|
|
|
Sunday July 5, 2009 "No Longer Strangers" Matthew 25: 34-40 |
 |
|
Location: Blogs Brad's BlogBrad's Sermons |
 | | Posted by: Brad Miller | 7/6/2009 12:32 PM | Preaching on Independence Day weekend is a challenge for me. It is a wonderful celebration that I am glad to be part of, but it can raise special concerns when our worship of God is mingled with our love of country. Don’t get me wrong, I am overjoyed to be an American, but as a preacher of the gospel, I need to be careful not to let patriotism guide my faith. In fact, it should be the other way around.
I do get a little concerned when people start talking as if our country is the promised land, ordained by God and protected by God’s special grace and will. What does that say about other lands, other people? Are they out of God’s favor? And so, in general, I have tried to keep the two separate. But today, I want to deviate from what I had planned to preach on (I’ll save that until next week) to tell you a story that is an example of what has made America great, and at the same time teaches us a great lesson in what it means to be Christians.
In the late winter of 2006, I received a phone call from Dan Womack of our congregation. He had told me before about his and Carol Ann’s connection with a group of Cambodian Christians that had been sponsored by their previous church, the Brook Valley Church. The Cambodian folks had formed their own congregation, the International Christian Church, connected with a pastor, Rev. Vicky Shanahan, and had been on their own for several years.
Not too long before our conversation, Rev. Shanahan had passed away, and the International Christian Church was somewhat at loose ends. They had trouble finding another pastor. They were about to lose their lease on the property they were renting. They were wondering about visiting Brookhaven just to see if maybe their members would be comfortable with us. I told Dan that they were always welcome and I would love to meet them.
About 2 weeks later, during the coffee time, I met about 25 members of the International Christian Church. As we were chatting, Bill Travis, a much loved member of Brookhaven and another former member at Brook Valley, walked in and in an instant, they surrounded him with hugs and kisses and handshakes all around. As they talked excitedly, I could see the sheer joy in Bill’s eyes.
When it was time to go to Sunday School, Bill steered me aside, put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Whatever these people need, we need to help them get it. These are the finest people I have ever met in my life.” And with that, he was off to Sunday School.
Within a few weeks, I got a call from Phaly Huy of the ICC and asked if we could meet to discuss the possibility of somehow partnering in ministry. In April of 2006, I met with Phaly and his uncle Phan Rhattanak at a restaurant on Peachtree and they told me a little bit of their story.
The oldest of their small congregation had been forced out of Cambodia in 1975, in the wake of what has become known as the Killing Fields, the gruesome reign of terror of Phol Phot and the Khmer Rouge. Some had been imprisoned and released. Many family members had simply disappeared. Over time, they found themselves in refugee camps, outside of Cambodia, uncertain what would happen next.
Little by little, folks were taken out of the camps and sent abroad for a new start. The two most frequent destinations were France and the United States. One day, it was their turn, and when they got on the plane, all they knew was that they were starting over. They knew that Cambodia would never be their home again. They didn’t know where they were going. Wherever they went, they would be without a doubt, the definition of the stranger.
They came to America. They found their way to Atlanta. They were sponsored here by the Brook Valley Church. They weren’t Christians, and Phan told me that had some of them known that it was a church who sponsored their relocation, they might not have come!
But they did, and in the church, in this new country, they found a home. And one by one, they became Christians. And not just Christians, but Christians that lived their faith every day of their lives. Christians that as Bill Travis assured me, “were the finest people” around.
They made their way. They raised families. They worked hard to make a living and prosper. They reconnected with lost relatives and they found purpose and community in a country that welcomed them and a church that sustained them.
That day we met, they came with a proposal. They would like to rent some space to worship and have fellowship, with their goal being to stay together for the sake of the older non-english speaking members, but to participate with BCC in all activities.
