RWJ/Pottersville UMC - Sunday - 06/23/13 Sermon - “An exorcism to remember!"

Sunday - 06/23/13 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “An exorcism to remember!”

Scripture Lesson: 1 Kings 19:1-4 (5-7), 8-15a

                                             

Gospel Lesson: Luke 8:26-39

          Good morning brothers and sisters! Greetings and blessings in the name of the risen Christ! It’s a great joy and a pleasure for me to come together with you on this fifth Sunday after our holiday of Pentecost. The day that tongues of fire filled the Disciples of Christ, and this new fire in their hearts and in their bellies led them to make disciple of Jesus Christ. The spirit led them to preach the good news of Jesus, and to teach the world a new way of being. That we must love our neighbor, that we must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for unfortunate, and heal the sick. Surely this Jesus was not just some mere prophet, but rather he was something significantly more. This Jesus was and is the Messiah, the one who came to earth, changed our definition of life itself, offered us salvation through his blood, and has reconciled us with almighty God. Truly the Christ is our standard and the ultimate truth by which we live our lives.

          For never in history has there been anyone like Christ, and only when he returns, will we be able to say that he is here again in his full bodily form. You see Jesus taught us, and continues to teach us many things. Jesus teaches us how to treat each other, how live, and how to re-make the world in his image.

Yet amidst this, we live in era so wrought with anti-Christian fervor and anti-faith fervor, where people often attack our faith. They seek to pick apart our truths, yet Christ is the source of all truth. For Christ was God on earth, and has saved us all, if we but love him, serve him, and love others in his name.

          When looking at today’s scripture reading from 1 Kings 19, the prophet Elijah has just been on Mount Carmel and has ordered the prophets of the pagan god Baal to be destroyed. The god Baal was often portrayed as statue, and people worship there statues of Baal. Elijah challenged them that God was not contained only in a mere statue, but was everywhere and all around us. The scripture than said, King “Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like of one of them by this time tomorrow.” Elijah then flees into the wilderness, and he is so scared for his life that he asked God to take his life. He said, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors.” At this point the scripture says that Elijah lay down under the broom tree where he was at. “Then suddenly an angel touched him and said to him “Get up and eat.” Suddenly before him was a cake of bread and a jar of water, and Elijah then ate and drank. The scripture then went on to discuss how Elijah then followed God after this event, and how the Lord guided and protected him. While Elijah’s path might not have been easy, the Lord protected him.

          In the way that God protected Elijah though, I think that we should ask ourselves on this morning, how does the Lord protect us? Where have we seen the power of God in our own lives? How has the power and the love of God changed us, and how has it changed others? Further, let us ask ourselves, where is God present in our lives today?

          When looking at the gospel according to Luke reading from this morning, the story begins with Jesus and his followers arriving in the country of Gerasenes, which is opposite of Galilee. The gospel then says speaking of Jesus, “As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs.” So just to put this in a modern day context, imagine that an insane demon possessed man, lives in one of our local cemeteries, and was naked most of time. Well, I don’t know about you, but the leaders of this community might not approve of these said living arrangements.

          As Jesus approached the naked demon possessed man, the gospel says that the man “fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The demon possessed man than said, “I beg you, do not torment me” – for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked the demon, “What is your name?” The demon in the man said, “Legion”; “for many demons had entered him.” After this, the demons begged Jesus, “not to order them to go back into the abyss.” The gospel goes on to say, “Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.”

          Soon many people saw that this man who was once demon possessed, who was now healed and well. The man was in fact according to the gospel of Luke was, “clothed and in his right mind.” This man then wanted to go with Jesus and his disciples, but instead Jesus told the man “return to you home, and declare how much God has done for you.” “So he went away, proclaiming through the city how much Jesus had done for him.”

          Well upon going through this gospel reading from this morning, I have a few thoughts. The first thought is, what if Jesus didn’t send those demons into the swine or pigs, and instead cast them into the abyss. I imagine in my mind several good pigs full of yummy bacon, pork chops, sausage and etc. drowning in that lake. This admittedly makes me a little sad. If I were with a disciple of Jesus at this time, I might have jokingly said to the Lord, “you know Lord we were going to eat those.”

