Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC - Sunday - 09/29/13 Sermon - “We are in the business of changing lives” (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 4 of 5)

Sunday 09/29/12 FUMC/HAUMC UMC’s

Sermon Title: “We are in the business of changing lives”

     (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 4 of 5)

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 91:1-6, 14-16                            

                                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: 1 Timothy 6:6-19                                       

Gospel Lesson: Luke 16:19-31

                            

          Welcome my brothers and sisters on this the nineteenth Sunday after the holiday of the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost, that day so long ago that Holy Fire from heaven streamed through the early Christians, igniting their minds, their hearts, and their souls, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. For in Jesus Christ we are freed from all that binds us. In Christ we are freed of every vice and every trapping of this world.

          While we as Christians are many though, there is quite a diversity of believers. We have Christian populations in every part of the world. We have people who worship in countless languages, and who worship the Lord in many different ways. Within all of this, the question a non-believer may ask us though is why do we do what we do?  More specifically, why do we believe in this Jesus, we talk so much about? What’s the deal with Jesus Christ, they might say? Further, they may say, is there really and truly any power in this Jesus? Or do we just gather on Sunday mornings, and many other times, to make ourselves feel better? Is there power in the name of Jesus?

          When we look at the depth and breadth of our great faith, which spans centuries, we know the power that is in Jesus Christ. We know that Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit can lift us up, and can restore us. In my young life, I have seen drug addicts, alcoholics, and people who were at the “bottom of the barrel” in their lives find the Lord. And oh how these people changed when they met Jesus! I have seen people go from the brink of disaster to being revitalized and restored. Many of us on this morning can attest the power of Jesus Christ, and how Christ has lifted us up on wings like eagles.

In the reading from Psalm 91 from this morning, it says, “My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust.” It also says, “For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.”

          You see for those of us who truly believe then, we know the power of the risen Lord. I know the power of the risen Lord so much so, that I have given up any secular life that I have had, to pursue him. You see his power, his love, and his grace is so great, that I will follow him the rest of my days. For those who have had their hearts changed by the Lord, they know exactly what I am talking about right now. For Christ spoke truth and grace, and then we believed. As the song Amazing Grace says, “how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!”

          When looking at the reading from 1 Timothy 6:6-19 from this morning, it speaks of desiring wealth and falling into the trappings of sin and temptation. That the love of money is the root of all evil, and that true happiness, true peace, and true love, lay in Christ Jesus. You see the Apostle Paul is telling his young friend Timothy here to pursue holiness, pursue righteousness, as the desire for money, pleasure, and power, will destroy him and everyone.

Some of us here this morning in fact, might be school teachers, or college employees, or bankers, or lawyers, or doctors, or social workers, or retired, and etc. Yet for those of us who believe in the risen in the Lord, I would argue that we are Christians cleverly disguised as all of the professions and the jobs that we may have.  You see before I became a minister, I was a follower of Jesus Christ, cleverly disguised as a teacher. When I was a social worker, I was serving people, and I was doing so in the name of the Lord. I remember a non-believing friend asked me once, “Paul, you work for such and such agency as a social worker right?” I than said, “No, that is not my primary employer.” My non-believing friend then said, “Well then who is your primary employer?” I responded, “I work for the Lord.”

Yet, I know other people who have said, “Paul the church is nothing but a business.” I have then replied to such people, and said, “I agree, the church is a business.” Those persons are generally shocked to hear me say this, but then I have often said, “the Christian Church is only in one business. This business is the business of changing lives.” For me then, the Christian Church is a hospital, a life boat, and when people come in here sick and covered in the muck of the world, let us the people of God love them. Let us pray with them and for them, and then watch how the Lord changes their lives. Remember how the Lord has blessed you and has changes their lives.

          You see, I think that to revitalize our churches in this era, we need strong and spirit filled pastors who love there people and God boldly. We need to look to the democracy of the dead, and realize that all of the saints, who went before us, were in the same business that we are still in today. That the saints of the past, which might include many of your ancestors, were in the business of changings lives. All the people of God, the Corpus Christi, with all our varied gifts and graces, are in the business of changing lives. We believe this so strongly that this is the very fiber of who we are. We believe this so strongly, that we build these churches, and even these churches can attest to the transformative power that is found only in the life saving blood of Jesus Christ. For Jesus saves and you stand to inherit the greatest inheritance in history. This is because, all of you men here are princes, and all of you women are princesses, for your Father in heaven is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords.

I remember that during some tough times that I have been through in my young life, that I would often call my mother during these times. I remember she used to say in these tough times, “Paul, you’re a son of the King.” “You are blessed in him, and he has a plan for your life.”

Oh my brothers and sisters, I once was lost, but now I am found. I once was blind, but now I see. The Lord of hosts has raised me up, and has empowered me and you, to be in the business of changing lives.

