WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:01.120 Good morning. 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:12.960 So I know I'm sure probably many of us hear that children's fellowship song as we hear the scripture read today. 00:00:14.720 --> 00:00:34.640 As we get further into, I think we will see that as joyful as we as we remember that song, as joyful as that song is, our call to be rooted just like that tree by the water is much deeper and much more fierce than we may initially think. 00:00:35.679 --> 00:00:53.200 So this morning we continue in our sermon series of the pastor's playbook, where we're looking at some of the plays that shape how I understand ministry, how I understand the church, and how I believe we are called to live the gospel together. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:58.880 And today's play is one that may sound also simple at first. 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:00.960 Welcome. 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:05.439 It's a word that churches use all the time. 00:01:05.599 --> 00:01:09.680 We put it on signs, on banners, in bulletins. 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:15.519 We say it at the beginning of worship, we put it on our website in many different places. 00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:29.920 And here at Lakeview, we say those beautiful words woven so beautifully into the heart of the United Church of Christ that no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, that you are welcome here. 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:34.159 It's such a beautiful sentence. 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:40.400 But here is the question for us on this open and affirming Sunday. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:44.640 What kind of welcome are we talking about here? 00:01:46.239 --> 00:01:53.359 Because there are welcomes that say you may come in, but not you may fully belong. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:59.120 There is welcome that opens the door but never makes room at the table. 00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:05.040 Then there's the welcome of the kingdom of God. 00:02:06.640 --> 00:02:16.800 Romans says it plainly, welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you for the glory of God. 00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:23.840 And I don't want us to rush past that last phrase for the glory of God. 00:02:25.039 --> 00:02:30.960 Paul does not treat welcome as church etiquette, he treats it as revelation. 00:02:32.240 --> 00:02:39.360 The way we welcome people tells the truth or tells a lie about the God we claim to worship. 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:45.520 If our welcome is conditional, we make God appear conditional. 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:51.599 If our welcome requires people to hide, we make God appear small. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:03:03.919 If our welcome leaves people wondering whether they are safe, sacred, or truly wanted, then we have not yet reflected the welcome of Christ. 00:03:05.520 --> 00:03:17.199 But when the church welcomes as Christ welcomes, as God welcomes, as the kingdom of God welcomes, God is glorified. 00:03:18.240 --> 00:03:25.680 When people wounded by religion find room to breathe again, God is glorified. 00:03:28.240 --> 00:03:38.400 When our LGBTQIA plus community are received as beloved members of the body of Christ, God is glorified. 00:03:39.280 --> 00:03:47.199 When the immigrant is welcomed as neighbor, friend, and family, God is glorified. 00:03:48.240 --> 00:04:04.479 When people of every color, culture, language, age, ability, education, housing status, income status, and story are received as bearers of divine image, God is glorified. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:10.719 So when we say that no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, you are welcome here. 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:16.959 We're not simply making a statement about Lakeview United Church of Christ. 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:22.079 We are making a claim about our still-speaking God. 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:26.319 And that is extravagant welcome. 00:04:26.639 --> 00:04:35.199 An extravagant welcome that is not just a smile at the door, an extravagant welcome that is a root system. 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:47.839 And that is where Jeremiah gives us such a powerful image today, where the prophet says, Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:56.240 They shall be like a tree planted by water, sending out its roots by the stream. 00:04:57.439 --> 00:05:02.319 A tree planted by water is not finished growing. 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:04.000 It's alive. 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:12.800 Its roots keep reaching, its branches keep stretching, its fruit keeps forming. 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:22.800 And that matters for us because sometimes when a church has done welcome well, the temptation is to get comfortable there. 00:05:23.759 --> 00:05:28.240 To say, of course, we are already welcoming. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:32.160 To say we already made that commitment. 00:05:33.439 --> 00:05:44.000 To say, to say that Jeremiah's tree does not call us to spiritual comfort. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:47.360 It calls us to holy growth. 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:56.800 The tree survives heat and drought not because it once had roots, but because it keeps drawing from the stream. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:06:03.680 And sometimes when the heat comes, it's tempting to pull back. 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:17.759 When energy is low and the world feels heavy, when the church has its own internal needs and to-do lists, it's easy to say, let's just take care of ourselves first. 00:06:18.720 --> 00:06:24.319 Let's wait until things settle down, let's wait until the timing feels better. