Sunday 11/17/13 Freeville/Homer Ave
UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Endurance in these times”
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Isaiah 12
New Testament Scripture Lesson: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13
Gospel Lesson: Luke 21:5-19
Good morning again
my brothers and sisters and greetings in the name of the risen Christ, on this
the twenty-sixth Sunday after Pentecost. That day that occurred so long ago
that the Holy Spirit moved, and the Christian Church was born.
Since this day
of the feast of Pentecost almost 2,000 years ago, the Christian Church has been
through many ups and downs. Early in our history, we were persecuted by the
Roman Empire. Christians were slaughtered, fed to lions, and imprisoned. Time likes
this were truly times of great endurance.
During other
times in our history, we were greatly persecuted as well, and for some in the
present day, they feel as if the Christian identity that once defined our
country and our communities has eroded. That the values and the beliefs that we
once held near and dear to us have begun dissolving in a world of doing whatever
makes you feel good. That to serve “the other” being anyone in need, is all
well in good, as long as it doesn’t inconvenience you.
Every week for
the one seminary class that I have left for this semester, I have to write a
journal entry. In fact, this week I wrote in my journal that I am really
starting to understand what a calling to pastoral ministry really is. As in,
what does it mean to be a pastor? More
specifically, what does it mean to be a pastor in times that are as uncertain as
the present times?
Here is what
it means I think. Like the prophets of old, like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah,
to name just a few, pastors are called to challenge people to live holy. We are
called by God to call people to holiness. I can’t imagine what this country
would be like if during all of the tumultuous times in our history, if we didn’t
have people called by God, to call people to holiness. That in this era of such
individualism and self-oriented living, that we are still called to call people
to holiness. That we all must serve,
love, and call people to live for each other, and to be holy.
For if we don’t
have people today in the here and now calling people to be holy, and then who
will do it? What will push back against this fallen world? What light in a dark
place will there be, if not us? Or are we doomed to walk in darkness, which
will only get darker and darker?
Be of good cheer
my brothers and sisters, for we have cause to have “Endurance in these times.”
We have reason to believe that the promises of Jesus Christ and the gospel will
prevail. For in Mathew 16:15-18 Jesus said, “He said to them, “But who do you say that
I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the
living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you,
Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my
Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”
My brothers
and sisters, when Jesus spoke these words to the Apostle Peter so long ago, he
meant it. That the church of Jesus Christ will be here, until the day that
Jesus returns. For if this was not true, how could we have gotten this far, and
how could we have built these churches.
You see this
is what I know, no matter what happens to the church now or in the future, God
will call men and women. God will raise up people in service, who are willing to
sacrifice everything, to pick up the cross and call people to follow Jesus
Christ. As I heard Rev. Billy Graham say last week though, the cross of Jesus
Christ is offensive. The cross calls us to repentance, to holiness, and to
realize that we need revival in this land that we need healing in the country,
and to do this, we need to turn to Jesus Christ.
We endure then
in these times we are living in, as Dr. Billy Graham said, by the way of the
cross. That through turning from darkness and through seeking holiness, we can endure
to largest of storms.
Yet our faith
is not just an individual faith. No, our faith is lived out communally, as we
are family knitted together by the grace and the love of almighty God. We
endure not just through calling out to God as individuals, but by lifting
people up as a community. We see a world that is very much in pain and in
darkness, and we say, we will endure, we will overcome. We look not only to God
for comfort, but we look to each other, in which the spirit of God lives, to
bind us together.
What will make
the church strong in the future then? What will grow the church in the future?
I believe that just having a personal faith in Jesus Christ, will not be enough
in the future. What will grow the church is that it will be an extended family.
That outside of this community, you might experience pain, suffering, and judgment,
but in the family of Jesus Christ, you find love, acceptance, faith, and hope.
This my brothers is how we endure in these times. We endure together. When one
of us falls, we pick them up. When one of us is suffering, we go to them and
help. For we are the living and breathing body of Jesus Christ here on earth,
and we will continue seeking peace, love, joy, and togetherness, and Jesus has
promised us that he will honor this, in our church.
So let us not
seek to endure in these tumultuous times in which we living alone, but instead
let us endure together. Let us live as a family, and allow people to see this,
and in doing so, they will seek to join our family, as we always have room for
all people. This is the church that Jesus spoke of. This is to truly love one’s
neighbor, and this is the gospel. Not only to accept and believe in Jesus
Christ, but live out our faith, with love and peace, as a community, as a group
of believers who seek to transform the world for Jesus Christ.
