Waterbury Memorial Presbyterian Church - Oriskany

06/13/2026

Worship & Fellowship – Sunday, June 14 at 10:00 a.m.
Please join us for worship and fellowship on Sunday, June 14 at 10am.

We are pleased to welcome Rev. Sam Pendergast as our guest speaker this week.

His message will be “Sharing the Good News.”

All faiths are warmly invited to gather with us and share in the Lord’s Word.

06/09/2026

June 7, 2026 message
Mike Jaquay
Calling All Outcasts!

Who has Jesus come to this world to save? Well, certainly everyone, but there were then, and still are today, people who think they are better than others and more deserving of preferential consideration. But Jesus is here for everyone. And that even includes the “dreaded” tax collectors.

Today’s reading is especially fun to study at my home church at Three Voices, as one of our church leaders is actually a retired tax collector for Madison County. I think any time we discuss the calling of Matthew, Becky feels a bit like a deer in the headlights, getting a bit of a razzing about tax collectors, but of course in a fun way. And she joins in the fun-poking, to be a good sport … maybe because she knows that Jesus respected Matthew the tax collector enough to ask him to help share the Good News, just like Becky the tax collector does at our home church.

We like to jest a bit with her about the way tax collectors are treated here … by just about everyone save Jesus, of course. Jesus can always see the truth behind any surface façade, and does so right here with Matthew.

In our Gospel reading today from Matthew 9: 9-13 and 18-26, we see Jesus dining with not only the tax collector Matthew, but with many tax collectors and sinners alike. The Pharisees are not liking what they see and the company that Jesus is keeping, and ask why Jesus would dine with people like this. They obviously are judging Him by the company that He is keeping. And feeling quite aloof in comparison to the tax collectors and sinners, looking down on all of them.

But Jesus reflects that much like a doctor heals sick persons, He himself is on the earth to heal the ones who most need it … the outcasts … the sinners. He has not come to call only the righteous, but the sinners -- the ones who need Him and His salvation the most.

One of my pastor mentors once told me that “church is not a country club … it is open to all.” And I remember one time while I was in college at the Franciscan friar-founded St. Bonaventure University, asking father Dan Reilly if it was all right for a Presbyterian to attend their services. He assured me their religious outreach was for all, including me.

Certainly not all religions around us are as welcoming, but I think those that are truly Christ-centered share Jesus’ view that His message is for all and universal.

I hope some of you have seen the TV mini-series “The Bible” from a few years back, because I found it one of the most touching tellings of both Old and New Testament stories. One of my favorite scenes is as we see Matthew doing his tax collector thing, with Jesus nearby. Jesus tells the parable of the tax collector to the crowd around him, and Matthew is so emotional at His words that tears form in his eyes.

Tears form in mine as well seeing this, because I can only imagine how incredibly emotional it would be for Jesus to pay attention to me. I know even now how awesome it is for the celebrities I interview for work to acknowledge me, and this had to be a much greater emotion on many levels. You can just tell Matthew is immediately enthralled with Jesus and ready to help spread his teachings to the world.

In Luke 18: 9-14, Jesus tells this Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, specifically aimed at some persons listening who were confident of their own righteousness and looking down on everyone else.

Jesus says that, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’”

Jesus concludes saying, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

The Pharisee feels he is righteous; the tax collector feels he is a sinner. The Pharisee is overly proud of what he sees as his own virtues. He thanks God for what a great guy he is.

The tax collector won’t even look towards God, feeling shamed. He asks for mercy, confessing his sins.

Jesus proclaims this tax collector is truly the one who is blessed in his own thoughts, actions and faith.

Of course, there is also the later calling of Saul, a main antagonist of Christianity, to now instead do a complete turnaround and share God’s Good News. To once again quote my favorite Bible verse from 1 Corinthians 2: 1, the now-renamed and reborn Paul tells them, “When I came to you, my friends, to preach God's secret truth, I did not use big words and great learning.”

That line is the basis of everything I do myself in sharing the Good News right here with you and our neighboring churches. You don’t need to be a Biblical scholar, you just need to feel the fire inside. Paul knows that he is no expert, and doesn’t pretend to be … which many so-called “experts” do.

