The First Sermon I Ever Preached

     This is a copy of the first sermon that I ever preached.  The occasion for this sermon was my preaching class in March of 2011.  It is interesting to look back and see how I've changed...and how I haven't.

Mark 9:14-29

When they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. When the whole crowd saw him, they were immediately overcome with awe, and they ran forward to greet him. He asked them, ‘What are you arguing about with them?’Someone from the crowd answered him, ‘Teacher, I brought you my son; he has a spirit that makes him unable to speak; and whenever it seizes him, it dashes him down; and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid; and I asked your disciples to cast it out, but they could not do so.’ He answered them, ‘You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you? Bring him to me.’ And they brought the boy to him. When the spirit saw him, immediately it threw the boy into convulsions, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the father, ‘How long has this been happening to him?’ And he said, ‘From childhood. It has often cast him into the fire and into the water, to destroy him; but if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.’ Jesus said to him, ‘If you are able!—All things can be done for the one who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out, ‘I believe; help my unbelief!’ When Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, ‘You spirit that keep this boy from speaking and hearing, I command you, come out of him, and never enter him again!’ After crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, ‘He is dead.’ But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he was able to stand. When he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, ‘Why could we not cast it out?’ He said to them, ‘This kind can come out only through prayer.’ 

The crowds are gathering.  People are arguing.  Voices are being raised.  Disciples have failed.  Scribes are criticizing.  Jesus is frustrated.  A demon is seizing a helpless child.  A father is begging for his boy.  There is convulsing, throwing to the ground, dashing to the ground, rolling about, foaming at the mouth, grinding of teeth.  We are all watching.   We are all witnesses to things that are falling apart.  And amidst the chaos comes a desperate and raw confession.  I believe, help my unbelief!

            We believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth.  We say it in church many a Sunday as a community.  We say it to ourselves as we struggle with texts in class.  We state it in our creeds, our thoughts, our very prayers.  However, it is hard to believe whatever it is that we believe in when the waves come upon our shores, when we are cast into the water and into the fire, when earthquakes shatter our way of existence, when those we love, or perhaps even ourselves, are seized by the grip of forces we do not understand.  We cannot believe that a God who created us from nothing but a desire to be in fellowship with us and love us is present in the midst of unforgiving chaos.  Oh, we believe, alright.  But then again….

            Belief or unbelief.  Which are we?

            Perhaps we are in the crowd that is watching this situation, arguing with each other over the shortcomings of the disciples.  Haven’t we been led to believe, after all, that they have the authority to cast out demons?  They have been following this Jesus fellow around, haven’t they?  Have they learned nothing?  How can we be asked to believe in what we have not seen?  Belief or unbelief.

            Perhaps we are amongst the disciples.  We believe in Jesus!  We have committed ourselves to his teachings.  After all, it was us who dropped our nets and followed him at his command.  It was us that left our former ways of life to begin something new and exciting.  We believe ourselves to be charged with a mission.  Why then, could we not do what he has taught us?  We can’t believe our failures.  Belief or unbelief.

            Perhaps we are the parent of the child, who has heard this talk about a healer and his disciples who can fix the brokenness that has been the reality of their parenthood for years and years.  After all the loving care, after all the nights laying awake by a loved one’s side, after hearing, seeing, feeling the pain that has gripped them, we cannot believe that there is redemption, healing, salvation.  We believe this at this time and don’t believe this at that time.  Belief is a finicky friend, is it not?

            Or perhaps we are the child, robbed of our voices, robbed of our right mind, robbed of any and all control over our situations, rigid with the futility of forces that dash us down to the ground.

            The crowd can’t believe the disciples failed.  The disciples themselves can’t believe they failed.  Jesus can’t believe the unbelief.  The father believes and, yet, his unbelief seizes him almost simultaneously.  Belief or unbelief.  Which are you?  Which am I?  It’s frustrating isn’t it?

            As I’m sure all of us have felt at one point or another when encountering such a rich and meaty text, I had to step back.  I was so hung up on the father’s seemingly paradoxical statement:  “I believe; help my unbelief!”  Well, make up your mind!  Which is it?  It must be one or the other!  One of my favorite musical groups is the band Nickel Creek.  In their song, “Doubting Thomas” is a lyric that has always struck me.  “Can I be used to help others find truth, when I’m scared I’ll find proof that it’s a lie?”  I see both belief and unbelief in those words.  I think we see belief and unbelief in ourselves and, what’s more, the line between the two is seldom clear. 