          When we send young kids to summer camp, we plant seeds of Christ’s love in their hearts, seeds of transformation, seeds of hope, and seeds of change. So, is the church a business then? You bet it is, and our product is total spiritual and life make over. Our product requires no shipping and handling, no tax, and no down payment, because it was paid for on Calvary 2,000 years ago. On that day my brothers and sisters, three nails and one cross set us free. We are in the business of changing lives. We are the Corpus Christi, we are the body of the living Christ, and in this place people’s lives our changed.

          In this place God takes broken people, and he puts them back together. In this spiritual emergency room, people find healing, they find hope, and they are freed from all shame, all guilt, and all that binds them. We are in the business of changing lives.

          When we participate in church dinners, church festivals, church events, and in things like Sunday we are all working the Jesus Christ ULC, Unlimited Love Corporation. When we put our tithes in the collection plate, we are not just giving because we are told to give, when we give to missionaries, we are not doing so just because it is the right thing to, when we help a teenager that is broken and in need of love, we don’t do it because we have nothing better to do. We do all this my brothers and sisters, because we are in the business of changing lives, and if don’t you of know it my brothers and sisters, in this branch of the Jesus Christ ULC, business is good!

          In this morning’s reading from the gospel of Luke, a rich man who had great wealth and abundance, allowed a poor man named Lazarus to lay hungry and covered in sores at the front gate of his house. The rich man knew he was there, yet he did nothing to help him, or nothing to change his life. Then one day the rich man died, and went to Hell. The poor man then died and was “carried away by the angels to be with Abraham.” Lazarus and Abraham then viewed the rich man burning in the torment of flames in hell, and he asked Lazarus to dip his finger in some water and touch his tongue to cool off the burning. Yet Abraham tells the rich man that since he never helped Lazarus, he will never receive help himself. The rich man then begs Abraham to tell his still living five-brothers to repent and change, as to not end up burning in agony. You see the rich man saw Lazarus every day, but the rich man was not “in the business of changing lives,” he was in the business of himself. He came first, and everyone else came second, or never.

          This business of changing lives is not just vested in the pastor either, but it is vested in all of you. To prove my point about the pastor not being the only one who can evangelize and reach people, I want to close with a made up story that makes fun of us pastors. Here is the story, about a generous little girl. A little girl in a church once approached her father at home after that morning’s church service, and brought him by the hand into her bedroom. She then uncorked the bottom of her piggy bank and dumped out all of the coins and money she had on her bed. She then said, “Daddy, I want to give all of this money to Pastor Paul.” The dad looking shocked, touched, and perplexed, said to his daughter, “Are you sure?” She said, “Yes daddy, I’m sure.” Well wouldn’t you know it the next time I filled in at that church I preached at sometimes, the little girl approached me after the service with a small little bucket of coins and money. “She said, here Pastor Paul, this is all the money from my piggy bank, and this money is for you.” Well as you can imagine my heart just melted. I said to the little girl, “No honey you should save that for you,” and she replied “No Pastor Paul, this money is for you.” I said, “Honey surely there is charity, a needy family, or someone else who needs this money much more than I?” She just replied “No Pastor Paul, this money is for you.” I said, “Well maybe we can donate it to the food pantry?” She then said getting much sterner with her voice, “No Pastor Paul, this money is for you!” I finally said to the little girl, “Well ok, but why do you want me to have this money so bad?” She said well “Pastor Paul that’s simple. My daddy told me that you are the poorest that pastor that this church has ever had.”

          Sometimes, we take ourselves way too seriously don’t we? Especially us pastors, and we forget that we are nothing without the grace and love and Jesus Christ. That we are broken sinners, and through the blood of Jesus Christ, we have been lifted up. You see brothers and sisters, there are so many people out there who are broken, who feel hollow, who feel lost, yet we are in the business of changing lives. For we serve the Lord of Lords, the prince of peace, the one who overcame death itself.

As one pastor said to me once, “if you can find me the bones of Jesus Christ, I will be worshipping with my Jewish brothers and sisters at the Jewish Synagogue next Saturday.” I then asked that pastor to repeat what he had just said. He then said, “don’t you understand Paul, the bones of Jesus Christ cannot be found, because he is risen!” He then said, “the reason you will find me in church on Sunday mornings, and not in the Jewish Synagogue on Saturdays, is because Christ has risen! For if he never rose from the dead, than he was not Messiah,” said this pastor.

          My brothers and sisters, we will never find the bones of Jesus Christ, because they are not here. For sits at the right hand of God the Father. You see he was tempted and he was tried, he endured a horrible death, and was sinless. He rose, he is among us, and he still changes lives. If we are to revitalize our faith in this era, we must always make the focus of all we do the very face of the risen Christ. For in him all things are new. In him we can build a better world. In him hearts are mended, and lives are changed. Oh yes my brothers and sisters, we are indeed in the business of changing lives, and business is good! Amen.

Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC - Sunday - 09/22/13 Sermon - “Corpus Christi: The Body of God's People” (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 3 of 5)

Sunday 09/22/12 FUMC/HAUMC UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Corpus Christi: The Body of God’s People”

     (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 3 of 5)

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 79:1-9                  

                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: 1 Timothy 2:1-7

Gospel Lesson: Luke 16:1-13                  

          Good morning children of God! Welcome this morning, on this the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost. Pentecost that day so long ago that the Holy Fire of the spirit of God filled the early followers of Christ and the church was born.

          As many of you know, I have begun my service at this church with a 5-week sermon series on reclaiming our Wesleyan or Methodist Heritage. Within this, the founder of the Methodist Movement, John Wesley grew faith in Christ in millions of people, and therefore tremendously grew the church. In doing this, Mr. Wesley, as he was often called, had many ways, or Methods, as his critics would say, of growing faith and the church. This label of Wesley and his then small group of followers being called “Methodical” or “Methodist,” was a name that stuck, as we still embody the name Methodist today. So a name that was originally a name of ridicule, based on a very meticulous and methodical group Christians, is still the name that we carry even today. In fact, recently my church secretary at the Freeville UMC told me, “Pastor, you are very meticulous with paperwork and just about everything.” I then said, to my Presbyterian secretary, “Well, that is because I am a Methodist!”

          Our founders in the Methodist movement in America were circuit riders. People who got on horseback and rode far and wide to get the Gospel of Christ to all the people they could. In fact, did you know that in 1850, about 34% of Americans were members of the Methodist Church? We were at one time, the biggest denomination in these United States. One farmer famous even said on a rainy day around this time, as he lamented that he couldn’t work outside that day, that “there is nothing out today but crows and Methodist preachers.”

          You see we have a rich heritage my brothers and sisters, and I think that our Methodist Church and all of our sister church denominations can be strong and re-vitalized again as they once were. In doing this though, the pastors must love there people and be dedicated to them and God in all that they do, and we must look to the past. We must, as I said last Sunday, look to the “Democracy of the Dead” or the saints of the past, I we are to look forward to the future.

          Yet with these two realities of reclaiming the very grassroots our Methodist identity, we must look to the most vital part of our movement. Of course the most vital part is Jesus Christ and our faith, but this has always been carried out through the “Corpus Christi.” I don’t know if anyone has ever visited the City of Corpus Christi in Southern Texas, but up until a few years ago, I had no idea what “Corpus Christ” even meant. Does anyone here, have any idea, without looking at my full sermon title of course, what “Corpus Christi” means?

When I first learned of this, I was told that “Corpus Christi” is actually Latin, and that it translates to the “Body of Christ,” I then thought how awesome it must be tell someone that you live in the City of the Body of Christ. Short of the fact that is just an amazing name for a city, what is the significance of this to us to our heritage, of which I speak of this morning?

The significance is this, is that the Corpus, the body of the Living Christ, is you, and is me. The beating heart of our Churches, of our Methodist movement, has always rested not in the preacher at the pulpit, but in the people of God in the pews. For early on in Methodism, we were criticized as letting all manner of people into Corpus or the body. We let in the poorest of the poor, and the rejected of the rejected.

          We formed societies, small groups, and we were a family. We gathered often for church dinners, which I am a fan of by the way. At some point in the future, I seek again to have us gather in small groups for prayer, for fellowship, perhaps in our homes, or perhaps here with some college students. You see as the Bible says, “Iron sharpens Iron,” and therefore we must constantly seek opportunities to be with each other. We must try our best to be with the Corpus Christi. Whether it be a dinner, a prayer meeting, a Bible study, or a movie night, let us gather together often, and with love.

          I have another quick story from Dr. Livermore’s seminary class. Here is the story, I remember one night in class the old Reverend said something that utterly startled me. All of the sudden, Dr. Livermore said, “Now I went to tell you class what Billy Graham did wrong during the evangelical revival of 1980’s.” I then immediately turned to my friend Brad and said, “Well this guy is getting fired.” Brad was equally as shocked, and other than being a Detroit Lions fans, he is a good man. Then though, here is what Dr. Livermore said, “Billy Graham was so focused on conversion to faith in Jesus Christ that even he himself has admitted that he didn’t focus enough on discipleship.” You see our movement, Methodism at its core is about faith in Christ, and this faith is lived out through discipleship in the Corpus Christi. We do not just gather on Sunday mornings, because we are supposed to, we were once a massive denomination, because we provided a sense of love, community, and belonging that people thirsted for. I guarantee you brothers and sisters, that we have students near here, who thirst to be part of the Corpus, whether they know it or not. Let us offer them loving refuge in a world that may reject them, and a world that knows Him not.

