“Security and Refuge in God’s Love” -“Connecting with Jesus, One Another, and Others in the Unconditional Love of Our God (Together, in a variety of ways)” Deuteronomy 26:1-11, Romans 10:8b-13, Luke 4:1-13 

The liturgical season of Lent raises awareness of the role of sin in our lives as well as society and culture. Followers of Jesus must balance the awareness of sin with our God who is loving, compassionate, and our ultimate hope.[1] This balancing act is disturbing, since it beckons us to resist conforming to the living Word (Jesus) and the written Word (the Bible). However, the gospel calls us to a lifestyle of nonconformity. It begs us to “…persist in the disturbance until [we] get face to face with the Lord himself.”[2]

Janet and I have been supporting Plant with Purpose, a ministry committed to the reforesting of the Dominican Republic, for the past thirty-eight years. Another problem in the Dominican Republic is the high mortality rate of children. Hundreds of children die everyday due to malnutrition. Scott Sabin, the Executive Director of Plant with Purpose tells this story about a friend of his on a recent trip to the Dominican Republic:

She visited a slum and in a small, dirty cardboard and aluminum shack, she met a girl her own age, with a tiny baby. After an initial introduction, through an interpreter, the girl began to talk excitedly and begged my friend to take her baby.  “Please,” she said. “He is so small you could fit him in your purse, and no one would ever know. You could take him and give him a better life.” My friend, of course, said no. The young girl began to sob. “If he stays here, he will die. There is no hope for him here.”

Temptation. Temptation is the tool the devil used against Jesus and uses against us to motivate us to conform to society and culture’s definitions of moral and ethical…right and wrong and to end the disturbance. Temptation is the enticement to go against the teachings of the Word of God, living (Jesus) and written (the Bible). Whether it is the temptation to gossip, smuggle a baby out of the Dominican Republic, or rationalize away the Truth, the enticements to sin are many.

In order for Jesus’ humanity to have significance, he had to face the same temptations we do. Jesus has lived our lives in that he has experienced our temptations and not conformed to their enticement. Jesus had fasted forty days and forty nights. The devil came to Jesus three times with temptation. The first temptation came in the form of making Jesus think he would only be able to survive by the sustenance of bread as opposed to the Father’s faithfulness. The second temptation bated Jesus to violate the first commandment by replacing the Father with the devil for his loyalty and affection. Finally, the third temptation asked Jesus to manipulate the Father and to use his power in a self-serving way.

Temptation is punctiliar and progressive. That is a specific moment and progressive moments. Temptation is the mechanism used by God to guide us into obedience and true freedom.

Life is an ongoing series of choices. Your choices matter. The fulfillment of God’s plans for humanity requires our cooperation with God. Anytime we are enticed to sin, we are tempted to test God’s faithfulness. Listen to the words of Anne Lamott on conforming to temptation which ends the very important “disturbance.” Anne writes,

I was scared much of the time. Life was utterly schizophrenic. I was loved and often seemed cheerful, but fear pulsed inside me. I was broke, clearly a drunk, and also bulimic. I was cracking up. But a feather of truth floated inside the door of my mind-the truth that I was crossing over to the dark side.[3]

Anne was tempted with sexual infidelity, cocaine, alcohol, and religious syncretism. She gave in and was confused until she gave it all up and accepted Jesus Christ into her life. The pressures and temptations to return to her old manner of living were ongoing and many. When we believe that a particular temptation is impossible to overcome, we conform to cheap grace and costly relativism. Oswald Chambers, the author of the daily Devotional My Utmost for His Highest writes, “If the temptation is possible to overcome in our own strength, then it is not a real temptation. If the temptation is impossible to overcome, then it is the thing we have to ask God to do for us.”[4] And Jesus has already overcome every temptation we encounter.

The temptation to conform to the cultural values of materialism, entertainment, the coarsening of discourse now offered by many churches as the gospel, must be resisted. Moreover, let us not retreat to a form of religious absolutism rooted in cultural nostalgia or a “tinny patriotism.”[5] Peter Gomes writes,

If there is any good news that is truly good news for everybody, and not just for a few somebodies, it is this: God is greater and more generous than the best of those who profess to know and serve him. This is the radical nonconformity with the conventional wisdom that Jesus both proclaimed and exemplified, and alas, it cost him his life. Will we hope to fare any better, as disciples of his nonconformity?[6]

The Deuteronomist challenges us to confess that God’s faithfulness is the basis of life.[7] It is resting in God’s faithfulness that we’ll know our greatest security and refuge. And Paul, in his letter to the Roman Christians, tells us to call on the Lord, at all times and in all ways, and we’ll be saved.

