PLYMOUTH UCC (FORT COLLINS, CO)
Sermons
* Podcast player directly below.
* Scroll down for video of most recent sermons, click PREVIOUS to go back farther.
* If you are in a particular sermon post, click DETAILS to get tags and dates.
  • Welcome!
    • I'm New Here
    • I'm a CSU Student
    • LGBTQ+
    • How Do I Join?
    • More Questions
  • This Week at Plymouth
  • Worship
    • What is Worship?
    • Worship Online >
      • Streaming Worship
      • Worship Bulletins
      • Digital Pew Card
      • Memorial Services
    • Learn More >
      • Faith Statements
      • Sermons
      • Music Program >
        • Mark's Music Minute
        • Music Series
      • Worship Sign-Ups
  • News & Events
    • Special Events
    • e-News
    • Ongoing Announcements
    • Calendars >
      • Today's Schedule
      • Mobile Calendar
      • Full Calendar
      • Calendar Request Form
    • News Archive
  • Living Our Faith
    • Christian Formation >
      • Children
      • Youth
      • Nursery Care >
        • Child Care Handbook
      • OWL (Our Whole Lives)
      • Adults
      • Visiting Scholar
    • Outreach & Mission >
      • The O&M Board >
        • Grocery Card
      • Climate Action
      • End Gun Violence
      • FFH
      • Immigration
      • Student Support
      • The Missions Marketplace
      • Youth for Change
    • Labyrinth
  • Connect
    • Find Your Place at Plymouth
    • Contact >
      • Contact Us Form
      • Jobs
      • Clergy & Staff
      • Lay Leadership
      • Building Rental >
        • Church Use Payments
    • Our Community >
      • Fellowship
      • Gallery
      • Calling & Caring >
        • Faith Community Nurses
        • Stephen Ministry
      • Meal Signups
    • Online Connections >
      • Email Lists
      • Church App
      • Text Responses
  • Give
    • All About Giving
    • Pledge Online
    • Other Ways to Give >
      • Text to Give
      • Sustaining Gifts
      • Planned Giving
  • Member Info
    • Member Menu >
      • Budget & Financial Ministry
      • Forms & Resources >
        • General Forms
        • Constitution & Policies
        • Newsletter Submissions
        • Emergency Contact Form
        • Zoom Resources
        • Kitchen Videos
        • Mission Statement
        • Strategic Planning
      • F1Go
      • Weddings & Funerals
      • Library
    • New Members

6/11/2023

Not to a Congregation of the Sinless

0 Comments

Read Now
 
“Not to a Congregation of the Sinless”
Matthew 9.9-13
The Rev. Hal Chorpenning, Plymouth Congregational UCC
Fort Collins, Colorado
June 11, 2023
 
 Who does Jesus eat with, and why? An observant first-century Jew should be eating only at a kosher table with people who are socially acceptable and who are not ritually impure. And yet we know who Jesus hung out with. It wasn’t the well-to-do or the religious establishment, and it certainly wasn’t the Roman imperial occupiers of the Jewish homeland.

The gospel writer tells us that Jesus is under fire for sharing the table with sinners and tax collectors. It’s important to know that tax collectors were not simply IRS agents who were doing the work of the federal government in getting everyone to pay their fair share of the tax burden. Instead, tax collectors in this case were Jews who made their money by collaborating with the Roman occupiers. That isn’t a good start, but it gets better: they essentially extorted money from people on the lower rungs of the socio-economic ladder, handing over a portion of the money they collected and keeping some of it for themselves. They were despised by most of those under Roman occupation.

The other category is “sinners.” Temple Judaism in the first century was centered around purity codes that had paths of practice to cleanse one of sin and become ritually clean, and you can read about them in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers.

But don’t all of us commit sin? Don’t we miss the mark as we try to live good and worthy lives? Things that push our relationship with God out of kilter? Of course we do! In our membership covenant response we say, “We warmly welcome you not to a congregation of the sinless, but to a living community of faith that seeks together to find new ways of being in relationship with God and enacting God’s intention for the wholeness of humankind.”

When was the last time you sat down and really considered how you yourself and we together as a church were finding “new ways of being in relationship with God and enacting God’s intention for the wholeness of humankind?” Later in this sermon, I’m going to pose three questions about that, along with an invitation to do some wrestling.

I have a hunch that many of us think that we are pretty set with the second phase of our mission statement that calls us to inviting, transforming, and sending. Do you think you are done with your own transformation as a follower of Jesus? Have any of us attained full enlightenment?

We don’t talk very much about our own spiritual transformation at Plymouth, and I think perhaps we need to work a bit more on our growth and (to use a very old-fashioned word) discipleship. A disciple is nothing more than a student following a master, and we follow Jesus. If we don’t work together on our spiritual lives, where else is that going to happen?