We have also just heard how Jesus healed a sick woman and raised a dead girl. The sick woman in particular knows if she is just to touch his cloak, she will be healed. A mark of true faith and belief. And Jesus tells her that it is her own faith that has healed her.

Isn’t this so true of so many different ailments, though? How many of us have been told to “walk it off?” We have only to have faith in our own ability to heal to face many ailments. A man considerably older than myself, and in better shape, recently told me “motion is lotion.“ He doesn’t need expensive medications, only regular movement to stay spry, he said. That was a lesson to remember.

How many times have we mentally forced ourselves to keep going even when we might not feel well enough to function at full capacity? The healing power of our own minds is a truly wonderful thing, and the power of faith and prayer energizes and strengthens it.

And as a newsman, I like the reaction of the people as Jesus raises the girl from the dead. I suppose it was a bit of a shock at first, but once they realized what they saw was true, the news spread throughout the region. I can appreciate that! And this is the time before all of our instantaneous news transmission services of today, so that news traveled the old-fashioned way … mostly by word of mouth, and eyewitness accounts.

Meeting Jesus had to be worthy of shouting from the highest mountaintop and sharing with everyone. When Matthew meets Jesus, he has no hesitation to come along to Jesus’ calling. Is it because he knows Jesus is going to lead him to a better place? Because Jesus has important work for him to do? Or because Matthew knows he has done the people wrong and wants to atone for any misdeeds? Or a bit of all of the above?

I think we all have our own reasons to believe. And Jesus is here for all of us, no matter what kind of past we’ve had, to offer us a brighter future, both in this life and the afterlife.

So be more like Matthew, acknowledging your own shortcomings in faith and committing to following Jesus’ example.

Send a message to learn more

06/06/2026

We are pleased to welcome Mike Jaquay back as our guest speaker on Sunday, June 7, 2026 at 10 AM. His message, “Calling All Outcasts,” invites us to reflect on God’s grace, belonging, and hope.

All faiths are warmly invited to join us for worship and Holy Communion as we gather in fellowship and gratitude.

05/27/2026

May 24, 2026 Message
Rev Thomas Merrick
The Spirits Gift to the Church
Ephesians 4:11-13

So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11-13
The first of these gifts are the Apostles. The word apostolos means a sent out one for a specific mission. They were men commissioned by Jesus himself to spread the Gospel. They did miracles for the same reason that Jesus did. In Acts we read this,
"Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.
Acts 2:22
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.
Romans 15:18-19
There was no New Testament yet, it was being written as the disciples walked out Jesus’ command to go the ends of the earth. So, they performed signs and wonders so that the people would know that they were sent By God.
But as the Apostles died off, they weren’t replaced. There is no New Testament procedure to replace an Apostle although there is plenty of guidance on how to choose elders of the church. The early Church fathers concluded from this that the office of Apostle was a unique one for forming the foundation of the church. Now that the Scripture had been written the apostolic mission fell on the Church. Jesus Himself commissioned the Church.
Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Matthew 28:18-20
In the story of the rich man and Lazurus, the rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to his brothers to save them. If you remember Lazarus was dead, so the rich man was asking for a miracle to save his brothers. But Abraham said,
"Abraham replied, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.'
Luke 16:29
May I say we have the words of Jesus and the Apostles. God said He wanted us to be the messengers, He gave us the Great Commission to go to the ends of the earth to share the good news, so the Holy Spirit gifts us gifts to be used to that end.
Now being an Apostle doesn’t bring one fame and fortune. All but John was executed or put to death. John himself was exiled to the Island of Patmos for his preaching.
Which brings us to the prophets. The prophets in the Old Testament were given messages from God. These messages were for specific individuals at times and sometimes for the whole nation of Israel. The messages may have included future events-think of Isaiah 53 that foretold of Jesus the Saviour or Micah 5 that foretold of Bethlehem being the birthplace of Jesus. Much of the time the prophecies were warnings to bring the people to God. Think of Jonah and the Ninevites, where a Word from God through Jonah turned a nation around. But the prophecies were usually proceeded by “Thus saith the Lord”.
Like the Office of Apostle, the Prophetic Ministry was inherited by the Church. We see many prophets named in the New Testament, Judas and Silas who accompanied Paul on his missionary journeys. The four daughters of Philip and Agabus, who warned Paul of his imprisonment in Rome.
The prophets were judged on their prophecies on whether they were false or wrong. Today we are called to do the same. Does the prophecy edify the church? Is it a clear message not causing confusion? Does it line up with Scripture? God is the same yesterday today and tomorrow so His Word will not change. Who delivered the prophecy? Is it someone you can trust, and if it is a new believer or if a new believer does it meet the other tests? And finally, does it glorify Jesus? Every prophecy inspired by the Holy Spirit will be for the glory and truth of Jesus.
Now the prophets of old were given messages from God. We have too. Maybe you are sitting here saying I can’t tell the future. But we can speak to future events the Rapture of the Saints, the soon return of Jesus the times of Tribulation the punishment of the wicked and the New Heaven and Earth. All of these events are contained in the Word of God. Thus Sayeth the Lord. These words can be used to encourage, warn and turn people’s heart to God. We have a message that God loves so much that He sacrificed His only begotten Son so that whoever believes shall not perish but have eternal life. Paul calls prophecy one of the greater gifts. With it we can edify the Church and reach the world.
How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
Romans 10:14-15

