Nov 3rd: Extraordinary Generosity, with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski.
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Rev. Dr. Steven Koski
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Extraordinary Generosity with Rev. Dr. Steven Koski. Series: Ordinary People With Extraordinary Hearts A Spacious Christianity, First Presbyterian Church of Bend, Oregon. Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 1.1-3; Hebrews 12.1-2.
Join us this Sunday, either online or in-person, to hear an inspiring message about choosing love over fear, even in challenging times. Let’s come together as a community and be encouraged to leave a lasting legacy of faith, hope, and generosity. All are welcome.
Transcript:
As we near Election Day, I want to publicly announce who I believe will lead us out of this mess. You whoever wins or loses, what’s at stake in this election in the aftermath is the kind of people we choose to be and become. I mean, no election can decide whether we will become better or bitter. No election could decide whether we’ll stand the sidelines or or step forward with courage. No election can decide if we’ll continue to demonize those with with whom we disagree or choose to find our shared humanity. No election can decide if we will live in scarcity and fear or choose to live with generosity, trusting in God’s abundance. No election can decide if we will focus on what’s wrong or choose to focus on the good that we can do only we can make those decisions regardless of the outcome of this election. The days after Election Day, the world will still be on edge. Fear will still threaten to overwhelm us. Hate and violence will continue to be on the rise. Too many will still be hungry and homeless. Our youth will still be in the midst of a mental health crisis. Loneliness will still be an epidemic. Who we choose to be and how we choose to love is more important now than ever. Now, whether the election results are what we most fear or most desire, the holy work of love that is ours to do remains the same. There is so much that will remain uncertain. What is certain is that the love of God, revealed to us in Jesus, is stronger than any challenges we face. What is certain is Love wins. Love always wins. And was What is certain is that that our best hope is not who wins the election. Our best hope is an ordinary people that’s like you and and me with extraordinary hearts, ordinary people with extraordinary hearts who choose love over fear. Theologian Barbara Holmes said, how we handle adversity is our witness to future generations, how we respond to this moment in time will be our witness to our grandchildren, our great grandchildren. How do you want to be remembered? Ask yourself, are you living your life today in a way that you want to be remembered tomorrow? How do you want to be remembered? What do you want your legacy to be? One of my all time favorite books is called Tuesdays with Maury. It describes a friendship between Mitch album, a Detroit sports writer and and professor, Maury Schwartz, who was suffering from ALS now, Mitch would visit Maury every Tuesday, and the book describes those visits. And Mitch said people would go visit Maury ready to cheer him up, but they would be the ones that end up crying. Mitch wrote they were crying about their job, their divorce, their issues. I want to cheer more up, they’d say. But he started asking me about my life, my problems, and the next thing I know, I was crying. Mitch writes, I watched this happen so many times that finally I said to Maurya, I don’t get it. You’re the one dying from ALS, this awful, debilitating disease, if anyone’s earned the right to say, let’s not talk about your problems, let’s talk about my problems, it would be you. Maury looked at me sadly. Mitch said, and he whispered, why would I want to talk. Like that. I don’t want to be a taker. Taking just reminds me that I’m dying. I don’t want to be remembered for what I took from others. I want to be remembered for what I was willing to give. And Maury smiled and said, giving makes my heart glad. Giving makes me feel like I’m living people die. Love doesn’t die. I want to be remembered for the love I left behind. Will we be remembered for the love we left behind? You know, I take for granted that we who are who are worshiping together, whether online, on television or in person, we are the legacy of the faithfulness and generosity of those who’ve gone before us. We have been preceded by generous generations of ordinary people with extraordinary hearts who left their love behind. First Presbyterian Church of Bend is is 121 years old, and I have the privilege to be the pastor of this extraordinary community because of the faithfulness and the generosity of those who’ve gone before me, I’m forever indebted to the saints who have left a legacy of 121 years of faithfulness, generosity, love. Being a church, the community can always count on where there is need. Today’s Bible reading is from First Thessalonians, chapter one, verses one to two. Now our faith, whether you realize it or not, our faith, traces back to this, this small, fragile community in Thessalonica, which