Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - First Sunday of Advent/United Methodist Student Sunday - 11/27/16 Sermon - “Isaiah's prophecy" ("The Messiah is coming" Series) (Part 1 of 5)

Sunday 11/27/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Isaiah’s Prophecy”

(“The Messiah is coming” Series – Part 1 of 5)

Old Testament Scripture: Isaiah 2:1-5

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Romans 13:11-14

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 24:36-44

          Welcome again my friends, my brothers and sisters, on this the First Sunday in this the season of Advent. This season of hope, of wonder, of joy, of love, and of anticipation. This season of Advent is our season of preparation for the birth of Jesus Christ, the savior of the world. The Season of Christmas itself will begin at midnight on Christmas Eve, and we will then have as the song says, “Twelve Days of Christmas,” as the season of Christmas is twelve-days.

          In some Christian Churches, it is the tradition to sing no Christmas hymns in worship until the twelve-days of Christmas actually begin. To this I say, “bah-humbug,” as every Sunday of Advent we will sing more and more Christmas hymns.

          This Sunday, is also a special giving Sunday in the life of the United Methodist Church. This special giving Sunday is “United Methodist Student Sunday”. Your special gifts on this Sunday, go to fund United Methodist students who will become pastors or a variety of other professions. Your gifts towards this special giving Sunday will allow some of our best and brightest to get a college education, to then do amazing things in the name of Jesus Christ. If you would like to give to this special giving Sunday during our offering this morning, please make yours checks out to UNYUMC, and indicate your funds as being for United Methodist Student Sunday on your check memo lines or envelopes. We will then make sure that these funds get to conference, and then to the students that need them.

          As I said, we are now in a season of waiting for the coming of the savior of the world, Jesus Christ. The hope that I have for us all, is that we can find the peace of Jesus Christ during this busy and sometimes very stressful season. I also hope in this season and always that we can strive to love, to live, and to reach out more, to be more like Jesus.

          So have you found the hope of Jesus Christ yet in this season of Advent? You see my sisters and brothers, Jesus Christ, “the Messiah is coming”. Are we ready for his arrival? Are we ready with joy, hope, wonder, and anticipation for the one who will change our lives forever?

          As I preached last Sunday, many of the prophets and many of the people in the times of the Old Testament lived through circumstances that were sometimes very difficult. The Jewish people had a cycle where they would go from peace and prosperity, to war, slavery, and exile. From great joy and hope, to misery and despair. This cycle of ups and downs can be seen as we read through the Psalms in the Old Testament. In some ways, aren’t our own lives like this? Sometimes were up, and sometimes were down.

          Last week, I preached mainly from the Old Testament scripture from prophet Jeremiah. In this message, I spoke about how Jeremiah predicted that a leader would come, a decedent of the great King David. This leader would be great, would be righteous, and would save his people. This leader would change us and the world forever.

          For us Christians, we believe that this leader, this messiah, this prince of peace has already come to us in the name of Jesus Christ. Yet we still live in world that desperately needs hope, joy, love, and a savior.

          Every week in this church and many other churches we read a few different scriptures in our worship services. We often read a scripture from the Old Testament, a scripture from the New Testament, and then a reading from one of the four gospels, which also from the New Testament. While we tend to read only three scriptures every Sunday, our lectionary scriptures, that our church and many churches follow, give us four scriptures every Sunday.

          We only read three of them, as to not overwhelm us with trying to understand too much scripture in one worship service. These scriptures are picked long in advance by the church, and are picked out in such a way that the Old Testament scriptures, the chosen Psalm, the New Testament scriptures, and the gospel reading will all connect together. Today the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah will connect to the New Testament scriptures.

          Next Sunday, our Finger Lakes District Superintendent will not be preaching from the lectionary however, as he has chosen two scriptures that will correlate or come together.

          This morning, the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 2 predicts the coming of the Messiah, the Savior, Jesus Christ. So let us on this First Sunday in Advent see what the great prophet Isaiah predicted about the coming of the Messiah.

          Our reading from Isaiah 2 begins with: “The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all nations shall stream to it” (Isa. 2:1-2, NRSV). My sisters and brothers, Isaiah is alluding to messiah coming.

          Isaiah then says, “Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, the house of the God of Jacob; and he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths” (Isa. 2:3a, NRSV). God will restore Israel.

