In every generation, the Master urges us to
cast our nets into the depths. He urges us to cast our lot with his good, compassionate
and courageous purposes and to leave everything behind and to follow him. When we do so,
our nets overflow.
I believe PPC is reaching such a time of blessing and abundance as we speak. The
bulletin insert details signs of new life that abound among us. The Catch the Vision video
by Ken Smutny and Steve Neuder that will be shown during the brunch gives visual evidence
of the new life that is filling our nets until they overflow. It is a time of blessing and
abundance.
There is much hope here. There is much that is good. So it is time to pause and give
thanks. It is time to give thanks for the Amazing Grace, which in the words of the great
hymn, has brought us safe thus far, and will lead us home. It is time to pause, to give
thanks, to see the tracings of GodŐs grace in our lives as a congregation as we
"Catch the Vision" on this Stewardship Sunday.
Following the sermon, you will be asked to consider your pledge to PPC for next year.
Amy Olawsky will play the violin as you contemplate your gift of resources to God through
the church.
What Stewardship sermon haven't you heard? Tithing. Proportionate giving. Guilt. One of
my questionable stewardship sermon was preached in Dayton, Ohio. I decided to cut to the
chase and entitled it Fork Over the Dough. The next day a good friend, member of the
church, and restauranteur beat me to my office. John snuck in and placed a loaf of freshly
baked bread on my desk with a large chefŐs fork poking in to it. Maintaining he was a
literalist and simply following what the preacher said to do, he put a "Fork Over the
Dough." I promised never to preach that sermon again.
Friday night, Barbara and I hosted a party at our house for members of the Local
Arrangements Committee for last weekendŐs national conference of the Covenant Network of
Presbyterians. During the party, Bob Lodwick read highlights from confereesŐ evaluations.
I share a few of them with you because you need to hear the tremendous gratitude for your
graciousness and hospitality coming from church leaders all over our denomination.
One writes, "Sublime! The setting, the music, and the sermons brought joy, tears,
and renewed sense of connection within the church." Another says,
"Extraordinarily moving, inspiring, unifying. Music was brilliantly planned. I
especially appreciated the inclusion of the clergy who serve Korean and Hispanic
populations on site. It added a global family feel to worship and also gave us an
important insight into the life of our host church."
Still another says, "The music was hope filled - even outrageously joyous! Greg
Norton is a real talent. Thanks for turning him loose! I leave here fed many times over,
in wholeness and holiness. Hospitality from PPC was exceptional! Hard to improve on
perfect!"
Well, we're not perfect. No one is good but God alone. But it sure feels good to see
Presbyterian brothers and sisters, church leaders from all over this great nation come to
Pasadena, to paradise and to PPC, and experience the amazing blessings and gifts of this
congregation, and tell us that the fruits of the Spirit are here: tangible, palpable,
exuding from the very pores of our collective being. I thank you. It is an honor to serve
among you.
John Buchanan, Pastor of Fourth Church Chicago, former Moderator of the General
Assembly, Editor of Christian Century magazine, and clearly one of the outstanding
Presbyterian Church leaders of this generation, stood right in this chancel last Friday
and addressed 400 Presbyterians who had gathered here from all over the nation. Dr.
Buchanan reflected on the legacy of Dr. Eugene Carson Blake, the pastor who served this
church in the forties, who later became Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and, later
still, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches and founder of Bread for the
World. John testified how so many of his generation were inspired by the prophetic courage
of Dr. Blake. He said - and this is the important part - "PPC was a great church. PPC
is a great church." Those of us who heard him speak swelled with pride. Not arrogant
pride, but grateful pride, because we are a great church. God has blessed us immensely and
we have a high calling to honor with our very best what we have been given. First to see
our calling, then cultivate it and grow it.
We received a lot of good press last weekend in Presbyterian church circles. Not to
boast. Not to build our own kingdom. But to pause and give thanks for the amazing
blessings and abundance that is this church: our heritage, our history, our heartache, our
healing, our present and our future yet to come.
"Cast your nets," the Master said. "Go out into the deep water and let
down your nets." Cast them into the depths of human need, down into the dark places
of human hunger, thirst and despair. Cast your lot with Jesus and in a leap of faith trust
that the Lord will provide and bring you joy.
