John 8:54-58 on September 28th, 2025
Above is audio of the sermon pulled from the video and amplified.
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Expanding God's table for all in spirit, song, and service. That is the new mission statement the crossing thresholds the team and the council are proposing. Expanding God's table for all in spirit, song, and service. I hinted at it earlier in the month, but now that stewardship letters have gone out, hopefully some of you have seen it, read some background on it, been inspired by it, and of course 100% memorized it already.
Now a mission statement isn't just a motto or a catchy phrase, though it can be that. It is meant to tell the story of who we are and what we do. A mission statement should give clear purpose and a reason for being. And I think that this mission statement does that for St. Philip Lutheran Church in Murdle Beach, South Carolina. It is inspiring, but it also calls us to action. The states are desired outcome, but it also tells us how to get there. And as you'll soon see in our Crossing Thresholds Ministry guide, there is a lot packed into this tin word phrase.
As I said in the stewardship letter, the more I read and reflect on this statement, the more God unveils to me. So let's break it down a little bit. Word by word.
Expanding. Expanding means more than numbers or waste lines. Expanding means intentionality. We are making room for more on purpose. Room for new people, new ministries, and new ways of being church. This is also a gentle nod to the building renovations. We are intentionally creating more space.
God's table. This points us to holy communion. God's table is a place of welcome, forgiveness, nourishment, and sending us back out into the world. God's table, we are grounded in grace as Christ hosts us and feeds us.
For all. Since this is God's table, it is open to everyone that God welcomes, which is everyone. And our call is to mirror God's hospitality, inviting and welcoming all to join with us in worship, song, service, and meal.
Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies this community of faith binding us together as the body of Christ. But spirits also points to the energy and the heart of our worship and our service. It is the sense of joy and hospitality that we strive to embody.
Song. Worship is central to our lives together, and song helps point us to the liturgy, to worship, to praise those songs and those hymns that lift us up when words alone cannot. So this is something that we do as a community. We do together.
Service. This is how we put our faith into action. It is how we embody the love of God, not only with words and thoughts and prayers, but with tangible good for the neighbor, embodying the love of God.
And taking together, this is more than a slogan. It's a way of living together. And I invite you to reflect on that statement over the next several weeks to see what God is saying to you about who we are as St. Philip and where God is leading us forward. And notice that mission is active. These aren't just nice ideas, nouns that we put on a shelf. These are verbs, things that we do and we live out so that others might know that all encompassing love of an active God.
And that brings us right into our scripture for today because at the burning bush God shows us what it means to be active. Not only do we believe that God is active in our lives and our world, but God tells us this by giving us the divine name. God doesn't just set it and forget it. God is I am who I am. God is action.
But before we dive into that, it's important to catch up because a lot has happened since Jacob dreamed of stairways to heaven. God kept the covenant promise, even with a trickster like him. And later Jacob would again wrestle with God and this time walk away limping but with a new name. Israel. Israel's 12 sons became the 12 tribes, though family drama was everywhere. Remember Joseph and his technical dream coat? He was sold off by his brothers, but God turned it to good. Joseph rose to power in Egypt second only to Pharaoh and he saved the world from famine. So Israel's whole family moves down to Egypt and life is good, at least for a little while.
Fast forward a few generations, a new Pharaoh comes and he doesn't know who Joseph is. So the Israelites are no longer honored guests but enslaved laborers. And when they start to grow to numerous Pharaoh panics in order as all the Hebrew baby boys killed. When desperate mother floats her baby in a basket down the Nile. Pharaoh's own daughter finds him, names him Moses and raises him up in the palace. And grown up Moses tries to defend his people but ends up as a fugitive in the wilderness. And there while tending sheep, he sees a bush on fire that isn't consumed. And from that holy flame God calls him to set the people free, giving him the divine name I am who I am. Or maybe it's I am what I shall be or perhaps I will be who I will be.
Regardless God's name isn't a noun like Melchizedek or Dorcas or Jethro. God's name is verb. Do. Be. Action. Some form of that verb to be. So what does that mean? It means that God is not just the creator. God creates. God is not just a savior. God saves. God is the subject of active verbs. God hears. God remembers. God takes notice. God comes down. God does stuff. God is on the move always and already. And we as Christians are called to respond to what God has done is doing and promises yet to do in our world.
And despite our efforts to depend God down, what's your name or slap a label on the box that we put God into, God instead tells us just to keep up. Look at this new thing that I'm doing. If God is always on the move, then the question is how do we move in response? And that is what we call stewardship. Yes, stewardship involves giving to to mission and ministry what God has already given to us. But it also involves the gifts and talents, the joys and experiences, your tendencies and traits, your life, your efforts, your whole self. It involves us wholly being active with a God who is doing.
Which means that we can say with confidence, because God is moving, I will move to. Since God provides, I will give. Because God loves, welcomes, is active in our life and in our world. Therefore I will live out a loving, welcoming, active response. And when we feel lost or uncertain about our next steps, we can come back to the mission. We remember God's expanding love. We return to a table where we are fed and we are nourished. We trust in the Spirit who names us and claims us forever. We sing the songs that proclaim the gospel. We serve others to remind us that our work is not yet done.
The God who is and who will be is already at work, expanding the table, making room for grace upon grace. And the wonder of it all is that God invites us to a place at that table and then tells us to pull up another chair to make room for others. That is our mission. Our joy, our hope, that because God acts, we act. And in this way, the story of grace just keeps unfolding in spirit, in song, and in service.