Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Mother's Day/Ascension Sunday - 05/13/18 - Sermon - “This is what we do church!"

Sunday 05/13/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “This is what we do church!”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 47

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Luke 24:44-53

          Welcome again friends, visitors, sisters and brothers, on this our Mother’s Day and this our Ascension Sunday. On this day we celebrate mothers, and all women who have or still do take on a mothering role to kids, animals, people, and etc. Most women that I have met are a mother in their own right. Melissa for example, is a dog mother.

          This Sunday is also Ascension Sunday, as the United Methodist Church and many other churches celebrated this past Thursday the Ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ. That moment where Christ left his disciples physically, to ascend to heaven, to then sit at the hand of God the Father, until he returns in victory. Since we generally don’t have an Ascension Day service on the Thursday that is Ascension Day each year, we also often call this Sunday Ascension Sunday. We also have a couple of baptisms this morning to (Freeville UMC only).

          With everything that is going on today then, I don’t think that we will get bored! With this said, since Ascension Day was this past Thursday May 10^th, I decided for this Sunday to use the lectionary scriptures from Ascension Day. We do have scriptures for today, which is the 7^th Sunday of Easter, but I decided to use, as I said, the Ascension Day scriptures from this past Thursday May 10^th.

          Specifically therefore, I want to focus on the gospel of Luke reading for this morning that I just read. Inn our New Revised Standard Version Pew Bibles, this gospel reading falls under the sub-heading of “Jesus appears to His disciples,” and then under the sub-heading of “The Ascension of Jesus”.

          Let us hear again this reading from the gospel of Luke. It says:

“Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God” (Lk. 24:44-53, NRSV).

          So the Ascension Day, that was this past Thursday May 10^th, that we are in part celebrating this morning, is the day that Jesus Christ physically left this earth, and went into heaven.

In not being there to witness this event, as recorded in Luke’s gospel, I was struck that this reading ended again saying:

“And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God”. (Lk. 24:52-53, NRSV)

          So after Christ rose the dead, and then appeared too many for 40-days, he is ascended, and is physically just gone, like that. Yet in the scripture, it says they:

“returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God”(Lk. 24:52b-53, NRSV).

          Jesus promised them that the Holy Spirit or the “Advocate” would come and fill them and guide them, which is what we will celebrate next Sunday on Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost is the birthday of the Christian Church, the day that the disciples finally said, we will go forth and preach and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

          So I get the joy that the disciples had on the one hand this morning, but on the other hand, Jesus is physically gone, and he will not return until he returns in glory. I am struck that there wasn’t more remorse, or maybe there was. Maybe it hit some of them later, that there savior, there messiah, their leader, would no longer physically be in their presence on earth.

          Nearly two-thousand years later the millions and millions of us who call ourselves Christians have never seen Jesus in bodily form, as to be able to touch him. Yet we believe in him, his gospel, and the hope that it provides.

          Jesus himself said in the gospel of John 20:29:

 “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn. 20:29, NRSV).

          Jesus is with us spiritually, Jesus is with us when we partake of Holy Communion, or the Lord’s Supper. Jesus is with us right here and now, just not physically. For me then, I wonder if there wasn’t at least some remorse that disciples might have felt when Jesus, the savior of the world, was no longer physically with them. For everything Jesus said, did, all the miracles that he performed, his death, resurrection, and ascension were the events that the disciples would teach, live, and influence the world that they sought to build.

          I wonder though, if they had moments of despair after Jesus was physically gone?

          I still remember the day in my life very clearly. My father in Northern Illinois called me, and I could hear right away that his voice was shaky. I could tell that he was upset, and I knew in that moment he was about to tell me something that I probably didn’t want to hear. He then told me that his father, my Grandpa Harold Winkelman has just passed away. I was asked to do the funeral service in Northern Illinois, and it was a great honor and a privilege. Through that process though, I felt like our family and me specifically had lost a great leader, a great man, and a great man of faith. I had great remorse that my grandfather would no longer be with us physically. I mourned, and still sometimes will think of him and miss him greatly. Yet, I believe he is alive spiritually with God.

