Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Trinity Sunday/Peace with Justice Sunday/Memorial Day Sunday - 05/27/18 - Sermon - “The Holy Trinity"

Sunday 05/27/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “The Holy Trinity”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 29

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Romans 8:12-17

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: John 3:1-17

          Welcome again my friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ, on this our Trinity Sunday, this our Peace with Justice Sunday, and this our Memorial Day weekend Sunday.

          On this Peace with Justice Sunday, which is happening today across the entire United Methodist Church worldwide, we all have the opportunity to give towards various ministries that address issues of peace and justice in this world. If you haven’t noticed in watching the news recently, our world is in great need of peace and justice, in many places and in many ways. If you would like to give to this special giving Sunday, there are envelopes that you can put your donations in.

          In tomorrow being Memorial Day, which is our federal holiday that we honor and remember those men and women who have died while serving in our armed services, we have a special worship service this morning to honor them, and all who have served. It is a joy, pleasure, honor, and a duty I believe to remember those who have died in the service of our country. Melissa and I will be off tomorrow for this holiday, as will some of you. I pray that in-between the barbeques and the other things that will occupy our days tomorrow that we will all take time to remember those women and men who have died in the service of our country.

          Today is also Trinity Sunday, and it would seem to me that the United Methodist Church sometimes likes to make a Sunday two special things, or three, or more!

          The subject of my sermon this morning will be Trinity Sunday. With this said, some of us might know right away what the “Trinity” is. Some call it “The Holy Trinity,” as my sermon is titled this morning. If anyone one watched the royal wedding in London about a week ago for example, before Episcopal Church USA Bishop Michael Curry began to preach, he first made the sign of the cross on his body. While making the sign of the cross, he said, “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. “Crossing” one’s heart is very common in some Christian traditions. This makes the statement, “Cross my heart and hope die,” make much more sense.

          The Episcopal Church USA that Bishop Michael Curry is the head of, generally identifies itself as a liberal or a progressive Christian denomination. Conservative Christian denominations that identify themselves as such, sometimes also make the sign of the cross and say Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as well. So this is fairly universal in Christianity.

          The question that I have for us to think about is this morning then, is why do some Christian traditions say this and make the sign of the cross? You might have noticed that about a year ago, I began ending our Sunday worship service with the sign of the cross and saying “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit”. Why do I do that? Do I just want to be cool like Bishop Curry?

          Why do any clergy or Christians make the sign of the cross or say Father, Son, and Holy Spirit at all? Further, why have Christians been practicing and reciting this for centuries?

          The common answer is that the majority of Christian Churches have believed for centuries in what is called “The Holy Trinity,” or the “Godhead”. Another simpler way to say this is that the majority of Christians throughout history have believed that we have one God who is in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

          Some might say, but isn’t that really three separate Gods? No. The claim that most Christian Churches make throughout history is that God the Father, is the person of God who is the creator of heaven and earth. We would say that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh on earth, who existed with God the Father before time, who sits at his right hand, and who saved us from sin and death. We would also say that the Holy Spirit is the person of God who fills us and guides us, like the blowing of the wind. How can God then be three in one, or one in three?

          If I could perfectly answer this question, I would be in a church with thousands of people right now, writing books, or be on a television show somewhere right now.

          What is very true though is this, the word “Trinity” is nowhere in the Jewish or the Christian Biblical scriptures. Given this, some have argued that the Christian Church created the “Holy Trinity”. Some have argued that Jesus was a mere man only, and the church in 300’s AD created this idea of “The Holy Trinity”.

          My response to this is, while the word “Trinity” itself is not in the Bible, the idea that God is three in one, or one in three is all throughout the Bible, particularly in the New Testament of the Bible.

          Let me show you an example of this from the reading we have from Romans 8:12-17 for this morning. Once again, this scripture says:

“So then, brothers and sisters, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh—for if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:12-17, NRSV).

          In this portion of the Apostle Paul’s Epistle or letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul is telling us to not live in the flesh, or for pleasure or materialism. Instead the Apostle Paul says to live:

“by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God”

(Rom 8:13b-14, NRSV).

         

          So the Apostle Paul tells us to be led by the Spirit, or the Holy Spirit. Yet as many of us know, John 3:16 says:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16, NRSV).

