Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany - 01/31/16 Sermon - “If I don't have love, I'm nothing"

Sunday 01/31/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “If I don’t have love, I’m nothing”

                            

Old Testament Lesson: Jeremiah 1:4-10

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Gospel Lesson: Luke 4:21-30

          Welcome again my friends, brothers and sisters on this the Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany. Four Sundays after those Wise Men or Magi came from far away to receive the gift that is Jesus Christ. While they came with gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they were the ones who received the gift. For while they left their treasurers behind, they received the gift of Jesus Christ. The gift of his love.

          Last Sunday, I preached from the gospel of Luke about the story of Jesus reading from the Prophet Isaiah scroll in the synagogue. I explained how Jesus claimed that the Prophet Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming messiah or savior, was fulfilled in him. Jesus told the synagogue that he was the one in whom the Prophet Isaiah spoke of.

          While our gospel reading for this week tells us what happened to Jesus after he read from the prophet Isaiah scroll, since I told you the end of this story last week, I am not going to preach from the gospel of Luke this morning. As I just read from the gospel reading though, after Jesus declared that he was the messiah, everyone tried to throw him off a cliff and kill him, and Jesus got away.

          Next Sunday is Transfiguration Sunday, and this is the Sunday that Jesus will go up on a mountain, and will literally and truly alter his psychical appearance. This means that some of his disciples, the ones who came with him to the mountain, will see him in different and a powerful way. The Wednesday following next Sunday, Transfiguration Sunday, is Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is Wednesday February 10^th, and this is the first day of the season of Lent. The Ash Wednesday service this year, will be at the Freeville UMC at 7:00 pm.

          Today though, while the prophet Jeremiah does have a good word for us, I chose to focus on the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church in Corinth, or the Corinthians. I chose this reading, because as I have heard it put before, it “gets to the heart of the matter”. This scripture “gets to the heart of the matter,” because the Apostle Paul is talking about love. He is talking about a change of heart.

          For example, what if we went to church every single Sunday for our whole lives. What if we came into church, we tithed, we helped the church, but what if we never accepted the love of Jesus Christ? What if we gave and gave, but never truly believed in the Lord? If we never knew Jesus Christ as our savior, would our good works be good enough? Or, is our salvation, is our spiritual change something that must occur in our hearts?

          This morning the Apostle Paul is challenging the church that he founded in the city of Corinth to not “play church”. By “playing church,” I mean going through the motions, without the life changing love of Jesus Christ.

          As your pastor, suppose that I showed up every Sunday, and suppose that I didn’t greet you. Suppose that I never smiled at you. Maybe I would just sit in this fancy chair until the service starts, get up say my piece, and then shake your hands on the way out of the church. Now I might preach the word well, but other than that, I wouldn’t think that you would have any sense of love from me if I did that. More than just doing some pastoral tasks, Jesus Christ has called me to love you and your family.

          Now I could give a great sermon every Sunday. I could write good newsletter articles. I could do perfect reports. What if I never showed concern for the sick, or visited them though? What if what your family was going through didn’t seem important to me?

          I have met people in churches before that have said, “Paul, my pastor does their job fairly well, but I just don’t think that he or she loves us”. The Apostle Paul says this morning, that if we do everything perfect, but if we have no real or authentic love, then we have done nothing.

          I know for me, the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ has so many times been revealed through the love of others. You see, a pastor can preach it, but if the pastor or the lay people don’t live it, then what we are showing the non-believer, is simply a list of truths. These truths likely would not look as appealing if they were presented without love. The change of our heart and our soul that we have through the love of Jesus Christ, and sometimes connected through the love of his people, is the power of the gospel. That moment when realize that we can no longer live the way that we are living, that moment that we realize we need forgiveness. That moment that we cry out to God, because we need a savior.

          So many people have told me that after that moment of their conversion, that God filled their hearts with love. We have probably met so many Christians, not only here, but in many places that have been changed God’s love. You always seem to know them right away when you meet them. They have a peace about them, a joy, and love.  This is the catalyst of conversion, love. When the realization of who Jesus Christ is, and what he has done for us hits our hearts, and we fall to our knees, it is because of his love.

          The Apostle Paul is not condoning a big church, a church with many programs, or dinners, or functions, but what he is saying is this, do you have love? The Apostle Paul would say that if we organize endless activities, but don’t have love, then we have nothing.

          In 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Paul says it so well. He says:

“If I speak in tongues of human beings and of angels but I don’t have love, I’m a clanging gong or a clashing cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and I know all the mysteries and everything else, and if I have such complete faith that I can move mountains but I don’t have love, I’m nothing. If I give away everything I have and hand over my own body to feel good about what I’ve done but I don’t have love, I receive no benefit whatsoever” (1 Cor. 13:1-3, CEB).

          So as I said in the beginning of introducing this scripture from 1 Corinthians, it really “gets to the heart of matter”. I say this, because if we were on trial in a courtroom for being a Christian, I would think that our love for others would be strong evidence to prove that we are guilty of loving Jesus Christ. This is why we have the song “They’ll know we are Christians by our love”.

