WHO ARE TRULY BLESSED?

Sermon Summary (2/02/20) “Who Are the Truly Blessed?”
 (Matthew 5:1-12; Ephesians 2:8-9)

Blesses are the meek.  We are a manly country, rugged individualists.  Remember the Marlboro man?  “The one, the proud, the Marine.”  But blessed are the meek  I’ve always had interpreting the Beatitudes.  Who are the blessed?  Actually, I think Matthew had problems, too.  Luke recalls Jesus’ saying as “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”  Matthew must have had some rich friends, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs in the kingdom of Heaven.”  I think Matthew had difficulty interpreting who was blessed.

Maybe here’s the bigger question?  Who has access to the kingdom of God?  What does it take to get into heaven?

Here’s another question.  I’ve always wondered, did Paul get it right?  Are we saved by grace through faith? (Eph 2:8)  Do you know word, “grace,” does not show up in Matthew, Mark and Luke?  Where does Jesus say we are saved by grace?  What does Jesus require of us?  Poverty?  Meekness?  Do we need to be persecuted?  Must we be in a continual state of mourning?  Here’s what Jesus says in Luke, “Woe to you that are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep.”  Would joy keep us from the kingdom of God?

Where is the message of grace in the Gospels?   Actually, right here in the Beatitudes.  I want you to picture the setting of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus on the mountain surrounded by his disciples,; then the whole mountainside filled with the “sat upon, spat upon, ratted upon,” to use the phase of Simon and Garfunkel.  It was show and tell time.  I can see Jesus walking through the crowd, placing his hands on the ragged, “Blessed are the poor”; on the downtrodden, “Blessed are the meek”; on the crying, “Blessed are those that mourn.” 

These people do not gain entry because of their status, but because of the grace of Jesus Christ and the great faith they are displaying by being on the mountain with him.  This is a story of grace.  There is no payment they can make to get into heaven.  There is no joy they can display.  Not even their righteousness would do.  They were devoid of religion, unable to read the scrolls if they even knew what the scrolls were.  They were “saved by grace through faith, it was not of your own doing so that no one could boast.” (Eph 2:8-9)

Jesus has just turned the worldly standard upside down.  The Beatitudes are the Gospel’s statement of grace.  Jesus is saying, “Hear the good news, there is nothing you can do save yourselves, it has already been done.”

We then need to do everything we can to protect our faith.  We need to remember our baptismal vows: “Do you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, put your whole trust in his grace?”  We need to say “Yes” continually.  We need to “Repent” continually.  Place our lives before the Holy Spirit to examine our motives, “Did I trust Christ today, or did I depend on myself as my only guide?”  We are followers of Jesus Christ.  Let our lives so demonstrate that faith.  Do everything you can to protect your faith.

IT BEGINS

Sermon Summary (1/26/20/) “It Begins” (Matthew 4:12-23)

It’s the last Sunday in January, last chance for resolutions. My hunch is that any you made on Jan 1 have already been discarded.  Never too late, today is a day for new beginnings!  Every day is a day for new beginnings.

In fact, I’m going to do something I’ve never done before, lead you in the hymn of response before the introduction to the sermon is over: “This is a Day of New Beginnings” (UMH 383 or http://tiny.cc/AllThingsNew). Verse 4: “Christ is alive and goes before us to show and share what love can do.  This is a day of new beginnings; our God is making all things new.”  Look it up, drink it in.

By the way, the sermon title, “It Begins,” refers to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, but as you will see, there are many other beginnings we will refer to today. 

Here’s your question: What do you need to start over?  What is holding you back?  In our Scripture today, Jesus announces his ministry by saying, “Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near.”  Is what is stopping you your inability to repent, examine your life, change, turnaround?  Ben Franklin allotted time each evening to examine his day with on of 13 virtues. (One being humility, but he said that once he had conquered humility, he became proud of his humility, thus losing on the virtue of pride.)  Your prayer life, that included repentance or confession may be stopping your new beginning. Begin again.

Or might it be your discipleship?  Three years ago we had a sermon series on discipleship.  It may be time to repeat it.  Is it an element of discipleship that is holding you back?  Worship, Hospitality, Opening to Jesus, Obeying Jesus, the Service of Jesus, Generosity?  Is one of these stopping you.  Yet, everything single one of them is an opportunity to begin again. 