          Some folks might have had this feeling recently, when the Rev. Billy Graham, nicknamed “America’s Pastor” died. When we lose people we love, whether they be our grandparents, our own parents, or others that we love it is possible that we might fall into remorse. What we might forget in those moments of sadness and remorse however, is that the sun will rise tomorrow. That people will get up and go to work, just like they do every work day. Life for us, like that of the disciples this morning has changed, but what do with this life that we have left. We have a new pastor soon, and much like the sunrise, this church will continue on doing the great work that it always has in Jesus name.

          I really like the movie with Morgan Freeman called, “The Shawshank Redemption”. In that movie is great quote said by the character “Andy Dufrense”. This quote is one of my favorites, and it is:

“get busy living, or get busy dying” (https://www.biography.com/news/shawshank-redemption-quotes-anniversary).

          Whenever I read this morning’s gospel of Luke reading, I am always struck that none of the disciples had remorse over Jesus leaving physically, and I think that I might have. Yet the work of Jesus Christ in a hurting and a broken world continues.

          In this church and all churches, we have had many great saints, many men and women that we celebrate that have been through these doors for years. Pastors, lay people, and some of them are people that we dearly miss, yet this church and many others continues. This church will continue, through the grace of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.

          We continue because of the great hope that we have in Jesus Christ and his gospel, and because of what God is using us to do in the world each every day. My sermon for this morning is called, “This is what we do church!” because our faith, the hope we have in Christ, and the gospel continues. It continues on to eternity, as this morning the disciples lose physically, there savior, there Messiah. Soon though, they will go forth preaching, teaching, loving, forgiving, and healing.

          Whenever a new person comes into this church, whenever we have a baptism, we are continuing the great hope that we have in Jesus Christ, continuing to live out his gospel, and continuing to transform the world.

          Living out our faith and making the world better through the life giving power of Jesus Christ, is who we are as Christians. Or as my sermon title says, “This is what we do church!”

          As you may have heard me say many times before, I as you do, stand in a line of heroes, great men and women that loved, healed, sacrificed, and believed strongly in our faith. Men and women who loved Jesus, and boldly shared that love with the world.

          This great gift from Jesus Christ that is the church, is I believe the best hope humanity has to build a world of peace, love, mercy, hope, and justice. The great news then, is that while Jesus isn’t physically here with us, he is risen and is alive and well. For nearly two-thousand years we have lived out this faith, followed Christ, and worked to transform the world. For “This is what we do Church!”

          When this church feeds the hungry, provides clothes to those in need, helps families with Christmas gifts, visits, loves, brings communion, helps flood and natural disaster victims, helps the oppressed and suffering, and loves the least of these, we are strong and transforming the world. For “This is what we do Church!”

          In 20-years though, some of the saints that are with us here this morning might not be here with us physically anymore, but God is eternal, and those saints will be with God. Until then however, we live in a broken and a hurting world, and when we come together in faith and live it out, we transform the world everyday. Or as Andy Dufrense said in the movie “The Shawshank Redemption,”

“get busy living, or get busy dying” (https://www.biography.com/news/shawshank-redemption-quotes-anniversary).

          For this broken, hurting, and dying world needs Jesus Christ and his gospel. Our work then continues. For “This is what we do Church”! Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - 6th Sunday of Easter - 05/06/18 - Sermon - “One big crazy church!"

Sunday 05/06/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “One big crazy church!”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 98

                                            

New Testament Scripture: Acts 10:44-48

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: John 15:9-17

          My friends, my sisters and brothers in Christ, welcome once again on this our 6^th Sunday in this our Season of Easter. Six Sundays after Jesus conquered death, rose to new life, giving us hope, love, healing, and offering us eternal life.

          Next Sunday, we will have Mother’s Day, and also Ascension Sunday. This Thursday in fact, is Ascension Day, which is the day that the church celebrates Christ’s ascension or being raised into heaven. This is the day that Christ leaves us physically, but promises to send us the Holy Spirit, and also promises us that he will return one day in glory. Since we generally don’t have a worship service on Ascension Day itself though, we call next Sunday, in addition to Mother’s Day, Ascension Sunday.

