Passion and Compassion; Sermon on 2 Kings 22:8-13; 23:1-3

Rev. George Miller
November 24, 2019
2 Kings 22:8-13, 23:1-3

Today’s reading sounds so wonderfully simple, yet it is also so complex, with many directions a preacher can go.

It’s a reading full of history and historic names.

Though it talks about God’s wrath and the people’s disobedience, it is also filled with great hope.

Hope that’s based on the past: who they were, what God has done, what they’ve been through.

It’s also based on the hope of what they can accomplish by remembering their Impossibly Possible God, the one who is full of divine tenacity.

Today’s reading offers a glimpse into a nation that discovers their heavenly past, and is willing to bring it into their earthly present, based on the covenant God had made with their ancestors.

Covenant is an ancient concept. It’s a spiritual way to discuss a promise that’s been made, an agreement that’s been entered into.

Not a promise based on empty pledges, or an agreement made by force.

But a mutual decision made by all parties; a choice based on expectations, hope and dreams, filled with good gifts and natural consequences.

We have the covenant God made with Noah by placing a rainbow in the sky.

A covenant made with Abraham about land, children, and universal blessing.

A few weeks ago we witnessed the covenant made with King David that involved the north and south, the elders, the people, and God;

a covenant in which it was not about “I” or “you” but “US” and “WE”, flesh and bone, rooted in servant leadership.

Can’t help but to think about Emmanuel’s own covenant made 30 years ago between God, our founding members, Rev. Loffer, the FL Conference, and the national body.

A covenant that we would be a forward-thinking congregation that would be a place of social justice and care in the Sebring community.

Many here today are familiar with our opening statement “No matter who you are or where we are on life’s journey, you are here.”

That’s something from the national setting that we have chosen to say each week.

But how many are familiar with what’s on page 1 of the bulletin- “We have a passion for God and compassion for ALL people.”

We should be proud to say that we try our best to embody that idea.

We embody it through our worship. Our Bible Study. Our Fellowship. Our ministries.

The yearly trips to Back Bay. The Nu-Hope Elder Care meal site. The Highlands Community soup kitchen.

The Gifts of Comfort that dare to say everyone has the right to look beautiful and feel good about their bodies, and the ways in which we have involved local dentists and the residents of Golf Hammock.

The Sit and Stitch group which is an active place of crafting and creating Prayer Blankets and signs of God’s love.

TOPS, which has become a safe space in which weight is lost, healthy living is embraced, long-term relationships are formed, and lives are transformed.

But perhaps no ministry at Emmanuel UCC has done more to show a passion for God and a compassion for all people than The Shepherd’s Pantry.

The covenants that God established with Noah, with Abraham, with David all come down to 2 basic things- to love the Lord and to love your neighbor.

And that’s what The Shepherd’s Pantry has been doing all these years.

Just last Monday we served 170 families.

But the passion for God and compassion for ALL is not just in the grocery bags filled with food.

It’s in the sandwiches that are lovingly prepared. The drinks passed out with a smile. The toys given to the children who are in situations beyond their own control.

It’s in the handshakes, the conversations, the relationships that every one of our volunteers demonstrates to every client…no- to each PERSON, each HUMAN BEING that comes through the doors.

No explanation sought out, no proof of need required.

As anyone who meets our guests knows, each month we have those 1st time visitors who don’t know what to expect.

They can be nervous, embarrassed, apologetic, and worried.

Many just want to take the pre-packed food and leave…

…until they step through our doors…and are greeted by our volunteers.

They discover this is not just a place in which they can be fed, but a place in which they are cared for.

The way YOU…WE…US…engage in conversations, shake their hands, look them in the eye, take the time to listen, sit beside, talk, laugh, carry out their groceries as if they are paying customers.

Sure, sometimes things get messy, sometimes things get confusing, sometimes we have to make uncomfortable decisions.

But we are living out the covenant we made 30 years ago with God, the Conference and the Community.

Last week when Rev. Etheredge visited with her partner, they commented on how welcome they were made to feel.

How much they loved the music. Diane’s leadership. The food!

Randy- you have no idea how much they loved, loved, loved the food and hospitality.

The kitchen. They were blown away by our kitchen, not only it’s size but what we are doing with it.

And now as we enter Advent, we get to decorate our buildings in preparation of the Jesus’ birth.

But it’s not just trees and fun-filled ornaments we’re putting up, we are putting up reminders of what Jesus means to us.

Jesus- the one who not only believed in the tenacity of God, but embodied God’s tenacity.

Jesus- the one who not only believed in the Impossibly Possible God, but showed just how Possible God truly is.

We enter the Advent Season aware that Jesus Christ certainly had a passion for God and a compassion for all people.

And as we embrace this, who knows what wonderful things will come our way.

With the blossoming of the Shepherd’s Pantry and the Gifts of Comfort, we can look forward to how we are:

-Working together to make God’s heart glad.

-Inspired by the Holy Spirit.

-Continuing to claim what Christ is about, for us.

Making real the covenant that was made 30 years ago, as well as the covenant Josiah and the people reentered into nearly 2,700 years ago.

So often, people think that the laws or the Bible are only about unrealistic rules about what you can or cannot do.

But the covenants, the scriptures are also based on memories of who we were, who we currently are, and what we’re meant to be.

The covenant that Josiah rediscovered, which Jesus Christ so embodied, is about loving God and loving neighbor, with passion and compassion.

The covenant is about “WE” and “US” about being of the same flesh and bone.

We are all modern-day Josiah’s who have the ability to follow the Lord, and join in the covenant of grace and love.

We are meant to be good grapes in God’s earthly vineyard.

We are beloved children of our Heavenly Parent.

Called to love and live in relationship.

Called to embody passion and compassion.

For that, let us say “Amen.”