RWJ/Pottersville UMC - 04/28/13 Sermon - “Kingdom Builders" The Early Church Series, Part 4 of 6

Sunday - 04/28/13 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “Kingdom Builders” The Early Church Series, Part 4 of 6                                                                                      

Scripture Lesson: Revelation 21:1-6

                                             

Gospel Lesson: John 13:31-35

          Good morning brothers and sisters! What a joy it is to be with you on this the Sixth Sunday in this Easter Season. While Easter might seem like it was a long time ago at this point, every Sunday is a mini-Easter. Every Sunday is a celebration of Jesus overcoming death, and fulfilling the prophecy of being our Lord and savior. The Lord is truly good!

          After the Lord rose from the dead on Easter Sunday and after the Lord ascended to Heaven, he left his Apostles with the Holy Spirit. In fact, we are soon approaching the Christian holiday of Pentecost, were we will be exploring a little more of just what the Holy Spirit is.

          So as I said, after Jesus had ascended to Heaven the early church was left to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. Jesus, as the Gospel of John reading from this from this morning specifically told the Apostles to “love one another” and to share the Good News with others. This first Christian Church, the early church was charged with spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth. They were charged with building the kingdom. They were “Kingdom Builders”. Jesus told the Apostle Peter to “feed his sheep,” and he told his followers to go and make disciples of all nations. The only problem though, as I spoke about in the first week of this sermon series, was that our early brothers and sisters experienced heavy persecution. Many of our brothers and sisters today still experience persecution for professing the lifesaving message of our Lord Jesus Christ.

          Yet despite all of this, we are the largest faith in the world. Christianity makes up almost one-third of the entire population of the earth. The early Church was resilient, and they spread the Good News of Jesus Christ no matter what the cost. They were resilient. Our missionaries in China, our believers who are sneaking bibles into North Korea daily, are resilient. We will spread the Good News of Jesus, to the whole world.

          Last week, I talked about the power and the majesty of the early Christian Church. How the early Christian Church was full of “Signs, Wonders, and Miracles”. That in the early church the Holy Spirit was flowing, and powerful things were occurring all the time. People were getting baptized constantly, the church grew rapidly, and the kingdom was growing. Given this though, where did all of these new early Christians worship though?

          With this said, this morning I want to talk about how the early Christians, and even today’s Christians are “Kingdom Builders”. For this church that we site in right here for example, was built with the money, the sweat, the tears, and the prayer of those saints who have went before us. When many settlers arrived in towns like Pottersville and Johnsburg, they brought their Bibles, but they had no church. This is because, nothing was here yet. Perhaps soon after they arrived, they built their own homes. Maybe they had religious instruction and worship that occurred in their homes. Maybe neighboring farmers gradually over time gathered together in a barn or farm house to worship. Soon, someone likely stepped forward who was willing to lead the congregation as its pastors. Soon after this, the people of God in towns like Pottersville and Johnsburg said, “Let’s build us a church”. You see when people moved to a town like this, they likely didn’t have a fixed date that a church would be built. They were likely more focused on building their homes, clearing land for farming and building, and the church would come soon, but who would build it? Who would provide the lumber? Who would provide the nails, the tools, and etc.? “Kingdom Builders” brothers and sisters, our predecessors were “Kingdom builders”.

          In the scripture reading this morning from the Book of Revelation, it said, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed, and the sea was no more”. It went on to say that he saw the “holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,” and the scripture went on to speak of the glory of Christ’s second coming. The glorious coming, of when Jesus returns for us all. These promises that we have believed for centuries. The promises that we have and continue to build God’s church on.

          When looking at the first Christians though, they had a very different situation than today. Now don’t get me wrong, there are still places that know almost nothing of the Gospel of Jesus today, but people like the Apostle Paul went amongst the gentiles who had no idea what he was talking about. Today we have the internet, smart phones with instant internet access, mobile phones, and access to almost limitless information. So, while some have maybe never heard of Jesus today, the likelihood that they have at least heard a little bit of something about Jesus is significantly higher than in the early church.

          So consider this then, your Saul, the Jewish Pharisee in the Book of Acts, on your way to Damascus, to carry leaders to the Jewish synagogue or temple. He did this to persecute and hopefully destroy Christianity by the way. Yet the Lord spoke to him on that road to Damascus, and he soon after became a Christian. He then came back to Jerusalem, and reluctantly at first, they accepted him into the Christian Church. Then the Apostle Paul following the call of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit goes out to make disciples of Jesus Christ. The question though, is where does he go? What is the best method tell people the Good News of Jesus Christ? The answer is the Jewish Synagogues or Temples. I mean think about it, when Jesus preached, sometimes it was in the Jewish temple or the Synagogue. Many of the places that the Apostle Paul went in fact, such as Philippi, where we get the Philippians, and Corinth, where we get the Corinthians, were places where the Apostle Paul likely sought out a Jewish place of worship. The Apostle Paul then went other places like Thessalonica, where we get the Thessalonians, and Galatia, where we get the Galatians. When you look through the New Testament, the Apostle Paul, and all of the Apostles though, went out to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.

