Paper Sack Sermon

When the morning service at Salvation Army* finished, all kinds of people greeted one another. Rachel and I were instantly caught up in a number of friendly conversations and encouragements. Out of the corner of my eye, two kids approached me holding three paper sacks filled with something; all I could see were heads of grass waving out the tops like flags. Written on the outside of the sack in red sharpie were two words: God created! "This is for you," the boy gleamed, holding one up to me. "We made them in Sunday school." 

The boy and girl were obviously siblings and also the only ones present today for Sunday school. The teacher? Their mom. The next youngest person in the room was probably Rachel, then me, then their mom, and then all the others, averaging in their late sixties. But they were a warm bunch, visibly stripped of pretense and riches and glad to gather together for Sunday worship.

At the beginning of the service, the leaders led the church in a prayer, "God bless Brendan this
morning as he brings us your Word**. Bless the messenger and bless his message..." I felt kind of hot and nervous when he prayed that, like eyes were staring at the back of my head. I looked down at my sermon notes in my bible as self-consciousness crept over me. Who am I? Why am I the one to stand up? Do I have anything to give? Am I worthy of such a prayer? I slept past my alarm this morning and rushed to get here on time. I don't feel like God's messenger, ready to bring some special knowledge to anybody. I just feel like me. Normal.

I opened the paper sack. Inside were purple flowers and red bark, a mushroom top and a smooth stone, a tall blade of grass and a dry whirlybird, long green leaves and dainty white blossoms. God created! And a kid picked some of it and put it in a sack for me. God created! Common mysteries and unburied treasures of a maker who creates and never ceases to create good things. God created! It takes only the imagination of a child to gather the goodness of God into a paper sack and give it away: a replaceable gift filled with irreplaceable love.



*Until four months ago, I thought Salvation Army was simply a (great) Christian social service. Apparently, they are a church! They were founded in London in 1865 by William Booth, a Methodist minister in England.

**Second sermon ever! Do they know that?