Isaiah 6:1-8, Revelation 4:1-11

Isaiah 6:1-8

Revelation 4:1-11

May 6, 2012

Part 3 in Edgewood “6 Great Ends” Series

Do You Have A Heart For Worship?

As we are beginning our ministry together here at Edgewood Presbyterian we are spending some time looking at some things we might need to be doing if we are going to be the Church God is calling us to be, and using one of the first statements in our denominations Book Of Order  – what has become known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church” – as a guide as we consider some of the most important things for us to be doing as a Church.  

Listen to what the Book Of Order says:

The great ends of the Church are:

the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind;

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God;

the maintenance of divine worship;

the preservation of the truth;

the promotion of social righteousness; and

the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F–1.0304)

These are great words!  They also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing. 

You see – the Church is not about the building – as beautiful as it is –  it’s not about the Minister  – it’s about God – it’s about Christ – it’s about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lay out for us. If Edgewood is going to be the Church God wills for it to be, then we will have to be a Church that is committed to living out these “Great Ends”.

6 things that help define for us what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing.

We’ve looked at the importance of “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” – or evangelism – telling others about Christ – and the importance of “the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God” – or love for God, each other, and all people. The next “Great End” – the next thing we need to hold as important for our lives as individual Christians and our life together as a Church – is “the maintenance of divine worship”.

If we are going to be the Church God wants us to be we are going to have to be committed to evangelism – love – and worship. So – let’s look for a few minutes today at worship – what it’s about – and how we call can develop a heart for worshipping God.

Have you heard the story about Gladys Dunn?

It seemed that Gladys moved into a community and was looking for a Church.  She noticed one particularly pretty Church – and attended worship there one Sunday.  The Sanctuary was just as beautiful on the inside as it was pretty on the outside – and the music wonderful. But – the minister was boring and dry.  As he droned on and on, Gladys noticed that most of the congregation was nodding off.  Finally –after what seemed to be an eternity – the minister completed his sermon and said:

“Now – everyone greet your neighbor”

Gladys noticed the gentleman beside her was trying to wake himself from the nap he had taken during the sermon – so she stuck her hand out to greet him.

“I’m Gladys Dunn” she said.

The man looked at her and responded:

“I’m glad it’s done too, lady!”

Worship is one of the things necessary for us here at Edgewood to be the church God intends for us to be. If Edgewood is going to be the Church God intends it to be, we are going to have to have an attitude of worship – a heart for worship.  Not an attitude of “Glad It’s Done” when it’s over — but an attitude – a heart – for worshipping and giving praise to God.

Now — when we refer to worship, most people think we’re talking about the meeting that takes place here between 11:00 and 12:00 on Sunday morning. That’s true to a certain extent—the Sunday morning service should be a worshipful experience — but that’s not all there is to worship, because that’s not all there is to life. What we need to realize is that worship is a lifestyle — it’s a 24 hour a day, a seven day a week experience.

We can develop a bad habit if we’re not careful: the habit of “critiquing” the worship service instead of fully participating in it and experiencing it. We’ll attend a service and find ourselves evaluating the music, evaluating the hymns, evaluating the Choirs, evaluating the Sermon — and not evaluating them on how they impacted us spiritually, but on how well they were “performed”. And if they don’t measure up to our standards, we’ll say something like:

 ”I don’t know…I just didn’t get anything out of worship this morning… I didn’t like the hymns, the Choir didn’t sound as good as they sometimes do. There were too many mistakes… the Sermon just didn’t speak to me.   I just didn’t get anything out of worship.”  We can begin critiquing the worship service like the judges on “American Idol” or “America’s Got Talent” or “Dancing With The Stars”  or “So You Think You Can Dance” or “The X Factor” might critique the contestants.

Now – I must say that Eugenia, Wilson and today Jeannie, the Choir, and I strive to make every aspect of the service the most worshipful  that it can be. We want the music to speak to you, we want the message to be uplifting and life-changing. We don’t do that so you’ll give us praise – although a word of thanks from time to time is helpful – but – speaking for myself and I am sure for them – we do that because it’s our gift to God.    But the fact is that we don’t hit a home-run every Sunday in every area — and if the only way you can get something out of worship is for us to be brilliant every week, you’re missing out on the heart – and the purpose — of worship.

The purpose of worship is not so much to entertain you – or to even speak directly to you.  There are times you may be entertained by great music or spoken to by a moving message – but that is not the real purpose of worship.

Soren Kierkigarrd was a Danish Christian Philosopher who developed a theory about worship that he termed the “theatre of worship.”  He pointed out that too many people attend worship services as if they were attending a play. They see the ministers, musicians, and choirs as the actors – and themselves as the audience. Looking at it in this way, they feel they can critique the service as to how it touched them or didn’t touch them. They feel they have a right to say:  “I just didn’t get anything out of worship this morning” and name all the things that they did not like about the service. Kierkigarrd admonished people to change their view of worship.  To Kierkigarrd, worship was more of a time when the ministers, musicians, and choirs and the congregation were the actors – and God the audience.  This means that we can’t judge the service, only God can.

Worship, then, is not about us and what “speaks to you” or “does not speak to” us – but it’s about focusing on God – what God would us have be doing as a Church and as individual Christians – listening to God’s call – and responding. Worship is not so much about us as it is about God.

If we here Edgewood are going to be the Church God is calling us to be, then we are going to have to have a heart for worshipping God. 

Certainly the music, the choir, and the message can assist you in worshipping God and are important elements of the worship experience – but the main focus for worship must be on God, and your heart for worshipping God. 

Matt Redman a Christian song writer –describes it this way:   

When the music fades, and all is stripped away

And I simply come, Longing just to bring something that’s of worth that will bless your heart

I’ll give you more than a song

For a song in itself is not what you have required

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to heart of worship

And it’s all about you, All about you Jesus.

I’m sorry Lord for the thing I made it

When it’s all about you, it’s all about you, Jesus.(The Heart of Worship © Kingsway 1999 Thank You Music)

Friends – you and I have to have a heart for worshipping God. 

That’s the heart of worship. It’s all about God.

It’s all about Jesus.

It’s not a matter of how well Eugenia or Wilson or Jeannie  play or how well the choir sounds or how well you know the hymns — even though the music is usually a blessing – and it’s not a matter of how well I preach – it’s a matter of where your heart is.

 I’ve been to all kinds of churches throughout my life—and attended worship at many conferences.   I’ve found that it’s possible to attend services where the piano is hopelessly out of tune,  the organist plays like they are playing a dirge, the sermon is  long and dull — and yet a connection with God can be made in a very real, very personal, very intimate way. I have also found that it’s possible to attend services where the music was awesome and the sermon dynamic — and leave just as stubborn and self-willed and cold-hearted as I was when I walked in the door.