          So if God sent His only Son, and we are supposed to believe in Him, why do we need to be led by the Holy Spirit? You see, when you read the Bible, especially the New Testament, over and over we are hearing about God the Father or the creator, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It would seem that God the Father or the creator is significant, as is His Son Jesus Christ, and we are told in our reading from Romans for this morning, to be “led by the Spirit”.

          Once again our reading from Romans ends this morning with:

“When we cry, “Abba! Father!” it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him” (Rom. 8:15b-17, NRSV).

          So we can cry to God the Father, the creator, “Abba,” not the band. When we do this, we can seek and feel the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul also talks about us being “joint heirs with Christ”.

          So who exactly do we follow and worship then? Do we worship the Father? Do we worship the Son? Or do we worship the Holy Spirit? The Church for centuries has said this, God the Father or the creator created the heavens and the earth, that His Son came to earth to save us, and that the Holy Spirit fills us and guides us. The church in 300’s AD officially called this relationship between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit the “Holy Trinity”. This became the subject of the Apostle’s Creed and the Nicene Creed.

          In looking at the definition of the word “Trinity,” one source I found says this:

“The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (Latin: Trinitas, lit. 'triad', from Greek τριάς and τριάδα, from Latin: trinus "threefold") holds that God is one but three coeternal consubstantial persons or hypostases—the Father, the Son (Jesus Christ), and the Holy Spirit—as "one God in three Divine Persons". The three Persons are distinct, yet are one "substance, essence or nature" (homoousios). In this context, a "nature" is what one is, whereas a "person" is who one is”. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity).

          So the historical church’s belief is that God is one God in three persons. In John’s Gospel for example is says in 1:1-2:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God” (Jn. 1:1-2, NRSV).

          “The Word,” or the “He” here is Jesus Christ. Meaning that before time itself, according to John’s gospel, God that Father and Jesus were together, looking face to face at each other.

          Last week in our reading from the gospel of John Jesus tells his disciples to go to Jerusalem and to wait for “The Advocate” or the Holy Spirit (Jn. 15:26-27, NRSV). Jesus tells them, that they will be complete and understand more when the Spirit of God comes.

          Jesus said in the gospel of John 14:9b:

“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (Jn. 14:9b, NRSV).

          If this is what Jesus said, then to know Him is to know God the Father. If this is true, then was Jesus not God in the flesh on earth? Yet Jesus also tells us that we need the Holy Spirit. So how do we square God the Father or creator, the Son, and Holy Spirit? I believe that they are all equal persons of the one God.

          In our reading from the Gospel of John for this morning, we have a Jewish Pharisee named Nicodemus that came to Jesus one night (Jn. 3:1-2, NRSV). Nicodemus acknowledges Jesus’ power and his Godliness. Jesus then tells Nicodemus that he must be “born from above” (Jn. 3:3b, NRSV). Nicodemus interprets this as literally being reborn of his earthly mother. He says to Jesus how can this be possible? Jesus then tells Nicodemus that he must also be “born of water and Spirit” (Jn. 3:5b, NRSV).

          Jesus then says to Nicodemus in 3:13-15:

^“No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.  And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn. 3:13-15, NRSV).

          Jesus then gives us that famous verse of scripture, John 3:16:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16, NRSV).

          Jesus then ends this gospel reading by saying:

“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (Jn. 3:17, NRSV).

          So in our gospel reading, Jesus talks about the significance of God the Father, about how he is the Son who saves, and he mentions the role of the Holy Spirit. In this gospel reading, Nicodemus knows God the Father, but he comes to Jesus as he knows that he is missing something else in his life. Jesus says that Nicodemus needs to believe in him, be baptized, and be filled with or be “born of the Spirit” (Jn. 3:6b, NRSV).

          On this Trinity Sunday then, we are invited to continue to enter into the great and curious mystery of our great God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. May we draw closer to all that God is today and always? I bring you this message in the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Pentecost Sunday - 05/20/18 - Sermon - “When the Advocate comes!"

Sunday 05/20/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “When the Advocate comes!”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 104:24-34, 35b

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Romans 8:22-27

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

          Happy Pentecost! Welcome my friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ on this the birthday of the Christian Church! Nearly two-thousand years ago the first disciples of Jesus Christ were in that Upper Room awaiting the Holy Spirit, or “the Advocate” as Jesus called the Holy Spirit this morning (Jn. 15:26, NRSV). Before Jesus ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God of the Father, Jesus told his disciples that the Holy Spirit, or “the Advocate” would be coming soon to fill and guide them to carry the gospel to the world (Jn. 15:26, NRSV). As it turns out, our monthly Upper New York Annual Conference newspaper or magazine is called “The Advocate”, as well.