The Great Commission calls on everyone in the Church to share the Gospel. Like Moses I hear people say “I’m not good at speaking.” You’re still planting seeds. But the evangelist is a person gifted by God to bring the message of God to people who've never heard of God before. But the evangelist also is there to encourage the people of God to press on to the goal to grow in God. The apostle Peter in fact said he didn't mind repeating himself for the encouragement of the believers.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.
2 Peter 1:10-12
For some of you this is old news you've heard this time and time again but Peter says I'll always remind you of these things want to encourage you to to bring it to the forefront of your mind and through those reminders to give you comfort as you struggle with life. Sometimes that you would in fact be comforted by the fact that you do know these things.
But the evangelist also talks to people outside of the church about Christ about God in order that they might know about him. I think of Paul on Mars hill where he surrounded by a bunch of idolaters and yet he finds a positive in all that even though they're idol worshippers. He says to them I can see that you are a religious people. That’s the positive. These are a people looking for God. He takes one of their idols to an unknown God and he uses it to explain the one true God. In the book of Ecclesiastes, we read this.
He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
Augustine said we all have a God shaped hole in our hearts. All those idols were an attempt to fill that hole. Talk about trying to put a square peg in a round hole. But there are a lot of people looking to fill that hole. We can all answer it, but the evangelist brings it to their level.
This is the work of an evangelist to look at somebody's life and see something that they can hook on to and something that they agree with and use that to reveal the one true God to them. They were able to take some of the difficult teachings of the Bible and as J. Vernon McGee used to say put the cookies on the bottom shelf so the kids could reach them. This is the work of an evangelist to spread the gospel of Christ and has the gifting to make it understandable to the people around him. We must drop the Christian terms that we use and like Jesus meet people where they're at. Phillip with the Ethiopian eu**ch explain a passage of Scripture in the book of Acts. Paul on Mars Hill. Jesus with the woman at the well, Nicodemus at night asking how to be born again. The woman caught in adultery. All these people where met were they were at. That's what the evangelist does, meets with an individual and connects with them. And more importantly helps them connect with God.
Then come the pastors. Now some might say that the pastor should have headed the list but without a church you don't need a pastor. The apostles, prophets and evangelist are the ones the Holy Spirit uses to bring people to Christ. God also uses everyday believers to bring people to Christ. Once you have a body of believers then you need a pastor.
Now in my denomination if you believe you're called to be a pastor you must take classes on Scripture and how the denomination is governed. Then you're interviewed to see if one if you do have a calling and to see if you're type of character to be a pastor. You have others provide character references. They talked to my wife. There's a lot that goes on but they have standards for being a pastor.
Now you can get ordained on the internet, but there is no accountability. The reason most Bible believing denominations have a system in place is to be sure the person meets certain Scriptural standards.
An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer manages God's household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. Rather, he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.
Titus 1:6-9
We become students of the Word. To encourage and guide those in the body. We do this when we preach the Word.
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Sometimes when I’m preaching, I’m preaching to myself. God knows I need it. But if preaching was the only thing a pastor did, that would be easy. I remember a pastor joking with my father-in-law that he only worked Sundays. A pastor is called for more than that.
Here’s an illustration.
A minister was teaching a group of children during Sunday School.
“The Bible tells us that believers are sheep so if the people in church are called sheep who's the shepherd? One little boy in the class spoke up and said Jesus is the shepherd. Well, the minister was a little put out because he thought the kids would say that he was the shepherd. But that little boy was right Jesus is the Good Shepherd. So, the minister asked well what does that make me? A little girl spoke up and said you're the sheepdog.”
