Sidney UMC - 19th Sunday after Pentecost - 10/08/23 - Sermon - “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!” (“Why are some churches shrinking and closing?” Series: Part 6 of 6)

Sunday 10/08/23 - Sidney UMC 

Sermon Title: “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving

Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!”

     (“Why are some churches shrinking and closing?” Series: Part 6 of 6) 

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 19                                          

New Testament Scripture: Philippians 3:4b-14

Gospel Lesson: Matthew 21:33-46

          This morning we are concluding our six-week sermon series called the “Why are some churches shrinking and closing?” Sermon Series, which references the book “Autopsy of a Deceased Church” by Thom S. Rainer. In this book, written in 2014, Thom S. Rainer discusses common and often overlapping reasons for churches shrinking, and or closing. Rainer also discusses how to reverse this trend. So far in this sermon series, we have discussed many of the problems causing churches to shrink and or close, and we have also discussed some of the solutions to these problems.

          In connecting the book “Autopsy of a Deceased Church” by Thom S. Rainer with our Sunday lectionary scripture readings, so far, we have discussed, the need to have deep, abiding, and growing faith in Jesus Christ. We have discussed how the “Culture Of The Church” is vital to church growth, to discipleship, and to how people feel treated and loved. We have a healthy church culture at this church. We also discussed the need to forgive each other, to show love to each other and all people, and to be open to other people and their stories. We then talked about how when churches get stuck on small things that are not vital to their stated mission, then the mission can suffer. When the mission suffers, the church can shrink, and or even close over time.

          Last week, I talked about the founder of the Methodist Movement, John Wesley’s quote, “You Have One Business On Earth – To Save Souls”. This means not only leading people to Christ, but then us all growing in Christ together. We can, and hopefully all have or will come to Christ, repent of our sins, put our trust in and on the Lord Jesus Christ, and were or will be filled with the Holy Spirit. Since I came to Christ, I have done what I just said many, many, times over. The business of the church is to lead people to Christ, to receive salvation and eternity, but also to continue becoming more and more like Christ. Being a Christian isn’t just the spiritual event of coming to Christ, but it is also our daily walks with Christ.

          On this last week of this sermon series based on the book “Autopsy of a Deceased Church” by Thom S. Rainer, my sermon title for this morning is a long title. It is called, “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!” If the business of the church is as the founder of Methodism John Wesley said, “You Have One Business On Earth – To Save Souls,” then how do we this as people and as a church. One good way to sum up all of this is my sermon title “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!”

          In the gospel of Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus tells his disciples and us:

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt. 28:18-20, NRSV).

          You may have noticed that in Matthew 28:19, Jesus begins the verse saying:

“Go therefore” (Mt. 28:19a, NRSV).

          This means therefore, that many disciples of Jesus Christ can be made inside of these walls, but many will also be made outside of these walls. People that come to Christ outside of these walls may never come to worship or to church, so how do we get to these people? If many people are feeling lonely, in need of community, and or wanting to know more about God, how can we reach them?

          We have a variety of ministries already to help with this. Some are in house here, like Sauce and Cross, the Grief Share Group, Book Studies, etc. Some are also external, like our weekly Ecumenical Men’s Lunch, etc. This past Monday night October 2^nd, some of our church leaders, and one person from another church, met online to launch a “Sidney Visioning Team”. We prayed, we dreamed, and we discussed how we can reach Sidney, and the Sidney Area for Jesus Christ. This Visioning Team, myself included, wants to strengthen our current ministries, but also potentially launch new ministries. Not programs, but ministries, specifically designed to draw people closer to Jesus Christ. If a church has a church dinner for example, but no one talks about the church or Jesus, then how will people know about him?

          According to Thom S. Rainer in the last two chapters of his book, many churches that shrink and or close often have two things in common. Rainer covers this in Chapter 10 of his book, “The Church Had No Clear Purpose,” and Chapter 11 of his book, “The Church Obsessed Over the Facilities”. Many churches that shrink and or close, according to Rainer do not have clear purpose for existing. People go to church on Sunday, but why does the church exist? Rainer said that some people from some churches that shrunk and or closed told him that: “We were going through the motions,” “We became more attached to our ways of doing church than we did asking the Lord what He wanted us to do,” “We were playing a game called church. We had no idea what we were really supposed to be doing,” “We stopped asking what we should be doing for fear that it would require too much effort or change” (AOADC, pg. 73). It is true to say friends that the Christian Church in the United States, Canada, and much of Western Europe is in a place that it has never been in before. Our churches tend to be in a place of decline and eventually closure. Can we reverse this trend? The answer is yes!