          The second thought I have here is of the power and the authority of Jesus Christ. That the power, the purity, the love, and the authority of Christ was and still is so strong that even the demons know him. That as soon as John the Baptist caught his first glimpse of Christ, he said, “Behold that is the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.” So if you were tapped into God, or if you were tapped in Satan, you would likely recognize the Son of God, the Messiah. So much so, that the demons shake with fear at the sound of his name. That the very presence of Christ causes demons to shout out, to cry, and with one simple command a man is healed, and his soul is restored. That the power of God is so great that God is more powerful than any demon, or any evil that this world will throw at you. For as the founder of the Lutheran Church Martin Luther said, “The devil is God’s devil.” By this, Martin Luther meant that since almighty God created the universe, this earth, and everything in it, that he also created the devil. The devil therefore, has no power over God. God can destroy the devil at any moment, and God merely therefore asks that we put our trust in Him. That we love Him with our whole heart, and that we give him our devotion. For in this the gospel reading from this morning, it was “an exorcism to remember!” As President Abraham Lincoln said, “Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.”

          Some people in the modern day have attacked this “exorcism to remember,” and have said, “How could Jesus really drive demons into pigs, who then commit suicide?” I think the better question to ask though is, “What can’t God do?”  What has God done in your life to show you, to prove to you his manifest power, authority, and truth? What has he done to prove to you that he lives and reigns, that he is actively involved in our lives, and that he proves to us that demons quake at his sight? For today we learn about “An exorcism to remember!” On this day let us remember the love of God, the power of God, and the sovereignty of God. We remember that the creator of everything, the Lord of life, the great “I Am” loves you, and can do anything, if you just believe. If you just say “Yes Lord, here I am send me.”

I would like to close today with a story. This story is called Out of Harm's Way, by Dave Jass. Here is how the story goes: “So there we were. Fifty 10 year old boys. In the Minnesota of mid-winter cold, packed on a school bus, heading for the big downtown YMCA. We were going swimming. In can still sense the excitement, the “can hardly wait” anticipation. These were the days of owning the world, of being. And we arrive at the Y. Out of the bus, running through the cold, keeping up with the speed of each other, and into the sounds and wet warmth of the building. My God, we can smell the pool. We hear it echo to us as we tear off our parkas, our boots, shirts and pants flying. We were naked as the day we were born. No suits for us today, not when we were about to plunge into the waters of the “Boys Only” pool. I can still feel it. The event we had been waiting for since it was announced by Mrs. Elmquist 5 weeks ago. All there was to do now was run. And run we did. Flying into the water. I guess we never heard the commands to slow down, to wait for the teacher in charge, or to walk around to the other end of the pool where the depth was a reasonable 3 feet.

I couldn’t swim and was instantly under the heaviness of water at the deep end of the pool. I knew I was drowning. I had heard that one would surface three times. After the third gasp above water, down I would go, never to surface again. Boy, was I scared. I surfaced for the first time. It was bright and noisy. I thought of yelling for help, but could not. Something inside stopped me. I sink again and resurface. Once more I thought it wise to yell “HELP” but I could not. They also say that on the third time under you will see your life pass before your eyes. And indeed mine did. This short life, only 10 years, did not take long to pass. It didn’t have much to say. I committed to yell for help on this the third rising.

Feeling a curved hooking devise around my belly, lifted clear out of the water and being gently placed on the side of the pool, I never had a chance to meet my resolve and finally ask for help. And still unto these last 45 years of life, I have needed the help of others often and asked for it seldom. As the hand of God surely curves around and holds me strong, gently placing me on the side, out of harm’s way.

My brothers and sisters, we serve a mighty God. A God who loves you and me so much, and desires for us to know Him. He desires it so much in fact, that he is willing to send demons into a flock of pigs, and let all of that great and yummy bacon drown. Oh how He loves you and me. Amen.

RWJ/Pottersville UMC - Sunday - 06/16/13 Sermon - “Gifts from our Fathers"

Sunday - 06/16/13 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “Gifts from our Fathers”

Scripture Lesson: Galatians 2:15-21

                                             

Gospel Lesson: Luke 7:36-8:3

          Good morning brothers and sisters! What a joy and a pleasure it is to be here with you all on this our Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, and on this our Father’s Day. This is the day of the year that we specially honor our fathers, our grandfathers, and all those men who have mentored us, taught us, and have loved us. Some of the kids I work with however, don’t know their fathers, or rarely see their fathers. I suppose for those folks who never knew their fathers, or for those who rarely saw their fathers, I would challenge you to think about an uncle, a mentor, or the men that were, or still are positively influencing your life even today. Today then, we honor all of these men, both past and present that showed us faith through both their deeds and their actions.

