“Better Together”

Philippians 1:1-18a

Sermon by Rev. Caela Simmons Wood

First Congregational UCC, Manhattan, KS 

May 22, 2022

I spent last weekend in Wichita at a quarterly meeting of the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ. As is so often the case in those big board meetings, we reached a point in the meeting where I was frantically taking notes and watching my to-do list get longer and starting to feel a little overwhelmed by the number of big ministry things we need to do. I’m sure I’m the ONLY one who feels this way in meetings, right? 

But as I chatted with others after the meeting, we all reflected on how grateful we are to be in ministry together. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a church meeting - with the conference or with our congregation - where there wasn’t laughter. There’s almost always a moment when someone says something wise and my heart tingles a bit and I think, “Yes, that’s it. That’s the Spirit moving among us.” Sometimes we feel overwhelmed by trying to figure out how to best steward our resources of energy and time and money or prioritize what needs to be tackled first, but I always leave meetings feeling gratitude that I get to work alongside people who are seeking to follow in the ways of Jesus, listening to one another, and doing their level best to love God and love their neighbors as themselves. 

This past week, I had several opportunities to give thanks for all of you. On Tuesday morning, I was down in the basement with TJ from the water restoration company we’re working with on our basement woes. We were talking about him getting together a bid for us and I reminded him that once we had it, it would take us a bit to sort through it because we’re a volunteer-led organization and, well, you know, churches aren’t known for making the speediest decisions. And then I said, “But, you know, there are upsides and downsides to making decisions and living life together like this. Downside is it can take a lot of time to make decisions. Upside is we make better decisions together than we would apart. Plus, when you end up with water in your basement, you put out an all-call for help and TONS of people show up to get it handled.”

Dealing with problems together isn’t necessarily easy, but it’s worth it. We’re better together. 

Later in the week I went for a walk with someone who was interested in learning more about the UCC. We talked about some of the things that make our denomination unique. One of the things I shared is how important the idea of covenant is to us. We’re together not because we all believe the same things or agree but because we’ve made a commitment to living in covenant together. And we trust that God will give us the open hearts that we need to make that a reality. Even if we don’t all agree. Even if we don’t love every hymn we sing. Even if someone disappoints us because they forgot to do an important task they agreed to do. Even if the preacher sometimes preaches a dud.. Even if someone understands Jesus differently than we do. 

I told this person a story about a time, several years ago now, when the church Cabinet had to make a decision about how involved we would be in a justice-oriented campaign. We weren’t all in agreement about how we felt on the issue. And one very wise and mature person on the Cabinet said, “You know, I don’t personally agree with this, but my job as Cabinet member isn’t to do whatever I think is best as an individual. And when I look at the values of our congregation, I can see that this IS in line with who we are as a community. So I think we should support this work as a congregation.”

Your church leaders are thoughtful, wise, mature, dedicated, good-humored, loving, brave, Spirit-led folks. Consistently. Working together to seek the mind of Christ and be open to the new light and truth God has for us. 

Covenant isn’t easy but it’s worth it. We’re better together. 

One of the great joys I have as your pastor is that I get to hear people give thanks for all of you. I get to see people’s eyes well up with tears as they give thanks for the ways you’ve showed up for them when they were struggling. I get to receive thank you notes like the one I got earlier this week from a person who was only a part of our congregation for just a brief period of time, but so very grateful for the ways they experienced the Spirit moving here. I read messages from people on Facebook who don’t even live here but follow our ministry, writing to ask me where they can find a church near them like ours. I’m the one who gets the phone call from a young couple getting ready to move away from Manhattan. Though I haven’t seen them in a couple years, they want to make sure and thank me in person for the ways this congregation helped them see Christ, even though they only attended sporadically and never became members. I get the thank you emails from people who live far away from here but are grateful they can still attend on Zoom. And I hear from people who are grateful to see your smiling faces at the Pride parade, and want to volunteer with our feeding ministries, and want to get married here because they’ve heard we are respectful of all religious traditions, and are grateful for our COVID memorial out front and on and on and on. 

