Sidney UMC - Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost - 09/30/18 - Sermon - “Laying on of hands"

Sunday 09/30/18 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title: “Laying on of hands”                         

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 124

                                            

New Testament Scripture: James 5:13-20

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Mark 9:38-50

          Welcome again on this the Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost, and this our “Church Has Left the Building” Sunday. To be honest with you all, this is my first ever “Church Has Left the Building” Sunday. To be honest even further, am I the only one that doesn’t really like the title “Church Has Left the Building”?

          I think of the old phrase, “Elvis has left the building”! (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_has_left_the_building).

          I think, and maybe I’m wrong, that “Church Has Left the Building” is a strange title. For me when I first heard it, I thought that it was confusing. What I would like to call this Sunday, is “Mission and Ministry” Sunday. We are here to worship and to fellowship, but we are also taking a little time today to live out our church’s mission and to do ministry together. We are therefore, first worshipping and fellowshipping, and then we are in different ways living out our faith.

Why do this? Well here is one answer to that question. I wonder if people in this community ever walk by or drive by our church and think, “Well why would I want to be a part of the Sidney United Methodist Church”? They might even think, “What makes the Sidney United Methodist Church so great anyway”? Here is the answer, when we are living out our faith in service, in action, in word, and in deed, we are showing the people all around us our faith in Jesus Christ.

          I don’t know about you, but I want to bring people, with God’s help, to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I want them to know the love of Christ, the transforming power of Christ, and to see them further live into what God has called them to be and do in the Sidney and the world. If having a “Church Has Left the Building” or a “Mission and Ministry” Sunday helps to accomplish this task, then I am all for it! As one pastor said to me once, “I am willing to do anything short of sin to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”.

Now don’t get me wrong, I believe that everyone here in a variety of ways are living, loving, healing, and caring for others in the name of Jesus Christ. This Sunday though, is then but a specific example of what Christ calls us to do.

          We are all welcomed after church, once we have gotten our coffee of course, to live out our faith out in different ways. Some of us might do physical mission work at Keith Clark Park. Some might get food for the Food Bank to feed the hungry, some might visit some of our homebound folks, some might pray, some might write cards to people in nursing homes, hospitals, and etc. The cards some of you will write will in fact, “leave the building”. When we share the love of Jesus Christ in a variety of ways, people will see Jesus in us, and sometimes these people may say, “I want some of what that person has”! They will say of us, “that person has a joy, a love, and a peace that is inspiring to me, and I want some of what they have”!

          Our faith can be like a good flu virus, it can be contagious, and the various ways that we live out our faith will grow faith, grow the church, and in the process transform Sidney and the world. People need to see Christ, and often they see Christ in us. We need to be willing to show them Christ.

          Some older folks in the churches that I have served have said to me however, “Pastor Paul, I just can’t do the physical work like I used to do”. Not everyone today is called by God to grab a shovel or a rake, unless Barb Doyle gives you a stern look. We are all called though to serve and to love God. Maybe one of you this very day will send a card to someone that will make their entire week better, as they haven’t heard from you in quite some time. This my friends is how our faith, how our love of Christ “leaves the building”. Living our faith, while loving others and forming relationships with others, is how we best grow the church. When we operate like a loving family that grows closer to Christ together, then you will continue to see a renewed and a revitalized church.

          So it’s not that the title “Church Has Left the Building” is completely awful, I just think that it leads some people to think that they all have to grab a shovel or a rake. In reality the many things that you might engage in after this service are all good, are all loving, and are all things that act to serve and love others.

          With all of this said, in this brief sermon I want to connect this “Church Has Left the Building” Sunday with our scripture from the Book of James. The funny thing is that I picked this sermon title weeks ago not knowing that today would be “Church Has Left the Building” Sunday. Originally, I was planning to offer to anoint people with oil after the service this morning, and then pray for them individually if they wanted.

Last weekend when I was in meetings all weekend at Sky Lake, I prayed and struggled with the fact that in a short service like this one this morning, that I just wouldn’t have the time to pray for everyone individually. I then had an “Aha” moment, and I realized that what many of us are going to do today is to give or to show healing. So basically, I will do anointing after the service, and I will be praying for you, but since the service is shorter this morning I needed to take the individual praying for people out.

          Yet I was so sure that I would be anointing and praying for many this day. Let’s look at our Book of James scripture again for this morning. It says:

“Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven”

(James, 5:13-15, NRSV).

