All the prophets from Moses to Jesus remind us that we are not called by God to be slaves to an unfeeling deity. We are not given meaningless work or spiritual busy work to honor God. No, we are called to life and living justly and to the making of abundant joy. It’s where we stand and we can do no other if we hope to live the prayer “thy Kin[g]dom come!”
Consider all the things God might have asked, or that Jesus might have taught. God might have commanded, “On Thursdays 
thou shalt spin around 3 times to honor the Lord, your God!” Or Jesus, looking at the perplexed crowd might have said, “Sorry for your luck. Only those of you born to the families of priests can be loved by God.”
But they did not. They said, “Come to me all you who are weary…” They said, “Even tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of heaven, ahead of some of you.” All who seek will find. For all who knock the door will open. And what Jesus tried to teach every disciple was how to bring life and living, justice, and joy to everyone they met.
2000 years later, we are the inheritors of that work, and the call still rings out: Help the people. Comfort the sick. Challenge evil and change destruction to audacious reclamation.These are part of our mission at Union Church, imperfectly realized as they often are. They are the center of our prayers, the core of our worship, the heart of our fundraising, too.
Dressed in the guise of paint for walls and fixing plumbing; lit by the spotlight of youth sermons, and child care for our youngest members; even disguised as utility bills we are following the call to the life God intends. Because with each dollar we are making a prayer that God will use our pipes, our plumbing, our building, staff, and heat to make a way in the wilderness.
Consider the number of AA groups helping rescue and restore lives torn apart by addiction. They are called to life, and we are called to help. Our work together financially makes that possible no less than the sermon’s Paul preached about love: we’re not a noisy gong or clanging symbol: we are striving to be love in action.
All this month we’ll be celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, which began when Martin Luther posted 95 declarations about how the church should be on the church door in Wittenburg, Germany. In striving to be love in action, and standing firm in the idea that the church must ever be seeking our true center, we will be looking at what principles might the church need posted for this third millennium of learning and service to Jesus’ path. We’re even putting up a special door so that everyone can meditate and post declarations of their own: a “here I stand” opportunity, indeed!”
Because if we are not doing important, life-giving work, then the church should fold. Period. We are called to such life that we cannot contain it or keep it for ourselves and our communities are in deep need of the kind of witness Union Church has made for over 16 decades. We cannot take stands, though, or do that work if we do not contribute of our resources. While people, paint and plumbing, may not look powerful at first, they are often the vehicle for the justice and joy, the very life, we are called to offer and claim.
This month I invite–even IMPLORE you!–to take a stand and call others to life. Pray with me and with Rev. Rachel about what we must do to make the church a vital force for Good and for God. Financially, pray with your resources: miracles have come from every contribution, and lives have been changed by bequests, donations, and tithes. We have financial challenges to meet and we can do it if we work together.
So here we stand friends: called to life, gifted and graced. May we never be complacent, may we always be hungering for kin-dom of wider love, and may we plant our hearts in the very midst of need. Called to love, we can do no other.
In faith and hope,
Rev. Kent
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