With what temptation are you preoccupied? Lent is no time for heroic resilience. Lent is the time Christians purposely give our faith permission to work on us. Lent invites you to turn to the cross as an act of freedom to love fearlessly and to live beyond the boundaries you and the world around you impose. Lent beckons you to affirm God’s promise and generosity to you and all people. Lent convicts you to ensure there is a basic standard of living for all, regardless of religious, racial, or ethnic identity. Lent insists that you work for the basic needs of all—education, health care, food, clothing, and personal/family security are met. Lent reminds you that God is good and will use you to care for those in need.[8]

A posture of gospel nonconformity requires a rejection of the “good news” promoted by the prevailing cultural consensus. Conforming to the gospel manifests itself when followers of Jesus challenge the prevailing cultural consensus; the status quo. And that is the gift of Lent, my friends. Amen.

This sermon was preached on Sunday, 09 March 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

in the Great Room and Sanctuary at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

 Copyright Ó 2025

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Adapted from Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty in David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 2(Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 32.

[2]Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart Limited, 1935), 60.

[3]Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies (New York: Pantheon Books, 1999), 39-41.

[4]Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, 60.

[5]These ideas gleaned from Peter J. Gomes, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus (New York City, New York: HarperOne, 2007), 60.

[6]Peter J. Gomes, The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus, 63.

[7]Gleaned from Thomas W. Currie in David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 2, 26.

[8]In the six paragraphs above, I was influenced by the writing of Anne Lemott, Peter Gomes, and Oswald Chambers. In addition, I was challenged by the thinking of Carolyn J. Sharp, William Greenway, Barbara K. Lundblad, Anna B. Olson, Shively T. J. Smith, and James C. Howell in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 2 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 24-26, 26-28, 31-32, 33-34, 35-37, and 37-39.

“Connecting with Jesus, One Another, and Others in the Unconditional Love of Our God (Together, in a variety of ways)” “Being Clear About Our Love Identity” – Exodus 34:29-35, 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, Luke 9:28-36

On the campus of Tuskegee University in Tuskegee, Alabama, there is a statue of Booker T. Washington standing over a slave and lifting a veil “…so that the light of education can strike his face.” The slave has a book in one hand and uses the other to help lift the veil. In the eyes of the slave, one sees hope. The caption under the statue reads, “He [Booker T. Washington] lifted the veil of ignorance from his people and pointed the way to progress through education and industry.”[1] Yes, connecting with Jesus, one another, and others in the unconditional love of God lifts the veils that blind humanity from displaying the glory of God in word and deed. Yes, the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 25 come alive in human lives.

Like Booker T. Washington, followers of Jesus are to lift veils and live with unveiled boldness. Michael Horton in his book A Better Way writes, “Today people want to see God. Not content with hearing God’s Word, they want to see God’s glory.”[2] Today is Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday. The glory of God was shown to Peter, James, and John that day twenty centuries ago. Like then, but today even more so, people want to see the glory of the Lord.

In Luke 9:28-36, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with him and led them up a high mountain. His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than any amount of bleach could produce. Elijah and Moses were talking with Jesus. Peter exclaimed, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” But a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him.”[3] The disciples looked and only Jesus remained.

In 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:2, Paul utilizes the Old Testament story about the veil of Moses as an analogy to talk about the Christian life. He focuses our religious memory back to the scene where Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the tablets of stone on which were chiseled the Ten Commandments. You recall this story in Exodus 34:29-35. The people focused not on the tablets, but on the face of Moses. Moses’ appearance had been shaped by his experience with God. Just as the Hebrews looked at Moses and knew he had been talking with God, so people should be able to see in the face of Christians evidence that we have been with Jesus.

Unfortunately, that has not always been the case. Many of our doctrines have become veils which systematize the faith and often hide the love of God. Christians must not hide behind the veils of doctrine and practice. In a country where the disparity between rich and poor is growing and children die of the effects of poverty, a veiled faith will not work. We must do more than discuss hunger, deliberate on the crises facing immigrants and refugees, debate the ethical demands of being homeless, explore the reasons presented for why members of the LGBTQ+ community are the way they are, and pay lip service to racism, sexism, and ageism.