Worship is not about the production quality of the service, it’s about the state of your heart. We need to learn how to have a heart for God. This is a crucial lesson to learn in order for us to be the Christians God is calling us to be. 

The third Great End of the Church is: The maintenance of divine worship.

If we here at Edgewood are going to be the Church God is calling us to be, then we are going to have to have a heart for worshipping God. 

This means that — to be the Christian God is calling you to be — you have to be involved in the Church, but you can’t focus your eyes on the Church. You have to participate in the service, but you can’t focus on whether the service “speaks to you” or not. You have to learn from the minister’s messages and Bible studies, but you can’t focus your eyes on the minister.   You have to have a heart for worshipping God and focus on God.

Our Scripture passages for this morning from Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4 give us a vision of worship in heaven and – especially the Isaiah passage – teach three things you can do to develop a heart for worship.

First of all — get focused on God.

You need to know who it is you are worshipping. 

In the community where I first served I was talking to a woman who did not attend the Church I served – who shared with me:

“I went to church today, but my heart wasn’t in it. Knowing what I know about the pastor, I just couldn’t worship.”

Now, her pastor was not involved in anything illicit, he was just a little hard-headed, and he and she didn’t see eye-to-eye on a couple of administrative issues. Apparently he was a little stern with her husband in a board meeting, and it made her mad. Interestingly, her husband shrugged the whole thing off. He just said, “I don’t go to church to worship him. I go to worship Jesus.”

He was focused on God.

Isaiah 6:1 tells us:

(v. 1) In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Isaiah mentioned King Uzziah. In some ways he had been a good king, but he was just a man and he made many mistakes. His reign was a time of prosperity for Judah, but his pride led to his downfall. Basically, King Uzziah decided to rewrite the rules of Judaism, and he was eventually struck with leprosy. Isaiah begins this chapter by saying – in effect –  “Regardless of what happened with King Uzziah, I saw the Lord. My eyes weren’t on the king; my eyes were on God.”

If you want a heart for worship – which you must have to be the person God calls you to be – and this Church must have to be the Church God is calling us to be,   you need to do the same thing Isaiah did. You need to get your eyes off people and get focused on God.

Instead of looking at people, focus on God’s majesty.

Notice what Isaiah said…

(v. 1) … I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Instead of looking at people, focus on God’s holiness.  

Isaiah wrote ..

(v. 3) And they [the angels] were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty…

Instead of looking at people, focus on God’s glory.

Isaiah wrote ..

(v. 3) …the whole earth is full of His glory.

When you come to church, don’t look at people as much as you look at God.

Look at His majesty.

Look at His holiness.

Look at His glory.

If we here Edgewood are going to be the Church God is calling us to be, then we are going to have to have a heart for worshipping God.  We are going to have to be people who focus on the majesty – holiness — and glory of God.  This doesn’t just apply to Sunday morning. It applies to everyday of the week.  If we’re not careful, we can let the imperfections of others prevent us from focusing on God every day. Maybe someone you work with is not as good of a Christian as you think they should be. Don’t let their imperfections prevent you from seeking God. Maybe your boss claims to be a Christian but you don’t like the way he or she does business. Don’t let your boss’s imperfections prevent you from seeking God’s presence in your life. Maybe someone you know just “gets under your skin” or “rubs you the wrong way”.  Don’t let that keep you from seeing God in them and deepening your relationship with God.

If you want to have a heart for worship — if you want to develop a worshipful lifestyle — stop looking at people and get focused on God. If, as a congregation, we can do this, the same thing will happen to us that happened  to Isaiah.

Isaiah wrote…

(v. 4) The glorious singing shook the temple to its foundations.

Get focused on God and see if the worship doesn’t shake you to your foundations.

The third Great End of the Church is: The maintenance of divine worship.

 We need to have a heart for worshipping God. 

The first step in this is focusing on God.

The second step is to get cleansed by God’s grace.

Get cleansed by grace.

There is something about seeing God for who God is that causes us to see ourselves for who we are. Isaiah eye-witnessed the glory of God, and then he said,

(v. 5) I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among people of unclean lips  

Pride suddenly melts away and you become aware of your own sinfulness, your own inadequacy when you get focused on the glory of God. You can’t help but respond the way Isaiah did. It’s not that God wants you to acknowledge your sinfulness merely for the sake of doing it so that you can talk about how wretched you are. God wants you to acknowledge your sinfulness so that you can experience the life – changing power of His grace.

Listen to what happened next to Isaiah…

(v. 6-7) Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

That’s the purpose of being in the presence of God. You acknowledge your sin so that you can experience His forgiveness.

Having a heart for worshipping God means focusing on God – and it means that you recognize this crucial truth: you aren’t able to approach God on the basis of your own worthiness; you are only able to approach God because He has made you worthy. You  are made worthy through what Jesus has done for you. You  can be in the presence of our Holy God because Jesus died on the cross for your sins. The act of worship involves recognizing your total dependence upon God’s mercy in our lives. You don’t approach Him proudly. You don’t approach Him on the strength of your good deeds or your acts of righteousness. You approach Him with a sense of humility and with a sense of gratitude for your forgiveness. When you have this attitude, it’s impossible to get distracted by some of the aspects of the service. It’s impossible to get distracted by any superficial thing, because your heart is directed toward God. What this means in your day-to-day life is that you don’t need a Church service atmosphere to enter into worship. You don’t need a Choir or anything else. You can worship God alone, in the privacy of your room, just you and God.  

Now obviously it is important that we come together as a body and worship together each week — but this does not have to be the only time worship takes place. It can be a seven-day-a-week experience.

So – the third Great End of the Church is: The maintenance of divine worship.

You need to have to have a heart for worshipping God – and that means that you get focused on God and get cleansed by grace. Thirdly – it means that we have to be ready to go. Yea – it’s getting close to 12 and you may be ready to leave – but that’s not what I’m talking about when I say you have to be ready to go.  Listen to what Isaiah says …

(v. 8) Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?” And I said, “Lord, I’ll go! Send me.”

Worshipping God and working for God go hand-in-hand. Your  best response to worship is to say, as Isaiah said: “Lord, I’ll go! Send me.”  

Right worship leads to right living. When you have a one-on-one encounter with God, it affects the way you spend the rest of your day. It affects what you say and how you treat the people in your life.

Do you want to become a better person?

Do you want to be holy?

 Spend time in the presence of your holy God each day. Spend time worshipping – praising – and focusing on God each day.

Right worship leads to right living.

Right worship also leads to evangelism. The more time you spend with God, the more you want to share God with others.

Also, right worship leads to acts of compassion. It is impossible to be unmerciful to others when you have just been drenched in the mercy of God. It’s impossible to be unforgiving toward others when you have just basked in God’s forgiveness. And it is impossible to turn away from the needs of others when you have had a personal encounter with God’s goodness.

