Calvary United Methodist Church

June 18, 2017

Music Sunday

Rev. Dr. S. Ronald Parks

Children’s Sermon: 2 Corinthians 12:7-10

It is our joy to be children of God. We invite the youngest of the chil-

dren of God among us here in this place to the front of the worship

space that we may give thanks for all of the gifts we have enjoyed this

week. Good to see everybody this morning.

If you were around on Tuesday, it was pretty hot, wasn’t it? Actually

Tuesday’s temperature of 96 broke a record that had been in place for a

long time. The previous record was 95.

So Fender and I, when we got home from the office late in the after-

noon, we decided to take a little bit of a walk and walking outside was

like walking into a sauna. It was hot.

So, as we were walking up the street we hear this ruckus from our

neighbor just two houses down.

And so we go and we look over the fence and sure enough, there’s a

party going on.

And it’s a dog party.

Actually, it’s a dog swimming party. The three other dogs that are part

of the Oak Park dog pound, they are Labrador Retrievers.

And Labrador Retrievers love the water. Now, Poodles have a history

of being bred for hunting so they are supposed to love the water too.

So Flint, one of the Labs, called out and said, “Go get your suit!” He

was really talking to Fender, but naturally I’m the one who wears the

suit.

And I thought back to last summer.

We had a little bit of a flashback moment. See, last summer, I told you

about Fender’s time at the beach in the morning. When he gets up in

the morning, we go down to the beach and he runs on the beach.

But there are always other dogs there.

And a lot of them are retrieving things out of the ocean.

Fender didn’t get into the water, do you remember why? This is going

back a whole year. Why wouldn’t Fender get in the water? Do you

have any idea? How about you guys? Yeah.

He didn’t understand or know about the ocean.

So he was afraid.

It is very easy to be afraid of things that you’ve never bumped into be-

fore or things that you don’t understand. Now, what was he afraid of?

Well, for us human beings a lot of times we don’t risk things because

we don’t want to fail. I don’t think Fender had so much an issue of the

idea of failing or not doing well what other dogs were doing.

I think he was afraid of getting hurt, because the ocean makes a lot of

sound and it’s really moving fast. And when the waves are tall, it’s

pretty scary and you should be aware of the hard that can happen. Fear

in us creates limits. It creates boundaries that we make to keep us

from going into things and places that we don’t understand or that we

don’t know about.

So, last year it was obvious to me that Fender needed a helper;

Someone who could turn his fear into faith.

So, by the end of the summer we worked at it a little bit by a little bit.

By the end of the summer,

He had learned his limits and he had gotten much more comfortable.

His fear and his faith had found their proper place. You see, some peo-

ple think that faith is the absence of fear. I don’t think so. I think

when faith is part of our lives it helps us put fear in its rightful place

because there are always things that we should be aware of that can

hurt us or harm us.

So, the ocean he knows about, but the swimming pool…he’s never

been in a swimming pool. This was a new thing for him.

So, let me ask you a question: did faith or fear win? What do you

think? Do you think he got in? Hmmm… Let’s think about that for a

minute.

Paul knows all about faith and fear and he shares these words with his

friends in Corinth in the second letter that he wrote to them: God gave

me the gift of a handicap, the gift of a limitation. It reminds me that I

can’t do everything. There are always limits. And limits can be fear-

full things. I prayed that I could do more. God’s answer was this:

Trust me. My grace is all you need. I can help turn your fear into

faith. Your limits help you appreciate my power. The darkness of

your weakness allows my light to shine. So, Paul said, I’m content

with what I can do. I’m learning to accept my limits…The things I

can’t do. And God’s strength is the only way that I can be strong.

Now, what do you think? Did Fender get in? Did faith or fear win?

(Faith.) Faith. Well, we have photographs of the event.

On the first attempt, I stood in the water and called out to Fender with

my arms outstretched. Come on, pup, let’s go. That went on for about

60 seconds and then I got frustrated.

So I just reached up and grabbed him around the legs and I brought

him into the pool.

And that was okay for a little bit,

And then, just for fun, I took my arms out from underneath him.

He didn’t like that one bit.

So, after a few minutes and after he calmed down a bit, we had the sec-

ond attempt.

This time he wouldn’t even let me get close to him because he remem-

bered that I scooped him up the last time, so I actually had to reach out

and grab him by the leg and drag him into the water.

And this time I didn’t let go of him. I just held him,

And we walked around for a little bit. And I could tell by his body

language that he got comfortable. He liked the feeling of the cool wa-

ter against his body.

And after a while we started to have a little bit of fun. Then I took him

out of the water again because I wanted him to be able to get in by

himself. And one of the things the Labs do, they dive in.

So, I got up on the diving board with Fender right next to it and I said

to him, “Alright, you ready? Here we go!” And I jumped in and he

didn’t.

But the 2 Labs jumped in so we had a little bit of a swim and

Fender stood on the side of the pool and just barked and barked and

barked because he wanted to get in, but he was still too afraid. I was-

n’t there to help him. I wasn’t there to hold him.

