Gratitude—it does us all so much good.  All sorts of studies confirm it, but we probably already know or believe.  Sharing gratitude—this does so much to build friendship, fellowship.  It only takes a moment to share some good words, kind words, genuine words.  And yes, it also takes more: it requires noticing.  It means stopping to notice.  Love stops for the one.  Love asks.  Now, I am so very grateful for each of you.  Even with your busy schedules and physical discomforts, you make the decision and commitment to be here.  There are many places you could be, right now, and many things you could be doing.

So, I heartily join with Paul, who almost invariably begins his letters to the churches, to his fellow believers, with an expression of deep thanks: “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you” (1:8).  The reason he gives is that the faith of the church in Rome “is being reported all over the world” (1:8).  Beloved, it is good to inform ourselves about what is happening in the church, here in North America, in South America and the Caribbean, in Africa, in Europe, the Middle East, Asia.  With our phones, this is no longer very difficult, provided we exercise wisdom in our searching and our reading—not all information coming to us through these phones is entirely accurate—shocking, I know.

Now, our faith right here at Bethel is also being felt around the globe, through our support for Dan and Elizabeth Turk, through the Christmas Child shoeboxes we pack.  And let us never forget or neglect the power of prayer, of praying for our brothers and sisters around the globe.  Our faith and love are evident as we gather items for Christmas food bags, Thanksgiving food bags, and as we bring contributions throughout the year to our food pantry donation station, there in Old Fellowship Hall.  And God knows the prayers we offer for those in need, both in and outside the church, just down the street and oceans away.  And God knows the countless faith-prompted acts each of us do, each day.

What Paul is praising is the joy of a truly vital church, a church continually committing to vitality.  Like many churches, including just down the road in either direction, we look around and can easily begin to wonder where the vitality has gone, because we’ve been shaped to measure vitality quantitatively: more people, more projects, more money.  Since I’ve been here, we’ve got more churches in town.  I’m also aware of several churches across our presbytery that have closed since I’ve been here.  This year, especially, session has been concerned and shared its concern about money.  (And I’m very much aware of where just over half the money this congregation gives goes.)  Quantitative increases, however, aren’t vitality so much as activity, busyness.  Doing many things is not really the best way to employ our precious resources.  Vitality is not in a list of accomplishments but in who we are, towards God, one another, and our neighbors.  Vital relationship is the source of our vitality.  We are vital to the extent that we enjoy the presence of the Spirit with us and among us.

Paul provided a clue regarding one of the keys to that vital relationship, when he writes of “how constantly I remember you in my prayers at all times” (1:9-10).  It’s amazing how many books on prayer are out there, telling us what to pray, where and when, why and how, as if we needed the extra guidance because we just didn’t know, as if prayer is mostly just a big question mark for us.  Maybe I’m praying wrong?  Maybe my prayers aren’t being answered because I’m not praying the right way?  Or maybe my prayers are falling on deaf ears because I’m just a rotten sinner.  Beloved, prayer is no magic incantation, unlocking the treasure chambers of heaven.  Prayer is conversation.  Prayer is worship.  Prayer is asking for and receiving.  Sometimes prayer is pleading.  Prayer is listening.  Prayer is aligning.  Prayer, in short, is relationship.  Prayer is vital.

Paul tells the believers there in Rome that he is always praying for them, remembering them in his prayers.  For what does he pray?  For their upbuilding, their blessing, for their endurance and unity, their mutual love, and for their walk in the light.  Our praying often follows a set pattern, which is not bad, though it is good every so often to consider and thoughtfully review the set pattern.  Usually, we pray for ourselves; we know that’s important: we need so much help!  We’ll also pray for our family, friends . . . maybe some people at church, maybe about the state of the nation or the world, but by that point our praying begins to become general and vague, as if we’re not really sure.  We like to pray for people by name; we pray for what is immediate and urgent, to us.

Some of you may set aside a particular time of day for prayer, perhaps along with Bible reading and a devotional you enjoy.  Maybe you also keep a prayer list, or use the one provided at the end of each Sunday’s bulletin and the monthly newsletter.  That’s a good practice.  If you haven’t tried it yet, well, maybe now might be a good time to begin.  We can get to wondering, as we use such lists, how things are going with one person and another; we’d sort of like to ask.  That is stopping for the one.  Sometimes information doesn’t come along so often, either because there isn’t much new information to share or because no one is really sure: no one seems to know.  That’s a pity; that’s a shame.  Maybe you could do something about it.  Maybe you, emboldened by the Spirit, in the confidence of a brother or sister in faith and a member of this family of the church—maybe you could call, or text, or even see about a brief visit; maybe bring some bread, a little soup, or some cookies.