          In reflecting upon this little story from Dr. Livermore in my seminary class though, I chatted with an older man about a year later, and I invited him to church. He then said, “Paul, I am believer, so I don’t need to go to church!” You see I have meet dozens and dozens of people who can’t remember there anniversary or what they for breakfast, but they can remember as sure as the day is long, the year, the day, and sometimes even the very time that they accepted Jesus. They then might say, “Wherever two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus, we are in church.” I then said joking to one of these folks, “You mean to tell me that sitting in your recliner on Sunday morning, watching an old episode of “Billy Graham’s Crusade for Christ,” with an old white undershirt on that looks likes Swiss Cheese, with your next door neighbor, this is going church?” The person just said, “Yes, this is church.”

Yet in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus or the Ephesians in chapter 4:1-6, “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling,  one Lord, one faith, one baptism,  one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.”

 I then said to this same Sunday morning recliner church goer, “if you had a family reunion this Sunday, and all of your brothers and sisters and family members were present, would you go to it?” He then said, “Well of course I would?” I then responded by saying, “Then why when your family gathers every Sunday morning in church, do you not gather with them?”

You see all of us are part of the body of Jesus Christ. We have all been gifted differently. Due to this, we need to be part of the Corpus Christi or the body of Christ. We need to do this not just because it is good to attend church, but because your gifts and graces are needed. Like Josie the monkey, if we do not have you in the Corpus, we are deficient. Without what you have, we are weaker, and without you part of the Corpus or body is missing. While the head of the body, Jesus Christ, is always present, what are we missing here this morning? Perhaps we are missing a finger, a foot, and ear, and elbow, and etc. You see, while some are determined on Sunday mornings and attend the “Bedside Baptist Church” in their bedrooms, you know the church that is pastored by “Reverend Sheets,” they are not with their family. They are not in church and the body is not complete.

So if we stay home on Sunday morning, do we believe? The answer is sure we can believe, but why stop at merely having a “Fire insurance policy?” Because if you went a Billy Graham rally (who is one of my biggest ministry heroes by the way), and you came to Christ and then stayed home on Sunday, then well what good is that? What good is it to join the family, and then never see the family? You see as your pastor, I don’t just come here on Sunday morning to worship and give a sermon. I come to be with my people, my family, those in who I love and trust. This is why I was hesitant to leave my last churches so suddenly, as we were a family.

In Paul’s first letter of epistle to his young friend Timothy, that we read from this morning, he said, “First of all then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable like in all godliness and dignity.” For when we are connected to the Body of the Living Christ, we have more peace, more godliness, and more dignity. Like a hot coal removed from a fire, we soon grow dark and cold, when are separated from the Corpus Christi. The Apostle Paul then goes on to tell Timothy that Jesus Christ desires for all of us to be saved, and that Christ died for all people. Not just some, but for everyone. Meaning everyone out there in the world is a child of God, and that they have a place in here, in the Corpus Christi. All are welcomed, as this is the life boat, in world that is dark and is sinking.

In the Gospel of Luke reading from this morning, Jesus tells the parable about a “Rich man’s manager,” and how the rich man was generous to this manager who had mismanaged the rich man’s property. For the manager had allowed the rich man’s resources to be squandered. The manager then called in the debtors who owed his master. The first one owed “A hundred jugs of olive oil,” to the rich man. Yet the manager then said make it fifty-jugs. The next man in debt then said, but I also owe “one-hundred containers of wheat,” and the manager then said, “make it eighty.” This gospel reading concluded by Jesus saying, “Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much.” Jesus then says, “If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust you the true riches?” Jesus teaches us in this gospel that we cannot server two different masters. For either we are just for ourselves and our own wealth and possessions, or we live among the family, the Corpus Christi. Sometimes we forgive our debtors, and make exceptions, as were at the Corpus Christi, and we all supposed to be loving and looking out for each other. And after all, as Billy Graham famously once said, “I have never seen a hearse, with a U-Haul attached behind it.”

I would like to close this morning with a short story.  This story is called, “Why don’t you try going to church?” Here is how it goes, “I often advise people to go to church for pragmatic rather than spiritual reasons. My own return to church after a nearly twenty-year absence was because I was worried about my children. I felt that the older ones were beginning to go off in the wrong direction. When I looked at successful parents, I realized most of them were regular church goers.  Because I wanted to do my parenting job a little better, I started attending church every Sunday morning and every Sunday evening.  Only six weeks or so later, the Holy Spirit moved me.  I had been baptized long before, but I went forward to the altar and re-affirmed my faith. Before the year was out, my husband also accepted Christ and some years later I saw the youngest of my children baptized into the Lord.”

“I have no feelings of guilt whatever when I urge someone to come to church just to get a handle on how church people live—what they do to keep their bills paid even on low incomes and how they raise good children.   It may not seem as if I’m trying to save souls, but I know if I get someone into the church, God will take care of the rest.”