          Today however, my sermon is called “One big crazy church!”. This title has nothing to do with this specific church, but is more a funny title regarding the scripture that we are given for this morning from the Book of Acts. The full title of this book of scripture that I will be preaching from this morning, is the “Acts of the Apostles,” which is the book of scripture that tells us about the early church (Acts 1:1, NRSV). In this book of scripture, the apostles of Christ are now building and organizing the very first Churches. In this book of scripture, we have the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, who we now call the Apostle Paul. We have the vision of Peter that allows us to no longer be required to be “Kosher” anymore, like our Jewish brothers and sisters. For example, as Christians we can eat bacon and ham, and devout Jews and devout Muslims, cannot do this. This is a book of scripture that tells us a lot about the earliest days of the Church, and how the church started.

          Interestingly enough though, “Christians” as many of us now call ourselves, wasn’t the first name of the followers of Jesus Christ. Does anyone here know what the first followers of Christ, (who were all Jews by the way) were called? They weren’t called “Christians”.

          The answer is, that the first followers of Christ (and we are talking maybe only the first 20-30 years of the church), were called “The Way”.

          There are many examples of this in the Book of Acts. For example, in Acts 9:2, which discusses Saul of Tarsus, before he converted and became the Apostle Paul. At this point in the narrative, Saul of Tarsus hates the followers of Christ and wants to destroy them. This scripture says that Paul asked the high priest:

“for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any who belonged to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:2, NRSV).

          Now you will notice that this scripture doesn’t say the “Christians,” instead it says “the Way”. I have seen some people that have Bibles that are called “The Way” Bible. Has anyone ever seen one of those?

          After Saul of Tarsus converts to the “The Way”, he laments persecuting the first followers of Christ in Acts 22:4. In this scripture he says:

“I persecuted this Way up to the point of death by binding both men and women and putting them in prison,” (Acts 22:4, NRSV).

          So for the first roughly 20-30 years of our faith, maybe a little more or less, “The Way” was solely for Jews and Jews alone. In fact, all men who became Christ followers of member so of “The Way” had to be circumcised, and were still Jews. The difference is, is that these Jews believed that Jesus was the foretold Messiah or savior of the world.

          So why are we called “Christians” and not members of “The Way”. Here is why:

“Tradition holds that the first Gentile church was founded in Antioch, Acts 11:20-21, where it is recorded that the disciples of Jesus Christ were first called Christians Acts 11:19-26. It was from Antioch that St. Paul started on his missionary journeys” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Antioch).

          In fact, the Book of Acts 11:26b it says:

“So it was that for an entire year they met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called “Christians” (Acts 11:26b, NRSV).

          So if you haven’t already figured it out, the name “Christians” was given to gentiles that were followers of Christ. A gentile of course is a non-Jew. If “The Way,” or the first followers of Jesus Christ had to be Jewish, when the gentiles wanted to become part of the church, we had a problem. This is what our scripture from the Book of Acts is talking about this morning. Again, when Jesus called his twelve disciples, they were all Jewish, and the first followers of Christ were all Jewish, but now we have non-Jews wanting to follow Christ. How are we to respond to this?

          Well, for example, how many of us here by a show of hands were not born into Jewish families? We are then historically called gentiles. There are some other definitions of gentiles, but non-Jews tends to be the biggest definition.

          My sermon title for this morning, once again, is called “One big crazy church!”. As many of us know, Judaism has always been a small religion, and therefore if “The Way” stayed just Jews it would very likely be an extremely small religion today. The vast majority of “Christians” today in fact, are non-Jews.

          So how did this happen specifically? Well let’s look again at our reading from the Book of Acts for this morning. The subtitle that we have in our NRSV Bibles for this scripture says the “Gentiles receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 10:44-48, NRSV). Once again, this is what it says:

“While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter said, “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” So he ordered them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they invited him to stay for several days”

(Acts 10:44-48, NRSV).

          In this scripture, it says that as the Apostle Peter was speaking or maybe even preaching, that:

“the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word” (Acts 10:4a, NRSV).

          The scripture says the Apostle Peter was “astounded” that the Holy Spirit not only fell on circumcised believers, or Jews, but also “even on the Gentiles”. In fact the scripture says that they were:

“speaking in tongues and extolling God” (Acts 10:46b, NRSV).

