Sunday - 07/14/13
RWJ/Pottersville UMC
Sermon: “Could it be
any easier?”
Scripture Lesson: Psalm 82
Gospel Lesson: Luke 10:25-37
Good morning my brothers and sisters,
and greetings in the name of the risen Christ! It’s a great joy and a pleasure for
me to be here with you on this the eighth Sunday after Pentecost. The day where
the spirit of God descended upon the disciples and the followers of Christ like
tongues of fire, the day that passion and determination filled the hearts and
the minds of the early believers, and the day that the church was officially
born.
On this morning though, I want to talk
with you about having faith in Christ. I want to talk to you about what Jesus specifically
asks of us. Further, I want to talk you about salvation in Jesus Christ. Given
this, the question I have for you all to consider then, is what does someone need
to do, in order to get to heaven?
In asking this question, it makes me
remember back to my first semester at the Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, NY.
I remember especially my first night of class as a new seminarian. As my fellow
classmates and I sat in that room on our first night of class, we had as many
as 20 different denominations of Christianity represented. We had Baptists,
Methodists, Episcopalians, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, A Mennonite,
Lutherans, Pentecostals, Non-denominational Christians, and etc. Sitting in
that room the head of the Northeastern Seminary Dr. Doug Cullum, who is also an
ordained elder in the Free Methodist Church, asked us all “how do you get to
heaven?” I remember being in that room with some chatter, with some whispering,
and with some shuffling of books and papers. Suddenly though the room grew dead
silent, and you could hear a pin drop when Dr. Cullum asked that question.
About five to ten seconds passed by, and nobody said anything. Dr. Cullum then
said again, “how do you get to heaven?” This question that was asked of me and
my fellow classmates is something that I want to talk about more deeply here
this morning. To build up to the answer of this questions of “how do we get to
heaven,” let us first look at our scripture reading from this morning from
Psalm 82. In this Psalm it says, “God has taken his place in the divine
council; in the midst of the gods he holds judgment: How long will you judge
unjustly and show partiality to the wicked?” God says to us in this Psalm do
you seek wickedness? Do you judge in favor of wickedness? Do you alter what you
believe to incorporate wickedness? Or do you seek the Lord?
The Psalm then goes on to say, “Give
justice to the weak and the orphan; maintain the right of the lowly and the
destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the
wicked.” For if we side with the wicked, then how can truly do all of these
things that the Lord has just asked of us? I think it is the reality, that we
cannot serve two masters. Jesus said in the gospels, that “you cannot serve God
and money.” In addition to this, you cannot serve God and wickedness. For as
the Psalm from this mornings’ scripture reading said regarding the wicked, “They
have neither knowledge nor understanding, they walk around in darkness; all the
foundations of the earth are shaken.” The wicked walk in the darkness, the
scripture says. What if we start walking in darkness?
You know my brothers and sisters I
know that my bride and I are leaving here in a couple months, to serve in a new
place, but I would submit to you that you are the Corpus Christi. You are the
body of Christ, and children of the light. This church and then people in it is
part of the universal Corpus Christi. Your faith and trust in Christ, transcends
far beyond any pastor, transcends far beyond any sermon, as your faith is
strong and resolute. For this community of believers has been here for years,
and my brothers and sisters, it will continue with the power of the Holy Spirit
for many years to come. For you my brothers and sisters walk in light and not
in darkness.
The Psalm from this morning went on to
say, “I say, “You are gods, children of the Most High, all of you;
nevertheless, you shall die like mortals, and all fall like any prince.” If we
pursue wickedness, and if we pursue darkness, then we will not live. For only
when we seek light, truth, and the face of Jesus will we truly live. For how
can we be children of the light when we are in darkness? How can we truly love
others if we are wicked? This scripture from the Psalm then concludes by saying
“Rise up, O God, judge the earth; for all the nations belong to you!” So one
day, almighty God will want to us answer for our lives, and will judge us
according to our deeds, our faith, and our hearts.
So then to answer that question that Dr.
Cullum’s asked me and my fellow classmates a few years ago, let us look at our
gospel reading from this morning from the gospel according to Luke. This gospel
reading is the “Parable of the Good Samaritan.” This scripture addresses
wickedness and an unloving attitude. The gospel starts by saying, “Just then a
lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit
eternal life?” This sounds almost identical to question that Dr. Cullum asked us
on that first night at the seminary a few years ago. “How do you get to heaven?”