We call ourselves under shepherds, servant leaders, ministers and reverends but I think sheepdog probably conveys what a pastor does the best. A sheep dog makes sure the sheep stays in the pasture where the shepherd led them, so they don't stray off and get lost or end up as a predator’s meal. It’s also so the sheep can benefit from the good feed. The sheepdog also protects the flock from the animals outside the lions, the coyotes and the wolves that want to attack the flock. The last line of the passage I quoted from Titus says you need to refute those who oppose the word. Continuing in Titus.
For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. One of Crete's own prophets has said it: "Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons." This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.
Titus 1:10-14
Remember when Paul wrote this letter to Titus that the Church was still young. There were people still alive that had seen Jesus and more importantly had seen the risen Jesus. And yet there were already rebels. The rebellion continues until this day. Going against God and His creation who suppress the truth of God with their wickedness.
Using the word of God as our standard we try to do the same thing. Titus wasn't afraid to name names, and we shouldn't be either when we point out false teachers. Those early preachers didn't do this because they felt they were better than others or they had a better understanding than the false teachers they did it out of love for the fellow believers around them. We see this in Paul’s letters to the Corinthians and Philippians.
For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
2 Corinthians 2:4
For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.
Philippians 3:18
Now none of these giftings make us special or better than others. We look at Paul and Barnabas in Lystra.
In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, "Stand up on your feet!" At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: "Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.
Acts 14:8-15
The miracles should always be used to point to God and the Gospel. We should never seek glory nor accept it from others.
Also as an elder Paul says we must be blameless, have good family relations and have a good character in society. Because you are being watched. I remember a famous athlete that was caught in a betting scandal. When confronted by the press he stated that he was no role model. You don’t get to choose that role. If you stand out people are going to want to be like you. Paul realized that and said this,
Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:1
But Paul also said this in the scripture.
For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
Romans 7:18-19
Well, just wait a minute, Paul. How's that supposed to work? What’s the answer?
If somebody were to invite me to a mountain climbing class and I show and you have already made it to the top of the mountain, you’re no good to me. What was the best route. What equipment did you use. I want to see or hear how you made it through. The same with the Christian walk. I want someone who struggles like me to point the way. The overcomers that Jesus praised in Revelations.
Many times the answer is to look to Christ. If you're to follow someone who's following Christ for deliverance, you must know what Christ looks like, and to do that you will need to study the word of God to see the character of Christ.
What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.
Romans 7:24-25
And for us to know Christ, we must be taught. Which brings us to the teachers. Now, some pastors are teachers, but not all teachers are pastors. We have two dedicated ladies that are teaching our children in Sunday School right now. We have a Bible study every Wednesday night our Pastor teaches so we can learn more about the Word of God and learn more about the Saints of God and how to be like them. But the teaching doesn't stop there. Parents are a big influence on their children. My Father was a field technician for a while for a machine called the ‘Talking Typewriter’. It was as big as a baby grand piano and was used in the state schools to teach developmentally children to read and write. When they had a problem Dad would travel to the different schools to work on the equipment. In the summer I would go with him. We would talk about school and other things while driving. I remember seeing a rainbow as we were traveling one time. Now my father wasn’t the most religious man, in fact he was raised Mormon and his most vivid memory was having to breathe through a straw out of the car window, because the lady who took them to church smelled so bad, but he told me about God’s promise not to flood the earth again and that the sign of that promise was the rainbow. Nothing formal or planned, just a car ride with my dad. But that memory has stuck with me for sixty years. Parents you don’t know what those kids will remember, a casual conversation in the car about God or how Jesus loves them. Whatever God has done for you. Share it with your children.
Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 11:18-19