The lesson of the Transfiguration is this: if we have experienced salvation in and through Jesus Christ, then we are to live with veils removed, engaging the needs of society, and partnering with others to make systemic change. The Transfiguration teaches us that when captivated by the very presence of God we are not to veil that experience and hide it from others. To the contrary, we are to go into Wichita with the good news that in Jesus Christ life is inclusive of people of color, the LGBTQ+ community, the rich, the poor, the mentally and physically challenged, the hungry, the immigrant, the refugee, and the homeless.

Look at the Table. See the body and blood of Jesus given and poured out for you. Look at the Table and see unconditional love not held back, but freely shared. Live with boldness characterized by love for God and others because you have been changed and continue to be changed by the Word, living, and written. Veils come off, one by one. The poor, LGBTQ+ community, wealthy, immigrant, refugee, hungry, homeless, racist, sexist, and ageist are encountered by God. Live out your love identity. Yes, you are the best Jesus someone sees. Amen!

This sermon was preached on Transfiguration of the Lord Sunday,

2 March 2025 by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

Copyright Ó 2025

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Adapted from Robert Warden Prim in David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, editors, Feasting on the Word, Year C, Volume 1(Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 451.

[2]Michael Horton, A Better Way (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books, 2002), 36.

[3]Luke 9:33 and 35

“Learning From and With Our God of Unconditional Love (Together, in a Variety of Ways)”

“Loving on Fumes?” – 1 Corinthians 15:35-38, 42-50, Genesis 45:3-11, Luke 6:27-38

It is true that we drink from our own wells. Yes, what you fill your life with becomes nourishment. So, if I read the Bible, pray, engage in life-long learning, attend worship, participate in a small group, give from my life’s wallet, and serve others, I am filling my life with things that display God’s unconditional love. Thus, when I need a drink of God to sustain me, which I always do, the well is nearly full. What’s in your well?

Hassan John, a Christian pastor from Jos, Nigeria, is regarded as an “infidel” by Muslim extremist Boko Haram insurgents and has a price on his head of 150,000 Naira (about 800 American dollars). He goes to his church each day not knowing whether someone will murder him in order to claim the price on his head. As an Anglican pastor and as a part-time journalist for CNN, the 52-year-old Hassan has often been surrounded by violence and bloodshed in northeast Nigeria. He’s seen friends shot dead or injured in front of his eyes. As a reporter, he has often rushed to the scene immediately after bombings. He has narrowly escaped death himself. Hassan said, “You see it again and again and again. You get to places where a bomb [planted by Muslim extremists] has just exploded. There are bodies all over the place. You visit people in the hospital. You go back and meet families, you cry with them, you console them, you do the best you can with them all the time.” But this violence and hatred has not stopped him from reaching out to his Muslim neighbors who need Christ. After he helped a small Muslim girl who could not go to school after her father had been killed in the violence, he started to reach out to other orphan children. Soon he was helping 12 Muslim women, then 120. Young Muslim men in the area are starting to ask if they can find help as well. Hassan’s evangelistic outreach involves eating meals with Muslims. Hassan explained, “Now in Nigeria that is a big thing. You don’t eat with your enemy because you are afraid that you will be poisoned. Now [in an attempt to share the gospel], Christians build friendships with Muslims; it is just so marvelous.”[1]

Hassan John’s well is full of God’s unconditional love. Grace, , God’s faithfulness, the ability to forgive and not judge are just a few ways that people can experience God’s unconditional love in and through your life. But there is a cost when our lives are low on God’s unconditional love. If we live as Christians in survival mode, our faith is in survival mode, that is, our well is low on “God.” We become discouraged, depleted, and almost hostile toward God and others. As Gradye Parsons reminds us in Our Connectional Church, we mustn’t focus on what we lack, but on God’s abundance and place our lives and our churches in the place to drink from God’s deep well of faithfulness.[2] And that faithfulness is rooted in grace, the ability to forgive and not judge, and unconditional love. So, loving on fumes is a life that avoids change because its hard and holds on to fear because of the unknown. But God’s will requires us to risk and have courage.