            Now we don’t know exactly why the disciples failed.  Perhaps they had just finished a rough CPM meeting.  Perhaps they were frazzled from writing a sermon.  Perhaps they thought they were the ones casting out demons.  Perhaps they just weren’t feeling it!  We don’t know.  What we do know is that Jesus emphasizes prayer as the vehicle through which this demon was cast out.  But where exactly is that prayer?  It certainly does not look as though Jesus prayed in this specific passage.  We also have no record of the disciples praying.  So what’s going on?

             Henri Nouwen writes in his book “With Open Hands” his thoughts on prayer.  He says, “To pray means to stop expecting from God the same small-mindedness which you discover in yourself. To pray is to walk in the full light of God and to say simply, without holding back, "I am human and you are God."   I am human, and you are God!  It is a simple little phrase but the reality is that simplicity is rarely simplistic.  As I was working on this sermon, I found myself saying this prayer out loud everywhere.  The parking lot, the car, the mailroom, the refectory, everywhere!  I am human, and you are God.  Over and over again.  That simple little prayer brought forth more questions than it did answers.  To me, it embodied the desperate cry of myself before God.  It proclaimed my reality in the here and now.  Naked before God, I cried out, I am human, and you are God.  I am human, and you are God.  Through this earthy and intimate mantra I found myself standing next to the father, crying out “I believe, help my unbelief.”

            I found myself next to the father saying to Jesus, “How much longer must you be among us?  How much longer must you put up with us?  Jesus, how much longer must my son be among this?  How much longer, Jesus, must he put up with this.  Now is not the time for you to be frustrated.  Now is not the time for you to be human.  Now is the time for you to be God.”  Now I don’t know why the disciples failed to cast out the demon.  I don’t know why Jesus asked the father all the questions.  I don’t know what was going through the boy’s head.  I just don’t know.  But what I do know and what I do is this…

            The crowds are gathering.  People are arguing.  Voices are being raised.  Disciples have failed.  Scribes are criticizing.  Jesus is frustrated.  A demon is seizing a helpless child.  A father is begging for his boy.  There is convulsing, throwing to the ground, dashing to the ground, rolling about, foaming at the mouth, grinding of teeth.  We are all watching.  Amidst the chaos comes a cry.  I believe; help my unbelief!  Belief and unbelief; which aren’t you?

  And then a hand.  

           A hand that lifts.  

           A hand that lifts a helpless boy to his feet; a boy who is able to stand.  

           A hand that takes from us the single-mindedness 

                        that we have placed on ourselves and
                        hands to us possibilities and a mission.

           A hand that lifts us and those we love not in the moment when we believe or not believe 

                        but rather when we are most torn between the two.  

                                       When we are caught between hope and fear, 

                                                                  between our humanness and God’s “godness,”

                                                                  between belief and unbelief.  

          A hand that lifts us as it says, “I am God, and you are human.”  

          That hand is not our own.  But that hand allows our own hands to no longer be rigid.  

          Hands that are now free to love, to serve, to hold, to pray, 

                                               to testify to what it is that lifts us from the ground.

God Is Faithful - Advent Devotional on 1 Cor. 1:9

God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. 

1 Corinthians 1: 9 (ESV)

      God is faithful! 

     These three words, in their beautiful simplicity, perfectly embody the reason we celebrate the season of Advent. We rejoice in this truth by affirming that God’s faithfulness is expressed in the fact that we have never worshiped a God who is happy with leaving us alone. Indeed, we worship a God who comes to us where we are. Through the body and being of God’s son, Jesus Christ, God is with us. God is for us. God is amongst us.

     But Advent should not be about simply affirming this truth. Rather, these words from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians remind us that we must do something. We are called into the fellowship of the Risen Christ, who is still very much alive and at work in the world. We, the people who are the Body of Christ, are reminded that we are called to serve others because of God’s faithfulness to all people.   

     What, then, is your part in this fellowship? May this season be a constant reminder to us that we are each called into the fellowship of Christ! So, hold a hand. Clothe the naked. Help those who have fallen. Give voice to those who have been silenced. And, above all, do these acts by remembering this truth:  God is faithful!

     Holy God, thank you for the gift of Your Son, Jesus Christ, who reminds us that You are for us, with us, and amongst us. Help us that we might be for others, with others, and amongst others. Amen.

