Sidney UMC - UMCOR Sunday/Fourth Sunday in Lent - 03/31/19 - Sermon - “Questioned and Challenged" ("The road to the cross" - Series - Part 4 of 7)

Sunday 03/31/19 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:          “Questioned and Challenged”

                       (“The road to the cross” Series – Part 4 of 7)

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 32

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Gospel Lesson: Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

          Welcome again on this the Fourth Sunday in this the season of Lent. This season that we are called to prepare our hearts and our minds for the trial, the crucifixion, and the death of Jesus Christ our Lord. Be of good cheer though, for a resurrection will come on Easter!

          This Sunday is also a Special Giving Sunday in the life of the United Methodist Church. This Sunday used to be called “One Great Hour of Sharing,” but it was changed to be called “UMCOR” Sunday at one of our General Conferences. I know that there are a lot of charitable organizations out there that many of us give to. Sometimes we wonder how much of our giving actually helps those in need. UMCOR, or the United Methodist Committee on Relief has an excellent track record for helping those in need. In fact, when a disaster occurs, UMCOR often has what are called “Advances”. These “Advances” are set up so that 100% of those funds get to the people that need them the most.

          When there are earthquakes, we are there. When there are hurricanes, monsoons, or tornadoes, we are there. UMCOR has boots on the ground in natural disasters and troubled situations all over the world. A friend of mine went to an UMCOR training a couple of years ago, and he told me that he learned there that there are two church organizations that are known for responding the quickest to natural disasters. What are these two church organizations? UMCOR and the Mormon Church’s relief agency. I am very proud of our relief agency, and the wonderful work that do each and every day!

          In your bulletin for this morning, there is an envelope to give to this special “UMCOR” giving Sunday. Feel free to put your funds in the envelope in your bulletin, and then put this envelope in the collection plate for this morning. We will then make sure that these funds get to UMCOR and to the people that so desperately need it.

          With all of this said, has anyone here ever had to deal with someone or more than one person that constantly sought to undermine you? You know that person at work that when you were in a meeting would always try to outdo whatever you had just said. You had a great idea, but then they came up with an even better idea. You were doing your job, and they then let you know that you really weren’t doing your job so well. They constantly challenged everything that you did. You were questioned, criticized, and never just allowed to do what you were supposed to do. Has anyone ever experienced anything like this before?

          Or maybe it was a neighbor or someone in town that you were determined to make your friend. Yet, everything you did, everything you tried, was challenged, was questioned. This is why I would never run for elected office, as I know that I would be “Questioned and Challenged” about everything. I wonder what it would feel it be “Questioned and Challenged” constantly? Imagine everywhere that you went that you were “Questioned and Challenged”? Instead of people just allowing you to be you, they instead challenge you. They don’t seem to like you. They want to put you in your place, and they are hoping that you mess up and have a fall from grace. Sometimes we have just encountered people in our lives that for whatever reason just want us to go away and not be around them anymore.

          Well let me illustrate to you what it’s like to be “Questioned and Challenged” with a joke. Here is the joke:

“A scientist went to God and said triumphantly, "We've worked out how to make a man without you." God laughed and said, "Okay then, show me. Go ahead..." So the scientist bent down and picked up a handful of dirt but God stopped him. "Oh no you don't. " said God. "Get your own dirt" (http://laffgaff.com/funny-christian-jokes-and-humor/).

          As many of you know I started a sermon series a few weeks ago, called “The Road the cross”. In this sermon series, I am seeking to connect the human part of Jesus to us. While the historical Christian belief is that Jesus was fully God and fully human on earth, how can we connect to Jesus’ human half? Further, does Jesus understand us and our lives?

          What I have been attempting to lay out in this sermon series, is just how much we can truly identify with the human part of Jesus. Why? The answer is, because Jesus has went through all the highs and the lows we do, but he suffered well beyond what we will ever suffer. Jesus gets us, because he came down from to become one of us.

          In the first week of this sermon series, I talked about how Jesus was “Tempted and Tried” by the devil in the wilderness for 40-days (Lk. 4:1-3, NRSV). Jesus was also “Tempted and Tried” at other times and places, as well. When we have been or feel tempted or tried by this world, or the people in it, Jesus has experienced what we do. He gets us.