          The Apostle Peter then reasoned that these gentiles who have received the Holy Spirit should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, as followers of Jesus Christ. In fact, as we will see in Acts 11, they don’t even need to be circumcised, just be baptized, receive Christ, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and then learn the Christian faith.

          This sounds easy enough, but there was dissension over this. In my current favorite Bible Commentary, the Africa Bible Commentary, which includes multiple African scholars perspectives on the Bible, the scholar who wrote about the Book of Acts, wrote of Acts 11:2-18 as being called “Peter defends the Gentiles inclusion” (Africa Bible Commentary). This is the beginning of what many called the “First Church Conference”. In chapter 11 of the Book of Acts the Apostle Peter defends the right of gentiles to be valid Christians, even though they are neither Jewish, nor circumcised. Eventually in chapter 15 of the Book of Acts this becomes official. “The Way,” that was just Jews, now was expanded to include gentiles. Gentile men no longer needed to be circumcised, and could now be considered authentic followers of Christ.

          From that point, the Apostle Paul, often called “The Apostle to the Gentiles,” went out evangelizing and planting churches. Many of the people that the Apostle Paul preached to and that were converted to Christ, were not Jews, but were in fact gentiles.

          Due to all of this, our scripture from Acts 10:44-48 for this morning, is the beginning of what my commentary calls the “Gentiles’ inclusion” (Africa Bible Commentary).

          From very early in the Christian movement then, the church included persons of various ethnicities, races, and colors. They came from different cultures, had different customs, which is why my sermon title says, “One big crazy church”.

          For centuries then, the Christian Church has included a variety of races, men and women, and people of all different ethnicities. All of us might claim the title of “Christian” for ourselves, but maybe we have come from different forms of the Christian faith.

          In our gospel of John reading for this morning, Jesus tells us to love God, abide in Him who is Jesus, to live sacrificially for others, and in general to love one another (Jn. 15:9-17, NRSV). This means loving others that are different than us.

          For example, when I was getting ready to write this sermon, I was toying with showing a clip from the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. In this movie, the bride to be father is very proud to be Greek. In fact, according the bride’s father anything Greek is better. The bride’s father tells his soon to be son-in-law, who was about to be baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church, that it was his lucky day to get baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church. The groom to be, I believe came from an Episcopalian background, and his family, to say the least, was quite different than the bride to be Greek family. Yet they were all Christians, and when we come together as all nations, races, and peoples, we are one big crazy and diverse church.

          This is why we must be comfortable with some change. Don’t miss hear me, not changes to the beliefs of Christianity, but changes in how we do certain things. In my experience as a pastor every minister is different, but is called by God to serve, love, heal, and forgives. We are “One big crazy church!” so let reach out to our sisters and brothers of all Christian stripes, and everyone with the love of Jesus Christ. May embrace our brothers and sisters as being part of “One big crazy church!” Amen.

Homer Avenue UMC - 5th Sunday of Easter - 04/29/18 - Sermon - “love one another"

Sunday 04/29/18 Homer Avenue UMC

Sermon Title: “Love one another”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 22:25-31

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 1 John 4:7-21

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: John 15:1-8

          My dear friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, welcome once again on this our 5^th Sunday of this the Season of Easter. Five Sundays after Christ gloriously rose from the dead, giving us hope, giving us life, giving us light, and giving us love. Through Christ, his life, his teachings, his cross, and his resurrection, we are offered eternal life and a relationship with him.

          So often in church and other “churchy” places though, we hear about the love of God, of the love of His son Jesus Christ, and of the power of the Holy Spirit. Yet, sometimes this “love” that so many people seem talk about doesn’t always seem to be a present reality for us. Has anyone here for example, ever visited a church that was unloving? You went in, no one said hello to you, and people were generally cold and unfriendly. Or maybe you knew some people who said that they were Christians, but they didn’t seem to love or treat you like they were Christians.

          The problem with this, is not only is it mean, not only will likely result in churches shrinking and closing, result in discouragement, hurt, and anger, but above all of this, it is against what the Word of God says.

