Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 3/5/2023, John 3:10-17
Once upon a time twin girls were born to a loving couple.
Their names were Abigail and Constance.
However, tragedy struck on the way home from the hospital when both parents died in a car wreck and the girls went off to live with their aunts: Abigail went to live with her Aunt Abby and Constance went to live with her Aunt Connie.
These two aunts could not have been more different.
You see, at Aunt Connie's, Connie was not short for Constance, it was short for Control.
Aunt Connie's house was a controlling house.
It was a fearful house. It was a house of scarcity. It was a house where everyone was told there was never enough, they never had enough stuff, they were never good enough,
there was always someone better, better looking, better personality, better social connections,
with a better house, car, dress, you name it.
It was a house where everything depended on you, there was no real prayer, no real dependence on God - you were it - the buck stopped there.
And at Aunt Connie's everyone was obsessed with the comparison game, endless smartphone scrolling, screentime, and gossip about who had what, where they were going, and who they were going with.
And when they compared, they always compared upwards, looking at people who had more, did more, owned more - were richer, better looking, more fortunate, you get the picture.
Aunt Connie's was a stressful place to grow up.
It could not have been more different than growing up across town at Aunt Abby's.
Remember, that's where her sister Abigail went home to live.
You see, Aunt Abby's name did not stand for Abigail, it stood for Abundance.
At Aunt Abby's there was always this sense of plenty, - there was plenty of love, - and faith,
and acceptance -
Everyone lived under this overwhelming understanding that everything would be ok.
There was enough food, - enough room to sleep, - to study, - and be entertained.
At Aunt Abby’s they preached faith - faith in God - that God would provide.
And they said their prayers.
Aunt Abby constantly reminded everyone of how blessed they were, how lucky they were, how grateful they could be.
And when they played the comparison game, they always compared downward, looking at those who had it much worse, no clothing, not enough to eat, no place to live,
surrounded by people who didn't care for them.
Aunt Abby’s house, not surprisingly, was one of generosity and care, tranquility and acceptance, peacefulness and thanksgiving.
We can only imagine what those twin girls, Abigail and Constance, were like when they grew up.
I recently read an observation from a psychologist:
What you repeat, both in your head and out loud, you will come to believe.
There's a reason why commercials repeat the same slogans over and over again: things we hear, over and again, sink into our consciousness and eventually become accepted as fact.
Bounty is the quicker picker upper.
Ah, Fake news!
Hoax!
It doesn't matter how crazy, how hokey, how utterly disconnected from reality it is.
Repeat it often enough and it becomes fact. Up becomes down. Right becomes left.
Wrong becomes right.
What we say matters. (Dr. Glenn Patrick Doyle)
What is said to us matters.
What we say to ourselves matters.
What we surround ourselves with matters.
Because it makes a mark. It seeps in. It makes a home.
And it usually happens as slowly and subtly as it did for Abigail and Constance - gradually, over time, a comment here, a behavior there, these things all add up.
This is why I would like to thank you for being here this morning - at Abby’s house.
It’s not a big thing - but it is a big thing.
It’s not easy for you to make time to be together with your faith family.
We are still coming back from COVID.
And the temptation to stay in our safe, warm, hidey holes and get out of that habit of isolating, is difficult!
I know you have a lot of places you could be other than here.
I know that you have commitments and responsibilities.
I know that we’re tired and stressed.
And I know it’s harder to go to church these days than it’s been in the past.
So, thank you for choosing to be here - both online and in person.
I’m your pastor.
I love you.
You’ve got a roomful of people who care about you.
We’re in this together.
And I think it’s better for us to be together on the road to following Jesus, than anywhere else.
I like to think of St. David’s as Abby’s house - a place of love, acceptance, faith, freedom, and abundance - a place that will remind us of who we are and who we want to be.
Church is like the dinner you had last night, you may not remember what it was - but you know it nourished you - and allowed you to live another day.
This is a place where we strive to feed each other well – to let go and let God – to take Jesus’ words seriously about trusting in God for our needs – looking to serve others as a central practice - encouraging one another to pray more, study more, be more generous, and outgoing about sharing the message of Abby’s house.
Abby and Connie.
Abundance and Control.
Perhaps this can better help us understand Nicodemus and Jesus.
Gradually, over time, over generations, Nicodemus had found himself formed, shaped, and molded by the culture around him, which was literally soaked in fear, scarcity, and control.
This was in such stark contrast with Jesus, and his pure, innocent, and sincere heart of love, faith, acceptance, equality, and abundance.
It was so foreign to Nicodemus that the preaching of this Kingdom did not compute.
And when it did, when Jesus pointed out the contrast, his analogy of an entirely new birth, makes sense.