St. John Chrysostom, a bishop of the fourth century said, “The church is a hospital, not a courtroom, for souls. She does not condemn on behalf of sins, but grants remission of sins.” Think about that hospital metaphor in light of what Jesus said: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” I’m going to make a bold assumption in saying that there is no one here who is entirely well or whole. We all need healing and growth. We all need a teacher and a physician. And we need a community to help us along the way.

As I was writing this week, I became curious about what other Christians might see as marks of discipleship or learning. If you want to see a diversity of opinion, try googling “key marks of discipleship” and see what it yields. It wasn’t terribly useful for our purposes, since they all came from organizations whose theology we would be unlikely to support.

But that doesn’t mean that we can’t or shouldn’t have ideas about ways that we can grow in our relationship with God. And as those who try to follow Christ, the best source seems to be Jesus himself. In the text this morning, Jesus quotes the prophet Hosea, instructing his disciples to “Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire compassion, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” The great Jesus scholar Marcus Borg, Plymouth’s first Visiting Scholar, said that Jesus deliberately replaced the centrality of purity as a key aspect of religious practice with compassion, and I think this is a clear example of that. God doesn’t need burnt offerings of doves or sheep; God’s deepest desire for us is to act compassionately toward one another.

Living with compassion is harder than it sounds. It implies that we need to get out of our individualistic and even familial mindset and be open to share the suffering of others. Compassion is costly…it isn’t free, and it isn’t easy. We have to be willing to sacrifice some part of our well-being in order to help others. And that is countercultural in our society.

Many of Jesus’ clearest (and hardest) teachings are enumerated in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel, so isn’t that a logical place to look for clues about what we need to learn as disciples?

The Beatitudes hold up as blessed those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, the meek, those who hunger for justice, who show compassion, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those persecuted for the sake of justice, and those who are rejected on account of following Jesus.

As disciples, some of us here today fall into one or more of those categories. I know some of you who are mourning, others who are meek, and some who hunger for justice. So, what about the rest of us? If a particular beatitude doesn’t apply to us, perhaps we are meant to be a support and a blessing to those Jesus lists. We can support the peacemakers, lift up the poor in spirit, and show compassion.

When the crowd asks Jesus how they should pray, he tells them not to wail aloud like the hypocrites who pray to be seen by others, instead he offers them the prayer we offer each Sunday, the Lord’s Prayer. Have you even noticed that in the Lord’s Prayer we pray twice for the inbreaking of the realm of God? And that it speaks about God’s abundance and debt forgiveness?

Perhaps the first question we should ask ourselves as disciples, learners is Who am I in relation to God?

Jesus keeps on going in his sermon, encouraging his followers (us) to be even more concerned for justice and righteousness than others, to let go of anger, to avoid retaliation by turning the other cheek, to go the second mile, and to give to anyone who begs from you. He tells us not just to love the folks who already love you, but to love even our enemies.

A second question for us as learners seems to emerge: Who am I in relation to others? Think not just about your own family, but about your church, community, nation, and world. Our society is amazingly self-absorbed, which is fueled by consumer advertising. Consider the neighbors that surround you, near and far, and whether those relationships are expanding or contracting.

You may not realize it, but Jesus has a lot to say to us about abundance and wealth and how we use what is entrusted to us. He encourages us to be generous in our giving, but not to be showy about it. He tells us not to worry so much about our possessions or what we will eat or drink or wear. God provides in abundance and Jesus says, “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Jesus is clear that people like us cannot serve two masters: God and wealth. And he shares some uncommon wisdom with us, telling us not to store up treasures on earth. He tells us that where our treasure is, it is there that our hearts will be.

So, a third question arises for us as we move toward transforming our lives: Who am I in relation to abundance and wealth? Jesus says more about money than he does about love. Money is an important tool entrusted to us to help extend the realm or kingdom of God. How much time do you spend serving wealth?

So, those three questions are:
• Who am I in relation to God?
• Who am I in relation to others?
• Who am I in relation to abundance and wealth?

I think each one of us has a lot to learn on this lifelong journey of transformation. Part of what the church offers that no other institution can is that we get to wrestle with the tough stuff together. We are on the journey together. None of us gets it all right, but I think God appreciates our wrestling. May the path of discipleship be a blessing for you!

Amen.
 
© 2023 Hal Chorpenning, all rights reserved. Please contact [email protected] for permission to reprint, which will typically be granted for non-profit uses.