My brothers and sisters, we are the Corpus Christi, we are the body of the living Christ. All of you are of sacred worth, and all of you have so much to offer Jesus and his kingdom. So given this then, I charge all of you here this morning with this, invite someone here for church next Sunday. Tell them that you have a loving family here, that we look out for each other, that take care of people, that your pastor loves the family, and that even our parishioners who cannot make it here on Sunday Morning, are still loved and visited. Tell them that in a world of darkness and uncertainty, that they a have a place and purpose in the light of Christ, in this place. For we serve a Lord that conquered every temptation, every evil, and even death. We serve a Lord that breaks every chain that binds us, sews up every wound that afflicts us, and who can take your life and make it new and beautiful.

So on this morning if you don’t know him, and if you are tired, weary, and heavy laden, I urge you, to pray and call out to Lord Jesus, and he will give you rest. For “his burden is light, and his yoke is easy.” I bring this message to you, the Corpus Christ, the body of the living Christ, in his name who makes all things new. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC - Sunday - 09/15/13 Sermon - “The Democracy of the Dead: Listening to the Saints who went before us” (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 2 of 5)

Sunday 09/15/12 FUMC/HAUMC UMC’s

Sermon Title: “The Democracy of the Dead: Listening to the Saints who went before us”

     (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 2 of 5)

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Jeremiah 4:11-12, 22-28                  

                            

New Testament Scripture Lesson: 1 Timothy 1-12-17

Gospel Lesson: Luke 15:1-10                  

          Good morning my brothers and sisters, and greetings in the name of Risen Christ, on this seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. Pentecost that holiday so long ago that tongues of fired descended upon the Apostles, and they were will filled with the Spirit. This indwelling of the Holy Spirit, then gave the early Christians the courage and the authority to go forth and preach the gospel far and wide. So far and so wide in fact, that Christianity is the world’s largest religion today, with about 2.2 billion believers. Starting originally with our savior Jesus Christ, 12-Apostles and some others, we have grown to be the world’s biggest faith. In fact, the Christian faith comprises about one-third of the world’s population.

          Given this then, how could this have happened? Why would the early Christians in the Roman Empire be willing to die for their faith in Christ? Are we to believe that all Christians over the past 2,000 years of Christendom have been just fakers?

          If some people were willing to risk life and limb to get the gospel of Jesus Christ to people, then it must be true, must it not? How else can you explain this beautiful church, all of the beautiful churches in this country and the world? To me, this is the reality of the grace and the truth found in Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul said in first letter or epistle to Timothy from this morning’s reading, he said “I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he has judged me faithful and appointed me to his service.” You see these words were originally penned almost 2,000 years ago, and yet we still read and believe these words today. The Apostle Paul then ended this letter to his young friend Timothy by saying, “To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

          My brothers and sisters, as I am speaking, I would ask that now in this very moment and in this place that you all look around this church for a minute. As you’re doing so, do you notice the stained glass windows? Do you notice all of the beauty of this church? You might notice the names on the stained glass windows, or the metal placards that are all over this church, that commemorate a saint or saints that have gone before us. That at one point, the people of God, saw fit to come together on this holy ground and build this beautiful church. Yet I wonder though, who were those people? Who were the people that invested the time, the money, and the energy to build this beautiful church? Perhaps some of them are listed on the stained glass windows? Perhaps some of them are on some of the metal placards throughout the church? Perhaps some of them are your grand-parents, your great grand-parents, and so on and so forth? Who were these people, and what were they like? What were there faiths like? Did they pray often?

          When I originally gave a sermon similar to this over a year ago, I wondered what it would be like, if would we could, just for full day, bring all these saints I speak of back from this church and all churches straight from heaven, just for one day? What would these saints have to say to us? What would they teach us about our faith? What would this “Democracy of the Dead” have to say about our church, our community, and our country? What if our Methodist founder John Wesley were come in on this same day?

          When I started here at this church, a whopping week ago now I will have you know, I was told “Pastor Paul you feel free to change around the bulletin.” After church last Sunday though, somebody very lovingly brought to my attention, “You know Pastor Paul, I don’t know if you knew this or not, but we always do this or that in every church service.” This person then said, “But pastor, this is your church, and we can change that if you want.”

You might have noticed, that in the bulletin this morning that I have tried to add back all of your worship traditions. Why have I done this? I have done this, because our traditions matter and what we believe is timeless. As your pastor, it is not my role to come in and turn all that you know to be true on its head. Rather, I come to love you, uphold our scared traditions, and uphold your sacred individual churches’ sacred traditions, once I learn them of course.

          You see my brothers and sisters, while the world around us is changing, and changing to what we don’t know, the Kingdom of Jesus Christ remains steadfast. One day in fact, this church and all manner of things in this city will be gone, yet the Kingdom of God will remain.

