October 30,2022
Indianola Presbyterian Church, Columbus
"Always Being Reformed "
Sermon by Rev. Trip Porch
October 30, 2022 Based on Jeremiah 31:31-34
A story, that comes from the Zen Buddhist tradition.
Many years ago, in a Zen temple, every day during the monk's evening meditation, the temple's cat would screech at the top of its lungs preventing the monks from concentrating. So, the old master teacher ordered that the cat be tied up and put away every day before the evening meditation.
Years later, the teacher died, but the cat continued to be tied up during the meditation session. When the cat eventually dies, the monks decide to bring in another cat in to the monastery and tie it up for evening meditation.
Centuries later, descendants of the master teacher write scholarly articles about the significant meaning of tying up a cat during evening meditation and the importance of continuing this religious practice.
It is funny of course, and a spot-on critique of a lot of organized religion. We have rituals, we have communal faith practices, and our faith can quickly become so institutionalized that we lose sight of the original intent, and purpose and meaning behind the things we do together. We fall into this perpetual trap without ever asking the question… Why?
Now, I am critical about a lot of things in our faith. But one thing I absolutely appreciate about Presbyterianism, one thing I think we get completely right is that we are a tradition that doesn't just continue to tie up the cat without ever thinking about it. We don't do just keep doing things because it was handed down to us that way, or because we are told to, or because it’s the way it’s always been done. We are a tradition of critical thinkers.
In that story if a presbyterian were in the room at the monastery, they'd be the first person to ask… hang on, why are we doing this? Does make sense to anyone anymore?
We believe critical thinking is never the enemy of faith, and if something isn't working, it should be reconsidered, and revaluated, and even thrown out altogether if it’s getting in the way of the healing and wholeness of God's people.
Of course, we are this way because it is on our DNA. We trace this legacy of critical thinking all the way back to our origins in the protestant reformers of the 16th century. John Knox, John Calvin, Martin Luther. These were not just names in the pages of history books but pastors who looked at their faith and the church, and the world, with a critical eye, who saw things that didn't lineup, who saw abuse and malpractice that distorted the central message of scripture and decided they could not take it anymore. That they needed to do something about it. And so, they committed to work to prayerfully bring about change, to try and reform the church, the whole church, to push, to protest, to educate, to write, and try to begin a movement of people considering everything again from the ground up. To get back to the core goodness of our faith, what Jesus came to do, to get back to God's grace and redemptive love. To deconstruct all the religion that had formed and calcified around the church and get back to what is most essential. Which is why they held on so tightly to this motto… The church reformed and always being reformed.
It's a passive voice. It’s not a movement of the people… it’s something God is doing to us. God is at work in the changes of our world, and we are called to pay attention to the spirit's movement in these things, and to allow ourselves and our church to be changed.
But despite this legacy of reformed rabblerousers who questioned authority, stuck it to the man and changed everything… you may be surprised to learn that 500 years later, the church hasn't maintained that same sort of counter cultural, rebellious spirit. We are not the change agents we once were, and in fact, at least in the eyes of society we are seen as irrelevant, outdated, stuck in the mud, and unwilling to change even as society changes around us. Society changes, technology changes, people change, and the church struggles to keep up. What would it like for the church to be at the forefront again? To be leading the charge? To believe and trust that God is not absent from the changes we are seeing in the world, but through the Spirit, actively working in that change.
The scriptures tell us that God is always up to something, changing us and changing our world for the better. This is what the prophets talk about… Like our scripture today… "The days are coming," says the Lord, "When I will make a new covenant with my people, it won't be like the old covenants made with your ancestors, this is something new…" Or in Isaiah "Behold, I am doing a new thing, do you not perceive it?"
We believe God through the Spirit, changes this world for the better, and we believe God calls us, as Christ's hands and feet in the world to take part in that change, even if at times, in all actuality, the hard part, even for us critical thinker Presbyterians is living this out, and putting that belief into practice.
Another story...
John and May Hakala were second-generation Finns who lived for a time in Kotzebue, Alaska. Now if you've never heard of Kotzebue, I would understand why… Kotzebue is a remote place—even for Alaska which is nothing but remote places.
A Pastor who knew the Hakala’s when he was growing up, heard stories of their life in this far-off place, including one about eggs. When John and May lived in Kotzebue in the 1950s, the supply ship came in from the outside world only once a year. You can’t grow anything when you are that far north, so all your food for the whole year except for whatever local game you could hunt came in on that annual boat. People would freeze what they could and hoped the rest would keep.
John and May Hakala liked eggs for breakfast. So every year, they’d order a whole year’s supply of eggs. Refrigerated eggs don’t go rotten, but they, well, they change; and they change very slowly.
Every morning, John and May would enjoy their eggs. and to them, they tasted fine. They never noticed this change, one day to the next, as the weeks and months and then year went by, they kept on cooking their eggs for breakfast, and all was well with the world.
But finally, the annual supply boat would arrive again. And John and May would get the next year's supply of fresh eggs. The Hakala’s would go to cook these fresh eggs and as they describe it.
