Sunday
08/18/19 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Why faith has a cost”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 80:1-2, 8-19
New Testament
Scripture: Hebrews 11:29-12:2
Gospel Lesson: Luke
12:49-56
Welcome again,
on this the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost. Ten Sundays after the Holy Spirit
moved on the day of Pentecost nearly two-thousand years ago, giving birth to us
the Christian Church.
Welcome again my brothers and sisters, my friends, as well
as our brothers and sisters from the Afton UMC and the North Afton UMC’s. What
a blessing it is to gather to worship God, have baptisms, and celebrate what
God is doing in our churches. Oh, and we have a dish-to-pass luncheon after
church, like good Methodists!
Further,
in God’s great sense of humor, this Sunday we have a challenging gospel
reading. In this gospel reading from the gospel of Luke, Jesus tells us that
our lives will have challenges and trials, if we follow him.
I have to admit, probably not the first gospel reading a
pastor might chose on a Sunday with visiting folks from nearby churches. Oh,
and wait for it, 5-baptisms! Let’s look at this gospel of Luke lesson for this
morning briefly again, as there is a bit to unpack here. Once again Jesus tells
us in Luke 12:49-56:
“I came to bring fire to the earth, and
how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized,
and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come
to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on
five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three;
they will be divided: father against son and son against father, mother against
daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and
daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Lk. 12:49-53,
NRSV).
So at this point, I know what you are
probably thinking, “Boy Pastor Paul, you really hit a home run with this gospel
reading on a Sunday like this!” Well let me finish reading this gospel reading
for this Sunday. Once again it says in our reading from the gospel of Luke:
“He also said to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the
west, you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’; and so it happens. And when
you see the south wind blowing, you say, ‘There will be scorching heat’; and it
happens. You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and
sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”
(Lk. 12:54-56,
NRSV).
So again, “Really knocked it out of the
park this week Pastor Paul, with visiting folks from other churches and
5-baptisms!”
Now in my defense, this is the
lectionary gospel reading that is being read at thousands and thousands of
churches the world over this morning. What does it mean though?
Let me read to you out of one of my
favorite bible commentaries, called the Africa Bible Commentary. It says
speaking of Luke 12:49-53:
“Jesus’
disciples should not expect to live a life of ease while they wait for him. He
bluntly states that his mission will bring fire
on the earth (12:49). It will lead to divisions even among close relatives
(12:51-53). He calls for such a radical change from the status quo that his
followers will inevitably be persecuted by those who want to keep things the
way they are. Yet these changes are so important that those who have identified
themselves with his mission should not give up, even if this brings them into
conflict with those they love. The end result of their relationship with Jesus
is worth all the discomfort they will endure on earth” (Africa
Bible Commentary, pg. 1256-57).
Jesus then uses an analogy of a rain
cloud, wind, and scorching heat. Don’t wait until the rain comes, the wind
blows, or the scorching heats comes, to do something about it.
So what does this all mean? I believe it means this that Jesus
did not just come to earth just to make a transaction of dying for us and our
sins on the cross. Jesus dying for us is central to the Christian faith,
needed, and necessary, but in addition to this salvation through Christ, is the
transformation with Christ. In following and in being transformed by Christ
through the Holy Spirit, we become new creations. We are saved, regenerated,
restored, and are moving towards perfection.
This means we will then live differently. It means that we
won’t strive after only pleasure, materialism, money, status, power, and what
we can get out of this world. Instead we follow Christ, love our neighbor, feed
the hungry, clothe the naked, and share the Good News of Jesus Christ. In
sharing this Good News, through the power of the Holy Spirit lives will be
changed. Our desire for things of this world will lessen.
Going out and getting really drunk and hung over, will no
longer seem appealing. Doing anything moral or immoral to get more money will
seem less important. Getting a house, a car, or something else that can’t
afford just to impress people you don’t like won’t seem as important. Finding
your fulfillment in dating relationships, material things, and all the other
trappings of this world, just won’t matter as much anymore. In the contemporary
Christian song, “I Wanna Go Back,” by David Dunn, he says:
“When I was a kid, I didn't care to keep up with the
Joneses I was just happy that they lived
next door” (“I
Wanna Go Back,” by David Dunn).
When we stop the partying, stop the wild living, stop
acting like we once did, well will people criticize us for this? You get they
will. Sometimes Jesus says this morning, it will be your own family members. It
might be your neighbors, your co-workers, or others in society. Criticizing,
mocking, and maybe even persecuting us, because we reject the trappings of this
world. We chose to pursue social and scriptural holiness.
Some of the world then, finds us strange, odd, and not
going with the flow. Yet we get to a place in our lives, when the flow just
isn’t working for us. We want something different, something more fulfilling,
and nothing can fill us like the love of Jesus Christ.
So, Jesus tells us that if we seek him, follow him, live
for him and others, and not only for the things of this world, we will pay a
price for this. In paying a price for this, we have the joy of Christ, the joy
of each other, and have the peace found only in God.
I would like to close this brief sermon with a great quote
from Saint Thomas Aquinas, which I think put the gospel lesson for this morning
into greater perspective. This quote is:
“Lust
for riches, properly speaking, brings darkness on the soul, when it puts out
the light of charity, by preferring the love of riches to the love of God” (St. Thomas Aquinas).
So
our joy is found in God and each other, not the things of this world alone.
Amen.
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