Share

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

Details

    Archives

    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016

    Visit our sermon podcast site

    Categories

    All
    Abundance
    Accountability
    Advent
    Advent Conspiracy
    Afterlife
    All Saints' Sunday
    All Things Together For Good
    Annual Meeting Sunday
    Another Way Series
    Antiracism
    Apostle Paul
    Ascension
    Ash Wednesday
    As Long As You Need Series
    Authority
    Awakening
    Baptism
    Baptism Of Christ Sunday
    Beatitudes
    Beginnings
    Being Saved
    Belief
    Beloved Community
    Bent Over
    Blessings
    Book Of Acts
    Book Of Deuteronomy
    Book Of Ecclesiastes
    Book Of Exodus
    Book Of Ezekiel
    Book Of Genesis
    Book Of Habakkuk
    Book Of Isaiah
    Book Of Jeremiah
    Book Of Job
    Book Of Joel
    Book Of Jonah
    Book Of Joshua
    Book Of Leviticus
    Book Of Micah
    Book Of Numbers
    Book Of Proverbs
    Book Of Psalms
    Book Of Revelation
    Book Of Ruth
    Book Of Samuel
    Book Of Wisdom
    Books Of Kings
    Born Again
    Breath
    Brooklyn McBride
    Call
    Camp Sunday
    Celtic Christianity
    Centering Prayer
    Change
    Choices
    Christmas Eve
    Christmas Season
    Christology
    Christopher Muscato
    Church
    Comfort
    Coming Out
    Community
    Compassion
    Complaining
    Confirmation
    Conflict
    Congregationalism
    Connection
    Consecration Sunday
    Courage
    Covenant
    COVID-19
    Creation
    Dance
    Death
    Delaney Piper
    Depression
    Desert Fathers & Mothers
    Dialogue
    Diana Butler Bass
    Difficult People
    Discipleship
    Divine Love
    Dominion
    Doubt
    Doubting Thomas
    Dreamers/DACA
    Dreams
    Earth Day
    Easter
    Easter Season
    Easter Sunday
    Elijah
    Embodiment
    Emptiness
    Environmental Sunday
    Epiphany
    Epiphany Season
    Epiphany Sunday
    Equipping The Saints
    Ethiopian Eunuch
    Eulogy
    Everyday Delights Series
    Fairness
    Faith
    Fear
    Fishers
    Following Jesus
    Forgiveness
    Friends & Family Sunday
    Gardening
    Gardening With God
    Generosity
    Gifts
    Giving
    God
    God Is Still Speaking
    Good News
    Good Samaritan
    Good Shepherd
    Gospels: John 01 To 05
    Gospels: John 06 To 10
    Gospels: John 11 To 15
    Gospels: John 16 To 21
    Gospels: Luke 01 To 06
    Gospels: Luke 07 To 12
    Gospels: Luke 13 To 18
    Gospels: Luke 19 To 24
    Gospels: Mark 01 To 04
    Gospels: Mark 05 To 08
    Gospels: Mark 09 To 12
    Gospels: Mark 13 To 16
    Gospels: Mathew 16-21
    Gospels: Matthew 01 To 07
    Gospels Matthew 08 To 14
    Gospels Matthew 15 To 21
    Gospels Matthew 22 To 28
    Grace
    Grateful
    Gratitude
    Grief
    Guest Preacher
    Gun Violence
    Harvest
    Healing
    Heart
    Heaven
    Hero's Journey
    Holy Spirit
    Holy-week
    Hope
    Hospitable Space
    Hospitality
    Immigration
    Inclusion
    Independence Day
    Installation
    Instant Sermon
    Interdependence
    Jean Vanier
    Jesus
    John Dominic Crossan
    John The Baptizer
    Joseph
    Joseph Of Ariimathea
    Journey
    Joy
    Jubilee
    Jubilee Sunday
    Juneteenth
    Justice
    Kingdom Of God
    Labyrinth
    L'Arche Communities
    Lay Preacher
    Leadership
    Learning
    Lent
    Letters: Colossians
    Letters: Corinthians
    Letters: Ephesians
    Letters: Galatians
    Letters: Hebrews
    Letters: James
    Letters: John
    Letters: Philippians
    Letters: Romans
    LGBTQ
    Liberation
    Life
    Light
    Lineage
    Liturgical Year
    Living In Exile
    Living Water
    Loneliness
    Loss
    Lost
    Love
    Luke 07 To 12
    Lynching
    Magnificat
    Martin Luther King
    Mary Magdalene
    Maya Angelou
    Meditation
    Membership
    Memorial Day
    Memorial Service
    Mental Illness
    Metamorphosis
    Metanoia
    Middle Way
    Mission
    Mother's Day
    Newness
    New Year
    New Year's Resolutions
    Nicodemus
    Older-sermon-audio
    Original Psalms
    Palmpassion-sunday
    Palm Sunday
    Pandemic
    Parables
    Paradox
    Patience
    Pause
    Peace
    Pentecost Sunday
    Pilgrimage
    Pilgrims
    Podbean Link
    Possibility
    Prayer
    Pride Month
    Pride Sunday
    Prodigal Son
    Prophecy
    Protestant Reformation
    Queen
    Rebirth
    Reclaiming Jesus
    Reformation Sunday
    Reign Of Christ Sunday
    Relationship With God
    Render Unto Caesar
    Repentance
    Resurrection
    Rev. Carla Cain
    Rev. Dr. David Petersen
    Rev. Dr. Marta Fioriti
    Rev. Dr. Pam Peterson
    Reversals
    Rev. Hal Chorpenning
    Rev. Jake Miles Joseph
    Rev. Jane Anne Ferguson
    Rev. J. T. Smiedendorf
    Rev. Laura Nelson
    Rev. Mandy Hall
    Rev. Mark Lee
    Rev. Marta Fioriti
    Rev. Nicole Garcia
    Rev. Quinn Gorges
    Rev. Roger Butts
    Rev. Ron Patterson
    Rev. Sean Neil-Barron
    Rev. Sue Artt
    Righteousness
    Road To Emmaus
    Sabbath
    Saints
    Salt
    Salt And Light
    Salvation
    Sarah
    Season After Pentecost
    Seeds
    Seeking
    September 11
    Sermon On The Mount
    Serving
    Sharing
    Showing Up
    Singing
    Solarpunk
    Soul
    Spiritual Practices
    Stewardship
    Storms
    Suffering
    Swords Into Plowshares
    Taizé
    Ten Commandments
    Thanksgiving
    Thanksgiving Day
    The Cross
    The Gospel
    The Last Week
    Theology
    The Sower
    The World
    Thorny Theological Themes
    Totenfest
    Trans Day Of Visibility
    Transfiguration
    Transfiguration Sunday
    Transformation
    Transforming
    Transitions
    Trinity Sunday
    Trusting God
    Truth
    Unity
    Vision
    Waiting
    Welcome
    Where Is Jesus?
    Wilderness
    Wisdom
    Women
    Wonder
    World Communion Sunday
    Wrestling With God
    Yeats
    Youth
    Youth For Change