The decisions we make each day, matter. Just like filling up the car with gas matters. Cars don’t work well on fumes. Nor do Christians. In 1 Corinthians 15 we learn that what we put in our bodies is either perishable or imperishable. That is, it will sustain us in loving God and others. Our bodies are the temple of God. What we do with them for the number of days we have on the planet matters. Our lives, preresurrection and postresurrection, are freed from the fumes of sinful sources that supply our wells when we take seriously that faith in Jesus Christ actually joins us with God’s grace, faithfulness, the ability to forgive and not judge, and unconditional love. Jesus’ power, person, and purpose are for us, not against us.[3] Genesis 45, in its focus on Joseph and his family, indicates that the greatest act of grace is the gift of forgiveness. God forgives us. We accept it. And we are to do the same, practice forgiveness. Forgiveness fills our tanks with good “God stuff” for the journey. Not to receive or give forgiveness is like putting an intravenous line of “Pop” in your body to quench a thirst. And Luke reminds us that life is not easy. Living with the mantra of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth,” will defeat us in the end. Seeking retribution is an example of loving God and others on fumes. Retribution is not life giving. It is life consuming.^[4]

Hassan John did not love on fumes when he loved his Muslim neighbors and orphaned children. Loving on fumes has no love to give away. Robert Darden writes, “The more love we give away, the more love will come back to us, in greater measure, until it cannot be contained.”[5] God will fill you with love overflowing. Fumes are replaced with God’s grace, faithfulness, the ability to forgive and not judge, and unconditional love. What’s in your well? Amen. 

This sermon was preached on the Seventh Sunday After Epiphany, 23 February 2025

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

Copyright Ó 2025

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Matt Woodley, editor, PreachingToday.com; sources: Clement Ejiofor, “Boko Haram Placed a Bounty on Christian Pastor from Jos,” Naij.com (12-3-15); personal interview with Hassan John in Nigeria.

[2]Gradye Parsons, Our Connectional Church (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 55-64.

[3]I am grateful for James C. Miller’s thinking and writing in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 262-263.

[4]In preparation of this sermon, I have benefited from the thinking of Brent A. Strawn, Stacey Simpson Duke,  John W. Wurster, James C. Miller, Maria Teresa Davila, Wes Avram, and Robert F. Darden in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 255-257, 257-258, 259-260, 261-263, 263-264, 265-267, and 267-269.

[5]Robert F. Darden in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1, 269.

Learning From and With Our God of Unconditional Love (Together, in a Variety of Ways)

“Entrusting Ourselves to God’s Love, Care, and Mercy” – Jeremiah 17:5-10, 1 Corinthians 15:12-20,

Luke 6:17-26

In whom or what do you trust? As Christians, we participate with God in the mission of justice and salvation. And fear should not inhibit our words and deeds for and on behalf of others, particularly those who are suffering. As Gradye Parsons reminds us in Our Connectional Church, being internally strong in the things of God will make us effective, externally, in the World that God loves when he writes,

North Avenue [Presbyterian Church in Atlanta] began in the 1990s to pray about how to reach people who are significantly different from its membership…as the church was thinking about being internally strong and externally focused, a research paper entitled ‘Hidden in Plain View’ came to its attention…the study identified the city of Atlanta as a major hub for human trafficking of children, kids under the age of seventeen.[1]

As the pastor and my friend, the Rev. Dr. Scott Weimer and the leaders at North Avenue read this paper, they discovered that the street corner on which the church campus was situated was identified as a location that was especially problematic for the trafficking of children. Those children, every human being, you, and I are made in the image of God. We are wired to live in relationship with God and others. Because of that truth, you can entrust your life to God’s unconditional love, care, and mercy. How do we do it?

The paralysis that sets in when we are asked to think outside the box is best characterized by preoccupation. To be preoccupied is “to dominate or engross the mind of something or someone to the exclusion of other thoughts.”[2] For example, you have just been diagnosed with cancer. You are driving home from the doctor’s appointment. You begin to think through outcomes. The next thing you know you are driving thirty miles an hour in a school zone when the yellow light is flashing. You get pulled over by a police officer and are issued a ticket. Your preoccupation with the cancer diagnosis sent you into a world that made you unaware of how fast you were driving.

