Sunday
03/07/21 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Changing
and Re-Grouping!”
("The Journey to New Hope and New Life"- Series: Part 3 of 7)
Old Testament Scripture: Exodus 20:1-17
New Testament Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:18-25
Gospel Lesson: John 2:13-22
Welcome once again on this Third
Sunday of Lent, this season of 40-days and 40-nights. This season where we are
invited to walk to the cross with Jesus. This season where we are invited to
give up, to give away, to lessen, and to grow closer to Christ.
A couple of weeks ago I started a new
sermon series called “The Journey to New Hope and New Life”. This
sermon series is one that gives us check points as we walk the rode with Christ
to Good Friday. In some past seasons of Lent we might not have had major
struggles in our lives, or maybe we had immense ones. In this season of Lent
2021, and for part of the season of Lent 2020 we have been living through this
Global COVID-19 Pandemic. We might bring great burdens and heavy concerns into
this season of Lent, but in addition to these, we all have the great burden
that this Pandemic has been.
As a result, on the first week of this sermon series, I talked
about “The Time of Trial,” that we have all walked through during this time of
pandemic. While Jesus was tempted, tried, and suffered in the wilderness for
40-days and 40-nights, we have suffered through a year of this pandemic. I wanted
to acknowledge this, and talk about the many way we have suffered, and how many
continue to suffer.
Last
Sunday, I got more specific with our suffering, and I talked about the “Suffering
and Anger” many of us have experienced during this long pandemic. I provided specific
heart wrenching and tough examples of what many of us have suffered through
this time. I can imagine when Jesus was in the wilderness for 40 days, fasting,
being tempted, and struggling, that this was a form of suffering. Some of us
have and continue to suffer and might even have anger.
In
acknowledging this great time of trial that is still going on, and in
discussing some specific examples of our suffering and anger last Sunday, I want
to shift gears in this sermon series this morning. While we have suffered and have
been through a lot for a while now, this time will come to an end. Jesus’ time
in the wilderness came to an end, and so will this pandemic. We will get back
to normal, or our “new normal”.
For
this reason, my sermon for this morning is called, “Changing and Re-Grouping!”
Even though, we have all been through a time of great trial, and even though we
have had had suffering and anger, we cannot stay here. We can’t stay locked
away in our homes forever. Jesus did not stay wilderness, and we will not stay
in this pandemic. We also cannot stay mired in the emotion and the pain of all
of this. Why can’t we do this? Well, we could, but God has called us to love
and to serve this broken and hurting world. God has called us to share the good
news of his son Jesus Christ, and to transform Sidney, and the world. If you
are in a time of trial, which we are still in, if you have suffering and anger,
which we still do, we cannot stay here, we must “Change and Re-group”.
In
some major military battles and campaigns throughout history, generals who were
leading soldiers might have had points that things did not look good for there
chances of victory. Sometimes these generals would sound the retreat, and their
soldiers would pull back. Yet other times, some generals would change their
strategy, re-group, and take the field.
Like you, I have suffered a lot
through this pandemic, but when it comes to mission of the church of connecting
people to Christ, and equipping them to transform Sidney and the world, I have
no intention of retreat. I have no intention of retreating from the mission of
the church. I intend to “Change and Re-group”, so that we can take the
spiritual field of this world for Jesus Christ!
One of my favorite movies, the came out
in 1994, is called, “The Shawshank Redemption”. This is a prison movie, and the
main character in this movie is “Andy Dufresne,” played by actor Tim Robbins. During his time in prison “Andy Dufrense”
becomes good friends with Ellis "Red" Redding played by Morgan Freeman. At one point in the movie, “Red” played by
Morgan Freeman, had a great quote. I have even used this quote a lot since I saw
this movie. In this quote the character “Red” said, “Get busy living, or get
busy dying”. Once again, “Get busy living, or get busy dying”.
What
this character named “Red” meant, was that it is completely true that life can
be hard, challenging, and yes sometimes full of suffering and anger. Yet, we
still have this life here and now. Do we wallow in the misery, or do we want to
“get busy living” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shawshank_Redemption).
As
hard as these past months have been, and as much as we all have suffered, Morgan
Freeman’s character tells us to “get busy living, or get busy dying”. This is
easier said that done for some, I get that. Yet, the mission of the church must
continue for the sake of Jesus Christ, and for all of the amazing things God
has called us to and is and will do through us. Friends we must “Change and Re-Group”!
I am excited that we will have in-person worship again on Palm Sunday, or
Sunday March 28th. We will still take temperatures, check people in,
hand sanitize, social distance, no touching, etc. I am not telling anyone to
come back to church in person until they are ready. I want to make that clear,
but this time will come to an end. Eventually, we will need to slowly reintegrate
back to whatever the “new normal” is.
We
will be smart, we will follow the rules, we do whatever we can to be safe, but
we will not hide away forever. We must come back and continue to be in fellowship
and relationship with one another. The mission of the church and hope of Jesus
Christ must continue. Friends, we must “Change and Re-Group”. We might still
have fears, we might still have concerns, but as “Red” from Shawshank Redemption
said once again, we can “get busy living, or get busy dying”.