They'd go to take a bite and they couldn't even swallow it. They'd want to spit them out of their mouths for the first few days and go back to search the fridge for some year-old ones because these new ones tasted awful to them. They’d gotten so accustomed to stale eggs, one day at a time, that they liked them better stale than fresh ones. But those old eggs would run out, and there came a time where they had no other choice but to start eating the fresh eggs, and they had to remember that they were good for them.
I think this is the same struggle that the church faces now. The supply boat has come, we have the fresh eggs here before us. But when we taste these new things after having become so accustomed to the old, we spit them out and turn back to the refrigerator to see how long we can keep eating the year-old eggs. We fall back on the familiar, the comfortable, and hold off on changing as long as we can.
Church… on this reformation day, let us remember, that God is doing a new thing… That god is always reforming us for the better. God is pushing us, challenging us, and forcing us to change and grow. And this is a great thing. God does work in this world. And often it is the things that seem scary or foreign to us, that put a bad taste in our mouths, that are the best things for us to have. May we let God shape us from the outside in. May we hear the old call of the reformers not only to let that change happen passively to us but to join God actively in being a part of that change. For the good of us, for the good of the church, and for the good of the world.
Amen.
WE GATHER IN AWE AND PRAISE
PRELUDE
INTROIT “Praise to the Lord” arr. Paul Sjolund
WELCOME Rev. Trip Porch
CALL TO WORSHIP
One: God of shelter, God of strength,
All: Mighty Fortress, Saving God
One: Even if the earth shudders, even if mountains slide into sea depths, making
the waters churn and seethe, we shall not be afraid.
All: You are with us, God our stronghold, God of Jacob.
One: Come! Let us see God’s wonders and saving deeds!
All: God breaks the bow, snaps the spear, burns the shield, stamps out war.
One: “Be still!” says God. “Know that I have power over all peoples.”
All: You are with us, God our stronghold, God of Jacob.
HYMN No. 275 “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” EIN’ FESTE BURG
PRAYER OF CONFESSION Mike Ayers
God of transformation, we confess that we are stuck in our ways, resistant to change that would draw us closer to you and to the beloved community you intend. We refuse to hear your Spirit who calls out to us in truth. We seek freedom for ourselves, ignoring the oppression of others.
Hear our confessions in the silence…
Have mercy on us, O God. Forgive our waywardness, our negligence, and our inability to receive good news and act upon it. Grant that we may live our lives through the faith we have in Jesus.
ASSURANCE OF PARDON
RESPONSE OF PRAISE # 695 “Change My Heart, O God” CHANGE MY HEART
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 “Amazing Grace” arr. Ed. Lojeski
Conducted by Ariel Alvarado
CHILDREN’S MESSAGE Featuring: “The Fruit of the Spirit’s Not a Coconut”
Sung by the IPC Children’s Choir
PRAYER OF ILLUMINATION
SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 31:31–34 NIV
“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
“This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Holy Wisdom, Holy Word
Thanks be to God
SERMON Rev. Trip Porch
HYMN NO. 320 “The Church of Christ in Every Age” WAREHAM
AFFIRMATION OF FAITH Adapted from the Confession of 1967
The institutions of the people of God change and vary as their mission requires in different times and places. (9.34)
Different orders have served the gospel, and none can claim exclusive validity. Every church order must be open to such reformation as may be required to make it a more effective instrument of the mission of reconciliation. (9.40)
Already God’s reign is present as a ferment in the world, stirring hope in all people. With an urgency born of this hope, the church applies itself to present tasks and strives for a better world. It does not identify limited progress with the kingdom of God on earth, nor does it despair in the face of disappointment and defeat. In steadfast hope, the church looks beyond all partial achievement to the final triumph of God. (9.54-9.55)
PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH with The Lord’s Prayer using debt and debtors
TIME OF OFFERING
OFFERTORY RESPONSE #596 “You Are Holy” DU ÄR HELIG
PRAYER OF DEDICATION
We make our offerings, with the hope and confidence that all we do, all we offer all we say, all we think, and all we hope will take root in this world and be the source of new expressions of God’s love, of God’s justice, of God’s character, of God’s mission, and of God’s reign. May God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven through us, alongside us, despite us, and for us. Amen
HYMN NO. 610 “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” AZMON
TIME OF COMMUNITY SHARING
Moment for Stewardship Chris Dent
CHARGE AND BENEDICTION
BENEDICTION RESPONSE "A Unified Prayer" B.E. Boykin
POSTLUDE
Acknowledgments: Unless otherwise indicated, all texts and music are printed and broadcast under OneLicense.net license #A-702452
WORSHIP LEADERS
Pastor – Rev. Trip Porch
Liturgist – Mike Ayers
Children’s Message – Sharon Renkes
MUSIC LEADERS
The IPC Children’s Choir
Mary Rebekah Fortman and Sharon Renkes, Directors
Chancel Choir
Organist – Orlay Alonso
Director of Music – Christopher Dent
Assoc. Director of Music – Ariel Alvarado