To be preoccupied with God is a good thing. In 1 Corinthians we glean this: Easter Sunday is connected to every Sunday that follows. Think of all the times we have been told we are worthless and there is no hope for us to be any different than we are. The resurrection of Jesus from the dead guarantees all future resurrections from “death patterns” of living, let alone our literal physical death to come. Beth Felker Jones writes, “…the connection between Jesus and us is so intimate, so deep, and so real that his resurrection guarantees our future hope…Because of Jesus, ‘the dead’ have hope.”[3] Jeremiah indicates we have the propensity to do both good and bad things; that our intentions, motives, and decisions are never pure or without blemish. We are selfish and God centered. Our words and actions bear good and bad fruit. Yet, the more we rest in the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection, the benefits in knowing and experiencing that God’s unconditional love, care, and mercy for and toward us always wins, the inclination of our heart will lean more toward grace, forgiveness, and love for others. And Luke reminds us that people really do want to know Jesus. People wanted to hear Jesus teach. They wanted their diseases to be healed. And they wanted to be transformed by the Messiah to live God’s intended destiny for them. [4]

Is it the case today that people want Jesus? Some do. Deep within, everyone does. Therein lies the opportunity for authentic relationships of love, care, and mercy. Christians can be a blessing to those who are marginalized from the love, care, and mercy of God. And from others as well for that matter. How can you make progress in being set free from a worldview and lifestyle of self-centeredness to begin a life of authentically serving and loving others into trusting God’s love, care, and mercy for them? Take responsibility for the things in your life that you find not loving, caring, or merciful. Avoid affixing blame. Develop an action plan to move forward.

Grace Presbyterian Church is becoming internally stronger in the basic practice of loving God and loving others. And focusing on unity, despite our differences, is making headway. Our external focus begs the question, who is our neighbor? Immigration, refugees, homelessness, the impact of “white privilege” both positively and negatively, and economic disparity show us our neighbors. Who is your neighbor? How do you engage him or her? Donald K. McKim writes, “Trust is faith. Trust is enacted faith…Faith is the trust that responds to Jesus’ command: ‘Follow me.’ Faith is the trust to love others. Faith is the trust to continue living as God desires and as Jesus showed us.”[5] Living as God desires is easier said than done. Why? It takes courage.

I’ve been thinking a lot these past weeks about courage. What might a courageous Christian look like?

• A person who values their personal faith convictions more than their allegiance to a political party.
• Christians who will say that bigotry, wrapped in religion, is still bigotry.
• Christians, saying that Christianity was never supposed to be about power or America being first.
• A Christian who asserts that diversity, equity, and inclusion is at the heart of everything Jesus was doing when he was here and continues to do through his followers today.
• Christians who will say no more to a Jesus-less Christianity.

I believe that the American Church is at a turning point. That turning point is to shed irrelevance, uselessness, prejudice, selfishness, and moral bankruptcy and begin the rebirth of being the living, loving, and forgiving presence of Jesus.

Can we, the Christians of Grace Presbyterian Church, grow in our defense of the millions of vulnerable people who are being sacrificed on the altar of hateful people’s phobias, privileged people’s convenience, or fearful people’s cowardice?[6]

Respond to God’s love for you in Jesus Christ. Accept Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord. Be “born again.” Reaffirm your faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Entrust yourself to God’s love, care, and mercy. Serve and love real people who live in a real world who have real needs. Amen.

This sermon was preached on the Sixth Sunday after Epiphany, 16 February 2025

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary  

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

Copyright 2025

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Gradye Parsons, Our Connectional Church (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 43.

[2]Concise Oxford Dictionary Tenth Edition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999), 1129.

[3]Beth Felker Jones in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 248.

[4]In preparation of this sermon, I have benefited from the thinking of L. Daniel Hawk, Donald K. McKim, Rhodora E. Beaton, Mark Abbott, Beth Felker Jones, Wes Avram, and Robert F. Darden in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 239-241, 242-243, 244-245, 246-248, 248-249, 250-252, and 252-254.

[5]Donald K. McKim in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1, 243.

[6]Steven Marsh, “A Word From Our Interim Pastor” in Grace This Week, February 16, 2025.

Learning From and With Our God of Unconditional Love (Together, in a Variety of Ways)

“Breaking Out of Routine Love” – Isaiah 6:1-8, Luke 5:1-11

You can live your life out of a place of love, yes, even unconditional love. Jesus has given us the grace we need to keep putting one foot in front of the other. In Christ, we can do what needs to be done.

To experience love and to love, we need a personal encounter with God and one that is ongoing. Believing is important, but unless beliefs transform us, and are put into action, beliefs are useless. In Jesus Christ, we are a new creation. A personal encounter with God leads us to participate with God in God’s mission. Mark Abbott, Director of Hispanic Distributed Learning, Asbury Theological Seminary writes, “In both Isaiah and Luke, personal encounter with God leads to missional engagement and is not an end in itself.”[1] A personal relationship with God is the means to break out of routine love.