was located in what is now modern day Greece. Now, of all the writings in the New Testament, First Thessalonians, is actually the earliest if the books and the letters of the New Testament were placed in chronological order. The New Testament would not begin with the Gospel of Matthew. It would begin with First Thessalonians. First Thessalonians was the first gospel message, the first letter the apostle Paul wrote, and he wrote this letter at a time when the the Roman government was was beginning to look upon the followers of Jesus as a threat, actually as a national security threat. Within a few years, Nero would be emperor, and Nero would begin to persecute Christians. So for the Thessalonians, the very act of gathering together to worship, gathering together to remember Jesus, to share the holy meal of bread and cup, welcoming the stranger, caring for widows and orphans, feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, trying the best they could to exemplify the love of Jesus, doing all of that was bold, courageous, always at the risk of their own lives, they actually practiced their faith in the face of extraordinary adversity and challenge. So this is what Paul wrote to them, and it’s actually regarded as as the earliest writing of our faith. Paul wrote, We give thanks to God always for all of you, constantly mentioning you in our prayers, remembering before God our Father, your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord, Jesus Christ, so Paul gives thanks to God for their. Work of faith, their labor of love and the steadfastness of their hope. So already in the very first writings describing the very roots of our faith, there’s a theme. Faith is work. It’s a labor of love that requires a steadfast hope. Faith is expressed in the choices we make, especially in the face of adversity. Faith is a practice, a practice of making choices today that will shape who we are and how we will be remembered tomorrow. Now, our faith has roots. The history of our faith traces back to that community in Thessalonica. It traces back to their resilience, their courage, their generosity and their faithfulness in the face of adversity. How will we be remembered? How will we be remembered for how, how we handle the adversity and the challenges of our time? What will be our witness to future generations? I mean, will future generations be giving thanks for the work of our faith, the labor of our love, the steadfastness of our hope? You know, I love the image from the 12th chapter of the book of Hebrews that says, seeing that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Let us lay aside every weight and run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us. I mean, what a fantastic image a great cloud of witnesses cheering us on as we run our leg of the race called life. Barbara brown Taylor calls them the balcony people, the people have gone before us, if we can imagine that they’re there in the balcony, cheering us on, encouraging us to live today in the way we’d want to be remembered tomorrow. Now we each have our own personal cloud of witnesses, I mean our own saints in the balcony, grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, mentors, teachers, friends. You know those people who believed in us, who loved us, who is that person for you? Who is that person no longer with us that has impacted your life and faith the most now, imagine that person even now cheering You on. What would they say to you today, that at this church, our church also has a cloud of witnesses, balcony people, our own saints. I mean, what a remarkable legacy of blessings that they passed along to us. You know, just imagine all who have sat in the pews over the years, 121 years, served, sacrificed, loved, ordinary folks like you and me with such extraordinary hearts. First, Presbyterian exists today because of the legacy of love they left behind. Now the baton of faith, hope, love, now that baton is in our hands for our leg of the race. Who will we pass the baton to? I mean, honestly, will there be a generation of the faithful, 2050, 100 years from now? I. Remembering, expressing gratitude for the work of our faith, the labor of our love, the blessing that we’ve handed to them. How will we be remembered? What will be the love we have left behind. I guess that will depend on the choices we make today, tomorrow and the next day. You know, I don’t remember a time in my life when the work of faith, the labor of love, the steadfastness of hope, has been more needed and more important. I don’t know what’s going to happen on election day or the days after, but I do know this. I do know this, love wins. Love, love always wins. And if love isn’t winning, it just means the story isn’t over yet I do know that it’s ordinary people, ordinary people with extraordinary hearts, like you, who find the courage and the generosity to love like Jesus you. Mess that’s who’s going to lead us out of this mess. How we respond to the adversity and challenge of this time will be our witness to future generations. May we live today in the way that we want to be remembered tomorrow. May it be so? I.
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