          Some of you might remember that I preached a mother’s day sermon on the “Founding Mother’s” of the Christian Church. You might remember that I talked about the significance that women had not only in the Bible, but the significance that they have had for centuries as being the ones who were often the transmitters of the Christian faith. For the women in our lives, were often the ones who taught us the Bible, read it to us, and taught us the Christian faith in general.

          So given this, where do our father’s fit into this? What “gifts” did we get from our fathers? While many of us can say that the women of our lives taught us our faith, took us to church, and taught us about Jesus, I would argue that for many of us, we have received many “gifts from our Fathers.” Well first and foremost, I was lucky enough growing up to not only have a father, but to also have a step-father to. In fact then, I had and continue to have two different fathers. Yet growing up, I found that that my father and my step-father did often talk about “mushy emotional stuff.” I mean were men right. We didn’t usually talk about John the Baptist, but we did talk a lot about John Deere. My father and step-father didn’t talk to me a lot about King Herod’s generals, but they did talk to me a lot about General Motors. My fathers did not talk to me a lot about the book of Hebrews, yet they always brewed fresh coffee in the morning.

          While mom might have taught me about the gospel according Mathew, dad taught me the “gospel according to Craftsman.” Dad taught me that you can have a religious experience in the Sears tool department. That the only place close to being as good as church is Lowes and Home Depot. That a garage or a woodshed can quickly become a butcher shop during deer season. My two dads also taught me the meaning of the phrase, “don’t tell you mother.”

          While my grandpa Winkelman who is 91-years old didn’t talk about God much either, he and my two fathers have given me many gifts. In our scripture from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, or the Galatians from this morning, the Apostle Paul said that, “yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” I would say that my two fathers and the many men that have been and continue to be in my life have often practiced the quote from St. Francis of Assisi, to “Preach the gospel, and if necessary, use words.” The “Gifts from my Fathers” that I received and continue to receive is that you have faith in God. That you trust God, but that you don’t always have to talk about God a whole lot.

          My father’s taught me that you “give a man an honest day’s work,” that your handshake is as good as any written contract, that when you talk to someone you look them in the eye. That you have respect for your elders, that you respect authority, that you love your country, that you support your community, that you respect your mother, that your respect women in general, and that you do the best you can by your family. You see these are the “Gifts from our Fathers.”

          For when those brave men so many years ago on the sands of Iwo Jima in World War II lifted that American flag, they were not only saying that they love their country, they were not only saying that they were willing to lay down their lives for freedom, they were also giving all of us a gift. They were showing us the great love that they had for us. For as Jesus said in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” “Gifts from our Fathers.” The gift of a good work ethic, the gift of defending the weak, the gift of serving the unfortunate, the gift of honor, the gift of discipline, and the gift of hope for a better tomorrow. Yes, these are all in fact for many of us, “Gifts from our Fathers.”

          When looking at this mornings’ reading from the gospel of Luke, Jesus enters the home of a Pharisee to eat with him. The gospel then says, “And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. She stood behind him as his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with ointment.” The Pharisee who invited Jesus to eat with him observed what this woman was doing and said, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him-that she was a sinner.” Jesus then looks at Simon Peter though, and asks him if a creditor were to forgive the debt of two people, and if one of those two people had a large debt, and if one had a small debt, which person would love the forgiver of their debt more? Simon Peter guessed correctly that the one with more debt would love the reliever of debt more. You see the woman, who was sinner, came with faith, with genuine compassion, and with love. Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she had shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little. Then he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

          Like Jesus, some “Gifts of our Fathers,” are to love those who are weak, who are fallen, and to serve and protect even the most awful of all sinners. That giving all you have in service and love, is rewarded by Jesus. That when you come to Jesus with all of your debt, and when you come in love and in genuine compassion, he forgives all your debt. For he loves you that much. For many of us, our fathers love us this much.

I would like to close with this message this morning with a Father’s Day poem by Joe Haynie. The poem is called “So God Made a Father.” Here is how it goes: “And on the 8th day, God looked down on the Wonderful World He had made and said, "My children will need a protector." “So God made a father.” God said, "I need somebody willing to get up with a crying child in the middle of the night so her mother can get some well-deserved rest, and then catch a few hours of sleep himself before waking up again to his 5:30 a.m. alarm so he can hurry off to beat the morning rush hour.  Somebody who’ll work hard all day plus a little extra to get the job done, get stuck in the evening rush hour, eat a rewarmed supper, read the little ones a story and tuck them in bed, and then stay up until past midnight helping a 10-year-old with a science project. "So God made a father."