          This means then, when we walk into a Christian Church, that God’s people should greet us, and love us, because we are called to love. The Apostle Paul then gets more specific into how our love should look. He says in 13:4-7:

“Love is patient, love is kind, it isn’t jealous, it doesn’t brag, it isn’t arrogant, it isn’t rude, it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints, it isn’t happy with injustice, but it is happy with the truth. Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all thing” (1 Cor. 13:4-7, CEB).

I don’t know about you, but every time that I read that part of scripture, I can think of ways that I need to love better. This I know though, the power of the Christian gospel comes down to love. While I preached in Advent and on Christmas Eve about having hope, and having faith, the Apostle Paul says that greater than hope and faith, is love (1 Cor. 13:13, CEB).

The Apostle Paul then says in 13:8, “Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:8, CEB). Paul then even tells the church about how he used to see things. He says in 13:11:

“When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, reason like a child, think like a child. But now that I have become a man, I’ve put an end to childish things” (1 Cor. 13:11, CEB).

So if Jesus Christ came to earth as God in the flesh, which I believe he did. If Jesus Christ came to earth to die for the sins of humanity, so that we might be reconciled to God, which I think I he did. The question then, is why did he do it? As I heard a pastor say once, “If the nails did not hold Jesus Christ on the cross, then his love for us would have”.

The “Good News” of Jesus Christ, is “Good News,” because it is the news of a love so great, that we can’t even imagine in. In the gospel of John 15:12-13 Jesus Christ himself says:

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12-13, NRSV).

I remember on a Sunday some years ago, I was out of town. To tell you the truth, I can’t really remember much of the trip. Well, as Saturday evening rolled around, I thought that it would good that I went to church the next day. I can’t remember what the name of the church was, but I will never forget the church.

I remember that I arrived about 10-minutes before the service began. There was no one there to greet me at the door of the church. Most folks were sitting in their pews, and quietly talking with one another. As I paced around the back of the sanctuary to try to get oriented, no one came and said hello to me. I finally found the table where the bulletins were. I got a church bulletin, and then I sat down in church towards the back. As I sat down, within about a second, an older person looked up glared at me. This glare for me, was this person saying, “and what do you think you are doing here”?

Well the service proceeded, and if I it remember correctly, the minister had a half-way decent sermon. There was no greet your neighbor time. Before, during, or after the church service. When the church service ended. The pastor announced that there would be coffee hour in the next room.

Well when I walked into that room, I again received another sharp look from someone else in the congregation. I then thought, “I don’t care if I feel unloved here, I am getting some coffee”! I then got a cup of coffee, sat at a table all by myself, and not one person from the church spoke to me. I do remember the pastor introducing himself and saying hi, but that was it.

I then went to get into my car, after having some coffee of course. I drove out of the church parking lot. It was one of those situations that I want to explode, but not in front of all those good church folks. So I waited until my car was around corner from the church. I then shouted inside of my car, about how cold, and unloving that church was.

Now brothers and sisters, I would have never returned to that church the following Sunday. I mean why would I? According to the Apostle Paul, according to our savior Jesus Christ, we are to love one another. What was loving about my trip to the church that I just told you about?

Further, if the mission of the United Methodist Church is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world,” then that church missed a golden opportunity that Sunday. They had a young kid, who was eager to know the Lord more. Sure he was loud, annoying, and gregarious, but they showed him no love.

This morning the Apostle Paul says, “If I don’t have love, I’m nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2b, CEB). People might say then, “well Pastor Paul, how do we grow the church then?” Well there are variety of things that a church can do to grow, but the best thing is be a loving family. Love and care for each other.

Let me tell the version of the story of my church visit that I wished had happened. This is what I hoped would have happened. I get out of my car, and as I am walking to the church someone waves and smiles at me, as they are walking in. When I get to the door, someone greets me, and tells me that they are glad that I came. If I cannot find a bulletin, someone shows me where they are. Then someone else in the church introduces themselves, and after learning a little bit about me, they say, “you know Paul I would love it if you came and sat with me and my family today”. At coffee hour, that same family would ask me to join then, and they would tell me about their church. They would tell me how much they loved their pastor, and their pastor would introduce themselves to me to.

Perhaps they would say, “Paul, if you’re ever in town again, we would love it if you came to worship with us again”. Brothers and sisters, if I had that experience at that church, not only would I visit again, but if I ever moved to that town, I would become a member of that church.

This is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the hope of the world. Jesus Christ calls us to have faith, to have hope, but the Apostle Paul says this morning, “and the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13b, CEB). Let us love each other boldly and abundantly, as the savior of the world has not only shown us this love, but he also commands us to love each other. Amen.

  

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Third Sunday after Epiphany - 01/24/16 Sermon - “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled"

Sunday 01/24/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled”

                            

Old Testament Lesson: Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a

Gospel Lesson: Luke 4:14-21

          Welcome again my friends, my brothers and sisters, on this the Third Sunday after the Epiphany. Three Sundays after we celebrated those Wise Men or Magi coming to see Jesus, and bringing him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Wise Men or Magi who took the long journey to meet Jesus, were one way when they came. Yet, they left his presence different. You see, the power of God called them to Jesus, as God calls us all to come as we are, but to leave changed. Jesus Christ calls all people to him, as he invites us to come as we are, but to leave changed. To come in with sin, and to leave forgiven.

