Return to the Homepage Home
 Worship Schedules, Education, Fellowship, Outreach Worship & Service
 Sermon Archive Sermons
 A copy of the Sunday Prayers of Intercession Prayers
 Pastor Lynne's monthly newsletter Pastor's Page
 Articles and tidbits from the monthly newsletter Newsletter
 This month's events as well as the monthly calendar Current Events
 Read the Sunday School News Letter! Sunday School News
 Events for grades 7 to 12 Youth
 Other websites of interest Links
  
 Login to Administer this site Admin Login

St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
2903 McPhillips Street
Winnipeg, Manitoba
CANADA R2P 0H3
http://www.stlukeszion.ca

Phone: (204) 339-0412
Fax: (204) 339-0412
E-mail: stlukeszionchurch@gmail.com
site design by clayton rumley

 

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, June 19th, 2016

click here for past entries

Loving God, send your Holy Spirit to be in our minds and in our hearts as we gather together this day, and transform us into participants in the new creation you have initiated in Christ; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    Many of you are probably familiar with the British sit-com, Keeping Up Appearances.  The show revolves around Hyacinth “Bouquet,” which many people mistakenly pronounce as “Bucket.”  She desperately wants to be accepted by all the right people and tries to appear to be at least upper-middle class, in spite of her poor working class background.  However, as you can imagine, it is hard for her to hide her obviously lower class family members.  She has a senile father who often behaves inappropriately or bizarrely.  She has a son, Sheridan, who is never actually seen and who may or may not be homosexual.  And, she has sisters who are quite obviously not as refined as Hyacinth would like to be.

    Of course, as the show is meant to be a comedy, many hilarious situations ensue.  The thing is, though, can you imagine how much energy it would take to spend your whole life trying to be somebody else and trying to hide your more embarrassing family members?  I get tired just thinking about it!  However, when I hear Paul talking about “those who boast in outward appearance and not in the heart” (2 Cor. 5:12), this show was just one of the things that came to mind.  The phrase “living authentically” also comes to mind, which is quite the opposite of what Hyacinth tries to do.

    As it happens, there are two real life situations that have come to light just within the past few weeks in which outward appearances did not match what was in the heart, and the results in both cases were devastating.  When I was in Ontario last week I visited with friends who lost their daughter to suicide at the end of February.  Their daughter Mandy was 16 years old when she took her own life.  She was actively involved in dancing, and had just submitted a video for a TV show she was going to be part of.  She had strong opinions about politics and many other things, had thousands of followers on Twitter, and wouldn’t hesitate to step in if she saw somebody being bullied – even if it was one of her friends who was doing the bullying.

    However, at the same time, Mandy had struggled on and off with depression.  She also knew in her heart that she was lesbian, but had only come out to certain people.  She had been active in her church youth group until the day when the leader told them that they needed to pray for gay people so that God would heal them.  After that, she never went back to that church.  Yet, she still believed in God, and she believed that God doesn’t make mistakes and that she was not a mistake.

    In the end, though, she just couldn’t keep up appearances.  To others, and to her family, she seemed to be happy, and excited about dancing, and surrounded by good friends.  But in her heart, she didn’t see any way out of the darkness, and took her own life, not having shown any of the warning signs that people so often talk about.

    The other situation, which has been far more public here, is the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.  My suspicion, which has been voiced by others but may never be confirmed, is that the shooter, Omar Mateen, was also desperately trying to keep up appearances.  My suspicion is that he was gay, but he was part of a religion that told him that this is not acceptable, and he was part of a family that told him that this is not acceptable.  My suspicion is that he acted, not only out of hatred for others, but out of self-hatred.  My suspicion is that he was looking for approval, even if it came from ISIS.

    Keeping up appearances takes a lot of energy, and many people come to the point where they simply can’t do it any more.  However, this is where we come to the human point of view versus seeing things through God’s eyes.  I have heard Jesus described as one of the most integrated and authentic people who has ever lived.  While there were people who wanted him to hang out with all the right people and become an earthly king, he never hesitated to spend his time with those who were poor and vulnerable and even despised.  Humanly speaking, he was of humble birth, from a no-name, no-good town, and a failure as a Messiah because he ended up getting himself killed.

    This is thinking about Jesus from a human point of view.  However, as Paul writes to the Corinthians, everything is seen in a new way when we are made a new creation in Christ.  This new creation starts from the inside out.  The new creation happens in the heart, where God’s forgiveness and love are comprehended and a new way of seeing comes to light.

    The thing is that, as members of the body of Christ, we do not have to keep up appearances.  We are not asked to pretend to be something we’re not or to show everybody how good we are.  We are not asked to pretend to be happy when we’re not or to hide our more embarrassing family members.  We are not asked to suddenly become holier than thou or to make sure that we associate with all the right people.  We are simply asked to be participants in the new creation in Christ.

    The love of Christ, which Paul points to as his main motivation, is for all people.  As Eugene Peterson puts it in The Message, “One man died for everyone.  That puts everyone in the same boat” (2 Cor. 5:14).  And so, no matter who you are, or where you are from, or what your sexual orientation is, or what you have or have not done, Jesus came for you.  God acted through Jesus Christ in order that we might be reconciled with God - forgiven, friends with God, and a new creation in Christ.

    Way back in 1 Samuel we learn this: “The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (16:7).  May all of us be empowered to live authentically as people who have become a new creation in Christ.  May we be able to recognize that all of us are works in progress: not perfect, but forgiven; not good, but always growing into Christ; not entirely saintly, but empowered and gifted by the Holy Spirit.  And may Christ become more and more visible in our lives from day to day, as God continues to transform us into a new creation in Christ.  Amen.

Pentecost 5 (NL summer)                        2 Corinthians 5:11-21
June 19, 2016
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2016 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved


Previous Sermons
March 2024
February 2024
January 2024
December 2023
November 2023
October 2023
September 2023
August 2023
July 2023
June 2023
May 2023
April 2023
March 2023
February 2023
January 2023
December 2022
November 2022
October 2022
September 2022
August 2022
July 2022
June 2022
May 2022
April 2022
March 2022
February 2022
January 2022
December 2021
November 2021
October 2021
September 2021
August 2021
July 2021
June 2021
May 2021
April 2021
March 2021
February 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
October 2020
September 2020
August 2020
July 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017
April 2017
March 2017
February 2017
January 2017
December 2016
November 2016
October 2016
September 2016
August 2016
July 2016
June 2016
May 2016
April 2016
March 2016
February 2016
January 2016
December 2015
November 2015
October 2015
September 2015
August 2015
July 2015
June 2015
May 2015
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
July 2014
June 2014
May 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
July 2013
June 2013
May 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
July 2011
June 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
May 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
July 2006
June 2006
May 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
July 2005
June 2005
May 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
July 2004
June 2004
May 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
January 2003
March 0201