Sunday
01/19/20 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title:
“We Have Found the Messiah!”
Old Testament
Scripture: Psalm 40:1-11
New Testament
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:1-9
Gospel Lesson:
John 1:29-42
Welcome again on
this our Second Sunday after the Epiphany, and this our Human Relations Day
Sunday. Two Sundays after the visit of the Wise Men or the Magi to Jesus, bringing
gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Today
is also Human Relations Day, which is one of the six special giving Sundays in the
United Methodist Church. These special giving Sundays were created by our church
General Conference, and as a result, all local churches are asked to
participate in these special giving Sundays. According to www.umcgiving.org,
this is what the Human Relations Day offering is for:
“Across the United
Methodist connection we come together to help bridge the gap between church and
community by participating in an offering set aside for Human Relations Day.
For more than half a century, United Methodists have observed this churchwide special
Sunday in recognition of the message Jesus demonstrated during his life: all of
God’s children are important”.
“One of the wonderful
aspects of The United Methodist Church is that we can do so much more together
than we ever could do on our own. On Human Relations Day, we join other UMC
congregations in a special offering to support neighborhood ministries through
Community Developers, community advocacy through United Methodist Voluntary
Services and work with at-risk youth through the Youth Offender Rehabilitation
Programs”.
“In recognizing Human
Relations Day, we are called to make an impact in communities where people
struggle because they don’t have the tools or resources to reach their
God-given potential. Our gifts are part of building beloved community
through faith-based volunteer programs, community developers and programs that
work with at-risk teens”. (http://www.umcgiving.org/ministry-articles/human-relations-day)
So, if you notice the special giving
envelope in your church bulletin for this morning, you are welcome to give to
this special giving Sunday. Feel free to put a check or cash in this special giving
envelope, and we will then get these funds to our annual conference office, and
then to the people that will benefit from this offering.
As many of us might remember, last Sunday
in church, we had our Baptism of the Lord Sunday. This is the Sunday in the church
calendar that we celebrate Jesus being born in the Jordan River. This same Sunday
also calls us to remember our own baptisms, and to consider the importance of
baptism.
This morning in our gospel of John lesson,
once again, Jesus was baptized the day before. The day after Jesus’ baptism is
where the story picks up for this morning. We have now entered the earthly ministry
of Jesus. Jesus will love, heal, forgive, and teach for the next three years,
until his death on the cross, and his resurrection.
In the gospel of Matthew narrative
however, Jesus goes right out into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil
for 40-days after his baptism (Mt. 4:1-11, NRSV). The devil tempts Jesus with
varying things, but Jesus resists the temptation. In the gospel Matthew, Jesus
then begins his public ministry after his 40-days of temptation in the desert
(Mt. 4:12-22, NRSV). Jesus then calls Peter and Andrew as his first two
disciples, to follow him.
The gospel of Mark 1:16-20 also tells us
that Jesus called Peter and Andrew to be his disciples at the Sea of Galilee,
as well as tell us of his temptation in the desert.
The gospel of Luke, like Mark, also has
Jesus’ Baptism, his time of temptation in the desert, and the beginning of his
public ministry (Lk. 3:21-4:1-15, NRSV). Luke then mentions a little later in
chapter 5, Jesus calling his first disciples.
In the gospel of John reading for this
morning once again though, we have nothing about Jesus being tempted for forty
days in the wilderness. I believe that Jesus was indeed tempted by the devil in
the wilderness though, but John did not include this in his gospel. Instead,
John goes from explaining who Jesus was and is, and goes right into Jesus’
baptism. In John’s version, Jesus is present the day after he is baptized.
We know this, because the gospel for this
morning, starts out once again by saying of John the Baptist, seeing Jesus:
“The next day he
saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes
away the sin of the world!” (Jn. 1:29, NRSV).
Not only does the gospel of
John say Jesus came towards John the Baptist the day after his baptism, but
John the Baptist also calls Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of
the world”. In the Book of Exodus in the Old Testament, as the Jews were
struggling to be freed from slavery in Egypt, among the plagues, was the Passover.
Jews were instructed to kill a pure and white spotless lamb, and to take the
blood of that lamb. With this blood, they were to put it over the door post of
there homes. In doing this, death would “Passover” there first born male children.
For Jews, they would know
exactly what John the Baptist was saying, when he said, “Here is the Lamb of
God who takes away the sin of the world!” John was saying that Jesus is the
new Passover lamb, and his blood on the cross would cover the doorways of our
hearts. That through the blood of Christ, we will never die, but will live on in
eternity with him.
Quite
a powerful statement, as clearly John the Baptist views Jesus as God in the
flesh, the promised one, the savior, the Messiah. It makes me wonder what it
was like to behold Jesus? What was it like to see Jesus approaching? What was
it like to look into the eyes of Jesus? What was it like to behold him in all
of his glory?
Before
diving more into our gospel of John reading for this morning, we are given some
encouraging words from our reading once again from Psalm 40, that direct us
toward this Messiah. People were waiting for the savior. This is what Psalm
40:1-11 says once again:
“I
waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the desolate pit, out of
the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new
song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put
their trust in the Lord. Happy
are those who make the Lord their
trust, who do not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after false gods. You
have multiplied, O Lord my
God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with
you. Were I to proclaim and tell of them, they would be more than can be
counted. Sacrifice and offering you do not desire, but you have given me an
open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. Then I said,
“Here I am; in the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do your
will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” I have told the glad news of
deliverance in the great congregation; see, I have not restrained my lips, as
you know, O Lord. I have not
hidden your saving help within my heart, I have spoken of your faithfulness and
your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from
the great congregation. Do not, O Lord,
withhold your mercy from me; let your steadfast love and your faithfulness keep
me safe forever” (Ps.