          In the second week of this study, I talked about how Jesus was “Persecuted”. Specifically, how people, like King Herod wanted to kill Jesus (Lk. 13:31-35, NRSV). In some areas of the world, if you are a Christian you could be putting your life on the line. Maybe some of us have felt “Persecuted,” marginalized, or threatened. Well guess what, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ knows all about that, because he was “Persecuted” to. Jesus is described in the Bible as a suffering servant, and he knows what life is like, because he lived it. Jesus became one of us.

          Last week, while I didn’t preach, as we had the 150^th anniversary of the Methodist Women, I would have talked about how Jesus, “Came for the sins of all”. Last Sunday Jesus was also “Questioned and Challenged,” but through it all he said we must repent and have faith (Lk. 13:1-9, NRSV).

          Not only did Jesus suffer we have suffered, and even worse, he also came for each and every one of us. Even though we all have or will suffer differently, and even though Jesus understands our suffering, he still came for us all. All of us are sinners, all of us are incapable of doing right all the time on our own. As a result, Jesus came, lived, taught, healed, forgave, loved, was tried, crucified, and died, for all of us. He came for our sins. He lived, breathed, suffered, and died, so that we wouldn’t have to. He came to live like one of us, be like one us, and to die for all of us.

          This Sunday I want to talk about how Jesus was “Questioned and Challenged.” Our gospel of Luke reading for this morning begins once again by saying of Jesus:

“Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them” (Lk. 15:1-2, NRSV).

          Jesus is teaching, loving, healing, and proclaiming the kingdom of God, as he did for three years during his public ministry. In doing this, he was constantly “Questioned and Challenged”. This happened in part for a couple of reasons I think. One, Jesus was doing things that the religious leaders of his day didn’t like or agree with. The religious leaders believed that Jesus was in error. Two, Jesus was wildly popular, and I believe that the religious leaders, the Pharisees, feared losing power to Jesus. If they could trick Jesus, discredit him, or make him look foolish, then they would win. Yet they failed miserably.

          Jesus was “Tried and Tempted,” and never broke. Jesus was “Persecuted,” but never caved in. Jesus “Came for the sins of all,” and he was “Questioned and Challenged”. Yet every time that he was “Questioned and Challenged,” Jesus passed the test.

          In this morning’s gospel lesson from Luke, Jesus is once again mocked a little, but not fully “Questioned and Challenged”. So I am stretching our gospel lesson from this morning a little bit. Let me give you but a few examples though of how Jesus was “Questioned and Challenged” in the gospels.

In Mark 8:11 it says speaking of Jesus:

“The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, asking him for a sign from heaven, to test him” (Mk. 8:11, NRSV).

          In the gospel of Luke 20:1-2 it says of Jesus:

“One day, as he was teaching the people in the temple and telling the good news, the chief priests and the scribes came with the elders and said to him, “Tell us, by what authority are you doing these things? Who is it who gave you this authority?” (Lk. 20:1-2, NRSV).

          A final example from the gospels of Jesus being “Questioned and Challenged” is from the gospel of Matthew 22:33-36, which says of Jesus:

“And when the crowd heard it, they were astounded at his teaching. When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”                             (Mt. 22:33-36, NRSV).

          So while our gospel of Luke reading for this morning once again has more slander and some grumbling against Jesus in the first two versus, Jesus was “Questioned and Challenged” just about everywhere he went. If you have ever been “Questioned and Challenged,” Jesus get it, and he gets you. He has been there, and he understands us.

          After the two versus of slandering Jesus in our gospel reading for this morning, Jesus then tells my favorite parable or story that he tells in the gospels (Lk. 15:11b-32, NRSV). In this parable or story, Jesus tells us the story that we often know as the story of “The Prodigal Son”. Sometimes when Jesus was “Questioned and Challenged,” or sometimes when he was just teaching the disciples, he would do so with parables or stories. These include the parable of the Mustard Seed, and the parable of the Fig Tree.

          This morning, after being slandered, or lightly “Questioned and Challenged” in our gospel lesson, Jesus then takes his critics to school about the love of God. In this parable of “The Prodigal Son,” a father who had wealth, land, a house, and servants had two sons. One worked hard and stayed with his father at home, and never ask for anything. The younger of the two sons though, went to his father and asked him for his inheritance right then and there. This meant 50% of what the father had. The father agreed.

          The son then went off, and in a polite way to say it, partied and frittered the money away. Where the younger son was broke and hit rock bottom, a great famine hit, and he was penniless. This son found work feeding pigs, an animal that Jews believe to be an unclean animal. So hungry was this younger brother that he was willing to eat what he was feeding the pigs.