          Today is also one of the few times during our liturgical Christian calendar that we see alters, pulpits, lecterns, and even some of us, clothed in red. No this is not a Communist Party Meeting, nor is it a Republican Party Convention, or Cornell University event. The red represents the fire of the Holy Spirit or “the Advocate”. The red represents the power and presence of God on the day of Pentecost.

          So what happened nearly two-thousand years ago on this the day of Pentecost? Well before getting into this scripture from the Books of Acts that many call “The Pentecost Scripture”, let me provide some context.

          First off, what is “Pentecost” and why does it matter? Well here is what one source I read says:

“The Christian holiday of Pentecost, which is celebrated on the 50th day after the weekly Sabbath during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Leviticus 23:15), commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles. Some Christians believe this event represents the birth of the Catholic Church” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentecost).

Further, there are also other Old Testament or Hebrew Bible Scriptures that describe Pentecost as a feast of the harvest. This holiday is also celebrating that God gave to the Jewish people the Torah, or the first five books of the Old Testament.

          So on this Jewish holiday, or better yet this celebration of the harvest, there is feasting and the celebration of the gift of the Torah, or the first five books of the Old Testament. This holiday also takes place in the holy city of Jerusalem or Zion, as that is where the great temple and the high priest were.

          Since this holiday takes place only in Jerusalem at this time, this meant that all Jews from the Roman Empire, and perhaps even farther would travel to Jerusalem for this holiday. This means that there were peoples of various races, ethnicities, languages, cultures, and etc. All of these people believed in God though, and were all connected somehow to the Jewish faith.

          In the midst of all of this, the first Disciples of Christ, the Apostles, and maybe other followers of Christ, were once again in that Upper Room during this holiday or celebration. This very well could have been the same Upper Room that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper in with his disciples. I can imagine that the Disciples likely shared communion, or the bread and cup together, they were likely discussing Jesus, and were praying.

          The real question to ask then, is why Pentecost? Why did the Holy Spirit show up? Further, why were the disciples expecting the Holy Spirit to show up? Did someone tell them to expect this?

          The Answer is yes. To better explain this before getting into our reading from the Book of Acts for this morning, let us briefly revisit our reading from the gospel of John for this morning. Once again the gospel of John reading says, which has Jesus speaking to his disciples:

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning”

(Jn. 15:26-27, NRSV).

          Jesus is telling his disciples, be ready, the Holy Spirit is coming soon. Jesus then says:

“I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me; yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your hearts. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will prove the world wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: about sin, because they do not believe in me; about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned” (Jn. 16:4b-11, NRSV).

          So Jesus is going to be with God the Father. The incarnation of God, Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity is about to ascend to God. Yet, before the disciples fully “get it” as the term goes, they must be filled with the Holy Spirit, or “The Advocate”. This makes the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit that I will be preaching on next Sunday, very important indeed.

          This morning’s gospel of John reading then ends with Jesus saying to his disciples:

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (Jn. 16:12-15, NRSV).

So the disciples are told to wait for the Holy Spirit, or “the Spirit of truth,” or the “Advocate” (Jn. 16:12, NRSV). It is also interesting that Jesus says of the Holy Spirit the following:

“for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come” (Jn. 16:13b, NRSV).

So the Holy Spirit was needed by the disciples to fully understand God, fully understand Jesus, God’s Son, and was needed to fill and guide them. This means that encountering and knowing God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as I just said, are all important for us a Christians. Further, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would “speak whatever he hears,” as he hears from the Father and the Son. This trinity is the three persons of God, three in one, and one in three.

So Pentecost, or the “Feast of Weeks” is a Jewish holiday historically celebrated in the holy city of Jerusalem, and on this particular Pentecost the disciples of Jesus Christ are one again in the Upper Room awaiting the Holy Spirit that Jesus promised would come. The city once again is filled with believers from all over the known world, who are of different races, ethnicities, languages, and etc.

So what happened on Pentecost then? Let’s look again at Acts 2:1-21. Once again it says:

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:1-4, NRSV).