          The next part of this scripture really gets to the heart of what Isaiah is telling us this morning. Isaiah says, “For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword again nation, neither shall they learn to war any more” (Isa. 2:3b-4, NRSV). Isaiah’s prophecy this morning is that the Prince of Peace, the messiah, the savior, a decedent of the great King David, is coming.   

          Isaiah then ends this scripture by saying, “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” (Isa. 2:5, NRSV). Jesus tells us in the gospels that he is the light of the world.

          In the reading from Psalm 122 that we did not read for this morning, it discusses reaching the gates of Jerusalem and standing in the house of the Lord. How fitting, as this day we are discussing the coming of the Lord of life, Jesus Christ. The one who will reconcile us all to God’s abundant grace.

          After we have read Isaiah’ prophecy of the coming of the Messiah in the Old Testament, we then can look at the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans in the New Testament. In this letter to the Romans, Jesus of course has already come, has already lived, and has already died and rose again.

          In this scripture, the Apostle Paul discusses not the hope of the coming messiah, but instead Paul says what should do now that Jesus Christ has come. The Apostle Paul says, “Let us then lay aside the works of darkness and put on the armor of light; let us live honorably as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in debauchery and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provisions for the flesh, to gratify its desires” (Rom. 13:13-14, NRSV).

          In this scripture from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, Christ is not predicted to come, he has already come. The Apostle Paul then tells us to believe and live like the Messiah, like Jesus Christ.

          As it turns out in our gospel of Matthew reading for this morning, we have a scripture on the second coming of Jesus Christ. So in Isaiah and in Psalm 122 we hear ideas, prophecies about the coming of the messiah. We hear about the hope that is to come in Jesus Christ.

          The Apostle Paul then tell us a little bit about how to live, follow, and serve our now arrived messiah, Jesus Christ. At this point, Jesus Christ has already been born, has already lived, has already died, has already been raised, and has promised to return one day in glory.

          In the reading from this morning from the gospel of Matthew, we hear as I said, of Jesus’s then triumphant return to earth.

          Quite a lot in one set of Sunday morning scriptures! We go from the prediction of the messiah, to living like the messiah that came, to the last line of the gospel of Matthew reading for this morning that says, “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at unexpected hour” (Mt. 24:44, NRSV). What this very means is that Jesus Christ will return one day unexpectedly, and without warning.

          As you can see in an extreme way this morning, the scriptures we are given to read every week correlate, and connect. This morning, we begin with Isaiah’s prophecy of the coming messiah, and then this leads the Apostle Paul telling us how to better live for Christ. We then hear in the gospel of Matthew about Christ’s triumphant return.

          Yet all of these realities about Jesus Christ, who he is, what he would be, and what he still is, began long before he ever walked the earth. In this season of hope, joy, love, and anticipation, the prophet Isaiah this morning is pointing us to very reason we have this season of Advent. The prophet Isaiah is pointing us to the fact that “The Messiah is coming”.

          Friends, brothers and sisters, in this season of Advent, are we drawing closer to Christ? Are excited that he is coming? Are seeking daily to love others more? “The Messiah is coming,” to show us a new way to love, heal, and forgive, to reconcile himself to all of creation. Do we have joy, love, hope, and anticipation about this?

          It is my hope that in this season of Holy Advent that we rediscover the love, the hope, and the joy of Jesus Christ, and that we then share this with the world. In Jesus name. Amen.

         

         

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Reign of Christ/Christ the King Sunday - 11/20/16 Sermon - “What did Jeremiah mean?"

Sunday 11/20/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “What did Jeremiah mean?”

                            

Old Testament Scripture: Jeremiah 23:1-6

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Colossians 1:11-20

Gospel Lesson: Luke 1:68-79

          My friends, my sisters and brothers, welcome again on this the Reign of Christ or Christ the King Sunday. For many weeks up until this Sunday, we have been in the season after Pentecost, or common time, or ordinary time. This season comes to end today. Next Sunday we will begin a new season, as we will enter the season of Advent. Yes, if you can believe it, next Sunday is the first Sunday of Advent! Soon then, it will be the season of Christmas.

