Grace

First let me say that this idea and text has come to me through Jesus Christ our Lord.  I am but a vessel to get this message to you. Philippians 4:13 “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”

-Michelle Obama said that “the world’s roughest edges could always be sanded down with a little grace.”

Grace is used in many religions to show how we should relate with others. The Buddha said when talking about peace and grace, “We are shaped by our thoughts, we become what we think, when the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 “By Grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing it is the gift of God not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

Vince Amlin, Co-Pastor of the Bethany UCC (United Church of Christ) in Chicago says it best, “We can’t cheapen grace, no matter what we do, we’re just not that powerful-Thank God!”

The word “grace” is translated from the Hebrew “Chen” and Greek “Charisma” to mean favor, acceptance, loving kindness and goodwill.  In the Bible it is used most often to describe the mysterious, undeserving love extended to us by God through extravagant, unmerited forgiveness, salvation and protection.  Thank God!

I was baptized Lutheran and attended Immanuel Lutheran School for 4 years. I was confirmed here at First Church.  Our attendance at church was sporadic. If we spent the weekend with my Aunt’s family in Brewster we would take turns going to St. Lawrence O’Toole Catholic church or to the Lutheran Church.

I was first invited to First Church, when I was 13, by two of my best friends.  What fun! We had “hang arounds,” where we were allowed to be just kids.  We learned how to dance the “Jiggy.” Uncle Jiggy, and his wife, Aunt Margaret were such incredible human beings. They gave hours and hours and hours of their time with well supervised activities, like the hang arounds. Such GRACE!!!

I was so drawn to Congregationalism, to the beliefs of the United Church of Christ. We are defined as a Protestant Christian denomination that emphasizes the independence and self governance of each local church.  We are in covenant with each other.  We join with God and one another as a way for us as disciples to go forward in the world today.

We have historically emphasized freedom and tolerance. We are respected for our own individual rights and beliefs of others. We are encouraged to voice our opinions, back them up with facts, and make intelligent decisions.  We learned from the opposing view of others. No one was put down for disagreeing; we understood that that’s how we learn. We are respected for having different ideas, as unpopular as they may be at the time.

Our congregation is where faith becomes real and concrete. Here we stand before God, offering praise and honor to God and worship. Here we struggle to learn to grow and to deepen our understanding through education; here we experience a community of faith, love and support through fellowship. Here we are challenged and encouraged to act on our faith through service.

We are the “First of First’s” Our faith was the first to condemn and fight against slavery in 1700, we ordained the first African-American minister in 1785. We were among one of the first women in history elected to serve as a Christian congregation as pastor in 1853, Antoinette Brown. We were the first main line protestant denominations to ordain an openly gay minister in 1972 with Reverend William R. Johnson of the Metropolitan community Church. The New Testament, states “there is neither male or female for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

GRACE

If you search the UCC website today, you will find webinars supporting mental heath and transgender education.  We are liberal in our beliefs.  I am so proud to be a part of the UCC for all of it’s forward thinking. There is a very strong religious, supportive union inside this church called “fellowship”.  Yet, it wasn’t “preachy”.  You could talk to the Minister, at that time Rev. Bob Naylor and he would explain things so that you would understand.  He never made you feel belittled or that you shouldn’t be asking questions.  This, was a revelation to me. In this church, each individual voice is heard and respected.  I, a 13 year old, who had a tumultuous home life, was welcomed and loved here.

GRACE

Mom and I would go to Brewster every weekend, for the weekend, to help my aunt with her six kids.  We would have great fun playing, and the older kids were each “assigned” another child to help get ready for bed. Davy was my assigned child. He had a speech impediment and couldn’t say “Heidi”, so he called me ya ye. Two years before I found First Church, my cousin Davy, a 7 year old, just turning 8, died of acute lymphocytic leukemia,  I was young, and couldn’t wrap my head around why a loving God could take an innocent 8 year old.  I now know that God didn’t do that, it just happened. I was helped though that horrible tragedy here.

I don’t know how I got through that time.  I only know that I am so glad that First Church was here for me.

GRACE

There were always plenty of activities, diversions for me at the time; “hang arounds” where we were encouraged to grow and develop into inquisitive young adults.  We were always supervised by Adults, in our case, Aunt Margaret and Uncle Jiggy Rockwell.  We had Progressive Suppers, Haunted Houses, sang Christmas Carols for the shut ins, we Ice skated and had dances. It was the best of times.  We were always surrounded by GRACE.  By a group of loving adults who wanted the best for us.  When we got a little older, we were taught and then were expected to teach Sunday School.

