Sermons in Glass 2: Family

Sermons in Glass: 2. Family

The Church of the Wayfarer

Dr. Norm Mowery, Pastor

September 15, 2013

Luke 2:41-52

                This is the second in a series of sermons based on the stories in our beautiful stained glass windows.

          Last Sunday we learned about the stories in the first lancet—

                   The Manger Scene

                   Elijah on Mount Carmel

                   Johann Sebastian Bach          

                   Saint Augustine

          Today we learn about the second lancet—

                   Jesus in the temple (Picture)

                   The Tree of Jesse (Picture)

                   Saint Boniface (Picture)

          Sometimes as I am delivering my sermon I see some of you looking at the windows—and that’s okay! I figure that if you are looking at them you should know what you are looking at. I want you to know the ‘sermons in glass’ that surround you.

          The top panel of the twelve lancets is the story of the life of Jesus. These are the windows that I will focus on each week. I want us to see Jesus in a new way through these messages and I hope that as you look at the windows you will relive the life of Jesus.

          The theme that I see in our lancet this morning is family.

         

          1. Jesus in the Temple 

          In the top window of this the second lancet we see Jesus in Jerusalem at the age of twelve with his family. However, he leaves his family and hangs out with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

          All the while Mary and Joseph worry that he is lost. They wonder—

                   Was he kidnapped?

                   Was he in an accident?

                   Was he ill, cold, hungry?

          Mary and Joseph come across as good, concerned parents in this story.

          When they go to check on him, he is nowhere to be found. The fear Jesus’ parents experience is the same fear that drives parents today in their concerns about cyberspace — the fear that somehow the child will be lost or exploited.

          Their search was a frantic one.

          When the parents finally find their little boy he is not acting so little. He has taken his place among the teachers in the temple, engaging them in a very adult manner and taking part in the dialogue.

          The thoughts and words coming from this child revealed that he was not your typical 12-year-old.

          Instead, Jesus was fully focused on who he was and, even more so, whose he was. “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” responds the youngster to his scolding mother.

          Even at that young age, Jesus was being driven by a relationship with God and revealed that God’s call was already being enacted in his life.

          Even at that Jesus was still growing and still in need of parenting.

          In Anne Rice’s recent novel Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt she frames this scene with an interesting twist. In response to Jesus’ rhetorical question about his purpose, Mary tells him:

                   “And now, you come home with us to Nazareth.

                   Not back to the temple.

                   Oh, I know how much you want to stay at the temple.

                   I know.

                   But no.

                   The Lord in heaven did not send you

                             to the house of a teacher in the temple

                             or a priest in the temple

                             or a scribe or a rich Pharisee.

                   He sent you to Joseph bar Jacob, the carpenter, and his betrothed, Mary of the tribe of David in Nazareth.

                   And, now, you come home to Nazareth with us.”

          Even the Son of God needed vigilant, loving parents to protect and nurture him as he worked out his calling.

          So Jesus went home,

                   was obedient to his parents,

                             honored them according to the Law,

                                      and “increased in wisdom,

                                                and in divine and human favor”.

          While it’s true that part of adolescence is learning how to differentiate oneself from parents, it is also true that parents are still the primary influence in a young person’s life.

          That circle of influence expands to include other people and groups, including the church.

          I like to think of the church as ‘family.’ In fact, my Doctoral Dissertation was titled, The Church as Family. 

          The church is the Family of God. We are a part of a great line of persons of faith who have gone before us.

          I believe that as technology and culture increasingly promote virtual relationships and isolating self-identities,

          it becomes more and more important for those who care about young people to provide space,

          time

                   and real relationships that will enable them to engage in a real relationship with God —

          to hear God’s call,

          to become passionate about their identity as God’s children,

          and to find their life’s purpose.

          Our children need to know that serving God isn’t just a Sunday deal and that dedicating their lives to God is a live option.

          Instead of asking our children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” we should be asking them,

          “Where might God be calling you to use your gifts to accomplish God’s purpose for the world?”

          I believe that all of us should see ourselves as a mentor, an encourager, for someone else in the faith. And I believe that we all need a mentor as well.

          When is the last time that you gave a word of encouragement to a young person?

          When is the last time you complimented a young person?

          When is the last time you stopped and just simply listened to the dreams of a young person and encouraged them to ask questions?

          2. The Tree of Jesse 

          This window depicts the genealogy of Jesus.

         

          Do you know who Jesse is?

          As you look at this window it will have little meaning to you if you don’t know that Jesse was King David’s father.

          The Bible says, “From Jesse’s loin springs his son, King David, wearing a crown and holding a harp.”

