Benediction: A Sonnet

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Text: (Num 6:22-27 ESV)

“The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,

The LORD bless you and keep you;

the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;

the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

“So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them.””

This is the Word of our Lord. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Broken Promises

As passing go the days of ev’ry year

The promises we make we rarely keep

A resolution make but not adhere

As dreams from mem’ry go when rise from sleep

Pureness of heart will drive the good intent

But those intents have paved infernal roads

And though reflection on them brings lament

It doesn’t change our course as evil goads

So long as flesh is born in fallen earth

Rebellion will precede physical birth.

Our Baptismal Promise

In Baptism we make a solemn oath

Renouncing every devil’s work and way

In purity the One Who would betroth

We pledge our faithfulness to final day

Yet though our bridegroom forfeit all His life

We callously discard His affection

Our hearts and deeds do not befit His wife

And question memory of connection

Though deluge purged out Adam’s legacy,

The patriot still acts the enemy.

God’s Baptismal Promise

Yet from the flood, creation sprang anew,

And from New Adam’s veins, eternity

And just as one tree God’s image withdrew,

Yet with another gives it back to thee

And even though like Gomer, we still stray,

Our Lord forever claims us as His own

By water and His Word with each new day,

Renews His vows until we face His throne

Adopting us, bequeaths to us His name,

Indwells and grants the Holy Spirit’s flame.

The Promise at the Tomb

In Baptism, the New Man comes alive

And transgression’s left buried in the grave

Just as the Lord Himself did once revive

And pave the Way for those He died to save

So those who go again as from the womb,

By water and the Spirit rise again

As Christ was raised exalted from the tomb,

Shall follow His example at the end.

As Resurrection looms, we need not fear

His promised blessing given when He’s here.

Now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Originally preached Dec 30, 2009

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

A. Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout
Shel Silverstein, 1974

Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout

Would not take the garbage out!

She’d scour the pots and scrape the pans,

Candy the yams and spice the hams,

And though her daddy would scream and shout,

She simply would not take the garbage out.

And so it piled up to the ceilings:

Coffee grounds, potato peelings,

Brown bananas, rotten peas,

Chunks of sour cottage cheese.

It filled the can, it covered the floor,

It cracked the window and blocked the door

With bacon rinds and chicken bones,

Drippy ends of ice cream cones,

Prune pits, peach pits, orange peel,

Gloppy glumps of cold oatmeal,

Pizza crusts and withered greens,

Soggy beans and tangerines,

Crusts of black burned buttered toast,

Gristly bits of beefy roasts…

The garbage rolled on down the hall,

It raised the roof, it broke the wall…

Greasy napkins, cookie crumbs,

Globs of gooey bubble gum,

Cellophane from green baloney,

Rubbery blubbery macaroni,

Peanut butter, caked and dry,

Curdled milk and crusts of pie,

Moldy melons, dried-up mustard,

Eggshells mixed with lemon custard,

Cold french fried and rancid meat,

Yellow lumps of Cream of Wheat.

At last the garbage reached so high

That it finally touched the sky.

And all the neighbors moved away,

And none of her friends would come to play.

And finally Sarah Cynthia Stout said,

“OK, I’ll take the garbage out!”

But then, of course, it was too late…

The garbage reached across the state,

From New York to the Golden Gate.

And there, in the garbage she did hate,

Poor Sarah met an awful fate,

That I cannot now relate

Because the hour is much too late.

But children, remember Sarah Stout

And always take the garbage out!

 

But Christians have our own garbage, don’t we?

Text: …If anyone else thinks that he can trust in something physical, I can claim even more. I was circumcised on the eighth day. I’m a descendant of Israel. I’m from the tribe of Benjamin. I’m a pure-blooded Hebrew. When it comes to living up to standards, I was a Pharisee. When it comes to being enthusiastic, I was a persecutor of the church. When it comes to winning God’s approval by keeping Jewish laws, I was perfect. These things that I once considered valuable, I now consider worthless for Christ. It’s far more than that! I consider everything else worthless because I’m much better off knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. It’s because of him that I think of everything as worthless. I threw it all away in order to gain Christ and to have a relationship with him. This means that I didn’t receive God’s approval by obeying his laws. The opposite is true! I have God’s approval through faith in Christ. This is the approval that comes from God and is based on faith that knows Christ. Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I’m becoming like him in his death, with the confidence that I’ll come back to life from the dead. It’s not that I’ve already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me. Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:4-14, GWV)

Christians all have been set free

When Jesus died upon the tree

So all the sin that ties us down

Was covered by a bloody crown

Yet though Christ rose without a doubt

We just won’t get the garbage out

 

We’ll pray our prayers and sing a song

Catch a sermon, short or long,

Don’t use much profanity

And guard our sexuality

But that’s not what it’s all about

No, that won’t get the garbage out

 

We feed the hungry, serve the poor

Tell of Jesus door to door

Read our Bibles every day

Tell the hurting they’re okay

Help out strangers on the way

And when the plate comes, amply pay

Come to classes more than others

Cook a meal, eat with our brothers

Offer prayers for one another

And don’t forget to call our mothers

Grant forgiveness one and all

Welcome guests both great and small

Love our kids, support our wives

Offer up our very lives

Yet though from hills His name we shout,

That still won’t get the garbage out

 

Though trying hard all good to be

That only makes a Pharisee

Pride credits us with worthless trash

And builds a house on sand and ash

Each time you’re looking down your nose

It’s as if Jesus never rose

The sewage simply piles high

Until it towers to the sky

And when the Lord gives you a glance

He simply sees your arrogance

 

Dear Christian friend, the day’s begun

And there’s a race for you to run

Throw off that pride you’re carrying

So only to the cross you cling

And lift your voice and gladly sing

All glory only to our King

Since long before our first birth shout

He, with our garbage, was taken out

 

The victory’s already won

When Jesus cried out, “It is done!”

And God Himself to us has run

He’s present now: “You’re home now, son.”

Your garbage He’s washed clean away

The cleansing flood brings a new day

And that with Word and bread and wine

You’re called by name. He says, “You’re mine.”

 

What pride are you still clinging to?

That clogs your heart with fearful goo?

This week, what change occurs in you

When not defined by what you do?

How will you jump the hurdles now

His victor’s crown upon your brow

When, knowing that your race is won,

You follow footprints of God’s Son

And to eternity you run

But while you’re breathing, never done

The Lord keep you each day en route

For Jesus took our garbage out.