                         Grace and peace,

                         Stephen

Prophetic Notes: Vision 1 - Peace Be Upon Us

     I have been a musician my entire life.  Of late, I have been fascinated by music, both "religious" and "secular" (although I'm beginning to feel that we often put too much of a barrier between the two), that is essentially prophetic.  By "prophetic" I mean to suggest that the artist in question invites the listener to join him or her on a journey.  This journey may or may not be to a place that exists; for really, the "reality" of the place is not all that important.  What is important in prophecy is that it at the same time disorients our current worldview while reorienting us to another (thank you Brueggemann for this terminology!).

     Therefore, I have decided to begin a new series in my blog entitled "Prophetic Notes."  It is my desire through this journey to share with you the prophetic utterances that are all around us, especially in music of all kinds.  Furthermore, rather than organizing this series into "parts," I will post "Visions."  It is my hope that such terminology will better grasp the open-ended and unpredictable nature of such artistic imaginations.  As we begin this journey together, I welcome my readers to submit their own suggestions for "Prophetic Notes" that we might all be reoriented to the truth that God would have us do.  

_________________________________________________________________________________

Sheryl Crow

     I have always been the most casual of Sheryl Crow listeners.  My first memories of listening to her are in the car traveling with my family.  We would listen to her early songs "All I Wanna Do," "You're My Favorite Mistake," and "I Wanna Soak Up the Sun."  While these are lovely songs, they have never inspired me to describe their prophetic natures (although someone else's ears and heart might certainly disagree!).  However, as I was driving up to Dalton a few weeks ago for Thanksgiving holidays, I stumbled across her album, "Detours," while passing the warm fall colors of Northwest Georgia.  

     Have you ever been so obsessed with a song that you put it on repeat and listen to it over and over and over and over again? Have you ever had a piece of music touch something deep inside of you that makes you want to simmer in it for as long as possible, as though you and the music were two ingredients in a crock-pot that compliment each other better the longer you enjoy each other's company? Hopefully you know exactly what this feels like and know that it feels best when it jumps up out of nowhere.

     I was caught off guard in this manner by Sheryl Crow's song "Peace Be Upon Us" (see link below).  I love everything about this song: the tempo, the texture, and the text. From the opening notes, the listener is invited into a dream by a soft but insistent tempo that is matched by a warm and welcoming texture. The simple melody is easy to listen to and is simple though not simplistic; it allows the listener to focus on the text which she offers to describe her vision.

     What made this piece of art stand out to me as prophetic is first and foremost its responsive nature.  I am a liturgist at heart and, as such, love how she calls out to everyone ("all you sinners and saints, all you creatures of faith, don't need to be afraid").  I could very easily imagine using those words in the context of worship to invite congregants into the warm embrace of God's love.

     As she brings us to the chorus, she "breaks the fourth wall" by inviting you and me to join her in proclaiming, "peace be upon us, be upon us all!"  What is prophetic about this piece of music is that it calls you and me to join together in a dream when peace will truly be upon us all.  It is prophetic because this is not the current reality.  I am reminded of my previous post "The Defiance of Prayer" (http://our1wildandpreciouslife.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-defiance-of-prayer.html).  Sheryl Crow's prophetic utterances of peace amid a world ridden with hatred, violence, and intolerance are nothing short of bold and perhaps even dangerous; dangerous to those people (perhaps even you and me) who either by their action or lack thereof promote a world that stands in contrast to God's desire for all of creation to gather at the Table to live in love.

                                                Peace be upon us, be upon us all!

                                                Stephen

 

The music can be found here; please ignore the stupid video :). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYfHFOLTX4A

Walking down the street of dreams, Eating from the fruits of lifeTripping out on the smallest things, Trying to reach the light, trying to reach the light

Pick the key up off the floor, Put the key into the lockTurn the lock, open up the doorLook at all you've got, look at all you've got

All the sinners and saintsAll you creatures of faithDon't need to be afraidIf you know what I meanLet me hear you say

Peace be upon us, Peace be upon us, Be upon us allPeace be upon us, Peace be upon us, Be upon us all

If we speak in tongues of loveBut we kill in the name of GodHow can we profess to own his nameAnd still be so lost and still be so lost

The world will turn even when we're goneThe earth will host many souls to comeWho will write the history, tales ofWisemen, villains and innocent ones

All you shepherds and sheepWhen you wake from your sleepIt will be a new dayIf you know what I meanLet me hear you say

Peace be upon us, Peace be upon us, Be upon us allPeace be upon us, Peace be upon us, Be upon us all

As-salaamu alykumWa-alaykum assalaamAssalaam alykumWa-alaykum assalaam

Texts for Sunday, December 16th

     I will be preaching on the following passages at Silver Creek Presbyterian Church on Sunday, December 16th.  I welcome your feedback to help get the conversation going as we journey together through these lectionary texts.  Feel free to comment on the blog or contact me at smfearing@gmail.com.  Grace and peace, Stephen.