          In this Sunday being our Reign of Christ or Christ the King Sunday, and in it being the end of the season after Pentecost, I want to give us a definition of what this Sunday is. Essentially, this is a Sunday that we honor and praise our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Here is one definition: “The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, commonly referred to as the Feast of Christ the King, is a relatively recent addition to the Western liturgical calendar, having been instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI for the Roman Catholic Church. In 1970 its Roman Catholic observance was moved to the final Sunday of Ordinary Time. Therefore, the earliest date on which it can occur is 20 November and the latest is 27 November. The Anglican, Lutheran, and many other Protestant churches adopted it along with the Revised Common Lectionary. It is also observed on the same computed date as the final Sunday of the ecclesiastical year, the Sunday before the First Sunday of Advent, by Western rite parishes of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feast_of_Christ_the_King). Did you get all that? So given this, many churches celebrate Jesus Christ, the king, the savior, the prince of peace on this Sunday.

According to a United Methodist Church website, it says: “We observe Christ the King on the last Sunday after Pentecost, which is also the last Sunday of the Christian year and the Sunday before the new year begins with Advent. According to our Book of Worship (page 419), traditionally Christ the King is set aside as a celebration of the coming reign of Jesus Christ and the completion of creation” (http://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/a-service-of-song-and-worship-for-christ-the-king-sunday).

So this Sunday then is about the preparation for entering into a season of hope, joy, anticipation, and wonder, as prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas. This Sunday is also about the work that we continue to do, and the world that Christian Church is still trying to build together.

With season of Advent beginning next Sunday, I will be beginning a preaching series next Sunday, called “The Messiah is coming” series. This will be a five-week series, although week two of this series on Sunday December 4^th will be interrupted, as our district superintendent, the Rev. Jeff McDowell will be preaching on another topic. I will therefore in week three of series, catch you all up on week two.

Of the three readings that we have read for this morning, from Jeremiah 23:1-6, Colossians 1:11-20, and Luke 1:68-69, they are talking about the one who is to come, or the one who has come.

Of all of the people that have ever walked this earth, it would seem that most people would place Jesus Christ as the most famous person that has ever lived. Why is this the case?

 Well, this morning we have some scriptures that speak prophetically. When I say prophetically, I mean that some of our readings this morning speak about future events that have yet to occur, and then some that have occurred. 

What I want to focus this morning then, is our scripture from the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah 23:1-6. I want to look at this scripture, discuss what it means, and then thread it together with the other two readings from this morning, in an attempt to connect all three of these readings together.

In looking at Jeremiah, he was a prophet called by God, as were all of the other prophets of the Old Testament, like Isaiah, and Nehemiah, and Ezekiel, just to name a few. These prophets were called at different times in the Old Testament era to speak God’s truths, love, power, justice, and hope to the Jewish people. Through the tumultuous history that Jewish people have had, they have had periods of joy and prosperity. The Jewish people have also had periods of captivity, great suffering, and anguish. In this midst of these different periods of time joy and suffering, many of these prophets discussed the one who was to come. These prophets discussed a person that would come and save Israel from its misery, from its bondage, from its suffering, from its captivity, and from itself. This is why we sing every Advent “O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel. That mourns in lonely exile here, Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall come to thee, O Israel” (https://www.carols.org.uk/o_come_come_emmanuel.htm).

This hymn that we have sung for centuries is about the promised messiah. This messiah, this “mashiach” as he is called in Hebrew, was the promised one. Some said that this messiah would come in and save the Jewish people, as a conquering king, like the great King David. Many hoped that “mashiach” would kick out the Roman Empire who controlled and ruled Israel, or just save them from hardship, oppression, and misery.

The idea of a savior, or messiah, or “mashiach,” is an idea that some branches of Judaism believe in, and is spoken of through the Old Testament. Who is this “mashiach,” and how do we know he has come?

In looking at our scripture reading from the prophet Jeremiah from this morning, we have a prophecy from Jeremiah about messiah, about “mashiach”. 

Jeremiah begins this reading by talking about what messiah will not be. Jeremiah says, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of pasture! Says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people; It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord” (Jer. 23:1-2, NRSV). I believe that Jeremiah is talking about failed kings and leaders here. I believe that Jeremiah is saying, messiah will not ignore and harm the people, but that he will love and unite the people.

Jeremiah then writes, “Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD” (Jer. 23:3-4, NRSV).

Jeremiah is saying that God will raise up righteous and just leaders. Jeremiah also discussing how righteous and just leaders should live and should lead.

Jeremiah then goes even further and says, “The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land” (Jer. 23:5, NRSV). What do you think that Jeremiah meant when he said this? God will “raise up for David a righteous branch” (Jer. 23:5, NRSV). What does that mean?

For the majority of Christian scholars and many Jewish scholars, they would say that Jeremiah is speaking prophetically here. Many scholars would say that Jeremiah is speaking of the coming messiah, or “mashiach”.