          Jesus Christ said in the gospel of Mark 12:30-31:

^“you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

(Mk. 12:30-31, NRSV).

          This morning in our reading from the Epistle or letter of 1 John, the Apostle John tells us this 1 John 4:7-12:

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 Jn. 4:7-12, NRSV).

          As you might have guessed by this point, I want to talk about love this morning, as my sermon title is called, “love one another”. This sermon title is taken right of our reading from 1 John 4:7. In the gospel of Mark scripture that I just read, and in this portion of this morning’s reading from 1 John that I just read, it is clear that we are called love all people, no matter what.

With this said, I bet that everyone here can say that you love your children, your grand-children, and for some of you, your great-grandchildren. You might also say that you love your siblings, your cousins, and so on and so forth.

          Even so, I have had people that have told me things like, “Pastor I love my brothers and sisters, but we don’t get along, and as a result, we don’t ever speak to each other”. Then I think, but that isn’t loving. If I were to tell the person this, they might say to me, “Even though I love my brothers and sisters, when we are together all we do is fight. Due to this, I believe that the best way I can love them is to not see them or speak to them”. The Bible tells us that we are supposed to be reconciled with each other, but we know that this means both sides have to agree to that idea of reconciliation.

          Do we have to agree then with everything that someone else does or believes in order to love them? No. I am sure for example, that every decision that your children have ever made, have been ones that you always agreed with! I have heard parents says things to their kids like, “I still love you, but I think that the decision that you are about make is a mistake”.

          My brothers and sisters, we are indeed called to love, but God still has expectations on how we are supposed to live and act. If I visited someone in jail, as I have before in doing prison ministry, I love the people I spend time with and minister to. I don’t love the crimes that they committed, but I do love them. We are called to love everyone, and care for everyone, but this does mean that we have to agree with everyone on everything.

Once again, the Apostle John writes in 1 John 4:10:

“In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10, NRSV).

          To know God, to know Jesus, is to know love, yet Jesus still needed to come and die for us. So we should love, but not everything we do is ok. You love your kids, but you might not love every decision that they make. This is a really hard balance I think, but as the gospels says, Jesus came in “grace and truth”. Jesus came with love, but He also has expectations about how we are to live and treat each other. If someone loves everyone for example, but is stealing cars let’s say, then the stealing of the cars is wrong. Sometimes when we love someone, we have to be willing to tell them that they are wrong.

          The reading this morning from 1 John 4 once again ends like this:

“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also (1 Jn. 4:16b-21, NRSV).

          In this reading from 1 John we really hear in great detail about how God loves us, and that if we know God, how we are supposed to love each other. We are not supposed to hate each other, but rather are to love each other.

          Once again though, the last two versus of our 1 John reading say:

“Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also”

(1 Jn. 4:16b-21, NRSV).

          The reality is, is that we are all fallen, all broken, and are all sinners. We are called to love one another, even if we don’t agree with one another. We are called to love others, even if we don’t like them, or even if we are the ones making the mistakes.

          As our Bishop Rev. Mark Webb said in a sermon at our Annual Conference a few years ago of himself, “You don’t have to like me, but you do have to love me”.

          A great part of our Christian faith then, is that we are supposed to love everyone with the love of Jesus Christ. For by doing so, they may then come to know Jesus Christ to.

          We are called to love. If someone is a Mets fans for example, it doesn’t mean that you have to be a Mets fan, it just means that you have to love them. It probably also means that since there a Mets fan, that you should pray for them to.

          I really like the concept of “tough love”. I have heard people tell parents before to show their kids “tough love”. I have heard that sometimes saying “no,” or allowing your kids to struggle some is “tough love”. Do we believe that love can be “tough love”?

          I had a friend in college, when Melissa and I went to Potsdam College. This guy stole stuff everywhere. He went to the school bookstore and store clothes, pens, and you name it. One time a group of us went to Pizza Hut for my birthday, and I kid you not, this guy stole, a full set of utensils, the plate from the table, a menu, and then the plastic cover from the cash register. He had somehow stuffed all of this into his clothes, and then showed us all of this when he got in the car. Do I still love him? Of course. Did I agree with what he did? No. Is he still crazy? Yes, but I still love him.