Zephaniah 3:14-20

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;
   shout, O Israel!
Rejoice and exult with all your heart,
   O daughter Jerusalem! 
The Lord has taken away the judgements against you,
   he has turned away your enemies.
The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;
   you shall fear disaster no more. 
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:
Do not fear, O Zion;
   do not let your hands grow weak. 
The Lord, your God, is in your midst,
   a warrior who gives victory;
he will rejoice over you with gladness,
   he will renew you in his love;
he will exult over you with loud singing 
   as on a day of festival.
I will remove disaster from you,
   so that you will not bear reproach for it. 
I will deal with all your oppressors
   at that time.
And I will save the lame
   and gather the outcast,
and I will change their shame into praise
   and renown in all the earth. 
At that time I will bring you home,
   at the time when I gather you;
for I will make you renowned and praised
   among all the peoples of the earth,
when I restore your fortunes
   before your eyes, says the Lord.

Luke 3:7-18

     John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our ancestor”; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Even now the axe is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.’

     And the crowds asked him, ‘What then should we do?’ In reply he said to them, ‘Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise.’ Even tax-collectors came to be baptized, and they asked him, ‘Teacher, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you.’Soldiers also asked him, ‘And we, what should we do?’ He said to them, ‘Do not extort money from anyone by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages.’

     As the people were filled with expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Messiah, John answered all of them by saying, ‘I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing-fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing-floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’

     So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.

Wall-Breakers!

     Just a few minutes ago, the Columbia Seminary Gospel choir (directed by Marcus Yates) led chapel.  Under his leadership and the accompaniment of Professor Tribble on the piano, the choir invited us into a lively, dynamic, grace-filled, and abundant conversational journey as a community.  I cannot thank them enough for the liberating worship that they led today.  We opened the worship by insisting that the Holy Spirit was welcome in this place!  What truth and grace there is when we open ourselves to Holy Spirit and her guidance!

     A few days ago, I posted a sermon entitled "Breaking the Fourth Wall."  http://our1wildandpreciouslife.blogspot.com/2012/11/breaking-fourth-wall.html  Of late I have been fascinated by the theatrical concept of "breaking the fourth wall" in which the "audience" is directly addressed and invited into the story in a very tangible way.  This metaphor is challenging me to rethink the way I worship.  How often do we have "fourth walls" in worship in which the congregation is more of an "audience" rather than the living body of Christ?  How often is worship simply a play in which those leading (I am a member of this group more often that not!) "do the action" while the congregation simply observes from "behind the fourth wall?"

     Today, the CTS Gospel Choir gave us a brilliant example of what it means to break the fourth wall in worship.  As a congregant sitting in the pew, I was invited by these "wall-breakers" to join the chorus of witnesses who proclaim God's grace!  The fourth wall was shattered and no longer was worship a simple producer/consumer relationship; the congregation was invited to contribute to the praise and proclamation of the word and the line between worship leader and congregant was blurred.

     Let us give thanks for our Sisters and Brothers in Christ who proclaim God's word in a way that invites all to join in the story which both begins and ends with God's faithful and good Word!  Let us continue the conversation and, as such, I welcome your thoughts on how we might continue to break the fourth wall in the worship that we are called to do!

Acceptance...then love

http://www.npr.org/2012/11/27/163016950/from-a-calcutta-prison-to-the-classical-stage

     I was driving in my car this morning as the local NPR station kept me company amid Atlanta traffic.  An article came on that caught my attention.  The following article speaks of a classical Indian dancer who began  (what I believe can be rightly called) a ministry by teaching male inmates at a local prison how to dance.  She originally came to watch the female inmates perform but was struck by the body language of the men.  Their bodies communicated, in her words, that they were people without a future, with nothing to look forward to. She then began to teach them traditional Indian dance.  The male inmates, murderers, rapists, thieves, and the like, started to see her as a mother who loved them.

