Wednesday, June 3, 2015

A Sermon on Belonging

I preached this sermon on May 31st at my internship site in Chatfield, MN.  The text was John 3:1-17.  I hope God speaks to you through these words.
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                Once my husband Tim & I were grocery shopping on a Sunday after church.  It was a busy suburban store on a weekend- Lots of people, lots of cars.  A guy stopped us on our way out- perhaps you could say he ‘attacked’ us- he asked us if we believed in Jesus.  Yes, we said, we just got back from church.  At this we were ready to be done with the interaction.  We already believe in Jesus, and that’s his goal- no need to spend more time trying to convert us.  But he wasn’t done.  ‘Are you born again?’ he asked, ‘because the Bible says you have to be born again to be saved.’  ‘Well, we’re Lutheran.’ We replied- our ice cream is already melting- we’d better go!  - But this wasn’t enough.  ‘Can I pray for your salvation?’ he asked us.  We said ‘pray all you want- we’re going home with the groceries’.  We left.
                This man basically told us- both active Christians, not to mention a soon-to-be-pastor, that our faith wasn’t enough because we didn’t have the right beliefs, and we didn’t claim being born again.  He focused first on what we believed- and only if our beliefs were ‘right’ would we belong- to the church and to God.  He put belief before belonging.  He made no connection with us.
                When belief comes before belonging like this it leads to conversations (and arguments) like the one I had with the parking lot lurker.  We accuse people of the wrong belief.  We picket and argue and blame and shame and do anything except love or listen or be a friend.  We forget to love our neighbor when we’re trying to change what they believe.
                Belief first can push connection and belonging entirely out of the way.
                Belief first people read John 3 and focus on verses like verse 18- “Those who believe are not condemned, but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only son of God.”
                 I imagine they might see salvation as something like this:


Belief first puts a lot of pressure on HOW people believe and WHAT people believe. 
Putting belief first is stressful.  We will never have perfect belief.  And we will never completely understand everything about God or faith- that’s a pretty constant theme through the book of John- Jesus says things and people misunderstand.  We are those people, and we misunderstand.  We will never have complete faith without doubt. 
Instead we will eternally find ourselves like Nicodemus- showing up in the dark of night, perhaps a bit afraid and embarrassed, to ask questions we think we should know.  Belief first is hard because of the pressure to have the right beliefs in the right amount.  Belief first is hard because we don’t get to belong until our beliefs are straightened out.
I propose a change to the belief first chart.  I think it should start with belonging.  Maybe it could look something like this:

That’s a bit simpler, right? 
Belonging is extremely important.  I think belonging comes first before belief in John’s gospel.   Certainly it means something to believe that Jesus is the messiah, but even before that we belong to God.  God created us.  God loves us.  John 3 tells us over and over how much we belong to God.  God loved the world so much that he sent his only son to us.  God sent the light into the world for us.  God gives us new birth from water and the Spirit. 
Before we believe, we belong.
When belonging comes first we see each other as neighbors, friends, children of God, not minds to be changed.  We find ourselves with a community, a support group, a safe place in which to ask the questions of faith, to read the Bible, to learn and shape what we believe with the guidance and support of others who will listen, love, and walk with us. 
Imagine what it would feel like to walk into a church as a newcomer and be told- in word and action- that you belong.  No strings attached.  What would it be like for newcomers and old timers to know first and foremost that you belong?  To know that you belong to a place that will be there as you figure out your beliefs, through doubt and joy and sorrow.  Together we belong- and this is part of the Good News that we proclaim- there’s no boundary to God’s belonging.    
So how do we proclaim belonging?  Maybe we start with words- words like “Jesus loves you no matter what!” or “All of your sins are forgiven!”  But we need more than words.  Maybe we proclaim belonging by supporting people in joy and difficulty- widows, alcoholics, or parents of children with special needs.  Maybe proclaiming belonging involves handing out meal tickets for a community meal, or inviting children to after school homework help.  Maybe it happens inside the grocery store buying groceries for someone whose food stamps don’t stretch very far.  Maybe it happens in mentoring at-risk youth who need to know they’re loved, or in visiting seniors who battle loneliness and depression.
When we see belonging first, we see everyone as a neighbor.  We see that God created us- God loves us- God sent the Son into the world for us.  So let’s proclaim a radical belonging, a radical welcome into this community as gathered children of God, and then as a community that belongs together we can join in Bible study and conversation about what we believe.

Look at John 3:5 for a second- “no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.”  Any confirmation kids out there?  What do we do in the church that includes water and spirit and birth?  If you answered ‘baptism’, see me later for a high five because you’re right.
In baptism we celebrate that we belong to God.  We are reborn of water and spirit.  God claims us at our baptism.  Some of the first words we speak to the newly baptized are “You belong to Christ, in whom you have been baptized.”
In the service of baptism we proclaim “we are children of a fallen humanity; by water and the Holy Spirit we are reborn children of God and made members of the church, the body of Christ” 
We say “In Holy Baptism the triune God delivers us from the forces of evil, puts our sinful self to death, gives us new birth, adopts us as children, and makes us members of the body of Christ the church.”
When Jesus is baptized in the book of Matthew, God tears apart the heavens to come down and be with Jesus.  God tears apart heaven to be with us at baptism, too, because we are God’s children too.  We belong to God. 

God loved the world so much that he sent his son to us, sent light to us, and marked us with the water and the Spirit and gave us new life in baptism.
We belong to God in this place and every place- on this day and every day.  We belong to God!
Amen.