          After sucking up his pride, and realizing that he squandered his inheritance, the younger son decided to go home and ask if his father would make him one of his servants. The younger son knew he had done wrong, and knew he was no longer worthy to be called his father’s son. The younger son was embarrassed and had shamed the father and the whole family with his behavior.

          Yet Jesus goes on to say, but this is the level of the love and grace that I am brining to earth. As the defeated, shamed, starving, and broke younger son is heading home, and is at a decent distance from the house, his father saw him. Remember that the younger son had shamed the father and the family. The younger son blew half of the father’s wealth.

          So what does the father of the younger son do? He runs to his son. He puts a robe on him, sandals on his feet, and a ring on his finger. The older brother is angry at the treatment of the shamed younger brother. The older brother tells his father, but how can you treat him this way after what he has done? How come you are going to kill the fatted calf for a feast? The father tells the oldest son, you have always been with me and have had the best of everything that I have had. Once again as the gospel lesson for this morning ends in Luke 15:32, the father says:

“But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’” (Lk. 15:32, NRSV).

          Jesus Christ, God in the flesh came to earth to love, to heal, to forgive, to live, to die, and to be raised to new life for us. He endured what do and so much more. Jesus Christ, the God man, was “Tried and Tempted,” was “Persecuted,” “Came for the sins of all,” and was “Questioned and Challenged” for us. He did all of this for us.

          So as we journey on the road to the cross together, the road to Good Friday, remember that Jesus has been where we have been. He is a personal savior that gets us, forgives us, and loves us. Even if we have made a mess of our lives, Jesus will run to us, put a robe on us, sandals on our feet, and a ring on our finger, and he will prepare a feast for us. All we need to do is come to him and ask him forgiveness, and he will say:

 “But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’” (Lk. 15:32, NRSV).

          Praise God, and amen.

Sidney UMC - Second Sunday in Lent - 03/17/19 - Sermon - “Persecuted" ("The road to the cross" - Series - Part 2 of 7)

Sunday 03/17/19 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:                    “Persecuted”

                (“The road to the cross” Series – Part 2 of 7)

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 27

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Philippians 3:17-4:1

Gospel Lesson: Luke 13:31-35

          Welcome again my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, on this the Second Sunday in Lent. This season that we are called to give up, give away, to love, to care, and above all else to grow closer to Jesus Christ. This season of Lent, should not be a season of suffering, but a season of humility, faith, generosity, charity, and love. As I said last Sunday, I am giving up pride for Lent, as I seek to grow closer and closer to Jesus Christ. I am hoping with God’s help, to become more humble.

          Last week, for those of you that braved the elements, you know that we started a sermon series called, “The road to the cross”. In this sermon series, I am seeking to have us all understand more, the very human part of Jesus. Historically, the church has believed that Jesus was fully God and fully human on earth, but I believe that sometimes we need to connect more with Jesus’ human side. This is because Jesus’ human side connects to our own humanity.

          In our Lenten book study that we have on Mondays and Tuesday called, “He Chose the Nails,” by Rev. Max Lucado, the first lesson that we have done is entitled:

“He Chose to Be One of Us” (He Chose the Nail, Max Lucado).

          Sometimes a title can say so much. In this first lesson in our Lenten book study, Pastor Max Lucado is saying that God saw fit to have his only begotten son become one of us. This means that Jesus, God, took on flesh, and that he would experience what we experience. This means that God saw fit to come down into our mess. This should be humbling for us to be sure, but this also allows us to see the human side of Jesus, not just the divine side.

          In Jesus’ humanness, what did he encounter? What did he experience? Did he laugh? Did he cry? Did he suffer? In the first session of our Lenten study as I said, we looked at how God “Chose to Be One of Us”. Does Jesus get us or understand us? Does Jesus know what our lives are like? Is he a savior that can be personal and that understands what we feel and what we experience? Well my answer to this is yes!

          So just what did Jesus experience and encounter on “The road to the cross” where he would be crucified and killed on Good Friday? There are certainly so many things that Jesus experienced and encountered, and in this sermon series, I want to talk about just some of the examples of the human part of Jesus Christ.

          Last Sunday in the first week of this sermon series, I talked about how Jesus was “Tempted and Tried” in the flesh. Specifically, in our gospel lesson from Luke 4:1-13 from last Sunday, Jesus was “Tempted and Tried” in many ways (Lk. 4:1-13, NRSV). Jesus had just had the glorious moment of his baptism by his cousin John the Baptist in the Jordan River, and then he, filled with the Holy Spirit, went into the wilderness for 40-days (Lk. 4:1-2, NRSV).

