Cheer for Christ - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

I don't have a great story where Jesus knocked me down and blinded me and then said, get your act together, DeVaul. That didn't happen. But this Sunday, this year, I'm out there, I'm watching those folks and I'm standing with some of you and we're ringing bells and we're cheering people on. And I see the truth. It's not like, 'oh, this is a good thing, or, oh, what a wonderful day for our city,' although those things are true. I'm literally seeing Christ run by me over and over and over again, Christ himself. Wearing a little funny pig hat and a bib and running along or speed walking right in front of me. That's Christ. And then I look around and I got a bunch of my friends here, ringing bells and yelling, happy things at people and, oh my gosh, I'm surrounded by Christ. Why haven't I seen it? Did I have eyes to see Christ all around me? And then you'll never believe what happened? I rang a bell and I was cheering. And guess what for just a moment, guess who I got to be? Christ. I got to embody the truth of who God is in this world. Just like you did, and just like they are. And for a moment, all of what we think about what's good and what's bad. All this stuff melted away. And I was in the presence of holiness. God, doesn't knock Saul off the horse in order to make him a better person. He doesn't do it to try to teach him a lesson. This isn't a fable. This is a story of transformation. Saul goes from seeing people as threats and obstacles to seeing people as the very embodiment of Christ in the world.