These thank yous remind us that we’re better together. 

Now you might be wondering, what does all of this have to do with Paul’s letter to the Philippians. Well, this particular letter is all about being better together. Despite being in prison, Paul is filled with gratitude for his friends in Philippi. He writes this beautifully encouraging and uplifting letter, giving thanks that they haven’t forgotten him, that they are living in covenant together, and praying for their strength and courage in their shared ministry. 

Taking the time to sit down and write letters like this is something most of us don’t do often enough. But it’s so lovely to read these intentional words of gratitude. You know, I often start my emails with “Hey, there.” But Paul takes the time to say, “Grace to you and peace from God….” His intentionality reminds me of an email I received several months ago, when we first started partnering with KDHE to offer COVID tests. The coordinator for that program. Racheal, began her first email to me with these words, “I hope this email finds you enjoying the fruits of your ministry.”

Isn’t that lovely? 

Living in covenant means being intentional with each other. Taking the time to give thanks, in specific ways. Offering words of encouragement and care. This is what it looks like to walk in the ways of Jesus. This is how we are better together. 

Now, don’t misunderstand me to say that this is the ONLY work. Clearly, there is more to following Jesus than just being kind to the people in your inner circle. Jesus doesn’t tell us to simply love our friends, but our enemies, too. And we know that love isn’t just expressed through words or thoughts and prayers, but also through action. 

This work of loving those near us is foundational, though, because it’s the work that enables us to keep persevering in all the other work we do as humans. The laboring parent can push their way through to birth because the midwife is there saying, “You can do this. I believe in you.” Those words of hope create a new reality. The toddler can slide down the big slide at the playground even though they’re scared because the parent is there saying, “You can do this. You’re brave and strong!” Those words of hope create a new reality. 

Similarly, we keep encouraging one another in the fight for peace and justice. We look at the horrific things that happen, like the shooting in Buffalo, and we don’t allow each other to give up hope. Instead, we condemn white supremacist violence and resolve to stay with it. Just as Paul is imprisoned, we are bound by the evils of racism, sexism, and so many other hateful ideologies, but just as Paul turns to his community for hope, we, too, turn to our community for encouragement. We continue to seek creative ways to show up for justice and dismantle oppressive systems and build a better world. Together. 

Together, we can rejoice even when things seem dire, remembering that we follow the God who is always dreaming a new world into being. As we hold onto this Easter hope, we give thanks, not only for communities of support, but also for a faith that sustains us in difficult times. 

And we recognize that the purpose of all this covenantal love, of course, is NOT simply to love our friends. We give thanks for the familiar faces at church that we know intimately AND we go out of our way to look for the newest face in the crowd, welcoming them as Christ welcomes. We can never let our love for one another become insular, only showing love to some. Instead, it is our prayer that Christ’s love - that love that is always building a bigger table - overflows in us, calling us outside of ourselves to draw the circle wider still as we invite others to be a part of our community. This doesn't happen organically, y’all. I don’t know if you’ve ever looked at the maps in the back of your Bible that show what Paul was up to, but he was EVERYWHERE, traveling near and far, reminding people that we’re better together and inviting people to be a part of the movement.

We may not all be called to travel to Macedonia, but each and every one of us can be on the lookout for a coworker or neighbor who might benefit from being drawn into a community of love like First Congregational. Each and every one of us can choose our words out in the world with intention, sharing grace and peace with strangers we encounter each day. Each and every one of us can offer a spirit of hope and encouragement as we creatively figure out how to fight the evils of hatred. Each and every one of us can live our lives in such a way that other people will look at us and say, “See how they love? I want some of that.” And we can keep inviting and nurturing and sharing the goodness of Christ’s love that we’ve found, so that others can experience it, too. 

Paul says it like this, “Dare to speak the word with greater boldness and without fear.” And he prays for his friends, “That your love may overflow more and more with knowledge and full insight.” That is my prayer for you, to. That your love may overflow. 

May it be so.