          Why would Paul and the other Apostles seek out the Jewish temples first though? Why would the majority of the Apostles seek out Jewish temples first in fact? Here is why, the Jewish people were the people of God. They knew the Lord, and they knew of the scriptures. The scriptures we as Christians today call the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. Paul and the rest of the Apostles knew that in all these foreign places that the Jewish people knew the story about Adam and Eve, Noah and the Ark, and he knew that they also knew about how all of the prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, spoke of the messiah to come.

          In this way people like the Apostle Paul would seek out these Jewish temples or synagogues, and likely tell them things like, “the prophecies of Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah have come true. The Messiah has come, his name is Jesus Christ. Let me tell you of our Lord Jesus”. Often full synagogues or full temples would not convert all at once, but usually some would. These folks would then find a space, like a house, a cemetery, or underground sewers or catacombs to worship. I asked earlier in the service where the early Christians worshipped, and the places I just named were some of the places that they did worship. If the church had members of financial means, sometimes these members would have worship in their home, which is where we get the concept of the “house church”. As time went on, and as Christians were “Persecuted,” they grew through being “Resilient”, and by experiencing “Signs, Wonders, and Miracles”. Within a few centuries we would have beautiful cathedrals adorned with beautiful stained glass windows. While I have never been to Europe or the Middle East, I cannot even imagine standing in a church that could be over 1,000 years old.   

          So like the early church, we as settlers came into an area like this, luckily in our case already with the Christian faith, and we grew the body of Christ. Then we built beautiful churches like this. In other countries like China and Vietnam, these brothers and sisters are growing rapidly and churches are being built in great numbers. In our communities today, we have many people who don’t believe though, or who don’t want to be part of the body of Christ. Part of building the body is bringing these people into a place like this, so that they can be changed by the grace of God, and be made new by the power of the Holy Spirit. Become part of the loving body of Christ.

          So brothers and sisters while we have this beautiful church that the saints before us have built, the kingdom is nowhere near being finished built. We have so much work to do to build the kingdom still, for we need to be “Kingdom Builders”.

I would like to close this morning’s message with a story. This story is called “The Cave People,” and is taken from Max Lucado's “The Woodcutter's Wisdom and Other Favorite Stories”. Here is how the story goes:

“Long ago, or maybe not so long ago, there was a tribe in a dark, cold cavern. The cave dwellers would huddle together and cry against the chill. Loud and long they wailed. It was all they did. It was all they knew to do. The sounds in the cave were mournful, but the people didn't know it, for they had never known joy. The spirit in the cave was death, but the people didn't know it, for they had never known life.

But then, one day, they heard a different voice. "I have heard your cries," it announced. "I have felt your chill and seen your darkness. I have come to help." The cave people grew quiet. They had never heard this voice. Hope sounded strange to their ears. "How can we know you have come to help?" "Trust me," he answered. "I have what you need." The cave people peered through the darkness at the figure of the stranger. He was stacking something, then stooping and stacking more. "What are you doing?" one cried, nervous. The stranger didn't answer. "What are you making?" one shouted even louder. Still no response. "Tell us!" demanded a third. The visitor stood and spoke in the direction of the voices. "I have what you need." With that he turned to the pile at his feet and lit it. Wood ignited, flames erupted, and light filled the cavern.

The cave people turned away in fear. "Put it out!" they cried. "It hurts to see it." "Light always hurts before it helps," he answered. "Step closer. The pain will soon pass." "Not I," declared a voice. "Nor I," agreed a second. "Only a fool would risk exposing his eyes to such light." The stranger stood next to the fire. "Would you prefer the darkness? Would you prefer the cold? Don't consult your fears. Take a step of faith" For a long time no one spoke. The people hovered in groups covering their eyes. The fire builder stood next to the fire. "It's warm here," he invited. "He's right," one from behind him announced. "It's warmer." The stranger turned a saw a figure slowly stepping toward the fire. "I can open my eyes now," she proclaimed. "I can see." "Come closer," invited the fire builder. She did. She stepped into the ring of light. "It's so warm!" she extended her hands and sighed as her chill began to pass. "Come, everyone! Feel the warmth," she invited. "Silence, woman!" cried one of the cave dwellers. "Dare you lead us into your folly? Leave us. Leave us and take your light with you."

She turned to the stranger. "Why won't they come?" "They choose the chill, for though it's cold, it's what they know. They'd rather be cold than change." "And live in the dark?" "And live in the dark." The now-warm woman stood silent, looking first at the dark, then at the man. "Will you leave the fire?" he asked. She paused, then answered, "I cannot. I cannot bear the cold." Then she spoke again. "But nor can I bear the thought of my people in darkness." "You don't have to," he responded, reaching into the fire and removing a stick. "Carry this to your people. Tell them the light is here, and the light is warm. Tell them the light is for all who desire it." And so she took the small flame and stepped into the shadows.

“Kingdom Builders” brothers and sisters. The early Christian Church and even us today are called to be “Kingdom Builders”. We are called to bring light and warmth into places that know it not. To bring Jesus Christ to a world that knows him not. For as long as there darkness and cold, there will be people who reject the light and the warmth of Christ, but we must continue on. For building the Kingdom of Jesus Christ is the mission of the Church, and it is what makes us all “Kingdom Builders”. In name of Jesus Christ I bring this message to you this morning. Amen.