          While last week I talked about Jesus’ first miracle of turning the water into the wine at the Wedding in Cana, this week is a unique week as well. For this week in our lectionary reading, Jesus announces in the town that he grew up in, the town of Nazareth, just who he is. Since Jesus grew up in a Jewish culture, and since practicing Jews usually go to worship God on the Sabbath, Jesus went to the synagogue on this day. Instead of going to worship on Sunday though, most Jews worship on Saturday.

          Now before I get into this Gospel lesson, it is important to note that Jesus while born in Bethlehem, but that at some point he returned as a child to Nazareth with Joseph and Mary. This means that the majority of Jesus’ childhood, up until he was thirty years old, was spent in Nazareth. Sure, Jesus and his family might have went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover, or maybe he traveled for some other reasons, but in general he was in Nazareth.

          We read in scripture and take from church tradition once he was old enough, Jesus adopted the trade of his adopted father Joseph. This trade was that of being a carpenter. Given some of the translations of scripture from ancient texts this trade of being a carpenter, might be closer translated to being a stone mason. Part of this has to do with the lack of available lumber in Nazareth at the time, and the fact that many homes and structures were built out of stone at this time. It is likely that Jesus was some sort of builder or stone worker with Joseph. Jesus could have worked with wood, but once again it was not plentiful in the area that he was in, when he walked the earth. The other side note here, is that we don’t when Joseph died, so I am speculating when I say that “Jesus worked with Joseph”.

          I give you this background to shine light on the fact that Jesus was in Nazareth for the majority of his life. He likely then, spent many Sabbath days in the synagogue or temple worshipping and praising God. Likely everyone in the synagogue or temple knew Jesus. I can imagine that some women in the synagogue might have said things like, “I can remember Jesus when he was just a little guy”. If Jesus had a trade as a carpenter or a stone mason, then he likely did work for many people in Nazareth. Jesus himself might have helped build certain people’s homes, or other things. Due to this, Jesus’ work ethic, his reputation, and his identity was very much tied to Nazareth.

          Nazareth is an important place, as this is where Jesus lived much of his life. As a result, we have a college in Rochester called “Nazareth,” being named after the town that Jesus was raised in. We have a Christian denomination called “The Church of the Nazarene,” as Jesus was a Nazarene, raised in Nazareth. In the Old Testament it is written that the Messiah will be called the “Nazarene”. Nazareth then, was an otherwise small area, a town that was no New York City in size, yet it soon became a common name. Nazareth and the term Nazarene are words that we might have heard many times in our lives.

          On this day then, Jesus goes to the synagogue, just like he probably did on many other Saturdays. In the worship in the synagogue, just like our church services, scripture is read. Further, just like many Christian churches, not only do the religious leaders read from the scriptures for the congregation, but lay people do as well.

          In a way then, in the gospel of Luke reading from this morning, Jesus was the scripture reader. Or he was one of them. I doubt that there was a scripture reader list at the synagogue in Nazareth, like we have. It would seem that in Jesus’ synagogue or temple, that people were just handed the scriptures during worship, and asked to read them for the congregation.

          What is important to know, is that in the Jewish religion, many Jewish synagogues or temples do not read their Hebrew Bible, or our Old Testament from a book. Instead often in a Jewish synagogue or a temple, if you are behind their altar, they have the books of the Hebrew Bible or our Old Testament in scrolls. This means that there is a separate rolled up scroll for the Book of Genesis, the Book of Exodos, and etc., all the way through the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament. In our Bibles, we have 39-books in the Old Testament, so you can imagine the amount of scrolls that were behind and likely imbedded in that alter table. Some alter tables have tubes or almost little cubby holes where each scroll of scripture resides.

           From some historical accounts, as well as from one of my Bible commentaries, it is thought that Jesus was asked with no notice by a religious leader to read scripture in worship (African Bible Commentary). Many think that it happened in a way where Jesus was asked to read scripture, and so he stood and was handed the Isaiah scroll. It is important to remember also that the Book of the Prophet Isaiah is 66-chapters. The gospel lesson doesn’t say that the leader of synagogue asked Jesus to read a specific chapter or set of versus. It could be true then, that the leader of the synagogue was basically asking Jesus to stand and read from the book of this great prophet. Perhaps it didn’t matter what Jesus read, as it was just important that he was reading God’s word in public worship.

          So was Jesus asked specifically to read the chapter and the verses that he read this morning? We have no indication of this. Further, when Jesus was asked to read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah did he know instantly what he wanted to read? Lastly, if Jesus did in fact know the scriptures that he was going to read and proclaim, did he really unroll that whole scroll of the Prophet Isaiah to near the end, or did he just open the scripture and recite the versus that he already knew that he was going to say? I say this, because today Jesus read from Isaiah 60.

