Dwelling in God's House of Prayer for All People

SERMON TITLE:                 “Dwelling in God’s House of Prayer for All People”
SERMON TEXT:                  Isaiah 56:1-8
PREACHER:                         Rev. Kim James
OCCASION:                         October 30, 2016, at First UMC
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
                On Thursday, I went with our United Methodist Women to visit the Youth Futures shelter.  We learned that the Ogden shelter was the first in the state to accept unaccompanied youth who are homeless or runaways.  Even now, Youth Futures is still the only facility in the state that provides safe and legal overnight accommodations for 12-17 year olds.  The shelter is strategically located at 28th and Adams, just a half block from George Washington High School, and can house up to 14 teenagers at any given time.
                Our Thursday afternoon visit to the shelter went along well with my Thursday morning inspirational reading from the comic strip Zits.  If you follow that comic strip like I do, you know that it’s about the life of a high-school-aged boy named Jeremy.  In the series of strips that ended on Thursday, Jeremy’s girlfriend Sara had twisted his arm into volunteering with her at a homeless shelter.  Their job was to organize a Halloween party for the kids.  In the first square of Thursday’s comic strip, Sara was praising Jeremy for his great work in helping the kids select and assemble costumes from the hodgepodge that had been donated to the shelter.  In the second square, Sara pointed to a happy girl with a big red hat, a pink tutu skirt, and a microphone.  When Sara asked Jeremy what the girl was supposed to be, Jeremy replied, “A firefighting pop-singer with a splash of magical fairy.”  Sara thought that costume was quite original.  But then the final frame of the comic strip showed Jeremy’s best friend Pierce wearing an identical outfit.1   
                Living in a homeless shelter would definitely be a challenge and might have the potential to make a person feel like a lonely outcast.  But maybe in the best of times, a shelter is a place where good-hearted people give of their time and resources to help those who are struggling, so the poor can find some little bits of dignity, joy, and creative expression.  Maybe in the best of times, a shelter is a place where a homeless girl, a firefighter, a pop-singer, a magical fairy, a teenage boy with a nose ring, or a combination of all those could be accepted and welcome.
                For a couple weeks now, we’ve been talking about dwelling in God’s house.  Two Sundays ago, we read the story of Jacob, whose nighttime encounter with the holy gave him the possibility of dwelling in God’s house of dreams.  Last Sunday, we read the story of King Hezekiah, who repaired the temple and made a priority of dwelling in God’s house of worship.  Today, I invite you to look at a third scripture on this theme.  This passage comes from the prophet Isaiah, whose concern was dwelling in God’s house of prayer for all people. 
SERMON TITLE:                 “Dwelling in God’s House of Prayer for All People”
SERMON TEXT:                  Isaiah 56:1-8
PREACHER:                         Rev. Kim James
OCCASION:                         October 30, 2016, at First UMC
 
 
INTRODUCTION
 
                On Thursday, I went with our United Methodist Women to visit the Youth Futures shelter.  We learned that the Ogden shelter was the first in the state to accept unaccompanied youth who are homeless or runaways.  Even now, Youth Futures is still the only facility in the state that provides safe and legal overnight accommodations for 12-17 year olds.  The shelter is strategically located at 28th and Adams, just a half block from George Washington High School, and can house up to 14 teenagers at any given time.
                Our Thursday afternoon visit to the shelter went along well with my Thursday morning inspirational reading from the comic strip Zits.  If you follow that comic strip like I do, you know that it’s about the life of a high-school-aged boy named Jeremy.  In the series of strips that ended on Thursday, Jeremy’s girlfriend Sara had twisted his arm into volunteering with her at a homeless shelter.  Their job was to organize a Halloween party for the kids.  In the first square of Thursday’s comic strip, Sara was praising Jeremy for his great work in helping the kids select and assemble costumes from the hodgepodge that had been donated to the shelter.  In the second square, Sara pointed to a happy girl with a big red hat, a pink tutu skirt, and a microphone.  When Sara asked Jeremy what the girl was supposed to be, Jeremy replied, “A firefighting pop-singer with a splash of magical fairy.”  Sara thought that costume was quite original.  But then the final frame of the comic strip showed Jeremy’s best friend Pierce wearing an identical outfit.1   
                Living in a homeless shelter would definitely be a challenge and might have the potential to make a person feel like a lonely outcast.  But maybe in the best of times, a shelter is a place where good-hearted people give of their time and resources to help those who are struggling, so the poor can find some little bits of dignity, joy, and creative expression.  Maybe in the best of times, a shelter is a place where a homeless girl, a firefighter, a pop-singer, a magical fairy, a teenage boy with a nose ring, or a combination of all those could be accepted and welcome.
                For a couple weeks now, we’ve been talking about dwelling in God’s house.  Two Sundays ago, we read the story of Jacob, whose nighttime encounter with the holy gave him the possibility of dwelling in God’s house of dreams.  Last Sunday, we read the story of King Hezekiah, who repaired the temple and made a priority of dwelling in God’s house of worship.  Today, I invite you to look at a third scripture on this theme.  This passage comes from the prophet Isaiah, whose concern was dwelling in God’s house of prayer for all people. 

​Continue reading