          It is true that to know God is to know love, but it is also true that to follow God, to follow Jesus, is to do what we have been commanded to do. Why won’t I steel like my friend in college did, because we have a commandment from God that tells us not steal. The funny thing with this story, by the way, is that my friend in college had the money to buy the things that he stole, he just thought that it was funny to steal them.

          Anyone who walks through the doors of this church then, will be deeply loved and appreciated by me, but it is also part of my sacred duty to tell them how God wants us to live and act. Love needs to have rules, and love needs to have boundaries. If not, you could just tell your kids or grandkids “do anything you want, because we are to love each other”. Yet you don’t them that. You teach them what is ok, and what isn’t ok. Maybe you have said to your kids, “this is what I think that you should do, and if you don’t do it I think that you are wrong, but I will still love you anyway”. Part of love is being honest.

          To mention our gospel of John reading from this morning briefly, we have another “I am” statement from Jesus Christ. Last Sunday, Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd,” and in this gospel reading, Jesus says:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower” (Jn. 15:1, NRSV).

Jesus then says in John 15:2-5 of God:

^“ He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing”

(Jn. 15:2-5, NRSV).

          God is the plant, and Jesus is the vine that connects us to the plant that is God. To know God, to know Jesus, is to know love. Yet apart from Jesus, who is the vine, we cannot bear fruit. Our love for others is something that we should have, but we should also seek to live in the ways that Jesus told us how to live. For what is love without truth?

          I pray that we may be patient with one another, love another, even if we do not always agree with one another. As one of my Bible Commentaries says:

“Not everyone around us will deserve our love, yet we must extend love to all. We were equally unlovable when God first lives us” (Africa Bible Commentary).

Know that you are all loved, and prayed for. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - 4th Sunday of Easter - 04/22/18 - Sermon - “I am the good shepherd"

Sunday 04/22/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “I am the good shepherd”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 23

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 1 John 3:16-24

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: John 10:11-18

          Welcome once again on this the 4^th Sunday of Easter. Four Sundays after Jesus rises to new life, and through Him, we are offered new life.

          In the Christian New Testament, as many of us know, we have four gospels. These of course are the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In these gospels we have the story of Jesus Christ, what He said, what He did, the claims that He made, the healings, the love, and the power of God. To put it another way, the words of Jesus Christ are the words that are contained in the gospels. There are other scriptures that quote Jesus, but the gospels are where we get the on the ground reality of who, what, how, were, and when, Jesus was and is.

          If one reads the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the text says some pretty amazing stuff. We hear the story of Christ, His life, and everything that He did and claimed. The challenge for us as Christians though, is to ask what do these gospels and all scripture mean? Are the gospels reliable? Do we believe that in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John that Jesus said and did the things that have been recorded of Him? I do. If we read the gospels with precision and integrity then, we find some very specific teachings and ideas.

          For example, this morning in our gospel of John reading, Jesus Christ says,

“I am the good shepherd” (Jn. 10:11a, NRSV).

          What did Jesus mean, when He said this? Further, do we believe that Jesus did in fact say this? I know that I believe that He did.

          In the gospel of John, we have in fact seven statements of what are referred to as the “I am” statements, made by Jesus Christ. It is interesting that when Moses asks God His name in Exodus 3:14, via the burning bush, that God replies by saying:

“I am who I am” (Ex. 3:14, NRSV).

          So for Jesus to make statements that are aligning with the statement that God made to Moses, is very interesting to me. The seven “I am” statements in the gospel of John are:

(http://journeyingtotherealme.blogspot.com/2017/06/john-15-seriesverse-1.html).

          I read you these seven “I am” statements, to give you an idea of what I am talking about this morning. According to the gospel of John, Jesus made seven “I am” statements. While these seven “I am” statements can make for a great sermon series, I wanted to just focus on the “I am” statement that we have this morning from John 10:11-18. In this reading, Jesus once again says,

“I am the good shepherd” (Jn. 10:11a, NRSV).

