Sermon for August 8 (reflection on church exchange with Prince of Peace)

Our Gospel readings for the next few weeks are very similar (all from John 6 and focused on Jesus’ identity as being the bread of life).  Instead of talking about the reading today, I am going to spend time talking about my experiences at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Cambria Heights.  Two weeks ago, on Sunday, July 26^th   , I had the opportunity to exchange churches with Pastor Brenda Irving.  She led worship here and I led worship at her church in Cambria Heights.  I’d like to talk a little about how and why this happened and share some things I learned from the experience.  

First, I would like to recognize and celebrate that Brenda was amazed at the level of welcome, care and support she received from all of you as she meet our church and led worship in our community.  I am not surprised but I am so glad that you were able to show Brenda who we are and what is so special about this congregation. This happens because each of you understand that the church is a place for everyone and take that fact very seriously.     

The church exchange came out of some comments that Brenda made at a dean’s meeting in May. She lifted up the importance of churches and leaders being together, getting to know each other, and thinking of the church as more than the building and people we see every Sunday.  She discussed the possible role pulpit exchanges could have in this work. This was not the first time she has brought this up, but it’s the first time I heard it and after some discussion we scheduled the first exchange for Sunday, July 26^th.  I’m not sure we knew what to expect, how to prepare, or how it would go, we just knew it should happen and trusted that our communities would figure it out.

Prince of Peace is a mainly African American Lutheran Church located in Cambria Heights, a middle class African American neighborhood behind JFK airport  (E train to last stop and then a bus for about 20 minutes, I’m sure cars can go there too, I just don’t have one). They had about 60 people at worship, which seemed like a decent summer turnout.  The first thing I noticed was that their Pentecost banners, inviting in and proclaiming the presence of the Holy Spirit, were still up in the sanctuary.  This is something I wanted to do for a long time and something I started to do here this year. We are a Pentecost people, able to function, thrive, care for each other and experience God’s joy because the promised Holy Spirit is here. That is the bread of our life together, the stuff that nourishes, sustains and supports us (figured id at least mention the Gospel reading). The banners were a beautiful, strong red reminder of that.

I was amazed at how welcomed and comfortable I was at Prince of Peace. The music and praise band were uplifting and joyful. I found myself semi hidden behind the pulpit, clapping and singing along (which, as you have all seen, is very rare for me to do). Something just drew me into the worship.  Other than the occasional confusion about where to stand, what to do, or why there were so many different things on the communion table, things went incredibly well.  Members at the church patiently walked and talked me though the service with care. The time flew by (the service was about 45 minutes longer than it is here but I barely noticed). The sharing of the peace took a long time and everyone tried to make sure they greeted everyone else (a practice and tradition we have here every week as well).  There was a great spirit, joy and energy at Prince of Peace. I could feel that everyone was happy to be there and so was I.  The entire service and community projected God’s love, a true openness to others, acceptance and welcome

For my sermon, I preached just like I would here. The only change was that my message was longer then usual, about 2 sermons in one. I talked about Jesus feeding the crowd as a reminder of God’s care for us and an invitation for us to care for each other. A few years ago, I preached and led worship at the Indonesian Baptist congregation that shares the space with us.  I quickly learned how ridiculous it will feel, look and sound to adopt a style you are not comfortable with because you think it’s what people expect. (I think many of the members there still remember how awkward it was). 

Although there were many, I want to share two moments  from the day that stayed with me.   First, throughout parts of the service, there was a baby crying near the front of the church.  During one crying session, the assisting minister whispered to me “there is so much hope in that sound”. I was amazed by the depth, faith and beauty of that thought.  Some people would apologize about the distraction or ask the family to take the baby outside, but here, it was the sound of joy, a cry that filled the congregation with hope for the future. Second, at the end of the service, we sang “Go My Children, With My Blessing”. This is the song we sang here a few weeks ago as a sending to the National Youth Gathering and one of my favorite hymns.  This time, as we sang “Go, My Children, Fed and Nourished, closer to me” and  “Here you heard my dear Son’s story, here you touched him, saw his glory”, I felt like that is exactly what happened in this church that morning. 

Last week, as I talked about the youth gathering, I celebrated the idea that we did not pretend Detroit was okay and the church was doing great.  The speakers, events , leaders and work were honest, facing the reality of struggle, poverty, doubt, and racism with faith.  I want to say something similar now.  As much as I love the diversity of people here at St Jacobus, at worship with us and in the churches who share our space ,I know its not normal. The ELCA, our church is the second least diverse church in the United States.  The only church body in America with less diversity then ours is a group called the National Baptist Convention, which is a black church  that was founded on the principle of being apart to confront and counter racism. (other historically black churches like AME are actually more diverse than we are).  I do not want to claim or pretend this one church exchange has fixed all that,  but hopefully it will be a start of something exciting in our synod and church, All it takes is a willingness for us to get to know each other, a desire to learn from one another and chances to share our faith, beliefs and traditions. I am glad we all had a chance to do that on July 26^th and I look forward to other opportunities to do so in the future.