“Light Within the Wilderness”- Justin Kennedy May 30, 2021

 

“Light Within the Wilderness”- Justin Kennedy

May 30, 2021

 

Good morning! This is the day that the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it! My name is Justin Kennedy.  I am very happy to be here with you today to celebrate the risen Christ and to celebrate the young and young at heart of this church. I am Louisiana native, born and raised in the Southern Baptist church. I found grace in my United Methodist College and have been member of the UMC ever since. I have about a decade of youth ministry experience… both in small churches and in large, inner-city churches. I currently serve as the youth director at Royersford United Methodist. I’ve seen what God can do through young people and that's why I continue to serve in these roles; for the future of the church belongs and depends on our young people. It is up to us as leaders and mentors and parents and friends to love and to nurture them… so that they may continue on in their faith journey and gain the tools necessary to lead the life in which God has called them.

I’d like to start today with what I commonly refer to as a preacher story. I am sure Pastor Jackie has a few of those. 😊 I first heard this “preacher story” when I was a freshman in college. While the message is simple, it has stuck with me over the years.  It goes a little something like this: “Two men were leaving a downtown skyscraper on their way to a food truck for Taco Tuesday. The truck was a couple blocks away. As they were walking, one of the men says ‘wow, that cricket is really loud’. His friend looks at him and says ‘cricket? How could you possibly hear a cricket with that jackhammer going off across the street or the sounds of Philly traffic.’ So they’re walking along and again the guy says ‘the cricket’s chirping is so loud but it is beautiful.’  His friend looks at him and shakes his head and thinks to himself, ‘maybe my dear friend here has a few screws loose’. They continue on. They reach the taco truck. They order. They eat their meal and as they’re wrapping up, the gentleman says ‘oh man, that cricket is still here  and it is still so beautiful’. He then gets up and goes behind a bush and picks up a cricket.  He tells his friend ‘I’m not crazy.  I hear what I listen for’.”

So often in our lives, we become so overwhelmed by the noise whether it be figurative or literal; whether it's the noise of the bill collectors calling or the stress of trying to juggle a household without enough support; whether it's taking care of an aging loved one and feeling trapped…or whether you are that aging loved one and you  feel a sense of despair or that you have no purpose. The noise of this world can be so loud. The valleys can become so dark that life become simply overwhelming. At times, we do not feel that we have the power to listen for that still small voice.  We feel as though we don’t have the power to rise up from whatever it is that is burdening us. Especially within the last year and a half…. life… has been a struggle. The normalcy that we once knew ceased to exist. Spending time with  friends and family outside of our homes stopped. Going to restaurants stopped. Worshiping in person stopped. Our social lives were disrupted. For many of us, our financial lives were disrupted and we sat in a cauldron of fear of the unknown … asking ourselves “how am I going to pay my bills? How do I work when my kids are learning online at home?  How do I overcome this feeling of dread?” We may have feared the illness that could have come if we contracted COVID-19. We may even be mourning the loss of someone we knew and loved; a life cut short by this tragedy. But, as we hear in that story and in scripture ,even among the chaos… even among all the noise of the world…even among all of the distractions… If we listen, we can find some peace. We can find that sense of purpose. We can find that balm of Gilead to soothe our souls. We find that we, however broken, are beautiful members of the Kingdom of God.

 As we read in First Corinthians 12, we all have a divine purpose. One of the things that I love about Jesus the most is that He didn't necessarily call on the rich folk who might have appeared to have all of their ducks in a row.  He didn’t necessarily call on those who were deemed popular. NO! He called on prostitutes. He called on tax collectors. He called fishermen. He called children. He called broken people. Beautiful, broken people. He worked with those in despair and offered them love, grace and purpose. He gave them the tools to go out and spread his word. Jesus uses everyday people like you and me and even those  in society we might deem lesser than us. What does this say about our living God that he uses beautiful, broken people like us to spread His love, His grace, His peace? God equips beautiful… broken people. How can God use you to be a vessel of peace and grace and love amongst all the noise and chaos of this world?  In that “preacher story” we heard earlier and in the reading from Proverbs, we are reminded that we have to be intentional about our listening.  We have to be intentional about setting time aside…even if it's 5 extra minutes in the bathroom alone to focus on our needs …so that we can meet the needs of others.  To be able to answer the call….we have to listen for it. God didn’t bring us into this world so that we would have sorrow. It’s up to us to rise up against the noise  and to not wallow in self pain and misery… even though it is so easy to do so. We have to listen. We have to listen to hear that voice reminding us that we are worthy. How is God calling you? Are you taking time to listen to the sound of that cricket? Do you believe you're worthy? Well,you are… because God created you.  God found you worthy of creation.

I love that little saying “God don’t make no junk”. For even in our brokenness, we are still children of God. We are worthy.  All we have to do is listen to that call. We have to listen to that voice… that voice that might nudge us to pay for the woman’s groceries in front of us.  That voice that might nudge us into sending a text to remind someone that they matter, or to simply have a good day. Those unsolicited texts can go a long way.

 

 One of my favorite songs is, “This Little Light of Mine”. As a child, we are taught this song, but often as we grow older our light dims. But if we are able to listen to what God is calling us to do and we remind ourselves that we are a part of the body of Christ. We are reminded that our lives matter and without our beautiful, broken selves the body of Christ would not be complete.  Even as beautiful, broken people we can spread our light into the darkness. To make a difference. To spread hope. To spread love. To spread some sunshine on a cloudy day. For we are called to do more. We are called to love. It doesn't matter if you're five years old. It doesn't matter if you're 95 years old. We all have a purpose and a seat at the table…. each and every one of us.

As I mentioned before, the future of the church belongs to our young people. Our young people (probably more than any other generation), are met with SO MUCH NOISE. SO MANY Distractions.  So what is our job as leaders and mentors? We have to listen ourselves. We have to take care of ourselves so that we can be effective shepherds. We have to encourage our young people to listen. When they start fill a tug or when they have an idea of how they can help another person …may we nurture that call. May we  give them the tools necessary so that they can live out their lives as Godly people. Be sure that your influence will have a trickle effect on the young people here and they will in turn influence others. A beautiful trickle of beautiful, broken people who listen for and answer the calls placed by God.

I love Christmas Eve services where we sing Silent Night in the ambience of candle light. How beautiful it is to light each other’s candles.  Remember with fondness, the folks who have gone before us…Who  paved the way. Who helped to light the candle of your spirit. In listening, they realized they were worthy. In listening, they answered the call. In listening… they became light. Amen.