In a very real way the third Great End of the Church – “the maintenance of divine worship” impacts the first two Great Ends – “the proclamation of the Gospel” and “ the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God”.   Worship where you focus on God – get cleansed by His grace – and get ready to go for Him is an essential part of being the individual Christians and the Church god would have us be. 

The third Great End of the Church is: The maintenance of divine worship. As a church and as individuals, we need to develop a heart of worship – not an attitude of “glad – it’s done” but a true heart for worshipping God. We have to get focused on God, get cleansed by God’s grace, and get ready to go into the world and do his work. That’s the lifestyle of worship.

So – the question is – Do you have heart for worship?

Do you have a desire – a passion – for worshipping God – every day?  

Do you let yourself get focused on God, get cleansed by God’s grace, and get ready to go into the world and do Hiis work?

Having a heart for worship is essential for us to have

The maintenance of diving worship

And that’s the third Great End of the Church. Amen.

 

Isaiah 51:1-6, Matthew 28:16-20

Isaiah 51:1-6

Matthew 28:16-20

Tell Those Who Don’t Know

April 22 2012

Part 1 of Great Ends Of The Church Series

I must say that it has been quite a week! Sally and I have been busy settling in here in Sanford as we begin the ministry here at Edgewood.  Thanks to Ruby Creed and others we have met many of the members of Edgewood and visited in some of your homes.  We’ve also gotten to know many of you at the “Meet / Greet an Eat”   last Saturday night, the Women of the Church joint meeting on Monday night, the Men of the Church meeting on Tuesday night, and several opportunities for meals out together.  We truly appreciate all these opportunities to get to know you and look forward to many more. 

While we have been busy getting to know you, I have been praying and thinking a lot about what messages God would have me bring to you these first Sundays we have together.  As I have prayed and thought about this, I have been struck with the feeling that God wants us to spend our first few weeks together looking at what it means to be a Church – what it is that we, as a Church, needs to be doing. To do this, we are going to look at one of the first statements in our denomination’s Book Of Order – a statement that has become known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church”.  Listen to what the Book Of Order says:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

These are great words!  These words also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church and what it is that we, as a Church, are to be doing.

The Church is not about the building – and it’s not about the Minister  — the Church is about God – the Church is about Christ – the Church is about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lays out for us. If Edgewood Presbyterian Church is going to be the Church God wills for it to be, then it will have to be a Church where the members are committed to living out these “Great Ends”.

Listen to them again:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

6 “Great Ends”

The first being: the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.

That’s what Jesus was talking about when He gave what we refer to as “the Great Commission”:

“Go and make disciples of all nations” Jesus says – “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Proclaiming the Gospel means that those of us who know about Jesus – those of us who have been saved by God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ – need to commit ourselves to telling those who do not know about Jesus – or do not live as God calls us to live – about God’s great love.

Those who know telling those who don’t know.

Some call this Evangelism.

I believe it should be the first task – the first “Great End” of the Church.

An abbot of a monastery called a young novice into his office and instructed him to give the homily at the next morning’s chapel. The novice was struck with fear and tried to explain that he was not prepared to speak before the brothers — but the abbot insisted.

The next morning at chapel the young novice stood in the pulpit with his hands trembling — his knees knocking – and his voice was quivering. There was a long pause before he first spoke – and then he asked a question:

“Do you know what I’m going to say?”

The brothers had no idea, so all of their heads shook “no” almost in unison, as if it were choreographed. The novice said, “Neither do I. Let’s stand for the benediction.”

The abbot did not appreciate this. He called the young novice into his office and said, “You must do this. It’s for your own good. Tomorrow is your day again. Be prepared, and this time do it right.”

The next day was almost an exact repeat of the day before. All the brothers sat there before him. His hands shook — his knees knocked – and his voice trembled. After a long pause the novice again asked:  “Do you know what I’m going to say?”  

Well, after the previous day’s experience, they had a pretty good idea. All of their heads went up and down – “Yes” – they thought they knew what he was going to say.  

“Then there’s no need for me to say it” the novice said. “Let’s stand for the benediction.”

By now the abbot was very angry. He brought the young novice into his office and said, “If you do that again, you are going to be in solitary confinement with only bread to eat and water to drink for thirty days and any other punishment that I can think of. Tomorrow morning you will give the homily – and you will do it right.”

The next morning all the monks were there to hear what he would say, and it was, again, almost an exact repeat. He stood, he trembled, his voice quivered; and after the long silence, he asked, “Do you know what I’m going to say?”

After three days of this, about half of them had a pretty good idea and they nodded their heads up and down as if to say “Yes, we know” . But the other half noticed the switch from day to day, and they really weren’t sure what was going to happen; and so they shook their heads back and forth as if to say “ No, we don’t”.

The novice observed some of the brothers indicating “Yes, we know” and others indicating “No, we don’t” and said, “Let those who know tell those who don’t. Let us stand for the benediction.”

No one is sure what happened to the young novice after that!

Friends – a simple definition of evangelism – a simple definition of the first “Great End” of the Church – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” – is this: Those who know tell those who don’t.

The word “evangelism” is actually almost a transliteration from Greek. The Greek word was euangelion, but the pronunciation has become blurred when brought into English. The prefix eu means “good.” We’ve brought that over into English as well. We go to a funeral and you hear a “eulogy”, which is two Greek words—the words for good and word. It is a good word about the person who has died. Or we speak of a “euphemism” as sort of a good way of saying something about something that maybe isn’t very good. The rest of the word euangelion – the  angelion part – we’ve also brought over into English because we speak about “angels” as messengers. The Greek word angelion means “message.” So euangelion — or “evangelism” — is the good message or the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ.

To many people, evangelism only means telling about Jesus and that’s all it means — but that was never all the word meant in the Bible. In fact, that is only the beginning of evangelism.

Let’s think about it this way – suppose you walk out of Church this morning and there was a stranger standing outside who said to you, “How do I get to Highway 1? ”and you respond: “Well, get in your car” but don’t say anything else. That might be good advice – but it is inadequate. They also might need you to tell them which direction to go and where to turn.

In the same way, the beginning of evangelism is the information about Jesus Christ – the information of how to get to Him; but there is much more a person who does not know Christ needs to know. Evangelism also needs to include trying to persuade a person to be a disciple of Christ. The beginning of the first “Great End” of the Church – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” — is the information about Jesus Christ – the information of how to get to Him; but there is much more.  The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind also needs to include persuading a person to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus defined it for us in Matthew 24:18-20: 

“Go and make disciples of all nations — baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Evangelism means telling people about Christ – and convincing people to be the kind of followers of Jesus Christ who will try to do all that Jesus tells us to do.

