Pastor Hector Garfias-Toledo + September 29, 2024
Build Up, Branch Out - Campaign Celebration
Pastor Hector contrasts the fear that leads to scarcity with the freedom of God’s abundance. Drawing on Pharaoh’s fear of famine in Genesis and the Pharisee's self-righteousness in Luke, he explores how fear causes us to withhold rather than release. However, through God’s grace, seen in the life of Zacchaeus and Paul's ministry, we are invited to embrace generosity. As TLCS celebrates the fruits of our two-year initiative, we are reminded of our call to live beyond fear, building and branching out in faithful generosity.
Sermon Transcript
From automatically generated captions, and lightly edited for readability by Chat GPT
Grace to you and peace from Abba God, our Father, Mother, and Creator, and the Lord Jesus Christ, our Lord, our Savior, our sibling, our friend, who is with us always. And the people of God said, "I need to see it because I need to confess before you, seriously." What are the two greatest nightmares of a pastor? Pastor B, don't give them a key now; don't give them a clue. One is that you lose the notes of your sermon, and you get here and they're like, "Oops, I need to make a sermon up here." The second is that you prepare a sermon on a passage that is the wrong passage.
Has that ever happened to you? You have done that? Oh, then I don't feel that bad, because that's what happened to me today, and that's why I need to sit. I have no idea why I got the passage of the tax collector and the Pharisee fighting in the temple, and I didn’t notice that it was the wrong Sunday. So let me make up this sermon tonight; it still works. In fact, the Bible study last Sunday— I mean, last Wednesday—was on Luke, on Luke, uh, chapter 18, on the passage where Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, when Jesus was talking to people who were a little bit self-righteous, and Jesus was teaching. So, as you said, David, I think it works. Let's see how it goes.
I'm writing my sermon right now, the rest of the story, and the rest of the story—the story that was never told. For the past two years, we have been journeying together in what it means to be generous children of God, generous people, generous individuals, but also how to be a generous congregation. And not only in the sense of how much we give, but in the sense of how we relate to one another in response to the way that God relates to us, no matter where we are in our faith journey. So there's a connection with that.
I’m going good; I’m good. So, for two years, we have been talking about this, and during these two years we have encountered challenges. We have encountered some questions and concerns about this initiative called "Build Branch Generosity Lived." In doing this, we have really encountered some questions. I remember that one of the first questions when we started talking about this was, "Can it be possible for us to go through this initiative, knowing the challenges that we had as a congregation?" Just coming out of a pandemic, from three years of transition, from a time when we were not able to see each other, when there were no connections, when we were trying to really restart here in this building. And the other question was, "Is it the right time?" Is this— is it the right time?
I believe that the Holy Spirit helped us—helps us—to take a posture in which we were able to see far beyond ourselves, and also to be open to experience a shift in our mindset of what it means to be committed to the mission that God has started in this place, through this congregation.
The first reading that Freya read today in First Timothy is a farewell discourse of the Apostle St. Paul. He uses the image of a race, and by using the image of a race, he’s talking about the coming closure of a chapter in his life and in his ministry. In this letter that he writes to this young pastor, St. Paul, I believe, is talking about staying focused, suffering and enduring hardships, being confident through the journey, and doing the work regardless of the suffering. And I believe that this is what we have seen for many, many centuries in the life and ministry of the Church universal, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the body of Christ. The Church has grown during the most challenging times through the faithfulness of their saints.
I believe that this passage, and the story that Paul—these images that Paul is using as he talks to Timothy and the early Church—it has to do with the book, the first book of the Bible, which is John—Genesis. Remember that in the Book of Genesis, God talks about—well, the writers talk about God's generosity. God talking and telling, "It is good, it is good, it is very good." Jesus—I mean, God, Jesus, God—uh, brings the blessing to the entire creation and endows humanity and creation with the vitality, with the ability to be fruitful, and to be a blessing for one another.
The story continues talking about these persons in the stories of the Old Testament, one of them being Abraham, who is a blessing, this force of well-being in the world. It talks about faith, which is the awareness that creation is the gift that keeps on giving, and gives us everything that is needed for us, as the people of God, to reflect God's abundance and generosity.
But the Book of Genesis also tells us the other side of the story with some characters like Pharaoh. It tells us that things changed. Remember the story where Pharaoh has a dream that there was going to be a famine, and then, because of the famine, he starts calling the people that work for him. Some of the decisions that Pharaoh makes is to monopolize all the food, all the goods, all the properties of the people. And I believe this is when the mindset of scarcity appears in the life of human beings. And why did Pharaoh do that? Because he was afraid. It is out of fear that Pharaoh takes these actions—fear of not having enough—that leads him to ruthlessness, to control, to slavery. Pharaoh and the powers of his kingdom snatch God-given dignity from all people and make people into slaves, forgetting that God had created humans and creation to live in a relationship that is righteous, that is right.