We also have 2000 years of writings from the early church fathers who knew the Apostles. People who argued and pleaded with others to remain true to the faith throughout the years. The reformers from the fifteenth century to the present day. Men and women who worked out their faith with fear and trembling and graciously shared their walks with us in writing.
We are overwhelmed with teaching in media. TV Radio and on and on. But like in ages past there are rebels and false prophets, so the Bible is the final word the plumb bob of our faith.
Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Acts 17:11
In my early days of walking with Christ many movements rose up claiming that God was doing something new. When the leaders of these movements were challenged with the Word they called the people questioning the movements trouble makers, bringing division to the body of Christ. But time has proved the trouble makers right.
It’s not being a trouble maker to double check me. I in fact welcome corrections. Because I strive to be a good steward of God’s Word. As does every good teacher and pastor. Be of noble character.
Now the purpose of all these gifts is to build and build up the church. Creating strong believers that are grounded in the Word of God. So they can go on to build up others, keeping Christianity going generation to generation. Reminding you of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians:
So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.
1 Corinthians 14:12

05/23/2026

Pentecost Sunday Celebration Waterbury Memorial Presbyterian Church Sunday, May 24, 2006 • 10:00 a.m. All faiths are invited and warmly welcomed to join us on Pentecost Sunday, the birthday of the Christian Church. Together, we will celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit and the life of our congregation.
We will also take time to honor the men and women of the Armed Forces who have served and sacrificed their lives for our great country. Rev. Thomas Merrick will lead worship and share his message, “The Spirit’s Gift to the Church.” All are welcome and bring a friend.

05/22/2026

May 17, 2026 message
Larry Beasley
"Kingdom and Power"

Friends, please pray with me. Mighty God, in whom we know the power of redemption — you stand among us in the shadows of our time. As we move through the shadows of this life, uphold us with the knowledge of your glorious presence, and that we are redeemed to the fullness of life and forever freed to be your people. Amen.

"So when they had come together, they asked him, 'Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?' And he replied, 'It is not for you to know the times and the periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judah and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'" And when he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

I read that passage and I thought: how prudent of Jesus to make two provocative statements — one of those a stern corrective, "It is not for you to know," and the other an evocative promise, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." And having said that, Jesus promptly and abruptly leaves the room and doesn't take any questions.

Now, I have to believe that there were people standing there, watching all of this, hearing what Jesus said, and preparing to say, "Whoa, wait a minute." But then he was gone. What were the expectations of the people gathered in that place? Was this the time to restore the kingdom to Israel? Was that what they were waiting for — to wrest the territory from tyrannical Roman rule and place the Jewish hierarchy in its place? Well, apparently not. But he left room for it: "It is not for you to know the times and the periods." And still that tyrannical Roman rule remained steadfastly in place.

What might become of the restoration of the kingdom to Israel is a question that was left unanswered. But still: "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." What power is that? How is that power to be received? And what is it intended to achieve? It strikes me that these questions, too, remain largely unanswered.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have taken it upon myself to engage in a thought experiment. I want to be very clear this morning: I am on the very leading edge of what I perceive to be a very large question. What I say today requires a great deal more research and reflection, and I'm not going to claim that my thinking today is fully baked — or even half-baked, or even quarter-baked. I might very well be very wrong about all of this. But I think it is a very worthwhile topic.

There is a complaint that I have heard again and again throughout my tenure as leader of the Presbytery of Utica: "I don't want to hear politics preached from the pulpit." Let me say this right now — especially to those of you who are starting to gather up your things — I'm not going to preach politics from the pulpit this morning. I have seen and heard and felt the damage that that does.

I heard a sermon this week delivered by a seminary-trained Presbyterian Church USA clergy person. In that sermon, they talked through the great ends of the church as we find them in the opening chapters of the Presbyterian Church Book of Order. This person gave the church a letter grade for each of those great ends, and for several of them gave the church a failing grade — largely for what they considered the church's failure to act regarding human rights violations they saw happening. I participated in this service online, so I couldn't see how the people in the room were reacting to what they were hearing. But I was quite confident that this brash message would be less than welcome for at least some portion of those present — that some of them would basically stop listening after what they came to experience as a browbeating from the pulpit. I haven't heard any blowback from that sermon, but I'm confident there will be some.

It's not the first time I've participated in worship services with messages just like that. In spite of what the gospel said — Jesus himself spoke of people being offended by what he said — I don't perceive that the primary thing Jesus wanted to accomplish was to offend people. I don't think that was his purpose at all. When preachers use the pulpit as a bully pulpit, I think they're showing a great deal more of their own insecurities than anything else.