     What struck me the most about this article is the way in which the woman, Alokananda Roy, spoke of her journey with these men on the margins of Indian society.  When speaking of the affection that grew between her and the men, she simply said, "all I did was accept them.  The love came later."

     For some reason, this phrase struck me.  Acceptance first.  Then love.

     ....I'm not sure why but I can't get these words out of my head.  Is it possible to love without accepting?  Is it possible to accept without loving?  Does one always have to precede the other?

     Does this challenge you as much as it does me?  

Breaking the Fourth Wall

Many thanks to Ferris Bueller for breaking the fourth wall!

John 18:33-38

            Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ Pilate replied, ‘I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?’ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.’ Pilate asked him, ‘So you are a king?’ Jesus answered, ‘You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.’ Pilate asked him, ‘What is truth?’

     There is a term in the world of theatre known as the “fourth wall.”  Perhaps the best way for me to describe it to you is for you to imagine that this space is a stage.  From where you are, you see three walls; one on either side of me and one behind.  Whether you know it or not, there is an invisible “fourth wall” that separates the audience from the stage and, therefore, from the actors and the action.  This fourth wall allows the audience to passively observe the narrative of the play while the actors proceed to live in their fictional world.  However, in the 19^th century there was a movement called theatrical realism.  In this time, a technique known as “breaking the fourth wall” was popularized.  During a particularly dramatic moment, the play would “freeze” and an actor would approach the audience and address them directly, thus, breaking the “fourth wall.”

     Perhaps a more contemporary example of breaking the fourth wall might be in the classic comedy film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  As the movie opens, Ferris Bueller goes about his business getting ready to spend a glorious day skipping school.  After perfectly delivering his well-practiced routine of convincing his parents he is sick, they leave the room and Ferris Bueller directly looks into the camera and tells us, “they bought it!”  Throughout the entire opening scene, we watch him get ready for his grand day out and he shares with us his methods for feigning sickness in his pursuit of playing hookey.  From the very get go, this breaking of the fourth wall connects us rather intimately with this much-loved character of Hollywood.  As we continue the movie, we feel as though we are truly the ones accompanying him on his adventure.

     Although I’m not sure that Ferris Bueller was fully versed in the dramatic techniques of 19^th century theatre, his actions cause the fourth wall to be broken as the barrier separating stage and audience is torn down and the audience is thrust into the action of the story.

     The writer of today’s text from John’s gospel was, I think, well ahead of his time for he breaks the fourth wall as well.  Only, instead of doing so in a 19^th century theatre or in the bedroom of Ferris Bueller, the writer of today’s text does so in the headquarters of Pontius Pilate as he is interrogating Jesus prior to his crucifixion.  From behind the fourth wall, we are witnesses to a frustrating exchange where both characters attempt to dodge each others’ questions. 

     “Are you the king of the Jews?”  Pilate ask.

     “Do you ask this, or someone else?” Jesus asks in return.

     “I am not a Jew, am I? What have you done?  So you are a king?” Pilate asks. 

Through all of this back and forth, Jesus maintains his cool while Pilate (and perhaps you and I, as well) get thoroughly confused, perhaps even to his (and our) wits’ end.  Suddenly, we watch Jesus take control of both the tempo and the texture of the conversation as he changes the subject to truth.  Apparently, as we listen from behind the fourth wall, Jesus tells Pilate that he has come to testify to the truth and that all who belong to the truth listen to his voice.  It is at this crucial moment, that Jesus freezes, the lights dim, and Pilate turns to us, you and me, and asks us directly, “What is truth?”  The writer of today’s text cleverly breaks the fourth wall as suddenly you and I are now responsible for answering Pilate’s “simple” little question!  What is truth?  Three little words that open up quite the can of worms! Well if you and I are to answer this question then we certainly have our work cut out for us, don’t we?  We live in a world that screams “truth” at us every day.

• This is truth! screams the magazine on the gas station shelf that tells young women and men that they must be skinny and sexy to be loved.  
• This is truth! screams the Klansman protesting against immigration in Charlotte, North Carolina. 
• This is truth! scream the Israelis and the Palestinians who shoot missiles at each other. 
• This is truth! scream the Presbyterians as we argue over ordination standards. 
• This is truth! scream the lies of this world.

