Scripture: Matthew 11:25-30; Luke 18:18-23; Luke 19:1-10; 2 Corinthians 2:17; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 Series: 2020
Third in a series on the sacred story, this sermon moves from individual to collective identity, arguing that the church is the concrete body of Christ, not a fan club or fanaticism. Using Jesus’ invitation in Matthew 11 (‘Come to me all who are weary’), the pastor recounts Bee Creek UMC’s founding history to show the shared, unfinished sacred story that belongs to no individual, and calls the congregation to faithful generosity and pledging for the church’s future mission.
Illustrations: ut-basketball-fandom, siddhartha-hesse-out-wait, amy-laura-hall-duke, bee-creek-founding-history, resort-ranch-cleanup-dna, church-under-the-bridge-first-date, body-of-christ-members
What is our sacred story?
Matthew 11:25-30
When I was at UT as an undergrad, I got really into UT basketball. We were good then (in a we weren’t in football. I remember sitting in the cotton bowl after a 65 to 13 thrashing, but the year before, UT made it to the Final Four. UT students had free tickets to basketball and they were all first come first serve. And I had recently read Siddhartha, by Herman Hesse, where there is a line about, “if you fast and you pray, you can overcome anything, because you can out-wait anyone” The lesson I drew from that was I could get really good seats for basketball if I came early.
So I started coming early to games in November and December. I did not have a lot of friends outside of the Wesley, but I met a lot of people at basketball games because I was so darn stubborn. I was there before them. I then I learned that folks camped out for conference games, which I could also easily do. I just brought a sleeping back and some PB&Js and I kept my spot behind the backboard. Over the weeks, I became friends with folks so even if I missed a campout, they saved me a spot. All of this culminated in a ride in the back of CRV to Denver Colorado for the first round of the tournament.
I was a big fan of UT basketball. I was a part of something. It wasn’t sacred but it was meaningful to me.
What does it mean to be a part of something? How can we be a part of something that is not superficial? What is our sacred story?
Friends, we are continuing our series on the sacred story. Our first week, we talked about what is a sacred story. We looked at the twin texts of Luke 18 and Luke 19. In Luke 18, the parable of the rich young ruler. A righteous man, a holy man who followed all of the laws of God. He asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life. And Jesus said, don’t kill, don’t steal, etc.. Then Jesus told him to sell everything he had and to give it to the poor.
And he walked away, sad, because he had many possessions.
Then, in Luke 19, we have the story of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus the unrighteous man. Zacchaeus the sinner, who was more than just a wee little man. He was a criminal who stole from people and cheated them. He grew wealthy off of the backs of others, and yet, he saw Jesus and Jesus saw him. And Jesus said, Zacchaeus, I am coming to your house tonight. And Zacchaeus repented. He converted. He was going one way and he turned around because of God. And he made a pledge. Zacchaeus made a pledge. He made a pledge of restitution for those whom he had harmed. And he made a pledge of purpose out of gratefulness to the God who saw him and loved him.
Last week, we looked at our individual sacred stories. How my sacred story is different from your sacred story and how we each must discern our own story. How easy it is to fall into the temptation of hypocrisy, of wearing costumes, but that God cuts through the false costumes we wear to give us freedom to live authentic lives.
Today, we are talking about our sacred story. The collective body. What is amazing about Christianity is that we are all in the body of Christ. There is this overarching metaphor of the faith that is concrete. We are literally connected. This is one of the ways in which we believe in the Trinity, that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that God is connecting us and drawing us together. God as the Holy Spirit draws us together further into the collective body of Christ. And we are not all the same in this. There are hands and there are feet, but a hand is not a foot. There are eyes and hearts and heads and we are together working for the purpose of God in this place.
And membership in the church is not about fanaticism. It is not about making a fan of people like UT athletics. It is not about deceiving people. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians, we are not peddlers of the word, but people of sincerity.
As Jesus says in the reading for today, I thank you God, because you have hidden things from the wise and revealed them to infants. The amazing revelation of Jesus Christ is not just for the wise and the rich and the exceptional. It is for the child, it is for all of us. To be a part of the church is not to be the holiest person you’ve ever met. It is not to be a super athlete of God, but to be a humble child of God.
The collective body of Christ is not just this immaterial, etherial thing, it is a concrete reality. It is here right now. Bee Creek United Methodist Church. I want to take some time right now to share about the early history of this church.