          When looking at our gospel reading from the gospel according to Luke from this morning, the scribes and Pharisees are ridiculing Jesus because as they said, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Jesus then told the parable of the lost sheep, and that if there are 100-sheep and one is missing, you go after that sheep. Jesus than said, “Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. Jesus then said that if a woman has ten coins, yet loses one, she will look to find it. When she does, she will call her friends and neighbors together and rejoice. Jesus concludes this gospel reading by saying, “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

I remember when I was a first year seminary student in Rochester, a whopping 3-years ago! Yes folks they had schools way back then. Of course we had to walk 5-miles though, up-hill both ways, and in the snow, but we had a school. I remember that it was my second semester at the seminary and the good Reverend Paul Livermore was teaching our class that semester. Dr. and also Reverend Livermore has been and ordained Methodist minister for well over 40-years, and has been a seminary professor nearly as long. He always had a dry yet pleasant sense of humor, and I always seemed to give him a run for his money. In fact, in being an even younger snot nosed kid at that time than I am now, sometimes I wanted to stump the good Dr. The good reverend. Yet it would blow up in my face every time. You see while I believed in the Holy Trinity, of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit, I didn’t understand it that well. So I raised my hand in class one night and said Dr. Livermore, “I don’t understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity in modern day world I am living in. Can you explain it me?” Now bear in mind, that the belief in the Trinity is many centuries old. Well about 3-minutes later I had heard enough 50-cents words that if I had sold them, I could have bought a new car. I might have also gone crossed eyed, but I can’t remember.

I then looked at the good professor and said, “Dr. Livermore, thank you for that explanation, but it still doesn’t make any sense to me” I said with a smart grin on my face. He then did as he always did, said something brilliant that stopped me dead in my tracks. He responded by rattling off a list of famous Christians. What I am about to read is but a few of names he stated, when he said, “You know Paul, if Saint Augustine believed it, if Saint Francis of Assisi believed it, If Saint Thomas Aquinas believed it, if Martin Luther believed it, if John Wesley believed it, if John Calvin believed it, if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed it, if Mother Theresa believed it, if C.S. Lewis believed, and if Bill Graham and Dr. David Jeremiah believe it sill, then guess what Paul, then it’s probably true!” Wow! Well that did it for me!

          You see what Dr. Livermore was teaching me was that our sacred faith hasn’t changed, but that our society and our world have changed. It is our duty then, to preach the gospel in a new and fresh way that speaks to young people, but that at the same time honors our traditions, and upholds what we he have believed for centuries.

My brothers and sisters, as I often do, I would like close this morning with a true story. This story is called, “The Storm.” Here is how it goes, “After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the church's pastor slowly stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service.

With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak. This is what he said, "A father, his son, and a friend of his son were sailing off the Pacific coast," he began, "when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to the shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized."

“The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with the two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story, "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy would he throw the other end of the life line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of the waves. As the father yelled out, “I love you son!,” he threw out the life line to his son's friend."

"By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of the night. His body was never recovered."

“By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister's mouth.” "The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the son's friend. How great is the love of God that he should do the same for us. Our heavenly Father sacrificed his only begotten son that we could be saved. I urge you to accept his offer to rescue you and take a hold of the life line he is throwing out to you in this service." With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room.”

“The pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side.

"That was a nice story," politely stated one of the boys, "but I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian."

"Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, he once again looked up at the boys and said, "It sure isn't very realistic, is it? But I'm standing here today to tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up his son for me. You see - I was that father and your pastor is my son's friend."

Brothers and sisters, tradition, our faith, the sacrifices born by so many matter, and they matter very much. Our faith is not dead, it is very much alive and well, and Jesus is very much still of the throne of grace. So let us this week take a moment in this church, in our homes, or in our hearts, to remember “The Democracy of the dead,” those saints who went before us. In the name of the one whom are ancestors have worshipped for centuries, Jesus the risen and the sovereign Christ. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Ave. UMC - Sunday - 09/08/13 Sermon - “Because I love you and God this much” (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 1 of 5)

Sunday 09/08/12 FUMC/HAUMC

Sermon Title: “Because I love you and God this much”

     (Reclaiming our Wesleyan Heritage Series, Part 1 of 5)

Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Psalm 139:1-6, 13-18

New Testament Scripture Lesson: Philemon 1-21           

Gospel Lesson: Luke 14:25-33

          Good morning brothers and sisters! I greet you in the name of our risen Lord and savior Jesus Christ! Let me start by saying what an honor and a privilege it is for my beautiful wife Melissa and I to be worshipping with you here today in this house of the Lord. I want to especially take a moment to thank all of those who greeted us, and for all those who helped to prepare the parsonage for Melissa and I, and our very Pentecostal dog, Mylee. You all have been resources for me when I had questions or needed information, you have showed us continued kindness, love, and feed us more than perhaps we have ever eaten, but after all, we are Methodists right.