I
myself have had fears at different times about reopening our church for
in-person worship, but I want to “get busy living”. This will not happen all at
once, but soon, very soon I believe; we will be back at it. Soon, very soon I
believe, we will have coffee hours and other things that we have not had in a
year. Soon, very soon, we will not have to take communion in odd, sealed
plastic cups.
In
preparing for this sermon, I thought of a quote from the founder the Methodist
Movement, Rev. John Wesley. This quote is:
“Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen; such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on Earth.” ―
Friends
we need to “get busy living” as there is a broken and a hurting world that
needs the hope, the salvation, the mercy, the joy, the love, and new life offered
through Jesus Christ. Even though we have been through a great trial, and even
though we have suffered, I believe we will come back together stronger than ever
before. We need to as a church “Change and Re-Group,” and I am excited, I am
all in, let’s build God’s Kingdom together.
While our Book of Exodus reading for this morning is the
giving of the Ten Commandments from God to Moses to the Israelites, the Apostle
Paul also has a good word for us in our reading once again, from 1 Corinthians
(Ex. 20:1-17, NRSV).
In fact, that Apostle Paul tells us once again in our
reading from 1 Corinthians that:
“18 For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor. 1:18, NRSV).
For
those of us that know and are walking with Jesus, we know that even through the
greatest times of struggle that he is walking with us. We are never alone, and
Sidney and the world needs to hear this gospel. Sidney and the world need to
know that God loves them. Sidney and the world need to be feed, loved, and
cared for. I don’t know about you friends, but I am going to “get
busy living”. As Christians we are people of new life, of resurrection, of
hope, of joy, of light, and of love, and Sidney and the world desperately need
this now more than ever. We need to “Change and Re-Group” and we need to get “get
busy living”!
This leads me to our gospel of John lesson for this morning
once again. In this gospel lesson, Jesus gives us a pretty extreme and intense
moment of “Changing and Re-Grouping”. Many of us often think of Jesus as the
gentle shepherd, but this morning Jesus is strong, assertive, and defending God.
Once again, our gospel lesson for this morning says:
“13 The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. 15 Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!” 17 (Jn. 2:13-16, NRSV).
This is certainly not an example of the
gentle Jesus we often think of. Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Jewish Passover
holiday, the same holiday where Jesus celebrates the Last Supper with his disciples.
Jesus seeing the great Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the house of God, as many call
our churches, is troubled. Jesus is not troubled because people are worshipping
and praying, no he is troubled at the activity that is occurring at front the entrance
of the Temple. Like Jesus, like me, and like you want the church to be open to
all people. We want the church to be a place where can worship God, hear the
good news of Jesus Christ, come together, and transform Sidney and the world.
This morning Jesus confronts a problem
at the temple. This problem is that people charging obscene prices for animals,
and the Jews need to have an animal offering to sacrifice at the temple. The Jews
also need a half Shekel of money to bring into the temple with them for God,
but if they don’t have Shekels, then they will have to pay the money changers a
steep price for one. Jesus was unhappy about this, and in his righteous anger,
he flipped the money changers tables, drove the animals for sale out, and
chased out all of these people. Jesus told these people selling animals for
sacrifice at massively inflated prices, and those making tons of money off of
exchanging currency for half Shekels that they were making God’s house, Jesus’ Father’s
house, a marketplace. Jesus came in said, we need to do some “Changing and
Re-Grouping”. Where we are at now is unacceptable, and we need things to be different.
We need to worship in spirit and in truth, we need to have a church that loves
Jesus and boldly loves others.
The good news for us, is that no one
is in front of the Sidney UMC trying to dishonor our house of worship or cheat
people out of money, but even so, we need to “Change and Re-Group”. We need to
get back; we need to restart in person. We have and are still suffering, but we
need to “get busy living”. People need Jesus, they
need the ministries of the church, and we need to “Change and Re-Group”.
Further, we can all get back when we are ready, but we cannot stay locked away forever.
Our gospel lesson continues once again
for this morning, saying after Jesus “cleansed the temple,” as we now call it, saying:
His disciples
remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then
said to him, “What sign can you show us for doing this?” 19 Jesus answered
them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” 20 The Jews then
said, “This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will
you raise it up in three days?” 21 But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22 After he was
raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they
believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken” (Jn.
2:17-22, NRSV).
Jesus disciples acknowledge Jesus’s
zeal and his authority. Jesus then says that he will die, but three days later
be raised to new life.
Friends,
brothers, and sisters, the suffering, and the pain that many of us have and are
still experiencing is real, but we need to start moving forward. We cannot stay
in this valley forever. Maybe you are not ready to come back in person at the
end of this month, but this pandemic will end, and we will need to embrace our “new
normal”. Or as the great “Red” from “The Shawshank Redemption” said, “Get
busy living, or get busy dying”. Life will soon resume anew and will be ready
to embrace our “new normal”. Amen.
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