“I need somebody tough enough to barely wince from the bloody knuckles he gets when his wrench slips while re-repairing the family car, but tender enough to push back tears when his shy 7-year-old reads a poem in her school assembly.  Somebody to spend all-day Saturday unclogging toilets, searching the neighborhood for a lost kitten, mowing the lawn, getting zapped while replacing a dead light fixture, and cleaning up the paint spilled while the kids were playing hide-and-seek in the garage, and then hurrying to get cleaned up for a weekly date with his wife. “So God made a father.”

God said, "I need somebody who’s just as happy to listen patiently while his teenage daughter gives him the blow-by-blow of a conversation with her friends as he is to play rough-and-tumble on the floor with his boys.  I need somebody to call his family together to pray every day, and then to thank Heaven for each one of them by name.  I need somebody to be firm enough to be absolutely inflexible about his children respecting their mother, but who will quietly go back to the store one-more-time because a forgetful child remembers that she also needs poster-board for her school project. “So God made a father.”

God had to have somebody willing to keep wearing second-hand shoes and his old jeans with the hole in the knee for another few months so the family can afford a prom-dress for the oldest. “So God made a father.” God said, "I need somebody strong enough to apologize when he’s wrong and then to bite-his-tongue when he could have said ‘I told you so’.  I need somebody who’ll look the other way when a pretty girl with a mini-skirt walks by but who will pay careful attention and intervene when a car full of ruffians tries to follow her home.” "Somebody who would gladly give his life defending his country, but who is much more likely to spend his life keeping her strong.  Somebody who'll love his children more than his own soul, and who’ll adore his wife even more than his children.  Somebody who will laugh and then sigh, and then respond, with a tousle of hair and a grateful grin when his son says 'I want to grow up to be a daddy too.' “So God made a father.”

My brothers and sisters, today we honor our fathers, and all the men who have in the past and who continue to shape us and influence, even today. Let us all thank all the fathers we come in contact with on this day. Amen.

RWJ/Pottersville UMC - Sunday - 06/09/13 Sermon - “He tells the dead to breathe"

Sunday - 06/09/13 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “He tells the dead to breathe”

Scripture Lesson: Galatians 1:11-24

                                             

Gospel Lesson: Luke 7:11-17

          Good morning brothers and sisters! What a joy and a pleasure it is to be here with you all on this our “Third Sunday after Pentecost.” This third Sunday after the Holy Spirit showed up on that day of Pentecost almost 2,000 years ago. The day that the spirit of God arrived, and that day the Christian Church was born. The day that the Apostles and all of the other followers of Christ, both men and women had the courage, the conviction, and the faith to go and preach the Good News of Jesus Christ, regardless of the consequences.

          If the Apostles and the early Christians were this committed to spreading the faith, and if they were even willing to die to have people know Jesus, then logic would argue that they believed it! If our faith has become the largest faith in the whole world, which it has, then it must be true. How could a faith with one Messiah, and a rag tag group of followers grow to such epic proportions? It is true! Jesus Christ is the savior of all!

Throughout history, so many have claimed to be prophets, so many have claimed to be God, and so many have claimed to have some form of truth. Yet, we have yet to encounter anyone in all of human history who was like Jesus of Nazareth. No one in fact, did all that Jesus did and still does even today.

          When we are talking with non-believers then, or people of other faiths, those people might not fully understand all that is Jesus Christ. I think that as Christians though, we must love all of God’s people, and that we must love all people of other religions. Yet in doing so, we should at the same time stand on Christ and Christ alone, because we believe him to be the one and the only way to glory. While I personally have friends that are Jewish, Buddhist, Atheist, and etc., if you talk to any of them about me, this is what they would probably say about me. “Paul respects me and my beliefs, but yet he persists that only true way to almighty God is through Jesus Christ. He believes that I might have some sort of connection to God with what I believe, but he persists that the purest and truest revelation of God is found only in Jesus Christ. Yet I feel loved and respected by Paul though, and while he values me, at the end of the day he is a full-fledged and devout Christian.”

