Sunday
01/27/19 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Psalm 19:14”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 19
New Testament
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a
Gospel Lesson:
Luke 4:14-21
Welcome back again
my brothers and sisters, my friends. Last Sunday we had what my wife Melissa
called a “Snowpocalypse,” or as some have called it “Snowmageddon” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snowmageddon)!
As a result, as we all know, we canceled church last Sunday for the safety of
everyone involved. This means that last Sunday I preached the best sermon that
I never gave!
Last Sunday was also a special giving Sunday in the life of
the United Methodist Church, called “Human Relations Day”. Since we didn’t have
a church service last Sunday because of the “Snowpocalypse,” or the “Snowmageddon”
though, we therefore never had the opportunity to have a collection for Human
Relations Day. Just so everyone knows, Human Relations Day is one of six special
giving Sundays in the life of the United Methodist Church. What is Human
Relations Day? Well according to www.umcgiving.org:
“Human Relations Day is one of six churchwide Special
Sundays with offerings in The United Methodist Church. Human Relations Day
calls United Methodists to recognize the right of all God’s children in
realizing their potential as human beings in relationship with one another. The
special offering benefits neighborhood ministries through Community Developers,
community advocacy through United Methodist Voluntary Services and work with
at-risk teens through the Youth Offender Rehabilitation Program” (http://www.umcgiving.org/question-articles/human-relations-day-faq).
There are giving envelopes inserted into your bulletins for
this morning, again. If you are interested in giving to this special giving
Sunday, feel free to put your funds in the giving envelope in your bulletin.
Then put the giving envelope in the collection plate when we take our church
collection for this morning. We will then make sure that your donation gets to
the people that need it. Despite a winter storm last Sunday, I wanted to make
sure the great ministries of the United Methodist Church were still supported.
So with said, last Sunday I had planned to talk about “Spiritual
Gifts,” and gifts in general, before the “Snowpocalypse” happened. The focus of
my sermon from last Sunday was a primer of sorts for our new church “Visioning
Team,” or as I like to call it, “Pastor Paul’s Dream Team”. A Visioning Team,
which is not only used in churches, is a team of people that dream and vision
about the future. Within this church, we have countless gifs and graces
distributed among us, and I want all of you to be able to use these gifts and
graces. When we are able and equipped to do the things that God is calling us
to do, then as people and as an entire church, with God’s help, we can soar to
new heights! What is God calling you to? What gifts and graces has God given
you? How can you use these gifts for God, for the church, for the community,
and for the world? How can we continue to make this church into all that God
has called it to be?
After church today at 12:00 pm in the church library, I
will host the first of potentially many “Visioning Team Meetings”. The purpose
of these meetings is to pray, to plan, and to organize our next steps as
individuals and as a church. Where is God calling us to in 2019 and beyond?
Further, how can we take our individual visions and our collective visions to
bring this church to a whole new level?
Maybe you feel called to start a monthly men’s breakfast,
or a coffee club? Maybe you feel called to start a Christian golfing club?
Maybe you want to start a women’s group, or a singles ministry? Maybe you want
to something else to use your gifts, to glorify God, and to make what do as
individuals and as a church even greater. The mission of the United Methodist
Church, is “To make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”.
I invite you to come to this meeting at 12:00 pm to dream and vision with me so
that we can make disciples of Jesus Christ and continue to transform the world together.
So with even more said, this morning I want to talk about
our thinking, our desires, what we say, and how we live. I know more than a
couple of pastors that pray every Sunday before giving their sermons. Some of
them end theses prayers by reciting Psalm 19:14. Well what is Psalm 19:14 once
again from this morning? It says:
“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Ps. 19:14, NRSV).
Now I have
never really prayed publically in front of the church before my sermon, or
recited this scripture every Sunday before I preach, but it is a striking
scripture me. Psalm 19 is in general, is a hymn praise to God, for His
creation, for his Laws to live by, and for His goodness (Africa Bible Commentary,
pgs. 630-631). Psalm 19 once again ends with 19:14 saying:
“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Ps. 19:14, NRSV).
