Community Church Sermons

Year B

September 16, 2012

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

The Caregiver(s)

Matthew 6:25-34

Rev. Martin C. Singley, III

Senior Pastor

LISTEN IN!

What is it that possesses people to care for others?

In the very early, formative years of our church, one of our members – Win Martin – suffered a bicycling accident that resulted in a catastrophic spinal injury. Win became quadriplegic – not having the use of either arms or legs - and spent months in the hospital. Although our congregation was very small in those days, they rallied around Win. Every day, teams of people made the drive up to Knoxville to feed Win breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and to visit with him to keep his spirits up. When he was strong enough to come home, the people did all they could to help Win and Beth as they adjusted to this new life challenge.

What is it that possesses people to step outside of themselves like this to care for others?

I hope you will take time today and in the days ahead to look over the bulletin insert you received today. It lists many of the caregiving ministries of our church, and what is most wonderful about those caring activities is that most of them were started by one or two church members who somehow got it into themselves that someone had a need and they could meet it.

So Sharon Krischer started the Prayer Shawl ministry and others were inspired to join. Just the other day, I was asked to bring Communion to one of our dear people whose age and circumstance have made her very frail. When I arrived I saw that she had one of our prayer shawls wrapped about her. Her daughter told me the shawl brings her mother great comfort and peace. Then she told me that several years ago – when her own husband was dealing with cancer – a prayer shawl from our church was to him a tangible expression of God’s love. He used to say something like, “All these stitches in the shawl represent people who are on my side, praying for me.” He drew great strength from that.

And we could go on and on, citing how all the activities listed in this brochure have a story behind them, and every one of the stories is about people being inspired to step beyond their own lives and needs to meet others’ needs and bless other lives.

What is it that gets into people that makes them want to care for others?

Well, the simple answer is: God. And it’s not so much that God gets INTO us as it is that God is IN us. We are created in the image of God, and God is a Caregiver.

Do you remember that scene in Genesis 3 where Adam and Eve have made the mistake of their lives by eating the forbidden fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? A lot of Bible students miss seeing the extraordinary thing God does for these rebellious children. First, God sends them out of the Garden of Eden and places an angel at its gates to guard it and prevent them from getting back in. Why do you suppose that is? Because if they were to go back into Eden they might eat from the Tree of Life and their terrible mistake would have eternal consequences. You might think about that the next time you face a mistake or sin of your own. Because God cares for us, God will not allow it to ruin you forever. Our God is a God of second chances – and third and fourth chances, too.

God cares for his children.

The second thing God does for Adam and Eve is make clothes for them. They now realize they are naked and the Bible tells us they are ashamed. So God makes clothing for them which is a biblical way of saying, God takes away their shame. I know a lot of people who are ashamed of things they’ve said and done, and think that God can never accept them again. But it’s not true. God takes our shame away because God loves us.

God is the Great Caregiver of Life.

And that’s what Jesus was getting at in the Sermon on the Mount when he talked about the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. Jesus is not saying that this is a carefree, worry-free, anxiety-free world – so don’t worry, be happy! He IS saying that nature itself is proof that God takes care of his creation. And if God takes care of little birds in the sky and lilies in the field, surely God takes care of you!

God cares for his children.

And that’s why we care. That’s why we get that feeling inside ourselves when someone is hurt or going through a hard time and we just know we HAVE to do something to help. In the earliest days of the Christian Church this inner compulsion to care grew into a ministry called “diakonia” – deacons. The Greek word means “servant”, and deacons serve God’s people.

One of the things that makes our church different from many others is that we do not have a Board of Deacons. Most churches call people to serve as part of a diaconate that takes Communion to the homebound, visits the sick and sorrowing, comes alongside those who are going through hard times, and brings care to the congregation.

We don’t have a board of Deacons.

Just look over this list of caring ministries and you’ll soon figure out why.

The deacons of our church – those who serve by caring – are US! ALL OF US! YOU ARE A DEACON of the Community Church in Tellico Village.

God is the Great Caregiver.

And WE – every last one of us - are God’s care GIVERS!

This is powerful stuff! Enlisting the whole congregation in the caregiving ministries of our church, encouraging members and friends to come up with caregiving ideas, and helping each other develop those ideas into actual ministries is so exciting!

