One of the joys of having been on staff at Camp Sawtooth for a few years is keeping in touch with students. A girl who is in high school just emailed me, sharing with me how she and others had become members of their PC(USA) church last Sunday and the youth gave the sermon (it was Youth Sunday, which we have on Mother’s Day). Below is the sermon they gave. Yes, I do believe they could be called “postmodern.”
Before our sermon, we read the story of the rainbow fish. Also we read the scriptures of Jesus calling the disciples to be fishers of men, and John 21:1-19.
We learn from the story of the rainbow fish that we should not be selfish with our faith. Knowing the love of Christ makes us feel beautiful inside and sharing his love allows us to be an example to the world.
Jesus calls us to be fishers of people and to share God’s love. When the disciples went fishing without Jesus, they were unable to catch any fish. When we as Christians force our beliefs on others we are not sharing the love of Christ. Being a disciple is based on love, not casting judgment.
One day I was in history class talking with some of my friends about the TV shows we liked to watch. American Idol and Survivor topped our list. When talking about the ones we didn’t like, one girl mentioned that she stopped watching E.R. I asked her why that was and she explained it was because one of the characters on the show was turned gay. She expressed that in her mind it is wrong for people to be gay. I mentioned that it is a part of our society and people are going to be gay. She said in her society there are no gay people and gay people are going to hell. She said they are going to hell because God says being gay is wrong. I then told her that God also says you will go to hell for wearing two types of fabric (like cotton-polyester) and if a woman has braided hair she will also go to hell. I then happened to mention to her that she sometimes has braided hair and most clothing nowadays is made from mixed fabric. I asked her “Does that mean you’re going to go to hell too?” One of her friends quickly chimed in that I needed to shut up because I didn’t know what I was talking about. The two girls then proceeded to not speak to me for the rest of class…I was content with that.
God doesn’t have favorites and He is the one who gets to choose who goes to heaven or hell. Because if we were to choose, a lot more people would end up in hell including ourselves. What we learn as disciples is that people are afraid to be led to Christ if they believe members of the church are going to cast judgment upon them.
When we fish on the right side of the boat with the love and grace of Jesus Christ, we are able to bring more people to God. Even thought Jesus isn’t physically in our boat, we can still hear him and take direction from him. The disciples were able to catch 153 fish with their net, yet the net never broke. God’s net is big enough for all people… Muslims, Buddhists, homosexuals, and even the atheist although they say they don’t believe in the net.
Jesus said, “Do you love me?”
“Yes Lord”
“Feed my lambs.” The foster child, the Sunday school kids, the children born into less than ideal families.
Jesus said, “Do you love me?”
“Yes Lord.”
“Feed my sheep.” Jesus calls us to befriend the kid at school who eats alone, the teen parent, the juvenile delinquent, the drug addict.
Jesus said, “Do you love me?”
“Yes Lord, you know I do.”
“Then feed my flock.” We are called as disciples to love the unlovable… the homeless, the inmate, the pedophile, the spouse abuser.
As disciples of Christ, we need to minister to those who need it the most. Go out and show them what Christ’s love is truly like. Amen.