          Another interesting thing to note is that texts of the Jewish Hebrew Bible, while often on scrolls, are seen as sacred. At the top and the bottom of the scrolls are often found wood handles. It is perfectly acceptable to grab the handles of the scroll, but you would never touch the scroll itself, as that is God’s word. In fact, you would not put you hand on the text of the Prophet Isaiah, instead you would use a “Yad,” a pointer stick of sorts, to touch the text. For the word of God is too holy for us to touch. The name of God is also too holy for us to write in the Jewish faith, as some of my Jewish friends write “G-D,” instead of God. This is how sacred the scripture and the name of God is too many of our Jewish brothers and sisters. Imagine if we had this sort of regard for the word of God, and the name of God?

          So Jesus, the one who was raised and lived most of his life in Nazareth, stands up in his synagogue on this day, and is asked to read from the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah. He likely carried it up by the wooden handles, and then laid it out on the pulpit.

          Jesus then reads, or recites if he already knew what he was going to say Isaiah 60:1-2a, which says:

“The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me;
he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isa. 60: 1-2a, NRSV).

          Now, you will notice some translation differences from what I just read from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, and the Gospel of Luke reading that I read this morning. Further, when Jesus completes reading this portion of the scroll from the Prophet Isaiah, the gospel of Luke says, “He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the synagogue assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the synagogue was his on him. He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as your heard it” (Luke 4:20-21, CEB).

          You see Jesus Christ, the man who grew up and worked in Nazareth, just told the whole synagogue, the whole church that he was the messiah. He announced in Nazareth that he was the savior of the world.

          Not only this, Jesus said this is what I am going to do as the savior of the world: “bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Isa. 60:1b-2a, NRSV). Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, tells his people that know him well this morning, in his synagogue in Nazareth, that he is the savior. Not only will he die for our sins, not only will he be raised from the dead, but in addition to all of this “The Spirit of the Lord is upon” him (Luke 4:18a, CEB). For when Christ was baptized by John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit did go into him, but it rested upon him, for “The Spirit of the Lord is upon him” (Luke 4:18a, CEB).

          Jesus then tells his people in Nazareth that, “the Lord has anointed me” (Luke 4:18b, CEB). Beyond dying for our sins and beyond being raised to new life, Jesus said that he has also come to “preach good news to the poor, to proclaim the release to the prisoners and recovery to the sight of the blind, to liberate the oppressed, and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18b-19, CEB).

          Jesus is saying, I am about give hope, love, and empowerment to even the lowest of people. Through me he is saying, all things are possible. Through his blood and through his gospel, he is teaching us how to change the world.

          So, how was Jesus rewarded for this proclamation of him being the messiah? Well, they got angry at him and tried to throw him off a cliff. Jesus escaped, and we have that famous line that Jesus spoke in the gospel of Luke 4:24, “Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s hometown” (Luke 4:24, NSRV).

          Yesterday, many of us had the honor and the privilege of celebrating the life of Kenneth Brong at the Homer Avenue UMC. Ken was not born in Cortland, but for the almost thirty years he lived here, many quickly got to know him. He was involved in our city, but unlike the Gospel of Luke reading from this morning, we embraced Ken Brong, where Jesus was almost thrown off a cliff.

          My brothers and sisters, when we embrace the gifts that God puts in front of us, when we promote, support, and encourage those gifts, then don’t be shocked when people like Ken Brong change our lives.

          This morning, Jesus Christ tells the town of Nazareth, a town of people that knew him well, that he was the messiah. He told them that he was the chosen one. Instead of embracing the gift that God had given Nazareth though, they tried to kill him.

          While Jesus Christ is the true gift, what do we do with the people that God has gifted us with? What do we do with the Ken Brong’s in our lives? To me, people like Ken made me believe more strongly. When we believe that strongly, we don’t try to drive Jesus Christ off a cliff, but rather we celebrate the miracle that is the living God.

          When Jesus Christ was crucified, raised from the dead, and the ascended into heaven, the apostles felt alone when Christ finally left. In the same way, when great leaders in our church pass, we might feel alone to. Friends, brothers and sisters, fear not though, for God is up to something. God is in the business of raising up leaders. While we could never replace some of the great pillars of our church, God will to continue to raise up new people to serve him. The question then, is how do we receive the gifts that God puts in front of us?

          We have already had the savior walk the earth, be crucified, and risen, but when God puts a person in our paths, and has called him or her, we must embrace them. When we do this, we might just be raising up the next dynamic and spirit filled leader, who will proclaim the gospel, and who will proclaim that Jesus revealed his true identity in Nazareth.

          So while today, Jesus Christ reveals himself as the Messiah to the town of Nazareth, let us be ever aware of the people that God is calling to serve him, that are all around us. Praise be God. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Second Sunday after Epiphany/Human Relations Day - 01/17/16 Sermon - “Jesus' first miracle"

Sunday 01/17/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Jesus’ first miracle”

                            

Old Testament Lesson: Psalm 36:5-10

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Gospel Lesson: John 2:1-11

          My dear friends, my brothers and sisters, welcome again on this the Second Sunday after Epiphany. Two Sundays after we celebrate those Wise Men or Magi bringing Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh to Jesus. Their story reminds us of the magnitude of who Jesus Christ was and is, and it also reminds us that Jesus can call anyone to follow him, at any time. Jesus calls us all. No matter who or what we are, Jesus Christ wishes to know us.

