Sermon Sunday August 4, 2024 Proper 13
(paper, pens, pencils)
Lessons: Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15
Psalm 78:23-29
Ephesians 4:1-16
John 6:24-35
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (As people online to grab a paper and pen or pencil.)
Do y’all remember that song “I want a hippopotamus for Christmas? Only a hippopotamus will do.” It’s about this little girl, who for some reason only wants a hippopotamus and nothing else. And the reasons that she wants a hippopotamus as her only gift are known only to her! Perhaps it is because hippopotamuses like her too. This would be the best gift that she could ever receive. Let’s hope that she did get that hippopotamus as her ideal gift!
So, what is the best gift that you have ever been given? Was it for your birthday or Christmas? Was it big or small? Did it cost a lot of money or not very much? Was the gift an actual physical gift, or was it intangible, like your partner saying I love you for the very first time? Take a moment and think about that best gift that you were ever given. How did it make you feel? Why was it the best gift ever? Bring ourselves back. My best gift that I ever got, well, there were two of them. I got the first of these when I was six years old. It was an Easy Bake oven. I was a budding cook, and I was really excited to get this gift. I spent hours coming up with recipes that I invented and then baked in the oven. I remember trying to get my family to eat all my inventions. They must have fed them to the dog! Poor dog! The dog died not too soon after that! The other best gift I have been given was the opportunity to be a missionary in Latin America. It led me to my husband, and to every other wild and crazy thing I have done! It is how I ended up here, and for this I am very, very grateful!
So, today’s reading from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians is what brought this entire reflection to the forefront. WE know that Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter. Imagine being in jail and writing a letter to your friends that not only is uplifting in its tone, but gives a lot of positive feedback on how to be as a Christian community.
There also seems to be a bit of a scolding going on in today’s passage as well. Paul exhorts the Ephesians, and us hearing these words centuries later, to not act as children, but to use the gifts that God has given to us. God gives us gifts no to sit on them or bury them like the frightened servant with the talent, the one in the Gospel passage, who buried the talent for fear of his master, while his master was hoping for a return. Paul tells us that God gives us gifts to be used and to multiply Jesus’ message.
We are to us the gifts that God has given us for some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, and for all the for the work of Jesus’ ministry, to build up the body of Christ, until all come to unity in his love.
In a moment, we are going to think of the gifts that God has given to us, the ones with which God has equipped us to spread the Good News. And, we’ll spread this Good News by our actions. We are asked to spread the Good News to spread the Kingdom of God, by example and word when necessary, because God loves us, and we are to love God and our neighbor—no exceptions!
Take a moment and think of those gifts that you have been given by God. Then choose one gift, the best gift, and think about why it is important in spreading the Good News that God loves us just as we are. A few examples might be: Perhaps you have a gift of being comfortable talking in front of larger groups of people and are not afraid to express God’s love for us. Or perhaps you have to gift or ability to play a musical instrument or to be an artist. Perhaps you are a builder, or a woodworker, or a wrought iron worker.
Now, once you have the one gift that you are focusing on, think of a way that you have used that gift to spread the Good News. If you think you haven’t used this gift in that way, that is okay! Now think of one way that you will use that gift in the near future to spread the news that God loves us, and we are to love God and our neighbor. Take a moment to write that down on the piece of paper that you have been given. My challenge to you is to please take the paper out every day this week and look at it each time.
I challenge you to make a commitment to use your gift, this favorite gift, the best gift, like Jesus gave us the bread of live, that God has given to you to spread the Kingdom of God. Will you join me in doing so? Amen.