          For those that remember from last Sunday, in this reading from the gospel of Luke 4:1-13, Jesus resisted devil for 40-days. Jesus was hungry, and resisted food, he resisted wealth, riches, and fame, and refused to jump off the temple and dishonor God (Luke 4:1-13, NRSV). Jesus would not jump off of the great temple in Jerusalem simply because the devil “dared” him to do it.

          In the human part of Jesus, I would say that last Sunday we say a resilient, strong, brave, and a tough Jesus. He stood toe to toe with evil. He experienced hunger, temptation, and in general was “Tried and Tempted”. Jesus didn’t back down, and the devil fled from him. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, was no wimp, as last Sunday he survived 40 brutal days of being “Tempted and Tried”.

          While all throughout the gospels, the devil was constantly tempting and trying Jesus, Jesus also had many people that sought his downfall, here on earth. This is why my sermon for today, which is the second part of my “The road to the cross” series, is called “persecuted”.

          Has anyone here ever felt judged? Has anyone here ever felt persecuted? Or even hated? I don’t mean that you disagreed with someone about something, I mean the fact that you had a different opinion meant that someone hated you. It’s not the same as disagreeing with a family member about politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table, I mean this is hostile.

          This sort of the “persecution” is getting death threats, being told you are unloved, and that you in general are a terrible and an awful person. Jesus, was “persecuted,” and was “persecuted” from the time he was baptized in the Jordan River by his cousin John the Baptist, until he breathed his last breath on the cross.

          So some of Jesus’ “persecutors” didn’t just disagree with him, but they sought his downfall, his death. It’s one thing to disagree, it’s another to want to hurt and to harm someone else. Jesus was “persecuted”. Imagine what it would be like to have people seeking your downfall daily, and maybe even your death.

          In our reading from Psalm 27 for this morning once again, we have a Psalm where King David is no doubt feeling “persecuted”. In fact, in just re-reading the first two versus of Psalm 27, it says once again:

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers assail me to devour my flesh—my adversaries and foes—they shall stumble and fall”

(Ps. 27:1-2, NRSV).

          The Psalm continues with King David proclaiming that amidst strife, suffering, and yes “persecution,” God will be with us. In fact, this Psalm ends once again by saying:

“Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!” (Ps. 27:14, NRSV).

          “Persecuted,” King David felt “persecuted”. The “persecution” that Christ experienced though, was on a much higher level.

          In our reading from the Apostle Paul’s epistle or letter to the Philippians for this morning, the Apostle Paul also speaks about suffering and persecution. Specifically, the Apostle Paul talks about those who once again:

“live as enemies of the cross of Christ” (Phil. 3:18, NRSV).

          The Apostle Paul is discussing people that are against Jesus, his cross, and the church. The Apostle Paul encourages us to look toward heaven, and not be consumed with the things of this earth (Phil. 3:17-4:1, NRSV). Or as the great Rev. Billy Graham once said:

“I never saw a U-Haul behind a hearse” (https://www.azquotes.com/quote/1439463).

         

In this scripture from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he is clearly emotional about this reality of “persecution” and selfishness against the followers of Jesus Christ. Once again, the Apostle Paul tells the Philippians that he is writing to them:

“even with tears” (Phil. 3:18b, NRSV).

          All throughout the scriptures, we have people that suffer, that struggle, and are persecuted. Let’s look again though at the one who was the most persecuted, Jesus Christ. In looking at our gospel lesson from Luke 13:31-35, it says once again:

“At that very hour some Pharisees came and said to him, “Get away from here, for Herod wants to kill you.” He said to them, “Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Lk. 13:31-35, NRSV).

          In this gospel lesson, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, the capital of Judea or Israel, is where the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate is, and also the Jewish King, King Herod. As Jesus is on his journey to Jerusalem, our gospel reading once again picks up at this point this morning.

          What I have always found interesting about this scripture, is that the Jewish Pharisees, or the religious leaders, warn Jesus. Now remember, these are some of the same Pharisees that try to trip Jesus us, condemn him, shame him, and etc. Yet in this gospel lesson, these Pharisees warn Jesus that King Herod wants to kill him.

          One could ask, “But Pastor Paul, why would the same Pharisees that chanted on Good Friday ‘crucify him, crucify him; now want to help Jesus?” The best answer that I can give for this, is that it wasn’t yet Jesus’ time to die. Also, the Pharisees weren’t bad people, many of them just didn’t like Jesus or what he taught and represented.