Back in 1997, Mary Tidwell and Peggy Mills started our Stephen Ministry. This is a program that trains people in the art of Christian caregiving. Stephen Ministers are available to people who are going through rough times and need a good Christian friend to talk with, share their struggles with, and love them in Christ’s name. Most often Stephen Ministers are helpful after a crisis has passed – when friends and family need to go back to their lives but you are still bearing the pain of your loss, or the conflict of a family problem, or the loneliness that often comes when you’ve moved a long way from home or your life has changed in a significant way. Do you know what I’m saying? Stephen Ministers are terrific caregivers!

Since Mary and Peggy started the program here, 85 church members have been trained and commissioned as Stephen Ministers. They have helped hundreds of people, and have given thousands of hours of one-on-one care to people who’ve needed their friendship.

Maybe you need a Stephen Minister to help you through something you’re facing right now. Let us know if you do because we have some great people who’d love to be your friend!

Who could have imagined that two people could create such a fantastic ministry of serving others?

Another ministry of care that I’m very proud of is our Children’s Ministry Team. Many churches located in communities where there are large numbers of retired people don’t have children, or – if they do – don’t do anything with and for them and their families. But our church has always had a heart for kids. It started with Joyce Peterson way back at the beginning. I can remember Joyce finding out about kids living nearby and driving out to their houses on Sunday mornings to pick them up and bring them to Sunday School. And people like Betty Lepley and Pat Kegley and Leroy Claybaker and Alan Isphording and many others carved out time to care for these kids.

Why bother? Wouldn’t it be easier and less work to just take care of ourselves and not care for a handful of kids?

Yes! But it wouldn’t be Christian!

Psalm 127 says that children are a heritage of the Lord. In other words, the children here are God’s gifts to us, and we are stewards of their lives! And unlike churches in many retirement-type communities, we take it very seriously that God has entrusted children to our care.

So today Diana Canacaris, Sandy Singley, Regina Elgin, Terry Blevins, Caroline Burke, Phil Walker, Jill Krajewski and many others work really hard to bring Christian care to our kids. They have Sunday School class from 9:10 to 10 am, and then they come into worship at 10:15. When Rhonda or John call them forward for the Children’s Welcome, they literally come running down the aisles! They know they are welcomed and loved here! And while the Children’s Welcome is going on, you may notice people at the side door, ready to take the kids off to Children’s Church.

What an amazing ministry of care! Thank you to all you deacons who do that. And MORE help is needed too! How about lending a hand? YOU can make a huge difference in the life of a small child!

A while ago, Mike Cottle came to talk with us Pastors. Mike asked if we were interested in starting a ministry that would bring Communion from our table on Sunday morning out to folks unable to come to church. We serve Communion every week at 8 o’clock and once a month at 10:15. This ministry would be an extension of our Sunday service, with a special prayer for those to whom Communion would be brought that day.

Now Mike is an Episcopalian. We don’t hold that against him! But back in his home church, Mike served as a Lay Eucharistic Visitor, being given Communion elements from the altar to take out to homebound folks. He told us how meaningful this was – both for those who received Communion at home and those who brought it.

So today, we’re inviting people to become part of a new caring team – Lay Communion Ministers. We’ll provide the training, and everything you’ll need to care for our dear church family members who are unable to get out, or going through treatments that keep them from public places for a time, or any other reason.

Funny thing. When I mentioned this new caring ministry to Ken Kinzler, he became interested in crafting something that can be brought by the Lay Communion Minister to help create a sense of the sacred out in the home. So Ken came up with this – one of his beautiful nail crosses – on a stand that’s in the shape of a cross. It amazes me how God inspires people to care.

Would you sign up to become a Lay Communion Minister? Mike will be at a table outside in the Narthex. Just look for the table with the cross on it, and an Episcopalian wearing a great big smile.

God cares.

That’s why we care.

We’re not always great at it. Sometimes we miss someone’s need, or forget that so-and-so was having surgery last week. We are very human people and prone to making mistakes.

But we are committed to growing as deacons. Caregivers.

Every last one of us.

You are needed!

So as this new Fall season unfolds, I want to ask you to find your place in it. Be creative! Follow your heart! Join the ministry of care! And if you’re visiting here from another church, go home talk with your pastor about how you get involved bringing God’s loving care to others.

All around us, God’s children experience the difficulties and challenges of life.

But God is the Great Caregiver.

And WE – every last one of us - are God’s care GIVERS!

Thanks be to God for all of you who care!