While we have not been in Freeville very long, we already have a piece of our heart here. While we just left two loving congregations in the Adirondack District of our United Methodist Conference, and while we have left a piece of our heart there, we now as I said, have some of our heart here. In the same way that the Apostle Paul wrote in his letters to the Romans, the Galatians, the Corinthians, and etc., he would often tell his people that he missed them. That he longed to be with them, but that God had called him elsewhere. On this morning, while Melissa and have left our version of the Galatians in Adirondacks, we now come to a new book in our journey. We come to serve the Freevillians and Homer Aveians. While the heart laments and grieves the loss of leaving, God has much to show us, and much to do in these churches. For God is not done with us, and Jesus Christ is still securely on the throne.

While Melissa and I had a thriving ministry in the two churches that I pastored in the Adirondacks, and while God blessed both of these churches with remarkable growth, with kids going to camp for the first time in a decade, baptisms, and much fuller pews, our dear Bishop Marcus Webb asked Melissa and I to come back to the Finger Lakes. While I was originally asked to begin here on July 1^st, I would have had to have given the two churches that I was serving less than 2-weeks’ notice of this move. You see this would have devastated my people, so I asked to stay longer, to ensure that those two little country churches continued to grow, and continued to be loved and upheld.

Melissa and I hope to be here with you our new brothers and sisters for many years to come, and after moving from the Adirondacks and then moving from our house in Moravia, I really mean this many years to come thing! This I will tell you though, if the day ever came where I would have to be moved in less than 2-weeks’ time, I would do everything possible to stay at these churches we are serving longer to transition, because my brothers and sisters, “I love you and I love God this much.”

I am here like any pastor then, to order the life of the church, administer the sacraments, and to preach the Gospel, but in addition to all of this, I am here to love you. Brothers and sisters I have been in churches in my short life where I did not feel like that pastor loved me. What I want you to know about me here today though is that I love you, I love your children, and even after hearing that some of you are Buffalo Bills fans, I guess I still love you. As you folks really needed to be loved! What I want you to know, what I want you to believe, is that when you put your heads on your pillows at night that you know how much your pastor loves you. That he prays for you, that he had been praying for you for weeks, and that you are a precious child of Almighty God, and that God doesn’t make any junk. If nothing else in the time that my beautiful wife and I are here, I hope that you can say “that kid loved us. He might have had several corny jokes, he might have had a haircut that looked like Dennis the Menace, and he might have put his foot in his mouth so much that you would think that the pastor eats Nike’s for lunch, but oh how he loved us. Oh how he treasured us, oh how he treasured our children, and oh how he served us and the community.” Brothers and sisters, I humbly and with great love for Jesus Christ come to you, “Because I love you and God this much!”      

Since this is an introductory sermon, I will give a testimony about myself in the coming weeks, but this morning I wanted to bring you this message, and this is why. About a month before I started my first pastoral appointment back in July, 2012, I was on the phone with my dear friend and then District Superintendent Pastor Bill Mudge. As some of you maybe have already figured out, I was chatting the good Reverend’s ear off. Suddenly during my endless chatter, Pastor Bill said, “Oh and hey Paul have you thought about what your first sermon will be?” No sooner than I begin to start to tell him ideas of what I was going to preach on, I heard that chirp noise of an incoming call. I then said, “Pastor Bill, is someone trying to call you?” He then said, “Yes, the head of the trustees of one of my churches, along with some of the other members of the church, who are quite unhappy with their present pastor.” I than said, “Oh I am sorry to hear this.” Pastor Bill than said, “Yeah, you know the funny thing is, is that I pastored at that church about 30-years ago, when I was just getting started in ministry, and I know the head of the Trustees there and many others well. I then said, “well would you like me to let you go, so that you can call that head of that church Trustees back.” He then said, “No that is ok, I will call her back when were done chatting here.”

Then he said something that change my entire focus for doing ministry. He said, “You know Paul, the interesting thing is, I told the woman that was the head of the trustees, when I was young pastor there about 30-years ago, that I said and did much worse things that what you are describing from this new pastor.” Pastor Bill then said this, “The head of the Church Trustees Committee then paused for a few seconds on the other end of the phone, and then said, but you loved us, so we forgave you Bill.” Then the good Pastor Bill and I hung up. I then had the first sermon that I will preach for the rest of my life, at every pulpit, on every first Sunday. That I come here, “because I love you and I love God this much.”

