Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Second Sunday after Pentecost/Memorial Day Weekend - 05/29/16 Sermon - “Anyone can come to Jesus"

Sunday 05/29/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Anyone can come to Jesus”

                            

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 96

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Galatians 1:1-12

Gospel Lesson: Luke 7:1-10

          Friends, my brothers and sisters, welcome again on this the Second Sunday after Pentecost, and this Memorial Day Weekend. Two Sundays ago we celebrated the holiday of Pentecost, which was that day so long ago that the Holy Spirit moved like a mighty fire or a mighty wind, and showed up to the disciples. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were filled with the power and the love of God, and the Christian Church was officially born. Those followers of Jesus Christ preached and spread the gospel of Christ, and we who are here today are a part of that continued story.

          In inching ever closer to the summer months, we also now find ourselves now in season in the church that we call “Ordinary Time,” or “Common Time”. During these many weeks to come we will see green paraments adorn the pulpit, the lectern, and the altar. These many weeks will culminate with All Saints Sunday, and then Advent at the end of November, which will take us out of “Ordinary Time,” or “Common Time”. We also have some “Ordinary Time,” or “Common Time” that falls in January through the beginning of Lent, but this stretch of “Ordinary Time” or “Common Time” that we now find ourselves in currently, is by far the biggest stretch in the church calendar.

          I remember when I was attending my first seminary on Rochester, I joked with the head of the seminary that Jesus must have been a teacher. The head of the seminary said, “Well Paul, one of Jesus’ titles was “Rabbi,” so yes among other things, he was a teacher”. I then said to the head of the seminary, “No, I mean that I think that Jesus was public school teacher”. The head of the seminary then looked at me perplexed and said, “Why would you think that Jesus was a public school teacher?” I then said, “because everything powerful, exciting, and important that Jesus did was during the school year, like most teachers”. The head of the seminary then said, “What do you mean?” I then said, “Well in the summer we are in “Ordinary Time” and everything is green all summer long with no major holidays, so Jesus must have taken the summers off”!

          The head of my first seminary in Rochester thought that this was absolutely hilarious. What I was getting at was that every year in the late spring, through every summer, and into the late fall, we find ourselves in “Ordinary Time” or “Common Time”. No major Christian holidays occur at this time of the year.

          Given this though, this does not mean that church or our faith is unimportant during “Ordinary Time” or “Common Time”, it generally just means that some things slow down a bit. This is a season for renewal and growing in our faith with God, and hopefully not a season of excessive busyness.

          This Sunday is also part of Memorial Day Weekend, which means tomorrow, on Memorial Day, many of you will have the day off of work and or other obligations. In considering Memorial Day tomorrow, it is a day that we should remember all of those men and women who died in wars, struggles, and or in the line of duty, while serving this country. I would ask that this day, tomorrow, and always, that we remember these men and women who died in the service of our country. I have something brief that I want to read to you regarding Memorial Day before I get into the main part of my sermon for this morning. What I am about read to you was written by President Abraham Lincoln to a Ms. Bixby of Boston in 1864, during the Civil War. This is what it says: “Dear Madam,-- I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, A. Lincoln”. Friends, brothers and sisters, let us remember all those who have fallen on Memorial Day.

          This morning, with this being Memorial Day Weekend, we have a gospel lesson from the Gospel of Luke about a solider. This soldier was not just any soldier. This soldier was not a low level enlisted soldier. This soldier was not a sergeant, not a master sergeant, but instead was an officer. More specifically, this gospel lesson from this morning talks about a Roman Centurion, who was an officer in the army of the Roman Empire. A Roman Centurion would likely be the equivalent in our military to a captain, and a Roman Centurion often had 60-100 solider beneath his leadership.

          We might remember that the one who oversaw the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was a Roman Centurion. The equivalency of a Captain in our own military, oversaw and led the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

It is important to remember that the Roman Army were the occupiers of much of the known world at the time of Jesus, including Judea, which is part of the country of Israel today. The world that Jesus grew up in was under the power and the control of the Roman Empire, and the governor that was put in charge that allowed Jesus to be crucified was Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate was the man who famously washed his hands of blame for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, yet as one of Caesar’s leaders, he allowed the crucifixion to be carried out.   

          Since the Roman Army was the occupying power that controlled Judea, they were not liked and were very unpopular in Judea or Israel. Most people saw them as occupiers, oppressors, and the enemy. While all of the Roman soldiers were disliked, the officers, the centurions, the generals, we often disliked the most, as they were the leaders. It is interesting then, that on this Memorial Day Weekend that we have a gospel lesson from the gospel of Luke about a soldier, and officer, a Roman Centurion.  

