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United Church of Paducah
4600 Buckner Lane
Paducah, KY 42001
(270) 442-3722
Worship Times
Sunday Service: 10:00a
Refreshments &
Fellowship: 11:15a
Christian Education
For All Ages:
11:20a - Noon
Nursery Services Provided Handicap Accessible
All Are Welcome!
A Congregation Of The
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From June 24, 2007
Let It Shine
Galatians 3: 23-29
I sure wish I could be a fly on the wall
today. One with miracle powers that would enable me to in
nearly six thousand places at once.
Why? The United Church of Christ is 50 years old today and
oh how I would love to catch sight of every single party. I
wish I could be at all of them. The ones happening in tiny
rural fellowships and big city congregations. In faith
communities that sprang up before the American Revolution
and ones who count their own birthdays on one hand.
From one end of the country to the another, in worshipping
communities of every size and age, the party's on. Right
now. This very minute. And not just in our churches either.
In Hartford, Connecticut, this morning the Civic Center is a
heavenly, happenin' place. Thousands upon thousands of
delegates and their friends are singing and swaying and
stomping their feet in a service so colorful and jubilant
that you just have to know folks will be talking about it
for years. All the way to our next big birthday and beyond,
I'll betcha.
The United Church of Christ turns 50 today - which is young as
denominations go. We're just a baby, really, when you put us
next to the Roman Catholics or the Anglicans.
But here's the thing: we might be young but we have a
heritage that goes back. Way back.
Looking at the UCC is like looking out over the Ohio River
down by the flood wall. Sure, it's impressive. But there's a
lot that has gone into making it what it is. Look backwards
in time, look upstream, and you begin to see that flowing
through us are other waters, ones with strong currents and
powerful legacies to pass along.
Look to one of our original sources, our New England
headwaters, and you'll find the Puritans and Pilgrims. Folks
who left home seeking in their time what we seek in ours:
religious freedom and more light breaking forth from God's
holy word.
That contribution would be enough but streaming through us
are other waters, as well. Coursing through us is not one
strong German river but two--the Evangelical Church and the
Reformed Church. Both were the result of Old Country
generosity. You see, Germany sent missionaries here in the
1700s and again in the 1800s to help meet the spiritual
needs of a nation growing so fast that it had more pulpits
than pastors.
Running through the UCC is more than English and German
heritage, though. Part of our denominational make-up is the
result of believers coming together here, on American soil,
to establish the Christian Church. This heritage washes
through us, as well.
If you've ever risen at dawn and wandered the river's edge,
if you have ever flown over a waterway at sunset, you know
how brilliantly a river can shine. So with the river that is
the United Church of Christ. Oh how it shines! It runs deep
and true, and the Gospel glint that bounces off us as we
push forward is beautiful indeed.
Oh how we shine. And have. Don't believe me? Just take a
look at the full sweep of our General Synod resolutions.
From 1957 to now, no matter the thrust of the resolution - be
it related to women's rights or environmental racism or
South African apartheid, be it a call to forgive Third World
indebtedness or an appeal for a comprehensive response to
the AIDS pandemic - each time General Synod has taken a stand,
it had been five, ten, and sometimes even twenty years ahead
of its time. And each time a stand has been taken, the UCC
has worked hard put meat on those prophetic bones by working
to make a difference.
That we are an "early church" isn't new. In the struggle to
abolish slavery, those upstream from us were among the
strongest voices and hardest workers. In the effort to build
schools and colleges for newly-freed slaves, our forebears
wasted no time. Our kindred were the first to ordain not
just an African-American, not only a woman, but also a gay
man.
As a denomination, we may not have the numbers some
denominations have. We may not benefit from the name
recognition that some of our friends are blessed with. But
oh, what light God gives us! Light desperately needed to
shine upon each generation's darkness, including our own.
Look carefully at a river's path and you see it is made of
many waters. Look closely at a flame and you will recognize
in it an array of colors. So it is with the United Church of
Christ.
Reflected in the life Christ has given us, five dimensions
come together and shine forth, each worthy of lifting up and
celebrating anew.
We are a united and a uniting church. In an age when
denominations keep splintering and choose to isolate
themselves, our calling is to work in the other direction.
Especially in places like Paducah, where separation from and
suspicion of one another is a denominational reality (and
sin), our calling is a sacred and essential one.
We are also a multiracial and multicultural church. Even in
churches that are like ours, where members are more alike
than not, we affirm the reality that we are a people of
plurality. One expression of this is our use of the New
Century Hymnal, where music and language reflect not only
our western European ancestry but celebrate the faith
expressions of our brothers and sisters on every continent.
Rhythms and tongues from many cultures enrich our worship
and remind us that in Christ there is neither east nor west.
Thirdly, we are a church accessible to all. A calling that
asks more of us than having wheelchair ramps and large print
bulletins. John Thomas, our General Minister and President
says this: "From the beginning of the UCC until now, we have
come to know that an extravagant welcome honoring the
fullness of God's image in the lives of those the world sees
as limited and handicapped, disturbed, or disturbing also
requires a conversion of heart."
The United Church of Christ is also an open and affirming
church. And even as we celebrate the presence of our gay,
lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered brothers and sisters
(and their friends and families) - we remember that our reach
extends much further.
We are open to and affirming of all those who struggle with
addictions or who have served time in prison, are homeless,
or un- and underemployed. Anyone who experiences exclusion
and derision finds a home here and our promise to labor for
openness and affirmation beyond the walls of the church.
Finally, we are a peace with justice church, called to
see - as Jesus did - that society is made neither safe nor whole
by use of force but instead peace comes when we address the
forces that destabilize people. Poverty and hunger, racism
and sexism and all those other "isms."
Together we understand that peace and justice are not
separate but inextricably bound together. To labor for
justice is to labor for peace. And vice versa.
Each denomination, each faith tradition has God-given light
to shine into the world's dark places. Today is our day to
celebrate the gift of shining that is ours. And to feel
proud of who we are. And be awed by what God has done for us
and through us.
It is also a day to resolve to let Christ's light burn
brightly in us in our time. To let that light so illumine
our thoughts and our actions that in 50 years, those who
gather to celebrate that milestone will have to wear
sunglasses when they look our way.
Rivers must push onward, through barriers and obstructions,
or else they become lifeless, like the Dead Sea. Beacons
must continue to shine in the night, so that those who are
lost can find their way. We may be small in number, we may
be young as a denomination, but God has need of us. There is
much yet for us to do and be: our calling is great.
But then, so is our God. So is our God. Let us never succumb
to the temptation to hide God's light under the bushel of
public opinion. Let us never doubt that Christ has given us
his light to share. Let us never hesitate to be who and what
Christ has called us to be!
Let us pray:
Oh how we praise you, Light-giving God. Thank you for all
you have given us in and through the United Church of
Christ. Like those who have gone before us, may we be--in
our time--willing bearers of Christ' light. Bold reflections
of his glorious grace. We ask this not for our sake, but for
his. Amen.
© Rev. Karen Winkel
United Church of Paducah (UCC) |
"Never place a period where God has placed a comma." - Gracie
Allen
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