Yet within all of this, we have many challenges in front of us don’t we. We have church budgets, buildings that constantly need upkeep, and some churches seem to continue to be shrinking. Yet Melissa and I just came from two amazing churches that are alive and well! A church where two years ago the people were worshipping in the basement of the church, because they couldn’t afford the heat. That the old furnace from the 1950’s, that looked and sounded like the monster under the stairs in the Adam’s Family TV show, has just a few weeks ago been replaced with an entire new furnace system. That the attic of that church now has blown in insulation, and on my last Sunday, last week, I told these churches, “I leave you with the knowledge of knowing that never again will you worship in the basement.” I then said, “and remember that this is your church, and while my wife and I have been immeasurably blessed to serve here, this is your church. This church is part of this community. Many of you were baptized and married in this church. Many of you came to know Jesus Christ in this place. Many of you raised you children in this church.” Then I said, “This house prayer, this house of Jesus Christ, and this is your church. It belongs first to God, but second to the people of this community. Let us reclaim in the Wesleyan traditions, our roots, our communities, and our churches. For our founder John Wesley loved the people so much, and his churches grew as a result of this.

While I do normally very much preach about the scriptures and the Gospel lesson that we read on Sunday morning, I have chosen to eat up a lot of this first sermon, with this message of greetings. However, the Gospel according to Saint Luke reading from 14:25-33 from this morning, concludes with Christ saying, “So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.” You see in the Gospel reading from this morning Jesus is talking about the “Cost of Discipleship.” That when we chose to follow Christ, we give up much, but that we gain so much more than we will can ever imagine. So when we feed people at our food pantry, when we give clothes to people who need them at this church, we are saying to all people, “we do this, because we love you and Jesus Christ this much.”

          I want to close this message with a story. This is a story about a rich father, who lived in Pennsylvania around the time of World War II. The father had a wife, but she passed away, leaving him with just his one beloved son. The father being so wealthy did have a butler, but the father still loved his son more than anything. The father wasn’t shocked when his son announced his intention to enlist in the army and fight in World War II. Reluctantly, the father sent his son to fight. While away his son excelled in the army. He was a leader, but mostly was a servant to his fellow soldiers. He was also the first to volunteer, and loved his brothers in arms so much, that one day he dove on top of a hand grenade that suddenly flew into the vicinity that his military unit was in. Realizing that there was enough time to throw the grenade back at the enemy, he dove on the grenade and sacrificed himself so that everyone else may live. The war then ended a few months later. The father in Pennsylvania as you can imagine was in mourning, as he had heard the news shortly after his son had died. In the late fall of that same year, one day the father had a knock at his door, and it was one of the son’s best military friends. He told the father that the son was the bravest soldier that had ever seen, and that he sacrificed himself for everyone else. Fancying himself an artist, one night of low military activity this soldier drew a grease pencil picture of the son, and wanted to make sure that the father had it.

          The father once again being immensely wealthy took one of his multi-million dollar Pablo Picasso paintings off his wall above his mantle, and then framed and put the drawing of his son up. It wasn’t much to look at, but it really did look like his son, and he was pleased with it. That winter, the father completely grief stricken by the loss of his son, died. His last will and testament called that all of his possessions and belongings be auctioned off, and that the money be donated to various charitable causes. The father also requested a man in his will that he knew who was an auctioneer to oversee this auction. The auctioneer was given some special instructions that no one else had. Allowing a couple of weeks before the auction, wealthy and prominent people for all corners of the globe came to this auction to buy up the expensive art work and the riches of the father. The auction then began, and the first item to be auctioned, as per the will, was the grease pencil picture of the father’s son. Everyone in attendance seemed frustrated as no one wanted this cheap grease pencil drawing of the son. The butler, who was still working for the father’s estate through the end this auction, assured everyone that after this piece of art sold the real riches would come. So the bidding be began, $500 dollars… nothing, $300 dollars… nothing, $100 dollars nothing. The auctioneer also having had know the son seemed frustrated that no one would buy the picture of the son. The auctioneer then said will no one bid on this drawing? The bidders of the auction seemed determined to have the item tabled, skipped, and not auctioned. Just before this happened though, the father’s butler said, “excuse me auctioneer, I know I am not part of this auction, but I did really love the father and I loved his son.” If it is ok with the rest of the folks who are here to buy the father’s riches, I was wondering if I might bid on the drawing of the son? The group quickly agreed, and the butler bid $20 dollars.  The auctioneer than did his normal routine of “going once, going twice, sold!” Upon say sold and hitting his gavel, the auctioneer then suddenly and unexpectedly said, “well thank you for coming folks, this concludes our auction.” The wealthy bidders from far and wide were furious and said, “But we haven’t even gotten to the real riches yet.” The auctioneer then said the special instructions I had from the father’s will were very clear. He said it says here who ever receives my son, gets everything. You see brothers and sisters when we receive the son; we get all of the riches of the father.

          My dear brothers and sisters, I come to you, “because I love you and God this much.” I am so excited to be serving with you, and let us all dream big dreams together. For we are the Children of Resurrection and we stand to inherit the greatest Kingdom of all time. Let us see together what the Risen Christ has in store not only this town, but for this whole area. I bring this message to you in the name of Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Praise God and amen.