          Today is also a special giving Sunday in the life of the United Methodist Church. This special giving Sunday, is called Human Relations Day. Let me tell you what our Conference “Bridge” Newsletter says about this day. Human Relations Day, “is always celebrated the Sunday before the observance of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. Human Relations Day supports community developers, United Methodist voluntary service, and youth offender rehabilitation programs. The goal of this Sunday is to strengthen United Methodist outreach in the United States and Puerto Rico, encouraging social justice and work with at-risk youth”.

          With this said, if you would like to contribute to this special ministry, please make your checks out and put “Human Relations Day” on the memo line, or if your giving cash, put the money in an envelope and indicate “Human Relations Day” on the envelope. You can put these in the collection plates this morning. Also, if you cannot find an envelope, we can get you one after this worship service. We will then make sure that these funds get to our conference office in Syracuse, and then to the people who very much need them.

          With that said, today in our gospel of John reading, we have the first ever miracle that was performed by Jesus Christ. Now in the gospels, Jesus perform a multitude of miracles. Today however, is his earliest and first miracle. This miracle was that of turning water to wine. We know that this was the first miracle performed by Jesus Christ, as the last verse of the reading from the gospel of John for this morning says, “This was the first miraculous sign that Jesus did in Cana of Galilee. He revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him” (John 2:11, CEB). When Jesus performed a miracle then, it was so that people would believe in him, and turn to God and his love (John 2:11b, CEB).

          It is interesting to me that of all the ways that Jesus could have chosen how to show his disciples and us more of who he was, that he would chose turning water into wine.

I am going to preach this gospel lesson this morning, partially through a story. Here is the story: I remember when I used to be a tutor and social worker in Ithaca. During my time as a tutor for the Ithaca City School District, I had the pleasure and honor of helping students graduate from high school, get GED’s, do better in their classes, and etc.

Well one day, I was tutoring a student in the public library in downtown Ithaca. We were doing school work in one of the study rooms that is located in the back of the library. Suddenly, this student had a friend of his burst into the study room. This student that I was tutoring was a senior in high school, and his friend was college student, who had a t-shirt on it, with Greek letters on it. It seemed like from his friend’s shirt that he was in a fraternity. I had never met my student’s friend before. Well, as this friend of my student talked some, he mentioned that he was a student at Cornell University. He then said that he was indeed in a fraternity there.

          The friend curious about my role in friend’s life, then asked me if I was a fulltime teacher? I said, “No, I am pretty much a fulltime tutor, but I am just doing this job while I am in school”. The friend then said, “Well what are you in school for Paul?” I responded, “I am in seminary school, as I am training to be a pastor”. The friend then said, “being a pastor, that sounds so boring!” I said, “really?” He responded, “Yes Paul, booooorrrrinnggg!”

          I then said to this friend of my student, let’s call him Bill, as I can’t really remember what his name was, “Bill, do you know what Jesus Christ’s first ever performed miracle was?” He said sarcastically, “I don’t Paul, did he raise someone from the dead? Or did he heal someone?” “Well Bill” I said, “Jesus did do those things, but let me tell you about his first miracle”. “By the way Bill, do you like party?” “Paul, I am in a fraternity, I love to drink and party”. I then said, “Well good Bill, you’re going to like this story!”

          I then said to Bill, “So in ancient times, Jewish folks often had week long parties or festivals.” Bill then said, “That’s awesome! Most of parties only last the weekend!” I then said to Bill, “So Jesus and his disciples are at week long wedding party in Cana of Galilee. Like many weddings, they are drinking.” At this point, I have Bill’s full attention. I then said, “then suddenly the wine that whole wedding party was enjoying ran out. They had no more booze Bill”. Bill at this point looks sad.

          Jesus’s mother then tells Jesus about this, and Jesus pushes back a little against his mother and says, “Woman, what does that have to do with me? My time hasn’t come yet” (John 2:3b, CEB). Bill then says, “Yeah I can relate, no one in the fraternity likes to be the guy that has to do the beer run when we run out during a party”. I am trying to just keep my composure and not fall into laughter at this point.

          I then said, so Jesus’ mother then “told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 5:5 CEB). So then Jesus notices that nearby the wedding party there “were six stoned water jars” (John 2:6a, CEB). I told Bill that often these jars were filled with water, and that they were used for Jewish cleanings rituals. “By the way Bill,” I said, “each one of these stone jars held about 20-30 gallons of water” (John 2:6, CEB). I then take out my handy dandy calculator and say, “So Bill, we are talking about 120-180 gallons of water”. “You got it Bill?” “I got it Paul”.