Last night, my
friend Allan and his son Ethan and I went to a powerful Christian worship
service in Rochester, NY. At this service, the very popular Christian rock
band, “Rend Collective Experiment” performed. This band came all the way from
Belfast, Ireland. In one of their songs that they played called, “Build your
kingdom here,” the lyrics say, “Build your kingdom here. Let the darkness fear.
Show Your mighty hand. Heal our streets and land. Set Your church on fire. Win
this nation back. Change the atmosphere. Build Your kingdom here. We pray.”
I pray all the
time my brothers and sisters for revival in this land, and I believe that
revival is coming. Remember that God will call witnesses, like the prophets of
old. He will call people and raise them up, to call people to holiness. He has
been doing this for hundreds and hundreds of years.
In the
scripture reading this morning from the prophet Isaiah, it said about having
faith in God, “I will trust, and will not be afraid, for the Lord God is my
strength and my might; he has become my salvation. With joy you will draw from
the wells of Salvation.” This salvation that the prophet Isaiah speaks of was fulfilled
in Jesus Christ, who is alive and well.
In the Apostle
Paul’s second letter to church in Thessalonica, or the Thessalonians, he tells
them, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone
unwilling to work should not eat.” The Apostle Paul then goes on to tell the
Church in Thessalonica, “For we hear that some of you are living in idleness,
mere busybodies, not doing any work. Now such persons we command and exhort in the
Lord Jesus Christ do their work quietly and earn their own living. Brothers and
sisters do not be weary in doing what is right.”
So as the
Apostle Paul said the church in Thessalonica so many years ago and in this
letter, and Jesus still says to us today, “endure in these times.” Do not
become mere “business bodies,” do not become “idle,” but be alert, be aware,
that the kingdom of Jesus Christ is alive and well, and realize that we still can
draw strength from the spirit, and from each other.
In the gospel
reading from the gospel of Luke from this morning, Jesus was talking about how
the beautiful temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. He said, “As for these
things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon
another; all will be thrown down.” The
gospel the said, “They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be
the sign that this is about take place?”
Then Jesus
said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and
say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!” Do not go after them. “When you hear
of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take
place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” Then he said to them, “Nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great
earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be
dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.”
Jesus then
said, “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you: they
will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before
kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to
testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I
will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to
withstand or contradict.”
Jesus
concludes by saying, “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by
relatives and friends; and the will put some of you to death. You will be hated
by all because of my name. But not a hair on your head will perish. By your
endurance you will gain your souls.”
Jesus said, “By
your endurance you will gain your souls.” Brothers and sisters, last week and
for years, Dr. Billy Graham has said that non-believers rally against the cross
of Jesus Christ. They are offended by it. Yet by the cross we are freed. Let us
continue to love and cherish all people, as this is how we push back against
the darkness of this world.
I would like close this morning with a
story. This story is called, “The Bridge Keeper.” Here is how it goes: “There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During
most of the day the bridge sat with its length running up and down the river
paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass thru freely on both sides of
the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come along and the
bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it.”
“A switchman sat in a
small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the
bridge and lock it into place as the train crossed. One evening as the
switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come; he looked off into
the distance thru the dimming twilight and caught sight of the train lights. He
stepped to the control and waited until the train was within a prescribed
distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into position,
but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge
was not securely in position it would wobble back and forth at the ends when
the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go crashing
into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He
left the bridge turned across the river, and hurried across the bridge to the
other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate
the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train
crossed. He could hear the rumble of the train now, and he took hold of the
lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He
kept applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on
this man’s strength.”
“Then, coming across the
bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his
blood run cold. “Daddy, where are you?” His four-year-old son was crossing the
bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry out to the child, “Run!
Run!” But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the
bridge in time. The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and
carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get back to the lever.
Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to
make his decision.”
“The train sped safely
and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken
body thrown mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they
aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still clinging tightly to the
locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking
home more slowly than he had ever walked: to tell his wife how their son had
brutally died.”
“Now if you comprehend
the emotions which went this man’s heart, you can begin to understand the
feelings of our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap
between us and eternal life. Can there be any wonder that He caused the earth
to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died? How does He feel when we
speed along thru life without giving a thought to what was done for us thru Jesus
Christ?”
Brothers and sisters, we are called to have “Endurance
in these times.” Jesus calls us to love,
heal, and obey. Let us change the world for Him. Amen.
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