          I have even heard some of my students and some of friends say things like this: “Paul is a devout Christian, but he is not mean to me. He does not judge me.” So when a child of God of another faith, or a non-believer asks you, “Why do you believe in Jesus Christ?” When they then ask you “What makes him so unique and so powerful, what do we then say in response to those people?”

          Well my brothers and sisters, among the many things that I could say to these people, one is, is that “He tells the dead to breathe.” That Jesus Christ can bring back the dead to life. That we serve a Messiah that can raise the dead, heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and can do anything. So while I think that the love of God is everywhere, and while I think that all people can have at least some connection with God, I challenge you to find me another Messiah that can “Tell the dead to breathe.” You find me another prophet who meets the qualifications to be the savior of all of humankind. You find me another savior who was sinless, who changed the world with his words, and who created an entire new way living, being, and existing. A Messiah that has given us morals and ethics to live by, and a Messiah who’s teachings are at the very core of who we are and what we represent, when we proudly say, “In God we trust.”

          Yet I worry my brothers and sisters, that so many of our young people today have not only abandoned the free salvation that Christ offers us, but in addition to this they have further turned away from our Judeo-Christian teachings altogether. For if we are not made to learn Judeo-Christians ethics or morality then as one of my student’s told me we can then believe that, “the only crime is getting caught.” I however, don’t follow the laws, just because they are laws, but also because almighty God and the Bible forbid me to break many of them. I will not steal something from someone just because I am worried that “I will get caught,” but because it is immoral to do so. Without the teachings of Christ then, where do we draw our ethics and our morality from? After all, he was the one “who tells the dead to breathe.”

          Let us look at our scripture reading for this morning from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia. This is what the Apostle Paul said, “For I want you to know, brothers and sisters that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation in Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul was a devout follower of Christ, and his ethics, his morals, were governed not by what the world said, but by what almighty God said. The Apostle Paul went on to say in this scripture that at one time he was a Pharisee and a great persecutor of the Christian Church. Yet he said, “But when God, who has set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles.” You see Paul had encountered God, had encountered the Spirit, and believed. Despite what the world told him, his faith in Christ, his belief in a better world, and his moral and ethical compass led him to free people all over from the bondage of disbelieve and emptiness. That robbing and stealing are not ok, because Jesus Christ says, “we shouldn’t do that.” That we should feed the poor and care for the sick, because Jesus said to “do that.” That when we view dictators like the North Korean dictator Kin Jong-Un, we should long to liberate those people who are in bondage, who long to be free, and who desperately need to be healed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. That we should long to have all people be free and live in the light of the grace of Jesus Christ.

          In this morning’s gospel reading from the gospel according to Luke, it says speaking of Jesus, “Soon afterwards he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and large crowd went with him. As he approached the gate of the town, a man who had died was carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow; and with her was a large crowd from the town.”

          Now listen carefully to what the gospel says next, “When the Lord saw her, he had compassion for her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Then he came forward and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still.” Just for clarification, a “bier” is A stand on which a corpse or a coffin containing a corpse is placed before burial, and this is what Jesus had touched. Jesus than said, “Young man, I say to you, rise!” The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized all of them; and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen among us!”

          Brothers and sisters, a man was dead, and Jesus said, “breathe.” Jesus said “rise.” Jesus said, “live.” Only the Son of God could do such things, only the savior of all humankind could do things such as this. When we chose to believe we are not being ignorant, we are not being irrational; instead we are surrendering our lives to King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. In a world draped in darkness and so much immorality, Jesus has come to deliver the captives, restore sight to the blind, and yes even “tell the dead to breathe.”

What this world needs today then is people who are willing to be in the trenches showing people who Jesus Christ is. Who are willing to lead and love a person who is staving and thirsty, to the fountain of life, to feast at the banquet table of the Lord.

          In my workings, so many non-believers have said to me, “Well Paul if God really exists, then why do such bad things happen.” I often reply with a quote from Sir Edmund Burke, that “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” The people of God are on the front lines brothers and sisters, even now as I speak. Our brothers and sisters are in Oklahoma, feeding and caring for the Tornado victims, the United Methodist Church is partnering with other organizations to cure Malaria in Africa, and so many of us feed the sick and clothe the naked. We brothers and sisters are a people of the resurrection, we serve the risen King, and he is King “who tells the dead to the breath.”