40:1-11, NRSV)
In this this Psalm, the Psalmist talks
about struggling and waiting for the Lord. When the Lord appears, the Psalmist
rejoices and tells the congregation that the Lord has appeared. The Psalmist sings
with joy, and trusts in God.
I
believe that waiting for Christ and the power of his presence, is a possible
connection from our reading from Psalm 40 for this morning, with our gospel of
John reading for today. Waiting, and then the Lord shows up!
In
our reading for this morning from the Apostle Paul’s First Epistle or letter to
the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul points us towards Christ (1 Cor. 1:2, NRSV).
Paul is telling us that God is faithful, that Jesus is Lord, and we are all
called to wait on Him, and grow in Him (1 Cor. 1:1-9, NRSV).
Now
this takes me back to the rest of our gospel lesson for this morning. Again,
what was it like to see Jesus? What was it like to behold his face? What was it
like to look into the eyes of Jesus Christ?
Well
we certainly know what John the Baptist thought this day when we say Jesus. As
said once again, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world!”
John
the Baptist then says to those listening, that this Jesus, is the one that we
have been waiting for. John the Baptist preached repentance and baptized people
in the Jordan river, all in preparation for Jesus. John the Baptist then
recounts what it was like when he baptized Jesus. He tells us what happened on
that day (Jn. 1:30-33, NRSV).
John
the Baptist also says that Jesus came before him, as John is saying that Jesus
always was, before time itself. John the Baptist then tells all who is listening
that this Jesus is truly “the Son of God” (Jn. 1:34, NRSV).
As
the gospel of John reading for this morning concludes saying this:
“ The
next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched
Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples
heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them
following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi”
(which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them,
“Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with
him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who
heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first
found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is
translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and
said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is
translated Peter)” (Jn. 35- 42, NRSV).
As the gospel says,
John the Baptist is with two of his disciples, he again announces that Jesus is
“the Lamb of God,” and these two disciples then follow Jesus. As these two
where following Jesus, Jesus turned back to them and asked them what they were
looking for? They asked Jesus where he was staying. Jesus then said, “Come
and see.” The gospel says that the two stayed with Jesus that day. One
these two was Andrew, Peter’s brother. Andrew then finds Peter, and declares to
him, “We have found the Messiah,” which is my sermon title for this
morning.
One could argue in
this gospel of John reading that the two disciples of John the Baptist followed
Jesus, because John the Baptist made a big deal every time that he saw Jesus. I
believe though, that the presence and the power of Jesus was too much to not be
drawn to. In the other three gospels, the called disciples simply just stopped
what they were doing and followed Jesus. To just do this, there must have been
many compelling things about Jesus.
Imagine for a
moment, if someone showed up at your house tomorrow morning. There is a knock
at your door, and the person is someone that you never met. Yet, this person asks
you to leave with them suddenly, and leave everything behind. I mean, who would
do that? There must have been many things about Jesus there were compelling and
powerful.
In this gospel
lesson therefore, Andrew declares to his brother Simon that “We have found
the Messiah,” and Jesus tells Simon that his new name will be “Cephas,”
which means “Peter” (Jn. 1:42, NRSV).
So, Andrew and
Peter are called by Jesus to be his first two disciples, and then Jesus calls James
and John.
With all of this
said, it is apparent that Jesus’ first disciples and followers believed that he
truly was God in the flesh. They believed this, and they lived through Jesus’
ministry, his teaching, his miracles, his crucifixion, his death, his resurrection,
and his ascension into heaven. They believed that Christ would return one day
in glory.
As I said, I can’t
imagine what is was like to see Jesus. I can’t imagine what it was like to be
in his presence, and to look him in the eyes. It must have been so compelling that
people flocked to him. His disciples dropped everything and went with him.
So strongly in fact,
did these disciples and first followers of Christ continue to believe in Jesus that
they continued to preach and live his gospel all over. The tradition of the Christian
Church tells us that all but the Apostle John, died brutal deaths for declaring
Jesus as Lord and his gospel. They never wavered, they never stopped declaring
that Jesus was the way to be forgiven, to be restored to favor with God, and
the way to eternity with Him. This gospel that Jesus preached to his disciples,
and then has been preached for generations, is the gospel that I do my best to
preach and live every day.
In the very short
New Testament Book of Jude, Jude who identifies as a servant of Jesus and brother
of James” tells us in 1:3:
“Beloved, while eagerly
preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to
write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once for all
entrusted to the saints” (Jd.
1:3, NRSV).
What Jude is saying, is that the disciples and many others
saw Jesus. They witnessed him, his power, his miracles, that he died for us,
rose again, and that he is going to return one day in glory. So, convinced of
this that many died for there faith. Jude tells us this morning to promote and to
contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.”
Jude is telling us to teach what Jesus taught, and to believe
like those first followers of Christ. The faith we share, the hope of Christ.
Hope so powerful, that in no time of being with Jesus, Andrew declares, “We
have found the Messiah!” Amen
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