"Choosing to Abide" - Sermon, November 3, 2019

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I am once again returning to full manuscript for the time being once again, as I find that full manuscript is what helps me to be the best preacher possible.  Enjoy and please feel free to ask questions too!!!  

Community UMC, Quincy
“Abiding in the Reign: Choosing to Abide”
Rev. Andrew Davis
November 3, 2019
Habakkuk 1: 1-4, 2: 1-4
Luke 19: 1-9

            What a busy week this has been, with Halloween now having come and gone, a beautiful celebration of Louise Whiting’s life yesterday, plus I hope we all feel rested and refreshed after that extra hour of sleep last night.  Or not, as I know I tend to feel more tired when we fall back, especially with another busy week, including charge conference on Thursday with our district superintendent.  
            As we are now in the month of November, we are wrapping up the Christian year, as the Christian year ends on November 24, Christ the King Sunday and what better way to wrap it up than talk about abiding in the reign of Christ, or kingdom of God as we begin a new series, “Abiding in the Reign.  As we embark on this new series, we will spend this series talking 
about claiming the gifts of living in this life and yet fully participating in the reign of God, or what has been traditionally called the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God was the number one subject that Jesus came to share; therefore, it is something we continue to try to understand and embrace.[i]
            
The gifts of living in this life are synonymous with this month being a month of when we talk about gratitude, as Thanksgiving Day is on the 28th.  When we think about the word kingdom, or kin-dom as it’s become more commonly known today, we might think back to something of Arthurian legend, or to fantasy novels, television shows like “Happily Ever After,” or “Game of Thrones,” or even movies.  Yet as my friend and series writer Rev. Dr. Nelson Cowan explains that when we think of kings, reign, and kingdoms,
we do refer to the “reigning Super Bowl Champs,” for example, or the reign of a certain technology, or best place to live, or news story that is “breaking the internet.” The word “reign” does have more use than we might suspect and does communicate a sense of authority or power that seems fitting. The idea of time is also bound up in the word. Whereas “king” is a person, and “kingdom” might be a place, reign suggests a time during which we might choose to live or a period of time by which we are redefined as participants in the reign. This is the argument of this worship series— choosing to be a part of the reign of God is an opportunity we want to offer those who worship with us and, indeed, to the whole world. As we begin to “see all the people,” we are inviting people to come and live with us in the reign of God and experience the glory of belonging and walking with the one who reigns over us.[ii]
            Each of us has the opportunity to be a part of that reign of God and a part of God’s kin-dom today, especially as we don’t have to wait for the kin-dom, but instead work towards bringing God’s kin-dom here to earth today through works of mercy and love.    
            Now when we think of the word abide, it means to remain, or hold on.  As engage with our text this morning, our reading from another of the minor prophets, Habakkuk, Habbakuk is told by God to abide, wait for it, to stay where he is, as better days are coming in the midst of violence and destruction, likely written during the captivity in Babylon.  Habakkuk is complaining to God about all the violence and injustice happening around the prophet in this dialogue with God.  Amidst the violence and injustice happening around Habakkuk, God says stay, make a sign of God’s promises on a tablet, and have faith.  When we think of the words of the prophet and by choosing to abide in the reign of God, “We are called to proclaim a vision of justice and peace, of inclusion and transformation, of tearing down walls and building bridges. And we are to proclaim that vision loudly and consistently. That is what it means for ‘the righteous to live by faith.’ That is what it means to ‘abide in the reign.’” [iii]
            Likewise in our gospel lesson, Jesus turns things upside down by including in the reign of God, people whom the rest of society tends to shun.  When we look of the story of Zacchaeus, we might be quick to think back to the little song from Sunday School, “Zacchaeus was a wee, little man, and a wee, little man was he…” But for Zacchaeus, he was despised by society for being a tax collector and not just tax collector, but the chief tax collector.  New Testament scholar Ira Driggers explains that in Jesus’s time, tax collectors were “tasked with collecting Roman tariffs on transported goods [and] held a less-than-virtuous reputation in first-century Jewish society. While the mere fact of Roman tariffs could have upset those living under Roman occupation, many tax collectors earned their reputation through over-charging. This seems to be the case with Zacchaeus.”[iv]
            Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus so badly that he climbs that sycamore treeto see Jesus over the crowds, only to have Jesus tell him that he wants to dine with Zacchaeus that day, once again having table fellowship and inviting into the reign of God those whom society despises, turning this kingdom upside down even further.  Jesus wants to abide with Zacchaeus, in which Zacchaeus tells Jesus that he is presently paying back what he overchrhed, being redeemed by Jesus amidst the other people’s grumbling.  Ultimately in the Gospel narratives when tax collectors are mentioned, “tax collectors symbolize humanity in need of repentance and mercy,” in which Jesus shows God’s grace and mercy at work in Zacchaeus.[v]  It’s the same mercy and grace Available to us too.
Habakkuk and Zacchaeus both choose to abide in the reign of God and it’s something we can do too, especially as we recognize the saints who have gone before us on this All Saints Sunday, who now abide in eternity and the church triumphant.  At the same time, “abiding in the reign is not a simple reality, nor a switch we can throw. It takes time and attention and encouragement and accountability. That is why we are abiding together as a body, as a family, as a community of faith (often made up of surprising individuals) journeying together.” It’s why the people who came before us chose to abide in the reign of God, bringing this reign to the here and now throughout Quincy since 1875.  If we could only hear their stories, the hardships they faced, what made them laugh, or cry!!  This past year, we have lost members and friends of our congregation, June, Dana, Louise, Marian, and Ted.  Each of them contributed to the kin-dom of God in one way or another through their families who abide with us today, time and talents, whether it was music, writing, baking, storytelling, crafting, teaching, finance work, singing, running businesses, and through all of the gifts they offered.  Each of them had things that made them laugh and cry.  Each of them had hardships.  Yet each one persevered in light of their challenges.  And for their lives, we give thanks to God.  
Even today, we as living saints continue to abide in the reign of God as a community of faith gathered here.  Like Jesus, we too can invite many into table fellowship, even people the rest of society may not look favorably upon, just as our church has done so well through the ages.  Like Habakkuk, we too can remain in faith, “proclaiming a vision of justice and peace,” which the world needs more of today.[vi]
As we remember June, Dana, Marian, Louise, and Ted, along with all of the saints who came before us this morning and as we prepare to come to the table of the Lord, let us also choose to abide, or remain in the reign of God, using our talents and gifts for the glory of God just like each of the saints have before us.  May we as the living saints here at church and in town use all of our gifts and talents for the glory of God, bringing God’s kin-dom here to earth today and keep brining it here to Quincy and beyond, working towards peace and justice, showing mercy and grace to EVERYONE we encounter, inviting them into table fellowship just like Jesus invited everyone into, even Zacchaeus.  As we get ready to come to this table for Holy Communion, let us come with a humble, yet joyful heart, receiving God’s grace at this table that Jesus invites us to be in fellowship with him at, the same way Jesus invited Zacchaeus into fellowship with him.  The same table that many before us in this church who have come to receive their nourishment on the journey of faith. 
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let the church say, AMEN!!  

[i] Nelson Cowan, “Abiding in the Reign” in Abiding in the Reign (Nashville: Discipleship Ministries, 2019), 2.   
[ii] Ibid.  
[iii] Derek Weber, “Preaching Notes: Choosing to Abide” in Abiding in the Reign (Nashville: Discipleship Ministries, 2019), 5.
[iv] Ira Brent Driggers, “Commentary on Luke 19: 1-9” in Working Preacher, Accessed 31 October 2019, https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4253
[v] Ibid.  
[vi] Weber, 5.  

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