Then, Jesus told the servants to take some of the water out from one of the stone jars and give some to the “headwaiter” to drink (John 2:8b, CEB). I then said, now when “The headwaiter tasted the water” it “had become wine. He didn’t know where it came from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew” (John 2:9, CEB).

          I then told Bill that the gospel then says, “The headwaiter called the groom and said, “Everyone serves the good wine first. They bring out the second-rate wine only when the guests are drinking freely. You kept the good wine until now” (John 2:9b-10, CEB). I then said, “so Bill, let’s review: you said that being a pastor is boring right?” “Paul, yes I did.” Then I said, “Well look at the facts, Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, was at a week-long wedding party, and they ran out of booze. So he took about 120-180 gallons of water, and turned into wine, so that party could keep going for another 4-days”. I then said, “Bill can you turn water into wine?” Bill says, “It would be awesome if I could”!

          I then say to Bill, so the seminary that I am in, that is training me to be a Christian minister, is built around a savior who’s first miracle is turning 120-180 gallons of water into wine, so that a party could keep going for 4-more days. Bill then says, “Paul, that’s awesome, I never thought about like that before.”

          I then said, “So Bill, do you have a picture of Jesus Christ in your fraternity house?” He said, “No, why?” I said, “But Bill, Jesus Christ can turn water into booze. I would think his picture would be in your fraternity house in the main room and every room. For that matter, I would think that every fraternity and sorority house would have a picture of Jesus Christ”. “So Bill,” I then said a little sarcastically, “that is the boring Lord and Savior I serve”.

          Now a minor confession, this is probably not the most conventional way to lead someone to Jesus Christ. Yet, this might be the best evangelistic technique that exists for fraternities and sororities. After the conversation, I also thanked Bill for his visit, I encouraged him, and he seemed uplifted by his visit. I also think that before leaving that study room in the Ithaca Public Library, he something about having to get ready for a big “blow out party” that night, as it was Friday. Yet, I think that he got the message that I was conveying.

          Sisters and brothers, Jesus Christ, often took ordinary things like water and jars, and with them, did extraordinary things. Not only is this, the miracle that Jesus performs at the Wedding of Cana, is a miracle for all of us. While the headwaiter and groom taste this great wine first, which there was a lot of by the way, it was for everyone. In the same way, the gift, the grace, the love, and the salvation that Jesus Christ offers us, is for everyone. Jesus came to show everyone, excluding no one, who he was, and why he came.

          As a church, we have the honor and the privilege then of being Jesus Christ’s representatives on earth. This means that when we encounter people, when people visit the church, we have the honor and privilege of sharing the “Good News” of the gospel with them. We have the honor and the privilege of working as a family to grow bigger and stronger, to feed the hungry, and to clothe the naked.

          Brothers and sisters, we do this best when the wine from the wedding is wine that is wine for everyone. It is not all our wine, it is not all my wine, but it is our wine. While Jesus is our Jesus, he is everyone’s Jesus. I can only imagine how many broken and hurting people there are in this town and nearby towns. I pray for them, I do my best to reach out them. All of God’s people then, are part of the miracle and the hope that is Jesus Christ.

          When we have worship on Sunday mornings, and new people come into our church to visit, they might be hurting or in pain. In this moment we have an opportunity to say to them, “We would like to invite you into the fellowship of Jesus Christ”. “We would like to welcome you into the family that serves the living God, and follows Christ”. While we don’t drink in the church, and while I don’t myself drink really much at all, we then symbolically as Jesus did offer them some of the miracle that Jesus performed.

          You see, we all have hurts, we all have pains. Yet the mission of our United Methodist Church, is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”. If we are really hurting on a given day, or on a given Sunday, that is fine, we can pray with you, but we have to share the miracle that is Jesus Christ. This is why the church exists. For it is not about us, or what we can do, it is about God, and what God is doing in us and through us. When we put the focus of God, and on his son Jesus Christ, and when call upon the Holy Spirit, we then will have a church that as scripture says, “Can shake the gates of hell”.

          In this New Year, we have much to celebrate in this church. We are more financially stable than we have been in years. We have a new roof. We are blessed to have endowed church funds. As we continue to share the miracle that Jesus, as we continue to symbolically share the wine from the Wedding at Cana, lives can and will continue to be changed. Hurting and broken hearts will come to Jesus Christ, we will grow stronger, more unified, and more into the image of Jesus Christ.

          So in this day sisters and brothers, Jesus Christ performs his first miracle of turning water into wine. A miracle so powerful that it even caught the attention of frat kid. May we share the miracle of Jesus Christ on this day, and all always. In Christ’s name. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Epiphany Sunday - 01/03/16 Sermon - “Gifts fit for a king"

Sunday 01/03/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Gifts fit for a king”

                            

Old Testament Lesson: Isaiah 60:1-6

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Ephesians 3:1-12

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 2:1-12

          Happy New Year and welcome again, friends, sisters and brothers, on this our Epiphany Sunday. This is the Sunday that we formally celebrate the Wise Men or the magi coming to worship the Christ Child, and to give him gifts. This Sunday is also the final Sunday of this Christmas Season. This Tuesday night, January 5th, sometimes called “Twelfth Night,” will be the twelfth and final night of the “Twelve days of Christmas”. We will then formally be in the Season of Epiphany on Wednesday January 6^th. The Season of Epiphany, or “Epiphanytide” will last until Transfiguration Sunday on Sunday February 7th. Then we will begin the Season of Lent on February 10^th, which is Ash Wednesday this year.