          In the gospels, many people came to Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ likewise went to many people. Jesus went to the lepers, to the woman at the well, and to many others. Jesus also had many people come to him. Anyone that came to Jesus, or anyone that showed faith to Jesus, was never turned away.

For us to say that Jesus never turned anyone away ,can be an easy statement for us to make, as Jesus was often called upon, or went to the least, the lost, and lesser-thans. Yet this morning, on this Memorial Day Weekend, a Roman Officer, not an enlisted man, but an officer, requests Jesus’ help. Now if you remember, the Romans were the enemies of Judea, of Israel. The people of Judea, or Israel did not like occupying Romans. The Romans and their army had all the power, yet a centurion sends for Jesus’s help.

          It would seem to me that if Jesus said no to the Centurion, that most people in Judea or Israel, wouldn’t blame him. Yet remember, I said that in the gospels Jesus Christ, our Lord, turned away nobody, not one person. Jesus Christ invited all people, and still invites us into relationship with him. For this reason, my sermon title this morning is “Anyone can come to Jesus”. Friends, Jesus Christ, the son of the loving God, will never turn your away.

          Imagine for minute if this country was under the control of another occupying country, the way we were when the British controlled us as the 13-colonies. Imagine if a British officer sent someone to ask for your help, knowing that the British were oppressing us, and keeping us in bondage. Would want to help the British? The “Red Coats”? In Jesus Christ being the savior, he answers the request that was asked of him by the Centurion’s messengers, as Jesus Christ never did or never will turn anyone away. For my sisters and brothers, “Anyone can come to Jesus”.

          In looking more closely at the gospel lesson from this morning, we begin after Jesus was teaching. The gospel starts by saying, “After Jesus finished presenting all his words among the people, he entered Capernaum” (Lk. 7:1, CEB). The gospel then says, “A centurion had a servant who was very important to him, but the servant was ill and about die. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Jesus to ask him to come and heal his servant” (Lk. 7:2-3, CEB). So the Centurion had a sick servant, and wanted Jesus to save his life.

          The gospel then says, “When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to Jesus to ask him to come and heal his servant. When they came to Jesus, they earnestly pleaded with Jesus, “He deserves to have you do this for him,” they said (Lk. 7:3-4, CEB). The reason that Jewish elders said this to Jesus, was because they then tell Jesus, “He loves our people and he built our synagogue for us” (Lk. 7:5, CEB).

          In Jesus turning away no one, the gospel says, “Jesus went with them. He had almost reached the house when the centurion sent friends to say to Jesus, “Lord, don’t be bothered. I don’t deserve to have you come under roof. In fact, I didn’t even consider myself worthy to come to you. Just say the word and my servant will be healed” (Lk. 7:6-7, CEB). So this is a message to Jesus, from a Roman Centurion, a Roman officer. This occupier, this Roman officer feels inferior to Jesus, the one in who he has power over. In fact, the rest of the message from the Centurion is, “I’m also a man appointed under authority, with soldiers under me. I say to one, ‘Go,” and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and the servant does it” (Lk. 7:8, CEB). The Roman Centurion is reemphasizing his power and authority.

          The gospel reading on this Memorial Day Weekend then concludes with this, “When Jesus heard these words, he was impressed with the centurion. He turned to the crowd following him and said, “I tell you, even in Israel I haven’t found faith like this.” When the centurion’s friends returned to his house, they found the servant restored to health” (Lk. 7:9-10, CEB).

          What I find compelling about this story is the reality that anyone is open and allowed to come to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. It doesn’t matter if you are considered an enemy, Jesus wants you to come to him. This story this morning then, shows us that “Anyone can come to Jesus”. This story shows us that the faith we have in Jesus Christ, that the power and the love that we are offered through Jesus Christ is available to all people.

          Since we live in a world with so much suffering, how can we love and caring for each other? If we carry the light and love of Jesus Christ, then how do we share that and love each other? Beyond just this church building, we can love each, and build relationships with each other. These relationships, this love, and this faith, that crosses all lines, is how Jesus Christ came to me, to you, and to us all. The Christian Church then is charged with bringing the hope and the love of Jesus Christ to broke and hurting world, so that we transform it.

          If this gospel lesson from this morning has taught me anything then, it is that “Anyone can come to Jesus”. Further, that we are no better than anyone else. We are all created by God, made to be in relationship to God, and to love and care for one another. When people feel deeply loved and cared for, well that is when the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes powerful. I remember hearing the old quote, “people don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care”. This is true with our Christian faith. Many of us want the church to grow, to be “revitalized”. We have conference programs like “Hand to Plow,” and other ideas. The reality though, is that radical love and hospitality has always been how Jesus’ church grew and expanded. That my sisters and brothers is the million dollar secret to church growth. When we love each other and everyone radically, when we engage people in conversations and relationships, we work to go out among them, loving, healing, and caring, we are living the mission of our church. If Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, can do this for the servant of an enemy officer, a Roman Centurion, then I am quite confident that we can build loving and authentic relationships here in Freeville and all over.