Our Scripture for today, “It begins,” is a call for repentance.  So also in Mark, and then Luke begins the ministry of the church in Acts with Peter saying, “Repent, everyone of you and be baptized everyone of you in the name of Jesus so that your sins may be forgiven”  Make new start.  John begins Jesus ministry with Nicodemus coming to Jesus at night and Jesus telling him, “You must be born anew.”  Jesus begins his ministry by calling for new beginnings.  Everyday is a day for new beginnings.

How are we to begin? I would suggest by beginning everything with prayer.  A model we’ve used is ACTS: Adoration (“I will praise the Lord with my whole heart” (Ps 9:1-2)), Confession (“Search me and know my heart,” Ps 139:23-34)), Thanks giving (Ps 9:1 again)), and Supplication (“But in everything with prayer and supplication” (Phil 4:6))  If we memorize these verses, take them to heart, we can flash them to God in everything we do.  We can make everything we do a new beginning.

Or I would recommend that you journal.  We know of the spiritual life of the heroes of our faith because they made new starts and journaled about it. David, after his terrible acts with Bathsheba and Uriah (2 Sam 11&12), journaled his confession in Ps 51, God gave him a new beginning. So with us.  Amen.

THE POWER OF ONE

Sermon Summary (1/19/20/) “The Power of One” (John 1:29-42)

The Mission of the United Methodist Church (and this church) is “To Make Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World.”  Question: What is the most transformational thing you’ve ever done?  For me, probably Habitat for Humanity.  A warm dry place for a family to lay their heads is transformational.  

And did you know that Habitat for Humanity began with one man?  Actually, one couple when Linda Fuller challenged her self-possessed millionaire husband to take his faith seriously.  He did.  Together they gave all their wealth away and began one of the most transformative ministries ever.

The priorities of the Missouri Conference are to 1) Identify and nurture missional leaders, 2) Start new places for new people, and 3) Create pathways out of poverty.  The latter two require the missional leaders identified in priority one.

So what is the impact of a single invitation, a single person?  In our story today, Andrew and John are disciples of John the Baptist first, and when John sees Jesus and says, “The lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world,” they approach Jesus and say “Teacher, where are you staying (same word as ‘abide’).  Jesus calls them by saying “Come and See.”  And they remained (same word as abided) with him all day.  The next day, Andrew finds his brother, Simon Peter, and says “We have found the Messiah (the Christ).”  Peter accepted the invitation and that changed the shape of the first century Christian community and Christianity forever.  The power of a single invitation to a family member.

Who might be the missional leaders in your surroundings that could be transformational?  They might be the obvious candidates.  Or they might be the humble version of Christ that lead through humble service. “The last shall be first and servant of all.”  They might be those that are just compelled to do that drag those around them along.  Finding them may only take a single invitation.  The Power of One.

And sometimes God provides.  We have a case in point.  Just when we were talking of New Places or New People, such a leader came along.

And we might find that person among us.  You see, I was invited.  “You need to go to Sarah Smith’s class.”  (The district director of lay speaking ministries that eventually became my mentor.)  Mid-State district has a Basic Course on Mar 21st and an Advanced Class, “Christian Transformational Leaders,” on Apr 4th.  I encourage as many of you as possible to attend one or both of them.

Leadership may be quite different that you imagine.  Jesus spelled it out for James and John in Mark 10 when they were looking for the perks of leadership, only to be told that “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wills to be first among you must be their slave.”  The love of Jesus so demonstrated.  Amen.

EPIPHANY: CHRIST'S PRESENTATION TO THE WORLD

Sermon Summary (1/5/20/) “Epiphany: Christ’s Presentation to the World.” (Mt 2)

“The Twelfth Day of Christmas….Twelve Drummers Drumming.”  The Twelfth Day, the last day of Christmas is a noisy day.  Tomorrow, also Jan 6th is Epiphany, in some places in the world bigger than Christmas.  The first story Matthew gives us after the birth, the presentation of the Christ child to the world, to the “Magi,” the outsiders more than likely from Persia.  And what is the last story in Matthew? Jesus’ Great Commission: make disciples of all nations. The bookends of the Good News, the presentation to the nations and the call to go to all the nations.  Here’s my take: Matthew’s Gospel excludes no one. 

So, I have to ask myself, “who am I excluding?”  If Jesus is Savior of the World, and we are called to make disciples of all the world, who am I excluding?  Jesus calls us to love our neighbors, even our enemies.  We are told “God so loved the world.”  Who do I exclude intentionally or because I don’t give them second though or because they don’t share my values or they don’t belong to my tribe or maybe because they hate me?  Who?