Of all of the 150 Psalms, or 151 Psalms in some Bibles,
King David is attributed to writing at least half of the Psalms, but some
scholars would argue he wrote them all. Psalm 19 though is definitely a
praiseworthy hymn and a Psalm to God. It glorifies Gods power, majesty, and
love, through creation on heaven and earth. So moved is King David in this
Psalm that he wants the words that come from his mouth, and the thoughts and
the feelings that come from his heart to be acceptable or pleasing to God.
So powerful is Psalm 19:14 that many pastors recite it
every Sunday prior to giving their sermon or homily. I think that one of the
reasons that this scripture is so popular, is that this verse of scriptures
calls us to holiness. The Methodist Movement that started in 1700’s, led by
John and Charles Wesley. The Methodist Movement began as a movement designed to
preach the Word of God, and to spread scriptural holiness across the land. God
does not just want us to talk like Him, He wants us to think, act, and be like
Him.
As we might be examining ourselves right now, we might be
able to think of the many ways that we are not like Him. Certainly King David
failed, like when committed adultery with Bathsheba, but he had a desire to
speak, think, pray, and meditate in the ways of God.
When we open ourselves up to God fully, when we are
grounded in the love and teachings of His Son Jesus Christ, I am convinced that
we are changed. This means that the gospel of Jesus Christ, or his life, his teachings,
his miracles, his crucifixion, and his resurrection, are transformative. In
fact, I would argue that there is nothing on this earth that can so change a
human heart like the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is nothing that can turn
sinners to saints, there is nothing that change men and women, like the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Since I believe that this gospel is the hope of the world, I believe
that it should be preached and proclaimed as it originally was proclaimed, so
that as the church we might seek and save the lost. Through the power of the
Holy Spirit, God can change us, and through us we can change Sidney and world.
As I said earlier however, we all have various gifts and
graces given to us by God. There are many gifts that I don’t have, and there
are some that you have that I don’t. When we allow Christ to fill us, and
through the power of the Holy Spirit, the church comes alive, and new
ministries are born. These ministries come out of a desire not to just do more,
not to just get more people in church on Sunday, but rather so that we can “make
disciples of Jesus Christ, for the transformation of the world”.
Friends, brothers and sisters, the primary function of the
Christian Church is to reach the lost, the helpless, and the broken, so that
they might be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Once they are
transformed, we then equip them to serve Sidney and the world. What specifically
will God call these people to do? Well, at 12:00 pm today, I have a “Visioning
Team” that I am launching to answer all of these questions. I believe that
gospel of Jesus Christ is alive in this place, and that the Holy Spirit is
moving in ways that aren’t fully aware of yet. Amen.
I want to share with you an example about how the gospel of
Jesus can transform a whole society. This example is about John and Charles
Wesley, the founders of the Methodist Movement in England in the 1700’s. The
1700’s was a century of great upheaval and revolutions, like our revolution of
the thirteen colonies against the British, and the French Revolution. Yet
England never had a revolution or a Civil War in 1700’s. Why not? Well listen
to one student wrote about the Methodists:
“The
Methodist Movement first began as a popular movement in 1738—approximately one
hundred years before the series of revolutions in the many places of Europe.
Because of the Wesley’s aid to the poor, thousands of people repented of their
sinfulness and began to live holy lives, spreading a spiritual and social
revival. It touched and changed approximately one million lives. Wesley and his
followers sacrificed their own interests and their time in extreme dedication
in aiding the poor. By providing medical aid, they advanced the technology of
the Eighteenth Century as they established the first pharmacy. Straying from
idleness, they actively offered solutions for the unemployed. They educated the
poor, and brought them up to England’s middle class. They taught the poor how
to be good stewards of their money that really belonged to God. The work of
Wesley paved the path for many—a great number who continued on serving and
improving society. Abolishing the slave trade, educating the poor, and
reforming prisons were the wonderful results of their work”.