          So of course, I called my sermon “Laying on of hands,” as I said, I planned to anoint and pray for many after this service. Yet I really think that what many of us are going to be doing today, as I said, is similar to what this scripture is saying. Are we all going to be actually anointing people? No. Are we going to be praying for many? Yes, I hope so.

          We can offer love and healing in many ways. The scripture from the Book of James continues on saying:

“Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest”.

^“My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:16-20, NRSV).

          My brothers and sisters, the scripture from the Book of James this morning tells us to pray and love one another, and the great thing about the church is that we can do that in a host of ways. Today is about practicing the use of our gifts, our talents, and our graces, so that Jesus might be glorified, and that people may see him in us. So that we might “make disciples of Jesus Christ, for the transformation of the world”.

          So anything you do today to glorify God is not wasted. As Jesus our Lord says himself in our gospel of Mark reading for this morning:

“For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward” (Mk. 9:41, NRSV).

          Today then, on this “Church Has Left the Building” Sunday, or “Mission and Ministry” Sunday, we are invited to partake in a variety of things, none of them being better or worse than the others. For when we glorify God, show people Jesus Christ, and bring them closer to him, then we are truly a “Church” that “Has Left the Building”. Amen.

Sidney UMC - Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost - 09/16/18 - Sermon - “Who do people say that I am?"

Sunday 09/16/18 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title: “Who do people say that I am?”                         

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 19

                                            

New Testament Scripture: James 3:1-12

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Mark 8:27-38

          My sisters and brothers, my friends, welcome once again on this the Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost nearly two-thousand years ago, the Holy Spirit moved in Jerusalem, the Christian Church was born, and the Apostle Peter preached a powerful sermon. Peter, who had said to Jesus, “You are the Messiah,” preached about being a follower of Jesus Christ. He preached on how Jesus died for us, and how he can change our lives. On this day, the day of Pentecost, about three-thousand people came to know the Lord Jesus Christ. They felt filled, loved, excited, and they had a peace that they had never know before.

          Ever since Jesus walked this earth nearly two-thousand years ago however, people since that time have continued the debate over who he was. Some people will say that Jesus was just a nice man, some people will say that he was a prophet, like the prophet Isaiah or Ezekiel in our Old Testament. Some will say also that Jesus was a teacher, or in Hebrew a “Rabbi”. Some will even claim that Jesus never existed, even though the evidence to the contrary is immense. We have two independent non-Christians writers from the first century, Tacitus and Josephus that mention Jesus in their writings, for example.

Since the beginning of the Christian Church on the day of Pentecost, nearly two-thousand years ago, the majority of Christians have believed what Peter said to Jesus in the gospel of Mark this morning:

“You are the Messiah” (Mk. 8:29b, NRSV).

          In the gospel of Matthew 16:13-17 there another account of Jesus asking people who he. Is says:

“Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven” (Mk. 16:13-17, NRSV).

          So I would say that the majority of Christians and non-Christians would agree that Jesus existed, but the debate that continues today is over who this Jesus was.

          In the religion of Islam for example, they would argue that Jesus was just a prophet, like that of Isaiah or Ezekiel in the Old Testament. Some of my Jewish friends growing up, told me that Jesus was just a nice and a Godly man who was just misguided. When I taught high school global history, the textbook identified Jesus as a man named “Jesus of Nazareth”. This of course is a historical title of Jesus. So in our New York State Social Studies Curriculum, there is an admission of the person of Jesus of Nazareth in the world religions section of the curriculum, who is seen as the founder of the Christian religion.

          If we are honest with ourselves, how often have we really thought about who Jesus was and still is? Some people that I talk to will say, “Well pastor, Jesus is God’s Son”. When we say Jesus is God’s son though, what do we mean by that? Who is Jesus? Why do we believe what we believe about him?

          The fancy seminary term that is used is “Christology”. The suffix “ology” means “study of”. So in this case, “Christology,” is the “study of Christ”. The study of who he was and is. We all have a view of Jesus, but this morning, Peter says to Jesus:

“You are the Messiah” (Mk. 8:29b, NRSV).

Who do you say that Jesus is? You know I have many identities myself. I am a husband, and many people would say that I am a good husband. I would like to say I am good husband, but only Melissa can say if this is the case. Maybe it depends on the day you ask her! I am a pastor. I am an uncle. I am Chicago Cubs fan. I am a golfer, or close enough to one. I am a coffee drinker, and etc. and etc. Who we claim that someone is, is very significant for what we believe about them and how we communicate who there are to others. How many of you see you based upon the job you have or had? They you as that role only?