The proposal was based on the idea that if they were to simply dissolve and each go their own way, the elderly, non-English speaking folks would have nowhere to go, nowhere to worship. So, they proposed that the kids and younger adults would join in Sunday school and worship and other activities at BCC while the Khmer speakers would continue to have Sunday school and worship together. On any given week they thought, maybe a third of the adults would worship with BCC and a third would worship downstairs.
We quickly took our conversation to the executive team, and then the board, and the answer was loud and clear: yes, we would be pleased to work with the International Christian Church.
In those 3 plus years, we have become family with our Cambodian brothers and sisters. They have shared their culture with us through programs highlighting their native dance and song. They have shared with us the story of the Killing Fields and their personal stories of loss and triumph. They have worked side by side with us on service projects and work days at the church and pumpkin sales and Christmas Tree sales. We have celebrated births together and we have mourned deaths together.
As often as the members of the International Christian Church say thank you to us, we cannot help respond in kind. We give thanks for their witness, for their example and for their friendship. It has been a wonderful shared journey thus far.
Last Sunday morning, Phaly called me before I left for church to confirm something that he had talked to me about earlier: they had closed on a property and would be moving to their own church soon, north of Atlanta, where a larger Cambodian population had settled. They were ready to strike out on their own to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ in the northern reaches of Metro Atlanta.
This past Thursday, I once again met Phaly and Phan for lunch. When they came to the church door, I met them and asked, “Where do you want to eat?” Phan smiled and said, “Let’s go to where we met the first time.”
And so we did.
Phan began by saying, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this sooner, but it just wasn’t clear that we were going to get the property and I didn’t want cause problems.
But I wanted to tell you something about our journey. When we came to BCC and met you and worked out our agreement, BCC saved us. BCC was refuge for us. We were on the verge of dissolving. We knew we needed to stay together for our old folks, but our morale was very low. And we found refuge with BCC.
We found a place where we could worship together, where those who wanted could participate in the English worship and bible study and those who wanted could worship and study in Khmer. BCC helped us find our way.”
“As time went on,” Phan said, “we realized how blessed we were to find such a good place wit our children and young people getting to go to a wonderful Sunday school, with most adults meeting together in Khmer speaking gatherings. And as we continued down this path, it became clear that we were stronger than we had ever been. We had never had any experience with running worship or preaching or teaching, but we had learned how to do it. We began to talk about the future of the ICC and finding our own place to worship and continuing to grow. We began to believe that we could be a church on our own.”
In 2008, they started hearing that there was property available north of Atlanta, and one piece of property in particular came to their attention. It had been purchased by a couple from Michigan who were trying to start a church, but just couldn’t make a go of it. At one time the asking price had been 2 and ½ times what they knew they could afford, and so it had sat empty for about a year and a half.
Phaly tried to contact the agent who was selling it, but he never returned his calls. Phan persevered and finally contacted the owners, the couple that had already outfitted the house for church purposes. As they talked Phan learned some things that made him really sit up and listen.
First, it had been a church so there was parking and all the issues surrounding zoning had already been dealt with. Second, the house was a short sale and it looked like if the bank approved, they could buy the property with cash and not have to take out a mortgage, something that they hoped they could do. And third, Phan told me with a quiet voice and amazement in his eyes, “It was built in 1975, the year of the start of the Killing Fields.” I told him that it was pretty clear that God had a plan for this house. “Oh yes” Phan replied, “this is God’s house. And we will use it well.”
We talked excitedly over lunch. They want to grow. They want to provide a place for other Cambodians to find a place to worship and a community to be part of. Already they have heard form folks in that area that will come worship with them. When they outgrow this property, not if, but when they outgrow the property, they will seek God’s guidance in where to go next.
