"Confessing Our Faith Today”

A sermon by the Rev. Dr. Hilary J. Barrett

Preached at Pleasantville United Church of Christ, October 30, 2011

Romans 1:16-17

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel; it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God
 is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written,
‘The one who is righteous will live by faith.’”^*
(Romans 1:16-17)

Our paraments this day are red in honor and recognition of Reformation Sunday, the day that Protestant denominations set aside to remember our common heritage.  On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther challenged the Roman Catholic Church’s theology of salvation and sacraments, nailing his complaints to the door of the Cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany and thus initiating the religious movement that became known as Protestantism.  Luther and his associates were called “Protestants” because they protested against the religious conventions of the day.  They accused the church of being too rich, too political, and too captivated by the kings and princes of the day.  In other words, he accused it of having sold its soul to the powerful.[1]

The original Protestants preached, taught, and argued for spiritual, economic, and political freedom.  They argued for God’s justice to be embodied in the church and the world.  And one of the ways that justice became expressed was giving people access to the Word of God.  Prior to the Protestant Reformation, the Bible was not translated into the common language of the people.  The result was that the Word of God seemed to belong to the Church and its leaders, rather than the common man or woman.  The reason that there are Bibles in your pews and those Bibles are in English is because of the profound and enduring conviction of Protestant reformers that the Word of God belongs to the people of God.[2] 

Pleasantville Church is a congregation of the United Church of Christ – a denomination which came into being through the merger of two different denominations – and each of those denominations had been the merger of two other denominations.  On one side, the “Evangelical and Reformed Church” – a largely German immigrant church – and on the other side, the “Congregational Christian Church” – a denomination that united both the pilgrim tradition of those who came over on the Mayflower with a frontier church that moved out and began to settle the new territories.  Hence the name: United Church of Christ. 

After World War II, a strong ecumenical movement swept the country. The experience of fighting other Christians in battle – as was usually the case in the European Theater -- was profoundly disturbing for many Christians.  The Ecumenical movement was born in the heady years following World War II, led by a generation of people who sincerely believed that if the church could unite instead of split apart, the world might have some hope for healing and peace.  The motto of the United Church of Christ quotes Jesus’ words in the 17th chapter of John’s gospel: “That they may all be one.”

There’s one more thing I want to be sure you know before we leave off the history lesson.  I want you to hear some of the language of one of the founding documents of the United Church of Christ:

The United Church of Christ acknowledges as its sole head, Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savior. It acknowledges as kindred in Christ all who share in this confession.  It looks to the Word of God in the Scriptures, and to the presence and power of the Holy Spirit, to prosper its creative and redemptive work in the world. It claims as its own the faith of the historic Church expressed in the ancient creeds and reclaimed in the basic insights of the Protestant Reformers.  It affirms the responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God.  In accordance with the teaching of our Lord and the practice prevailing among evangelical Christians, it recognizes two sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion. [3]

But it’s this language in particular that I’m interested in today:

The United Church of Christ “affirms the responsibility of the Church in each generation to make this faith its own in reality of worship, in honesty of thought and expression, and in purity of heart before God.”

To make this faith our own is the work of growing up as Christians.  That’s what we hope to do – or at least begin – in the Confirmation process with our young people – to help them explore the faith fully enough so that they can make this faith their own.  As we mature in the faith, the process of making this faith our own continues – as God continues to mold us and re-form us and transform us in ever-deepening ways.

The shape of our worship this morning shines a bright light upon what it means to confess our faith.  In the Christian tradition, one of the ways that we make this confession is to engage in the spiritual practice called, “Testimony.” The word testimony comes from the Latin word testimonium which means “evidence,” or “witness.”  In the context of the religious life, the spiritual practice of testimony is getting people to talk about their experience of God.

For many of us, testimony may be a foreign practice.  Some of us were taught that in order to be polite there are two subjects we should never speak of in public: politics and religion.  The result of this good training is that many of us feel quite awkward when it comes to speaking about matters of faith.  And yet our faith is important to us.

In some Christian circles, “to give your testimony” means to tell the story of how you became a Christian.  For others, to testify is to share something that God has done in your life that you think is worth sharing.  In the adult confirmation course I am leading called, “Echoes of Faith,” one of the assignments for the class is to begin to write their spiritual biography.  It’s a way of getting people to think about and talk about their experience of God. This is testimony.

Testimony is the foundation of the Christian faith.  The word “gospel” is the Greek word meaning “good news.”  It can’t be good news unless somebody tells it and virtually all of the writings of the New Testament are the efforts of the faithful to tell the good news to those who haven’t heard it; to persuade those who don’t believe it; and to encourage and console those who are doubting it.  At some point in our life, that’s pretty much all of us.

Testimony is what I do every Sunday when I preach.  It’s my best attempt to share with you my experience of God and to do so in such a way as – I hope – to connect with your experience of God.

Testimony is what will happen later when David Patterson will help us commence our annual Stewardship Campaign by sharing his story of faith and commitment to Pleasantville Church.

Testimony is what folks did here during the summer during the “Hide ‘em in Your Heart” portion of our worship service -- when they shared with us their favorite hymn, and why.

Testimony is what happens whenever we share our faith-full stories with one another in ways that enliven and deepen us all. When people share from their heart what they know and believe about life with God, the Holy Spirit is present with power and we are all emboldened to live with greater confidence and courage.

The United Church of Christ began a national advertising campaign several years ago using the phrase, “God is Still Speaking” to express our belief that the Word of God is alive and well and wanting to share good news with more and more and more people.  Our job is to help that happen.

God is Still Speaking; through you and you and you and you and me.  We are called to confess our faith; to share the wondrous news of God’s love for all people.  It’s good news.  Let’s learn how to share it!

May it be so.  Amen.