Maybe here’s a New Year’s Question for me: Who should I include?  In the year 2020, who should I include that I exclude?

Stephen Covey (Seven Habits) says that we all have a circle of concern and that we should work to make our circle of influence approach our circle of concern.  What do you suppose God’s circle of concern looks like?  What should the circle of influence of his Church look like?

On Christmas Eve we did not take an offering, but I recommended that all write two checks, one to a worthy charity close to home, and other at a distance.  How do we expand our circle of influence?  See where God is working in the world and join in.

As a South Dakotan living far from home, I too often exclude the Native Americans.  I just don’t consider them.  Yet, the most caring Christmas message I received this year was from my Native American friend who grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation and now lives in Alaska.  Yet I exclude the Native Americans from my consideration.  If I look to see where God is working, I can find the Red Cloud Jesuit School on the Reservation that is transforming. I can join in. I can include them with a little effort on my part.

If the Church of Jesus Christ, the Body of Christ, looked, we can fill God’s Circle of Concern with our Influence, whether refugee camps, girls schools in Asia, impoverished people in Latin America.  We can find a way.  Individually, we can’t do it all, but because we are a connected church, we can do our part.

Epiphany is a manifestation, an appearance, it is Christ’s revelation to the whole world.  There is no longer Greek, nor Jew, male nor female, slave nor free, but all are one in Christ Jesus.  Who should we include in 2020?  How can we embrace them even if they are beyond our embrace?  See where God is working in the world and join in. 

CARING FOR A CHILD NOT YOUR OWN

Sermon Summary (12/29/19) “Caring for a Child Not Your Own” (Mt 1 and 2 selected)

I grew up in town of less than a thousand.  If I did something wrong, my parents knew it before I got home from school.  The family, the church, the school, even main street were involved in our lives.  My sister–in-law said even the post master, she couldn’t buy a stamp as a kid without saying please and thank you.

I realize that Dad’s implement business employed a lot of people.  He took his employees seriously.  I remember Dad taking me to a house early one Thanksgiving morning (and shortly after a delivery of a baby).  There were Christmas bonuses.  His legacy to me was always to find ways to care without fanfare and with dignity.  Kids in our town were valued.

Charles Dickens’ England was a time and place that valued children little.  I think A Christmas Carol changed that and a crippled child, Tiny Tim, “God bless us everyone,” changed our thoughts.

What do you suppose it was like growing up in a town of 200, 2000 years ago, Nazareth of Galilee?  To carry an illegitimate child?  What did the community say? Was it a mysterious child of the Holy Spirit as the angel said?  Would it be adopted by the community?  A glimpse of Jesus at 12 where his parents believed he was playing with the children of the caravan would indicate he was a child of the community. (Luke 2)

But whose child was it in the eyes of Joseph?  Certainly Joseph responded to the angel, married Marry, protected the child, raised it as his own when even the genealogy of the community did not recognize him as the child’s father: ¹⁶ and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. (Mt 1:16)  Not the father of Jesus but the husband of Mary.

Christmas is a reminder that it takes a community.  Coyote Hills in Harrisburg may be an example of Larry McDaniel and his wife providing for over 40 foster children at a time.  A friend of mine fostered a family of five and later adopted them.  We may not be able to take in foster children ourselves, but Christmas is a reminder that those that do need our support.

And we were blessed with the opportunity this Christmas to support a family with a disabled child.  Thank you for making that possible, Samantha.

This Christmas is also a season of Mister Rogers with his movie in theaters.  In his 32 years he impacted generations of elementary school children emphasizing developing of the child psyche and moral and ethic values.

(At this point we viewed “The Time Shop” (http://tiny.cc/Timeshop).

It is reminder that maybe our greatest gift is a gift of time.  The community, foster parents, even Mister Rogers looking into the living rooms of our homes saying, “I’m going to give you my time.”  So may it be for us.

WHY WE NEED CHRISTMAS

Sermon Summary (12/24/) “Why We Need Christmas” (Lk 2:1-15)

I’m going to begin by answering the title question, “Why we need Christmas?”  Normally, you would have to wait at least half way through the message to get the answer, but the answer is so important, I’m going to give it to you now.  Here it is: “We need Christmas because Jesus is the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart.” (repeat)

Why do we miss that? Why do we not see that? We cannot see the need for Jesus until we see ourselves, until we see our human condition.