          What I also love about this gospel lesson, is that once again, Jesus fires right back at the Pharisees. The Pharisees tell Jesus that King Herod wants to kill him, and Jesus says once again regarding King Herod:

“Go and tell that fox for me, ‘Listen, I am casting out demons and performing cures today and tomorrow, and on the third day I finish my work. Yet today, tomorrow, and the next day I must be on my way, because it is impossible for a prophet to be killed outside of Jerusalem.’ (Lk. 13:32-33, NRSV).

          Jesus is saying that he has no fear of King Herod, and that he must go to Jerusalem, because that is where his mission will come to an end. At his cross on Good Friday, Jesus will give up his life for us, in Jerusalem. Jesus is telling the Pharisees, I am not worried about King Herod, I am worried about fulfilling my mission of loving, healing, forgiving, and dying for the sins of the world in Jerusalem.

          Jesus then concludes this gospel lesson once again, by lamenting on all of the prophets of old, from the Old Testament that were persecuted and even killed. Jesus says once again:

“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you. And I tell you, you will not see me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord’”                  (Lk. 13:31-35, NRSV).

          Jesus on earth was “tried and tempted,” and he was “persecuted”. I can’t imagine what it was like to be Jesus from age 30-33 when he died on the cross. From age 30-33, Jesus was “persecuted” everywhere he went. Can any of us here identify with what it feels like to be “tried and tempted,” or identify with being “persecuted”? If you can, then Jesus gets you, and get where you are coming from.

          Jesus on earth was truly God and was truly man, but in his humanness, he experienced what we do, and so much more. He was “tried and tempted,” and today he was “persecuted”. He gets you. He gets me. He is our savior that came among his people, that understands his people, and because of this, we can better understand our savior. Amen.

Sidney UMC - First Sunday in Lent - 03/10/19 - Sermon - “Tempted and Tried" ("The road to the cross" - Series - Part 1 of 7)

Sunday 03/10/19 - Sidney UMC

Sermon Title:            “Tempted and Tried”

                (“The road to the cross” Series – Part 1 of 7)

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Romans 10:8b-13

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Luke 4:1-13

          Once again, happy Lent, as we are, as of this past Wednesday, in the season of Lent. This is the 40-day season that starts every year on Ash Wednesday, and ends right before Easter. We then have Easter Sunday, where we celebrate the glorious risen Christ, our Lord and Savior.

          I read an invitation to the observance of the Lenten discipline to introduce this the season of Lent this past Wednesday, at our Ash Wednesday service. Let me read this to you once again:

“Dear brothers and sisters in Christ: the early Christians observed with great devotion the days of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, and it became the custom of the Church that before the Easter celebration there should be a forty-day session of spiritual preparation. During the season converts to the faith were prepared for Holy Baptism. It was also a time when persons who had committed serious sins were reconciled by penitence and forgiveness, and restored to participation in the life of the Church. In this way the whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew our faith. I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Christ, to observe Holy Lent: by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting, and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s Holy Word. To make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our moral nature, let us now bow before our Creator and Redeemer and ask for forgiveness”.

         

So we are not going to pray right now, as this invitation that I just read invites us to. We are given this season of Lent though, so that we can spiritually prepare ourselves for the coming crucifixion and death of Christ, leading to Easter Sunday.

As I stated on Ash Wednesday, the Bible is full of many 40-day periods, or periods of 40’s. Noah was on the water in the Ark for 40-days, the Jews wandered the wilderness for 40-days, this morning in our gospel reading, Jesus is in the wilderness for 40-days, and this season of Lent, we are given 40-days. The season of Lent also developed out of the tradition of the Christian Church, as Lent is not a Biblical season.

Forty is very a Biblical concept though, and this 40-day season of Lent (minus Sundays, as Sunday is the day of Christ’s resurrection), is the time that we are given to grow closer to Christ in this season. It is amazing to me that for hundreds of years that billions and billions of Christians have engaged in a time of spiritual preparation to prepare for the crucifixion, death, and then resurrection of Jesus Christ. All of us are called to seek after Christ, to be like him, and to move closer into what he has called us all to be. This season then, is all about God, all about Jesus.

Some of us have a tradition of “giving up” something for Lent, as this year I am giving up pride.  Some of you might not think that I have a lot of pride, but I want to continue to grow closer to Jesus Christ. There are times where maybe I have been judgmental, not as loving as I could be, or maybe I have failed to be all that God has called me to be. Instead of getting defensive though, I am repenting and growing closer to Jesus.