     When you think about it all of these self-acclaimed truths (which you and I know to be lies!) are based off of static truth as belief.  For example… 

• What the magazine with the pencil-thin model is claiming to be truth is based off of the belief that we must be thin, airbrushed, and fake in order to be accepted and loved.  
• What the Klansman is claiming to be truth is based off of the belief that by being privileged, white, and male he is superior to anyone who is not also privileged, white, and male.  
• What the Israelis and Palestinians are claiming to be truth is based off of the belief that each is entitled to certain things. 
• What the liberal and conservative Presbyterians are claiming to be truth is based off of the belief that each knows what God has in store for the church of Christ.

I submit to you that each of these beliefs that we cling to in our human desire to have the answers leaves us frustrated, antagonized, militant, and, perhaps worst of all, exclusive.  I submit that when we enslave truth within the confines of mere belief, we make ourselves comfortable behind this “fourth wall.”  We observe truth, we theorize it, we speak of it from a safe distance without truly getting our hands dirty.

But when Pilate breaks the fourth wall in today’s passage and asks us “what is truth?” we are challenged to rethink truth, to step away from truth as mere belief and live into truth as action.  When we step back and look at John’s gospel as a whole, we see truth not as something that is believed.  Rather, John would have us experience truth as something that is done.  In the beautiful irony of this passage, Pilate speaks of this movement away from truth as belief towards truth as action with one of the questions that he asks Jesus.  If you look back at the passage, Pilate does not once ask Jesus what he believes, rather in seeking the “truth,” he asks Jesus what he has done. 

     You see, a curious and unpredictable thing happens when the fourth wall is broken:  you and I are no longer at home in the audience.  Rather, we are called by name to approach the stage and do something.  We are called to do truth and not fight over it.  We are called to do the truth that Jesus embodies in a very physical way. 

• For the Truth that meets us in the passage did not spend his final hours with his disciples teaching them doctrine; he spent these last precious moments breaking bread and pouring wine. 
•  The Truth that meets us in this passage is not preparing to state his beliefs; he is preparing to die. 
•  The Truth that meets us in this passage will not give a grand treatise stating his beliefs; he will hang on a cross. 
•  And the Truth that meets us in this passage will not send out a post-resurrection email stating what we are to “believe” at the sight of the empty tomb; he will rise from the grave and defeat death and save us and invite us to respond.

     We worship Jesus Christ, the Truth, the Alpha and the Omega, who alone is our King, whose only credentials are that he is the one who has always done truth, is always doing truth, and will always do truth forevermore.  It is for this reason that you and I are gathered in the presence of the Lord this day to praise the One who allows truth, true truth, to be done.  

• For when at the Lord’s Table bread is broken and wine is poured, there truth is being done!  
• When water is poured at the font that seals a child of God into family of God, there truth is being done!  
• When a group of counter-protesters in Charlotte dress up as clowns to ridicule the hate-filled speech of the Ku Klux Klan, there is truth being done!  
• When a gentlemen, who once slept in the homeless shelter in the basement of an Atlanta church, returns years later to volunteer at that same ministry, there is truth being done!  
• When members from across this presbytery gathered to worship with you all back in May, there is truth being done!  
• When the members of this community here at Silver Creek assembled fifteen baskets of food to be given to local families this Thanksgiving, there is truth being done!

Truth is being done because breaking the fourth wall creates motion…it creates a motion that is created by God, redeemed by God, and sustained by God.  But, friends, I announce to you that this motion, this creative and grace-filled truth of doing is only possible when we agree to leave the seats of the audience and approach the stage.  So I ask you, what are the fourth walls in our lives that still need to be broken down?  What are those barriers which need to be shattered that, once demolished, will allow us to do the truth that God calls us to do?  Friends, it is both my duty and privilege to announce to you that God’s truth is being done this day and you and I are invited to leave the audience, cross the fourth wall, and do truth!

Truth is being done not by our merit but by the saving grace of Christ our King who embodies truth, who lives it!  We will live into this truth yet again this year as we approach the season of Advent.  As we approach Christmas, Advent will prepare us for the breaking of an even larger fourth wall, a wall that could never be brought down by you, me, Pilate, or any of the Jews or Romans; Advent prepares us for the night when God erupts into the world, our world, in a very real way that breaks down the fourth wall between heaven and earth.  And as this fourth wall is broken, we will prepare to be taken out of the audience and into the story, a story where truth is being done, a truth that was and is and is to come.  To him, Christ our King, be all glory and dominion both now and forever.  Amen.