          In this window, Ruth, the Moabite woman is holding the ears of grain. She will marry Boaz, and become King David’s great grandmother, all of whom are the ancestors of Jesus.

          This window represents Jesus’ family.

          This window shows the ancestry of Jesus.

          This the picture is of the great cloud of witnesses—people of faith who have gone on before.

          Just this week I received an email from a distant relative who has been researching the Mowery heritage. He even had his DNA tested along with that of a long deceased Mowery. He is convinced that my Mowery relatives came from the Alsace region of France.

          To be honest with you I never cared that much about my heritage but when I got this information I immediately googled Alsace to see where it was and discovered a lot of interesting things. For some reason I feel like I have learned to know myself better because of this information.

         

          The seven doves in this window stand for the seven gifts of the spirit. What are the seven gifts of the Spirit? They are found in our Call to Worship taken from Isaiah. It is one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible.

          L: A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse,
          P: And a branch shall grow out of his roots.
          L: The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
          P: The spirit of wisdom and understanding,
          L: The spirit of counsel and might,
          P: The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
          L: His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
          P: With righteousness he shall judge the poor
          L: And decide with equity for the meek of the earth.
          P: The wolf shall live with the lamb,
          L: And the leopard shall lie down with the kid.
          P: The cow and the bear shall graze,
          L: Their young shall lie down together;
          P: And the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
          All: For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.                                                    -Based on Isaiah 11:1-9

          3. St. Boniface 

          St. Boniface lived in the seventh century. I did not know who St. Boniface was until I started preparing these sermons.

         

          Here we see St. Boniface cutting down the Oak of Geismar and thus challenging the pagan religion of Germany. Legend says that the fir tree in the background is to become the tree of the Christians, pointing to heaven.

          Could this be the first Christmas Tree?

          This saint’s martyrdom is depicted by the sword piercing the book when he was attacked in Friesland where, at his death, he held the book over his head to preserve it from the sword blows.

          St. Boniface was the Apostle of the Germans. He was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz, Germany.

          This is getting close to my heritage and Linda and I were there a few weeks ago as we took a river cruise on the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers.

          St. Boniface was killed in Frisia in 754, along with 52 others. His cult is still notably strong today.

          According to his early biographer Boniface started to chop the oak down, when suddenly a great wind, as if by miracle, blew the ancient oak over. When the God did not strike him down, the people were amazed and converted to Christianity.

          However as he was evangelizing, a group of armed bandits appeared who slew the aged archbishop and 52 others because Boniface persuaded his (armed) comrades to lay down their arms: “For we are told in Scripture to overcome evil by good."

          Having killed Boniface and his company, the Frisian bandits ransacked their possessions and got drunk on the wine remaining among the provisions, and then started killing each other, arguing over the division of the booty.

          The surviving bandits found that the company's luggage did not contain the riches they had hoped.  When they broke open the chests containing the books they found to their dismay, that they held manuscripts instead of gold vessels.

          We are all a part of the Jesse Tree.

          We are the family of God.

          We are the Body of Christ!

          Will we be faithful in this day to preserve the faith for future generations?

          The nominating committee of the church is beginning its work to recruit the very finest leaders for this church next year.

          I told the group this past week that:

          As your pastor I want leaders next year who:

                   Love Jesus with a passion.

                   Love this church and believe in its mission.

                   Love the church universal and particularly the United Methodist    Church.

          As your pastor I want leaders who have a ‘can do’ attitude and will do their work with enthusiasm and joy.

          As your pastor I want leaders who will keep their membership vows which ask:

          Will you support your church with your

                   Prayers

                   Presence

                   Gifts

                   Service

                   And Witness?

          Witness was just added a few years ago.

          Will you tell others about the good things they can experience in the church and will you be a positive spokesperson for your church?

          Today, I am thrilled to introduce to you several new members.

          We rejoice to welcome you as members of Christ’s holy church, and welcome you to this congregation. With you we renew our vows to uphold it by our prayers, presence, gifts, service and witness. With God’s help we will so order our lives after the example of Christ that, surrounded by steadfast love, you may be established in the faith.

 

          Faithful God, we have gathered as your people,

                   trying to be committed to you in thought, word and deed.

          When we turn to our own desires for power and prestige, for money and influence, we know that our commitment is not true. Forgive us.
          Help us, as your people, to recommit ourselves to you this very day.

          We give you our lives, our service, our stewardship, our families and all that we have.
          These we commit to you.
          We commit to you those lives we do not touch as we could - the poorest of
the poor, the addicted, the victimized, the starving, the alienated.

          Help us, even when we feel separated from others, to continue to pray with them and lift them to you.

          We lift our own weakness to you.
          Grant us your strength for true commitment to you, we pray. Amen.