          You see my sisters and brothers, when people truly know how much you care about them, they will see the power of Jesus Christ and his gospel in you, and then after they know much you care, they will be more likely to want to hear what you know. Friends, brothers and sisters, may the living God be with us all, and I pray that you have a happy Memorial Day Weekend. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Trinity Sunday/Peace with Justice Sunday - 05/22/16 Sermon - “Why God is three in one"

Sunday 05/22/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Why God is three in one”

                            

Old Testament Scripture: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Romans 5:1-5

Gospel Lesson: John 16:12-15

          My friends, my brothers and sisters, welcome on this Trinity Sunday, and this Peace with Justice Sunday. In this being Trinity Sunday, this is the Sunday in the life of the church that we celebrate all that God is. Our God who is three in one, or one in three. Our God who is the creator, the savior, and the sanctifier.

          This Sunday is also one of our special giving Sundays in the life of the United Methodist Church, called Peace with Justice Sunday. On this special giving Sunday, we are all invited to give to this special offering. In giving to this special offering, we are enabling peace and justice ministries to continue. These ministries are many, and they include ministries like stopping the human trafficking of children, injustices in other countries, protecting human rights, and various injustices everywhere. When terrible, oppressive, and unjust things happen to innocent people, the Peace with Justice Sunday giving is one of the many ways that we as Christians can promote the love and justice of God. If you would like to give to this special giving Sunday, again please indicate on your check memo lines, “Peace with Justice Sunday,” or indicate this on an envelope with your cash donation. We will make sure that this money to gets to the conference in Syracuse, and then to these ministries, who are working for a more loving and just world.

          With this said, this is Trinity Sunday. Last Sunday on Pentecost Sunday, we celebrated the Holy Spirit that came to the Apostles of Jesus Christ on the day of Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit moved and caused the disciples to speak in tongues, and the Holy Spirit gave the disciples the courage, the faith, and the wisdom to formally begin being the Christian Church. Since the Holy Spirit moved, and since the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, they officially knew that God was three in one, or one in three. While the word Trinity itself, or the doctrine of the “Holy Trinity” would not be codified by the Roman Catholic Church until the 300’s AD, this belief of God three in one, or one in three, was in general the commonly held belief of who God was and is. This means that the majority of Christians, including the disciples believed this from the beginning.

          Given this, as Christians, like our Jewish sisters and brothers, we believe in the God that created the universe, the earth, us, and everything. We believe that God the Father is the creator of everything. Yet as Christians we also realize that we have a tendency to be sinful. We live in world with greed, war, injustice, hatred, prejudice, and sometimes a lack of love. The son of God, Jesus Christ came to earth to love, heal, and forgive. For while God created everything, Jesus Christ is the person of God that came among us. The person of God who came to us, lived with us, loved us, healed us, and died for us. The third person of God is the one who showed up in a mighty way on the day of Pentecost, and throughout the Old and New Testament. The person of God that we experience all the time, and maybe even today. The Holy Spirit, or the Holy Ghost, is the person of God that fills us, guides us, and sanctifies us.

          Since the doctrine of the Holy Trinity was codified in from 325 AD to 381 AD, between the Ecumenical Church Councils at Nicaea and the Constantinople, some have argued that idea of God three in one, or one in three was a corrupt invention by the church. Yet there not a ton evidence of this. When we recite the Nicene Creed in church, which is actually the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, we are reciting a creed that is centuries old. In the Ecumenical Church Council in 325 AD, the church agreed that Jesus Christ and the God the creator were one in the same, and then in the next Ecumenical Church Council in Constantinople in 381 AD, the doctrine of Holy Spirit was officially added, creating the Holy Trinity. We generally still refer to the creed as the Nicene Creed however, largely because saying the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed is a mouthful.

          The historical reality therefore, is that the Jews at the time of Jesus Christ, believed in God the creator, the Father. Some Jews, such as the Pharisees also believed that a Messiah, a savior would come to deliver and save Israel. The historic Christian belief held by the majority of Christians from day one, was that this Messiah, this savior was Jesus Christ. Further if the gospel of John claims that Jesus is the Word of God, and that the Word of God is God, and that the Word of God was made flesh, most Christians have historically believed that Jesus Christ was God on earth. Jesus Christ on earth was fully God and fully human. The Holy Spirit is also spoken of coming from God, and speaking the words of God.