So on this day, the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit, or “The Advocate” that Jesus promised the disciples showed up in a powerful and a mighty way. We hear of tongues, “as of fire,” and these tongues “rested on each of them,” or the disciples. We hear that the disciples then spoke in tongues through the power of the Holy Spirit, and that people of all different nations gathered below heard this.

The scripture then says:

^“Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others sneered and said, “They are filled with new wine” (Acts 2:5-13, NRSV).

                So all the people below heard in their own languages of:

“God’s deeds of power” (Acts 2:11b, NRSV).

          The Apostle Peter then goes on after this to give a sermon that is powerful and filled with the Holy Spirit. So what was the outcome of this sermon on the birthday of the Christian Church?

          It says in Acts 2:41-42 of those who heard Peter’s sermon:

“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 2:41-42, NRSV).

The promised Holy Spirit, “The Advocate” arrived on this day of Pentecost, nearly two-thousand years ago. God’s word and God’s glory is heard in an abundance of tongues or languages as the wind of the Spirit moves. Tongues as of fire descend over the disciples, and the Apostle Peter then preaches a sermon that is powerful and Holy Spirit filled. On this day nearly two-thousand years ago, Peter’s sermon results in 3,000 converts of Christ, and the church is born.

The first Disciples of Christ, or the twelve, then go to various places preaching, teaching, loving, forgiving, and transforming the world for Jesus Christ. The church grows like wildfire, and nearly two-thousand years later, we are the fruit of the life, teachings, love, healing, forgiving, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This all officially started though on this day, the day of Pentecost, nearly two-thousand years ago.

With all of this said though, as a church, as a worldwide church, do you think that the Holy Spirit is flowing in many of our churches in 2018, like it was on that first day of Pentecost? I am worried sometimes that it is not. As a result, I believe that we need a fresh outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit, and I am praying that this fresh outpouring will fill us all anew with Holy Fire, so that the universal church of Jesus Christ may be renewed, revived, and we will again tell of sermons bringing in one day three-thousand people to Christ. For Christ and his gospel are the hope of the world.

It is my prayer then that in this time of pastoral transition, in this time of struggles in our country and in our world, that the Holy Spirit of God would move in a new way to restore us, fill us, revive, and renew us. I pray that this may begin with us today. May it be so, and Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Mother's Day/Ascension Sunday - 05/13/18 - Sermon - “This is what we do church!"

Sunday 05/13/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “This is what we do church!”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 47

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Luke 24:44-53

          Welcome again friends, visitors, sisters and brothers, on this our Mother’s Day and this our Ascension Sunday. On this day we celebrate mothers, and all women who have or still do take on a mothering role to kids, animals, people, and etc. Most women that I have met are a mother in their own right. Melissa for example, is a dog mother.

          This Sunday is also Ascension Sunday, as the United Methodist Church and many other churches celebrated this past Thursday the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. That moment where Christ left his disciples physically, to ascend to heaven, to then sit at the hand of God the Father, until he returns in victory. Since we generally don’t have an Ascension Day service on the Thursday that is Ascension Day each year, we also often call this Sunday Ascension Sunday. We also have a couple of baptisms this morning to (Freeville UMC only).

          With everything that is going on today then, I don’t think that we will get bored! With this said, since Ascension Day was this past Thursday May 10^th, I decided for this Sunday to use the lectionary scriptures from Ascension Day. We do have scriptures for today, which is the 7^th Sunday of Easter, but I decided to use, as I said, the Ascension Day scriptures from this past Thursday May 10^th.

          Specifically therefore, I want to focus on the gospel of Luke reading for this morning that I just read. Inn our New Revised Standard Version Pew Bibles, this gospel reading falls under the sub-heading of “Jesus appears to His disciples,” and then under the sub-heading of “The Ascension of Jesus”.

          Let us hear again this reading from the gospel of Luke. It says:

“Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God” (Lk. 24:44-53, NRSV).

          So the Ascension Day, that was this past Thursday May 10^th, that we are in part celebrating this morning, is the day that Jesus Christ physically left this earth, and went into heaven.

In not being there to witness this event, as recorded in Luke’s gospel, I was struck that this reading ended again saying:

“And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God”. (Lk. 24:52-53, NRSV)

          So after Christ rose the dead, and then appeared too many for 40-days, he is ascended, and is physically just gone, like that. Yet in the scripture, it says they:

“returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God”(Lk. 24:52b-53, NRSV).