“So how was it that one hundred years later all but
England and four other countries broke out into revolutions? At first it began
with the American Revolution, then the France, and later all the other European
countries erupted; all except England and four other countries. Indeed, it is
intriguing how England did not erupt. I am greatly convinced to believe that
the work of the Methodist movement—its effort, its influence, and its fruit
saved England from a bloody revolution. Through tremendous sacrifice to
actively obeying the calling of Jesus Christ to care for the poor, not only did
the Methodist Movement transform the people of England, it also--one hundred
years later, transformed its future” (http://www.apricotpie.com/lucy-anne/how-methodist-movement-prevented-british-revolution).
Friends,
as you have heard me say before, we stand in a line of heroes. We are here
today, because of great sacrifice that has went on before us for Jesus Christ.
If we claim this moment in 2019, I doesn’t matter if other churches are declining
and even closing, God is and will continue to do a new thing in Sidney and the
world. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, God can change us, and then use to
transform this community and the world. Amen.
In
looking briefly at our gospel lesson for this morning from Luke 4:14-21, we
once again have Jesus Christ proclaiming his Lordship to us (Lk. 4:14-21,
NRSV). The scripture once again says:
“Then Jesus, filled with the power of the Spirit,
returned to Galilee, and a report about him spread through all the surrounding
country. He began to teach in their synagogues and was praised by everyone”
(Lk. 4:14-15, NRSV).
Jesus Christ, our savior, who was a Jew, is teaching
in the Jewish Synagogues, our equivalency to churches. Jesus is loving, healing,
forgiving, proclaiming the Kingdom of God, and preparing to die on a cross for
the sins of the world. The Old Testament of our Bible, or the Hebrew Bible,
speaks of the coming of Christ, the coming of the savior. This is so true in fact
that this morning Jesus reads in public worship, like this public worship, from
the Book of Isaiah. This Old Testament or Hebrew Bible book, was read on a
scroll. Most Jews in public worship don’t read from a bound book of scripture
like we do. Instead every book of the Torah and the rest of the Hebrew Bible is
often written on individual scrolls. This morning Jesus reading from the Isaiah
scroll. The gospel continues on saying:
“When he came to Nazareth, where he
had been brought up, he went to the synagogue on the sabbath day, as was his
custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to
him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
“The
Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to
bring good news to the poor. He has sent
me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery
of sight to the blind, to let the
oppressed go free, to proclaim the year
of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the
attendant, and sat down. The eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been
fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4:16-21,
NRSV).
In common Jewish
custom, Jesus reads from one of the books of the Hebrew Bible or the Old
Testament, and also in common Jewish custom, this book of scripture was on a scroll,
not bound like our Bible. Jesus reads the prophecy of the great prophet Isaiah,
who hundreds of years before him, predicted his coming. Jesus reads about who
he is, and why he has come.
After finishing
his duties as the liturgist or the lay reader for the morning, Jesus hands the
scroll back to the attendant or lay leader, and everyone looking right at him.
He then says of what he had just read:
“Today
this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing”
(Lk. 4:21,
NRSV).
Jesus is saying,
I have come for you, to teach you, to love you, to transform you, and to die
for you. So powerful is the gospel of Jesus Christ, his life, death, and
teachings, that the gospel of Christ has transformed billions of lives, and it
has transformed every society that it has been live and practiced in.
For me brothers
and sisters, this is my calling to ministry. Seeing a broken and hurting world,
and believing that trough the gospel of Jesus Christ that we can transforms
communities and the world.
As we strive to
live holy lives and to spread scriptural holiness, it is important for us all
to strive for Psalm 19:14. That we seek to
“Let the words of my mouth and the
meditation of my heart be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my redeemer” (Ps. 19:14, NRSV).
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