          Yet I think that some of the people in the world today, who are alive, are actually dead. Sure they get up in the morning and go to work, sure they pay their bills, but they are dead. Their soul is stifled, their hearts our bitter, and they long to know truth and to know the meaning of it all. They are hungry, thirsty, beaten down, and are heavy laden. Yet Jesus said in Mathew 11:28, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Jesus said in John 6:35-37, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” 

          Jesus teaches that we should all come unto him, and that if we follow him, we will grow in righteousness, we will become more pure, we will become more whole as people, and as the founder of Methodism John Wesley said, “We will go on to perfection.” Mother Theresa said, “At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by "I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was naked and you clothed me. I was homeless, and you took me in.” 

          I would like to close this sermon this morning with my own story. Here is the story. A student of mine asked me other day, “How do you know there really is a God?” She asked this because she does not believe. I told her, that “I don’t just believe, I have experienced God.” I have felt the presence of the Holy Spirit, I have seen healings, I have witnessed miracles, and I have seen great things.” I then said, “in fairness though there are days that believers feel like God is very distant, and there are days that they feel that he is heavily present.” I then also said, “And we believers aren’t perfect, we are just as human as anyone else.” She then said, “So to be a believer, you need to have a “spiritual experience?” I then said, “Well it doesn’t hurt, and it usually really convinces people of Gods existence.”

          Well brothers and sisters, this student called me yesterday and said that she had a “spiritual experience.” She then explained that something inside of her caused her to start telling people the phrase “One love,” as in the one love of God for all people. She then went to store shortly after this feeling compelled to begin to say this phrase to many people. She said that when she got to the store, the first thing that she saw in that store was a key chain. The key chain she said, said “One love” on it. She told me this story with such excitement, and I could hear God working in her. I could tell that she had never had an experience like this before, and I can’t wait until I see this student next week.

          You see so often, I wonder if I am being effective with my students, yet one of my students a couple of weeks ago told me that he is thinking about becoming a minister, but “a cool minister like you, he said.” Then I had the student I just talked about call me yesterday with this story of having a “spiritual experience.” Two or three of my students that I have worked with in the last year have switched from becoming Atheists to Agnostics, or people who believe in God. You see they all believe in various things, and therefore, have become convinced that there is something more than just us. That God is real and is on the throne. For if you go to the movie to watch haunted movies, movies about demon possessions, and etc., and if you believe in any of it, than guess what, “you’re not an atheist!” I have a feeling that there are many more believers in the world than we think there are.

          As children of God, as a people of the resurrection, we must continue to see a world that is hurting, that is fallen, and that desperately needs to be saved, and we must tell these people that, “He tells the dead to breathe.” We must tell them, “You're the one who conquers giants. You're the one who calls out kings. You shut the mouths of lions. You tell the dead to breathe. You're the one who walks through fire. You take the orphan's hand. You are the one Messiah. You are I am. You are I am,” when speaking of Jesus. So go forth this week brothers and sisters and proclaim that we serve a risen Lord who “tells the dead to breath.” Amen.

RWJ/Pottersville UMC - Sunday - 06/02/13 Sermon - “I am unworthy"

Sunday - 06/02/13 RWJ/Pottersville UMC

Sermon: “I am unworthy”

Scripture Lesson: Galatians 1:1-12

                                             

Gospel Lesson: Luke 7:1-10

          Good morning brothers and sisters! What a joy and a pleasure it is to be here with you all on this our “Second Sunday after Pentecost.” This is the time of the year in the Methodist Church that we call “Kingdomtide,” or as our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters call it “Ordinary Time.” This essentially means the time after Easter, Pentecost, and last Sunday’s Trinity Sunday. This time of our yearly liturgical calendar is usually designated by the color green. Some churches use the white on communion Sundays however, or if other sacramental services are occurring.

          So the good news for those folks who are always rushing about to try to change and figure out, “what color will it be next week?” Your answer for next week, and several weeks is, it will be green. This will largely be the case in fact, until we enter into our advent season for the Christmas season. Many folks always see this time of the year that we are entering into as a “slow time” in the life of the church, or a “down time,” but I don’t see it that way. I see our Kingdomtide or Common Time as the time we replenish, we grow in scripture, we grow in faith, and we grow in the gospel.