          While the start of the Season of Epiphany formally starts this Wednesday January 6^th, most Christian Churches, like the United Methodist Church, celebrate the Epiphany of the Wise Men or magi coming to Christ on this Sunday, as we don’t normally have church on Wednesday. Admittedly then, there is an overlap this Sunday between the end of the Season of Christmas, and the start of the Season of Epiphany.

          With all of this said, on this Epiphany Sunday, I thought that it would be good to begin this message by defining the word Epiphany. Before I became a pastor, I thought of an Epiphany as that “light bulb” above the head moment, when you get a good idea.

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary though, the word Epiphany means:

1. January 6, observed as a church festival in commemoration of the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles or in the Eastern Church in commemoration of the baptism of Christ.

2. An appearance or manifestation especially of a divine being.

3. An usually sudden manifestation or perception of the essential nature or meaning of something: an intuitive grasp of reality through something (as an event) usually simple and striking:  an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure: a revealing scene or moment.

          Now before I became a pastor, when I thought of the word Epiphany, I only thought of the definition of “an illuminating discovery, realization, or disclosure,” as the Merriam-Webster definition says.

          When I began my seminary education, I remember thinking, “why does the church call this Epiphany? Why don’t they just call it Wise Men Sunday?” The answer to this, is that the Wise Men or magi figured out that the Messiah, the Christ, was coming. They had an Epiphany, they saw the star, and they followed it. They brought Jesus “gifts fit for a king”. Some claim that the Wise Men or magi used astrology or other methods to determine the birth of Christ, but we don’t know this for sure. If they had, they used these things for good.

          All we know though, is that one of the four gospels has the story of the Wise Men or magi. The reason our gospel reading for this morning is Matthew 2:1-12, is because this is the only account of all four of the gospels, that has the Wise Men or magi coming to worship and bring gifts to the Christ-Child. Our entire conception of these “Kings of Orient” as the hymn “We Three Kings” says, is from 12-versus of scripture, from only one gospel. Only Matthew recorded this story, as Mark, Luke, and John did not.

          It would seem from Hollywood movies, the media, and our own imaginations, we have a pretty certain image in our minds of who and what the Wise Men or magi were. Most of us have three of them in our Nativity Scenes at home. Each of the three Wise Men are holding gold, or frankincense, or myrrh. So most people claim then, that there were three Wise Men or magi, yet scripture doesn’t say this directly.

          Let’s look at what the gospel of Matthew says about this Epiphany, this visit of the Wise Men or magi. Matthew 2:1 begins by saying, “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the territory of Judea during the rule of King Herod, magi came from the east to Jerusalem” (Matt. 2:1, CEB). Now some scholars have said the Wise Men or magi came from Persia, which is largely the modern day country of Iran. Our “We Three Kings” hymn from the morning says, “We Three Kings from Orient”. When I think of the Orient, I think of China and Asia. The reality is, we know from scripture that the Wise Men or magi came “from the east to Jerusalem,” but we do not know where in the east (Matt. 2:1b, CEB).

          It also seem clear that the Wise Men or magi didn’t fully understand who Christ was yet. In Matthew 2:2 it says of the Wise Men, “They asked, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We’ve seen his star in the east, and we’ve come to honor him” (Matt. 2:2, CEB). So once again, from somewhere in the east, and having the Epiphany of knowing that Christ was coming. The Epiphany of seeing the Star of Bethlehem shine in the sky.

          So the Wise Men or magi didn’t know where Jesus was yet, nor did they have all the details about him. In Matthew 2:3-5 it says:

“When King Herod heard this, he was troubled, and everyone in Jerusalem was troubled with him. He gathered all the chief priests and the legal experts and asked them where the Christ was to be born. They said, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for this is what the prophet wrote: You, Bethlehem, land of Judah, by no means are you least among rulers of Judah, because from you will come one who governs, who will shepherd my people Israel” (Matt 2:3-5, CEB).

To King Herod then, if Jesus Christ was truly to be the King of the Jews, well this was a problem for him, as he is currently the King of the Jews. The birth of Christ was not only a threat to King Herod, not only to the religious leaders in Jerusalem, but too many.

          So the Wise Men or magi having followed the Star of Bethlehem first go to Jerusalem. I mean Jerusalem is the biggest city in Judea. It is where King Herod is, it is where the temple is, and it is where all the chief priests are. Likely, the Wise Men or magi thought, that the Messiah or Christ-Child would be born there. I can imagine, without knowing for sure, that the Wise Men or magi had a grand entrance into the city of Jerusalem. As they had entered the city or were near the city, the next verse says, “The Herod secretly called for the magi and found out from them the time when the star had first appeared” (Matt. 2:7, CEB). So where the Wise Men or magi already in Jerusalem, or did Herod send a messenger to find them? We don’t know for sure, but we do know that according the gospel of Matthew that King Herod got to the Wise Men before they got to Jesus.