          Well, when I began to do research on this statement and the concept of a “Shepherd” and a “Good Shepherd,” I found some information that I didn’t expect at all. For example, I Googled “The Good Shepherd,” and the first thing that came up was a movie called “The Good Shepherd,” with Matt Damon, Robert De Niro, and Angelina Jolie. Well then I thought, “Wait a second, I thought that Jesus was the good shepherd!” Then I thought, “Why would a movie be named “The Good Shepherd?” Were the makers of the movie trying to trick us into going to the movies?”

          Well, it turns out that character that actor Matt Damon played in this movie, was a man who worked for the Central Intelligence Agency or the CIA for years. His character was dedicated to his country, and was willing to die to defend it.

          This is interesting to me, because our gospel of John reading once again begins with Jesus saying:

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away—and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep” (Jn. 10:11-13, NRSV).

          A shepherd who leads sheep or some other animal is charged with protecting and caring for the sheep, or whatever the animal is. Pastors are often called shepherds, as we are charged with taking care of the spiritual wellbeing of the people of the church and the communities that we serve.

          Jesus finishes our gospel of John the reading this morning by saying:

^“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again. I have received this command from my Father” (Jn. 10:14-18, NRSV)

          As Jesus is speaking to a group a Pharisees when He says this, He is saying that the real shepherds walk through the gate of the sheep, and the sheep hear, see, and recognize there shepherd. Wolves and thieves break in, climb over the wall, and do not sound like the shepherd.

          This is certainly powerful imagery, but again if Jesus said this “I am” statement, as I believe that He did, there are powerful claims in this statement. To me, in this scripture, Jesus is saying that He is the Lord of all persons, or sheep. For again, Jesus says this morning,

“So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order to take it up again” (Jn 10:16b-17, NRSV).

Jesus is saying that He is our leader, our shepherd, and that we must follow him and listen for his voice. Even further, he says he will lay his life down for us the sheep, and then take it back up. Jesus says in John 15:13:

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (Jn. 15:13, NRSV).

Jesus tells us to follow Him, to allow ourselves to be shepherded by Him, and that he will not deceive us. He will even die to save us.

Some of us might have attended our Active Shooter Training that we had the Freeville UMC this passed Tuesday night. In this training, a teacher that came said that she would lay her life down to protect her students, and then I said I would do the same to protect the people of the church. If a pastor is a shepherd, and if we take it seriously, then we are modeling, and living exactly what Jesus taught this morning when He said:

“I am the good shepherd” (Jn. 10:11a, NRSV).

          Jesus could have made the seven statements in the gospel of John without using the words “I am,” but I think the reality of his divinity, of Him being the fullness of God and man, came through in the making of these statements.

          Jesus then can be portrayed like a shepherd that leads us, loves us, and cares for us. Jesus tells us that He seeks out the lost sheep, and that he as our shepherd that will lead us to the ways of love, hope, peace, and eternal life.

          This is very similar to reading that we have for this morning from Psalm 23 that says:

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake” (Ps. 23:1-3).

Psalm 23 is speaking of God the Father, yet this morning in the gospel of John, Jesus Christ, God’s son, God in the flesh, is using very similar language.

Since pastors and priests are called shepherds sometimes, we are called to teach, live, and do exactly what Jesus says this morning. This reality extends to all of us though. You are all shepherds. You might shepherd your children, your pets, your family, people that work for you, your students if you’re a teacher, or others. How many of you have people in your life, by a show of hands that you would lay your life to defend and protect? Well, then you are a “Good Shepherd”.

            This reality rings true in our reading from this morning from 1 John that says:

^“We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?”

(1 Jn. 3:16-17, NRSV).

          Shepherds are willing to sacrifice, willing to defend, and willing to lay their lives down for those they love.

          So I believe this morning that Jesus is telling us that He is the full embodiment of God, the great “I am,” that is going to die for us, be raised to new life, and they He will live in us if we let him. We are then to go forth into the world telling people about this great shepherd named Jesus Christ, and then with the power of the Holy Spirit we are called to transform the world. When we love each other, shepherd each other, we are drawing closer to Christ, and better living out exactly what Jesus was saying this morning, when He said:

“I am the good shepherd” (Jn. 10:11a, NRSV).

