1You were dead through the trespasses and sins 2in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else. 4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. 8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— 9not the result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.

Prayer: May the words of my mouth, and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight. O Lord, you are our rock and redeemer. Amen.

The New York Post recently reported that the children of Calabasas’s Elementary school have been complaining that a weird guitar guy keeps popping up at their school and singing “scary songs to them.”
Parents were concerned.
•    Who was this man?
•    Was he a parent or someone who had no business being there?
•    Had anyone run a background check on him?
•    Was he part of a planned activity?
•    What business did he have there and what was the content of his “scary little songs?”

Initially administrators were oddly reluctantly to reveal this man’s identity but finally recanted. He was a student’s grandfather by the name of …Bob Dylan!

I imagine the teachers explaining, “Children, we have as our special guest the famous singer and song writer Bob Dylan,” met by blank stares and the chirping of some distant cricket. Zero name recognition! Just a scruffy old hippie singing his weird little songs! And yet what an impact this man has had upon not music, but American culture.

I think this is how many in the church view creedal statements and affirmations; as a little bit suspect, a historical oddity, something with ties to the past but not necessarily any relevance to the present day. But rather then look at creeds and affirmations as “gospel,” we need to learn to see them for what they are; a corporate affirmation of the saints (written in and for a particular time and place) something we can plow and plunder for wisdom and spiritual truth.  All Saints Sunday gives us the perfect opportunity to reflect on the legacy of the saints who have come before us.

Holy Covenant’s Affirmation, this morning’s call to worship written almost 30 years ago is part of this church’s legacy.

There are 4 primary components of HC Affirmation and I want to take the next 4 Sundays to examine each component; to see how our Affirmation can inform our faith and thus reform us and our world.

Turn with me back to the Call to Worship in your bulletins. And as I read the 1st sentence, I want you to pay attention to how it describes the role of the church:

We, as free and committed members of Christ’s body, a community that proclaims the living presence of our Lord, are striving to express our love and our hope, our acceptance and our dedication to the principles of Christianity.

If I was going to put today’s scripture reading from Ephesians into a simple one sentence statement, it would be this, “Christ lives in you so what are you doing about it?” The HC Affirmation states that Christ’s “living presence” is proclaimed through the church;
•    through our gathering to worship,
•    through the breaking of bread and baptism,
•    through our play and fellowship,
•    through the preached Word
•    and through the lived Word, our reaching out in concern and service to the world.

Soren Kierkegaard tells an odd story about a group of townsfolk that had gathered to put out a fire using skirt guns, to no obvious impact. Finally the fire chief arrives and exclaims, “What are you doing?” And they reply, “Trying to help.” But the no-nonsense fire chief barks, “Get out of the way! This is a job for the professionals!”

My nine year old, Chris, loves to play games at Main Event. His favorite? A boxing game where you don plastic boxing gloves and take on a hulking digitally created fighter. And how does a nine year old, under five foot pre-adolescent KO a prize fighter? Its called the “ novice level.” If you click on this “easy” button, yes even you can take down a 285 lb prize fighter.

You may feel like a novice when it comes to being a disciple, but
in actuality you are a “trained professional.” From the beginning you have been in training. And everything that you have experienced up till now has helped prepared you for the moment when you will risk your life in the face of the raging fire. Skirt guns won’t do it. The only way to contain this fire is to fully invest yourself, to rise to the occasion, and not hold anything back.

Its time to bring out the big guns! What are these so called “big guns?” Our affirmation lists four: Love, Hope, Acceptance, Dedication. Like the 4 legs of this communion table, each is critical to maintaining our stability as a community.
 
1)    Love: We all know what that is, right? Love as described in scripture is unconditional. It’s the only way a Holy God can love an unholy people and the only way an unholy people can love each other and God. Jn.15:12 “Love one another as I have loved you.” That’s a commandment says Jesus!

2)    Hope is the belief that something better is ahead because God is at work in the world. Rom.5:5 “Hope does not disappoint us because of God…”


3)    And Acceptance? ‘We include people without having to embrace their choices. Gal. 3:28 “There is no longer Jew, Greek, slave, free, male, female…for all are one in Christ Jesus.” Our doors are open to anyone, regardless.

4)    And finally, Dedication.
Mt.6:21“Where your treasure is there your heart shall be also.” Here’s an interesting question to ponder: What percentage of your heart have you given God?”20? 50? 80? If 100%, why is it so hard at times to do what God wants?

The Affirmation claims that our identity as Christ’s body predetermines that our lives are to be about “the Principles of Christianity.” What are the principles of Christianity?

You could go 10 miles north and south on Josey, and east and west on Hebron Parkway, hit 50 different churches and get 50 different answers. So I want to name 3 principles that I think the vast majority of these churches would agree upon.

1)    God is love, and it is our willingness to love others that marks us as God’s people.  
Disciple, God’s “Professionals” do this. They have learned to let go, to forgive, to move on. You can almost hear Jesus say, “How long have you been my disciples and you still take things so personally, get hurt so easily, and refuse to give people the same level of forgiveness you expect from others? Get over it! Grow up! Quit hiding behind the excuse of “novice” and “Act like my disciples.”

I’ll always remember Rev. Ann Cardwell, one of the first ordained female clergy in the conference describe how she handled her grown daughter’s frequent references to her failure as a parent. She finally said to her, “Honey, you know you’re right. I failed you as a parent. And for that I am sorry. I did the best I could. But you’re an adult now. Take responsibility for your own life.”

Its time for all who call themselves disciples of Jesus Christ to take responsibility for our Christian walk and live as we know Jesus calls us to live.
*God is love so our love for others marks us as God’s people.

2)    Grace is gift.  Our reading from Ephesians describes that gift in unusual terms. “No strings attached.” V.8-9
8For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God—not by works…”

Grace is a decision to leave scales unbalanced. Q. Can you live with the scales unbalanced? That is what it means to live by grace!
*Grace is Gift.

3) Faith is both interior and external.

(holding up Bible) This is a “love letter.”  

Verses 4-5 state:
4But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us 5even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…

I don’t think we can even begin to comprehend just how much God loves us.

God has given us saints for a reason. They are intended to inspire us to go beyond “novice” Christianity!

There’s a reason why Linda’s Labyrinth is the centerpiece to our prayer garden! Dedicated to the memory of Linda Crawford, whose deep faith and courage in her heroic battle with cancer inspired many in this church to focus on the interior life.
 
Faith is interior. It is also external. Fred Arnold, one of HC’s saints used to say, “The church ought to be about helping others.”

Fred was someone who knew that there were hypocrites in the church but that didn’t keep him from being here and loving them. Someone who knew that there were those who came to MSS (our local social service agency) who knew who to work the system but that didn’t stop Fred from volunteering his time to help them and others. Our ongoing involvement with Austin Street is a witness to Fred’s legacy!

*Faith is Interior and External.

This morning, we gather around this table:
•    It is here we remember the spiritual legacy of the saints who have come before us.
•    Here we take our place among them (not as novices” but as “trained professionals” those celebrating a love relationship with God and together proclaiming the living presence of Christ.

Christ lives in you, so what are you doing about it?