Fast forward to moving out of town to be closer to nursing school.  I became an alcoholic for so many reasons, that I can’t cover it here. Thankfully 30 years ago I stopped drinking.  When I was in the throes of my addiction, I could not hear the word of God. It’s been said that addictions are caused because people are self medicating, and that may be true.  I would’ve done anything at one point to get the negative self talk, that I had heard in my family of origin, out of my head. Alcoholic’s Anonymous helped to get me sober, our church is what helped me to stay that way.  I bring this up because AA has a saying that I think would be helpful when listening to others, so I wanted to share it with you now.  We say “take what you like and leave the rest…” This means that we should take information that is helpful and that which is not, we let go of.  This can help in almost any situation.  We will seldom agree with everything someone has to say.

GRACE

This is so important because when you are trying to get sober you are RAW.  People coming into church may be the same way.  When someone walks through the doors of this church, we have no idea what they have just been through, how they are living, or what their latest doctor’s visit told them. I recently saw a t shirt that says, “Be kind, everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.”

GRACE

I returned to church because I knew that although I physically was sober, I had a long way to go. Without this church, without the love and support that I got here, I would never have been able to get sober. I would never have been able to be healed through fellowship; the love of the men and women on the committees that I have been on, as well as constructive criticism that is helpful in affecting change. I would never have learned to be quiet and listen and of course I still have challenges with that.  I need to remember that, as Judge Judy says, “there is a reason that we have two ears and one mouth.”

During the time when I was in the ravages of my addiction, I could not hear the word of the Lord.  I was unable to get out of my own way.   The very saddest thing about addiction, I think, is the inability to hear God speak to you. I have a poster that says “Faith isn’t faith until it’s all your hanging on to.”  So true.

There have been times when I was disheartened.  If someone said something pessimistic, I jumped right in.  A poor example of grace.  Do you do that?  Do you operate from a place of grace?  It takes work!

Several years ago I became Moderator.  I now had a position where I needed to behave in a more respectful way.  I honor this church by my actions and behavior and I take that seriously. I collect quotes that lift me up, because, “Be careful, you may be the only Bible that people read.”

There are so many things this church has given me. A friend of mine asked me what I love about first church, because I had been negative, borne of frustration, seeing all the things that are wrong, instead of seeing all that is right, all that is such a blessing. The list that I made up was easy:  music, choir, the sanctuary, youth group, teaching Sunday School, confirmation class, and subsequently the honor of sponsoring both confirmands and new members, the Befriend Program, the Parish Nurse Program, the Prayer Shawl Ministry, the opportunity to build a prayer chain, the ability to speak my views and have them listened to (even if not agreed with); Missions and seeing or hearing about the changes in local programs because of Missions; learning, always learning; the consistency of the processes of the Sunday services, bible study, the experience of Silver Lake, and love cooked into meals for members who are ill.

The years that Elaine and I were chairs for Coffee Hour, we thought it would be a great idea to add some color to the tables set out for the Coffee and Goodies.  We purchased colored tablecloths for all four seasons, arranged all the napkins and plates that matched the colors, and put them in long clear plastic bins marked for the appropriate season.  We thought it was a great idea!  All you had to do was to pull out the bin for the season and set up. However, when it was someone else’s turn to take over the committee, back came out the white plastic  tablecloths. We found one of the bins and a tablecloth a few months ago. As I said, respectedfor your own opinion, although not always agreed with.

GRACE.

I like Coffee Hour, it lets us get to know one another…We move tables together so that we can sit together. Inclusion rather than exclusion, what a concept!

GRACE.

I looked around a few months ago and realized that several of the people sitting at the table were new members and some were members were more seasoned members, yet the same fellowship was there.  The same love, support, and yes:

GRACE.

I want to thank Greg Pings because he has shown us the series of Jesus’ life. “The Chosen.” It has helped me to understand the challenges that Jesus must have faced.  It depicts how Jesus gently but assertively taught and demonstrated by his actions what grace is.

Jesus optimizes GRACE.

