Press On, Dear Sisters

Sermon Ephesians 1:15-23 May 13, 2018 Ascension/7^th Sunday Easter

Press On, Dear Sisters

It is always a joy to hear uplifting words of praise. Today’s letter from Paul to the Ephesians is one such letter. Listen to the words and let us see how God moves within us…

Some of you who were around in the 1970s might remember a pop singing group called the Carpenters. They had a song out that was a real hit. It became the go to song for couples to have sung at their wedding. Marriage was just the beginning, it was the kick-off to a long life together.

The words went like this: 

We've only just begun to live

White lace and promises

A kiss for luck and we're on our way

(We've only begun)

Before the risin' sun, we fly

So many roads to choose

We'll start out walkin' and learn to run

(And yes, we've just begun)

Sharing horizons that are new to us

Watching the signs along the way

Talkin' it over, just the two of us

Workin' together day to day

Together

And when the evening comes, we smile

So much of life ahead

We'll find a place where there's room to grow

(And yes, we've just begun)

Sharing horizons that are new to us

Watching the signs along the way

Talkin' it over, just the two of us

Workin' together day to day

Together

Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is that kind of song. It is a hymn, proclaiming the death, resurrection, and now the ascension of Christ as only the beginning for the followers of Jesus, for the church. The cross might be where Jesus died, but the hope of people of faith lies, not in his death, but in the fullness of his being-his birth (his incarnation), death, resurrection, & ascension. Paul writes it’s the future hope and the present reality of those who believe.

Paul makes what we might call a ‘prayer wish’ for the readers of this letter. He make a prayer wish for the eyes of their heart to be opened, for the riches of Christ’s glorious inheritance be among the saints, and for the immeasurable power of Christ who fills all in all be in them.

I find that prayer wish so powerful and so comforting. Isn’t that what we all would like for ourselves and for those we love?

In the story of our life and our journey of faith we are met with crossroads and as we enter into the unknown of those experiences, we discover it is a new beginning and the words, ‘we’ve only just begun’ echo through our first few steps of this new adventure.

The words of this letter to the Ephesians are timeless. We need those prayer wish words of Paul to fill our lives. 

How do we find answers to those age old questions that linger in our heads, or perhaps our children ask us and we have no clue how to answer. One such question about our future hope is, “If all of us go to heaven when we die and people from the beginning of time are there, including gramma and grampa, isn’t it really crowded; how would we find them?”

It sounds like a funny question that we would brush off-because who among us knows the answer? But, I’m sure we’ve all wondered about things such as these. The questions that come to us that stump us, "Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?"

It’s the sort of question mothers and fathers get as they are trying to tuck the children in to bed at night. It’s the sort of question we struggle with as we come home from the funeral of a friend. We have a need to be comforted about the future and we have a need to be assured here and now about our present life.

I think women through the ages have given us a ray of sunshine as we witness how they have coped and been strengthened through all kinds of adversity.

In the book Dance of the Dissident Daughters, Sue Monk Kidd describes her awakening to the God she thought she had known all her life. She enters into a journey about her faith, religion, and life as a woman. She becomes shocked, disenchanted, fearful, and finally at peace with her discovery of who God is in her life. 

She recognizes the power of women to stick together through so much. She says this, “Solidarity is identifying with one another without feeling like you have to agree on every issue. It’s unity, not uniformity. It’s listening without rushing in to fix the problem. It’s going deeper than typical ways of talking and sharing—going down to the place where souls meet and love comes, where separateness drops away and you know these women because you are these women.”

 She urges women to “Press On, Dear Sisters” Press on in life, press on in faith, press on in all that encompasses women, press on through all things and know that no matter what, we are not alone, we will stick together.

The stories of the strength of women in Scripture are filled with those who have led a people, who have fed a crowd, and who have challenged God, and carried God.

But, this prayer wish from Paul is for the church men and women, old and young, rich and poor, of all nations and tribes. Paul encourages them through this prayer for insight and vision. At every crossroad of our life we need the eyes of our hearts to be opened.

Our hearts are seat of knowledge and wisdom. May the days, months and years ahead begin with the eyes of our hearts opened so we can have the hope of our calling; so we can experience the riches of Christ’s inheritance; be filled and live with the immeasurable greatness of his power.

On this Mother’s Day I think of all my sisters in the world.

I think of all the women who are powerhouses of strength,

forces to be reckoned with;

who have challenged and been challenged in the workforce,

who experienced motherhood, daughterhood, and sisterhood.

I think of the prayer warriors,

the casserole makers,

the card writers,

the stay at home woman,

the go to work woman,

the everything to everyone woman.

I think of how as women,

daughters of God,

we’ve only just begun,

and yet,

we’ve been so far.

And I pray the prayer wish

for all of you

as Paul did

and I say Press On, Dear Sisters,

Press On.

Amen.

Resources: NIB Ephesians; Dance of the Dissident Daughter; Working Preacher.

Twelve Disciples of Christ-the Women!

Twelve Disciples of Christ

A reading for Mother’s Day 2018 adapted from Wild Goose Worship Group from Iona.

Monica: Let us remember and celebrate twelve disciples of Jesus, people who were touched by and tended him.

Pam: Remember Mary, the girl from the country town, the poet and the singer, who became pregnant with God, by God, for God’s sake.

Anne: Remember Elizabeth, Mary’s older cousin, who shared Mary’s excitement who herself bore John, the friend of the and baptizer of Jesus.

Joan: Remember Anna, the old widow and faithful believer, who saw an eight day old baby and recognized that the Messiah had come.

Carol: Remember Martha, the cook and housekeeper, the plain speaker, who gave Jesus her anger, so he could give her his love.

Pam: Remember Joanna, who with Susanna, and many other women provided the hospitality which Jesus saw as crucial to the gospel.

Anne: Remember Peter’s mother-in-law, who was so grateful to be healed, that her first act after recovery was to make a meal for Jesus.

Joan: Remember the Samaritan woman, whose conversation with Jesus was full of double entendres, but whose life was so changed by him, that she became the first real evangelist.

Carol: Remember the Canaanite woman, who gave Jesus a hard time, taking his exclusive language to task, until he saw and admired her toughness, and devotion.

Pam: Remember the hemorrhagic woman, who contaminated countless men, or so they thought, in order to touch Jesus, who named her faith as the root of her cure.  

Anne: Remember the poor widowed woman, who, in giving the smallest coins to God, gave Jesus his model for generosity.

Joan: Remember the woman caught in adultery, who let Jesus show how the grace of God is greater then the moralizing of men.

Carol: Remember her, whose perfume filled a room with fragrance, yet, who let her costliest gift be offered, in love, to God.

Pam: Remember the woman, who mothered many children not her own, the woman who taught in schools and watched a generation graduate to new life.

Anne: Remember the woman, who sacrificed her dreams, so her daughter could realize hers.

Joan: Remember the woman, who was known as the church lady, who taught Sunday school, watched babies, baked cookies, pies, and casseroles, who was an elder, acted as clerk, treasurer, communion server, usher, choir member, preacher, pastor, teacher, bell ringer, and was a pillar of the church.

Carol: Remember the women, who touched our lives because of their bravery, their courage, their intelligence, their joy, who helped us see Jesus in the face of others.

Monica: Remember the women who we have loved and who loved us, our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, daughters, and cousins. Remember the women who are no longer here, who have gone before us, whose energy, imagination, tenacity, witness, and joy provide us with warmed hearts and renewed hope. Amen.