          As I said in our Ash Wednesday service, I grew up in a largely Roman Catholic family. I remember every year listening to my aunts and other family members discuss what they were giving up for Lent. One gave up chocolate, one gave up deserts, and so on and so forth. Yet, many years my family members seemed to be grieved and troubled at what they were giving up. It was almost an act of futility and an admission that we must suffer, as Christ suffered for us.

          Lent though, is about Jesus. If we chose to give up something in this period of Holy Lent, let it be because that thing that we are giving up draw us closer to Jesus. If we give up something, may we give it up to draw us closer to God, so that we become more holy and righteous.

          As I also said on Ash Wednesday, I pray that we may give away, not just give up, a variety of things. May we give away things we don’t need, be generous, loving, caring, so that we might draw closer to Christ and to each other.

          So since this 40-day season of Lent, minus Sundays of course, is all about growing closer to Christ, I wanted to start a sermon series this morning about Christ. This sermon series looks at who Jesus was and is, as we are all on a journey on “The road to the cross”. In this period of Lent, we are preparing for the crucifixion, death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We are, as I just said, (which is the title of my seven part sermon series) on “The road to the cross” together.

          The historic teaching of the Christian Church, is that Christ on that first Good Friday died on a cross for the sins of the world. Outside of this, who was Jesus, and what was he like? This sermon series, “The road to the cross,” will hopefully shed some light on this.

          Now before I begin this sermon series, I want to remind you all that on Sunday March 24^th, I won’t be preaching, as we will be celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the Methodist Women, as an organizational entity. I will fill you all in on that missed sermon briefly the next Sunday though.

          Today, my first sermon in this sermon series is called, “Tempted and tried”. So often we hear about, we think about, and we believe in the gentle and loving Jesus Christ. These are certainly accurate understandings of Jesus. It is the historical belief that Jesus was fully God and fully human on earth, but was there more to Christ than these things? Was Jesus tough? Did Jesus show courage? Was Jesus brave? How much was the human part of Christ like us as humans? Further, was Jesus truly more than just meek and mild? The answer is yes!

          Jesus was tough! Jesus was tougher than any of us here this morning. How tough? Well according to our gospel reading for this morning once again, Jesus spent 40-days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil (Lk. 4:1-2, NRSV). Now you might think you’re tough, but going 40-days toe to toe with the devil, well that’s tough! Let’s look again at what the scripture for this morning has to say: It says:

“Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing at all during those days, and when they were over, he was famished. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone’” (Lk. 4:1-4, NRSV).

          So after Jesus is baptized, and comes out of the water full of glory and grace, Jesus then goes into the wilderness for 40-days, to be tempted by the devil. Just like when Jesus was up on the mountain and was “Transfigured” last Sunday, we must come down from the mountains in our own lives. Sometimes glory can quickly turn into grief. Jesus goes from his glorious baptism to this Sunday being in the wilderness for 40-days, as we are now in the 40-day season of Lent.

          In this gospel reading, which I like to call “Jesus’ basic training”, is Jesus’ 40-day period where he is “Tempted and tried” by the devil.

          The gospel says that Jesus ate nothing for 40-days, and after this he was famished or really hungry. So the first way that Jesus is “tempted and tried” is with food. The devil tells Jesus to prove who he is and his power, by turning a stone into a loaf of bread. I don’t know about you, but I probably would have caved right then! Forty-days, are you kidding me! Fresh hot bread! Yeah, I don’t know if I would have made it!

          While Jesus is “tempted and tried” though, he responds to the devil by quoting scripture, as the devil was quoting scripture. Jesus says at this time of being “tempted and tried,” quoting Deuteronomy 8:3:

“One does not live by bread alone”

          The gospel continues by saying:

^“Then the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And the devil said to him, “To you I will give their glory and all this authority; for it has been given over to me, and I give it to anyone I please. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Lk. 5-8, NRSV).

          The fascinating reality of this gospel reading, is that the devil knows scripture just as good as Jesus. The devil just misuses the scripture. The devil then leads Jesus up to cliff, an overlook if you will, and offers him all the kingdom and wealth in the world. The devil then quotes scripture, and Jesus responds with scripture. Jesus, quoting Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20 says:

“Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him”

          So the devil knows and uses scripture, but interprets it wrong, and Jesus fires right back with a correct usage of scripture. Jesus turns down hot bread after not eating for days, turns down fame, riches, and power, and will be tempted once more before his time in the wilderness is over.