William Carey had an ongoing personal encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ. Early on in his ministry, as an ordained Baptist minister in the late 18^th century, Carey was at a gathering of ministers for a theological forum on a variety of issues. One of the senior ministers asked Carey for a theme to discuss to which Carey replied, “May we consider whether the command given to the apostles to teach all nations was not obligatory on all succeeding ministers to the end of the world, seeing that the accompanying promise was of equal extent.” Dr. Ryland promptly denounced Carey, “Sit down young man! When God chooses to convert the heathen, he will do it without your aid or mine!”

Simon Peter, like William Carey, had an ongoing personal encounter with Jesus. The story in Luke is set in the early days of Jesus’ ministry. After a day’s activity, Jesus paused at the lake of Gennesaret. Simon Peter, James, John and other fishermen had just returned from fishing all-night having caught no fish. The text intimates that Jesus was some distance away and a crowd had gathered around him to hear him teach. Jesus seized the moment to use a real-life situation to teach the disciples and crowd about his true identity. Shortly after Jesus and the crowd meandered over to Simon Peter and his partners, Jesus got into the boat and told Simon Peter to go out a way from the shore into deep water and cast his nets for a catch. Simon Peter did as Jesus asked and the text tells us that they caught so many fish their nets began to break. Simon Peter called to shore for his partners to come out and fill their boats. He had been a fisherman for years. Simon Peter knew his trade. But now, with his boats full to overflowing, he had a crisis of faith. Simon Peter didn’t believe that Jesus could get a catch of fish any more than he could. Simon Peter’s sin was his disbelief.[2]

William Carey did not “sit down.” William Carey “stood up and stepped out” and founded the Missionary Society to India. Transformation occurs in everyday, real-life situations through believing. Obeying Jesus and his Word moves us out of routine love to love that is self-giving, authentic, and transformational. As Gradye Parsons reminds us in Our Connectional Church, showing up is more than half the battle for experiencing transformation when he writes,

The few members of Spring City Presbyterian Church showed up. Showing up may not seem like a large accomplishment, but it is. As the saying goes, 90% of life is showing up. The people of the church didn’t just show up at church, they showed up outside the four walls of the building where many people have negative views of a church they see as too judgmental. So, we have to overcome that perception by revealing a different picture of the church.[3]

It is living your life in authenticity that speaks the loudest to the skeptical.

Jesus has a call on your life. Listen to this 19^th century illustration of a life changing experience for a group of young men:

Awakenings started the foreign missions movement in America, and American missionary work started in a haystack, during a thunderstorm! In 1806, during an awakening at Williams College in Western Massachusetts, Samuel Mills and four other students hid themselves in a haystack to avoid a summer thunderstorm. While there they united in prayer, and pledged themselves to go as missionaries wherever God might lead them. Out of this group went the first American missionaries. Some of the best impulses for social reform in America’s history have come from awakenings. The anti-slavery movement in America was mainly a part of the reform movement generated by the Second Great Awakening, as were movements for prison reform, child labor laws, women’s rights, inner-city missions, and many more.[4]

Yes, following Jesus often has the frustration of working hard with little if any results. Do not forget that God’s grace and blessings are often more than you expect. The church is full of religious people with whom you cannot relate. The church, however, is either a hospital for imperfect sinners, or it is “the champagne toast of the spiritually proud.”

Jesus meets you in your sense of inadequacy. Stephen Mattson writes, “Following Christ implores us to pledge allegiance to Jesus above any earthly king, leader, political party, or government. Our loyalty is to Jesus and our duty is to love our neighbors. This should be prioritized above anything else.”[5] May your response to Jesus’s call be one of loyalty. Follow him whenever and wherever he goes. Break out of routine love by believing that showing up changes things. Amen.

 This sermon was preached on the Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, 09 February 2025

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

Copyright Ó 2025

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Mark Abbott in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 233.

[2]In preparation of this sermon, I have benefited from the thinking of Brent A. Strawn, Stacey Simpson Duke, Rhodora E. Beaton, Mark Abbott, Beth Felker Jones, Warren Carter, and Blair R. Monie in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 223-225, 225-227, 228-230, 231-233, 233-234, 235-237, and 237-238.

[3]Gradye Parsons, Our Connectional Church (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 32.

[4]Taken from “Spiritual Awakenings in North America,” Christian History, no. 23.

[5]Taken from John D’Elia’s FB post, Saturday, February 8, 2025.