View today's sermon on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmrIBD-be40.

We are Called…How Do We Respond?

Good morning Beloved People of God; 

Good morning blessed people of the Maine Conference--

As we celebrate this weekend as the church…

together…in covenant with each other and with our God; 

• working with one another for a unified vision and mission, 

• while embracing the richness of our diversity.

We have come a long way this year as the church together—

• With an increasing willingness to consider that WE are the Maine Conference. 

• There is no “us” and “them” in the vibrant, unfolding WE

• We are blessed as churches have shown a deepening appreciation for financial covenant, with a willingness to give their fair share for OCWM basic support to sustain the ministry of your Conference ministers

• We are blessed with a 2026 budget that has a surplus!

• We are blessed by our office staff who are exemplary in their work (Kimberly, Nancy)

• We are blessed by our program staff who inspire and lead those who serve children and families; and are committed to the education of our pastors and health and vitality of our churches (Liz, Lydia, Malcolm)

• We are blessed by our ACM who is gifted and committed to working with churches of all sizes as they follow Jesus to be alive and thrive (John)

• We are blessed as we prepare to consolidate our conference ministries, moving our offices to the Farmhouse at the end of summer 2026. This move will bring all of our ministries together and this move will save us money!

• We are blessed by so many of our churches that embrace “alive and thrive, any size”—being the mission center in their greater community as the hands and feet of Jesus and all that means to the people around them.

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And yet, there is an unease in our collective spirits as we contemplate moving forward into this coming year.

We live in a world that is wrought with violence against innocents. 

In our country, the life and teachings of Jesus are flung aside as what began as a plan to deport criminals has painfully transformed into a wanton display of disregard for those whom Jesus calls us to care for as strangers. 

The most vulnerable are threatened with poverty, poor health care, exclusion because of gender identity, gender orientation, race, gender. 

And too many Americans are being labeled “the enemy within.”

We are a conference of beloved folks with diverse views of how to respond to our country and our world.

And we are gathered to ponder this weekend:  We hear a call. What is our call? What is our vision and mission for the next 5-10 years? 

Perhaps we hear a call to affirm that all of creation is beloved of God. How do we answer that call?

Perhaps we hear a call to be one with God and with one another, as Jesus and God are one. How can we be one as diverse as we are? 

Perhaps we hear a call to lean into serving Christ and Christ alone as our head, embracing new life as resurrection people. What does that look like? 

Perhaps we hear a call to discern how to follow in the ways and teachings of Jesus who welcomed the stranger, cared for the poor, embraced the children, included everyone, spoke of peace and justice.

How do we unify as the church, under Jesus Christ, when there is a culture of division surrounding us in our country that infiltrates every corner of our Conference?? When our political and theological views are divergent?

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Perhaps we can glean some wisdom from the Hebrew prophets; the prophets who Jesus quoted often and used as the example of hearing, answering, and living God’s call.

Prophets throughout the millennia have struggled with the same questions that we now struggle with: How to follow in God’s ways and inspire others to do the same—especially when there is disagreement of what it means to follow.

From around 800 to 600 BCE those in power in Israel and Judah operated out of their own fear and their belief that only condemning or shunning the most vulnerable would keep them strong. And they over-inflated their power and greatness. They thought they could triumph over any nation that tried to invade. And in their horror, they watched Israel and Judah crumble under the weight of larger nations. Many went into physical exile. All lost their land and their way of life.

Years before the exile, God called prophets to speak with the leaders of Judah and Israel, how they had ventured from God’s path of love for everyone in the laws set forth in Exodus and Leviticus and Deuteronomy, laws that speak of welcoming strangers, caring for the poor and widows and orphans, uplifting the downtrodden—and to plead with them that there would be consequences of their own doing.

At the beginning of their ministry, prophets were overwhelmed with anger and they spoke vitriolic and condemning words to the leaders. But that didn’t work. Their vitriol fell on deaf ears.

And then as the prophets witnessed the crumbling of the nations, they watched in horror as those who perpetrated harm had harmed themselves and the nations they attempted to preserve. These prophets moved from vitriol and condemnation to deep sadness and tears—tears over the propensity of human beings to do so much harm through an “us vs them”, “acceptable vs. unacceptable” stance, driven by deep fear.

In their tears of sadness, the prophets came to a deep knowledge of a great love that undergirds everything, with promises of a hope-filled future even when humans mess up over and over again. And they began to prophesy hope and steadfast love that continues through all the stages of human experience.

We see this progression in Isaiah. At first, the prophet’s words are filled with anger at social injustices. As the exile is imminent the prophet is deeply saddened, with a painful recognition that disorder cannot be resolved through harsh and angry prophesy. And in the end, God’s healing love began to seep into the prophet’s heart, and the prophet became overwhelmed by God’s love and forgiveness and God’s commitment to God’s people. And the prophet started to speak from an eternal understanding of God’s love that undergirds all of creation, despite human harmful action. The prophet’s former message transformed into a message of hope for the future: Isaiah 43: 18-19.. 

"Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert". 

Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry similarly began with angry lashings toward Judah so intense that his life was threatened. Again, the prophet proceeds from vitriol to deep tears of sadness, moving into a heart-filled knowing of God’s unconditional and untiring love of God’s people. And Jeremiah’s final prophesies to the exiles are filled with God’s messages of hope for the future : Jeremiah 29:11-14.

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹² Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity

Ezekiel is a prophet who came across as unhinged (or maybe he was unhinged) to get his vitriolic point across and he too melded into speaking God’s promise, this time of replacing hearts of stone with hearts of flesh Ezekiel 36:26-28

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. ²⁸ Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 

And how about the prophet Jesus? He certainly had moments of lashing out at the religious leadership that oppressed the people with impossible demands, as well as their disdain for the poor and the outcast. And he wept: deeply wept for the death of Lazarus because it spoke to how death sometimes must happen for new life to come about. Jesus wept for Jerusalem who would not let him wrap his mother hen arms around them. And in his final moments he spoke of future provision, forgiveness and coming together as one, hope and new life led by his resurrected Spirit—envisioning a future for the budding Church of Jesus Christ that, with all its warts and blemishes, continues today.

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In preparation for my message to you this morning, I had the honor of reading Richard Rohr’s book “The Tears of Things.” His writing is inspired by prophets in scripture and his writing inspired me. His book is a response to the state of our world in 2025 that currently eschews the main message of the prophets. Richard understands the anger that may arise; the woe that some may speak. 

But Richard’s message is an invitation to move through anger, to weep many tears for the propensity of humans to lead with fear rather than love; a propensity to view those with whom they disagree as “the other”, to pile insecurities onto the most vulnerable. 

And then to find a way to act with God’s eternal love at the center, undergirding every one of us. Without God’s unconditional love upholding us with infinite compassion, our cries for justice (although important) evolve into a “clanging cymbal” of derision that perpetuates “us and them”, political division, anxiety, and even more behavior that shuns Jesus’ life and teaching. We need to tearfully bring a painful message of hope, as difficult as that may seem and certainly is.As I read Richard’s prophetic words, I was at first incredulous.  How can any of us who witnesses injustice and cruelty bring a message of love for all—especially those who perpetrate harm? And then I was humbled as Richard warned that I too live in this world of injustice and cruelty and must own my part in it. As Richard puts it, to castigate “the other” and not question that I am part of a society that upholds cruelty is to ignore that the whole culture is in need of redemption—including me.

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Perhaps our call isn’t much different than God’s call to the prophets. Perhaps God is calling us in the Maine Conference, away from “us and them” stances that alienate and divide. Some of us may, when presented with the sadness of the human condition, begin with frustrated words of vitriol and condemnation; words that prevent meaningful conversation; instead throwing up one’s hands and tearing at one’s clothing.

But it must not stop there.

Perhaps God is inviting all of us, no matter what our political persuasion, to embrace the sadness of our human condition that tends to operate out of fear rather than love, to deeply weep for those who are harmed and those who harm --tears for what is lost; what is hoped for; relationships rendered, for the people who have lost—all of the people who have lost. For the creation that is losing. To acknowledge our own part in hindering the realm of God in our corner of the world.

And then open our hearts and spirits to the undergirding forever love of God that upholds us and embraces each of us, all of us. And to gather for healing conversations that can lead to Godly action.

And we can begin right here, today. There is diversity in this room. There is political diversity. But let’s not make this into a political discourse. Let’s base our discourse first on knowing deep in our hearts that each of us is beloved—no matter who or where. 

Let us open our hearts and spirits to a larger reality that God’s love permeates all creation with a steadfastness we cannot imagine—but that we must try to embrace—touching all of us, inspiring each of us, the followers of Jesus, united under Christ, to come together and find ways—together—to follow in the teachings and actions of Jesus. Let us wonder how Jesus taught and lived, guides us into Godly ways to live today. 

I share my thoughts not to present a solution or even a suggestion of “where do we go from here?” I bring them as an invitation for each and every one of us, the blessed and beloved members of the Maine Conference, to contemplate these words and ponder our response as we discern: we hear a call. What is our call? So that we can hear clearly.

Above all, Beloved, know that you are beloved. You cannot push God away and cannot bring God close. God is right here.

Above all, Beloved, know that all of creation is beloved, even those with whom you disagree, who set your teeth on edge, whom you want to castigate or shun.And know deeply in your spirits that opening yourselves to this undergirding love of God is the first step to coming together and having meaningful moments of mutual understanding about what it means for us—the people of the Maine Conference—to follow Jesus’ teachings and actions that model embracing all people; that inspire us to care for all who are most vulnerable and welcome all who are shunned.

What is our call? How can we unify under the call of God to us?

 “We hear a call.” How will we respond—together?

Rev. Dr. Marisa Laviola

Oct. 18, 2025

Annual Meeting of the Maine Conference United Church of Christ