In 2002, a group of families in the area organized to write a letter to the Austin District Superintendent, Robert Hall, about the need for a church in the area. Before I knew of the existence of Bee Creek, I knew Dr. Hall. His daughter, Dr. Amy Laura Hall, is a professor of Christian Ethics at Duke Divinity School. She is the principle reason I went to Duke for seminary. She came to talk to the Texas Wesley when I was a student. Only three people showed up, but all three of us ended up at Duke and one is currently on faculty. Pretty good rate.
Knowing Dr. Hall, I am not at all surprised by his support of the church plant and his work on the cabinet to appoint David Payne as the first pastor. Pastor David’s appointment began in June of 2002, fully funded the first year by the Methodist Church
The first meeting with Pastor David was June 16 at the Briarcliff Community Center. Pretty quickly, they wanted to think of a name. There were three names under consideration: Spicewood UMC, Pedernales UMC, and Hill Country UMC. Pastor David thought Pedernales would be good as a temporary name and the people agreed
During that fall, different small groups were organized and met in folks homes around the community moving towards a first official service on Palm Sunday of 2003 at the Resort Ranch off Pace Bend Road. As a wedding and party venue, Resort ranch was always booked on Saturday night, so members came early to sweep and pick up bear bottles in order to get ready for worship. That take care of business DNA has stuck with the church. We are not afraid to pick some cigarette butts in order to make sure worship is going to happen.
A property search was going on, targeting land off 71 and Pace Bend road, with the intersection right there, where the Paleface grocer and gas station is. With the land search continuing, the church was chartered on September 28, 2003, with 30 members joining that day. Chartering is a churchy word for transitioning a church plant into a fully functioning church with all the rights and responsibilities therein.
By the end of the year, though, plans for the property shifted and there was a church conference called to accept a donation of much of the land where we are now worshipping upon. The offer was accepted and the church quickly went in to action, purchasing a few more tracts to complete the campus, and then a work day was called to clear land for a tent service.
At this time, the church was having Alpha classes for new Christians and other small groups. They started supporting the La Senda orphanage in Guatemala and they were helping at Church Under the Bridge, a ministry in Austin that Alina was very active in for many years, and actually our first, first date was probably to worship service at Church Under the Bridge.
All this time, remember, the church is Pedernales United Methodist Church. A building committee was formed and in August of 2005, building plans were approved and the church name was officially changed to Bee Creek UMC and soon the ground was cleared.
Much more happened over the next 15 years than I can share on a Sunday morning. In 2010, the planting pastor was called to a church in the valley and Pastor Laura was sent and the church kept growing and meeting the needs of the community. And when the pandemic hit and Pastor Laura was called away, also to the valley, the church did not end, the church did not die.
The story of Bee Creek is not the story of this land nor is it the story of the clergy who have served here. The story of Bee Creek is the story of the collective body of Christ. We have been called by God not because we are qualified or talented. So often, we are called because we are weary and we are looking for some rest. We realize something is missing. We are restless. We are looking for a home in this broken world or looking for shelter through the storms of life. We stay because we have found rest.
Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give your rest.
Come to me, all.
Jesus is calling us not as individuals but as a collective body.
It is our story not mine. It is our story in this place where God has been present to so many people and where God has sent out so many people and formed so many people. Our rest in God is not the end of our story but the beginning. We begin by resting together in the grace Jesus Christ. We then move into the world to act as the hands and feet of Christ.
It is our story of God here. Not mine. Not yours. No individual owns it. And our sacred story is not finished. We are not completed. And the future of this church is not present yet. There is a future beyond the status quo, beyond the people in this room, or the people on our attendance rolls.
Our future is in the people in our community, the people out those doors who are tired and heavy laden and in need of rest. Our future is found in missions and ministry that have not yet been conceived.
What this means is that those of us who are here must stake a claim on the sacred story of this place. We wish to be a body that aligns our lives with the claims of this place and the call of God on our heart. In order to be the location of God’s mercies in the future, we must be faithful to God’s call in the present, remembering the grace that brought us here. Part of this means being a people of generosity. Not just the kind of people who respond in time’s of need (which is great), but the kind of people who pledge our resources because of what God has done for us, and because of our hope in what God is doing here.
Our story is not over. Not next year. Not in five years. Not in Fifty. God is making all things new.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.