          No matter how we look at this, God the creator, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are central to the Christian faith. So how do we package our definition of God, of Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Spirit? Some people and scholars both past and present have argued against the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. Some of these folks argue that Jesus was just a man, a prophet, a well-intended social reformer, and etc., and that the Holy Spirit is something else that is not equal to God the creator. Yet for nearly two-thousand years the commonly held belief in God, is that God is revealed to us through God the Father, who creates, through his son who saves, and through the Holy Spirit that comes from God the Father and Son, to lead, guide, and sanctify.

          One analogy that I heard once for the Holy Trinity is that of water. You see water can be ice, it can be liquid, or it can be steam. All three of these are water, yet they come to us differently. God creates like water that is ice, Jesus purifies and saves like water that is liquid, and the Holy Spirit fills us like water that is steam. All water, all the same substance, yet unique and different at the same time. The word Trinity itself comes from the Latin “trinitas” or triad, and from the Latin “trinus” or threefold, which is this idea of God three in one. One God, who comes to us in three distinct ways, but is of one substance or being (www.wikipedia.org). A God that is like ice, water, and steam, three in one, or one in three.

          I remember learning when I was in seminary that most Christian clergy do not like preaching about the Holy Trinity, as it is by far one of our most challenging doctrines. It is really hard to understand and to wrap our minds around. I myself though, like to preach about the Holy Trinity, but I have to admit that I might not ever fully understand the Holy Trinity, on this side of heaven anyway. I do though believe that God created the whole universe, and heaven and earth. I also believe that Jesus Christ was and is the Son of God who came to earth to die for our sins, and to teach us a new way to love, heal, and forgive. I also believe in the Holy Spirit that showed up on the day of Pentecost so long ago. I myself have felt the Holy Spirit so many times when I pray or worship, as have many of you and others. I therefore believe that God is three in one, or one in three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This is why we baptize in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. One God in three distinct persons.

          Further, Jesus emphatically tells his disciples and his other early followers that they will not fully understand who he is or his gospel, until they have received the Holy Spirit. Last Sunday, on the day of Pentecost, this happened. So Jesus tells his disciples to believe in God, to believe in him, and that the Spirit of truth will come and fill in the missing gaps. Given this, to me, God must be three one, or one in three.

          I remember when I was in seminary one day, I asked a professor to explain the Holy Trinity to me. This professor covered a massive dry erase board with tons of information. He wrote some in Greek and Hebrew, and he created this massively large academic argument for the Holy Trinity. Then he said, “so do you get it now Paul?” I said, “Nope, but thank you for writing and explaining all of that!”

          So it is true that the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, and it is also true that doctrine of the “Holy Trinity” was created by the church in the 300’s AD. Yet most Christians have long believed from day one, that God was and is three in one, or one in three. If the Bible is our main source for this belief, let us listen again to what Jesus says to us in the gospel of John this morning.

          In John 16:12-15 Jesus says to the disciples and us: “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you” (Jn. 16:12-15, NRSV).

          When I read this short gospel reading, I am sure that this scripture was intentionally given to us in our lectionary reading for this morning, because it is Trinity Sunday. I say this because in this scripture, I hear Jesus tell his disciples that they need the Holy Spirit’s power to fully understand God the creator, and him. I also hear Jesus say to the disciples that the Holy Spirit will speak the words that are from God the Father, the creator, and him. Jesus is saying to the disciples that they understand God the creator and him, but to get the full picture, they will then also need the Holy Spirit.

In bringing this message to a close, I want to share with you a story about all that God is. This story is taken from www.storiesforpreaching.com and is called “The Parable of the Flatlanders.” Here is what the story says: “Christians believe many astonishing things about God, for example, that God is triune, that Christ was fully God and fully human, that God is close, but cannot be seen, and so on. To help us come to grips with such mysteries a nineteenth century schoolmaster named Edwin Abbott wrote a story entitled Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. His concept is very helpful in recognizing the limitations in our knowledge of God. Imagine a group of people who live in a two-dimensional world. They have length and width but not height. Their world would be like strange creatures living on a sheet of paper. They have width and length but no height. They can move across the paper, and along it, but they can never move above it or below it, nor would they be able to see above it or below it. Now imagine you poked three fingers into their world. All they see is three separate circles. They would have no perception that these belonged to the one three dimensional hand. Or imagine if you put your face close to look at the flatlanders, perhaps just a half a centimeter above the surface of the page. You would be closer to the flatlanders than two of them standing a centimeter apart and yet they would have no way of knowing you are there. Or imagine the open end of a horseshoe being placed into their world. All they would see are two rectangles on the ground, separated by some distance. They would assume that these were two entirely separate objects. They would have no sense that these belonged to the same object nor any idea what the nature and purposes of the horseshoe are.”

“So it is with us and God. We exist in a three dimensional world, but God potentially exists in many more dimensions. Things that are obvious and natural to God appear as mysterious and unfathomable to us as we might to be the Flatlanders.”

