Sunday
10/07/18 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “A little while lower than the angels”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 26
New Testament
Scripture: Hebrews 1:1-4; 2:5-12
Gospel Lesson: Mark
10:2-16
Welcome again my brothers and sisters in Christ, my
friends, on this the Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost, and this our World Communion
Sunday. In your bulletins for this morning, you will find an inserted envelope for
World Communion Sunday. The special offering that we will be taking this
morning will “fund graduate racial-ethnic World Communion Scholarships, with at
least one-half of the annual amount reserved for ministries beyond the United
States. Donations also provide for undergraduate U.S. Ethnic Scholarships and
Ethnic In-Service Training programs” (www.umcgiving.org/giveWCS). If you would
like to give to this special collection, feel free to put your money or check
in the inserted envelope in your bulletin, and then put it in the collection
plate during our collection this morning. We will then make sure that it gets
sent along to support this special giving effort.
With this said, and I don’t know about you, I have seen our
politics on the national level get pretty ugly as of lately. Am I the only one
that thinks this? I have seen some of our political leaders lately say some things
and act in certain ways that quite frankly have made me somewhat disappointed in
how our political system is currently running. It would seem that for some we
have forgotten how to respect and treat each other.
In this church, and in many churches we have a mixture of
people. We have people with different sports team allegiances. For example, we
haven’t all figured out like I have that God is a Chicago Cubs fan. We have some
people here who like Coke, and some who like Pepsi. We have Ford people, and
Chevy people. We have people that prefer the bank, and people that prefer the
credit union. We also have people of different political parties, and so on and
so forth.
What I love about this church though, is that we first seek
to love each other, believing that we are all made in the image of almighty God.
For we are all made in God’s image, meaning that we all bear the thumb prints
of God.
Imagine what our political discourse in our country would
look like if we started with the premise that we are all God’s children. Now
don’t get wrong, I’m still a Pepsi guy, but this in and of itself does not
define me.
I remember growing up as a little kid that my Grandpa
Winkelman was a staunch Republican. In fact, in one of the windows of his
garage he had a sign quoting President Harry Truman that said, “The Buck Stops
Here”. My grandpa was proud to say that he was old enough to have voted for
President Truman. Yet, my grandfather had good friends that were Democrats,
sometimes they would have coffee together. These were FDR Democrats. They didn’t
always agree, but my grandpa would always say that they were good and hard
working men.
I remember one time when I was really young, one of my
grandma and grandpa’s cats had kittens. My Grandma Winkelman took a card board
flat that had held soda cans, put a towel in the bottom of it, and put the kittens
in there. Growing up my mom was a Democrat and my dad was a Republican. These
kittens were very young and very small. In fact, their eyes were still shut. I
asked my Grandpa Winkelman, being about 5-years olds at the time, why the kitten’s
eyes were closed when they were born? He laugh and said, “didn’t you know that all
cats are born Democrats. Eventually they open there eyes though”. Well, my dad
thought that this was hilarious, but my mom not so much.
My mother Susan, even today, would say that while she didn’t
always agree with my Grandpa Winkelman politically, that he was one of the
greatest men that she had ever known.
This morning in our reading from the Apostle Paul’s epistle
or letter to the Hebrews, the Apostle Paul quotes Psalm 8:4-5. What does Psalm
8:4-5 say? It says this:
“what are
human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
and crowned them with glory and honor” (Ps. 8:4-5, NRSV).
and crowned them with glory and honor” (Ps. 8:4-5, NRSV).
Of course the Apostle Paul is talking about Jesus in this
overall scripture reading from Hebrews, but he is quoting the Old Testament. He
is saying that we are just a little lower than God.
The translation that is used in my New Revised Standard
Version reading from the Book of Hebrews for this morning says this:
“What are human beings that you are
mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while
lower than the angels; you
have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet” (Heb. 2:6b-8a, NRSV).
When I was picking out scriptures and sermon titles weeks
ago for this Sunday and others, these couple of versus of scripture just kept jumping
out at me. We are just a little lower than God, just a little while lower that
the angels.
This is powerful for me, because this morning the Apostle
Paul reminds us all that we are all made in God’s image, and that we are just a
little lower than God, just a little lower than the angels.
From the Christian perspective then, we are called to value
human life, to love each other, which means that all people are creations of
God.
Historically speaking, in cultures like that of the former
Soviet Union, or North Korea, people were and are not viewed by their inherent
worth and dignity, as people created by a God that loves them. Instead, they were
and are measured by what they can do for the state. They were and are measured
by what they are capable of, and often not seen as a child of God. The risk
that we run as people, is to stop seeing the thumbprints of God in others, and
instead see them as a number, or as something that can help of hurt us. Yet we
are all created just a little lower than God, just a little lower than the
angels.
Some versions of Psalm 8:4-5 say that we are a little lower
than God, and some say that we are a little lower than the angels. I really
like having both for this sermon.
Let’s look again at our scripture from Hebrews 1:1-4;
2:5-12 for this morning. In pointing first to Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul
starts by saying:
“Long
ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in
these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things,
through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory
and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he
had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on
high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is
more excellent than theirs” (Heb.
1:1-4, NRSV).
So the Apostle Paul is saying that God spoke truths through
the Prophets of the Old Testament “in many and various ways,” but lastly that
he has spoken through his Son. This means that God spoke through leaders,
though prophets, but lastly through his Son Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul then
says that God’s Son, Jesus Christ is “appointed heir of all things, through
whom he also created the worlds” (Heb. 1:2, NRSV). Paul further says of Jesus
Christ, “He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s
very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word” (Heb. 1:3a, NRSV).
Jesus according to the Apostle Paul then, died for us, now
sits at the right hand of God, and is now superior to the angels. To me this is
powerful language.
After this portion from the Book of Hebrews, the Apostle
Paul goes on and says:
“Now God
did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels.
But someone has testified somewhere,”
(Heb. 2:5, NRSV).
The Apostle
Paul then goes on to say, quoting Psalm 8:4-5 how we are little lower than the
angels.
The Apostle
Paul then says:
“Now in subjecting all things to them, God left
nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in
subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower
than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the
suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death
for everyone” (Heb. 2:8b-9, NRSV).
So
when Jesus came to earth he became lower than the angels for us. This
scripture then ends saying:
“It was
fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many
children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through
sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have
one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them
brothers and sisters, saying, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and
sisters, in the midst of the congregation I will praise you”
(Heb. 2:10-12, NRSV).
My friends, my brothers and sisters, God has made us just a
little lower than him, just a little lower than the angels. Jesus also went
down to our level for us, and to die for us. Since we are made in God’s image,
how does this reality change us, and how does it change how we love and treat
each other?
This of course does not mean that we have to agree with
each other, or that sin is ok. I for example, still respect the fact that most
of you haven’t come to the light yet about the greatness of the Chicago Cubs.
Yet, we are all humans made just a little lower than God, just a little lower
that the angels, and to me this should impact how see and love one another.
In our gospel of Mark reading for this morning, Jesus is
tested by the Pharisees (Mk. 10:2-4, NRSV). Jesus responds by discussing
marriage and the importance of marriage (Mk. 10:5-9, NRSV). This gospel then
ends with Jesus loving the little children as they are being brought to him,
and as Jesus tells us to have faith like a child (Mk. 10:10-16, NRSV).
What is the best solution to the divides in our nation, in
our town, in our families, in our churches, and etc. I believe that the one and
best solution, is the gospel of Jesus Christ that offers us all hope and
salvation. May we seek Christ this day and always, and may we seek to see each
other as a little while lower than God, a little while lower than the angels. Amen.
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