          One of the things that is vital for churches going forward though, is that we have a mission as a church. We have a reason for existing as a church. Due to this, we print the mission and the vision of our church on the front of our church bulletins. Once again, the mission of the Sidney United Methodist Church is: “Is to bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ, And equip them to transform the world”. The vision of the Sidney United Methodist Church is: “1. Love God 2. Serve Others 3. Transform the World”. As I said last Sunday, we have been blessed this year with eleven new professions of faith/members in our church. If people were to ask us why the Sidney UMC exists, we can tell them that the Sidney UMC exists to “Is to bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ, And equip them to transform the world”. We can also tell them that vision of the Sidney United Methodist Church is: “1. Love God 2. Serve Others 3. Transform the World”.
            We started a Visioning Team this past Monday night to discuss how to better live this mission out. My sermon title then is a broad view of what I believe Christian Churches should be doing, which is “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!” It is nice, as well, to have a nice church building, a nice parsonage, and nice facilities, as Thom S. Rainer said in Chapter 11 of his book, “The Church Obsessed Over the Facilities”. There is difference in having the church look good, keeping the church and the facilities up, and having the church and the facilities be above the mission of the church.

          We are truly blessed here at the Sidney UMC with the best Trustees Committee I have ever served with in my life. Yet, while we want the church, the parsonage, and all our facilities to function well, we are not putting these things ahead of the mission of our church, which “Is to bring people into relationship with Jesus Christ, And equip them to transform the world”. It is good to have a good building and facilities, but if we have no clear mission and if we aren’t pursuing that mission, then what are we maintaining everything for?

          As I said, I have been honored to be on the best Trustees Committee that I have ever served on in this church, but our Trustees are more focused on the Great Commission than the building and the facilities. We want things to be kept up, but we also want to bring people to Christ, and for the church to flourish.

          When our “Sidney Visioning Team” met this past Monday night, a big part of what we discussed is what my sermon title is called, once again: “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!” When the church shifts to continue to be even more outwardly focused, we are able to engage and connect with people who may never walk into a church. Since many people don’t go to church anymore, how can we connect with them, love them, share Christ with them, and help them in other ways?

          In the first century of the church, the Apostle Paul went to places on missionary journeys preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to some people that had never heard it before. He befriended many, heard their stories, learned from them, shared Christ, built and launched ministries in various cities, and built up the church. The Apostle Paul went to the people. This is a hard thing for many of us, but the more we connect with others, then the more we can share our faith with them. Not only this, we offer people a sense of community, a sense of hope, and the love of Jesus Christ.

          When many of us grew up, most people went to church every Sunday, and were active in the church. Since this is no longer the case, we must shift in various ways to be more like the first century Christians. Through friendships, connections, and coming together, we are called to love people into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. This is why as a church “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!”

          In looking at our reading for this morning from Psalm 19, from the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament, we hear of the praise and glory of God. The Israelite or Jewish people in the Hebrew Bible had a tendency to obey God and then stray from God. They knew who God was, but sometimes the realities and the fallenness of this world got in the way. Nevertheless, we have Psalms like Psalm 19 for this morning that speak of God’s love, glory, and mercy. In fact, I know various pastors who recite Psalm 19:14 before preaching every sermon, which says:

¹⁴ 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).

          As our Jewish brothers and sisters wrestled with God before Christ came into the world, may we still seek to praise God, seek God, love God, and follow Christ.

          In our reading for this morning from Philippians 3:4b-14, the Apostle Paul is comparing his life as a Jew, before he became a Christian. When the Apostle Paul lived under the Old Testament Law of Moses he lived like a Jew, but now the Apostle Paul is a Chirstian. As a result, the Apostle Paul now lives under the grace of Jesus Christ. Since the Apostle Paul converted to Christianity, formerly Saul of Tarsus, we hear from him morning about this change from Judaism to Christianity in our reading from Philippians 3:4b-14. In fact, starting in Philippians 3:4b for this morning, it says, once again:

⁴ even though I, too, have reason for confidence in the flesh. If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: ⁵ circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶ as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless (Phil. 4b-6, NRSV).

 

          The Apostle Paul begins our reading from Philippians 3:4b-14 for this morning, saying that in everyway he was a good Jew. He was circumcised on the eighth day according to the Jewish Law of the Old Testament, he was a Hebrew born of Hebrews, he was a Pharisee, he followed the Law of Moses in the Old Testament, and persecuted the Christian Church.