Being an Evangelist is something like being a salesperson. A salesperson is not only the one who shows the product, but the one who closes the sale – who gets the signature on the contract — the down payment – and makes sure that the delivery is made. An evangelist is a person who talks about Jesus and the Good News of Jesus Christ — but also closes the sale, persuades the person to take delivery of Jesus Christ into their life and make a commitment to obey Jesus Christ as Lord.

There are some who have made a distinction between evangelism and discipleship, and it’s helpful to distinguish between them at times. It’s sort of like the difference between obstetrics and pediatrics, or birthing a child and raising a child. But the distinction is really not a Biblical one. It’s a human way of thinking. In God’s way of describing it, it’s all connected together.  

To truly “proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind” you have to be committed to telling the Good News of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ – and committed to helping others become followers of Christ.  

What does it mean to be the Church God calls us to be?

First – it means being committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind. It means being committed to evangelism. In other words, the reason that Edgewood Presbyterian exists should be to persuade more people to be disciples of Jesus Christ – persuade more people to be committed to Him, persuade more people to believe in Him, and persuade more people to try to do whatever He asks them to do.

We don’t do this for ourselves. We don’t do it for the Church, and we don’t do it for the people. We do it for Jesus Christ.

If we here at Edgewood Presbyterian  Church are committed to letting God work through us to make more disciples for Jesus Christ, then we are fulfilling our purpose and reason for being; if are not committed to this, then we are not.  

If we are going to be the Church God wants us to be we are going to have to be a Church that is committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – committed to evangelism.

There are a lot of reasons for this – so let’s look at several of them. 

The first reason we need to be committed to evangelism — the first reason we need to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – is because God is committed to it.   

A Christian is someone who is committed to the things God is committed to. . As Christian individuals, and as a Church, we need to be committed to the things of God, and God is committed to evangelism. He gave His Son’s life for this good news. He has ordered us to make disciples. You can’t read the Bible and come to any other conclusion but that this is a big deal to God, that God counts evangelism to be really important — and what is important to God is important to somebody who’s a Christian. What is important to God is important to the Church.  We need to say that we here at Edgewood Presbyterian are committed to evangelism – that we are committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind — because God is committed to it.  

But there are other reasons for being committed to evangelism.  

Another reason we need to be committed to evangelism – another reason we need to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of human kind – is because we have been evangelized — we have had the gospel proclaimed to us. Somewhere, from someone, we heard about Jesus Christ. Somewhere, from someone, we discovered for ourselves that receiving Jesus Christ changes life!  This should give us a desire to evangelize others.

Marketing — or advertising – are good things, but are ultimately not as powerful in persuading people to try a product as those who are already “sold” on the product telling others about it.  

Some years ago my Dad – at that point a retired lawyer – asked me: “Have you read John Grisham’s new book?” I said, “I’ve never heard of John Grisham.”  ”Well, you ought to read his book called The Firm.” I had never heard of it. I had never seen it reviewed. So I went out and bought it to keep Dad happy —  at least I could tell him I bought it. I started to read it, and I read it straight through.  I then read another of his novels — A Time To Kill.  I then read any book by John Grisham I could get my hands on! John Grisham has written many books – and at one time the paperback best seller in the United States was by John Grisham, — as well as the hardcover best seller.  That has never happened before in history, and it’s not because of advertising. It’s not because of the publisher’s clever marketing plan. It’s  because people liked the book. I guess a lot of people liked the book and told other people, until millions of these books have been sold. I know I fell in love with John Grisham’s books because Dad loved them – and told me about them.

We need to be people who “like” Jesus. We need to be people who have experienced Jesus and then tell others about Him. It doesn’t take a newspaper ad. It doesn’t take a review in a magazine. Evangelism is people who have fallen in love with Jesus telling other people about their love for Him until it spreads to thousands and millions and tens of millions and hundreds of million and more.

A third reason for being committed to evangelism is that, as Christians, we need to value other people. We need to love others as God loves them.  We need to get to the point that we can’t stand the thought of others being ignorant of God or isolated from God or lost and without God.

I once heard of a T – Shirt that read “Friends don’t let friends go to hell.” You may not want to wear that to work tomorrow morning, but you get the idea. When you care about other people, you become committed to evangelism. You become committed to proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind. You become committed to their knowing about Jesus Christ.

So – if we here at Edgewood are going to be the Church God wants us to be, the first thing we are going to have is a commitment to evangelism – proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind

So – how can we do this?

How can we live out a commitment to evangelism – a commitment to proclaiming the good news of salvation?

One thing each of us can do is pray.  

Pick three people whom you think are not Christians and pray for them every day. Pray that they become Christians, but also pray for their families, for their jobs, for their financial situations and their health or whatever issues they may have in their lives.  

What do you think would happen if each of us were to decide to pray for others who do not know Christ? I believe miracles will happen – and that is indeed something we all can do.

There are lots of other ways we can live out our commitment to evangelism. We can find ways to tell others about Christ all over the place if we’re looking for them.  A commitment to evangelism means looking for as many ideas and opportunities as possible for evangelism to be valued and for evangelism to be practiced, each of us in our own lives but all of us connected together as the church of Jesus Christ. So let’s be truly Christian in the way we value evangelism, but also in the way we do evangelism.

That is the first thing we will need if we are going to be the Church God is calling us to be.

We’ll look at the other “Great Ends of the Church” in the coming weeks – so let’s keep them in mind. In fact, let’s read them together now. Take your bulletin insert and let’s read the Great Ends:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

The first Great End is to proclaim the Gospel.  

Amen.

 

Isaiah 51:1-6

Matthew 28:16-20

Tell Those Who Don’t Know

April 22 2012

Part 1 of Great Ends Of The Church Series

I must say that it has been quite a week! Sally and I have been busy settling in here in Sanford as we begin the ministry here at Edgewood.  Thanks to Ruby Creed and others we have met many of the members of Edgewood and visited in some of your homes.  We’ve also gotten to know many of you at the “Meet / Greet an Eat”   last Saturday night, the Women of the Church joint meeting on Monday night, the Men of the Church meeting on Tuesday night, and several opportunities for meals out together.  We truly appreciate all these opportunities to get to know you and look forward to many more. 

While we have been busy getting to know you, I have been praying and thinking a lot about what messages God would have me bring to you these first Sundays we have together.  As I have prayed and thought about this, I have been struck with the feeling that God wants us to spend our first few weeks together looking at what it means to be a Church – what it is that we, as a Church, needs to be doing. To do this, we are going to look at one of the first statements in our denomination’s Book Of Order – a statement that has become known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church”.  Listen to what the Book Of Order says:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

These are great words!  These words also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church and what it is that we, as a Church, are to be doing.

