Witness with With-ness

by | Sep 29, 2024

Galatians 5:16-6:2

Prayer for Illumination

Let us pray.(Slight pause.)  God who is our strength and our redeemer, send the power of your holy spirit into our hearts and minds so that the words of scripture we are about to hear may be for us a source of challenge but also of strength. We pray this in Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

Introduction:  Our scripture reading today is The LetterThe Rev. Suzanne Trump, Associate Pastor of Formation and Compassion of Paul to the Galatians, Chapter 5 verses 22 through Chapter 6 verse 2. Although the Apostle Paul had founded the congregations in Galatia, his teachings were now being challenged by other teachers and so Paul wrote this letter to convince the Galatian Christians not to be swayed by false teachings. And the emphasis on this passage highlights being in relationship with each other. Listen now for the word of the Lord. 

22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. 24 And those who belong to Christ[b] have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

6 My brothers and sisters, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted. 2 Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill[a] the law of Christ. 

 

Sermon: “Witness with with-ness”

Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen

  1. When I think about witnessing to God’s love
    1. I think about getting up in front of a lot of people and telling them about Jesus.
    2. Now if I am in church and/or preaching then it is something I can be comfortable with
    3. But if you tell me to stand up and talk about God to a group of strangers
    4. Or to stand on a street corner, then no thanks
    5. I’ll pass because that is way out of my comfort zone
    6. I admire people who can do that
    7. Some traditions and denominations encourage that type of witnessing and help people to do it
    8. It can also be one on one or small group, think about Jehovah’s witnesses
    9. That is way out of my comfort zone to walk up to random doors and talk to people
    10. How about you?
  2. So when I think about witnessing, I get a bit anxious
    1. Over the month I talked about an ancient Jewish ritual of taking a pilgrimage to the Temple Mount and entering the gate on the right if you are doing ok
    2. And if you are heartbroken then you enter on the left
    3. And as each group walks, they encounter each other
    4. They share their stories of heartbreak, give a blessing and move on
    5. The second sermon centered on just showing up
    6. Showing up for the funeral, the wedding, the hospital, wherever someone is hurting
    7. Today I want to focus on witnessing
    8. Again, taking from Rabbi Sharon Brous’ book, “The Amen Affect
  3. Galatians chapters five and six are the why it matters and now what you need to do about it chapters of this letter of Paul’s
    1. As Crystal Hall notes in her commentary: Faith and works function throughout Galatians as a kind of dialectic, an inseparable pair of opposites no different than how breathing in follows breathing out. 
    2. At the end of chapter five Paul lists the fruits of the Spirit:
      1. Love
      2. Joy
  • Peace
  1. Patience
  2. Kindness
  3. Generosity
  • Faithfulness
  • Gentleness
  1. Self-control
  1. Using these attributes, we are encouraged to bear one another’s burdens
  2. In bearing one another’s burdens we fulfill the law of Christ
  3. Faith and works go together
  4. Breathe in faith and breathe out the attributes of the Spirit
  5. Breathe in the Spirit
  6. Breathe out love and joy
  7. Breathe in the Spirit
  8. Breathe out peace and patience
  9. Breathe in the Spirit
  10. Breathe out kindness and generosity
  11. Breathe in the Spirit
  12. Breathe out gentleness and self-control
  13. Breathe in and breathe out
  1. As Rabbi Sharon puts it, we witness as we are with each other
    1. Bearing each other’s burden’s
    2. Showing God’s love by our actions
    3. Witnessing with with-ness
    4. Caring for each other
    5. Listening to each other
    6. Laughing together in joy
    7. Crying together in pain and grief
    8. Walking with one another in this journey we call life
  2. It sounds simple and yet we know that it is difficult
    1. It is difficult to really listen to each other
    2. Listen to each other’s stories, just listen
    3. Suspend judgment
    4. Suspend trying to solve an issue
    5. Just listen
  3. We are given the gift of faith not just for ourselves but for our community
    1. To breathe in the Spirit and to breathe out joy and peace and love and patience and kindness and generosity and self-control
    2. And I think we can all agree that our community, our nation needs us to breathe out these gifts of the Spirit
    3. And so I enter on the right as I am doing ok, and when I meet the heartbroken, I listen to their story
    4. I give them a blessing and I continue my journey
    5. Sometimes, I am the one who is heartbroken, so I need you to listen and to give me a blessing
    6. It is a give and take and why we need each other
    7. It is how we show up for each other
    8. How we make time to go to the funeral, to go not just to the reception but go to the wedding, to go to the hospital or nursing home
    9. How we witness to God’s love and forgiveness by being WITH each other
    10. As Rabbi Sharon notes, “The promise of the amen effect, the ritualization of care, is that we break the spell of avoidance and denial to find our way to each other, meaningfully and lovingly, even- especially- in the dark.”
    11. I do not know what tomorrow will bring
    12. I know that change is inevitable
    13. And I know that there are challenging decisions ahead for our congregation and for our nation
    14. And we have limited control over a lot of it
    15. We have one voice, one vote
    16. But here is what I do know
    17. We have been given the gift of faith
    18. We have been given the gift of this community of faith
    19. And as we walk together
    20. As we listen to each other
    21. As we breathe in God’s Spirit
    22. And breathe out the fruits of the Spirit
    23. We become witnesses of God’s love and forgiveness
    24. May we witness with with-ness
    25. Amen