August 11, 2024
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
"Be Kind, Be Kind, Be Kind"
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
August 11, 2024
A few years ago, back when I was in charge of the presbyterian student group at Denison University. I was informed by our student co-presidents that the student groups on campus were invited dedicate a bench on the quad. They said they were given three lines to work with, and asked… what should we choose to represent Presbyterians. Is there a scripture we should use, is there a quote from a theologian? What should our dedication be?
I told them… all of that sounds like a great idea! But I don’t have time to think about this… I trust you to come up with something.
A couple of months passed and I totally forgot about this project.
But eventually, one night over our group’s weekly dinner they said… OH Trip! We finally got to see our bench dedication and they pulled up a picture of the bench on their phone…
And it read with the quote that’s on the cover of our bulletin…
“There are three ways to ultimate success in life
The first is to be Kind, he second is to be kind, the third is to be kind - Fred Rogers” With love from the Presbyterians at Denison.
I looked up from the phone and said… it’s perfect.
They responded… isn’t it?!
They said “We thought and thought about what sets Presbyterians apart? What makes us unique, what do we love about being presbyterian that might best represent us to the Denison community in perpetuity?”
And then it occurred to us that Mr. Rogers is the best representative we could ask for. Not only is he well known and well loved, he’s a presbyterian pastor, and then we found this quote and it clicked, this is how we want the next generation of Denisonians to know us… by how kind we are. In a world of campus ministries that are aggressively evangelical, or judgmental… Simple Kindness is what sets our group apart. This is how we want to be known.
Another story… A few years back at this church, right as we were coming out of the onslaught that was the COVID Pandemic, I was beginning to realize that our small church had so much going on that it was hard to sort out our priorities as a church. We had so many different mission projects and initiatives it was hard to determine what our focus should be. So we held a session retreat to try to sort out our priorities as a church.
We got a white board, and I asked our elders to name what focus, values, or mission we have that are identifiers of our church and so many good things came up… That we are justice seekers and involved in justice ministries, that we are lifelong learners and prioritize education, that we are loving and warm in our welcome of folks, that we make space for kids and parents to come as they are and be who they are, that we are questioners who love to openly explore our doubt, that our worship and music is beautiful, creative, relevant, and inspiring, that we are environmentalists and our faith in our creator God compels us to care for the earth. The list went on and on. I had us hone the list down to ten things though and then together we went down the list, and did a comparative ranking to figure out our priorities.
I asked… what is more important between these two… our justice ministry or our worship… a hard choice right? whichever one we chose we added a tally mark next to and then would go to the next… what’s more important our justice ministry or our loving warm and welcoming spirit. Tally mark. We went down the list until each item had been compared to each other item and then reordered the list by which items had the most tally marks…
What do you think came up on top as the most important value or focus of our church?
When I took this list of all the things we value as a church, what bubbled to the surface was our loving nature. We discussed it and realized that this informed all the other things... Our loving nature is why we care so much about hospitality, its why we welcome children and their families so much, it’s why our worship aims to be creative and relevant and beautiful, its why we do justice ministry. It all comes back to our hope that as Christ followers our lives would embody the divine love that he embodied, acting as he did and as he would here today…
It's what our scripture is about today… Paul writes to the church in Ephesus and reminds them that by being the church, by being followers of Christ you have chosen a new way of life that isn’t like the rest of the world.. you have renewed your mind he says. It’s as though you’ve been rewired to live in a different way.
So don’t be like the rest of the world/ be imitators of Christ… Don’t give into anger, Don’t lie, don’t steal, instead use your hands to work for Good and above all else Be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to each other, in the same way God forgave you in Christ.
This is what it means to be a Christ follower, this is our key identity. This is what I want people to say about me at my funeral…That above all else, I was kind, and loving. This is what I want people to know about our church because they have experienced our Christ like kindness from us.
So friends, as you consider your life, and how you are living, and what things you prioritize or choose. May kindness be your first instinct.
If we do that, I think Paul and Jesus, and Mr. Rogers would agree that we are being successful Christ followers.
Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE “Finding Forgiveness” Lindy Kerby
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
One: This is the day that the Lord has made
All: Let us rejoice and be glad in it
*CALL TO WORSHIP
One: We are hungering and thirsting for hope and peace.
ALL: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
One: Our hearts long for the nourishing presence of God.
ALL: Come, Lord Jesus, come.
One: Give to us the living bread of your peace that we may hunger no more.
ALL: Open our hearts to joyfully receive your life-sustaining love. AMEN.
*HYMN 401 “Here in This Place” vs. 1,2,4 GATHER US IN
*PRAYER OF CONFESSION Ella Bryan
All: You are a God whose very being is community, and you call us into relationship with you and one another. You long to take up residence in our lives, in our bodies, in our churches. We confess that we simultaneously want much less than that, and much more. When we confine you to an intellectual belief, forgive us. When we live as if our relationship with you affects only the afterlife and not this life, forgive us. When we insist that your love can be earned and lost, forgive us.
~silence~
One: Come to us again, O God, in the ordinary stuff of life, and remind us to seek your face.
All: We pray in the name of Jesus, bread of life and light of the world. Amen
*ASSURANCE OF PARDON
*RESPONSE OF PRAISE 205 “Ubi Caritas” UBI CARITAS
*PASSING OF THE PEACE
One: The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all,
All: And also with you.
WE LISTEN FOR GOD’S WORD
ANTHEM “Come Ye Blessed” John Prindle Scott
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Marie Boozer
SCRIPTURE Ephesians 4:17-5:2 CEB
So I’m telling you this, and I insist on it in the Lord: you shouldn’t live your life like the Gentiles anymore. They are disconnected from God’s life because of their ignorance and their closed hearts. They are people who lack all sense of right and wrong, and who have turned themselves over to doing whatever feels good and to practicing every sort of corruption along with greed.
But you didn’t learn that sort of thing from Christ. Since you really listened to him and you were taught how the truth is in Jesus, change the former way of life that was part of the person you once were, corrupted by deceitful desires. Instead, renew the thinking in your mind by the Spirit and clothe yourself with the new person created according to God’s image in justice and true holiness.
Therefore, after you have gotten rid of lying, Each of you must be truthful with your neighbor because we are parts of each other in the same body. Be angry without sinning. Don’t let the sun set on your anger. Don’t provide an opportunity for the devil. Thieves should no longer steal. Instead, they should go to work, using their hands to do good so that they will have something to share with whoever is in need.
Don’t let any foul words come out of your mouth. Only say what is helpful when it is needed for building up the community so that it benefits those who hear what you say. Don’t make the Holy Spirit of God unhappy—you were sealed by him for the day of redemption. Put aside all bitterness, losing your temper, anger, shouting, and slander, along with every other evil. Be kind, compassionate, and forgiving to each other, in the same way God forgave you in Christ.
Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us.
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
WE RESPOND TO GOD’S WORD
HYMN 694 “Great God of Every Blessing” AURELIA
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE followed by the Lord’s Prayer on screen
TIME OF OFFERING online giving is available at www. indianolapres.org/give
OFFERTORY “I’m Trying to be Like Jesus” Janice Kapp Perry
arr. Kenzie Smith Dansie
*OFFERTORY RESPONSE 697 vs. 1
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
At thy feet its treasure store;
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only all for thee
Ever, only, all for thee.
*PRAYER OF DEDICATION
O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! We bow before you and thank you for the privilege to participate in your acts of kindness and love here on earth. May these gifts truly become instruments of your purposes here in our church, our community, and around the world. Amen.
*HYMN 753 “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace” PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
POSTLUDE “Make Me a Channel of Your Peace” arr. Stephen DeCesare
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452