          Jesus promised them that the Holy Spirit or the “Advocate” would come and fill them and guide them, which is what we will celebrate next Sunday on Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost is the birthday of the Christian Church, the day that the disciples finally said, we will go forth and preach and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

          So I get the joy that the disciples had on the one hand this morning, but on the other hand, Jesus is physically gone, and he will not return until he returns in glory. I am struck that there wasn’t more remorse, or maybe there was. Maybe it hit some of them later, that there savior, there messiah, their leader, would no longer physically be in their presence on earth.

          Nearly two-thousand years later the millions and millions of us who call ourselves Christians have never seen Jesus in bodily form, as to be able to touch him. Yet we believe in him, his gospel, and the hope that it provides.

          Jesus himself said in the gospel of John 20:29:

 “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn. 20:29, NRSV).

          Jesus is with us spiritually, Jesus is with us when we partake of Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. Jesus is with us right here and now, just not physically. For me then, I wonder if there wasn’t at least some remorse that disciples might have felt when Jesus, the savior of the world, was no longer physically with them. For everything Jesus said, did, all the miracles that he performed, his death, resurrection, and ascension were the events that the disciples would teach, live, and influence the world that they sought to build.

          I wonder though, if they had moments of despair after Jesus was physically gone?

          I still remember the day in my life very clearly. My father in Northern Illinois called me, and I could hear right away that his voice was shaky. I could tell that he was upset, and I knew in that moment he was about to tell me something that I probably didn’t want to hear. He then told me that his father, my Grandpa Harold Winkelman has just passed away. I was asked to do the funeral service in Northern Illinois, and it was a great honor and a privilege. Through that process though, I felt like our family and me specifically had lost a great leader, a great man, and a great man of faith. I had great remorse that my grandfather would no longer be with us physically. I mourned, and still sometimes will think of him and miss him greatly. Yet, I believe he is alive spiritually with God.

          Some folks might have had this feeling recently, when the Rev. Billy Graham, nicknamed “America’s Pastor” died. When we lose people we love, whether they be our grandparents, our own parents, or others that we love it is possible that we might fall into remorse. What we might forget in those moments of sadness and remorse however, is that the sun will rise tomorrow. That people will get up and go to work, just like they do every work day. Life for us, like that of the disciples this morning has changed, but what do with this life that we have left. We have a new pastor soon, and much like the sunrise, this church will continue on doing the great work that it always has in Jesus name.

          I really like the movie with Morgan Freeman called, “The Shawshank Redemption”. In that movie is great quote said by the character “Andy Dufrense”. This quote is one of my favorites, and it is:

“get busy living, or get busy dying” (https://www.biography.com/news/shawshank-redemption-quotes-anniversary).

          Whenever I read this morning’s gospel of Luke reading, I am always struck that none of the disciples had remorse over Jesus leaving physically, and I think that I might have. Yet the work of Jesus Christ in a hurting and a broken world continues.

          In this church and all churches, we have had many great saints, many men and women that we celebrate that have been through these doors for years. Pastors, lay people, and some of them are people that we dearly miss, yet this church and many others continues. This church will continue, through the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

          We continue because of the great hope that we have in Jesus Christ and his gospel, and because of what God is using us to do in the world each every day. My sermon for this morning is called, “This is what we do church!” because our faith, the hope we have in Christ, and the gospel continues. It continues on to eternity, as this morning the disciples lose physically, there savior, there Messiah. Soon though, they will go forth preaching, teaching, loving, forgiving, and healing.

          Whenever a new person comes into this church, whenever we have a baptism, we are continuing the great hope that we have in Jesus Christ, continuing to live out his gospel, and continuing to transform the world.

          Living out our faith and making the world better through the life giving power of Jesus Christ, is who we are as Christians. Or as my sermon title says, “This is what we do church!”

          As you may have heard me say many times before, I as you do, stand in a line of heroes, great men and women that loved, healed, sacrificed, and believed strongly in our faith. Men and women who loved Jesus, and boldly shared that love with the world.

          This great gift from Jesus Christ that is the church, is I believe the best hope humanity has to build a world of peace, love, mercy, hope, and justice. The great news then, is that while Jesus isn’t physically here with us, he is risen and is alive and well. For nearly two-thousand years we have lived out this faith, followed Christ, and worked to transform the world. For “This is what we do Church!”