          In some Hollywood movie accounts, King Herod treats the Wise Men or magi to a swank and fancy dinner. During this dinner, King Herod pumps the Wise Men or magi for information about the coming of the Christ-Child. We don’t know if such a dinner occurred, but we know what the gospel says next. In the next verse it says, “He sent them to Bethlehem saying, “Go and search carefully for the child. When you’ve found him, report to me so that I too may go and honor him” (Matt. 2:8, CEB). King Herod must have been a good liar, as he seems to have convinced the Wise Men or magi that he also sought to find Jesus and to worship him. Before this encounter though, the Wise Men had likely never met King Herod. So apparently Herod lied to them about him wanting to worship Jesus.

          After this, the Wise Men or magi then leave Jerusalem and make the 5-10 mile trip to Bethlehem. The gospel then says, “When they heard the king, they went; and look, the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was” (Matt. 2:9, CEB). The gospel then says, “When they saw the star, they were filled with joy” (Matthew 2:10, CEB).

          What we also don’t know, is if the Wise Men or magi came on the actual night that Christ was born, or if they came later. Part of this reality, is our church tradition of having this holiday of “Epiphany” after Christmas. Part of the reason many scholars throughout history have wondered if the Wise Men or magi came to a young but not infant Jesus, is the next verse in Matthew. The next verse says, “They entered the house and saw the child with Mary his mother” (Matt. 2:11a, CEB). In this part of the verse from Matthew 2, it says they “entered the house” (Matt. 2:11a, CEB). I would encourage you all to check your own Bibles to see if your translation says the same thing. Remember that only the gospel of Matthew has the story of the Wise Men or magi.

          If they “entered the house,” that would mean that after Mary had Jesus, that perhaps her and Joseph at some point briefly took up residence in a house in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:11a, CEB). I mean, Joseph was from Bethlehem, so he likely had a lot of family there.

          All this means that the Wise Men or magi might have arrived after Christ was born, and maybe at that point, arrived at a house. Likely a house owned by Joseph’s family. The only reason we think this is the scripture says of the Wise Men or magi that they “entered the house” (Matt. 2:11a, CEB).

          The second part of Matthew 2 says, “Falling to their knees they honored him. Then they opened their treasure chests and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matt. 2:11b, CEB). All we are given here, is “treasure chests” and “gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh” (Matt. 22.11b, CEB). Does it say “three treasure chests,” or “three Wise Men?” It doesn’t, and the church then assumed from this verse, that there were three Wise Men or magi, and three treasure chests, one containing gold, one containing frankincense, and one containing myrrh. We aren’t positive though if there were more than three Wise Men or magi, or if there were more than three treasurer chests. Further, did they travel all by themselves? I mean these are rich kings, Wise Men, magi. Do we think that they had many camels, and a score of servants. There travel party might have been massive. Also, the Wise Men coming on camels is not in scripture either, but it seemed to be the most likely way that they came.

          In the last verse for this morning, it says about the Wise Men or magi, “Because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back to their own country by another route” (Matt. 2:12, CEB). So the Wise Men or magi are warned in a dream to not go back and tell King Herod where the Christ-Child is, as they now realize that King Herod’s intentions are bad. They then leave. In Matthew 2:13, it then says, “Now after they had left,” and other than Matthew 2:1-12, they are mentioned nowhere else in the gospels.

          So what is point with this analysis of the gospel of Matthew 2:1-12, and the first part of Matthew 2:13, about the Wise Men or magi? Am I trying to tear the story apart to somehow invalidate it? Of course not. I believe that all of the Bible was divinely inspired, and as such, I believe in the story of the Wise Men or magi coming to Jesus. What I am trying to point out though, is our human tendency to add details, to fill in the gaps, and to make up parts of the story that aren’t clearly revealed in the scriptures.

          Is our understanding of the Wise Men or magi wrong then? It might be a little wrong, or it could be a lot wrong. What is important is this though, they came, they found him, they worshiped him, and they gave him “gifts fit for a king”. The important thing, is that these travelers from the east were eclipsed by the hope of Jesus Christ. With this hope, they came, they found him, they worshiped him, and they gave him “gifts fit for a king”.

          The other way that I connect with the story of the Wise Men or magi is this, is that God can call anyone. Jesus called the Apostle Paul to follow him on the road to Damascus, he called Peter, Andrew, and John. He even called three Wise Men or magi from the east. They were likely of a different religion, yet the hope of the gospel of Jesus Christ was so powerful, that they traveled far and wide to find him, to worship him, and to give him “gifts fit for a king”.

          We might never know all of the details of the story of the Wise Men or magi, but what we do know, is that they found him, they worshiped him, and they gave him “gifts fit for a king”. Jesus can call anyone, from anywhere, and at any time. May we in this New Year answer the call of the Lord of life, our savior and redeemer, Jesus the risen Christ. Happy New Year and come Lord Jesus, Amen.