Jeremiah then concludes by saying this, “In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will called: “The LORD is our righteousness” (Jer. 23:6, NRSV). It is pretty clear to me in this last verse that Jeremiah is saying that the messiah is coming. Jeremiah tells us what messiah, or “mashiach” will be like, and what he will do. As Christians, we believe that the fulfillment of the messianic and prophetic promises in the Old Testament have come true in Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the promised messiah, “mashiach,” the savior.

In 2 Samuel 7:16 Nathan tells King David that God said to tell him this, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever” (2 Sam. 7:16, NRSV). This means that the messiah, “mashiach” must be a descendent or relation of the great King David. This is true, because Nathan told King David that God promised that King David’s throne would be established forever.

The prophet Micah tells us in 5:2, that messiah, “mashiach” must be born in Bethlehem, or the “City of David”. The first chapter of the gospel of Matthew in fact, is a lineage that connects and proves that Jesus Christ was a decedent of the great King David.

Christians my brothers and sisters, are claiming that this Jesus is “Emmanuel,” or “God with us,” and that he is the promised one of old.

In our reading from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians from this morning, the Apostle Paul says that Jesus is indeed the messiah, “mashiach”, God in the flesh. The Apostle Paul says speaking Jesus that, “He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin” (Col. 11:13-14, NRSV). This sounds similar to what Jeremiah prophesized to us this morning.

The Apostle Paul then tells us that Jesus, “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, thing visit and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers of powers—all things have been created through him and for him” (Col. 11:15-16, NRSV). Friends, sisters and brothers, the Apostle Paul is saying that Jesus is messiah, “mashiach,” the decedent of the great King David himself.

In the gospel reading for this morning, we have the prophetic words of the great prophet Zechariah being retold in Luke 1. In verse 1:69, the prophet Zechariah had said of God, “He has raised up a mighty savior for us in the house of his servant David, and he spoke through the mouth of his holy prophets from old, that would be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us” (Luke 1:69-71, NRSV). Luke goes to talk about other aspects and ideas of this messiah, “mashiach,” the coming savior.

The big question for me then, is that when Jeremiah said what did this morning, was he talking about Jesus, or was he talking about someone else? You see we still have suffering in the world. We still have great poverty, inequality, war, strife, hatred, and sin. How can this be so? Further Jesus didn’t turn out to be a conquering hero that kicked the Romans out of Israel, as some Jews had hoped.

I believe, along with the majority of Christian that Jeremiah was eluding to Jesus Christ this morning. I believe that when Luke quoted the messianic prophecy of the great prophet Zechariah in Luke 1, that he did so because he believed that Jesus was the messiah, “mashiach”. I also believe that the Apostle Paul in his letter to the Colossians from this morning was also talking about who Jesus is, and that he is the messiah.

I mean we even have pictures of Jesus all over. If Jeremiah is saying what I think he is saying then, how does this change us? Do we simply accept Christ as messiah, as savior? Or we try to see the world as he saw it? Do we seek to go out there and change it?

If we still see a world that has so much brokenness therefore, and if Jesus has commanded us to do something about it, then how can we use the power of the messiah to change the world? How can we created a world of love, peace, mercy, and justice? How messiah, “mashiach,” change us from the inside out? Asking Jesus into your heart and into your life is one of the most freeing and incredible things that you will ever do. Be ready though, because Jesus will then call you to join us and change the world together.

So friends, what did the prophet Jeremiah mean with what he said to us this morning? This Sunday is after all, the Reign of Christ, or Christ the King Sunday, which means that we are declaring that not only that Jesus is the savior, but that he is our Lord and our King. This is why we have Christ the King Sunday, because to us as Christians we celebrate the Jesus is our Lord and our Savior.

Next week when we begin the season of Advent, we will continue to follow the story that leads up the birth of the one we call messiah, “mashiach,” our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

          

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Veteran's Day Sunday/26th Sunday after Pentecost - 11/13/16 Sermon - “Being an imitator of Christ"

Sunday 11/13/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “Being an imitator of Christ”

                            

Old Testament Scripture: Isaiah 12

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Gospel Lesson: Luke 21:5-19

          My brothers and sisters, my friends, welcome on this the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, and on this special Veteran’s Day Sunday. Today we celebrate the Twenty-Sixth Sunday after the birth of the Christian Church on the day of Pentecost, and today we also celebrate and honor our men and women who have or are serving in our armed forces. We also celebrate and honor this morning our brave men and women who serve as police officers, fire fighters, EMTs, and in other roles serving and protecting our communities and this country.