          When this church feeds the hungry, provides clothes to those in need, helps families with Christmas gifts, visits, loves, brings communion, helps flood and natural disaster victims, helps the oppressed and suffering, and loves the least of these, we are strong and transforming the world. For “This is what we do Church!”

          In 20-years though, some of the saints that are with us here this morning might not be here with us physically anymore, but God is eternal, and those saints will be with God. Until then however, we live in a broken and a hurting world, and when we come together in faith and live it out, we transform the world everyday. Or as Andy Dufrense said in the movie “The Shawshank Redemption,”

“get busy living, or get busy dying” (https://www.biography.com/news/shawshank-redemption-quotes-anniversary).

          For this broken, hurting, and dying world needs Jesus Christ and his gospel. Our work then continues. For “This is what we do Church”! Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - 6th Sunday of Easter - 05/06/18 - Sermon - “One big crazy church!"

Sunday 05/06/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “One big crazy church!”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 98

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Acts 10:44-48

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: John 15:9-17

          My friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ, welcome once again on this our 6^th Sunday in this our Season of Easter. Six Sundays after Jesus conquered death, rose to new life, giving us hope, love, healing, and offering us eternal life.

          Next Sunday, we will have Mother’s Day, and also Ascension Sunday. This Thursday in fact, is Ascension Day, which is the day that the church celebrates Christ’s ascension or being raised into heaven. This is the day that Christ leaves us physically, but promises to send us the Holy Spirit, and also promises us that he will return one day in glory. Since we generally don’t have a worship service on Ascension Day itself though, we call next Sunday, in addition to Mother’s Day, Ascension Sunday.

          Today however, my sermon is called “One big crazy church!”. This title has nothing to do with this specific church, but is more a funny title regarding the scripture that we are given for this morning from the Book of Acts. The full title of this book of scripture that I will be preaching from this morning, is the “Acts of the Apostles,” which is the book of scripture that tells us about the early church (Acts 1:1, NRSV). In this book of scripture, the apostles of Christ are now building and organizing the very first Churches. In this book of scripture, we have the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who we now call the Apostle Paul. We have the vision of Peter that allows us to no longer be required to be “Kosher” anymore, like our Jewish brothers and sisters. For example, as Christians we can eat bacon and ham, and devout Jews and devout Muslims, cannot do this. This is a book of scripture that tells us a lot about the earliest days of the Church, and how the church started.

          Interestingly enough though, “Christians” as many of us now call ourselves, wasn’t the first name of the followers of Jesus Christ. Does anyone here know what the first followers of Christ, (who were all Jews by the way) were called? They weren’t called “Christians”.

          The answer is, that the first followers of Christ (and we are talking maybe only the first 20-30 years of the church), were called “The Way”.

          There are many examples of this in the Book of Acts. For example, in Acts 9:2, which discusses Saul of Tarsus, before he converted and became the Apostle Paul. At this point in the narrative, Saul of Tarsus hates the followers of Christ and wants to destroy them. This scripture says that Paul asked the high priest:

“for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2, NRSV).

          Now you will notice that this scripture doesn’t say the “Christians,” instead it says “the Way”. I have seen some people that have Bibles that are called “The Way” Bible. Has anyone ever seen one of those?

          After Saul of Tarsus converts to the “The Way”, he laments persecuting the first followers of Christ in Acts 22:4. In this scripture he says:

“I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison,” (Acts 22:4, NRSV).

          So for the first roughly 20-30 years of our faith, maybe a little more or less, “The Way” was solely for Jews and Jews alone. In fact, all men who became Christ followers of member so of “The Way” had to be circumcised, and were still Jews. The difference is, is that these Jews believed that Jesus was the foretold Messiah or savior of the world.

          So why are we called “Christians” and not members of “The Way”. Here is why:

“Tradition holds that the first Gentile church was founded in Antioch, Acts 11:20-21, where it is recorded that the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians Acts 11:19-26. It was from Antioch that St. Paul started on his missionary journeys” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Antioch).

          In fact, the Book of Acts 11:26b it says:

“So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:26b, NRSV).