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:36.879 Now, hear me clearly, there are moments when stepping back, regrouping, and tending to the health of the community is wise and necessary. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:42.480 Every tree needs seasons of quiet growth. 00:06:43.680 --> 00:06:53.120 But Jeremiah's image reminds us that the tree planted by water does not stop bearing fruit in the year of drought. 00:06:54.639 --> 00:06:57.600 So the invitation is not to ignore our own needs. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:01.439 The invitation is not to burn ourselves out. 00:07:02.079 --> 00:07:07.040 The invitation is to be careful that regrouping does not become retreats. 00:07:08.319 --> 00:07:15.439 To be careful that waiting for the perfect moment does not become a reason to stop looking outward. 00:07:16.319 --> 00:07:19.199 Because the church is never called to choose. 00:07:19.920 --> 00:07:25.839 The church is never called to choose between being rooted and being sent. 00:07:27.519 --> 00:07:30.160 We are rooted so we keep reaching. 00:07:30.639 --> 00:07:34.079 We are nourished so we can nourish. 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:39.839 We draw from living water so we can carry it even farther. 00:07:41.040 --> 00:07:48.399 So the call today is not simply to celebrate Lakeview's commitment to being open and affirming. 00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:54.160 The call is to keep becoming more fully what we have promised to be. 00:07:55.759 --> 00:08:02.160 Sometimes extravagant welcome requires us to get out of our comfort zone. 00:08:03.040 --> 00:08:10.160 It asks us to say the clear thing when vague kindness would be easier. 00:08:11.120 --> 00:08:18.160 It asks us to move toward people who have learned to keep their distance from the church. 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:35.679 To let our affirmation become clearer than our fear. 00:08:36.720 --> 00:08:41.279 To keep asking, who still wonders if they belong? 00:08:41.759 --> 00:08:45.919 Who still has to work too hard to feel safe? 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:58.080 Who still needs the church to say more clearly, more publicly, more faithfully, you are beloved, and you are beloved here. 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:04.480 Extravagant welcome is not something a church finishes. 00:09:05.279 --> 00:09:07.759 It's something a church practices. 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:19.360 It's something we return to again and again, not because we have failed, but because divine love is always calling us even deeper. 00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:39.039 Deeper into courage, deeper into justice, deeper into the kind of welcome that does not wait for people to find us, but take seriously the call to carry living water out into dry places. 00:09:40.720 --> 00:09:47.039 Because if we are planted by the stream, then we are not rooted there only for ourselves. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:53.519 We are watered so that we can become part of God's healing for a thirsty world. 00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:58.960 And there are people all around us who are spiritually thirsty. 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.960 Thirsty for a church that will not shame them, thirsty for a faith that does not require them to disappear. 00:10:07.360 --> 00:10:14.159 Thirsty for a community where they do not have to translate their pain before someone believes them. 00:10:15.279 --> 00:10:22.720 Thirsty for a community that can welcome them even when we think a little differently or believe a little differently. 00:10:23.679 --> 00:10:32.559 Thirsty for someone to say plainly that God has not rejected you, that God delights in you. 00:10:34.000 --> 00:10:36.559 You are beloved here. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:46.879 So if we are rooted by that living water, then our call is not to guard the stream as if it belongs only to us. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:49.679 Our call is to carry it out. 00:10:50.399 --> 00:10:54.080 That is what extravagant welcome does. 00:10:55.600 --> 00:11:00.960 It does not simply say the water is here if you can find your way to it. 00:11:01.440 --> 00:11:02.720 It goes out. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:13.200 It goes out with cupped hands and says, Here, this is for you too. 00:11:15.679 --> 00:11:26.240 And this is especially important on our open and affirming Sunday, because open and affirming is not just a slogan, it's not a rainbow that we display. 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:29.759 It's not just a line in our identity statement. 00:11:29.919 --> 00:11:36.960 It is a practice, it is a promise, and it is a holy discipline. 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:59.039 It means the extravagant welcome of God and the kingdom of God becomes visible in our worship, in our language, in our leadership, in our pastoral care, in how we teach our children, and how we speak publicly, and in how we stand beside people when they are under threat. 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:12.000 The open and affirming coalition's theme for this Sunday is we shall not be moved, rooted in love, justice, and affirmation. 00:12:12.879 --> 00:12:21.360 That is not passive tolerance, that is public affirmation, that is courageous belonging. 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:31.519 And I want to say clearly, I believe Lakeview already knows something about this kind of welcome. 00:12:32.240 --> 00:12:33.759 I have felt it. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.600 I've seen it. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:40.720 In fact, it's part of what drew me to this congregation. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:45.200 It's part of what made me want to partner with you as your pastor. 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:51.600 And yesterday as a church, we did something beautiful. 00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:56.240 We showed up at Cincinnati Pride and we let our welcome be known. 00:12:56.879 --> 00:13:00.960 And let me make this clear: that message was heard. 