916 West Prospect Road
Fort Collins CO 80526

​Members,
log into F1Go here

Sundays

9 a.m. Education Hour
10 a.m. Worship
11 a.m. Coffee Fellowship

Contact Us

Threads
Bluesky
970-482-9212

Subscribe to our eNews

* indicates required
© 2025 Plymouth Congregational UCC Church. All rights reserved.
  • Welcome!
    • I'm New Here
    • I'm a CSU Student
    • LGBTQ+
    • How Do I Join?
    • More Questions
  • This Week at Plymouth
  • Worship
    • What is Worship?
    • Worship Online >
      • Streaming Worship
      • Worship Bulletins
      • Digital Pew Card
      • Memorial Services
    • Learn More >
      • Faith Statements
      • Sermons
      • Music Program >
        • Mark's Music Minute
        • Music Series
      • Worship Sign-Ups
  • News & Events
    • Special Events
    • e-News
    • Ongoing Announcements
    • Calendars >
      • Today's Schedule
      • Mobile Calendar
      • Full Calendar
      • Calendar Request Form
    • News Archive
  • Living Our Faith
    • Christian Formation >
      • Children
      • Youth
      • Nursery Care >
        • Child Care Handbook
      • OWL (Our Whole Lives)
      • Adults
      • Visiting Scholar
    • Outreach & Mission >
      • The O&M Board >
        • Grocery Card
      • Climate Action
      • End Gun Violence
      • FFH
      • Immigration
      • Student Support
      • The Missions Marketplace
      • Youth for Change
    • Labyrinth
  • Connect
    • Find Your Place at Plymouth
    • Contact >
      • Contact Us Form
      • Jobs
      • Clergy & Staff
      • Lay Leadership
      • Building Rental >
        • Church Use Payments
    • Our Community >
      • Fellowship
      • Gallery
      • Calling & Caring >
        • Faith Community Nurses
        • Stephen Ministry
      • Meal Signups
    • Online Connections >
      • Email Lists
      • Church App
      • Text Responses
  • Give
    • All About Giving
    • Pledge Online
    • Other Ways to Give >
      • Text to Give
      • Sustaining Gifts
      • Planned Giving
  • Member Info
    • Member Menu >
      • Budget & Financial Ministry
      • Forms & Resources >
        • General Forms
        • Constitution & Policies
        • Newsletter Submissions
        • Emergency Contact Form
        • Zoom Resources
        • Kitchen Videos
        • Mission Statement
        • Strategic Planning
      • F1Go
      • Weddings & Funerals
      • Library
    • New Members