Sermon: Sent out to be in the world.
This week was the time for our wonderful Danish Summer Camp here at church. 19 wonderful kids from a little 5-year darling to responsible teenagers and then a fantastic Camp Crew of seasoned ladies.
It was all about teamwork. Getting the kids to work together, to help each other, to have fun together despite age or gender differences or shyness.
Getting the helpers to work together to create a calm cozy and safe place for us all.
The kids were sent to summer camp by their parents, and they were sent home again with their bags filled with experiences, fun, Danish Recipes, friendship, and a sense of belonging in a group and in a church.
The camp crew was called to come, and they were sent home, tired and with heavy feet, but also with filled hearts of good days built on shared relationships, commitment, and care. It is all about being good neighbors.
“Ask the lord of the Harvest to send out Laborers,” Jesus says today.
Jesus began his ministry by calling the twelve. Jesus began his ministry in the world by calling ordinary men to follow him as he began his own calling.
Simon Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, Judas….
He called simple fishermen, busy with their nets and their boats, and called them to let their nets down and leave the boats at the shore, and instead follow him. To come with him and become fishermen of humans.
So, Jesus did begin his ministry by calling the Twelve. Some think that Jesus called a select group, an inner circle, - but then we listen to the Gospel this morning and note that Jesus continued to call and called a larger group, —no less than Seventy—and sent them out to do the very same work that he and his 12 apostles had been doing. And now this morning we listen to the words and the calling: and we are called and sent into the world.
This life, this ministry, this faith, and this world simply are better two by two and by teamwork based on respect, humility and kindness.
Because this life of ours is all about listening to our calling and following that call to be in the world. We are called to be sent into our shared world. To mark this world with our words, our actions, and our faith.
“Ask the lord of the Harvest to send out Laborers,” Jesus says today.
For quite some time we have been singing a fine hymn as our closing hymn. A short hymn nr. 713 in With One Voice “Lord let my heart be good soil.” Composed by Handt Hanson and it has become a quite popular Lutheran hymn since it was written in 1985.
The Lyric and the Melody of this brief and yet evocative hymn has become stable here in our church as we conclude the service and are sent out into the world again. With the prayer: “Lord, let my heart be good soil, open to the seed of your word… where love can grow, and peace is understood…”
This song and this closing prayer always touch me and speak to me about how we are called and how we are sent. How we should be open to listening, to let the words of faith grow in us so we can be good soil and be part of forming, reforming, shaping, and changing the soil of our society and time.
On this Sunday, July 3, the day before we celebrate The Independence Day of 4. of July with respect for our Independence, our Constitution, Our Civil Rights, and our Country, - it is always good to think about how we are sent into the world and what we are called to be and do.
In Christian terms, we are called to be good neighbors. To love God and to love our neighbor, which is the double commandment of Jesus. To his apostles, to the seventy, to us. In our Christian prayer, we sing and pray: “Lord, let our hearts be good soil, open to the seed of your word, where love can grow….”
Have any of you seen the wonderful movie “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood?” About Mr. Rogers?
I often think about Mr. Rogers when we sing the last hymn and as we are sent into the world again…. because Mr. Rogers truly was the embodiment of the core ideas of the hymn. His life and his work were good soil, open not the seeds of God’s word and trying to bring peace and growth into the lives of countless viewers and especially children.
Mr. Rogers was an American TV host, an author, and a Presbyterian minister.
Mr. Rogers earned a bachelor’s degree in music and graduated from Pittsburgh Theological Seminary with a degree in divinity and became a minister in 1963. He created “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood” which ran for 33 years and was acclaimed for focusing on children’s emotional growth.
Mr. Rogers was marked by the Spirit of gentleness, humility, and kindness. A spirit that is essential for any good neighborhood, any good church, any community, and any country.
Mr. Rogers was a mild soft-spoken man, but that did not keep him from standing up for what he believed in. He was gentle, kind, and humble, but also persistent, passionate, and firm in his convictions.
In the ancient world and in the time of Jesus, neither gentleness nor its companion humility was seen as a virtue: in fact, these traits were despised as weak. So, when Jesus focused on these traits in our calling and when Paul persistently wrote about these to his congregations, it was countercultural and a true calling for a change.
In our time, I sometimes fear, we may once again consider gentleness, humility, and kindness not as virtues, but as signs of weakness. It seems as if we avoid the gentle, humble, and kind attitude and tone as we contend and communicate with others in communities, in families, in politics, or on social media.
But I also hope that we are still drawn to people like Mr. Rogers which is why the movie “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.” and the recent documentary “Won’t you be my neighbor?” were such great hits. Hopefully, the gentle, humble, and kind voice of Mr. Rogers is still heard, as he is calling on us to let our hearts be good soil, bearing good fruit and being good neighbors.
So, as we listen to the Gospel today and listen to the calling not just of the disciples and the seventy, but the calling of us, - and as we sing this beautiful closing hymn again, we are reminded to love God and love our neighbor. To go out there and be instruments for a better world, a better society, a more just and peaceful tomorrow. We are called to be kind, humble, and gentle.
We can all be weary about the times we are living in, the hostility and the division of our country, but instead of being weary, we should listen to the call to go out and make a change and be a change….
St. Paul wrote to the congregation: In the translation of “The Message”
“So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at the harvest time if we do not give up/ So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all.”
What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God! —harvests a crop of weeds. All he will have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
So, let us not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we do not give up or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all.
Happy Fourth of July tomorrow.
Let us celebrate the gentle, kind, and humble spirit that should mark our attitude as Christians in the world.
Lord, let our hearts be good soil When our hearts are hard, break the stone away
When our hearts are sold warm it with the day
When our hearts are lost, lead us on your way. Lord let our hearts be good soil. Amen