          The gospel then concludes by once again saying:

“Then the devil took him to Jerusalem, and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time” (Lk. 4:9-13, NRSV).

          In this last time of being “tempted and tried” in this gospel lesson, the devil takes Jesus to the very top of the temple in Jerusalem. The devil then “temps and tries” Jesus to jump off the top of the temple, knowing that angels will rescue him. Jesus again, quoting scripture says from Deuteronomy 6:16:

“Do not put the Lord your God to the test”

          So meek and mild Jesus, goes days without food, and is tempted by the devil. Tempted with food when hungry, riches, fame, and fortune, and to save his own life from falling of the temple in Jerusalem. Yet Jesus emerges victorious after being “tried and tempted” in this gospel lesson.

          As we walk the road to the cross together then, let us remember that only is Jesus going to die for us soon on Good Friday. Not only did Jesus come to teach us to love, to heal, and to forgive, but Jesus also is many things. Today’s gospel reading shows us just how tough Jesus is. It shows us that Jesus can be meek and mild, but he can also trade scripture for scripture, look the devil right in the eye and overcome him. This is the savior that we are journeying with together on “The road to the cross”. Amen.

Sidney UMC - Ash Wednesday - 03/06/19 - Sermon - “Why we wear ashes tonight"

03/06/19 Sidney UMC – Ash Weds. Sermon

Sermon Title: “Why we wear ashes tonight”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 51:1-17

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 2 Corinthians 5:20b-6:10

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21

          Welcome again my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, on this the first day of this season of Holy Lent. This day that the church has come to call “Ash Wednesday”. So despite what the camel in the GEICO commercials says, today is “Ash Wednesday”. I guess it is also “Hump Day,” but it is also “Ash Wednesday”! So what is Ash Wednesday? Why do we have this day in the Christian calendar?

          According to one source that I researched, Ash Wednesday is:

“A Christian holy day of prayer, fasting, and repentance. It is preceded by Shrove Tuesday and falls on the first day of Lent, the six weeks of penitence before Easter. Ash Wednesday is observed by many Christians, including Anglicans, Episcopalians, Lutherans, Old Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Roman Catholics, and some Baptists”.

“Ash Wednesday derives its name from the placing of repentance ashes on the foreheads of participants to either the words "Repent, and believe in the Gospel" or the dictum "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return." The ashes may be prepared by burning palm leaves from the previous year's Palm Sunday celebrations”.

“Because it is the first day of Lent, many Christians, on Ash Wednesday, often begin marking a Lenten calendar, praying a Lenten daily devotional, and abstaining from a luxury that they will not partake in until Easter Sunday arrives” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday).

          I have 40-day Lenten devotional calendars that Sharon Bassett very nicely sent me that are on the tables in the back of the sanctuary, if any of you would like to pick one up. On this day then, we are entering into a 40-day period leading up to Good Friday, and then to Easter Sunday.

          So with this definition given, Ash Wednesday has always been in a way sort of strange to me. I mean, we take burned palms from Palm Sunday the year before, then we take the burned palm ashes and then we mix these ashes with some olive oil. Now we don’t stop there! We then smear crosses on people’s foreheads!

A little odd one might say! I mean, we come to church every year on the first day of the 40-day season of Lent to get palm ashes smeared on our foreheads. Noah was on the water for 40-days, the Jews wandered the wilderness for 40-years, this Sunday in our gospel reading Jesus is tempted and tried in the wilderness for 40-days, but for the 40-days of Lent, that’s right smeared palm ashes on your forehead. Awesome!

In some cultures historically, the church has sprinkled ashes on top of people’s heads, but in Western culture we like to smear a cross on people’s foreheads, or sometimes on the hand. I think many cultures are more and more adopting this method of the imposition of the palm ashes on the forehead though.     

In this being the first day of this the season of Holy Lent, this “Ash Wednesday,” we are given a 40-day period, minus Sundays, to prepare our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our bodies, for the death and then the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is a season of holy preparation, reflection, repentance, love and goodwill, and a season where we can reflect upon our lives and how we live.

          I remember in growing up in a mostly Roman Catholic family that my aunts, grandparents, and others would bemoan every year the tradition of giving up something for Lent. How many of us have ever given up something for Lent?

