of the ten bridesmaids and the slaves given talents immediately proceed today’s reading of the kingdom. In this text we have a familiar story – a narrative starring the Son of Man who will separate the nations into sheep and goats. When asked, the King declares, the separation between sheep and goats is compassion. The sheep showed compassion to the least of the King’s people and the goats did not.

Chris Fink, an eighth grader in our Pilgrim Fellowship program, will lead us as we explore this reading in greater detail.

[Chris Fink] Let’s look closer at a portion of the gospel reading, Matthew 25:34-36. Let me re-read this section just to refresh your memory: “Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’”

When I first read this section, I thought these six tasks are very easy to do. If I need to complete these to please God, I am half way there! Last month at school, we collected peanut butter and jelly for the National PB and J Challenge. My school, Whitefish Bay Middle School, won the local contest by contributing well over 2000 pounds of peanut butter and jelly. Also, just two weeks ago, I helped serve meals at St. Vincent’s with my PF friends. Therefore, I am helping to give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty. Every year, I also donate my old coats and gloves to Condella’s Coats for Kids to help “cloth the naked.”

At this point, I was feeling pretty good about myself. However, now I began to think about the other tasks that Matthew refers to. If you think about it, these six tasks are everything God wants us to do. Giving food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty are quite easy to understand. But what about welcoming strangers?

Who do you think a stranger is? Well, it could be someone in a new place, or someone you do not know. At my school, we have many strangers. Some come from other schools, some from other states, and some even come from other countries. One of the differences between them is how they deal with being a stranger. Some get involved in everything offered—they are on sports teams, participate in the school musical, and are on student council. Everyone in the school knows them as if they were in the district all their lives. On the other hand, there are the kids who don’t get involved in anything. Nobody knows them, they have no friends, and never participate in class discussions. This is the same in our church environment. Some new members have gotten involved with the church, while others sit back and let others do the work for all sorts of reasons. Those of us who are already involved, need to be able to welcome both kinds of strangers—the outgoing and the shy. With the outgoing strangers, we need to help them find a way to get involved and encourage them to stay involved. As for the timid strangers, we need to offer the hand of friendship. So let’s start right now. Turn to your neighbor, put out that hand, and take a moment to introduce yourself. (pause a few seconds)

Matthew also tells us to visit people in prison. Visit someone in prison! I am not sure my mom would approve. At first I was very curious as to why someone should go visit murderers and drug dealers. Would the guards even let an 8th grader into a prison? Then I thought back to the time of Matthew and remembered that Christians were being prosecuted for their beliefs. The people of Rome were forced to pray for Caesar and bow down to him like a god. The second commandment states that we cannot bow down to any other god except our God. The Christians obeyed this commandment and were sent to jail because they did not bow to Caesar. To connect this to today’s life, visiting someone in prison would be like visiting someone going through a tough time or someone who is very lonely because they have lost a loved one. These are the prisoners God wants us to visit.

So why waste your time feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers, and visiting people in prison? Why do it all? We should not be doing God’s work to make ourselves look good. The point of serving food at St. Vincent’s is not to think, “Wow I did a great thing. Now I am guaranteed a trip to heaven.” The whole point behind doing good is to please God. Like Matthew says, “He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” The righteous, God faring sheep will go to the right hand of God, and the evil, “why do that, it doesn’t help me” goats will be cast into eternal punishment. So, who really wants to be a goat?

[Rev. Kreps Wegenast] So, who really wants to be a goat?

A few years ago I was hired by my grandmother to help her with her Christmas shopping. My job description included driving, providing curbside drop off and pick up, carrying bags and taking bags to the car, and offering opinions on gifts. During the course of the day we discussed language and the number of words that have been created in her lifetime. We came up with quite a list. For example, we thought of email and digital. Other words have gotten new definitions: blog, internet, voice mail, web, and I'm sure that we could think of others. Recently, I've heard another word that fits into this second category of words. The word is "Buzz." Buzz is no longer limited to a persistent humming sound, a confused murmur, or a flurry of activity.

I first noticed the word being used by Oprah. Curious, I searched "buzz" on her website and found that it has been used in 49 show topics in the recent months. Online one can also find the "buzz" on Prince William, order a subscription to "Soccer Buzz" magazine, get the "buzz on electronics," read the Weekly Buzz from the University of Illinois - Champaign-Urbana, listen to the "Buzz," a popular name for radio stations, or find directions the "The Buzz," a dance club. It seems that the buzz on the street is the use of the word "buzz."

The buzz I wanted to share with you today is about the kingdom. The author of Matthew tells us that the kingdom is a place that has been prepared for us from the beginning of the world. The other destination option seems to be not as pleasing – eternal punishment. Chris elaborated on the acts of compassion the King expects. The author of Ephesians explains the far reaching dimensions of this kingdom. This City of God is far above the rule and authority of what we know. Another minister once told me about a visit he had from a woman who had just experienced the death of her mother. The daughter was concerned because her mother had been shy. The daughter worried that her mother might be lost in the crowd of heaven. Her image of heaven was limited to a space. Ephesians explains that the kingdom of God is beyond dimension. Christ fills all in all.

When I was a child I would ask my mom, How much do you love me? At first my mom answered with her hands. Holding her hands apart a foot or so my mom would say, Carrie I love you this much. Then I would ask, out of how much? She would shorten the distance between her hands and say, out of this much. Later, as my understanding of the universe grew, my mom would answer, I love you to the moon and back. For a child, my understanding of love was defined by bounds.

It is easy to think of the kingdom of God in these same bounds. Heaven is somewhere up there. It is a place we cannot see but it is within our realm of understanding. In both Ephesians and Matthew, we are presented with a new realm, a realm beyond dimension in which Christ fills everything. Christ is all in all.

Matthew makes this clear as we consider what the King says, “Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me” (25:40b). Christ is indeed all in all. Christ is in the greatest of people and things and in the least of people and things. The Kingdom of God, which we excitedly anticipate, is rooted in compassion. It is beyond dimension – above power and dominion. It is more than sheep and goats. It is more than a glass of water, a can of corn, or a hand-me-down coat. This is huge buzz. This is buzz about the most welcoming, the most loving, and the most compassionate kingdom that has ever existed or will ever exist. This is the buzz about the kingdom.