Sermon 3/28/2021 “Gospel Questions”

Sermon 3/28/2021 “Gospel Questions”

Preacher: Jo J. Belser
Location: Church of the Resurrection at VTS in Alexandria, VA
Text: Deuteronomy 29/Luke 17:11-19
Day: Giving Thanks Service

I have stories to tell tonight: true stories, gospel stories. Each of the four gospel stories I share tonight come with a question. So, here’s my first gospel question:

Do you think that William Sparrow knew, in 1842, when he named this building “The Wilderness,” that God was, even then, preparing such a grand “wilderness” for Church of the Resurrection to inhabit on its mission to build affordable housing for our City? In 1842, Virginia Theological Seminary was 19 years old, and this building was in what was considered the “West End” of the campus, separated from the rest by huckleberry bushes, seed ticks, turtles, and water moccasins. But did Mr. Sparrow even suspect that, some 179 years later, a small congregation of Christ-followers from the West End of our City would need a home IN THE WILDERNESS to use for a while?

We know that a whole long line of Christ-followers seeking to do God’s will have used this building since 1842. Some of us at Resurrectioneven have visited here before, given that a prior music faculty member and resident of The Wilderness was Resurrection’s Music Director for a time. But still I ask, do you think that William Sparrow knew, in 1842, when he named this building “The Wilderness,” that God was, even then, preparing this “wilderness” for Church of the Resurrection? I say, “probably not,” but GOD KNEW.

Here’s my second gospel question, and this one is a bit trickier: Do you think God’s servant, fellow Christ-follower Ian Markham, thought when he promised Kat Turner and I some six years ago that he would give Church of the Resurrection a home while we built affordable housing and a new church that he would need to make good on that promise? Do you think Ian ranked the probability of our success in this venture any higher than Kat and even I did as we sat in his office asking for a huge gift? For those who don’t know, Kat’s estimates of the probability of our success—even today—at only 98%, reserving the last 2% for when we cross the threshold for our first service there. Kat’s graciously let me share this part of our gospel story, and her strong sense of reality has been a useful counterbalance to her Rector’s optimism.

But my question remains: Did Ian think, “I’d better start planning where I’m going to PUT a whole congregation of Christ-followers on this already-full campus?” I think he did, by the way, because we’re here. But maybe he didn’t think, “I’d better put them in The Wilderness because they are heading for the Promised Land.”

Here’s my third gospel question tonight: Do you think Randy Alexander knew what HE was in for when he promised us whatever space we needed to do the mission God had given us? Before you answer THAT question, you need to know that Randy had the hardest task of all. HE gave us HALF of his sacristy space and ONE-THIRD of his choir robe space in Immanuel Chapel Consider this: What Rector in their RIGHT MIND wants to risk simultaneously riling both their Altar Guild AND their Choir?

But Randy did more than share his precious space resources. God put Randy Alexander and Jo Belser and others together on our Diocese’s Standing Committee, people with the vision to say “yes” to a dying congregation with a mission to demonstrate the meaning of its name—Church of the Resurrection—to all who have eyes to see and ears to hear.

We are still dying, you and I, each and every one of us. Church of the Resurrection is dying. Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill is dying. Virginia Theological Seminary is dying. What God wants to do with what we leave behind after we die is up to God; our job is to use all that God gives us for God’s purposes while we still live (and to give thanks to God.)

I think Randy knew what God was up to because he helped us get approval for our project and he shared what God had given his congregation with us.

Here’s my fourth gospel story, my last gospel question, tonight: Are we, Church of the Resurrection, more like tonight’s first scripture lesson or our gospel lesson? Are we more like the Israelites, camped out at the edge of the Promised Land, ready to leave The Wilderness tomorrow, or more like our gospel lesson, where one of the ten people Jesus healed, the unlikely Samaritan, turned and said, “Thank you!” to God and to Christ Jesus after Jesus had healed him?

Church of the Resurrection folks know my answer to either/or questions such as this. My answer is, “Yes!” Yes, we are like the ancient Israelites, ready to move forward to whatever new thing is in store for us. AND we are like the Samaritan who, healed by Christ Jesus, turned from what was ahead in his new life to thank the one who had healed him. There is no “MORE” in these gospel stories. Or, if there is a “MORE,” they are both more—more than we could expect and more than we deserve, but God’s gift is always MORE.

(This, by the way, is an answer that Ian Markham would not have liked when he was my systematic theology professor.) But there is no “more;” we are here tonight at the edge of moving from this God-place to the one we had to build to get permission from our Bishop and Diocese to do what God called us to do: build affordable housing for those literally living in the wilderness of having to decide whether to pay rent or buy food. AND we are very thankful because, without each of you—Dean Ian and Dean Randy—the gospel truth is that we could not have even undertaken this mission.

Apparently, God wants a 5,000 square-foot church in the West End of our City, in the middle of what will be greatly redeveloped in the next ten years. God also wants affordable housing for working families right next door. And tonight, tonight we are pausing to say “thank you” to you who made it possible.

God knew all of this, knew and knows the choices we will make (without preordaining them), loving us so much he gave and gives us choices, making the way to accomplish the tasks that God truly gives us.

Randy, Ian: Thank you!