          There’s short story called the “Star Fish” that I think explains ever further. This story goes like this:

“A man was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up. Left on the sand by the receding tide the starfish were certain to die as the sun dried them out. The man also saw a boy picking up starfish and flinging them back into the sea. Planning to teach the boy a little lesson in common sense, the man walked up to the boy and said, “I have been watching what you are doing, son. You have a good heart, and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day? Surely such an industrious and kind hearted boy such as yourself could find something better to do with your time. Do you really think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?” The boy looked up at the man, and then he looked down at a starfish by his feet. He picked up the starfish, and as he gently tossed it back into the ocean, he said, “It makes a difference to that one.” (http://storiesforpreaching.com/category/sermonillustrations/servanthood/)

          My friends, my brothers and sisters, Jesus is the good shepherd, and we are His sheep, or as the story just said, his starfish. May we shepherd and love each other, the way that Jesus has and continues to do for us. Amen.

Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC's - Native American Ministries Sunday/3rd Sunday of Easter - 04/15/18 - Sermon - “So what happened exactly?"

Sunday 04/15/18 Freeville/Homer Avenue UMC’s

Sermon Title: “So what happened exactly?”

Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 4

                                            

New Testament Scripture: 1 John 3:1-7

                                                   

Gospel Lesson: Luke 24:36b-48

          Welcome again my sisters and brothers, on this our Native American Ministries Sunday, this the Third Sunday of Easter, this the Sunday that we are hosting again Romanian Missionary Ramona Petrella Cummings, and maybe a couple of other things, as well!

          Since this is Native American Ministries Sunday, today is a special giving opportunity in the life of the United Methodist Church, where we can support Native American seminarians, pastors, and Native American outreach. Feel free to pray, and to give to this special giving Sunday, as God calls you to do so. Feel free to also do the same for Ramona’s ministry.

          As our church bulletin says this morning however, I am going to give a very brief message. In part, I am doing this to give you a small message, as I was on vacation last Sunday, but also to hopefully help support Ramona and her work. Anyone that is working to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and anyone who is working to build God’s kingdom, is generally someone that I support.

          The question though, is why do we as Christian do what we do? Why do we serve, love, heal, and forgive? You see, all of us are called as Christians to serve God and share the gospel of Jesus Christ in various ways, but some of us are called to go where there is great suffering. For millions and millions of Christians, we generally believe that Christ overcame sin and death on the cross, that he was resurrected, that he is alive well, and that he will return one day in glory. For so many of us, this is our motivation and our transformation that causes us as Christians to do what we do.

Knowing the risen Christ, believing in His gospel, and living it out, can result in God putting us in places and situations that we never imagined. Many of us also know that the Christian Church is worldwide, and that we are the biggest faith in the world. Due to this, it shouldn’t be a shock to us to know that we have many millions of Christians serving, loving, working, and caring in places where God’s people need the most love, help, and kindness.

This leads me to this morning’s gospel reading from the gospel of Luke, and my sermon title of “So what happened exactly?” In this reading, Jesus Christ, after his resurrection, appeared to his disciples. Specifically, the gospel reading says:

“Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence”. (Lk. 24:36b-43, NRSV).

          For me, and for millions and millions of Christians, not only do I believe that Jesus was God in the flesh on earth, that he loved, healed, and forgave, and died for our sins, I also believe that he rose again. I also believe that he appeared for 40-days to his disciples and many, and then ascended to heaven. Jesus therefore, is alive and well, and will return one day in glory.

          Serving Christ, preaching and following the gospel of Christ takes on a powerful new meaning then when we believe that the savior we follow is truly alive and well. This belief fuels us to change the world, to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, and sometimes to go far and wide to show people the great love of Jesus Christ. When Christ is alive in us, we begin to see the world differently, and the gospel calls us to change the world into what Jesus called us to change it into.

          “So what happened exactly,” this morning? Well I believe that Jesus Christ, the savior of the world, physically presented his resurrected body to his disciples, that he ate with them, and that he then told them again just who he was and is. This reality, this truth found only in Jesus Christ, is so powerful, that it has changed me, and it has changed millions upon millions of others through the world. Due to this, when we answer the call to serve Christ, sometimes that call might just take us to a place like Nicaragua, or to Romania. Be ready for God’s call! Amen.