          We also, as we all know, gather for worship this morning on the heels of one of the toughest and one of the most controversial presidential election cycles in our nation’s history. It was an election cycle where our presidential candidates, and all other candidates fought hard races. In the Unites States being a representative democracy, the people of this country have voted. Some of us might be pleased or disappointed with the results of some or all of the elections. As some grieve, and as some celebrate, let us come together as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. Let us remember that God is on the throne, that Jesus Christ is risen, and that Jesus Christ is still the sovereign savior of the world. Let us remember that Jesus and his gospel are still the hope of the world. Let us move forward together in love, through Jesus Christ.

          With this said, the title of my sermon on this Twenty-Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, and this Veteran’s Day Sunday is, “Being an imitator of Christ”.

          I will touch on the gospel lesson from the gospel of Luke from this morning, but this morning I will mainly be preaching out of our scripture from 2 Thessalonians 3:6-16. In this scripture, the Apostle Paul encourages the people in the church in Thessalonica, or the Thessalonians, to “imitate” him and other Christians like him (2. Thess. 3:7, NRSV). The Apostle Paul is telling the people of Thessalonica that he taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ in its purest form. As a result, the Apostle Paul tells the Thessalonians to imitate him and to imitate his followers. The Apostle Paul says this as he is trying to “imitate” Jesus.

          You see my sisters and brothers, there are two large aspects of the Christian faith. On the one hand, there is what we as Christians believe in coming to know Jesus Christ. On the other hand, there is the lifelong reality of who we are becoming and growing into in Jesus Christ.

          One of my favorite books from my seminary days is a book “The Imitation of Christ,” by Thomas A Kempis. Thomas A Kempis was a Roman Catholic monk who lived in Germany from 1380-1471, and who devoted his life to becoming like Jesus. He first wrote this book “The Imitation of Christ” in 1418, and it is still in print and highly read today.

          The point of this book is to look at what we do once we find in faith in God, in Jesus Christ. How do our lives and our faith take shape, once we walk through the front door of the house of this thing call faith? How do we then navigate through the houses of faith in our lives, as we seek to grow in faith, and become more like Jesus? Or in the wake of massive election cycle, how do we as people, as a Church, and as a country, move forward together? In general, this book is an outline of how to live our lives in such a way that we become more like Jesus Christ. This book therefore, talks about living our lives in “The Imitation of Christ”. For you see my sisters and brothers, God is on the throne and is sovereign, come what may.

So this is largely what I am going to be talking about this morning. This idea of not just who we are right now as Christians, and not just what we believe and know right now as Christians. Instead, I want to talk about our life long goal to aspire to be, as Thomas A Kempis said nearly 600 years ago, to be in “The Imitation of Christ”.

          Living lives that are in “The Imitation of Christ,” takes us from just believing and knowing then, to living, growing, and becoming like Jesus. When we become Christians for the first time, we aren’t finished products, as we are supposed to all work our whole lives long, on being “Imitators of Jesus Christ”.

          In this Sunday being Veteran’s Day Sunday, many of our soldiers and our people that serve in the police force, the fire department, EMT’s, and etc., come into their new vocations not knowing everything. Some new soldiers for example, go to basic training scared, wet behind ears, and almost clueless. Like new Christians, news soldiers, police officers, fire fighters, EMT’s, and etc. work to grow, develop, move up in rank, and hopefully to strive for excellence in service to others.

          I remember back to my freshman year of college at SUNY Potsdam. When I went to college in 1999, I was proud that my Step-father Mike Therio was serving our country in the United States Air Force. As a result, I strolled over to the Air Force Detachment building that was through Clarkson University in Potsdam. I then signed up for a year of ROTC, or Reserve Officer Training Corps.

          In doing this, I learned very quickly the three “Core Values” of the United States Air Force, which are: “Integrity First,” “Service before Self,” and “Excellence in all we do”. I learned quickly that if I had become an Air Force officer, which I did not end up doing, as I pursued being a public school teacher that would and be expected to grow and lead. In that one year of ROTC training, I grew a lot from the learning, the striving, and pushing myself. In this year of ROTC, I began to understand a little more of the process of becoming a leader. I also remember coming home from college freshman year and telling my step-dad who was a staff sergeant at the time, that if I became a 2^nd Lieutenant, that he would one day have to salute me. I cannot tell you what he said to me “off the record” here in church this morning, as it is not appropriate.