The Holy Trinity, my sisters and brothers, the idea that God is one God in three persons, or three persons in one God, is a very complex and tough idea. Yet most Christians throughout our history have believed in the God that creates, the Son of God that saves, and the Spirit of God that guides and sanctifies. We may never understand all that God is on this side of heaven, but we be open to experiencing all that God is today, and always. With this, I say to you all be blessed in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Pentecost Sunday - 05/15/16 Sermon - “The Power of the Holy Spirit"

Sunday 05/15/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “The Power of the Holy Spirit”

                            

New Testament Scripture: Acts 2:1-21

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Romans 8:14-17

Gospel Lesson: John 14:8-17 (25-27)

          My friends, my sisters and brothers, welcome on this Pentecost Sunday. This holiday in the life of the church that we celebrate the fire, the power, the love, and unity of the Holy Spirit. For on this day nearly two-thousand years ago, the disciples were in that famous Upper Room in Jerusalem. As they were praying and waiting on the Lord, suddenly the Holy Spirit showed up in a powerful and a new way. On this day, the Christian Church was formally born. Before Jesus Christ departed from this earth, he told his disciples to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit, and they did just that. Specifically, Jesus tells the disciples in the reading from the gospel of John from this morning, “The Companion, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I told you” (Jn. 14:26, CEB).

          Since the Christian Church has long believed in the Holy Trinity, or that God is three in one, or one in three, the Holy Spirit is very important to our faith. As Christians, we believe that God the Father created the universe, the earth, and all life, and we believe that God’s son Jesus Christ redeemed all people past and present through his death and resurrection. We also believe that the Holy Spirit, the third person of God fills us, guides, sanctifies us, and directs us. Today on Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the Holy Spirit, the third person of God, showing up in a mighty way.

Since it is Pentecost Sunday, I will be preaching from our scripture from the Book of Acts, on the story of Pentecost. Before I do this, I want to talk a little bit more about the third person of God, or the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit for many of us, is the presence of God that we feel inside of us. It is that warm and that loving presence that we get when we are praying or worshipping God. It is the power of God that fills us and guides. The Holy Spirit shows us that faith in God is more than just mental, as it is physical, as we feel God. It is emotional, as we experience God, and it is deeply spiritual, as God lifts our spirits. Has anyone here ever felt God’s presence? That loving, warm, and caring presence. On this day, nearly two-thousand years ago, the Holy Spirit showed up in a powerful way, and it moved the disciples to formally begin being the Christian Church.

Sometimes when I worship, I lift a hand or two, as I am calling upon the Holy Spirit of God to fill me, as I pray that the Spirit of God fills us all on this day. In talking about the Holy Spirit, before I get into the scripture on Acts 2, I want to tell you a story about the power of the Holy Spirit. This is about the story of the founder of the Methodist Movement, John Wesley encountering the Holy Spirit for the first time. I took this story from the website, www.christianity.com. Now to provide a little background, John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Movement, was an ordained priest in the Church of England, or the Anglican Church. He had been on a mission trip to Georgia, and the mission trip was largely a failure. John Wesley felt like he had failed in ministry as a priest. This is where this story picks up here this morning. Here is what is says: “John Wesley was almost in despair. He did not have the faith to continue to preach. When death stared him in the face, he was fearful and found little comfort in his religion. To Peter Böhler, a Moravian friend, he confessed his growing misery and decision to give up the ministry. Böhler counseled otherwise. "Preach faith till you have it," he advised. "And then because you have it, you will preach faith." A wise Catholic once made a similar statement: "Act as if you have faith and it will be granted to you."

“Wesley acted on the advice. He led a prisoner to Christ by preaching faith in Christ alone for forgiveness of sins. The prisoner was immediately converted. Wesley was astonished. He had been struggling for years. Here was a man transformed instantly. Wesley made a study of the New Testament and found to his astonishment that the longest recorded delay in salvation was three days--while the apostle Paul waited for his eyes to open.”

“The Moravians assured him their personal experiences had also been instantaneous. Wesley found himself crying out, "Lord, help my unbelief!" However, he felt dull within and little motivated even to pray for his own salvation. On this day, May 24th, 1738 he opened his Bible at about five in the morning and came across these words, "There are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should partakers of the divine nature." He read similar words in other places.”

“That evening he reluctantly attended a meeting in Aldersgate. Someone read from Luther's Preface to the Epistle to Romans. About 8:45 p.m. "while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation; and an assurance was given me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."

“It took him some time to learn how to live the life of faith, for he was not always possessed of joy and thought he had fallen from salvation. It took time for him to see that it is not Christ and good works, but Christ alone who saves, resulting in good works.”