The Church is not about the building – and it’s not about the Minister  — the Church is about God – the Church is about Christ – the Church is about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lays out for us. If Edgewood Presbyterian Church is going to be the Church God wills for it to be, then it will have to be a Church where the members are committed to living out these “Great Ends”.

Listen to them again:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

6 “Great Ends”

The first being: the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.

That’s what Jesus was talking about when He gave what we refer to as “the Great Commission”:

“Go and make disciples of all nations” Jesus says – “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Proclaiming the Gospel means that those of us who know about Jesus – those of us who have been saved by God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ – need to commit ourselves to telling those who do not know about Jesus – or do not live as God calls us to live – about God’s great love.

Those who know telling those who don’t know.

Some call this Evangelism.

I believe it should be the first task – the first “Great End” of the Church.

An abbot of a monastery called a young novice into his office and instructed him to give the homily at the next morning’s chapel. The novice was struck with fear and tried to explain that he was not prepared to speak before the brothers — but the abbot insisted.

The next morning at chapel the young novice stood in the pulpit with his hands trembling — his knees knocking – and his voice was quivering. There was a long pause before he first spoke – and then he asked a question:

“Do you know what I’m going to say?”

The brothers had no idea, so all of their heads shook “no” almost in unison, as if it were choreographed. The novice said, “Neither do I. Let’s stand for the benediction.”

The abbot did not appreciate this. He called the young novice into his office and said, “You must do this. It’s for your own good. Tomorrow is your day again. Be prepared, and this time do it right.”

The next day was almost an exact repeat of the day before. All the brothers sat there before him. His hands shook — his knees knocked – and his voice trembled. After a long pause the novice again asked:  “Do you know what I’m going to say?”  

Well, after the previous day’s experience, they had a pretty good idea. All of their heads went up and down – “Yes” – they thought they knew what he was going to say.  

“Then there’s no need for me to say it” the novice said. “Let’s stand for the benediction.”

By now the abbot was very angry. He brought the young novice into his office and said, “If you do that again, you are going to be in solitary confinement with only bread to eat and water to drink for thirty days and any other punishment that I can think of. Tomorrow morning you will give the homily – and you will do it right.”

The next morning all the monks were there to hear what he would say, and it was, again, almost an exact repeat. He stood, he trembled, his voice quivered; and after the long silence, he asked, “Do you know what I’m going to say?”

After three days of this, about half of them had a pretty good idea and they nodded their heads up and down as if to say “Yes, we know” . But the other half noticed the switch from day to day, and they really weren’t sure what was going to happen; and so they shook their heads back and forth as if to say “ No, we don’t”.

The novice observed some of the brothers indicating “Yes, we know” and others indicating “No, we don’t” and said, “Let those who know tell those who don’t. Let us stand for the benediction.”

No one is sure what happened to the young novice after that!

Friends – a simple definition of evangelism – a simple definition of the first “Great End” of the Church – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” – is this: Those who know tell those who don’t.

The word “evangelism” is actually almost a transliteration from Greek. The Greek word was euangelion, but the pronunciation has become blurred when brought into English. The prefix eu means “good.” We’ve brought that over into English as well. We go to a funeral and you hear a “eulogy”, which is two Greek words—the words for good and word. It is a good word about the person who has died. Or we speak of a “euphemism” as sort of a good way of saying something about something that maybe isn’t very good. The rest of the word euangelion – the  angelion part – we’ve also brought over into English because we speak about “angels” as messengers. The Greek word angelion means “message.” So euangelion — or “evangelism” — is the good message or the Gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ.

To many people, evangelism only means telling about Jesus and that’s all it means — but that was never all the word meant in the Bible. In fact, that is only the beginning of evangelism.

Let’s think about it this way – suppose you walk out of Church this morning and there was a stranger standing outside who said to you, “How do I get to Highway 1? ”and you respond: “Well, get in your car” but don’t say anything else. That might be good advice – but it is inadequate. They also might need you to tell them which direction to go and where to turn.

In the same way, the beginning of evangelism is the information about Jesus Christ – the information of how to get to Him; but there is much more a person who does not know Christ needs to know. Evangelism also needs to include trying to persuade a person to be a disciple of Christ. The beginning of the first “Great End” of the Church – “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” — is the information about Jesus Christ – the information of how to get to Him; but there is much more.  The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind also needs to include persuading a person to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Jesus defined it for us in Matthew 24:18-20: 

“Go and make disciples of all nations — baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”

Evangelism means telling people about Christ – and convincing people to be the kind of followers of Jesus Christ who will try to do all that Jesus tells us to do.

Being an Evangelist is something like being a salesperson. A salesperson is not only the one who shows the product, but the one who closes the sale – who gets the signature on the contract — the down payment – and makes sure that the delivery is made. An evangelist is a person who talks about Jesus and the Good News of Jesus Christ — but also closes the sale, persuades the person to take delivery of Jesus Christ into their life and make a commitment to obey Jesus Christ as Lord.

There are some who have made a distinction between evangelism and discipleship, and it’s helpful to distinguish between them at times. It’s sort of like the difference between obstetrics and pediatrics, or birthing a child and raising a child. But the distinction is really not a Biblical one. It’s a human way of thinking. In God’s way of describing it, it’s all connected together.  

To truly “proclaim the gospel for the salvation of humankind” you have to be committed to telling the Good News of what God has done for you in Jesus Christ – and committed to helping others become followers of Christ.  

What does it mean to be the Church God calls us to be?

First – it means being committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind. It means being committed to evangelism. In other words, the reason that Edgewood Presbyterian exists should be to persuade more people to be disciples of Jesus Christ – persuade more people to be committed to Him, persuade more people to believe in Him, and persuade more people to try to do whatever He asks them to do.

We don’t do this for ourselves. We don’t do it for the Church, and we don’t do it for the people. We do it for Jesus Christ.

If we here at Edgewood Presbyterian  Church are committed to letting God work through us to make more disciples for Jesus Christ, then we are fulfilling our purpose and reason for being; if are not committed to this, then we are not.  

If we are going to be the Church God wants us to be we are going to have to be a Church that is committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – committed to evangelism.

There are a lot of reasons for this – so let’s look at several of them. 

The first reason we need to be committed to evangelism — the first reason we need to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – is because God is committed to it.   

A Christian is someone who is committed to the things God is committed to. . As Christian individuals, and as a Church, we need to be committed to the things of God, and God is committed to evangelism. He gave His Son’s life for this good news. He has ordered us to make disciples. You can’t read the Bible and come to any other conclusion but that this is a big deal to God, that God counts evangelism to be really important — and what is important to God is important to somebody who’s a Christian. What is important to God is important to the Church.  We need to say that we here at Edgewood Presbyterian are committed to evangelism – that we are committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind — because God is committed to it.  

But there are other reasons for being committed to evangelism.  