People in New York City cannot imagine how a 13 year old stabbed and killed a beautiful young college freshmen, Tessa Majors.  How can one of their own, a 13 year old take a life.  Do you suppose he had gone to church? Had been in Sunday School since a young age? That his friends had learned right and wrong from the stories of Jesus?  Probably not.

As I was writing this, I received a call from a friend asking how I was doing?  He knows that Christmas is a difficult time for those in grief and that Jesus is the only answer to my deepest longings.  I thank my God for the caller.

You see, the Christmas story really begins in Genesis, in the garden, with the giving of free will.  God gave us the ability to choose and instructions and a conscience to know right from wrong, but it is the human condition that even when we know things that cause harm to ourselves or others, we choose to do the harmful thing anyway. 

Jesus, in the story of the Good Shepherd, tells us that there are false shepherds, imposters that care only for themselves.  But Jesus is the Good Shepherd who cares for the sheep.  Jesus concludes by saying, “I come that you have life and it to the full.”  Other translations say, “life and it abundantly.”  Isn’t that what we want for our children, our grandchildren, “live abundantly”? 

John Wesley was asked, “How do we avoid the wrath to come?”  I had always thought of “the wrath to come” as the judgment, but there is “wrath” in this life, too.  John Wesley gathered those followers of Jesus into small groups to look over one another in love who would ask “how is it with your soul” and “what temptations have you faced and how have you dealt with them?”  And he gave them three rules to follow: “First do no harm (it is almost impossible to undo the consequences of harm.  You can be forgiven, yes, but the consequences remain).  Second, to good.  And third, stay in love with God (pray, read the bible, worship God.) 

We read in the papers every day of shattering actions that crush our Christmases because of bad choices.  Isn’t the gift of good choices the very best gift we can give ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.  “I come that you have life and it abundantly.”  Jesus is the answer to the deepest longings of the human heart in this world and the next.

We need to hear the angels proclaim the “Good news of Great Joy.”  We need to believe the shepherds.  We need to say, “Yes,” and to unwrap the gift of Christmas.  Jesus is the answer to our deepest longings. 

CHRIST THE KING

Sermon Summary (11/24//19) “Christ the King” (John 12:9-19;
Lk 23:33-43)

Christ the King Sunday.  What does it look like for us to make Christ King?  A life striving to be filled with the love of God and neighbor, obeying Jesus, and walking as he walked.  When we do that, we are submitting to his authority, making him first in our lives. 

Why are we so reluctant to do that?  Primarily, we have other things we want to put first: Ourselves, those we love, as teenagers, those to whom we are attracted.  (Adam Hamilton admitted one Sunday that as a teenager, there were things he placed first and it had to do with marriage, a reason he got married at 18.)  It is easy to place God behind spouse, family, life, and if we are really honest with ourselves, even materialism, but especially self.  We are surrounded by idols, or what we make as idols.

Christ the King Sunday is a reminder of how we are to “Order our loves.”  In Jesus’ day, kings were big deals.  If they said “come,” you came; if they said “go,” you went; they literally held life in their hands.  Caesar was king of kings, literally known as “king of kings and lord of lords.”  When Christians game Jesus that tile, “King of kings and Lord of Lords,” making Christ King, they were placing their very lives in jeopardy.  Yet that is what they did.  Every day was Christ the King day.  Every day, they ordered their loves to make Christ first.

We have been looking at unique passages from Luke.  Today we also look at Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday where he is declared king.  We also see a relationship between his entrance and the last of John’s signs, the raising of Lazarus.  The Pharisees saw the people’s declaration of Jesus as King directly related to his “sign” of raising Lazarus.  They said, “You see, you can do nothing.  Look the world has gone after him.” (John 12:19) 

John wrote his book using “signs” so that we may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ and so believing, have life in his name.” (John 20:31)  These signs were performed 2000 years ago and the people took them to heart (moved their intellectual understanding to a believe in the heart that changed their behavior).  That’s our task today, to read, reflect, ponder, meditate on the stories of Jesus that we move our intellectual understanding through intense mental activity that affects the heart.  That’s what John means by “believe.”  “That you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and in so believing have life in his name.”  More than an intellectual understanding, but behavior changing heart.

We have choices to make.  Our reading from Luke is the story of the two thieves, one of whom mocked Jesus, the other who said, “Jesus, remember me when you get into your kingdom.”  Jesus replies to him, and to us who so order our loves, “today you shall be with me in paradise.” 

So may we make Christ the King of our lives.  Amen.