          I remember I was in my first seminary that I attended for the first two years of my seminary journey, and I raised my hand and asked the pastor/professor one day about this whole liturgical calendar things. I guess everyone “should just know these things as Christians,” but I didn’t. So I asked the pastor/professor, “Did Jesus take the summer and early fall off?” The pastor/professor promptly said, “Paul, what do you mean by that question?” I said, “Was Jesus only a late Fall, Winter, and Spring-time teacher and miracle worker.” Well at this point the pastor/professor burst out laughing, and said, “No Paul! We just don’t have any holidays during the summer months.”

          So given all of this, in the summer months and the early fall, during Jesus’ ministry, he was very much teaching, healing, proclaiming, and performing miracles during these months we now refer to as “Kingdomtide,” or “Ordinary time.” Additionally, this time of the year is also called by many church trustee members, “the time the pastor thinks they can take several weeks of vacation time.”

          So with all of this said, the title of my sermon today, is “I am unworthy.” To better explain this sermon title, let me jump right into today’s scripture readings. In the reading from this morning from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia, or the Galatians, as they were known, he said, “Paul an apostle-sent neither by human commission not from human authorities, but though Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” As the Apostle Paul moves further down in this scripture, he says to the church in Galatia, “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.” The Apostle Paul tells the congregation in Galatia, “Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s Approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I we still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

          The Apostle Paul goes on to finish today’s scripture from Galatians, encouraging the congregation in Galatia to cling to Christ, his message, and his gospel. Yet I have to admit, sometimes one of my struggles as a pastor and as a person is that I often want to please everyone. In fact, I can very much be a “people pleaser.” Yet you can never make everyone happy, can you? Someone is always bound to be disappointed or unfulfilled by our failed attempts to make them happy. I have found for me, in my own life, that when I look at human standards, I can very quickly say and think, “I am unworthy.” I might say, “If I am called by almighty God to preach his word and serve his people, then why can I make them all happy?”

          Jesus I think would say to me, “Paul love them all, and do you best by me, and I will bless you. I will tell you, “Well done good and faithful servant.” I think Jesus would also say to me, “In me you are never unworthy, but to world, you will always feel unworthy.” You see when I try to be all things to all people; I quickly become discouraged, and quickly feel like, “I am unworthy.”

          In the gospel of Luke reading from this morning, Jesus was just entering the town of Capernaum. The gospel reading from this morning said, “A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal this slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” So listen what happens next in this gospel reading. It says, “And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed.”

          One of the friends than said, “For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, “Go,” and he goes, and to another, “Come,” and he comes, and to my slave, “Do this,” and the salve does it. At this, the gospel reading said, “When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crown that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith. When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.”

          You see, Jesus I think, wants our devotion, not our denial of him. When we judge ourselves by earthly standards, we will often say as the centurion in this gospel story said, “I am unworthy.” Yet when Christ sees our devotion to him, he is so touched that he heals and blesses us. We will not find worthiness in this world, but will always be worthy in the Kingdom of God. For in the Kingdom of God we are all, without any exceptions, God’s created, chosen, and preciously made children. Children that are all royalty, for all you women are princesses, and all you men are princes, as your Father, as your savior, is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords. You are part of the royal family, the royal priesthood, and you stand to inherit the greatest inheritance of all time. God took on flesh as a man named Jesus and died for us, so that we may life. Christ was broken, so that we didn’t have to be. Christ was broken for everyone alive, and all those to come. In his crucifixion, he said, clearly and boldly, “you are worthy.” “In you my child, “I am well pleased.”

          So brothers and sisters don’t ever think or let anyone ever tell you, that you are not worthy of God’s love. We serve a master that is so loving, so powerful and so mind blowing, that his forgiveness is not only guaranteed, it is eternal, and it was formed with three nails, a cross, and a lot of love. For he did this “for the least of these.”

          Yet I seemed to have forgotten all of this yesterday brothers and sisters. For on Friday night of our Upper New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, all the pastors were recognized. The newest local licensed pastors like me we processed up front, where we shook the hand of our beloved Bishop Mark Webb, and she shook all our hands, as well. There was discomfort in this for me, as I had little fragments of feelings that “I am unworthy.” Yesterday our Annual Conference ended, as they all do, with a service of commissioning, recognizing, and ordaining new clergy. It is the tradition of not only the United Methodist Church, but many churches to start theses services with a procession of the clergy into the sanctuary or worship area. At the front of the pack of course, was Bishop Webb, with his episcopal insignia and his shepherd’s staff. Next to him was a person carrying a cross on a stick, which where both then placed in holders on the stage. I for the first time ever, was part of that clergy processional.