Prayer is vital to relationship.  Encouragement is vital to relationship.  Paul speaks of aching to spend time with the faithful there in Rome, “so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (1:11-12).  His ongoing praying keeps awake in him an ongoing hope, a desire, to be of some use, some blessing, to his brothers and sisters in Christ; he also is eager for the blessings they can impart—mutual encouragement.  Our shared commitment as members of the church, not just this congregation but of the church around the globe, is to cultivate the vitality of the church.  We share it through encouragement, through calling upon the Spirit who is with us.  We pray to grow stronger, together, in the Spirit, to experience in fuller, vital measure the resilience, the endurance, the patience, the hope, gratitude, generosity and the love that are ours through the Spirit.  There’s nothing quite like prayer to help.  We pray for one another.  Let’s also pray with one another.

Paul writes of his great eagerness “to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome” (1:15).  Would that be like preaching to the choir?  What is the point of preaching the Gospel to believers?  Several old hymns give us the clue: “More About Jesus Would I Know,” “Tell Me the Old, Old Story.”  “Victory in Jesus” begins: “I heard an old, old story.”  “Wonderful Words of Life” begins: “Sing them over again to me.”  Again, again!  No one has the whole story memorized after a first or even a fifth hearing.  My hunch is that, as you read the Bible, you still find things that catch your eye, even though you’ve read those very words before, perhaps several times.  Children, especially when they are in the earliest stages of learning, never seem to tire of hearing the same words, the same sentences, repeated many times—because the children are soaking them up, storing them, treasuring them up.  And they are learning how to use what they hear: it isn’t trivia or trivial; it is vital, constructive, relationship-building, discovering meaning.

As we listen to the Bible, each time, with each repetition of the old, familiar, amazing story, we can become better able to apply what we’ve heard, because by the Spirit we’ve drawn the Word in deeper; we’re getting God’s Word by heart, and, as Christ reminds us, and as this table before us demonstrates, God’s Word is food and drink for our souls.  No food, no energy; no energy, no ability; no ability to work, no work, no progress.  The opposite of progress isn’t necessarily regress.  More often, it’s stagnation, arrested development—no vitality.  Growth requires energy; movement requires fuel.  You know, we get a lot of value out of our vehicles; we’re always pumping gas into them.  I mean, when will the vehicle have enough?  I keep filling, and it keeps using.  They just burn through what we put into them.  Our bodies burn through the fuel we provide.  When can we be done eating and drinking?

Today, I’d like to suggest that it is much the same with our souls: these also require fuel, food.  The same fuel, the same food, over and over.  I suppose we can get a little bored with water, sometimes.  Well, try not drinking any for a week.  Oh, I get all the water my body needs through Coke, sweet tea, and coffee.  Yes, and your doctor, if you go, is talking with you about your blood pressure, blood sugar, your liver function, and your macular degeneration.

God provides what we truly need.  What we truly need is simple and sufficient.  Wonderful words of life, our wonderful Word of Life, Jesus Christ, the Word of God.  This taste of bread and this sip of juice, if what were happening here were merely physical, would be woefully inadequate for our need.  But what is happening here is spiritual, beloved, necessarily spiritual.  Here, spiritually, we participate in Christ’s sacrifice, and we receive the blessed benefit of his self-offering for us.  His blood atones for our sin.  It is not bread or juice that heals us, but faith in the word, the holy promise of him who told us to do this in remembrance of him.  Christ told us to eat; we eat.  Jesus told us to drink; we drink.

Participation in the sacrifice was the means by which the blessings of the sacrifice were imparted, shared, received.  We participate through our God-lifted hearts.  Just as we hold the bread with our hands, taste it with our tongues, and the juice, and receive the benefits in our bodies, so, too, spiritually.  What we experience physically points us to what we receive, spiritually.  We come again and again; we pray again and again, because our need in this life is constant: I need Thee every hour!  And, every hour, our Savior stands ready in resurrection power, praying for us, reaching out for us, sustaining us, imparting to us his eternal, infinite vitality.  Let us give heartfelt thanks.  Let us give ourselves.  Let us praise his name, together.  This is vital.