In Matthew 5:7 Jesus instructs his disciples; “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy”, and Matthew 5: 44-45 “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven.” Many of the Pharisees and then the naysayers, and the nonbelievers discounted him until they saw and understood that he was indeed the Son of God. There are many examples of Grace in the Bible.  In the Old Testament, God allows his exiled people to enter the Promised Land in spite of their doubts and disobedience (Joshua 3-4); He allows King David a second chance at life and love after David had his best friend killed so that he could marry that friend’s wife (2 Samuel 11-12).

In the New Testament, Jesus raises a dead man, Lazarus, from the grave (John 11:1-44) and he rescues an adulterous woman who is about to be stoned (John 8: 1-11). Grace is love, life, and forgiveness even when it is not warranted.  The apostle Paul urges early Christians to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32).

God shows us grace when He extends us love, forgiveness, and eternal life in spite of our wrongdoings and our shortcomings.  In honor of the grace we have experienced, God expects us to show love, mercy, compassion and kindness to those around us, even (and especially) to our enemies and “frienemies.”

Joyce Meyers is a well known Christian speaker she says that “God has already done everything that you need to do to have Grace; all you need to do is to accept his love (Roman’s 7:17). What we need to do is to learn how to cooperate with the Holy Spirit.  We need to stop using all of our energy trying to do God’s job.  God can’t be bought.  We need to be thankful, thankful for what we have, the blessings, and we need to see the good in people and recognize them for this.  This is not to say that one can live an immoral life and get “a pass” and they too will be blessed.  She points out that even the devil can bless you. We need to walk with God and he will bless us.  The process takes time and we will get better with time.  We need to be very, very thankful for what we have and have a deep desire to bless as many as possible.  We need to be humble.  We all know people who have many things, but no peace; and equally, people who have few things, but a great deal of peace.

In 2021, there were big, awful changes in my life.  I decided to reorganize my house because working at the Thrift Shop and talking to people, you realize that you have so much and some have so very little.  I usually don’t make New Year’s resolutions, because I seldom can keep them, but in 2022 I decided that I would donate 30% of everything I had.  In fact, when all is said and done, I donated over 40% of everything I own.  How many people need 27 pair of scissors?  Or 92 blouses, and I am embarrassed to say, that was for only one season. The gift is that I can now find things when I look for them.  I know that Jesus is always with me in small ways. It so annoys me when I can’t find something, and now, more often than not, I’ll just stop take a deep breath and say to myself, “Lord, this is just making me crazy, please help” and minutes later, the item that I was looking for is right there within my reach.  At first, I thought that this was just coincidence.  But, then it kept happening more and more.  During the very few times that I can’t find something, or I don’t get what I have been praying for, I remember that the Lord’s Prayer says THY will be done, not MY will be done.  Now that I can hear Jesus, my life has been truly blessed.

GRACE

Annie Orr and I, both nurses, would disagree regularly about whether or not we should pour the milk back into the container after coffee hour. She always poured the milk back into the container after Coffee hour. It used to make me crazy! She said that I was being wasteful if I  threw it out it. She grew up in a different time than I did when there was scarcity that we have never experienced. I was taught nursing standards that it was an unsafe thing to do.  She grew up in the depression; I cannot even imagine the things that she went through, things that she saw as a nurse.  Where was my Grace?

The only way to change things is from within; to work with the Holy Spirit-accept God’s love, be thankful what you have and bless as many people as you can.  Be still, be quiet and listen to the voice that will comfort and guide you. We the people are the church. We are here to help one another; we are here to teach the young people how to have grace. You have no idea what your chasm, your absence may create. One of my favorite Christmas movies is “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Do you ever wonder what effect your absence may have on others?  Think about it sometime.  I get so much more out of this church than I ever put in.

We need to listen to that voice, walk with the Holy Spirit and solidify our Grace. We need to continue to try to understand the mysterious, undeserving love extended to us by God through extravagant, unmerited, forgiveness, salvation, and protection. Thank God.

It would be a blessing if you could join us at the thrift shop; or if you’re able, to make a prayer shawl once a year; or to help volunteer on something else.  Be a blessing, practice peace, be joyful, pray often, be kind, give thanks, do good, have courage, work for justice, be the light, encourage others. God has given us GRACE; mysterious, undeserving love extended to us by God through extravagant, unmerited forgiveness, salvation and protection.  We need to walk with the Holy Spirit; to be thankful for what we have and have a deep desire to bless as many as possible and be humble.

Michelle Obama said that “the world’s roughest edges could always be sanded down with a little grace.”

Amen.