Sunday - 09/01/13 RWJ/Pottersville
UMC
Sermon: “Humbled to
Exaltation”
Scripture Lesson: Jeremiah 2:4-13
Gospel Lesson: Luke 14:1, 7-14
Greetings and good morning brothers
and sisters! I greet you in the name of the Risen Christ, on this our Fifteenth
Sunday after Pentecost. That day so long ago that the mighty spirit of the
living God moved through the early followers of Jesus, and then empowered them
to go out and transform the world in His name.
You know, to be really honest my brothers and sisters, this is a sermon
that I did not desire to prepare for. For who among us likes saying goodbye to
the people that they love so much? I know that I don’t enjoy doing this, and in
preparing for this sermon I really connected more with the Apostle Paul in the New
Testament of the Bible. The Apostle Paul of course wrote many letters or
epistles to the churches in Rome, Corinth, Ephesus, Galatia, Philippi, and etc.
In fact, in 1 Corinthians 16:7 the Apostle Paul said to the church in Corinth, “For I do not want to see you now and make only a passing
visit; I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits.” You
see the Apostle Paul Lamented not being with his Churches in Corinth. He missed
them, and while the Lord had called him elsewhere, he longed to be with his
people. In Philippians 1:3-6 the Apostle Paul said, “I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy
because of your partnership in the
gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you
will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” You see the Apostle
Paul had concern for the churches of Philippi, and prayed for the people there.
In Romans 1:10-13, the Apostle Paul wrote to the churches in Rome and said, “in my
prayers at all times; and I
pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you.
I long to see you so that
I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— that is, that you and I
may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I
planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until
now) in order that I might
have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.”
While I could continue with the Apostle Paul’s letters or epistles in the New
Testament, where he talks about his yearning to be with his people, he realized
fully I think the nature of the Church. That the Gospel of Jesus Christ is
such, that we are called often too far away places. In those places we are
called to preach the Gospel, build the community, and spread the love of Jesus.
Yet in doing this, we are then often called somewhere else far away. The Apostle
Paul felt this separation as we have heard, while being in the places that he
was then called to. I have to say that on this morning, I feel this way. I feel
like that I will write a letter not to the Corinthians, but to the
Pottersvillians or the Johnburgians, and tell them to keep the faith, and that
I long to see them. Yet the Lord has called me to Corinth, or Philippi, or
Ephesus, or Rome, to continue to preach and spread the good news that Risen Christ
is amongst us, that He has forgiven us, and in Him that our lives never end.
Part of me identifies
with the scripture reading from the Prophet Jeremiah from this morning, in that
I feel like I am defying my people. You see in this scripture reading, Jeremiah
talked about how the people of Israel have turned from the Lord, and in a way,
I feel like I am turning from all of you. Yet in all of this, as much as some
of you might have appreciated my time here, I am convinced that I have gained
much more than you could have ever gained from me.
You see when I started here
I was a little nervous and didn’t even know the difference between David
Osterberg and Bob Flachbarth. For about 10-months I welcomed Karen and Ken,
when I should have been welcoming Karen and Jim. In my time here then, I
learned more of what the Christian Community is. That we are people who have been
changed in the depths our souls by the love and the saving power of Jesus Christ,
and that we seek to share that love with all people.
That when I first
started, I didn’t feel worthy to be at this pulpit, that when I went to church dinners,
I insisted that I work and not eat. Of course David Osterberg would give me
that look where he looks over his glasses at you, and would say to me, “go eat
with you wife Paul. You can help us later.”
In the Gospel reading
from this morning, Jesus goes and eats at the house of the leader of the
Pharisees. Jesus noticed that many of
the guests at the home sat in places of high honor, where the finest tables and
chairs sat. Yet Jesus said to these guests, “When you are invited by someone to
a wedding banquet, do not sit down at the place of honor, in case someone more
distinguished than you has been invited by your host; and the host who invited
both of you may come and say to you, “Give this person your place,’ and then in
disgrace you would start to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go
and sit down at the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he may say to
you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will be honored in the presence of all
who sit at the table with you.” Then Jesus said in this parable these words, “For
all who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves with
be exalted.” The Gospel then concludes by Jesus encouraging people to give to
and serve the poor.
