Sunday 02/23/14 Freeville/Homer Ave
UMC’s
Sermon Title: “Love each other, and strive for perfection”
(The things that Jesus
taught us series, Part 4 of 5)
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18
New Testament Scripture Lesson: 1 Corinthians 3:10-11,
16-23
Gospel Lesson: Mathew 5:38-48
Brothers and
sisters, welcome on this, the Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany. As you might
have heard me say during the past few weeks, we now find ourselves in that place
in our church calendar after the Three Wise Men visited the baby Jesus in the
manger so long ago, to the day where Jesus was on a mountain and was changed or
transfigured in front of some of the apostles. This Transfiguration Sunday will
be next Sunday.
During these
weeks leading up to and including next Sunday though, we have some really great
gospel readings that have been given to us. These gospel readings are on the
various things that Jesus did and the various things that Jesus taught us.
These things in this the five-week
series that I am doing, are the things that Jesus taught us. For example Jesus
taught us, “Who is truly blessed,” as the lowly, downtrodden, and the rejected
are loved by God, if they but cry out to Him. That Jesus calls teaches us to be
pure and simple like salt, and to show the world His love like a bright light
to a dark world. So we are to be pure and bright. Last Sunday, we learned that
we need to “Try to be Holy,” even though we will fall and fail sometimes. We
realize that we are all broken, and that Jesus will continue to heal us and
perfect us, if we let him. We realize that Jesus is in us, and that He works
through us, as we love and serve others.
This morning though Jesus teaches us
to “Love each other, and strive for perfection.” So let us be thinking about this
morning, a couple of specific ways that we can pursue holiness. One of the ways
that we can pursue holiness and that we can be made more in the image of God,
is to love all people. Saint Francis of Assisi said, “Preach the gospel, and
when necessary, use words.” When we bring people into this church through
programs, church services, and activities, can we love them more? Sure we can.
In doing so, we also help to make disciples of Jesus Christ.
In our reading this morning from the
Old Testament book of Leviticus, we have a scripture in which “The LORD spoke
to Moses.” In this exchange from God to Moses, God told Moses, “Speak to all
the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy,
for I the LORD your God am holy….” While God tells us to be holy, many of us
know that trying to do this all the time can be very hard. That getting to the
level of perfection of God, is something that we feel like that we are far
from. Can we though, become more like God? I think that in the Old Testament
times, that many people would hear scriptures like this and say, “I will try to
be Holy, but I will likely fail at it.”
In this scripture, God then tells
Moses different things that the people can do to be more holy. One is to leave
some food in the fields for the “poor and the alien.” Others ways are that
people are not supposed to steal, or “deal falsely” with each other, or “lie to
one another.” God then continues to tell Moses many things that people should
do, such as, “You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin,” and then
tells Moses, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
So amidst the many things that God is
telling Moses in this scripture from Leviticus, he is telling Moses to tell the
people, “you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” In this way my brothers and
sisters, we can become more holy within, but we can also become more holy by
what we do outside of ourselves. Acts of love and holiness in and of themselves
do not get us to heaven, or do not necessarily make us holy, but in doing them,
we open ourselves up to God’s grace. We love and serve others, not to get more
points on God’s score card in heaven, but because we are blessed and filled by
God in serving and loving others. When we love others and strive to be
perfectly like Christ, we become more holy, because we bless each other, and
God blesses us. We then, “Preach the gospel, and when necessary, use words.”
When looking at the reading from the
Apostle Paul’s first Epistle or letter to the church in Corinth from this
morning, Paul taught the church in Corinth about Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul
then said, “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been
laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ…”
The Apostle Paul further tells us,
then we are “God’s temple,” and that “God’s Spirit” dwells in us. Paul says
further, “For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.” Paul then warns
the church in Corinth to not be “Wise” by the standards of the world, as the
false pursuits of the world are “foolishness with God.”
Then the Apostle Paul said, “So let
no one boast about human leaders,” and that we all “belong to Christ, and
Christ belongs to God.”
Our gospel reading for this morning has
a bit of history to it. The specific history I speak on is the “Code of
Hammurabi.” King Hammurabi was a Babylonian King that ruled about 1,700 year
before Jesus was ever born. Hammurabi made the famed “Hammurabi’s Code” or “Code
of Hammurabi,” that said, “An eye for an eye,” a “tooth for a tooth,” and etc.,
and etc. This was a system of law that much of the ancient world was very acquainted
to.
Yet in the gospel reading from this
morning, Jesus says, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth,’ quoting King Hammurabi and his code. Jesus then speaks the opposite
of this code and says, “Do no resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on
the right check, turn the other also.” Jesus then says, “and if anyone wants to
sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well.” These teachings are
certainly very different from the ancient Babylonian King Hammurabi. In fact,
there were radically different. No one had ever heard these words before.