Another reason we need to be committed to evangelism – another reason we need to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of human kind – is because we have been evangelized — we have had the gospel proclaimed to us. Somewhere, from someone, we heard about Jesus Christ. Somewhere, from someone, we discovered for ourselves that receiving Jesus Christ changes life!  This should give us a desire to evangelize others.

Marketing — or advertising – are good things, but are ultimately not as powerful in persuading people to try a product as those who are already “sold” on the product telling others about it.  

Some years ago my Dad – at that point a retired lawyer – asked me: “Have you read John Grisham’s new book?” I said, “I’ve never heard of John Grisham.”  ”Well, you ought to read his book called The Firm.” I had never heard of it. I had never seen it reviewed. So I went out and bought it to keep Dad happy —  at least I could tell him I bought it. I started to read it, and I read it straight through.  I then read another of his novels — A Time To Kill.  I then read any book by John Grisham I could get my hands on! John Grisham has written many books – and at one time the paperback best seller in the United States was by John Grisham, — as well as the hardcover best seller.  That has never happened before in history, and it’s not because of advertising. It’s not because of the publisher’s clever marketing plan. It’s  because people liked the book. I guess a lot of people liked the book and told other people, until millions of these books have been sold. I know I fell in love with John Grisham’s books because Dad loved them – and told me about them.

We need to be people who “like” Jesus. We need to be people who have experienced Jesus and then tell others about Him. It doesn’t take a newspaper ad. It doesn’t take a review in a magazine. Evangelism is people who have fallen in love with Jesus telling other people about their love for Him until it spreads to thousands and millions and tens of millions and hundreds of million and more.

A third reason for being committed to evangelism is that, as Christians, we need to value other people. We need to love others as God loves them.  We need to get to the point that we can’t stand the thought of others being ignorant of God or isolated from God or lost and without God.

I once heard of a T – Shirt that read “Friends don’t let friends go to hell.” You may not want to wear that to work tomorrow morning, but you get the idea. When you care about other people, you become committed to evangelism. You become committed to proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind. You become committed to their knowing about Jesus Christ.

So – if we here at Edgewood are going to be the Church God wants us to be, the first thing we are going to have is a commitment to evangelism – proclaiming the gospel for the salvation of humankind

So – how can we do this?

How can we live out a commitment to evangelism – a commitment to proclaiming the good news of salvation?

One thing each of us can do is pray.  

Pick three people whom you think are not Christians and pray for them every day. Pray that they become Christians, but also pray for their families, for their jobs, for their financial situations and their health or whatever issues they may have in their lives.  

What do you think would happen if each of us were to decide to pray for others who do not know Christ? I believe miracles will happen – and that is indeed something we all can do.

There are lots of other ways we can live out our commitment to evangelism. We can find ways to tell others about Christ all over the place if we’re looking for them.  A commitment to evangelism means looking for as many ideas and opportunities as possible for evangelism to be valued and for evangelism to be practiced, each of us in our own lives but all of us connected together as the church of Jesus Christ. So let’s be truly Christian in the way we value evangelism, but also in the way we do evangelism.

That is the first thing we will need if we are going to be the Church God is calling us to be.

We’ll look at the other “Great Ends of the Church” in the coming weeks – so let’s keep them in mind. In fact, let’s read them together now. Take your bulletin insert and let’s read the Great Ends:

The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F-1.0304)

The first Great End is to proclaim the Gospel.  

Amen.

 

 

 

Isaiah 6:1-8, Romans 8:12-17, John 3:1-17

Isaiah 6:1-8

Romans 8:12-17

John 3:1-17

A Loving Father

June 19, 2011

Father’s Day /  Trinity Sunday

            Look at your bulletin and you’ll see that today is one of those difficult Sundays for me as I try to speak to the things of God and also address the needs of the congregation.

It’s Trinity Sunday and Father’s Day – and I struggle with addressing both.

            Both are vital and important days.

Trinity Sunday is the Sunday after Penteocst when  we pause to reflect upon the Trinity – in other words, the fact that God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We have passed through Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter when we have focused upon God the Son in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ – and last Sunday we celebrated the Day of Pentecost when we focused on the work of God the Holy Spirit.  Today – before we rush into the remainder of the Christian year – we use Trinity Sunday to stop and remember that God the Son and God the Spirit are one – and are one with God the Father.

This is an important thing for us to do – to remember the nature of God and celebrate the nature of God on Trinity Sunday.        

But — today is also the third Sunday in June — Father’s Day – a day when we honor those men who helped give us life and nurture, teach us, and train us. And that is important also.

As a preacher, I struggle with what to do.

Do I focus on one and not the other?

That would not be fair to fathers — and would not be fair to God and the focus on the Trinity.

We don’t put enough emphasis on the Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We need this day to explore the work of our Triune God.

But we also need to celebrate Father’s Day. I know that Father’s Day already gets less attention than Mother’s Day – and to only emphasize Trinity Sunday today would only make matters worse. For some reason Father’s Day is never given the same attention Mother’s Day is given. There seems to be a difference between the way Father’s Day and Mother’s Day are celebrated.   On Mother’s Day we might call our mothers or go see them.  Many families gather for Mother’s Day. For Father’s Day, we might call our fathers – but statistics show that more collect calls are made on Father’s Day than almost any other day of the year!

A small boy said, “Father’s Day is just like Mother’s Day, only you don’t spend as much on the gift”

Even in Church — on Mother’s Day some preachers will  get up and praise all the mothers, placing them high upon pedestals, and attributing to them no wrong, which is fine, they deserve it. But on Father’s Day, the same preachers might get up and tell all the fathers that they need to be better fathers, and then proceed to point out all the ways they fall short.

Some fathers may feel like they can understand the old Rodney Dangerfield line: “I get no respect!”

I read of a man who went to the doctor — and the doctor told him:

“You are in terrible shape and you have got to do something about it. First tell your wife to cook more nutritious meals. Then tell her that you’re going to make a budget and she has to stick to it. And tell her to keep the kids off your back so you can relax. Finally, you need to stop working like a dog. Unless there are some changes in your life, you’ll probably be dead in a month.”
The man told the doctor:

 “This would sound more official if it came from you. Could you please call my wife and give her those instructions?”

The doctor agreed that he would call her. When he got home that day, he asked his wife if the doctor had called. She responded:

“Yes – and I guess we better make sure your life insurance is paid up.  He says your only have a moth to live.”

All kidding aside, we do need to honor fathers – and indeed all men – on Father’s Day. We also need to look at the work of god the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit on this Trinity Sunday. 

So – I pray that – with Colton’s part in  our service today honoring fathers and John’s part talking about the men of Hopewell – you get a sense of how important father’s are and the men are at Hopewell. I also pray that – as we look at these 3 passages before us today – you get a sense of the loving nature of God – the Triune God – God the Father, God the Son, and God and Holy Spirit.  I also pray  that these passages can also give you a sense of a loving father – both heavenly and earthly.