The witness of scripture continues telling us that this story, which in the beginning was about a relationship of God with all creation when God said, "It is good," turns into a struggle between the liturgy of generosity and the myth of scarcity, as Walter Brueggemann would say in one of his books.
And here is where the sermon goes wrong for me because I then changed to the Pharisee and to the tax collector. But since Zacchaeus was one of the people who collected the money, I think it works. In this parable, the Pharisee’s piety, I believe, is rooted in fear, because the Pharisee, like those who are in power, is afraid of failure, of being inadequate for their position, or unworthy before those they serve. And it is fear that leads to despising others. It is fear that makes us trust only in ourselves, and we cannot imagine being in the shoes or the place of others that we see as less.
In the Olympic Games in France a few months ago—this is an example for me of what happened—I’m going to speak in general terms, but I’ll use it only as an illustration of what I mean by this. In the last Olympic Games, there was a controversy, as we know, but also there was jealousy and discrimination because there was fear that those we consider "less than us" were winning what we used to win all the time. And when they were winning, we were pointing at them, accusing them, defying them. "How can they be better than us? We are the best. We do everything that is necessary to be the best in the world, and these countries that are not supposed to be better than us are winning all the gold medals that we are supposed to have." Fear makes us despise people. Fear makes us forget God's generosity. Fear makes us forget God's abundance, and makes us forget that God has given us everything needed in the Church, for you and for me, and for the entire Church, to be the witness and the reflection of God's generosity everywhere and at any time in our lives.
These stories that Jesus tells—these parables that Jesus tells—are not just moralistic stories that tell us, "Yes, you should be with these bad people." I believe that these stories tell us that Jesus is talking about God. It is about God's grace that goes above and beyond our shortcomings, our failures, our flaws—in the case of the Pharisee, in the case of the tax collector, in the case of Zacchaeus. And as David reminded us, it is that encounter that transforms our lives and makes us respond in ways that are generous, in ways that make us put away the fear and be able to release what God has given us so that the grace, the mercy, and the presence of God can be experienced by the entire community.
And that’s why I believe St. Paul talks about coming to the end of this race as a person who was transformed. For two years, as I said, we have been running this race. This is a faith journey that we embarked on as a congregation. As I also said, there have been questions, there have been wonders; we have been trying to solve puzzles—literally, remember a few weeks ago, a couple weeks ago? And we have been telling stories. Do you remember some of the stories that we told? And Tech Team, I lied to you—I was going to move.
We talked—we told stories about lemons, lemons, not limes. These are lemons in Mexico, so these are lemons. About lemons, and the first fruits that we are called to bring, to release in gratitude and trusting in the generosity of God. We talked about apples, and I asked the question, "What is in an apple?" Remember? What is in an apple? Seeds, therefore an orchard. Yesterday, I was walking, just walking, and I found this apple that is smaller than a lemon, and yet it contains an orchard.
We talk about blocks that remind us that we are called, as we were singing earlier, to build up one another and also to build up with God, God's reign in this place. And we talk— we talk about cups. Mark Schmidt, remember? We talk about cups that are full or half full, that are filled by God's grace in our lives. We tell stories to remind ourselves that we have been walking this journey together and that we are not alone.
The outcomes and the accomplishments of this journey that we have walked together is that God has always accomplished God's work. And that's why, later today during our lunchtime together, we will be discussing with one another some questions about what this journey of learning generosity has been in our lives—how we have been transformed, how our hearts, as we saw with our young worshippers, have been transformed when we have been told, "I love you, and I have given you everything that you need to be the person that I called you to be. I love you, and you are going to be the church that I called you to be, to reflect that day when I saw and I said that everything was good. And I was able to come and to walk with you and enjoy creation and extend the hand and hold each other and remember that in this wholeness and in this Shalom is when you can be fruitful to nurture one another."
We are moving forward.
We are not confined by our self-interest or fears anymore, and we can join St. Paul, who says, "I have fought a good fight. I have stayed on course and finished the race, and through it all, I have kept believing—I have kept the faith." We are beyond a new roof or a siding project. We have a new understanding of generosity, and we have shifted our mindset from scarcity to abundance and releasing God's gifts. We have been called to create with God a space where we can bring our first fruits, where we can be fruitful and be orchards that bear fruit, and to practice the humbleness that lets go in order to produce more in reflecting God's reign.
True, we face fear, but the Spirit will continue to support us, to encourage us, and to remind us that all has already been given to the Church. Fear cannot determine who we are or what congregation we should be. It is only God's grace that gives us the strength, the identity, and the power that propels us to continue to share God's grace, and to join St. Paul, who says, "All that's left now is the shouting—God's applause. Depend on it. God is an honest judge. God will do right not only by each one of us, but by everyone who is eager for God's coming every day in our lives."
So, my siblings in Christ, I think that the Spirit really works, and no matter how sometimes we mess up, even with passages to use for sermons, the Spirit brings us together and reminds us who we are, whose we are. We build up, we branch out, and together we live this generosity that God has shown us in Jesus Christ. And for that, we say, "Amen."
Amen.
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