          What’s my point? Our faith, in a similar way to those who serve in the military, the police force, the fire department, and etc., isn’t just about the beginning, it is the process of becoming who God has called us to be. Many Christians, pastors, and soldiers have become more Godly or more like Jesus over many years of seeking to be “an imitator of Christ”.

          In looking at the scripture from 2 Thessalonians from this morning, the Apostle Paul is teaching the new Christians at Thessalonica. He is teaching them to reach higher, grow more, and to become more like Jesus Christ.

          This scripture begins by saying, “Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us” (2 Thess. 3:6, NRSV). Were any of us here ever warned by a pastor, a military leader, or someone else on the mistakes that we shouldn’t make? Maybe they told us where to not go, or the kind of trouble that we shouldn’t get into? In this scripture from 2 Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul tells the church in Thessalonica to stay away from lazy people who are not living and working for God.

          The Apostle Paul goes on to say, “For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labour we worked day and night, so that we might not burden any of you” (2 Thess. 3:7-8, NRSV). The Apostle Paul is telling the Thessalonians and is telling us, to “imitate” him and his followers, who are working hard to “imitate” Christ. In this case, he is also telling the people in Thessalonica to work hard for what they have, not to be lazy, and to not take things away from others.

          The Apostle Paul continues on by saying, “This was not because we do not have the right, but in order to give you an example to imitate” (2 Thess. 3:9, NRSV). The Apostle Paul is telling the Thessalonians that he could probably sit around, not work, and be served by others, but that this is not what Christ taught him. As a result, if the Apostle Paul is going to be an “Imitator of Christ,” he must work hard for what he has, and if the Thessalonians want to “Imitate Christ,” then they must do the same. Another way to say it is, the Apostle Paul is attempting to “practice what he preaches” here. He is saying that if he is trying to “Imitate Christ,” that he needs to be authentic, so that the people who “imitate” the Apostle Paul are imitating him who “imitates” Christ.

          In going on with this scripture, the Apostle Paul then says, “For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. For we heard that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work” (2 Thess. 3:10-11, NRSV). The Apostle Paul is then saying that Jesus wants us to not be idle, but to be working. I would say that most of our soldiers, police officers, firefighters, and etc., work very hard. The Apostle Paul is also saying that if you want to “Imitate” Jesus, one way you can do this is by working hard and earning your own way.

          The Apostle Paul then finishes this scripture by saying, “Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right” (2 Thess. 3:12-13, NRSV). Among the many other ways that the Apostle Paul encourages us to “imitate” Jesus Christ is to work hard, love others, and earn your way. On this day we honor and celebrate our great veterans who have and continue to do this very thing.

          In briefly connecting our gospel reading to this sermon for this morning, in the gospel of Luke passage for this morning, Jesus says that the great temple of Jerusalem will one day soon be destroyed (Lk. 21:5-6, NRSV). Jesus then tells us to follow him, his teachings, and his truth, and to not let ourselves be lead astray by false prophets and false teachers (Lk. 21:7-8, NRSV).

          Jesus then discusses wars and upheaval, famines, and plagues that will occur, that will usher in the end of days (Lk 21:9-10, NRSV).

          Jesus concludes by telling us that a day will come that we may be persecuted and oppressed for our faith in him (Lk. 21:12-16, NRSV). Jesus says that God will honor us, and that we see glory for our faithfulness in Him (Lk. 21:17-19, NRSV).

          So how does this gospel reading connect then with being an “Imitator of Christ”? Well Jesus is saying, as the Apostle Paul was saying, that it isn’t enough to just to believe in him, but that we have to strive to be like or “imitate” Jesus, come what may. The lived Christian faith take a lifetime for someone to become made into “The Imitation of Christ”. The road to get there might be hard, there might be many challenges, because it isn’t just about who we are now, it is also about who we are becoming.

          In this way on this day we honor all our veterans and all of our men and women who have served in variety of capacities. May we all continue becoming, and not just believing and walking through the front door of faith. May we continue to grow, to develop, and to work to be made into “The Imitation of Christ”. Amen.