We have cast our nets and they are overflowing at PPC. This is a time of abundance and
blessing. So we pause and give thanks. Like the ancient Hebrews who traveled through the
wilderness and reached the promised land, we look back to see where we have been. We look
back and see that there have been hard times. There have been times of embarrassment and
despair. We have watched others give up and go away. There have been disappointments and
testing, but through it all we know that God is good and the Spirit moves among us. The
work has been hard, but who cannot be grateful? This is a time of blessing. This is a time
of abundance. It is a time to give thanks.
But we must not be naive. The opportunity we have as a church to bear witness to Christ
and Christ's inclusive love in our time with renewed energy and vision comes in the midst
of an existential crisis in our collective psyche as a nation and a people. In the midst
of such a crisis, we have been given a monumental opportunity, one that cannot be taken
lightly, half-heartedly or tepidly. In the midst of horrible tragedy we have been given a
gift to either squander and waste or cherish and cultivate.
Two months ago this very day, innocence was lost. Our collective soul and body politic
were shaken. September 11th has led many to search for meaning in new and deeper ways.
People are asking, some for the first time, "If life can be this fragile, maybe it is
time to ask transcendent questions. Who am I? What do I believe? What do I really care
about? What is of eternal value?" In the face of such tragedy, in the face of the
unfaceable and the unknowable and the unimaginable, more and more are asking transcendent
questions and we have a message to tell that makes sense of the unfaceable and the
unknowable and the unimaginable. We have been here before. "He descended into
hell," Barrie Shepherd preached from this pulpit last Sunday. We have been here
before ... as has our Lord.
Now the church, particularly the mainline Protestant church at its authentic best, has
not changed our message. We have proclaimed the same age-old Gospel message for centuries.
We have proclaimed the same Gospel message that God is sovereign over all the earth and
all that dwells within. We worship this God, a God of love. This Love sent Jesus to redeem
us from sin, evil and even death itself, so that new life - life eternal - becomes
possible.
In response, we dedicate our whole lives to following Jesus and living his love. We do
so not with arrogance but with humility. We do so not claiming we have the corner on all
truth but as fallen and imperfect creatures redeemed by a loving and compassionate God.
This is the Gospel message. It has not changed. The world has changed. At least on this
soil it has changed. There is a new receptivity to this ancient truth because so much has
changed. But we have not changed. The Gospel is eternal.
Churches who offer the thin gruel of humming and strumming praise-Jesus songs in a
narcissistic glut of self-love no longer satisfy, but leave many hungry for more.
Christian lite and the Gospel of success seem shallow when people are probing the depths
of human suffering. Fundamentalism with its fear mongering and hate is repulsive whether
it comes Falwell or the Taliban, Robertson or the slick packaging and deep pockets of the
Presbyterian Lay Committee. People want their spiritual lives nurtured, they want
certainty, but not at the expense of humanity.
Cast your nets the Master said. "Go out into the deep water and let down your
nets." Cast them into the depths of human need, down into the dark places of human
hunger and thirst and despair, cast your lot with Jesus with your hearts and minds intact.
It is our turn, again.
Cast your net into the depths of human brokenness where the aged are neglected, the
young dismissed, the middle-aged are told they are of value only by what they produce, and
proclaim that all are children of a loving God, each one of infinite worth, precious in
God's sight: old and new, black, brown, white, gay, straight, die-hard Democrats and
unrepentant Republicans, angry peaceniks and soft-hearted capitalists. "Cast your
net," the Master says.
Cast your net into the desire of every human being to create. Cast your net into the
desire of each and everyone to express himself or herself through the arts whether singing
in the Rainbow Choir, sculpting clay in the PAL Arts Program for Children, or listening to
the soaring descants of the Kirk Choir. Cast your net.
Cast your net into a world plagued by tribalism, racism and intolerance and pull up the
abundance of a multicultural church where all are equal, all have full dignity, all are
welcome, a rainbow of God's people united in common faith and purpose.
Cast your net here at PPC. Here the lame walk, the blind see, the addicted recover, the
injured heal, those with questions and doubts are affirmed, the healthy grow stronger and
the Gospel of love is proclaimed and preached and practiced.
Cast your nets the Master said. "Go out into the deep water and let down your
nets." Cast your lot with Jesus. Love him. Serve him with mind intact and hearts
quickened. Leave everything behind and follow him.
The nets are overflowing. See they burst with joy. We love our church. We love our
Lord. We see that this is a time of blessing and abundance. Our time. God's time. Let us
give thanks with our whole lives: our gifts, tithes and offerings. Let us give thanks for
God is good. Amen.