          The Apostle Paul, who was first the Jewish Pharisee Saul of Tarsus, then encounters Christ on the road to Damascus, Syria and becomes a Christian. In explaining this change from following the Old Testament Jewish Law to the New Testament under Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul picks up, starting in Philippians 3:7 saying, once again:

⁷ Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. ⁸ More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith (Phil 3:7-9, NRSV). 

          The Apostle Paul, now a Christian, is saying that he is no longer bound by the law of Moses in the Old Testament, but instead is bound by the New Covenant of Jesus Christ. According to the Apostle Paul, Jesus/the New Testament is a new and better covenant than the Law of Moses in the Old Testament. Instead of having to follow all of the laws and all of the teachings of the Old Testament, the Apostle Paul said that he is righteous through Jesus Christ, who is the New Covenant. The Ten Commandments, and many of the teachings of the Old Testament don’t need to be discarded, but as Christians we have grace and love under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ our Lord.

          To this end, the Apostle Paul continues and ends our reading for this morning, picking up in Philippians 3:10, once again saying:

¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. ¹² Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:10-14, NRSV).

 

          Jesus ushers in the New Covenant or our new agreement in him, and the Apostle Paul is explaining his conversion from Judaism or the Old Covenant to Christ under the New Covenant.

          In connecting our Gospel of Matthew 21:33-46 reading for this morning with Thom S. Rainer’s book and our sermon title “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!” we have what is commonly called the story or the “Parable of Tenants.” In this story or parable, a landowner leased his land to tenants, and the tenants would then pay the landowner with some of the produce they grew. The land owner would then have his “rent” of sorts collected. The gospel reading begins in Matthew 21:33 with Jesus saying, once again:

³³ “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. ³⁴ When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵ But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶ Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way (Mt. 21:33-36, NRSV).

          Jesus is telling this story or parable to compare the Old and New Covenants. You see, Jesus is saying that the Land Owner is God. The first group of people that the landowner or God sent to collect the “rent” were the first group of Old Testament Prophets. These prophets were sent by God to call the Jewish people to repentance, and many rejected them. The tenants, or the people of Israel, the Jews, did not stay on track despite the first group of prophets in the Old Testament. Some of these prophets were also treated horribly, as was the landowner’s slaves sent to collect the “rent” from the tenants.

          Since the landowner or God did not get what his people or his “tenants” promised him, the landowner or God then sent another group of slaves, which represents the second group of prophets in the Old Testament. Like wise the “tenants,” or people of Israel largely rejected this second group of slaves or prophets. The landowner or God was promised something by his “tenants” or his people in exchange for there blessings and livelihood, yet they rejected the landowner or God’s collectors or prophets.

          Since the first two group of slaves, or the first two groups of prophets did not yield what the “tenants” or people of Israel promised to God, the landowner or God then sent his son to collect. Two groups of prophets in the Old Testament are sent to the Jewish people, and are largely rejected. So, the landowner or God, sends his son, or Jesus, to collect and straighten out his people. The gospel of Matthew 21:33-46 reading then picks up saying in 21:37, once again:

³⁷ Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ ³⁸ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him (Mt. 21:37-39, NRSV).

          All of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible prophets are largely rejected and mistreated. The Landowner or God then sends his only son Jesus Christ, and he is treated no different. In fact, they seize the son, or Jesus Christ, and kill him. You see they want the landowner’s or God’s inheritance.

          Jesus then says after two groups of people, and the landowner’s son were abused and rejected, what will the landowner or God do now? Picking up in Matthew 21:40, it says, once again:

⁴⁰ Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” ⁴¹ They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” ⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’? ⁴³ “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. ⁴⁴ The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” ⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶ They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet (Mt. 21:40-46, NRSV).

          Jesus is saying, that the landowner or God, saw two groups of his slaves, or all the prophets of the Old Testament be abused and rejected, and the people will then reject the landowner’s son or Jesus Christ. Due to this, Christians follow Christ or the New Covenant, as through Christ are forgiven eternally, and once and for all, through his cross. Jesus is also telling us that if we reject the people of God, and reject him, then God may not bless us. If we are seeking God, and if we turn to God, we can be more expectant that God will turn towards us.

          Since as Christians we live under the New Testament or the New Covenant in Jesus Christ, the mission of the Church is one where “Everything Is About Reaching Out, Serving Others, and Gathering for Jesus Christ!” The more we can do this, grow this, be united in it this, the stronger our church and all churches will be! Amen.