Also, does every have the same opinion about who a person is? For example, I say that Adolph Hitler was a hateful, murderous, and rage filled person. Yet, there are some that probably say otherwise. What you say about someone, what you believe about someone, can often dictate how you think about them, relate to them, and speak of them.

          If you think that Jesus was just a man, or just a prophet, or a man that divinely inspired but not God, then this will affect how you understand, interact with, and speak of Jesus.

          Why was the Rev. Billy Graham for example so excited to preach and tell people about Jesus? He was so excited to do this, because he believed like the Apostle Peter that Jesus was and is:

“the Messiah” (Mk. 8:29b, NRSV).

          The Rev. Billy Graham believed that Jesus Christ, was God in the flesh on earth, who died for the sins of humanity, and that through him we can have the fullness of salvation and the love and the grace of God. If Rev. Graham believed that Jesus was just a man, he wouldn’t have been so emphatic about who Jesus was and is.

          What I am asking us to consider this morning then, is who is Jesus Christ? Well certainly, like how all of us are many things, so is Jesus. So who was and is Jesus. Here is a list:

1.  Almighty One – “…who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Rev. 1:8

2.  Alpha and Omega – “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” Rev. 22:13

3.  Advocate – “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” 1 John 2:1

4.  Author and Perfecter of Our Faith – “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb. 12:2

5.  Authority – “Jesus said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Matt. 28:18

6.  Bread of Life – “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” John 6:35

7.  Beloved Son of God – “And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matt. 3:17

8.  Bridegroom – “And Jesus said to them, “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” Matt. 9:15

9.  Chief Cornerstone – “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner stone.” Ps. 118:22

10. Deliverer – “And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thess.1:10

11. Faithful and True – “I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.” Rev.19:11

12. Good Shepherd - “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:11

13. Great High Priest – “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.” Heb. 4:14

14. Head of the Church – “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church.” Eph. 1:22

15. Holy Servant – “…and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus." Acts 4:29-30

16. I Am – “Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” John 8:58

17. Immanuel – “…She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel, which means 'God with us.’” Is. 7:14

18. Indescribable Gift – “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” 2 Cor. 9:15

19. Judge – “…he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.” Acts 10:42

20. King of Kings – “These will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.” Rev. 17:14

21. Lamb of God – “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29

22. Light of the World – "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12

23. Lion of the Tribe of Judah – “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Rev. 5:5

24. Lord of All – “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Phil. 2:9-11

25. Mediator – “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Tim. 2:5

26. Messiah – “We have found the Messiah" (that is, the Christ).” John 1:41

27. Mighty One – “Then you will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.” Is. 60:16

28. One Who Sets Free – “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”  John 8:36

29. Our Hope – “…Christ Jesus our hope.” 1 Tim. 1:1

30. Peace – “For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,” Eph. 2:14

31. Prophet – “And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.” Mark 6:4

32. Redeemer – “And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will take His stand on the earth.” Job 19:25

33. Risen Lord – “…that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.” 1 Cor. 15:3-4

34. Rock – “For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” 1 Cor. 10:4

35. Sacrifice for Our Sins – “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10

36. Savior – “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

37. Son of Man – “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." Luke 19:10

38. Son of the Most High – “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.” Luke 1:32

39. Supreme Creator Over All – “By Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-- all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.…” 1 Cor. 1:16-17

40. Resurrection and the Life – “Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.” John 11:25

41. The Door – “I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9

42. The Way – “Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6

43. The Word – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1

44. True Vine - "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” John 15:1

45. Truth – “And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32

46. Victorious One – “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.” Rev. 3:21

47. – 50. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace – “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Is. 9:6

(https://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/debbie-mcdaniel/50-names-of-jesus-who-the-bible-says-christ-is.html).

          Friends, this morning in the gospel of Mark reading, Jesus asks, “Who do people say that I am”? Our answer to that question will dictate how we live our lives, and how important Jesus is to us and to the world. If Jesus is all of the things that I just read, which are all from Biblical passages, then I would conclude that Jesus is pretty magnificent. So magnificent that I preach his goodness, his gospel, the hope that we have in him, and the idea that you can invite him into your heart and be transformed by his love. A new life where we are forgiven, renewed, restored, and set at liberty to serve our neighbor and the world. The idea that everything that you have ever done wrong, can be forgiven, for he is mighty to forgive, and is mighty to save.

          Jesus even goes on in our gospel reading from this morning to predict his own death and resurrection when he says:

          “the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again” (Mk. 8:31, NRSV).

