A Feast for All Peoples     Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
November 1, 2015   Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost,
All Saints Day
Psalms 23 & 84; Isaiah 25:6-9; Mark 12:28-34

At the end of this sermon we will be singing a hymn based on Psalm 84. Here are the words of the hymn written by the poet Jean Janzen:

How lovely is your dwelling,
O God, my hope and strength,
My spirit longs for shelter,
my flesh cries out for home,
where even swallows nesting
beside your altar resting
are ever praising you.
How blessed are those whose travels
are strengthened by your hand,
who pass through shadowed valleys
and find refreshing springs.
Your rain falls soft as kindness
on all your faithful pilgrims
until they come to you.
Look on me, God of goodness,
you are my sun and shield.
One day within your household
is what I most desire.
O guide me in your mercy
along my lonely pathway;
O bring me safely home.

All Saints Day is a day of celebration, but also of longing and missing, as we think of people we have loved who have died or left home or left our church.

Sometimes I have dreams about my boyhood home in Ohio. My parents are both alive in the dream, and my brothers are all there. Often it is Christmas, or another family feast. It feels so warm and secure, a lovely dwelling, and when I wake I miss it so much. My flesh cries out for home, as the hymn says. I feel like a pilgrim passing through shadowed valleys. One day within that household is what I most desire, but no matter how far I travel on my lonely pathway, I will never again arrive in that beloved home.

The sadness of all that passes away can feel almost unbearable, and it would be, if not for the other part of the hymn that answers our lonely longing by singing of our home in God.
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“Take Heart; Get Up, He Is Calling You.”
Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
October 25, 2015   Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, Reformation Sunday
Psalm 126; Jeremiah 31:7-9; Mark 10:46-52

There is so much joy in today’s scriptures, and in each case the joy comes out of sorrow, when God restores or saves or heals people who have suffered.

We, too, can have the joy of the Psalm: “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy!”
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Becoming Great
Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ, 
Bradford, Vermont
October 18, 2015    Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 91; Isaiah 53:4-12; Mark 10:35-45

Today’s scriptures present a difficult problem to untangle.

Psalm 91 says, “Because you have made the LORD your refuge, the Most High your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you.”  And, “When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them and show them my salvation.”

That is comforting, but Isaiah says of God’s servant, “We accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.”  And, “It was the will of God to crush him with pain.”

Then Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.  For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.”  And he said, “The cup that I drink you will drink.”

Here is the problem: Jesus made God his refuge and dwelling place, yet evil befell him.  He called to God on the cross, and God did not answer.  God did not rescue him.
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Through the Needle’s Eye
Rev. Thomas Cary Kinder
The Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ,
Bradford, Vermont
October 11, 2015 Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Psalm 90; Mark 10:17-31

Several years ago a Gallup poll asked people why they attended church. The leading answers were for spiritual growth and guidance, and to feel grounded and inspired. Some answered simply, “to worship God.” A small and declining number said they were just brought up that way—they went to church because it was what their family had always done. If we went around the sanctuary some of us might give answers like these, and others say we are here for the music or for our children or to be a part of a loving community or to serve.
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