I connected with this
Gospel reading from this morning, in that often I did not want to sit in the
places of honor like Jesus said, but rather I wanted to sit in the lowly
places. Yet during my time here, all of you were content to lift me up to the high
guest tables, to the places of honor. While I did not always feel worthy of
this, I feel on this day, “Humbled to Exaltation.” In me feeling that I do not
deserve much, you all have lifted me up and exalted me. For the rest of my life,
wherever I go, and wherever I minister, I will always remember that in Pottersville
and Johnsburg that you kind and loving people of God took a young minister who
felt humble and unworthy, and lifted him up and exalted him. While he sometimes
didn’t feel worthy, you all affirmed his call to ministry and encouraged him to
take his place among the leaders in our church.
You see while I came here
to minister to you and to serve you, you have given me more than I could have
ever given you. For you have “Humbled me to Exaltation.” Humbled me to joy, to excitement,
to praise, and to then have encouraged me to go forth and serve and spread the
Gospel.
So while I have
excitement today about moving to my next assignment to serve Jesus, the
Pottersville and the RWJ United Methodist Churches will always be the churches
that took a nervous kid, and made a pastor out of him. That all of you took a
person who wasn’t fully sure of himself, and loved him so much, as to give him
the confidence to go forth with the truth and love of Jesus Christ.
You see then my brothers
and sisters, on this morning I honor you, and thank you. For you have “Humbled
me to Exaltation.” You all have given me more than you will ever know, and like
the Apostle Paul, I will contact you and say that I long to be with you, but will
then say that God has called me elsewhere.
You see the mission of
Christian Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation
for the world. These disciples are then sent forth, and this is the painful
sacrifice that we make for Jesus and His Gospel. The sacrifice we make when children
go off to school or the military, or when loved ones move away for a new job
opportunity.
Within all of this
though, I know this, we are the “Corpus Christi.” We are the living and breathing
body of Jesus Christ, and we are many. We are connected across space and time,
and one day we will all be together in glory, feasting at that heavenly
banquet. So given this, this is not goodbye then my brothers and sisters, but
rather this is so long for now. For we are the people of the resurrection, we
are a people of hope, and ours is the glory of the Kingdom of the Jesus Christ.
In this Kingdom we will be together, we will all be knitted together through
all space and time. For we are the body of Christ, and we are many.
I would like to leave you
with one last story. This story is called, “Judge Me by the Footprints I Leave
Behind.” “This is a story that is told about a soldier who was finally coming home
after having fought in Vietnam. He called his parents from San Francisco. “Mom
and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve got a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like
to bring with me.” “Sure,” they replied, “we’d love to meet him.” “There’s
something you should know the son continued, “he was hurt pretty badly in the
fighting. He stepped on a land mine and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere
else to go, and I want him to come live with us.” “I’m sorry to hear that, son.
Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.” “No, Mom and Dad, I want him to
live with us.” “Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking.
Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own
lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I
think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to
live on his own.”
At that point, the son
hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him. A few days later,
however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died
after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was
suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the
city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to
their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had
only one arm and one leg.
The parents in this story
are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun
to have around, but we don’t like people who inconvenience us or make us feel
uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren’t as healthy,
beautiful, or smart as we are.
Thankfully, there’s
someone who won’t treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional
love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we
are.
Tonight, before you tuck
yourself in for the night, say a little prayer that God will give you the
strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more
understanding of those who are different from us!
There’s a miracle called
-Friendship- that dwells in the heart. You don’t know how it happens or when it
gets started. But you know the special lift it always brings and you realize
that Friendship Is God’s most precious gift! Friends are a very rare jewel,
indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear,
they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.
Brothers and sisters, I want to thank you for
loving me, even despite all of my quirks, and even despite all of my flaws. I
will always consider all of you my dear friends, and want you to know that you
have all change my life for the better. For you have all “Humbled me to Exaltation.”
God’s blessings on all of you and Amen.
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