          Jesus then goes on to describe who he is and the nature of who he says. Jesus says:

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mk. 8:34-38, NRSV).

          To me, these are powerful statements from Jesus about who he is. So who we say that Jesus is affects us, affects our beliefs, and affects how we interact with the world. So my friends, my brothers and sisters, who do you say that Jesus is? Amen.

         

Sidney UMC - Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost - 09/09/18 - Sermon - “Faith and Works?"

Sunday 09/09/18 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title: “Faith and Works?”                         

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 125

                                            

New Testament Scripture: James 2:1-17

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Mark 7:24-37

          My dear friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ, welcome again on this our Sixteenth-Sunday after Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost nearly two-thousand years ago, the Holy Spirit moved, and the Christian Church was born. On that day, faith increased, as did the good works of those first Christians. On that day there was both great faith and great works.

          This morning I am preaching from our Book of James reading, about “Faith and Works”. Specifically, I want to ask you this question, how do we get to heaven? How do we gain salvation? Or to put it another way, is faith in Christ enough to save us? Or do we need to do a certain amount of works as well, to get into heaven? How do we get into heaven, to eternity?

          I remember the very first night that I was in seminary in the fall of 2010. I sat in a classroom at the Northeastern Seminary on the Roberts Wesleyan College Campus, with twenty-four other students. The head of the seminary, Dr. Douglas Cullum, a Free Methodist Pastor, asked us all to introduce ourselves to the group, to state why we were attending the seminary, and to state the Christian denomination that we came from.

          As we went around the room, we had an Episcopalian, a handful of Methodists, a couple of Baptists, a Roman Catholic woman, a non-denominational student, a Presbyterian, and etc. After we introduced ourselves, explained what we were hoping to do with our seminary education, and after we said the Christian tradition that we came from, the seminary head Dr. Cullum asked us all something that I will never forget.

          With a twinkle in his eyes, Dr. Cullum then asked our diverse group of Christians, “So how do we get to heaven?” Well the classroom was so quite you could hear a pin drop. The Methodists looked at the Baptists, the Pentecostal looked at the Roman Catholic, and the non-denominational student looked at the Presbyterian. After about 5-10 seconds of silence, we all laughed.

          Dr. Cullum asked us this question in part to have a little fun with us, to ease any tension in the room, but also he wanted us to think about this question. So I will ask you to think about this question as I am speaking this morning, “How do you get to heaven?” How you obtain salvation, which is entry into heaven?” Do we have to work really hard at the church to gain salvation? Do we have to do a certain amount of charitable works? Do have to do a certain amount of nice things? Or do we just need to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is faith enough to save us?

          I personally, believe in the doctrine that the great reformer Martin Luther asserted. This doctrine in Latin is called “Sola Fide,” or “faith alone”. I believe therefore, that through the faith that I have in Jesus Christ, and Christ alone, and through his blood and his cross, that he has made me acceptable in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. I believe as it says in Romans 5:1:

          “Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,” (Rom. 5:1, NRSV).

          The great reformer Martin Luther called this the doctrine of Justification. This is the idea that there is nothing that we can do, or no amount of works that we can do to “earn heaven,” or to “earn salvation”. Essentially, we cannot earn or buy heaven, but rather it is about faith and being justified by faith.

          In fact, in our Methodist Articles of Religion, going all the way back to 1808, given to us originally by our founder Rev. John Wesley, our ninth article of religion says:

“Article IX — Of the Justification of Man”

“We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings. Wherefore, that we are justified by faith, only, is a most wholesome doctrine, and very full of comfort” (http://www.umc.org/what-we-believe/the-articles-of-religion-of-the-methodist-church).

          How many of you believe that repenting of your sins and by putting your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior that is enough to save you? How many of you feel that you must do a certain amount of things in order to get to heaven, to gain salvation? How many of you feel that you must work off or pay off your sins?

          There’s a song that I have heard many times by Alan Jackson called, “Where I come from”. Anyone ever head this song? I like this song, but there has always been something about it that has rubbed me the wrong way. The chorus of this song says:

“I said where I come from
It's cornbread and chicken
Where I come from a lot of front porch sitting
Where I come from trying to make a living
And working hard to get to heaven
Where I come from”

 (https://genius.com/Alan-jackson-where-i-come-from-lyrics).

          Now did Alan Jackson mean to say “And working hard to get heaven” literally? Probably not, I would guess that Alan Jackson believes in doctrine of Justification, that through faith alone we are saved. This probably was just meant to mean work hard and honor God. Do we need to work “hard to get to heaven”?