          So if you haven’t already figured it out, the name “Christians” was given to gentiles that were followers of Christ. A gentile of course is a non-Jew. If “The Way,” or the first followers of Jesus Christ had to be Jewish, when the gentiles wanted to become part of the church, we had a problem. This is what our scripture from the Book of Acts is talking about this morning. Again, when Jesus called his twelve disciples, they were all Jewish, and the first followers of Christ were all Jewish, but now we have non-Jews wanting to follow Christ. How are we to respond to this?

          Well, for example, how many of us here by a show of hands were not born into Jewish families? We are then historically called gentiles. There are some other definitions of gentiles, but non-Jews tends to be the biggest definition.

          My sermon title for this morning, once again, is called “One big crazy church!”. As many of us know, Judaism has always been a small religion, and therefore if “The Way” stayed just Jews it would very likely be an extremely small religion today. The vast majority of “Christians” today in fact, are non-Jews.

          So how did this happen specifically? Well let’s look again at our reading from the Book of Acts for this morning. The subtitle that we have in our NRSV Bibles for this scripture says the “Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 10:44-48, NRSV). Once again, this is what it says:

“While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days”

(Acts 10:44-48, NRSV).

          In this scripture, it says that as the Apostle Peter was speaking or maybe even preaching, that:

“the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word” (Acts 10:4a, NRSV).

          The scripture says the Apostle Peter was “astounded” that the Holy Spirit not only fell on circumcised believers, or Jews, but also “even on the Gentiles”. In fact the scripture says that they were:

“speaking in tongues and extolling God” (Acts 10:46b, NRSV).

          The Apostle Peter then reasoned that these gentiles who have received the Holy Spirit should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as followers of Jesus Christ. In fact, as we will see in Acts 11, they don’t even need to be circumcised, just be baptized, receive Christ, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and then learn the Christian faith.

          This sounds easy enough, but there was dissension over this. In my current favorite Bible Commentary, the Africa Bible Commentary, which includes multiple African scholars perspectives on the Bible, the scholar who wrote about the Book of Acts, wrote of Acts 11:2-18 as being called “Peter defends the Gentiles inclusion” (Africa Bible Commentary). This is the beginning of what many called the “First Church Conference”. In chapter 11 of the Book of Acts the Apostle Peter defends the right of gentiles to be valid Christians, even though they are neither Jewish, nor circumcised. Eventually in chapter 15 of the Book of Acts this becomes official. “The Way,” that was just Jews, now was expanded to include gentiles. Gentile men no longer needed to be circumcised, and could now be considered authentic followers of Christ.

          From that point, the Apostle Paul, often called “The Apostle to the Gentiles,” went out evangelizing and planting churches. Many of the people that the Apostle Paul preached to and that were converted to Christ, were not Jews, but were in fact gentiles.

          Due to all of this, our scripture from Acts 10:44-48 for this morning, is the beginning of what my commentary calls the “Gentiles’ inclusion” (Africa Bible Commentary).

          From very early in the Christian movement then, the church included persons of various ethnicities, races, and colors. They came from different cultures, had different customs, which is why my sermon title says, “One big crazy church”.

          For centuries then, the Christian Church has included a variety of races, men and women, and people of all different ethnicities. All of us might claim the title of “Christian” for ourselves, but maybe we have come from different forms of the Christian faith.

          In our gospel of John reading for this morning, Jesus tells us to love God, abide in Him who is Jesus, to live sacrificially for others, and in general to love one another (Jn. 15:9-17, NRSV). This means loving others that are different than us.

          For example, when I was getting ready to write this sermon, I was toying with showing a clip from the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. In this movie, the bride to be father is very proud to be Greek. In fact, according the bride’s father anything Greek is better. The bride’s father tells his soon to be son-in-law, who was about to be baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, that it was his lucky day to get baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church. The groom to be, I believe came from an Episcopalian background, and his family, to say the least, was quite different than the bride to be Greek family. Yet they were all Christians, and when we come together as all nations, races, and peoples, we are one big crazy and diverse church.

          This is why we must be comfortable with some change. Don’t miss hear me, not changes to the beliefs of Christianity, but changes in how we do certain things. In my experience as a pastor every minister is different, but is called by God to serve, love, heal, and forgives. We are “One big crazy church!” so let reach out to our sisters and brothers of all Christian stripes, and everyone with the love of Jesus Christ. May embrace our brothers and sisters as being part of “One big crazy church!” Amen.