“As time went on, John Wesley was mightily used of the Lord to reform England. His Methodists became a national force. He rode thousands of miles (as many as 20,000 a year) preaching as only a man filled with the Holy Spirit can preach, telling the gospel to all who would listen. He acted "as though he were out of breath in pursuit of souls." Wherever he preached, lives changed and manners and morals altered for the better. It is often conjectured that his preaching helped spare England the kind of revolution that occurred in France.”

The founder of the Methodist Movement John Wesley, was an ordained priest in the Church or England, or the Anglican Church, yet he had never felt the Holy Spirit inside of him. In his “Aldersgate” experience though, he felt the power of the Holy Spirit for the first time, and then God used him to change the world. This is what the power of the Holy Spirit can do. The Holy Spirit that showed up on Pentecost, to the early church, to all the saints, and to people like the founder of Methodist Movement, John Wesley.

So as we call upon God this day, and as we say “Come Holy Spirit,” I would like to discuss the scripture from the Book of Acts for this morning. The scripture begins in Acts 2:1-4 by saying, “When Pentecost Day arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound from heaven like the howling of a fierce wind filled the entire house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be individual flames of fire alighting on each one of them. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them to speak” (Acts 2:1-4, CEB). So the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised would come, shows up to the disciples, in that Upper Room, in Jerusalem, on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit causes them to speak in different tongues or languages, proclaim God’s love through Jesus Christ. These disciples felt God, felt his love, and were moved, like I hope that we will be today.

The scripture in the Book of Acts continues by saying, “There were pious Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. When they heard this sounds, a crowd gathered. They were mystified because everyone heard them speaking in their native languages. They were surprised and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all the people who are speaking Galileans, every one of them? How then can each of us hear them speaking in our native language?” (Acts 2:5-8, CEB). You see God enabled the disciples to speak in language that they even know how to speak in.

Specifically the Book of Acts says the, “Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; as well as residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the regions of Libya bordering Cyrene; and visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans and Arabs” (Acts 2:9-11a, CEB). So all of the Jews from Africa, parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe had come to the holy city of Jerusalem. They came to “Zion,” or the holy city of Jerusalem on the Jewish holiday called “the Feast of Weeks,” which celebrated God giving Moses the 10 Commandments or the stone tablets, when Moses was on Mount Sinai. The giving of the law and the 10 Commandments to Moses is significant in both Judaism and in Christianity. This law or these rules is the old covenant or the old law, as Jesus Christ is seen by Christians as the new law and the new covenant. Now we should still follow the 10 Commandments, but Christians believe that Jesus is the new contract, the new covenant with God, as he was and is the savior of the world.

The scripture then says that people of all of these various lands and countries said, “we hear them declaring the mighty works of God in our own languages!” (Acts 2:11b, CEB). The scripture then says, “They were all surprised and bewildered. Some asked each other, “What does this mean?” Others jeered, at them saying, “They’re full of wine!” (Acts 2:12-13, CEB). So the people that have gathered from all over the world, don’t get what just happened when the Holy Spirit moved. Some of them are baffled, and yet some think the disciples and early church members are drunk. Then Saint Peter says, in my opinion, one of the funniest lines of scripture in the Bible.

The Book of Acts says, “Peter stood with the other eleven apostles. He raised his voice and declared, “Judeans and everyone living in Jerusalem! Know this! Listen carefully to my words! These people aren’t drunk, as you suspect; after all, it’s only nine o’clock in the morning!” (Act 2:14-15, CEB). Peter basically says, were not drunk, it’s too early in the morning to be drunk.

Saint Peter, the one who denied Jesus Christ three times, the one who sunk walking on the water, the one who cut off a guards ear off in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was arrested, the one couldn’t stay awake in the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus was praying, and the one who told Jesus that he wouldn’t be crucified, comes out of the wood work. What was once an impulsive Peter, and a Peter that was a loose cannon, is all of the sudden a polished and effective preacher. After receiving the Holy Spirit, Saint Peter begins to preach, and gives the first sermon every given in the early church. I would seem that he preached like Billy Graham of this day. He preached with fire and conviction, as he quotes the Prophet Joel through the rest of this scripture (Acts 2:17-21, CEB).

So what happened then? When Saint Peter gave this first sermon ever given by the first Christian Church, the Book of Acts 2:37-42 it says of many who listened to Peter preach, ^“Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him.”  And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” (Acts 2:37-42, NRSV).

On this day, the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit moved, the church was born, and with one moving sermon, three-thousand people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ. Since that day, the church has had many encounters with the Holy Spirit, which is why he have red paraments, and why we proclaim “Come Holy Spirit!” As we need the Spirit of God to fill us again and again, so that we have the conviction, the power, and the ability to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. So that more people will know Jesus Christ, and together with them, we can change the world. So that we can build a more loving church, so that we can feed the poor better, so that we can clothe the naked better, provide more fresh drinking water, fight injustice better, promote peace better, spread love better, and build communities more effectively. Yet without the power of God, the power of the Holy Spirit, we as a church will wither and become nothing. We need God and the power of the Holy Spirit.

