Sermon Notes — June 22, 2025
1 Timothy 1:12-17 & John 4:7-1, 19-24
June 22, 2025
Rev. Terry Carty
Moving the Fence
Let’s talk about boundaries today. Boundaries are invisible lines of separation. When we discuss boundaries, we often think of fences. Fences make the lines of separation tangible and visible.
There have been a lot of things said about fences. The one that I have heard most is the old proverb: “Good fences make good neighbors.”
There are plenty of other quotations about fences:
·Qin Shi Huang (pronounced King Shur Hwǎng), 1st Emperor of Qin Dynasty: “Great fence make neighbor respectful” quotation from 221 BC as he approved the construction of the Great Wall of China.
·Carl Sandburg, great poet: “Love your neighbor as yourself; but don’t take down the fence.”
In the fury of battle during WW II it wasn’t always possible to return fallen soldiers to their homeland for burial. Many were left where they fell & died and are only remembered today by anonymous graves. Not wanting this for one of their own, a US company fighting in the French countryside approached a Catholic priest to ask if they could bury their fallen warrior in the small, countryside graveyard beside the church.
They were astonished when the priest turned them down on two grounds – first of all the dead man wasn’t a Catholic and secondly there was no room in the already overcrowded graveyard.
Sadly, the soldiers were left with no other choice than to bury their friend just beyond the small wooden fence that marked the boundary of the cemetery. At the head of the grave, they placed a simple cross.
Within a couple of months, the war was over and the soldiers prepared for the journey home. But wanting to say one last goodbye to their dead friend, they decided to return once more to the graveyard alongside which they had buried him. On arriving at the church, the cemetery looked much the same but, try as they might, as they walked around the perimeter of the fence, they could not see any sign of the wooden cross they had left to mark the grave. Angered by the belief that the priest had removed even this simple memorial to their fallen friend, they ran towards the church to challenge him.
However, as they approached, the priest came out to meet them. “I’m so glad you have returned,” he said in a welcoming voice. “After you left, I was troubled by my decision. I saw the dignity with which you buried your friend & realized the anguish my decision had caused you. I couldn’t change the fact that the cemetery was full, so I decided to solve the problem a different way. I’ve moved the boundary fence over a few yards so that your friend’s grave is now within the graveyard itself. I hope you can forgive me.”
Both of today’s scripture passages are about boundaries. Paul wrote that Christ has judged him faithful in spite of having persecuted the Christians in his earlier unbelief. Paul rejoices for the mercy Jesus has shown him.
The Gospel of John tells us about an encounter of Jesus when he came face to face with a woman in Samaria. Jesus tells the woman that God does not draw a boundary between Jews and Samarians.
Jesus moves fences to include those who human boundaries have excluded.
In our own defense, people make mistakes putting up fences all the time. In my early adulthood, I was an engineer who did work with surveys and land boundaries. I was often called upon to determine a property line on a dispute. I have seen cases where entire buildings had been built on other people’s properties. And I have seen many fences cross from the owner’s property to the neighbor’s.
Mistakes are easy. Sometimes the corners of a property are marked by a wooden stake that rotted away years ago, or by a rock turned up on its edge, or by a row of hackberry trees that have since grown to 2 feet in diameter. These are very imprecise. The fence builder is not really sure exactly where the boundary line is.
Additionally, as a surveyor I know that lines are often estimated by ‘throwing a 90º’. This is very imprecise as well. A 1º mistake in 100 feet is a difference of 1’-9”.
Most of the moral and ethical boundaries of religion and judgment are imprecise lines that have been established by human beings and claimed for God. That doesn’t mean that they should all be removed. Humans need markers to know when they are approaching boundaries. That is why we paint lines on our streets.
Robert Frost, another great poet said, “Don’t ever take a fence down until you know why it was up.”
Self-imposed boundaries are often good, but the fences we put up are often in the wrong place. Boundaries that should help us stay in our place often become interpreted as fences to exclude. We often assert our boundaries on others.
Let me get concrete. I am a Christian. I am a Wesleyan Methodist Christian. That means something to me, and I am following a Wesleyan Methodist path that I believe God is using to lead me to eternal life. That defines a set of boundaries that I have set for myself.
But if I force my boundaries on others, am I a Christian who worships God in spirit and in truth? Am I really following Jesus?
I grew up in a neighborhood where I was the minority and most of my playmates were Jewish. They were raised to a different set of religious boundaries. I considered them faithful to their set of beliefs. I did not try to punish or condemn them for their faith, and they did not try to punish or condemn me.
Likewise, as a Christian, should I stand in the way of a faithful Muslim having a place to pray? Can I stand inside my religious fence while someone burns the holy books of anyone who has a different set of religious beliefs?
Or as a Christian, can I stand by and watch White Christian Nationalism put up fences to define a limited and exclusionary version of God’s truth?
Beyond that, is it right for me to judge others by the moral boundaries that I have set for myself? I see people living in relationships that are different from the choices I would make. I see people treating one another in ways that I would not choose. But can I be sure that I am not off by 1 or 2 or 10 degrees and I am on the wrong side of my own fence?
Today our scripture readings remind us that Jesus came to redraw the boundaries of the Kingdom of God, and he clearly includes many who previously have been excluded. Let us be reminded by Paul’s words that each of us have experienced the mercy of Christ because Christ moved the boundary to include us in spite of ourselves.
I am not asking you to simply give up your concern for sinfulness in the world. I am asking you to check yourself. When you see a story about someone in the news, do not rush to judge based upon the way things always have been.
And when you find yourself offended or when you seek to assess guilt, consider the situation from the perspective of the other person. What must have seemed right for that person? Then examine your own fences. Are your fences really on God’s boundaries? Or is it time to move your fence so it does not stand in the way of someone else’s path to the Kingdom of God.
Since I have been on your staff at Bethlehem, I have seen you move some difficult fences. I saw two worshipping congregations who loved their worship styles and traditions consider each other and their lives together. You who were in each of those worship services moved your fences to include the other. We found that the benefit of worshiping together has brought greater unity of purpose and a richer knowledge of people we barely knew.
We are soon to welcome a new lead pastor to Bethlehem. I predict that it is likely that the newness of a pastor – a female pastor at that – will attract a few people who come to our church out of curiosity. While our new pastor is engaging and inviting, she will not be what may cause people to come back and worship with us again.
If they come back, it will be because they feel that we have moved our fences to truly include them. When you see a new face in the coming weeks, please don’t just offer them a welcome to step inside your fence. Discover a way to really include them in our expanding fold. Risk moving your fence.
Remember that Jesus came to redraw the boundaries of the kingdom of God. The grace you show today or tomorrow may make way for God to move a fence or at least open a gate to include someone God loves.