00:13:02.399 --> 00:13:06.720 Now we may not suddenly have 20 more people in worship this morning. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:11.440 We may not immediately see all the fruit of what was shared yesterday. 00:13:11.759 --> 00:13:17.519 But Scripture reminds us that the word does not return empty. 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:26.399 And I believe the living word of extravagant welcome we shared yesterday will not return empty either. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:35.759 We do not know what kind of seeds were planted, even though those of us who were there saw glimpses of it. 00:13:37.120 --> 00:13:47.440 We do not know who walked past our table carrying church hurt or shame or fear or quiet question about whether God could still have room for them. 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:53.440 But roots often begin beneath the surface. 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:58.799 Seeds do their first work where no one can see. 00:14:00.240 --> 00:14:03.519 And so this is not a sermon saying you are not doing enough. 00:14:03.600 --> 00:14:07.200 It is a sermon saying, thank you. 00:14:08.480 --> 00:14:09.440 Thank you. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:17.120 And it's saying, Together, let's let the roots grow deeper. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:21.039 Because this is what covenant does. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:29.840 And in 2009, Lakeview submitted and committed to its open and affirming covenant. 00:14:30.879 --> 00:14:33.360 And a covenant is not just a statement. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:36.000 A covenant does something. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:42.559 That covenant gave public voice to the welcome this congregation wanted to live. 00:14:44.399 --> 00:14:56.000 It told the community clearly and without apology that the LGBTQIA plus community and people would not have to guess whether they were safe here. 00:14:57.279 --> 00:15:07.759 It told families, children, neighbors, visitors, and strangers that this church was willing to say more than all are welcome. 00:15:08.080 --> 00:15:12.720 It gave a Lakeview a way to say, we mean you. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:14.720 We see you. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:17.120 We bless your life. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.279 We honor your gifts. 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:23.679 You are not a problem to solve or an exception to tolerate. 00:15:24.159 --> 00:15:27.759 You are a part of the beloved community of God. 00:15:29.279 --> 00:15:34.320 And that covenant that covenant planted clarity. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:36.720 It planted courage. 00:15:36.960 --> 00:15:40.960 It planted roots that have been growing for seventeen years. 00:15:41.679 --> 00:15:47.200 And in those seventeen years, the covenant has shaped more than a sentence on paper. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:16:04.320 It has shaped how people were received, how language was chosen, how ministry was imagined, how community was built, and how this church learned to stand in the stream of God's extravagant welcome. 00:16:05.759 --> 00:16:13.440 In just about two and a half years, Lakeriew will reach twenty years of that commitment. 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:21.279 Twenty years of saying, no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, that you are welcome here. 00:16:22.399 --> 00:16:24.399 How beautiful is that. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:22.720 The distrust many people have towards the church is different. 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:29.599 So our covenant cannot only be something we remember, it has to be something we keep living. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:35.359 It has to keep asking us, where is the dry ground now? 00:17:37.839 --> 00:17:42.880 Where is God calling Lateview to bring the living water? 00:17:44.960 --> 00:17:50.319 Maybe it's to the person who has not walked into a church in years because the last one wounded them. 00:17:51.039 --> 00:17:55.200 Maybe it's to the young person trying to believe they are not a mistake. 00:17:58.079 --> 00:18:02.880 Wherever that thirst is, that is where the living water must go. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:07.759 Because a covenant is not alive simply because we made it once. 00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:11.519 A covenant is alive when we keep letting it shape us. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:16.400 When it still has something to ask of us. 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:48.319 And that is the play for this week. 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.599 Extravagant welcome is not finished when the doors are open. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:19:00.880 It is live when people can put down roots, when the weary find shade, when the wounded find water. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:09.359 When those who have been told they are outside the circle hear the good news that the circle was never God's problem. 00:19:10.400 --> 00:19:12.880 Our fear made it too small. 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:18.240 And the Spirit is what is drawing us to make it wider. 00:19:18.640 --> 00:19:36.000 So, beloved, let us welcome one another as Christ has welcomed us, not halfway, not quietly, not with conditions hidden beneath the surface, but extravagantly, courageously, publicly, and faithfully. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:45.039 And when fear tells us to shrink, when hate tells us to move, may we let the roots grow deeper. 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:59.680 May we carry the living water further, and may we say with the gospel in our bones that no matter who you are or where you are on life's journey, that you are welcome here. 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:08.240 And rooted in love, justice, and affirmation, we shall not be moved. 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:10.000 Amen.