          Generally in these processionals, all clergy get “robed up” as well call it. Yet I hadn’t brought the robe I am wearing right now. For I am only a new pastor, and while I have been a pastor for almost a year, surely I thought, “I am not worthy to process into the floor our Annual Conference with our ordained and seasoned clergy.” So the procession line had formed, and I was sitting in the laity section, not even in the clergy section. My friend Scott who is about to get licensed as a local licensed pastor, and is in his 50’s, said, “Paul why are you sitting in the laity section?” “Why aren’t you in the processional line that is about to come into this floor of this Annual Conference?” I said, “You know what Scott, I am a new pastor to the conference, and I didn’t even bring my robe, because I didn’t think that such a new pastor would be allowed to process into the ordination service.” I then said, “Here I am in my plaid button down shirt with no robe.” He then said as he pointed to the hallway where all the pastors were lined up, and said, “You see her? You see him? You see her?” I said, “Yes, I see them.” He then said, “But Paul, they don’t have on robes either, and they are processing.” Then I said, “I see that Scott, but I feel unworthy to process into the floor of our Annual Conference in being such a new pastor.”

          Then Scott said, “Paul you almost done with seminary, you have inspired countless people, you have been board approved, favored, loved, and licensed to preach the gospel and serve in God’s church. Don’t ever tell me that you are “unworthy.” Then he said, “Now go get in line with your brothers and sister, because I will be in line with you next year.” Then he said, “After all next year you are probably going to be getting commissioned as a provisional elder next year, and soon ordained into our church.” “Take you place,” he said, “Take your place Paul.”

          How humbled I was brothers and sisters, to process into the Annual Conference with my plaid shirt. Proudly standing the on the promises of Jesus Christ, and finally feeling worthy to be a pastor in his church.

          You see brothers and sisters, if the devil cannot destroy our faith, he will try to whisper mistruths in our ears. He will say, “you can’t,” “you won’t,” and he will say, “your unworthy.” Jesus says though, “I did this for the least of these.” Jesus says, “the least will be the greatest.” The reality is then there is nothing you can do to make Jesus love you more than he already loves you right now.

          So I pray in this time and in this place that our church may stand on the promises of almighty God, and reinvigorate our faith, our church, and our hearts in Jesus Christ. For as our founder John Wesley said about faith and the Holy Spirit, “Catch on fire with enthusiasm and people will come for miles to watch you burn.” When we feel unworthy though, our fire is vanquished and our passion is gone. Trust is Jesus, and put your faith in him.

I would like to close this morning with a funny story. I have to admit I stole this story from our bishop’s ordination sermon from yesterday. This is a story about “Chippie” the bird. Here is how it goes: “There’s the story of a woman who had a parakeet named Chippie. She loved Chippie because he was such a happy little song bird. Chippie’s constant chirping just seemed to brighten her day. One day though, the woman was cleaning the bottom of Chippie’s cage with a vacuum cleaner when the telephone rang. She reached for the telephone without removing the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner from the cage, which was a mistake. The vacuum cleaner nozzle got pointed in the direction of poor little Chippie, and he was suddenly sucked up into the machine.

When the woman looked back at the cage and realized what had happened, she was horrified. She dropped the telephone, turned off the vacuum cleaner and ripped open the dust bag to get to her little bird. Chippie was a real mess, but he was still alive. She raced to the kitchen sink and turned the water on full force on Chippie. The more she tried to wash him, the worse he looked, so she took him to the bathroom and started trying to dry Chippie with her hair dryer–full force and high heat. Finally she got the bird dry and put him back in his cage.

Several days later, a friend called and asked how Chippie was doing. “He’s alive,” he said, “but he just sits in his cage and stares into space. And,” she added thoughtfully, “Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore.”

We all know people who are a lot like Chippie. We know young people who once had a song in their hearts. But due to circumstances out of their control, they discovered that the life had been “sucked” out of them. As a result, they aren’t singing much anymore.

Brother and sisters let us this week, and forever more not be like “Chippie.” If the world tries to “suck” the life out of us, and tell us that were unworthy, let us remember, that Jesus says otherwise. Let us remember that were people of the resurrection. That we are children of the risen King, and that we stand to inherit the kingdom of God. So don’t ever think that you are “unworthy.” Praise God and Amen.