Jesus continues on to say, “and if
anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who
begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” These
are definitely some tough words from Jesus.
We can then ask ourselves, do we love
each other like this? Do we want to become more and more perfected in Jesus’
image like this? How much are willing to love others, to show them the source
of all love, to show them the risen Jesus Christ?
Jesus goes on to say, “You have heard
that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” Jesus
then says, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven.” Jesus
then said, “for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends
rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous,” which means were all in this together.
Jesus goes on to say, “For if you
love those who love you, what reward do you have?” Do not even the tax
collectors do the same?” Jesus then said, “And if you greet only your brothers
and sisters, what more are you doing that others? Do not even the Gentiles do
the same?” Jesus tells us therefore, that we have to love those who don’t love us,
and that we have to greet and love those who we don’t know, because this is how
show them His love. We have to step outside of our comfort zone for the sake of
the Kingdom, for Jesus.
Jesus then concludes this gospel
lesson by saying, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
When we hear perfect, we might then say, “Oh here we go again.” The difference
is with Jesus is that Jesus already know we are going fall and fail, and yet he
continues to forgive us, and to love us.
So one of the ways that we can grow
in holiness then, is through serving and loving others. As we seek to be
perfected in the image of God and Jesus Christ, we can experience God’s grace,
through sharing the love of Jesus Christ and through receiving the purifying
grace of God.
The founder of Methodism John Wesley
used to say that we are “going onward to perfection,” which meant that over
time we can get holier and holier, and holier, to we become the image of
Christ. This can also be described as “perfect love; heart purity; the baptism
of the Holy Spirit; the fullness of the blessing,” and or becoming
like Jesus Christ.
Now to have a little fun with you all though, I want to close
today’s message with a list of church bulletin bloopers. These bloopers could
very well be ways to not love each other and could very well be ways to not strive
for perfect. Here they are:
1.
For those of you who have children and don't know it, we have a nursery down
stairs.
2. The eighth
graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet in the church basement on
Friday at 7 pm. The congregation is invited to attend the tragedy.3. This being Easter Sunday, we will ask Mrs. Lewis to come forward and lay an egg on the alter.
4. The preacher will preach his farewell massage, after which the choir will sing, "Break Forth With Joy".
5. Thursday night: Potluck Supper - Prayer and medication will follow.
6. Scouts are saving aluminum cans, bottles, and other items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.
7. The outreach committee has enlisted 25 visitors to make calls on people who are not afflicted with any church.
8. Evening massage - 6 p.m.
9. The Pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the congregation would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake breakfast next Sunday morning.
10. The audience is asked to remain seated until the end of the recession.
11. Low Self-Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7 to 8:30 p.m. Please use the back door.
12. Ushers will eat latecomers.
13. The third verse of Blessed Assurance will be sung without musical accomplishment.
14. The Rev. Merriweather spoke briefly, much to the delight of the audience.
15. During the absence of our pastor, we enjoyed the rare privilege of hearing a good sermon when J. F. Stubbs supplied our pulpit.
16. Next Sunday Mrs. Vinson will be soloist for the morning service. The pastor will then speak on "It's a Terrible Experience."
17. Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our church and community.
18. The concert held in Fellowship Hall was a great success. Special thanks are due to the minister's daughter, who labored the whole evening at the piano, which as usual fell upon her.
19.Today's Sermon: HOW MUCH CAN A MAN DRINK? with hymns from a full choir.
20. Hymn 43: "Great God, what do I see here?" Preacher: The Rev. Horace Blodgett - Hymn 47: "Hark! an awful voice is sounding"
21. Don't let worry kill you off - let the church help.
22. The service will close with, "Little Drops of Water." One of the ladies will start quietly and the rest of the congregation will join in.
23. A bean supper will be held on Tuesday evening in the church hall. Music will follow.
24. At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be "What is hell?" Come early and listen to our choir practice.
25. Weight Watchers will meet at 7 p.m. at the First Presbyterian Church. Please use large double door at the side entrance.
26. Eight new choir robes are currently needed, due to the addition of several new members and to the deterioration of some older ones.
27. The Lutheran Men's group will meet at 6 p.m. Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert will be served for a nominal feel.
28. Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10. All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after the B.S. is done.
29. Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale. It is a good chance to get rid of those things not worth keeping around the house. Bring your husbands.
30. Next Sunday is the family hayride and bonfire at the Fowlers. Bring your own hot dogs and guns. Friends are welcome! Everyone come for a fun time.
Brothers and sisters, ours is Christ
Jesus, who overcame the world, who taught us a new way of living and being, who
has saved us all. In this great love, Jesus says to us, “Will you love all
people, the way I love all people? Will serve and love, for my sake, for the
sake of the Kingdom?” Let us seek to serve and love each other more this week
and always. Amen.
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