SERMONS

Luke 5:1-11
Reverend Angela Ying
February 7, 2010

Fish

A word that brings up many images for us who live in Seattle and home of the infamous Pike Place Market, where one can go, see and experience flying fish!

Fish

Is it a noun or an active verb?

Is it fresh and alive or is it frozen — and needing some heat to even begin to thaw out.

Does it smell because it has been around without change?

Fish

Is it moving and shaking?

Is it part of a school of other fish?

Does it bring people together around a shared meal or out to eat others up?

Is there one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish, black fish, blue fish, old fish, new fish!

Are its eyes open and clear or are the eyes dead and glazed over?

Fish

Is one willing to go deep or stay on shore?

Notice, in today’s scripture passage that follows Jesus’ ministry in Galilee — fish is on his heart and mind.

Having spent the beginning of his ministry in Galilee healing the sick and preaching in the synagogue — Jesus now goes out to the lake of Gennesaret, which is another name for the Sea of Galilee.

The people are pressing in on Jesus to hear the word of God.

To hear the Word of God.

They understand what really feeds them.

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Rev. Anthony B. Robinson, Guest Preacher

I Corinthians 12: 4 – 20

Well, it’s nice to be back in this role, at least for one Sunday! Thank you, Angela, for the invitation to preach and participate in worship leadership today.

Every now and then I hear someone say something like, “Gosh, wouldn’t it be great if we could be like the early church, recapture that original magic . . . When people were totally united, when faith burned bright, when the church was overflowing with spirit and love!”

Sometimes I respond to such comments by saying, “Well, good news, we aren’t as far from the early church as you might think. Read the New Testament.” When you do read the letters of and to the early church, like Paul’s letter to the congregation in Corinth, you discover that it wasn’t quite as hunky-dory or ideal as we imagine.

In fact, in this letter, I Corinthians, from which our epistle lessons come during this Epiphany season, we find Paul writing to a conflicted congregation, one engaged in some pretty intense power struggles. Some in that congregation felt that they were the spiritually “enlightened,” while others in their view were the spiritually benighted. The benighted were “in the dark,” lacking at least as the enlightened saw it, the true light.

So in his two letters to the congregation at Corinth, a lively seaport town and bustling trade crossroads of the ancient world, Paul sought to address such issues.

One of the ways Paul does so is with his wonderful image of the church as the Body of Christ. He writes, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” (I Cor. 12: 27) By speaking of the church in this way Paul affirmed two truths that are sometimes in tension: diversity and unity.

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Luke 4:14—22 and readings from the words of Mahatma Gandhi, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Audre Lorde, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Sunday, January 17, 2010
Reverend Angela Ying

Fear

A four letter word that can stop us in being who we are called to be, God’s beloved.

Fear

A four letter word that keeps us from acting in faith as we choose to remain numb and silent.

Fear

A four letter word that allows people not to see themselves and others for who they truly are.

Fear—of which people lived and still live.

And yet, God is the God who seeks to liberate all people from our fears.

When Abraham was afraid to go to a new place, God gave Abraham courage to face the unknown and to follow God to an unknown place.

When Moses was afraid to speak and confront the Pharaoh and his empire to let his people go, God gave Moses the voice to lead.

When the people in the wilderness after their Exodus from empire were afraid they would have no food, God sent down manna and quail every day from the heavens and reminded them to distribute and share the food with one another, which meant no hoarding and thus, taking only what each person needed.

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The Four Gospels, Matthew 3:3-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22 and John 1:25-34

Baptism of Christ Sunday

The Reverend Angela L. Ying
Bethany United Church of Christ,
January 10, 2010

Invite the children, tweens and youth to come to the baptismal font as the minister asks them:

What do you think and feel when you see, hear and touch the water?

(Children responded: Life and Death, Need for Water to live.)

Anything special about this particular water? (Children responded: Water is Common, Every day and Sacred)

What does the water mean to you?

(Listen for the children, tweens and youth responses which they reveal are: Joy, Life, Fun, Community, Getting Wet, Going Under, Coming Up, Getting Clean, Starting New.

What do you think happens if we let the water stand for a long time, the same water, and never change it? (The children responded: The water evaporates, gets stinky or dirty and it becomes not clean to use.)

How many of you have gotten wet from God’s waters of baptism? (Children, tweens and youth show their hesitation and their delight by raising their arms and hands.)

You may not remember it happening but you were told it happened. Did you know it only happens ONCE in your life—as an infant, young person or adult?

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Genesis 1:1-5; John 1:1-5; Micah 5:2-5, Luke 2 and Matthew 2

The Reverend Angela L. Ying
Bethany United Church of Christ
Christmas Eve, 2009

In the beginning, God created.

Heavens. Earth. You name it. God could create it.

First words out of God’s mouth, recorded in the Scriptures: Let there be light.

And lo and behold, there was light.

Guess we weren’t the only ones scared of the dark.

God saw that the light was good, so God gave it a new name, Day and the dark that had been there before, God renamed Night.

That was the first evening and the first morning.

God thought of a Sky and of the waters; God made Seas and

God made Earth.

And God saw that it was good. You wouldn’t expect otherwise, but it is reassuring that what God creates is good.

For many of the things created now by humans cannot be called good. Things that do not last—things that are made not to last—things made to intentionally break down. How strange is that? But what God made. God saw that it was good.
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Luke 1:39-55

The Reverend Angela L. Ying
Bethany United Church of Christ

Church is a dangerous place. Bethany passes out worship bulletins and hugs, but perhaps, we should also be passing out hard hats with bright yellow signs of caution marked “Under Construction.” Church is a dangerous place for anything can happen.