The idea behind this tradition was that Jesus Christ came to earth to teach us to love, to heal, to forgive, and to die for us. So in response we should therefore give up something we like to show our sacrifice and our contrition. More specifically, we should sacrifice something as Christ has sacrificed for us. Some Roman Catholic Christians and clergy in Medieval times would flagellate or whip themselves, or mortify there flesh in other ways, almost as a punishment for what Christ has done for us. Giving up something for Lent though, I don’t believe should be to punish or to harm us.

          Instead, the idea of giving up something for Lent was always supposed to be about drawing us closer to God. For example, if we give up chocolate, let us do it because it draws us closer to God, to Jesus, not just so that we can be angry and irritable for the next 40-days. Further, in this season of Holy Lent, we can also give things away. We can love others even more, and love all people, we can give away things that we don’t need, and we can give generously.

          The ashes that we will receive tonight then, should not be a mark of shame and guilt therefore, but rather ones of repentance and victory. We are Christians, we are loved by an amazing and all-encompassing God. We are forgiven by Jesus Christ, and as such, the ashes that we will receive tonight remind us of our own brokenness, our own mortality, and our own need for the grace of Jesus Christ. This my friends, my brothers and sisters, is “Why we wear ashes tonight”. Holy Lent is about making us more like Jesus Christ, and living into his image. In Ecclesiastes 3:20 it says:

“All go to one place; all are from the dust, and all turn to dust again”

(Ecc. 3:20, NRSV).

          This is a humbling verse of scripture that reminds us that only thing eternal is God and His kingdom. As Christians, we believe that when we die our earthly deaths that we enter into the warm embrace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. On this earth though, we are called to live this faith out in radical ways, by teaching, loving, healing, forgiving, and by pursuing God’s justice. Yet we are all broken, and each and everyone one of us are sinners. In this season of Holy Lent, and especially on this Ash Wednesday, the ashes that we will receive tonight should remind us of our frailty, our humanness, our need for forgiveness, and our need for God’s grace. This is “why we wear ashes tonight”. So that the world will know that we are broken people, redeemed by the grace of God in Jesus Christ.

          In our reading this evening from Psalm 51, the Psalmist is asking God to clean, forgive, and to cleanse him of all unrighteousness (Ps. 51:1-17, NRSV).

          In our reading from 2 Corinthians for tonight, the Apostle Paul encourages us to “be reconciled to God,” and talks about many have suffered for Christ, yet he is with us. Trust God and put your faith in Christ.

          In our gospel reading for tonight from the gospel of Matthew, is says once again:

“Beware of practicing your piety before others in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “So whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be praised by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you”

(Mt. 6:1-4, NRSV).

Jesus says to serve and to love God, not for praise from others, but to honor and love God. Jesus then once again continues on and says:

“And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6:5-6, NRSV).

     Jesus tell us to serve and to love God, not for praise from others, but to honor and love God. Jesus continues on once again and says of fasting as a spiritual disciple that:

“And whenever you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Mt. 6:16-18, NRSV).

Jesus tells us to fast, to serve, and to love God, not for praise from others, but to honor and love God. Lastly, Jesus says once again:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Mt. 6:19-21, NRSV).

Friends, brothers and sisters, the possessions that we have, the money that we have, the cars, the homes, the I-phones, all of these are temporary, but God is eternal. The vast majority of us as people will be nameless to history, but faithful for eternity. We will be forgotten on this earth, our possessions and money will perish and fade away, but God is eternal.

We live in a world, and a community that knows so much pain, so much brokenness, and so much suffering. We “wear ashes tonight,” to let the world know that we aren’t perfect, but that we are forgiven by a perfect savior named Jesus Christ. We “Wear ashes tonight,” because we are all on the Lenten journey to the cross together. Remember though it’s a journey that leads to an empty tomb. For the life of Christ is one of hope, forgiveness, light, life, and love.

In this season of Lent, I hope and pray, with God’s help, to become more loving, more generous, more caring, more giving, and I am also giving up something for Lent. This year I am giving up pride, as I need to continue to trust God more, and not myself. I was considering giving up coffee, but short of a visit from the Angel Gabriel to tell me that this is God’s will, this will likely never happen!

So friends, brothers and sisters, we “wear ashes tonight,” because God is good, God is loving, and because in this 40-day season of Lent, we are preparing for Jesus Christ to die for us. May we be loving, repentant, caring, merciful, and seeking with God’s help to become more like Jesus Christ in this season of Lent, and always. This is “why we wear ashes tonight”. Amen.