Laity Sunday is a day set aside to remember that every person is invited to embody God’s restoration project of healing love, justice, and world-repair. It is a special Sunday defined by General Conference “to celebrate the ministry of all Christians” (2016 Book of Discipline, ¶ 264.2). Usually observed on the third Sunday in October, Laity Sunday is one way we express the deep conviction that all are called to participate in God’s mission and live this calling through the ministry of the church.
Each year we celebrate the 24/7 priesthood of all believers. In recent years we have stressed deep discipleship through participation in the means of grace and building authentic relationships with people in our communities. We considered that for John Wesley, works of piety (charity) and mercy are really spiritual attention training, it’s an attempt to upgrade our spiritual senses. They shape our ability to see God at work in the church and in every life and help tune our hearts to participate in God’s world-repairing mission. This is soul-training and attuned vocational discernment. So we learn to hear and answer God’s call on our lives as they intersect with the lives of all people. 2022 continues to bring challenges for those called to gather in Jesus’ name. While the pandemic continues seemingly unabated in many communities, we are still struggling to find ways to agree on vaccination, quarantining, and how to best protect friends, neighbors, and strangers by wearing masks and social distancing. At the same time we struggle to re-invite our families, friends and neighbors back to church. This appears a mighty task, so we remind ourselves that with God… Yes! All things are possible! Last year we emphasized that our calling as disciples leads us to a deeper faith, one characterized by engagement with people (zooming online and in person) beyond church walls. By recognizing persons who need our help and sharing life together, we rediscover that a vocation to discipleship begins and ends with authentic relationships nurtured through listening love, conversation, and shared stories of struggle and grace. Experiencing God’s life-giving presence through attention to the actual lives of others continues to be a key spiritual practice for discovering and sharing scriptural wholeness together in Jesus Christ. The Laity Sunday themes for the quadrennium come from 2 Timothy 1:1-14. Under the call to Rise Up, laity will continue to echo the invitation of this passage: to Rise Up and revive God’s gift of faith (that first lived in those who loved us); to Rise Up and reveal the grace in Christ that destroys death and brings life; to Rise Up and remain committed to sound teaching with faith and love; to Rise Up and retain this reliable gift of good and beautiful things placed in our trust by the Holy Spirit. Scripture Texts for 10/30/2022: Lamentations 1:1-6, 3:19-26; Psalm 137; 2 Tim 1:8-12; (Luke 17:5-10, used last Sunday) <taken from umcdiscipleship.org> So let's get down to brass tacks. 2 Timothy 1:8-12, New International Version 8 So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. Back a few verses in 2nd Timothy, we find these words: I’m grateful to God, whom I serve with a good conscience as my ancestors did. I constantly remember you in my prayers day and night. When I remember your tears, I long to see you so that I can be filled with happiness. I’m reminded of your authentic faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice (just like my Grandmother, Millie, and Mother, Joan). I’m sure that this faith is also inside you. Because of this, I’m reminding you to revive God’s gift that is in you through the laying on of my hands. ~2 Timothy 1:3-6 (CEB) Within just a few verses in 2 Timothy, Paul uses memory words four times (words like remember, recall, remind). And while some memories are loss and tears, Paul invites Timothy to recall the joy and genuine faith—the song of grace—that lived in the young leader’s grandmother Lois and mother Eunice. Why? Because the reminding can be a rekindling that fans the flame of God’s gift in us—a gift we couldn’t see until they did. The Greek word for revive or reignite that Paul chooses contains the words “up,” “again,” “life,” and “fire” (anazōpurein, 2 Timothy 1:6). Authentic faith never starts (or ends) with us. To put it another way, with the words of theologian, Billie Joel, “we didn’t start the fire.” It’s always a new version of an old song lived out by those who love us into the faith. For the witnesses in scripture, faith is always a cover song. But it’s one that’s hard to sing (or live) when we forget the words or even the melody (as my Granma Millie used to sing, “in my heart there rings a melody of love”). So how do we support our laity?, by remembering why we're together in the first place. Such memories of grace help remind us that God’s song of love has “scored” every life, filling each and every person, laity and clergy, with gifts for “a time such as this.” So what will we do to celebrate Laity Sunday? We ask each other, “Whose love rescued you and set you on the path of discipleship?” We will remember our rescues to rekindle faith’s fire. And we will sing them. Maybe for you it’s “Love lifted me” or “I once was lost but now am found” or some other song that brought you back to life so you could share its abundance with others. In a strange land. Because it is the LORD’s song of love for life, for all – and in this song every life has a verse. Happy Laity Sunday! See you tomorrow in Worship. Be blessed, P Jim ♥️⚓️ Comments are closed.
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ZOOM WORSHIP SERVICE
SUNDAY @ 11 AM To join by phone, dial (929) 205-6099 and enter the meeting ID and password below: Meeting ID: 876 1875 9099 Password 333 PrayerGracious Loving Lord, please keep all of your children safe in these trying times. Guide us. Open our ears to hear, our eyes to see, our minds to understand and our hearts to know and be your love to others. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen. Want to support RLUMC and our missions? Donate Today
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September 2023
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