          

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - All Saint's Sunday/Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - 11/06/16 Sermon - “What it means to be a saint"

Sunday 11/06/16 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “What it means to be a saint”

                            

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 149

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Ephesians 1:11-23

Gospel Lesson: Luke 6:20-31

          My friends, my sisters and brothers, welcome again on this our All Saint’s Sunday, and this the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. This Sunday that is twenty-five Sundays after the Holy Spirit moved in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and the Christian Church was born.

          This past Tuesday, November 1^st, was also All Saint’s Day. On November 1^st every year, many Western Christian Churches honor the great men and women who have gone on before us, and who have served God and the church. Since we don’t usually have a church service on a Tuesdays though, we have taken All Saint’s Day and turned it into All Saint’s Sunday.

          This means that the scriptures that we have for this morning are the All Saint’s Day scriptures from Tuesday November 1^st, and this worship service then, has largely been planned around All Saint’s Day.

          So once again, what is All Saint’s Day, and why do we celebrate it? Well here is one definition of All Saint’s Day that I used in my November newsletter article: “All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, Hallowmas, Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints, is a Christian festival celebrated in honour of all the saints, known and unknown. In Western Christianity, it is celebrated on 1 November by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Methodist Church, the Lutheran Church, and other Protestant churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church and the Eastern Catholic churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day).

          So All Saint’s Day, and All Saint’s Sunday, is a day that we celebrate all of the saints of the church. Given this, what I want to talk about this morning, is “what it means to be a saint”.

          Now to begin this, I am not talking about a professional football team that is in New Orleans. I can imagine that the requirements to be a New Orleans Saints Football player are a little bit different than what I am talking about this morning.

           So what is a Saint? What does it mean to be a Saint? In the Roman Catholic Church, sainthood is title conferred by a Pope. This title is conferred after miracles are reported to have occurred around that exemplary person’s name.

          A general way to look at what a saint is though, is someone who serves Jesus Christ, the church, and who did everything they could to spread the gospel and to make the world better.

          According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a saint can be defined as:

1. One officially recognized especially through canonization as preeminent for holiness.

2a: One of the spirits of the departed in heaven: angel.

3a: One of God's chosen and usually Christian people.

3b: A member of any of various Christian bodies.

4:  One eminent for piety or virtue.

5:  An illustrious predecessor.

          So we have a lot of definitions of what a saint is on this All Saint’s Sunday. Generally speaking as I said though, anyone that loved Jesus Christ and served the church, is in our church honored this day. In fact, we honor some people who have passed on to be with God within the past few years this morning, by having read their names aloud to organ chimes. Some of us might know many of the names that were read, but some might not.

          Today is also a day that we get to remember those first disciples of Jesus Christ, most of which according to church tradition were brutally killed for living and professing the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is a special holiday that we remember the first recorded Christian Martyr, Stephen, who was stoned to death in the Book of Acts. Today we remember the Apostle Paul, and the many other Godly men and women recorded in the Bible.

          Today we remember the many men and women throughout history that loved Jesus, and love him still. Men and women who sacrificed so much, so that people would know Jesus, so that this very church would be here today, and so that the world would be better. I think of many of the great saints of the church today, such as Saint Francis of Assisi, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Saint Lawrence, Martin Luther, John Wesley, Saint Mother Theresa, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

          You see in the United Methodist Church, we don’t grant formal titles of sainthood, but we acknowledge all people who have lived, sacrificed, suffered, and have worked to build the world that Jesus Christ envisioned.

          So many of these saints’ names and their stories however, have been lost to history. Some of these saints have no know burial plots or no headstones. Their names have been forgotten, and they are not recorded in any history books. These many, are people that gave all they had, loved boldly, served the sick, served the hungry, and served the less fortunate. Some of these many were brutally killed, and some of them are still being brutally killed today. These are the saints who are nameless to history, but faithful for eternity. People who boldly proclaimed and lived the gospel of Jesus Christ, and some of them died for doing so.

          For some of us though, becoming like Jesus Christ, being sanctified, being purified, and being made into the image of God is born through suffering, hardship, and struggle.

          What I am trying to say my brothers and sisters, is that I fear that some versions of modern day Christianity in Western culture do not teach the full reality of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It would seem that some churches teach of the great joy of Jesus Christ, the love of the church, and the power of our Christian faith. All of these things are great things, and we should teach them. Yet are we teaching people that our faith might actually cost us something?

          For example, if you felt God calling you to illegally enter the country of North Korea to spread the gospel and serve the people, would you do it? Would you risk your life, and everything you had, if you felt called by God to do that?

          While all people who have passed on to be with the Lord are celebrated by us this day as saints, how far are we willing to go?