I would like to close with prayer called, a “Children’s Prayer to the Holy Spirit”. Here is how it goes, “Come Holy Spirit…bring me today…love, joy and peace… in all that I say. Come Holy Spirit…help me be like you…showing kindness and goodness in all that I do. Come Holy Spirit Please Bless my Family and Friends…  In all that we do! And bless the many people…that might not know and love you.” May the Holy Spirit fill us all this day and give us the gifts of the Spirit, which are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. With that said my brothers and sisters, I said Happy Pentecost, and “Come Holy Spirit!” Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Seventh Sunday of Easter/Mother's Day/Ascension Sunday - 05/08/16 Sermon - “I pray they will be one"

Sunday 05/08/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “I pray they will be one”

                            

New Testament Scripture: Psalm 97

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Revelation 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21

Gospel Lesson: John 17:20-26

          My friends, my sisters and brothers, welcome on this the Seventh Sunday of Easter, this Mother’s Day, and this Ascension Sunday. In this season of Easter, this season of resurrection, we proclaim, He is risen! He is risen indeed! This season of Easter however, will end with Pentecost Sunday, which is next Sunday May 15^th. I would encourage you all to wear red next Sunday, to celebrate the fire filled power of the Holy Spirit that showed up on the day of Pentecost so long ago.

          Today, is also the day that we get to formally honor our mothers, and all mothers. While everyday could be argued as being Mother’s Day, today we honor and appreciate all woman who take on any mothering role. As a church, we thank for your love, your wiliness to be a mother, and as a result, much of this service this morning is dedicated to mothers, both past and present.

This Sunday is also Ascension Sunday. While the actual Ascension Day of Jesus Christ was celebrated a few days ago on Thursday, we celebrate this Sunday, the Ascension of Lord Jesus into heaven. In the Book of Acts 1:6-11 it says:

^“So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” (Acts 1:6-11, NRSV).

          While Jesus ascended or went to heaven, we believe as Christians, that Jesus Christ will return one day to usher in the fullness of the Kingdom of God here on earth. In this scripture from the Book of Acts, Jesus Christ promised the disciples that the Holy Spirit, or the third person of God, would show up in a powerful and a new way. This event will occur next Sunday, on the holiday of Pentecost.

          This morning on this Seventh Sunday of Easter, this Ascension Sunday, and this Mother’s Day, I want to talk about unity. In the gospel of John reading for this morning, Jesus tells his disciples that he prays “they will be one” (Jn. 17:21a, CEB). This country, this world, and the Christian Church has always been filled with people who have differences. We have Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, Yankees Fans, and Met Fans. We have people that have this position on this, and this position on that, yet Jesus Christ calls us to unity.

I remember talking to an older gentleman once, who was a staunch Republican. When he went to vote, it didn’t matter who was running he told me, he would check R, R, and R, and pull the lever. Yet this man told me that he had close and personal friends that were Democrats.

My point here is that we as people will never agree on everything, but we need to make sure that we love and value all people, without exceptions. We need to make sure that we create room in our churches for all people. Do we have to agree with everything that everyone is saying, no, but this morning Jesus Christ says, “I pray they will be one” (Jn. 17:21a, CEB). This morning, Jesus Christ was telling the disciples and the early church that he wanted them to be unified in him.

As I said, we have people in this church with differences, but all love each other, don’t we? We have people in this church that have grown up in different Christian denominations, but we still love each other don’t we? We are united in Jesus Christ, who calls us this morning to “be one” (Jn. 17:21a, CEB).

You see my brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ was and is a unifier. Jesus took fisherman, a tax collector, a converted religious leader or two, and etc., and put all of these people together. While they were all different, Jesus unified them all, and called them to stay unified. In order to be unified, Jesus calls us to love and care for each other. We can have our differences, but we are called to love and care for each other. We cannot be hurtful, harmful, instead we must be loving, compassionate, and caring.

In the way that Jesus challenges the disciples and us to be unified this morning, I bet that many of us can say that our mothers were or are still unifiers. How many of us can remember going to big family functions, even though some of the family that came we didn’t or don’t like, or didn’t get along with? How many of you came because your mother or grandmother invited you? At these family functions you likely sat around the table with some people with different political views, different social views, and or ideas. Yet to many mothers and grandmothers, they didn’t see us as Republicans, or Democrats, or this, or that, they saw us as God’s children. I believe that this morning that Jesus Christ looked at his disciples and the early church, even though they were a ragtag group of people, as God’s children.

