First Presbyterian Church Of San Anselmo

With folks all around the world, today is the day we tell the story: In the birth of the Christ, the fresh presence of God comes to life in the fullness of humanity.

Joy is “the fresh presence of God... the fresh action of God,” rising up from the steady and sure saving action of God across all time. Joy is God’s forever longing for human flourishing. In this sermon, we consider “joy because” of the goodness we experience in life, “joy notwithstanding” the challenges and sorrow of life, and “joy against” everything that seeks to harm human flourishing.

In a hurting world, Jesus invites us to keep watch for the Advent of God in every moment, as together we make the long journey toward joy.

Listen in as Rev. Dr. Janie Spahr preaches at First Pres San Anselmo.

Our experience of grace and gratitude is not in any way bound or determined or limited by circumstance. In Jesus Christ, God’s grace reaches us and embraces us even in the mire and the muck.

God’s New Creation comes to life, not just in the words we say and sing on Sunday, but in the life we live on Tuesday.

God embodies God’s love for the world in the communion of the saints, all of us embraced, drawn together in one Body.  All Saints Day gives us a moment to look back in gratitude, forward in hope, and present in the intention to live so that everyone can be free.

There is a place for you here if you come with questions- about Scripture, about community, about how to live well in the world.  There is a place for you here to learn and grow through questions.  

"In Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” Whoever you are, wherever you are, in the Body of Christ, there is a place for you... here.

In Christ, creation groans in suffering and in hope. In the body of Christ, climate collapse invites us into a practice of reverence, relinquishment, reconciliation, restoration, resilience, and resistance.The sermon included a presentation of Peter Anderson's photos from Standing Rock, which you can see and hear on the worship video (available on our YouTube page): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxUkkhUz8d0WpU50H87N1Eb3-fnu0We11 

In 2023, as we think of the Earth as our home, we live somewhere between despair and hope. Even as we are honest about the severity of climate disruption, the place for us here is always our place in the Body of Christ – an integrated, interconnected part of all creation – the New Creation – groaning as we birth together something new.

As we accompany and extend hospitality to each other, God creates a world of welcome, where everyone is seen as fully human and everyone has enough.

In a world of people on the move, God insists that we love and shelter the stranger. Throughout history and around the world today, God accompanies us as we accompany each other.

 In the Body of Christ, love comes to life – as we love with integrity, share in the deep need of the world, and practice hospitality.

Jesus invites us in to work healing and feeding, bringing to life a world of possibility. As Jesus feeds the multitude, Jesus brings the disciples to work, invites them into the building of a brave new world, and says to them: “All this healing, all this feeding, all this life –this is the work that is ours to do together.”

The Psalms take us on a journey through the whole of life – and what we find – again and again – everywhere we look – is the goodness of God. The invitation that the Psalms extend is this: Like a tree planted by streams of water, sink your roots deep, and live.

God – in God’s goodness and steadfast love – stands with the poor, the vulnerable, and the oppressed, in the place of deepest need. In our anger, God invites us to stand there too. The imprecatory psalms point us to the deep pain in the world; they point us to the peril of our propensity for violence; and they point us – through all that – to seek the goodness of God, who is always standing there, in the place of deepest need.

From the cross, Jesus cries out in the lament of the psalms, and brings us into a new song for a new creation and a brave new world.

When we pray out of our pain, God is listening, and God is for us. In the psalms of lament, we pray in response to the God we have come to know – to the God who has loved us first – and we ask for help.