Grace and Peace to you on this FIFTH Sunday of Easter from the RISEN Lord, Jesus Christ!
I am thrilled to be with you today, preaching my first sermon to you, worshiping with you in this venue that’s become, I hope, after so long of being here, a real and sacred space. Since I haven’t been here long, or at all until this point, I should introduce myself again—I’m pastor Chris Sesvold. I am honored and excited to join you as pastor at Halfway Creek Lutheran Church You have this beautifully articulated mission: “Reaching out to share Christ with all,” For a church in a town growing as fast as this one, how could you get a more perfect statement of purpose in God’s mission? When I think about what draws people in, what draw people together or to a place, I cannot help but think that God’s Spirit is mightily at work in the lives of all those people. It is part of the fun for me of being a pastor, but I think also our evolving call as church in the 21st century, to track down that spirit moving in the world and ask, “how can I be part of what God is doing around me?” Some of my favorite things in school were science and music. Do you know what those things have in common? There is a lot of experimentation and practice. You try something, see what happens, try it again a little different, learn from your mistakes, then try something again and fail about a thousand times before you’ve finally figured out something new and valuable, or you’ve decided just how the piece of music should sound, for that single moment in time you play it anyway. Following Jesus, being the church, is like that, too. In the Easter season we like to talk about new, resurrection life. There is always something new happening—new life that God is making happen in the lives of people everywhere. New life that comes from, of all places, death. Change and death, and darkness and failure, are all too real pieces of this world. Jesus’ story is no different. In fact, he was always bringing new life to the places where he was. But in the end, even that new life got people upset and got Jesus executed. The good news that Jesus brought was radial. Radical enough to get the leaders upset. And those leaders plotted and convinced people that this message of Christ was a problem—it was catching on—and that it needed to be stopped. Getting rid of Jesus was the way to do it. And so they did. They got they plotted their way forward, and under cover of night, with temple police, a powerful jury, and the empire on their side, they ended it. Jesus was arrested, tried, and crucified—the leader of this radial movement of inclusive love and new life, was put to death. The established powers could go back to the fine upstanding religious people they were—where everyone knows their place, knows who is in /out right/wrong, and all could focus on their spiritual lives without these radical, political Jesus people about. It was new life, changes for the better, that led to Jesus’ death at the hands of those in power. And it was God’s amazing love for the world that brought out of that death, unending and complete new life for us, through Jesus’ resurrection. If this past year of pandemic has showed us anything it is that the traditions we hold dear and the evolving ways of being in the world do joyfully and meaningfully combine as we look to a new age of what it means to be Christ’s Body, the church, for the sake of the world, to abide in his love and become bearers of the fruit of his kingdom. Our church has a treasure of beautiful and wonderful tradition. Just like if you study science or music, all the wonderful knowledge and creativity that has come before is the foundation of the next performance, the next hypothesis, the next composition, the next fruit of following Jesus. In your ministry site profile for Halfway Creek, you said it so well. Let me paraphrase some key phrases for you. Our Mission “Reaching Out to Share Christ with All,” is well known and well lived. We are an innovative, multi-generational, mission-focused community of believers. We balance honoring historical tradition with trying things outside of the box to further our mission. …we are not a stereotypical “little country church.” We are praying for…collaboration, energy, and creativity. Abiding in Jesus can look many ways. But I think you hit the nail on the head that a blend of tradition and holy experimentation is the kind of new life that Jesus, the vine, is pouring into these branches today. Your perseverance and adaptation in a time of great change—this pandemic—has shown the fruit of abiding in Christ. And you’ve done well. I’m sure I can rightly say that creativity, holding on to what’s most important, abiding in Jesus, is what you’ve been focused on now—intensely—for a whole year. We can certainly say that this year has had Jesus’ pruning and cleansing in copious amounts. So look for the new life. Look for the fruit. From death, God brings life. From darkness, light. I’m so excited to start this journey of abiding in Christ with you: looking for new fruit, new life, finding where God is working hard in Holmen and joining in that mission. I look forward to many opportunities for creativity and experimentation with you as the church seeks to make its wonderful, gospel filled tradition sing out loud and strong in a growing world. With God’s Spirit ahead of us, and Christ in our hearts, we will, indeed, boldly “reach out to share Christ with all.” May you continue to abide in Christ, allow his words to abide in you, and glorify the father as you bear much fruit. Christ is Risen! Alleluia! |
AuthorRev. Chris Sesvold is currently the pastor at Halfway Creek Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Holmen, WI. Archives
October 2021
Categories |