Death, if the community plays it too safe.

Life, if the community knows who and what is at stake.

Church is a dangerous place. It is the only place recorded in Scripture where Jesus loses his temper and turns the tables of those who are cheating and leaving the poor out. Where did this Jewish carpenter of Nazareth get such a fierce passion for love, for God, for justice? From our instincts as women’s ways of knowing, it was from his mother, Mary, who knew who and what was at stake.
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Luke 3:1-6
The Reverend Angela L. Ying
Bethany United Church of Christ

December 6, 2009

How does God find you?
How does God find us?
It’s been one month since I returned from my sabbatical.

Colleagues warned me it would be hard. “You’ll hate going back; you’ll sink into your old bad habits” they said.

But strangely enough, I haven’t — not yet — and I know on this our ninth anniversary at Bethany, it is because of YOU.

You are not about building empire.

Not about looking to form a hierarchy of who is in and who is out.

You know the ways of Caesar are sexy and tempting, but you have come to worship God and God alone.

And you are not unfamiliar with being in the wilderness, where we do not have all the answers.

— Where our faith journey often leads us to ask more questions.

Where we can come across parch and very dry places in our lives and on the faith journey on the long way to possibilities that flow out like streams of milk and honey.

For, you and I at Bethany Church are learning how to be a wilderness people.

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Luke 21:25-36
The Reverend Angela L. Ying
Bethany United Church of Christ

November 29, 2009
What is Advent?

We know Halloween and even Thanksgiving.

But what is Advent?

Do we know?

Advent is a time of preparation.

You heard me. We actually need to prepare for this season called Advent.

So, if we need to prepare for the season of Advent — the first thing we know about Advent is that it is not a last minute exercise — which you can cram, like a final exam and then forget shortly afterwards.

Advent is a time of preparation.

It is intentional and requires that we carefully think things through without attempting to rush ourselves or each other.

Advent is, as anything in life we find worthwhile, a time to practice.

As I shared last week, faith in community takes practice. Practice, practice, practice.

Everyone who is on a team needs practice.

No one in community who is part of a team gets to just show up for the game and expect to play well. If you do, you may find yourself off course or running in the direction of a different goal.

And Advent is the beginning of when we as a team, in community, come together. Advent is when the practice season for the church begins before the big game of Christmas, Epiphany and Easter.

Advent is the preparation and Advent is the practice — so that when God hands you the gift of Jesus Christ, you do not fumble — filling yourself up with more anxiety, more stuff and more senseless indulging, all of which will leave you, ironically, more hungry and lost, than you were before.

Advent is the preparation and Advent is the practice so that when God hands you the gift of Jesus Christ, you know who and what is of God and can receive the gift when it comes.

Advent is the four weeks before Christmas or twenty four days, not counting the four Sundays or days of Sabbath before Christmas.

A journey of the community in preparation, anticipation and expectation to lead us closer to Jesus Christ and all that Jesus had faith in.

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Acts 6
The Reverend Angela L. Ying
Bethany United Church of Christ
November 22, 2009

There is big difference between seven people doing one common thing and one person doing seven things.

The first is a team or community with one purpose.

The second is a Jack or Jane of all trades who will eventually burn out, freak out, or break out.

There is big difference between seven people doing one common thing and one person doing seven things.
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Maureen Shadair

I am here to talk about what it might mean to move from gratitude to faithful action. I have been thinking all week about the scripture reading from last Sunday–about Jarus and the woman who had bled for years without relief. What incredible faith they both must have had to act, to seek out Jesus in the ways they did. I know last Sunday I had an incredible experience, and I don’t think it was just me. I believe something profound occurred in our church that day. And I am left wondering, what’s next?

This stewardship campaign began by asking us to reflect on the many things we are grateful for and the ways in which we are blessed. And that is important to do. But now, the question is what next? How do we take that sense of gratitude and move into faithful action? To start I’d like to name some of the things I am grateful for. I am grateful for my amazing son Lukas and my faithful partner Tammy. I am grateful for my health, my life, a warm house, enough food. I’m grateful to my parents who sacrificed so much to make sure their nine children were fed, clothed, and loved. I’m grateful for the lessons they taught me about hard work, perseverance, responsibility for others, and the importance of celebrating life. I’m grateful for this community at Bethany, for so many here who welcomed us and continue to sustain us—Don Jenkins who makes me want to sing, Jim and Nancy who welcomed us at the start (when we first came to Bethany Tammy and I said, they’re allies I know it! And they were!), Joanne who continually reaches out to Lukas and organizes our worship. I am grateful to live in a country with a constitution, with such an interesting rich collection of cultures. I could go on and on. There are so many reasons to be grateful. If I’ve left anyone out know that you are in my heart.

So I know why I’m grateful, but what’s next? How is growing in faith connected to seeking justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God? I think stewardship is one of the ways I put my faith into action. It’s putting what I say I believe into practice, making a commitment to a faith community, caring for individuals and families but also sustaining the life of the church that must grow or else die. Giving part of my income or giving of myself doesn’t mean neglecting my own needs, my health, my family or my other commitments in my community. It just means that I am asked to reflect on and pray about how I can put my faith into action and then do it. Maybe some of us can give 10% and are glad to do it. Maybe others can only give a few dollars. The point is that we take the time to consider how we are blessed and how this community sustains us and then to consider how we can sustain the work and life of this community—through financial giving and the giving of time and talent.
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