          In the Roman Catholic Church, the goal of every layperson is to become a saint. In the United Methodist Church tradition, we would say that the goal of our lives is become like God, like Jesus. We call this becoming “Entirely Sanctified”, purified, and made righteous, as to be in the full image of God. This is the fullness, the maximum extent of what it means to be a saint. This means that when people look upon a person like this, they see holiness, love, righteousness, and a saintly person.

          For so many of the great saints of the church though, there path to this sainthood or this “Entire Sanctification” was one of incredible suffering. According to church tradition all but one of the original twelve disciples died brutal deaths. Most of them were under heavy persecution to stop preaching the gospel, and to stop living it. Christian men and women in the Roman Empire were fed to lions, killed in the gladiator coliseum, and sometimes publically executed. The Apostle Paul wrote some of his best epistles or letters from the New Testament, while in jail in Rome.

          You see for some of us, “what is means to be a saint,” is to put our very life on the line, believing we are doing what God has called us to.

          In briefly looking at our gospel of Luke reading from this morning, Jesus gives us what is commonly known as, the “Sermon on the Plain”. The “Sermon on the Plain” is a shorter version of the famous “Sermon on the Mount” in the Gospel of Mathew.

          In this “Sermon on the Plain,” Jesus tells us who is blessed by God, and how we are supposed to live. Jesus tell us that the poor are blessed, that the hungry are blessed, that those who weep are blessed, and that blessed are those stand firm to teaching and living the gospel” (Lk. 6:20-22, NRSV).

          Jesus then says woe to the rich, to the full, to the laughing, and woe to those who speak falsely (Lk. 6:24-26, NRSV). Jesus is saying here, if you have wealth, if you have extra, then take care of the poor, the suffering, and the weak, for we are called by God to do this. Jesus said, no excuses, I am calling you to help those who are less fortunate.

          Jesus then tells us to “love your enemies, do good for those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Lk. 6:27-28, NRSV).

          Jesus goes on to say, “If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you have them do to you” (Lk. 6:29-31, NRSV).

          Friends these are tough and challenging words that Jesus gives us in this “Sermon on the Plain,” and we are all called to do our best over our lifetimes to do all that Jesus taught us. This is the road to a deeper saintliness, to “Entire Sanctification”.

          Of the many saints of the church that I admire, one of my biggest heroes is a Lutheran pastor and theologian named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Dietrich Bonhoeffer lived in Germany during the World War II era. Bonhoeffer opposed immediately Adolph Hitler and the Nazi regime. Bonhoeffer opposed what Hitler and the Nazis stood for, and especially opposed the mass murder of Jews and others in the Holocaust camps. Bonhoeffer said that he was a follower of Jesus Christ, and as such, we don’t mass murder people, and we certainly don’t do the things that Hitler did. Bonhoeffer took a stand for the oppressed, and stood for justice.  

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s book “”The Cost of Discipleship,” he talks about two types of grace from God. Bonhoeffer talks about “Cheap Grace”, grace from God that we are all offered freely and abundantly. Bonhoeffer tells us that the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ is available to anyone who repents and accepts this gift.

Bonhoeffer then tell us that while we all offered “Cheap Grace,” that often to follow Jesus Christ more deeply, means pursuing “Costly Grace”. You see for standing against Adolph Hitler and the oppressive Nazi Regime, Bonhoeffer was hung and killed. He was martyred for holding to the gospel. Today he is remembered as a great hero of the Christian faith, and there entire seminary classes are offered on him and his teachings.

To illustrate this difference between “Cheap Grace”, and “Costly Grace”, Bonhoeffer said that “Costly Grace” is grace that can be said like this: “When Christ calls a man, He bids him come and die” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

While on this All Saints Sunday we honor all of the men and women of God that have went before us, some of us are called to have great burdens, hardships, and sufferings, for Jesus Christ. Are we willing then to be open to God’s “Costly Grace”, or are we just open to God’s “Cheap Grace”. For some of us becoming a saint means that we risk it all, that we give it all, and that we might meet a bitter end for promoting and living the gospel of Jesus Christ, the hope of the world.

So friends, brothers and sisters, let us this day remember all of the men and women throughout the centuries that have served God, loved Jesus, and made the church what it is today. Today remember, for some we speak their names, believing that we will see them again one day on glory. I bring this message to you in the name of Jesus, and the in the remembrance of all of the saints of the church. Amen.