Your Life Is Being Demanded of You  
Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
July 31, 2016   Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
Psalms 49; Ecclesiastes 1-2; Luke 12:13-21
 

We sang the hymn “Child of Blessing, Child of Promise” for Arabella’s baptism, yet it is not just about children at the moment of baptism. “Child of love” and “love’s expression” means us, too. The hymn is talking about us when it says, “God’s you are, from God you came, back to God we humbly give you…” The advice is for us when we sing, “Child of God…learn to know whose child you are.” Our life belongs to God.

Jesus says in today’s gospel passage, “This very night your life is being demanded of you.” He says to forget storing up treasures for ourselves and instead be “rich toward God.” We have an ideal way of living, a true life, and it is being demanded of us this very moment. Are we living it?

Ecclesiastes warns that death is coming. It asks, “What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This…is vanity.” Today’s Psalm says our life is God’s and there is nothing we can give God to buy our life and make it our own to have forever. We are going to die. Our life is being demanded of us. Have we lived in vain, or have we been rich toward God?

These are not the parts of the Bible written by an Eeyore or Puddleglum. They are intended to be hopeful and helpful. A deathbed perspective can help us live a more meaningful life and die a more peaceful and contented death if we follow the wisdom it offers.

Mary Oliver is a contemporary poet and writer of her own gentler kind of wisdom literature. Continue reading Sermon, July 31, 2016 →

For Everyone Who Knocks, the Door Will Be Opened  
Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
July 24, 2016   Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalms 138; Luke 11:1-13
 
The 138^th Psalm has a surprising verse. The Psalmist has walked in the midst of trouble and is surrounded by enemies. Imagine what you would ask God to do for you under those circumstances, in a time of trouble or conflict. The Psalm says, “On the day I called, you answered me,” and we expect it to say that God gave the Psalmist what we would want, like help fixing things, or triumph or escape, but instead it says, “You increased my strength of soul.”

Maybe that is the answer to every prayer. Maybe that is why we pray. God responds to our prayer by increasing our strength of soul, and when others know we are praying for them, it increases their strength of soul.

The increase of the strength of one soul in the world has a positive effect that ripples out farther than we can see. The first and perhaps most important thing every one of us can do to help this world is to call out to God in prayer and let God increase the strength of our soul. Nothing could help us more in a time of trouble or conflict.

There is a similar surprise in today’s gospel passage. Continue reading Sermon, July 24, 2016 →

A Church of Contemplation and Action  
Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
July 17, 2016   Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalms 130 & 131; Romans 8; Luke 10:38-42

“Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things.”

Before I preach this sermon, I want to make sure that I am talking to the right people.

How many here today are worried about anything in your life, or in the lives of those you know, or in the world, things like terrorism, cancer, addiction, the presidential campaign, relationships, money, global climate change, racism, bigotry, aging, death, the Red Sox, your children, your grandchildren, your parents, your grandparents, your to do list, the church, the town, your house, your car, your work, where life is going, did you leave a burner on, did you lock the door, what’s for lunch?

How many of you are worried about one of those things, or anything else? How many of you are worried about many of those kinds of things?

How many of you have been distracted, thinking about something other than worship at any time since the service began?

And one last question: how many of you would like to be less worried or distracted in life?

Thank you! This sermon is for you.

“Martha, Martha,” Jesus says, “you are worried and distracted by many things.” I hope you hear the love in his voice when he says that. He repeats her name gently and compassionately. She is a faithful disciple who has invited him into her home. She is working hard making a meal for him. He does not want her to feel bad. He does not intend to shame her. He does not tell her what to do. He simply points out that there is another way, and that it is the better way, and no one should try to stop another person from following it. Continue reading Sermon, July 17, 2016 →

Who Is the Neighbor I Am to Love as Myself?
Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
July 10, 2016   Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 25; Luke 10:25-37

Today we read the version of our Identity and Aspiration Statement that was edited to be a unison reading. Many of us prefer the sound of it to the original, but there is one thing that bothers me, even though I helped write it. It leaves out one small part of the original statement that seems crucial.

Here is what got left out: “We aspire to grow in numbers as we make this an increasingly welcoming, loving, helpful congregation.”

I feel fine leaving out our aspiration to grow, because if we fulfill our other dreams growth will naturally happen, and “welcoming, loving, and helpful congregation” is already in the unison reading. That leaves only one word missing. Listen again, to see if you catch it. “We aspire to grow in numbers as we make this an increasingly welcoming, loving, helpful congregation.”

The crucial word is “increasingly.”

Increasingly is the key to fulfilling our aspirations. Increasingly is the secret to growing as a congregation. Increasingly is our only hope in the struggle against the violent forces of fear and hate that are tearing our world apart. Christ dreamed that his followers would establish the God’s realm of justice, mercy and peace on earth for all people, and the fulfillment of that dream depends completely on increasingly.

We lose as a church if all we try to do is stand our ground and continue being what we have been, because there are forces at work pushing hard against us.

Senator Bill Bradley was a former star basketball player for the New York Nicks. He was famous in college for how hard he worked to improve his game. He explained his philosophy saying, “When you are not practicing, remember, someone, somewhere else is practicing, and when you meet him he will win.”
Continue reading Sermon, July 10, 2016 →