In our Book of James reading for this morning, it says once again in 2:14-17:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead” (Jas. 2:14-17, NRSV).

          Some people have read this scripture throughout the centuries and have come to the conclusion that James is saying that faith alone cannot save us, and that we also need good works. That works are required to get us into heaven.

I would argue that we should be doing good works, but that our good works should be an expression of our faith. This is instead of partaking in a certain amount of heavenly community service hours to be found acceptable to gain entry into heaven. Our works are the evidence of our faith, not things that secure our eternity.

          In this way, I think what James is saying here, is don’t just have faith, but live it also. Your faith can and does save you I believe, but I believe that James is challenging us here to live our faith out. I believe also that James is saying if we have this great faith in Jesus Christ, what good is it if we do nothing with it? You know the scripture about keeping your light under a bushel basket?

          So does faith alone save us? Are we justified by faith in Christ alone, or do we need good works to get to heaven?

          I have joked with many of you that I thought that you are going to heaven, but then I always say, “but I’m in sales not management”. Some of you have even responded to me saying that you “hope” you will get to heaven. How many of us honestly don’t know for sure what will happen to us when we die on this earth? How many of you don’t know your eternal fate?

          Yet it says in 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).

          Many years ago, the Rev. Billy Graham came to England and had a series of Crusades for Christ. He also had the honor of preaching in a church to Queen Elizabeth II and her husband. In this service, Rev Graham asked the question, what is a Christian? He then quoted Colossians 1:27 that says:

“To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27, NRSV).

Through Christ, we are offered “the hope of glory”. Through Christ, we are offered the free gift of eternal life, of salvation, of heaven. All we have do is have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So what about works then?

          I really like what great reformer Martin Luther has to say about good works. He said:

“God does not need your good works, but your neighbor does” (https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/794373-god-does-not-need-your-good-works-but-your-neighbor)

          Friends, we cannot buy heaven, we cannot buy salvation, it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that we are saved. In the rest of our reading from the Book of James for this morning, James is telling us to have authentic faith in our hearts, and not just in our actions or our behaviors (Jas. 2:1-17, NRSV). James is saying, have faith in Christ, be like Christ, and serve others. Have faith, and live faith.

          In our gospel of Mark reading for this morning, Jesus tests a woman regarding her sick daughter (Mk. 7:24-25, NRSV). She passes the test, and since Jesus is pleased with her faith, her daughter is healed (Mk. 7:26-30, NRSV). Jesus then healed a deaf man (Mk. 7:31-37, NRSV).

          So often when someone in the gospels was sick or was suffering, Jesus generally wanted to know if they faith, not just how many works the person had done. Jesus would often say, “go and sin no more, your faith has made you well”.

          So, my brothers and sisters, how do we get to heaven? Faith? Works? Both?

          In the fall of 2015 until the spring of 2016 I did a Clinical Pastoral Experience (CPE) internship at SUNY Upstate University Hospital. I was there about 20-hours a week for seven-months, learning, ministering, and growing. When I signed up for this program, I asked specifically, if I could serve on the oncology and the hematology wards, or to cancer patients. It was not so much that I wanted a challenge, but more to understand. Where was God in all of this?

          I remember sitting with patients on many occasions, who sometimes had an aggressive form of stage-4 cancer. Some of them asked me why God had allowed this to happen to them. I often had no good answer, but I would assure them that God is with us, and that our faith is alive and real.

          I also remember sitting with people that were dying, and some of them were scared about dying. Sure they were worried about the potential pain of their death, but some of them were also worried if they would make it to heaven. Now the patients that I am talking about in these examples were all Christians, and some of them were scared that they wouldn’t go to heaven.

          Sometimes I would sit with Evangelical Christians who believed that they were saved by faith in Christ alone, yet as I sat with some of them they were worried that some of their past sins would exclude them from heaven.

Once some of these patients shared their faith, I would ask them, “well how do you get to heaven”? Some of the patients said, “through faith in Christ”. I would then often say, “then what are you afraid of?” They would sometimes say, “but what if my faith isn’t enough?” They usually by the end of our visit would break out that mode of thinking and realize that we are saved not by works, not just by being a good person, but through faith in Jesus Christ.

          Friends, please here me right now, if you remember none of my sermons, none of the other things that I speak during my time here, please remember what I am about to tell you. If you repent of your sins, and if you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and serve Him, by serving others, then you are justified before the Heavenly Father. You will see the gates of glory, because we are justified by faith in Christ, and Christ alone. Amen.