For when we peel back all the layers
of our faith, we are the most concerned primarily with salvation. Sure the
church transforms the world, sure we love and serve all people, but it all
starts with salvation. “How do we get to heaven?” Jesus then says to the lawyer
from this gospel reading, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
The lawyer than said to Christ, “You shall love the Lord your God will all your
heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your
mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”
Jesus then looks at the lawyer and
said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.” My
brothers and sister, Jesus came to earth to die for us, but also to give us a
new way to almighty God. Jesus came to renew our ability to accept the free
gift of eternal life with almighty God, and so that we may live in freedom and
in love. When I first read this gospel reading in preparing for this sermon
some time ago, the first thing I thought is “could it be any easier?” “Could be
any easier” than what Jesus asked us to do? Is it too hard to love Christ with
all that we have and to love our neighbor as ourselves? For Jesus says to us,
if you love me and my Father faithfully, fully, and in your heart, and if serve
others in my name, you shall never perish, but rather you shall live. So I say
to you this morning regarding our salvation through Jesus Christ, “Could it be
any easier?” Could God have made the entry requirements to eternal life any
easier? All we have to do is love God, accept Christ as our savior, and treat
our neighbor as we treat ourselves. “Could it be any easier?”
So in the gospel reading from this
morning, the lawyer then said to Christ to challenge him, “And who is my
neighbor?” Then Jesus is infinite mystery and sense of humor, did what he often
did. For instead of answering many of the questions that Christ was asked
directly, Christ answered many of these questions with parables or stories.
Here is how Christ responds in this mornings’ gospel reading to this lawyer’s
question. Jesus then said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and
fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away,
leaving him half dead.”
Jesus then said, “Now by chance a priest
was going down the road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.” “So
likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the
other side. Jesus than said, “But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and
when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his
wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal,
brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two
denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, “Take care of him; and when I
come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.”
Jesus then says to the lawyer, “Which
of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands
of the robbers?” The lawyer then said speaking of the Samaritan man, “The one
who showed him mercy.” Jesus then tells the lawyer, then “Go and do likewise.”
You see my brothers and sisters, I would
charge that the core of the gospel of Jesus Christ is not that complicated. In
fact, “Could it be any easier?” Love God, put your faith in Christ, and treat
all people with the love of Christ. “Could it be any easier” than this? Imagine
a world, were we truly lived the gospel of Jesus Christ. Where we served the
people, not for the money, not because of what it is in it for us, but because
Jesus said love me and love all my people. Jesus said, do what you do not to
profit yourself, but to profit the kingdom of God, and to serve the people. “Could
it be any easier?”
Brothers and sisters, I would like to close this message this morning with
a story. This story is by an unknown author. Here is the story: “His name was Fleming, and
he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day, while trying to eke out a living for
his family, he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby boy. He dropped his
tools and ran to the boy. There, mired to his waist in black muck, was a terrified
boy, screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad
from what could have been a slow and terrifying death.
The next day, a carriage
pulled up to the Scotsman’s sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman
stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had
saved. “I want to repay you,” said the nobleman. “You saved my son’s life.”
“No, I can’t accept payment for what I did,” the Scottish farmer replied,
waving off the offer.
At that moment, the
farmer’s own son came to the door of the family’s cottage. “Is that your son?”
the nobleman asked. “Yes,” the farmer replied proudly. “I’ll make you a deal.
Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his
father, he’ll grow to a man you can be proud of.” And that he did.
In time, Farmer Fleming’s
son graduated from St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School in London, and went on to
become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the
discoverer of penicillin.
Years afterward, the
nobleman’s son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. The
name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son’s name? Sir Winston
Churchill, our friend and ally in Britain during World War II.
Brothers and sisters, to
get to heaven, to obtain salvation, there are many things that we as Christians
believe and practice that make up our faith. In the most basic sense though,
Jesus said to obtain salvation you must put your full faith and trust in the
Lord, and treat your neighbor as you would treat yourself. “Could it be any
easier?” I bring this message to you in the name of Jesus Christ, the risen
savior. Amen.
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