Rev. Nancy S. Taylor

God is good! All the time!

All the time! God is good!

I know and you know that it is often easier to say those words than to believe them in our hearts.

Honestly compels us to admit that these are words of faith, not certainty. They are also, however, words of defiance, not defeat. You might say that these are fighting words, the words of one’s who dare to stand with God, side with God, trust in God, even when God is illusive.

God is good! All the time!

All the time! God is good!

It begins in a garden, but it culminates in a city. The Bible opens in a garden. Eden is beautiful and bountiful: enormous banana leaves, great yellow trumpet flowers, Chinese hibiscus blossoms as large as dinner plates, passion flowers in electric purple.

The Bible opens into this splendid, riotous, perfect garden of God's own planting.

Question: What does U.S. President John Quincy Adams have in common with the following people: the sixteenth president of Harvard, the eleventh minister of Old South, the inventor of the steam tug boat, and the composer of the hymn tune, Coronation?

Answer: they were all founding members in 1809 (200 years ago) of the Massachusetts Bible Society.

This church, Old South Church, was born in a storm. It was born in a storm of dispute over water. It was born in a storm of controversy over baptism …

From his prison cell Paul watched, fascinated. Through the cell’s bars, with little else to occupy his time or attention, Paul observed as an ordinary man transformed himself.

The man had arrived at the jail in his civvies … a simple toga and worn sandals. The man was unremarkable … another working stiff punching-in for the day.

This church, Old South Church, was born in a storm. It was born in a storm of dispute over water. It was born in a storm of controversy over baptism . . . the waters of baptism.

It is hard for us to imagine, but in New England in the 1600’s people argued about baptism. They argued about baptism over beers in the pubs, at supper in Colonial kitchens, in knots of people gathered for impassioned debate on street corners, while purchasing bolts of cloth at the mercantile. Baptism was the topic of the day … the topic over which our forebears were greatly exercised and sharply divided.

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A true story.
A girl is on trial. She is a teen-aged girl, small-boned, thin, petite, asthmatic. A wisp of a thing.
Across from her sit her judge and jury: a self-appointed judge and jury comprised of eighteen men. And not just any men: these are men at the full height of their physical and mental powers—men of means, men of stature, men of learning, men of consequence … men with degrees from Boston Latin and Harvard. They are statesmen, scholars, clergy, poets, merchants, and lawyers.

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Old South Church has a long association with Japan. A young Japanese samurai came to America as a stowaway in the 1860’s. He was taken under the wing of Old South members. He converted to Christianity, studied theology at Andover Newton Theological School, gave up his samurai sword and was ordained to Christian ministry. Supported both with prayer and money, the Rev. Joseph Neesima Hardy returned to Japan and founded Doshisha University. Today, Doshisha serves 24,000 students on three campuses.

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It is Monday afternoon. The Gordon Chapel is all set up. The chairs are lined up in straight rows with neat aisles. Small, travel-sized packets of Kleenex are distrusted among the chairs. The lights are up. The candles lit. In the Chancel are two large, identical floral arrangements. Between them, on a pedestal, there sits a tiny urn. A baby’s body is such a small thing.

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Today at Old South Church we are marking Mothering Sunday. As is true of many Christian traditions and holidays, Mothering Sunday evolved from a pagan celebration. Early Christians were not above taking an old, beloved celebration and adapting and reinterpreting it in light of the Christian claim.

In some Christian calendars, Mothering Sunday is inserted into the middle of Lent as a gift … a welcome day of refreshment in the midst of the severe obligations of Lent.