You see, he’s not afraid when I hold him,

Because he has faith in me to help him. He’s not scared.

Interestingly enough, he’s exactly the way our relationship with God

works. God helps us put our fear and our faith together,

Giving us the gifts we need to do all that we can do. We know we

can’t do everything, but with God’s help we can do everything that

God has gifted us to do.

God helps us put our fear and our faith together…

By helping us know and accept the things that we can’t do. Some-

times it is really frustrating to have limits, to not be able to do every-

thing. For example, right now I bet you guys wish you could drive a

car. Sound like fun? No? Yeah, just wait. It’s coming. There are

things that you can’t do now, but you will be able to do later. And then

there are things, it doesn’t matter how long you wait, you’ll never be

able to do. For example, I’ll never be able to dunk a basketball or out-

run a NASCAR or sing as high as some of these ladies sing. It would-

n’t matter how much I practiced, what I did, how long I waited, there

are just certain things I’ll never be able to do.

And God helps us put fear and faith together…

By trusting in him when we don’t know what to do. Because there are

times when we are not sure, should we be afraid? Should we step out

in faith? Should we do it, should we not do it? There are times when

we really have no idea what it is that God will enable us to do. In

those times we just have to pray and watch and wait and try the best

that we can.

Because the darkness of our weakness allows the light of God’s grace

to shine through in us.

And we all need help to live in the light of God’s grace.

There is kind of a cool reminder of that. These are glow sticks. Do

you know what a glow stick is? It’s pretty cool, right? There is a

bracelet sized glow stick and then there is a regular sized glow stick.

Go ahead and take one of each. And you know how to work these,

right? You have to snap…yeah, that’s right, you snap them, but you

might want to wait until it gets dark, so you can really see the light.

Go ahead, you can take one of those too, ok? So, have fun with those

and remember that when you light those things up, think about God’s

love for all of us and the way he lights us up.

Thanks for sharing in our time this morning.

Message in Music (readings between the Anthems)

Following Shout! Sing Hallelujah

Light. Day. Night. Land. Sea. Sky. Life. The glory of the world

around us reveals the creativity of our common God and Father.

The gifts are grace are evident in the beauty of the earth, the glo-

ry of the heavens and the diversity of the creatures that live in

every imaginable habitat.

Yet no blessing is more important to us than the gift of community.

From the dawn of humanity, the Lord decided that we should

know the weight and splendor of relationships. Made in His im-

age, we are intended to sustain and care for one another. But we

were not content to be one among many. Our pride urged each

of us to claim ourselves as the center of our existence. We ne-

glected and forgot the ties that bind us to God and to each other.

So one more gift of grace was given; the gift of a Savior. His message

of redemption became our mission of reconciliation. It’s now

our story to tell. He’s our gift to the world.

To Tell the Story of Jesus

Following Tell the Story of Jesus

Tell the story of Jesus: Use words if you have to.

The wisdom of St. Francis reminds us that the light of grace is more

clearly seen through what do and not what we say. To tell the

story of Jesus, and to become his presence to others, we have

been given two simple guidelines that cover every thought, word

and deed.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.

Our love of the Lord is expressed in the act of worship. If eve-

rything we think, do and say is crafted to bring glory to God, we

have understood His place in our lives. And a lifetime of wor-

ship would not be enough to thank Him for all he has done.

Love your neighbor as you love yourself. The love of others is re-

vealed in service and sacrifice. The path of discipleship is in-

tended to bring Christ into the lives of everyone, that all may

know him as Savior, Redeemer and Friend.

Tell the story of Jesus: Use words if you have to.

To For All That You Are

Following For All That You Are

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

If love defines our relationship with God, then forgiveness is the foun-

dation of the life we share with one another. Jesus’s teaching

draws the parallel between our willingness to forgive and our

ability to receive God’s gifts. It affects everything, including the

integrity of our worship.

For this reason, he tells the crowd to go and forgive someone who has

wronged you. Only then will you be prepared to worship in

Spirit and truth.

By grace, we have received new life and new hope. It is by grace that

we are a family of faith. By grace, we grow together and bear

each other’s burdens. By grace, we serve in the company of the

Servant of All. We are born to live by grace.

To By Grace

Following By Grace

The presentation of our offering is an act of confession. With humility

and awe, we acknowledge the source of all that is and all we are.

Our offering is an act of thanksgiving. Entrusted with wealth and

goodness beyond our comprehension, it is a celebration of the

God from whom all blessings flow.

Returning these gifts is also an act of commitment. We recognize and

embrace the work that is yet to be done. The harvest of the

Kingdom continues as dedicate ourselves to the service of

Christ.

May our hearts rejoice in the opportunity to be to the music and mes-

sage of the King.

To Offertory/We are the Music of the King

Benediction:

The people standing before you, our Chancel Choir, have been faithful

throughout the past nine months with all sorts of activities including

cantatas, Blessed Morn, and everything that we have asked them to do.

Their music lifts us up each Sunday. Let us thank them as they share

their benediction.