READINESS by Dwight Esty (Laity Sunday)

Welcome to Laity Sunday, or just Sunday as we’ve known it for more than a year. As I told Pastor Joyce last week, we’ve had plenty of practice for Laity Sunday. With the exception of the first Sunday in each month when pastor Wesley Williams joined with us to celebrate Communion, the services have been conducted entirely by many devoted members of the congregation. They stepped up as called according to, 2 Corinthians 9:7 — Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” It is right that we give thanks to those members for keeping the Wellfleet United Methodist Church alive and well.

This will be the third time I’ve addressed you on Laity Sunday, but this will be the first time I will use this opportunity to its intended purpose. I was confused when Pastor Joyce told me she would be here today. My assumption was that each year the congregation stepped in to give their Pastor the day off. That is what Laity Sunday has evolved into in many churches. Yet here she is sitting among us - as an equal member of the congregation.

It turns out that this day is not about her as an individual needing a break, but to celebrate the contributions of our congregation as one body committed to the expression of our faith. The idea was conceived within the Methodist Church nearly a century ago, with the first Laymen’s Day celebrated in 1929. In 1972, it was changed to Laity Sunday to recognize the contributions of all.

Large congregations invite pacifism. It is easy to sit back and allow others to do the work, leaving the only religious task to be attendance- coming to church as an empty vessel and leaving filled with another week’s worth of piety. Wellfleet United Methodist Church - with our small membership - has been increasingly dependent upon the willingness of each other to step forward as we are called.

In our first reading today, Paul, Silas and Timothy recognize the works of the Thessalonians. “We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Let me repeat. “Your work produced by faith.” They weren’t just talking about the Thessalonians. These words apply to all of you sitting before me, those following on Zoom, those outside making fried dough or parking cars and those who aren’t present but carry with them the spirit of Jesus.

The reading goes on to say, “For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction.”

This, according to the UMC Discipleship website: “It wasn’t just hearing the word; it was receiving the power. The special ones are the ones chosen, the ones we read about in our history. Those that a special few can do, or pretend to do, or convince people that they can do. Wonder workers, celebrities, heroes, and heroines of the faith: those are the chosen.”

Wellfleet had no shortage of those. We’ve talked about the seemingly outsized contributions to the church of Lorenzo Dow Baker and Nehemiah Somes Hopkins. That is only scratching the surface of all the amazing people who have created the foundation that holds us firmly in faith.

Did you know that the first Methodist Sunday school class was held in 1802 and was attended by just three: Thankful Rich, Abigail Gross, and her eldest of ten daughters, Laurania. Abigail’s husband was a deacon of the Congregational church yet she forged a different path that we follow over 200 years later.

Ephraim Higgins was their teacher that day, a role he would carry for 44 years, eventually replaced by his son and then grandson.

But is honor reserved for those whose names we read in books?

The discipleship website goes on,“Paul says you are chosen because you responded. Being chosen is not an award or a medal that you can wear with pride. It is a call to follow Christ, to put on the yoke, to live outwardly and openly in a way that increasingly stands out in the culture around us these days.”

Who are the chosen? They built the first Wellfleet Methodist Church in 1816. They stepped forward to donate and to rebuild the chuch 1n 1891when it burned to the ground. They kept the church going when L.D. Baker was in Jamaica, and Nehemiah Hopkins was in China doing their good works.

They carried on the passion when the last of the ten sisters of Wellfleet entered into the Kingdom of God.

And today. They weed the front garden. They fill the candles with oil each week. They prepare the kitchen for our fellowship. They meet and plan. They study the Bible together. They are ushers and liturgists and greeters and worship leaders. And outside the church, they pray for others, help their neighbors, give to good causes and spread the love of Jesus.

This work produced by faith didn’t just happen. God calls to us constantly, but we don’t always hear. We have to be ready. We have to be open to the call. You are probably familiar with the term “reading readiness.” First, children learn letters, then sounds. They learn to associate the spoken word with objects and actions. Then one day that combination of letters and sounds clicks, and what they see on the page begins to make sense - matching up with the spoken word. Bingo! Amen!

There is also a readiness to each step in becoming a disciple of Jesus. We needed to come into contact with religion. Through observation, listening in church, reading the Bible, and practicing acts of faith, we have all started along the path of righteousness. I think we’re all in a pretty good place - Don’t you think? After all, don’t we feel good about where we are with the church?

Being a coach for so many years, that is the lens through which I filter the world. Each step in becoming an athlete requires readiness, understanding, practice and faith. I went through it myself - and have coached thousands of athletes through it. One day you meet some goals and you feel pretty good about yourself. Your choices are to stop right there - to be content - or you can see that there are even greater goals to strive for.

There is a principle of training, S-A-I-D which stands for specific adaptation to imposed demand. At some point when you level off, if you keep placing the same demands on yourself, you will never go above that level. In short, to keep moving forward, you have to place greater demands on yourself - to have higher expectations and work toward reaching them.

I think there is a lesson in that for our team - our church team. I feel like we are at a crossroads. We’re doing just fine, but maybe God has higher expectations for us. If not, why would he have sent us Pastor Joyce? She sees our good works and has started to work tirelessly to find what we are truly capable of. I think we’ve coached ourselves long enough. We’ll have to get used to a few new techniques, and we have to give it time, but only with true commitment do we reach reward.

In our first hymn today we sang through the voice of God, “Who will bear the light to them? Who shall I send?” Our answer is “Here I am, Lord. It is I, Lord. I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.”Are we ready?

Written by Dwight Estey and delivered for Laity Sunday 2026