The older folks are excited about having their own place. The kids are excited about the new space and new places to explore. All of them, young and old, are excited about being involved with spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The members of the ICC left their homes and came to a land of strangers, all because a group of people at the Brook Valley Church heard the gospel message and reached out to those who were strangers and welcomed them; reached out to those in need of food and drink and friendship and provided for them. The members of Brook Valley stepped out in faith because Jesus had made it clear: “what ever you do for these, the stranger, the hungry, the lonely, the thirsty, you do for me.”
The members of the ICC could have taken the easy way out and simply gone on meeting here, or even dissolved, but they understand fully that this scripture is pointed at them, too. They have been the recipients of God’s providence, and having worked hard to get where they are, they do not want to take the easy way out: they want to grow and prosper and thrive and shout the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ at the top of their lungs!
This story is also appropriate for an Independence Day weekend because embedded in this story is the American story. At it’s best, America is the place that has welcomed wave after wave of immigrants to these shores. America has been built by people who came seeking a better life; people who were trying to escape persecution; people who simply couldn’t survive where they were. At our best, we are the great hope of the world. Not because we are better than anyone else, but because, at our best, we seem to have embraced this ideal of welcoming and helping and giving folks a helping hand.
This is one of those times when it easy to celebrate our American ideals and our Christian ideals, and we must take care never to lose either one.
Reaching out to others is our door to the world and our door to building the church of Jesus Christ. In neither case can we close ourselves off, thinking somehow that we can take care of ourselves. Because Jesus made it clear, when we take care of the other, the stranger, we are not only taking care of one of God’s children in need, we are taking care of the Body of Christ. And if we do not take care of the body of Christ, we ultimately are not taking care of ourselves.
This is the essence of the Gospel message. Today we celebrate the amazing power of God’s presence and the growth of Christ’ church, but we must never lose sight of what still needs to be done. There are strangers to welcome, hungry people to feed, lonely people to comfort, injustice to be confronted. As Americans and as Christians tit is nothing short of our sacred duty to stand with open arms and be a beacon of hope and grace to all those who need it. We can never become complacent with who we are and what we accomplish because there are more strangers to meet, and more work to be done.
This is not the end of our association with the ICC, not by a long shot. Phaly and Phan spoke with reverence about the fact that they consider BCC as their parent, and we will always work together. Before they leave to take up their new residence, we will have a special worship and fellowship together, to say thank you, to wish them well, and to say God speed on your new journey.
We will continue to work together on projects; we will find times to share worship and fellowship. Phaly and Phan both said they’d all be here for the pumpkin and Christmas tree sales. When the time does come for them to leave, probably at the end of the summer, we will not say goodbye. We will revel in the fact that once we were strangers, but now we are family.
Phan left me with one final thought last Thursday. “When we get settled in,” he said “we would like to dissolve the ICC and become part of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) because we always want to be part of you…..besides,” he said with a twinkle in his eye, “we want to be the first Cambodian Disciples church…there’s already enough Cambodian Baptists!”
Because the folks from the ICC became part of us, we have become part of them. Because they came among us, we are the stronger for it. And most importantly, Christ’s church is the stronger for it, and will continue to grow and prosper. All because a group of folks at Brook Valley took seriously their role as Americans and Christians and welcomed the stranger into their midst.
There can be no greater lesson for us as we contemplate how we can fulfill the words of Jesus: the more we move toward helping those in need, the more we welcome the stranger, the more we sit with the lonely, the more we feed the hungry, the stronger they become, the stronger we become and the stronger God’s kingdom becomes.
May it be so for you, for me, for Brookhaven Christian Church and the International Christian Church, now and always.
Let us pray: Gracisous God, we give you thanks for the gift of the International Christian church. May their witness and their story stand as a beacon of hope for all those who are strangers. May our witness of hospitality and service be strengthened, knowing that when we follow your will, your kingdom is served. Give us the courage to continue to expand our outreach to the strangers among us. Bless our brothers and sisters in the ICC with your presence, just as they have blessed us with theirs. In the name of the Christ we ask it all. Amen. | | | Permalink | Trackback |
|
|
 | |