There's no question what was born from below and what was born from above.
Fear and Control.
Love and Faith.
-----------
I saw that faith in action one year ago when we held our Drive Thru Ashes win the front driveway.
I was at my desk when a volunteer came into my office and said that there was a lady in the Drive Thru lane who wanted to see me.
She was a beautiful, young dark-haired woman of Middle Eastern descent.
She had a bright shiny car, but inside she was not bright and shiny.
“Father,” she said, “My heart is heavy with pain. My husband and I have been trying to conceive for a while and it’s just not happening. We’ve seen doctors. We’ve taken medicine. And I have not been able to get pregnant. So, I was wondering if you could pray for me - that I could have a baby.”
“Of course,” I said, not hesitating, but knowing that God works through us, God works through prayer - and God loves that woman as much as anyone.
So, I prayed for her, that she would get pregnant, that she would be able to move beyond infertility and that God would bless her with the desire of her heart - a baby.
Now, to be honest, I had forgotten all about that encounter, I pray for dozens of people on Ash Wednesday -
But then, this Ash Wednesday came around.
That’s when I was again at my desk, and someone came into my office and said there was someone in the driveway who wanted to see me.
I went out and was greeted by a young woman in the front seat of a big, shiny SUV.
She asked if I remembered her. I asked if she could refresh my memory - I always tell people I have a great memory, it’s just short -
And she reminded me of her visit the year before - and her request for me to pray that she would get pregnant.
She then said that previous to that visit last year, she had taken a home pregnancy test - and it had come back negative.
Then, after our prayer, she said she went home, went into the bathroom, and took the test - only now the test was positive - and she motioned for me to look in the back seat - because there was a beautiful 3-month old baby she had brought over for me to meet, bless, and pray for.
Did you tear up a bit - me too.
Did prayer miraculously bring those male and female cells together to create this gorgeous child?
Did prayer calm this mother down enough to allow Mother Nature to do her work?
Was it just luck, a fluke, or capricious fate that did its magic?
Who knows.
But what we do know is that clothing our deepest wants, desires, and needs in prayer - looking to God to meet us, looking to faith and trust and love to hold our hands as we walk down the windy road of life - has its own consequences.
And that’s the point of this sermon.
We all spend time in Aunt Connie’s home - the house of fear, control, and scarcity.
We also spend time in Aunt Abby’s home - the house of love, faith, and abundance.
So, let’s spend more time at Aunt Abby’s.
That’s today’s sermon: Spend more time at Aunt Abby’s.
What does that look like for you?
Lent is our annual time of de-cluttering -
And as my friend Peter Walsh likes to say, "Clutter is not just the stuff on the floor.
"It’s anything that stands between you and the life you want to be living.”
What’s cluttering your life today?
How much of it did you borrow from Aunt Connie’s?
How much of it should we trade in at Aunt Abby’s?
Oh, how Jesus desires for us to let it go!
Leave it behind!
And live the life we want to be living.
Jesus came to remind us that the life we want to be living - is his life - the abundant life - eternal life - life in the Spirit not life in the flesh -
It is not one of apathy, disappointment, discouragement, hopelessness, loneliness, addiction, selfishness, acquisitiveness, disordered priorities, acting on misplaced tendencies toward violence, abuse, economic, racial, sexual exploitation, and a host of different pitfalls that beset us.
No, we are after life in the Spirit - eternal life - the life of engagement, ambition, relationship, reconciliation, restoration, freedom-making, friend-making, bond-breaking, encouragement-shaping, and hope-dictating.
The abundant life is what pulls out what is deepest inside of us,
God’s goodness resonating with our souls!
It’s here where we sense the spark of God and God’s life -
And we build upon that - to mold each of us into beacons of hope that shine God’s light into our dark and needy world - because Aunt Connie’s house is just too crowded - too many people are living in that environment of fear and control - and are exercising way too much influence in the world around us.
God needs you; your neighbor needs you; you need you - to be the person of Light you were created to be.
-----
This past week, Wednesday, was the Feast of St. David of Wales - no, not of big fish, but of a small country…
That’s who we’re named after.
And that means we, as a parish, are now in our 72nd year of ministry - You may give yourself a round of applause… for keeping the lights on for this long…
And what’s going to keep us open for the next 72 years?
Jesus and our commitment to making his word, our word, his way, our way, his life, our life.
How is God calling us out of Aunt Connie’s and into Aunt Abby’s - out of fear and control and into love and faith?
When we come up to this altar in a few moments for Communion - what do we need to leave behind, what do we need to pick up?
What do we need to stop telling ourselves?
What do we need to stop hearing?
And how can we better order our lives to cultivate the life and light of Jesus knowing that this is how we embrace eternal life?
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Amen.