Crammed shoulder to shoulder to shoulder we slowly climbed the ancient stone stairs. No one spoke, except perhaps in a whisper. As we all slowly moved forward there was a reverence that permeated the crowd. I squeezed through the dense gathering of people and found a good spot between the Ethiopian Orthodox priests on my left and several German monks on my right.

There we were, gathered together in very tight quarters - most of us had never met before that day. There were people from many nations, people from many different denominations - I would guess that there were probably at least forty different languages being whispered in that room that day.

I looked around and realized that I was standing in the middle of a very eclectic group. The people I saw around appeared to have nothing in common, but we were all there for the same     reason, we were assembled for a worship service in the Upper Room in the city of Jerusalem.

Apparently, the city of Jerusalem only opens the Upper Room for special occasions. We  happened to be in Jerusalem at the right time as there was an interdenominational service scheduled one evening during our visit.

Was this the same Upper Room where Jesus and His disciples shared the Last Supper? So was the claim. If it was not the original Upper Room, it was certainly in a room just like this where Jesus had supper with His disciples.

For me, what I found amazing wasn’t that this was the real Upper Room or not, but that such a diverse group of people were gathered in the name of Jesus Christ. For many of us in the group, Jesus Christ was the only thing we had in common, yet there we were shoulder to shoulder, called by Jesus Christ to be one before the Lord.

Over the years, First Presbyterian has slowly started to resemble that evening service in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. We have people who are from a large variety of denominational backgrounds worshiping side by side with people who had no previous church background. We have people worshiping side by side who are from every continent in the world (Yes, I know that a few of you have even visited Antarctica, so let’s count that too). Take a look on Sunday morning, talk to people you may have never been introduced to, and you will see firsthand that we are truly becoming a church with worldwide representation.

Is this world diversity just a representation of the modern city of Anchorage? On one hand, I think in some ways our worldwide mix of people does reflect the diversity of Anchorage, but on the other hand, people can go anywhere they want to church, can’t they?

I believe that there are a number of issues that have created a worldwide representation in our church, but when I chat with people who are from what we Alaskans would consider “exotic” places, they say two things: First they tell me that First Presbyterian Church is a church where they hear sound teaching from the Bible; Second, they tell me that they feel welcome here by the       congregation, they feel very much at home here.

If anyone thinks that these people from all over the world who have shown up here at First Presbyterian Anchorage have shown up by accident – If anyone thinks that people who have     traveled from literally the other side of the world have landed on our door step by accident, then I think that they are missing the obvious. This is no accident; this is the work of Jesus Christ Himself.

Why has God done this? Why has God brought people from distant diverse cultures together in the Yukon? Because this is what Jesus has promised in Luke 24:47, “and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Just as I stood there with people of all nations in Jerusalem to worship Jesus as Lord, we also stand here in Anchorage, Alaska, a church with a growing presence of people of all nations and we experience each Sunday the words of Jesus Christ being fulfilled as we worship the One who brings us all together - Jesus Christ.

In Christ, Rev. Peter Loughman

sermon texts

Ash Wednesday Homily – Delivered by Pastor Karlin February 17, 2010

 As a new Christian I was often confused by the fanfare of Easter Sunday.  I was always caught off guard by the lilies and the trumpets that seemed to   suddenly appear in the Sanctuary.  After the Easter Sunday service was over, as a young Christian, I would think, “It was a fine service and the music was nice, but I don’t see what the big deal is.”  Perhaps there are others who at one time or another have felt similar.  Maybe one reason that Easter Sunday sometimes comes off as a dud, like a firework that screams into the air but then lacks a big explosion and bright lights, is that we have not properly prepared ourselves.

I could ask any number of accomplished people in of this congregation to share stories of hard work and preparation involved in their significant achievement.  How many hours of preparation go into passing the bar exam?  How many hours are spent preparing the skiff and mending nets before the commercial opener?  What about basic training?  Nothing worthwhile comes easy.  The spiritual life is no different.  It takes    preparation fully grasp and ground our story in God’s story.

As your Pastor I am inviting you to hard work.  I am inviting you to a Christian faith that has some teeth on it.  In the Lion, Which and Wardrobe the kids are hanging out with the Beaver family and they are talking about Aslan, the lion - Christ figure of the novel.  Susan is concerned about meeting the Lion Aslan and asks, “Is it safe?”  And Mr. Beaver says, “Safe?  Who said anything about safe, Aslan is not safe but he is good.”  Lenten Christianity is not safe but it’s good.  Lenten Christianity is not safe because sometimes when we start digging around in our souls we discover ugly things that need to be dealt with.  And Lenten Christianity is good for the same reason.

So how can we celebrate Easter if we have not prepared during lent?  Ash Wednesday marks the  beginning of the season of Lent – forty days not counting Sundays until Easter.  Lent is a time of spring  cleaning for our souls.  What would our homes look like if we never dusted?  What would our garages look like if we never took some time to reorganize?  Lent is that kind of time.  It’s not intended to necessarily be a dark or particularly depressing time, to the same degree that dusting your home or reorganizing your garage is not necessarily dark and depressing.

And this is where 2 Corinthians 7:10 is helpful.  “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.”  Another translation puts it; “the kind of    sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation.  There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow.  But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.”

Paul is making a distinction between Gospel centered repentance and worldly sorrow.  Tim Keller, the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City has written extensively on this text and he says these two things:

“Worldly sorrow says – I broke God’s rules, while gospel repentance says, I broke God’s heart.”  “Worldly sorrow takes sin to Mount Sinai (sight of the 10 commandments); gospel repentance takes sin to Mount Calvary (sight of the Crucifixion)”

Worldly sorrow says – I broke God’s rules.  While gospel repentance says, I broke God’s heart.  Repentance centered in the law says, “Obey the rules or you will be rejected.”  Whereas gospel centered  repentance says, “Jesus died for your sins, seek God’s forgiveness, and you will never be rejected.”

Worldly sorrow takes sin to Mount Sinai; gospel repentance takes sin to Mount Calvary.  Are you convicted by punishment, or are you convicted by mercy?  What changed the world forever was not a military overthrow, not a punishing cue, not a strong man beating down another man.  The event that changed the world forever was when a first Century peasant, a Palestinian-Jewish Carpenter, was put to death like hundreds of other common criminals.

Worldly sorrow centered in avoiding punishment is simple to master but it does not turn the heart to hate sin, rather the heart figures out ways not to get caught.  Ask anyone twelve years old!  Fix your eyes on the cross, as a matter of fact, imagine the hammer in your hands that drove the nails through his hands and feet – then lay the hammer down and “go and sin no more.”  Gospel repentance does not take sin to Mount Sinai; rather sin is brought to Mount Calvary.

In a few moments we are going to administer ashes and these ashes are an extension of our lives  being rooted in the fact that we are forgiven sinners.  Which is true all year long, however lent is the season for the church to pay particular attention to what our sin has cost God – namely His own Son.  Turn away from your sin, and be faithful to the gospel, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Karlin Bilcher