But that is precisely what has brought me to this thought experiment. And the central question of the thought experiment is this: What are our obligations as citizens of the republic? And what are our obligations as citizens of the kingdom?

Let me say that one more time. What are our obligations as citizens of the republic? And what are our obligations as citizens of the kingdom? How are they different? Where might they overlap?

I believe that the republic makes claims on its citizens, and the kingdom likewise makes claims on its citizens — but for the most part, I perceive those claims to be very different, even though in some places, perhaps in the area of morality and ethics, there is some overlap. With this in mind, I can see clearly why it is so difficult for us to have calm and meaningful conversations. There are words we use frequently in both contexts — that of the republic and that of the kingdom — but they mean very different things in those contexts. When we attempt to collapse the two realms together, we make a grave error, and it becomes impossible for us to find common ground.

Now, this is a very large question, and this morning we are only going to be able to look at a small part of it. The opening sentence of the fourth paragraph of the Declaration of Independence reads: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights." That, I think, is the first distinction of the republic: it concerns itself with the person — with the individual — and with the individual's rights. Just who can be a citizen, and just what those rights are, have been matters of dispute from the very beginning of the republic. They continue to be matters of dispute, and they will continue to be as long as there is a republic. But that is the nature of a republic.

The republic is fundamentally legal and transactional. The question it asks is: "What do I have coming to me, and from whom?"

The kingdom of God, I submit, is primarily concerned with the human being as a unique and divine creation of God — imbued with, and a carrier of, the imago Dei, the image of God. By virtue of your very existence as a bearer of the imago Dei, you are a holy spiritual being, entitled to all that that affords.

There is a customary greeting in South Asia where people greet one another with the word namaste, inclining toward each other. What that means is: "I bow to the divinity in you." It is a recognition that you are a bearer of divinity.

In the republic, you are free as an individual to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness according to the dictates of your own conscience. The republic has established guarantees of those rights for its citizens. But the kingdom's grammar is very different. It is covenantal and relational. The questions it asks are: "What is the image of God in myself? What is the image of God in the other person? And what does that require of both of us?" The kingdom is concerned with recognizing the image of God in every person — drawing that image out, cultivating it, calling it forth — although it may not have been fully recognized heretofore — and letting it find its fullest expression in beloved community.

Worship in the beloved community is the praise and lifting up of the God of all creation. Doxology. And the recognition that this same image exists in each and every one of us.

"Now there are varieties of gifts," we are told in the twelfth chapter of First Corinthians, "but the same Spirit. There are varieties of services, but the same Lord. There are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone." God is at work within you to bring forth the imago Dei.

Now, I think this is the distinction that comes out of the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, because all three tell the story of religious leaders coming to Jesus and asking him about the payment of taxes. And Jesus says to them, "Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Jesus makes that distinction explicitly.

So what are we to do with all of this? As I said earlier, we need to be aware that the grammar we use when talking about the republic and the grammar we use when talking about the kingdom of God mean very different things. They may use similar words — love, power, and justice, for instance — but those words mean very different things in their respective contexts. They mean one thing in the republic, and something very different in the kingdom of God. I think it is important for us to explore those differences.

As citizens of the republic, we need to participate as fully as we are able to ensure that the rights enshrined in the Constitution are fully realized. As citizens of the kingdom of God, we need to come to a fuller realization of the image of God — the imago Dei — within ourselves and within one another, to do these things in beloved community, and to permit those expressions to find their fullest expression. Because when that happens, remarkable things occur.

I see this in each and every encounter between Jesus and the people in the gospel. He saw past the person who was presented to him and saw the image of God they were carrying. When they came to him, he appealed to that image. He called it forth. And when it came forth, miraculous things occurred.

As citizens of the republic, do that which the dictates of your conscience require — and do it robustly. As citizens of the kingdom of God, love the image that you are carrying and look for that image in others — and do that robustly.

Somewhere in between the two lies a place very much worth exploring. Somewhere between the two, God's redemptive purposes for all of creation can be more fully known. Somewhere between the two, we can have a conversation that we desperately need to have. And I think the power to have that conversation may be precisely what Jesus was talking about in the Acts text.

Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift.

Amen.

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