August
10th, 2014 “Sermon for Vakuzi Village, Malawi”
Rev.
Heather Jepsen
Galatians
3:23-29 with 1 Corinthians 12:4-13
(Preached
with an Interpreter)
My friends, grace to you and peace in
the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My friends and I have been honored to
travel from the Heartland of the United States here, to Malawi, the warm heart
of Africa. We have been blessed by your
welcome and generosity, and I am honored and humbled to have been asked to
preach the Word of our Lord here as we worship together today.
As I was considering the Scriptures
and wondering what message I might share today, I was drawn to the writings of
the Apostle Paul.
As you may know, Paul was a traveler
in foreign lands. Originally a Jew from
Jerusalem, Paul was touched by the Spirit of the Lord and his life was changed.
Moved by his deep love of the Lord and
by the power of Jesus’ message of grace and peace, Paul felt called to travel
near and far, sharing the message of his faith with others.
I too, am a traveler in the faith and
have been overjoyed to see the amazing and powerful work of our Lord here in
Malawi.
In his letter to the church in
Galatia, Paul speaks of our one-ness in the Lord. “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no
longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are
one in Christ Jesus.”
Paul is not saying that there are no
differences between us. As a traveler of
the world, Paul was well aware that our Lord had created many different cultures
with many different people.
Paul is saying that even though we are different, we are one in the
Lord. Together we are a family of faith,
subject not to laws and divisions; rather we are ruled by Jesus’ message of
grace and love.
Paul writes, “If you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.” My friends we are all children of Abraham, brothers
and sisters in God’s love.
In his letter to the church in
Corinth, Paul celebrates the differences in the family of faith. Using the metaphor of the body, Paul explains
that in our individual uniqueness we find the strength of our unity.
Paul writes, “Now there are varieties of
gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of services, but the same
Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates
all of them in everyone.”
To each of us has been given a
different gift. Gifts of teaching and
preaching, gifts of healing and care, gifts of leadership and organization, and
gifts of vision and hope.
Similarly, we come from nations that
have been given different gifts from our good and gracious Lord.
Paul reminds us that our different
gifts have been given for the good of all, for together we are one family of
faith. “For just as the body is one and
has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body,
so it is with Christ.”
The message that I feel called to
preach today is that though we are different, we are one in the faith. The Lord who created us in our differences,
calls us to use our unique gifts for the building up of each other in the body
of Christ around the world.
One visitor that I met this week
stated, “I am you, you are me” and he was right. We are the same. What benefits you, benefits me and what
benefits me, benefits you.
When we bring our different gifts and
resources together, we can work to lift each other up in the world. We can work together for the whole family of
faith, the body of Christ.
Coming from the United States of
America, my friends and I have resources that can lift up the church of
Malawi. We can share ideas and
innovation to help the people of Malawi develop themselves, and we can share
the funding to make those dreams possible.
Coming from the church of Malawi, you
can share with the people of the United States a vision and hope for the church
that we have forgotten. Your joy and
zeal for mission, your unflinching call to help the poor, your willingness to
give everything in the name of the Lord are lessons for us.
We can teach you to empower yourselves
for a better life. You can teach us how
to be the church again.
We need our gifts together, to lift
each other up, and to work to strengthen the body of Christ around the world.
And so my friends, we are one family
of faith – using the gifts that God has given us to build up the church around
the world. There is no longer Malawian
or American – but there is one family of faith in the Lord.
I am you, and you are me. Brothers and sisters of the family of
Abraham.
It is also my hope that I will soon
return to Malawi, bearing the unique gifts that I and my country have to share
with you.
This is more than a simple Sunday to
gather in worship. Rather this is the
continuing of a long relationship between the people of my church and the
people of Malawi.
With God’s blessing, we will journey together
into the future as the body of Christ the family of faith, children of Abraham
united in love.
Know that I will be praying for the people
of Malawi. From Kamweko to Ekwendeni,
from Lusangasi to Kavuzi, from Majuma to the Synod of Livingstonia office in
Mzuzu you have touched my heart. You
will be in my prayers always.
Please also pray for me and my church
in Missouri.
May the grace and blessings of our one
holy God; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be with us all from this day and
forevermore. Amen.
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