When we begin to look past what people are labeled as, or what political party they are in, we can begin to see them as flesh and blood people just like us. I believe that Jesus intentionally chose a diverse group of disciples, so that through them, they would “be one” (Jn. 17:21a, CEB). I also think that within our families, within our churches, this country, and this world, we will always have differences. Yet we can be united in Jesus Christ.

This unity, this idea that Jesus said, “I pray they will be one,” was modeled for me by mother, as she has always brought the family together (Jn. 17:21a, CEB). A family that was diverse, and had many kinds of people, yet at mom’s table we all said grace together, as we all bowed to one Lord and savior. Jesus Christ is what unifies us, and I think that for many of us we can say that our mothers, our grandmother’s modeled this so well.

Now to be fair, we also have great men and fathers who have and continue to do all of these things. My Grandpa Winkelman was a great unifier in our family, as we brought us together. I also remember one time when my Grandpa Winkelman and Grandma Winkelman had a cat that had a litter of kittens. In being very young, about 7-8 years old, I asked my grandpa why these little 1-2 week old kittens still had their eyes closed. Well, my Grandpa Winkelman said in response, “Well Paul, all cats are born Democrats, but then they open their eyes”. Since I was like seven or eight years old at the time, as I said, I didn’t get the joke until later. My mother, has also been a lifelong Democrat, and she did find the humor of this joke. So many men, fathers, and grandfathers have also modeled unity well, but today we celebrate mothers, and those who take on a mothering role.

I know that for my grandmothers and my mother, nothing brought them more joy to see their children and family coming together in love, getting along, and laughing. Jesus calls us to unity as well. We are free to hold our differences, but while loving and respecting all people, Jesus calls us to be unified in him.

In our reading from Psalm 97 this morning, the Psalmist writes that God rules all, and that we should rejoice in God (Ps. 97, CEB). The idea that we should be united in God’s love.

In our reading from the Book or Revelation from this morning, we have few sections of scripture from last chapter of the book. In these sections, they discuss the return of Jesus Christ to earth, how the people that love him with be rewarded, and how we will be unified in him (Rev. 22:12-14, 16-17, 20-21, CEB).

Unity, unity, unity. Can we have unity as people, as town or city, as a county, as a state, as a country, and as a world, if have differences? Jesus Christ believed that it was possible through him and in him to have unity. Not to agree on everything, but to agree on our love and service to and for Jesus Christ.

In looking more closely at our gospel reading from the gospel of John from this morning, Jesus talks about praying for his disciples and all who believe in him. Jesus says, “I’m not praying only for them but also for those who believe in me because of their word. I pray they will be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” (Jn. 17:21-21a, CEB). Jesus Christ says, the ways that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, that is how close I want you to be to me. Jesus then says, “I pray that they also will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. I’ve given them the glory that you gave me so that they can be one just as we are one” (Jn. 17:21b-22, CEB). Jesus is saying that we wants the disciples and all people to believe in him and be unified this, so that the world will see this.

Jesus continues on saying, “I’m in them and you are in me so that they will be made perfectly one. Then the world will know that you sent me and that you have loved them just as you loved them” (Jn. 17:23, CEB). Jesus says that when we are in him, we are united, and when we love each other, people see him working in and through us.

Jesus then says, “Father, I want those you gave me to be with me where I am. Then they can see my glory, which you gave me because you love me before the creation of the world” (Jn. 17:24, CEB). So before time, before creation, was God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Further, Jesus wanted his disciples and us to be united so that the world might see who he is, and the power of his gospel. To love our neighbor, and all people.

Jesus then concludes this gospel reading with the prayer he began in the verse I just read. In the last two verses, Jesus says, “Righteous Father, even the world didn’t know you, but I’ve known you, and these believers know that you sent me. I’ve made you name know to them and will continue to make it know that your love for me will be in them, and I myself will be in them” (Jn. 17:25-26, CEB).

The mission statement of the United Methodist Church, is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”. When the church is united in love, the way many of our mothers, or grandmothers, or mother figures have loved us, our witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ is much more effective and powerful. While we might disagree on certain things, let us be united in the love of Jesus Christ that binds us together. In doing this, may all of the people we meet, may all of the people who enter into this church, see the love and power of the gospel of Jesus Christ through us. For when we are truly rooted in the love, grace, mercy, and power of Jesus Christ, then we love everybody, without distinction. On this Mother’s Day, let us remember and honor our mothers, our grandmothers, and all mothers. Let us remember that Jesus Christ was raised in part by his mother Mary, who nurtured and loved him. May we take the unity that many of us got from the women in our lives, and may we be united in the love of Jesus Christ. For when we come together, we are strong, we can move mountains, and through the power of the Holy Spirit we can change the world! All praise be to God, his son Jesus Christ, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.