A tall order – yes – but let’s get into it.

 Our passages for today from Isaiah – John – and Romans give us a way to look at the Trinity – the three in one – and see the love of God – a love that far exceeds and is different from the love any human father can give us – but a love that can be experienced and celebrated – just as the love of our human fathers can be experienced and celebrated.

Of all the things we can say about God – the most important thing we can say is – God is love!

            Yes — God is awesome and majestic – powerful – omnipotent — but God has chosen to come to us in love!

            In our passage from Isaiah the prophet sees the power of God — feels his unworthiness – but then encounters the love of God. 

            In our passage from Romans Paul reminds us of God’s love – and the assurance we can have of God’s love.

            In our Gospel passage – the well known passage from John 3 — Jesus tells Nicodemus about God’s love – a love that is so great God chose to come into world through Christ – die for our sins — and give us our salvation.

            Yes — of all the things you can know about God, the greatest thing you can know is that is that God is love!

            The Trinity – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit – reflects the love of God. God – Father – Son – and Holy Spirit – the 3 in 1 – comes to you  – in love!

            God is the creating Father.  God shows you His love in creating you – establishing a relationship with you – and inviting you into relationship with Him and with all creation.

            God is the Redeeming Son.  God shows you His love in coming into the world and dying for your sins – then rising again so that you may have eternal life – which is an eternal relationship with Him

            God is the Sustaining Spirit. God strengthens you so that you can have a loving relationship with Him and others and do His work and will in the world.

            God is the Father –   God is the Son – and God is the Holy Sprit – God is the mysterious Trinity – but God is one  – and there is one message – God is love.

            Karl Barth was one of the premier theologians of the 20^th century – in fact one of the premier theologians of all time. One day as he was teaching in Basil Switzerland he was asked what the most important theological fact he knew was.  The students expected a long treatise – Barth was not known for brevity – but he responded:

            “Jesus loves me. This I know. For the Bible tells me so.”     

            Jesus loves you.

            God loves you.

            That’s the most important thing you can know about God.

            God loves you – created you — God desires to have relationship with you – God desires you to find salvation in Him – and God desires for you to live in His ways and do His will.

            God – Father, Son, and Holy Sprit – loves you.

            You were created so that you can live in a loving relationship with God and all people.

            Paul presents a beautiful image in our Romans passage – the image that you are a child of a loving father.  You are not a slave – Paul says – who has to fear God – but you are a child – a child of God – and you can approach God as a child approaches a loving father. 

The word Paul gives — “Abba” – is an Aramaic word that is synonymous with our word “Daddy” – and illustrates the depth of that beautiful relationship you can have with God. 

When you talk about “Daddy”, especially on Father’s Day, your mind  may naturally turn to your earthly father – and the love that you may have experienced and shared with your earthly father.  It’s a great feeling to be able to remember the love of “Daddy”.  

God has brought you into a relationship with Him where you can come to Him as a child would the most loving of “Daddy’s” – and share the love – the specialness  — and the good feelings that God wants to share with you.

God wants you to relate to Him in love – in happiness — in joy – and in the security of knowing that He loves you and will always love you. 

God’s love for you is much more than even the most loving of earthly fathers – the best of Daddy’s – but it is an example of love for all earthly father’s – earthly Daddy’s – to follow.  

The love of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – is a love that is always ready to teach us – always ready correct us if need be – and always ready to forgive us.

That’s how the love of a loving, devoted Christian father should be.

The love of God is an example for all fathers to follow. I don’t fool myself by thinking that any fathers are perfect in their emulation of the love of God – but I do suggest that the love of God should be the goal that all Christians – fathers and mothers – should strive to show to their children – and all people.

Dads – you need to be one of the first people who show your children the love of God. I believe a child who has a loving Christian father has a much better chance of knowing God’s love than a child who does not.

I firmly believe that I am the man I am today because I was blessed with a loving and devoted Christian father.  I pray that I have some of the same qualities my Dad had. I know I look a lot like him – but I pray that I act like him also.  Dad was loving – he was tough when he needed to be – but looking back on it I can see that – even when he was toughest – he was loving.  He taught me how to live.  He was a leader in the community and was known for his honesty and integrity – but most of all he was known for his devotion to God and his family. That’s the kind of Christian father I experienced – and that’s the kind of Christian man I am striving to be.

Dads – I pray you are an example for your children.  An example of the loving God we all have and an example of the loving person God calls us to be.

On this Trinity Sunday we celebrate the love of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and on this Father’s Day we celebrate the love of our fathers. 

We also celebrate all the men of Hopewell – for you all do so much to make Hopewell the Church that it is.

From those of you who teach and work with our young people and adults to those who serve on the Session or other committees to those who share your gift of singing and leading us in worship to those who are more than willing to pick up a hammer or a rake or a shovel to do what needs to be done around the Church or at the home of someone in the community to those of who cook wonderful meals or help in so many other ways in the Church and community, you all do so much to make Hopewell the Church that it is – and for that we give you praise.

On this Trinity Sunday, give praise to God – Father – Son – and Holy Sprit.

On this Father’s Day, find ways to tell your Dad how much you appreciate him and all he means to you.

I encourage you to give him gifts and cards today, but to also give him love every day. If you can do it in person, do it.  If he has died as mine has, praise God for what he did for you. Look for ways to tell him what he means to you.

But also look for ways to tell all the men who make a difference in your life what they mean to you. A man does not have to be a biological father to make a difference in your life and be a living example of the love of God to you. Find ways to thank and give praise to all the men who make a major difference in your life. 

Every day find ways to celebrate the love of God – and remember that – of all the things you can know about God – the greatest thing you can know is that God is love and that God loves you.

Every day also celebrate the love of your earthly father.

Our earthly fathers and the men who touch our lives need to be celebrated.

The love of God needs to be celebrated also.

Earthly fathers can be instruments of God’s love in the lives of their children and those around them – for God is Father – God is Son – and God is Holy Spirit – and God is love. Amen.   

 

Isaiah 25:6-9, Matthew 28:1-10

Isaiah 25:6-9

Matthew 28:1-10

Easter Means Life

Easter Communion Meditation

April 24 2011

They had watched him die. Hanging from a cross, nails in His hands and feet, gasping for air.  They had watched Him die. As He died, they had heard him call out with the last bit of energy He could muster, “It is finished!” He was dead.

Among those who saw Jesus take his last breath were Mary Magdalene and Mary the wife of Zebedee. They could have said with the poet W H Auden,

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
my working week and my Sunday rest,
my noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

That’s how they – and the rest of Jesus’ followers – must have felt as they watched Him die.

When Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body down from the cross, they helped him wrap the body of Jesus in a linen sheet and carried him to a tomb cut out of solid rock. There they laid the man who had loved them and whom they had loved; the man, who had given them so much hope and who had changed their lives, but was now dead. Dead as anything could be. They watched as a huge stone was rolled across the entrance of the tomb, sealing the dead Jesus in his grave forever, or so they must have thought.

The next day was the Sabbath – the day of worship. I can imagine they found it hard to concentrate on anything that was happening at the synagogue. So many questions were swirling around in their heads. He said He was the Son of God, but look what has happened. Why?

It was a long day and a long night. Matthew tells us that the women got up early the next morning and went to the tomb of Jesus to grieve, perhaps to just sit quietly and recall the love Jesus had shown to them. Never in their wildest imagination had they dreamt of what happened next.

As Matthew records it:

“Suddenly there was a violent earthquake; an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled the stone away, and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid that they trembled and became like dead men” (Matt 28:2-4).

There was an earthquake, not just a tremor or gentle rumble, but a violent earthquake.

Can you imagine it? Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, their eyes red and still filled with tears, barely able to see where they were going because of their tears and because of the early morning light. The two Marys who had witnessed Jesus’ death and helped lay his body in the tomb, and had seen  the huge stone rolled over the entrance of the tomb, could not believe their eyes when they saw this angel, as bright as lightening on dark night, roll the stone away and then sit on it.

I don’t believe the stone was rolled away to let Jesus out – He had already risen – already out. I believe it was rolled away so that the two Marys could look inside and see that the tomb was empty. This wasn’t just the imagination of some over stressed women. There were other witnesses to this, independent witnesses if you like. The guards at the tomb saw all this and were terrified.

The angel sitting on the rock speaks, “You must not be afraid”, he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has been raised, just as he said. Come here and see the place where he was lying.” Matthew, unlike the other Gospel writers, doesn’t tell us if the women actually went inside the tomb, but filled with fear (who wouldn’t be!), and maybe over awed at the power of God, they ran with joy and excitement to tell the disciples. As far as Matthew is concerned, they didn’t need to look inside. They believed the impossible. Jesus was dead – but now he is alive.

I have spent some time recalling the events of that first Easter morning because I want us all to grasp
• the wonder of the whole event,
• the message of the angel of the Lord saying the crucified and dead Jesus is alive,
• the joy that filled the women who previously had been so sad, filled with so much disappointment, so confused and disillusioned.

The words of the angel had instantly made a change in their lives; their whole outlook on who Jesus was and what He achieved was reversed; their fear of death had been changed to hope.

The resurrection is not just something that happened 2000 years ago but it has changed the way we look at life today. It has changed the way we look at our past – our present – and our future.

Easter changes how we look at the future.

The greatest threat we face in the future is death. The fear of death controls our life much more than we realize. This fear can dictate what we eat, what activities we engage in, where we live. The fear of death makes us attentive to every ache and pain in our body.

But Easter takes the teeth out of death. Easter shows us that there is life beyond the grave. Death is no longer a giant — it is a mere blip on the screen of eternity. Jesus’ resurrection allows us to face death with new confidence. We understand now that for those who take Jesus as their Lord and Savior, death is a passing from life in this world to life in eternity. Nothing more.

What will happen to those who take Jesus as their Lord and Savior when they die is certain. Unlike a sporting event where the outcome might not be known right up to the last minutes of the game. There may be some doubt as to what paths our life may take. We may even have to face many fearful things, but the end of the game of life is not in doubt. We know who will be the winners. The future is certain and sealed for the followers of Christ.

Easter is not something that happened 2000 years ago — but it has changed the way we look at the future – and the way we look at the past.

Does your past haunt you?

Do you worry that God knows what you are really like – that he knows your secret thoughts and desires and that one day he is going to ask you to explain them?

Are there some past deeds that you feel God would have a hard time forgiving?

Are you afraid that some of your past decisions will come back to haunt you?

If so, you are not alone – and Easter has good news for you.

When Jesus rose from the dead, He proved that the sacrifice of his life on the cross was acceptable for all of our sins. Jesus is our living Lord. If he had stayed dead then his death would not be any different to that of any other human. But His death was for our sin, and His resurrection shows that the debt for past sins has been paid.

Peter said, “All who have faith in Jesus will have their sins forgiven in his name” (Acts 10:43).

Paul says in Romans, “Because of our sins he was given over to die, and He was raised to life in order to put us right with God” (4:25).

Sure, our past may embarrass us. People may judge us and think badly about us because of what has happened in the past but … ultimately …  God has dealt with our past. He has erased it with the blood of Christ. We are forgiven. And we know it is true because of the resurrection. What wonderful liberating news this is to every believer!

Easter is not something that happened 2000 years ago but it has changed the way we look at the future and the past – and it changes the way we look at life  today. It has changed the way we look at the present.

People suffer many things in their lives.

Some of you may be suffering through things in your life right now.

Maybe it’s the pain of a broken relationship that is so intense that it seems it will never go away. Maybe it’s abuse, poor health, or even mental problems, that seems to be an ever-present reality. Maybe it’s the pain that grief brings – and the pain never seems to go away. There are numerous pains that may seem to make unbearable.

I can’t minimize the suffering that some people experience, but Easter declares that pain and evil do not have the last say.

Sometimes we are amazed at how people are able to rise above all the pain there may be in their lives and live creative, productive lives. The resurrection is the powerful effect God can have in your life right now.

            Our Savior is a living savior. Our resurrected Lord has promised that He will walk with those who follow Him all of their days in this life. He answers our prayers. He is ready to use His power on those circumstances that fill us with fear. He gives us courage when our knees would buckle.

Our resurrected Lord brings new life, rekindles hope, sustains us, and gives is hope in circumstances that would seem to be the most hopeless.

            The women went to the tomb of Jesus on Easter morning, sad, depressed, confused, red-eyed and grieving. After encountering the angel with the news of Jesus’ resurrection, they ran back to the disciples excited and joyful.

Easter had changed them.

Easter is about life

The resurrection is not something that happened 2000 years ago but it has changed the way we look at our lives – past – present – and future. Amen.

Isaiah 50:4-9(a), Philippians 2:5-11, Matthew 21:1-11

Isaiah 50:4-9 (A)

Philippians 2:5-11

Matthew 21:1-11

Passion / Palm Sunday

“What About The Palms?”

April 17, 2011

We have completed our journey – following Jesus to the cross during the Season of Lent.

Today is what we call Passion / Palm Sunday – the first day of what we call Holy Week. It’s a day of very mixed emotions as we worship.  We celebrated Jesus coming into Jerusalem with all the palms and parade – riding in on the donkey to the shouts of “Hosanna!” as the children reenacted this for us during the Prelude. 

            But, even as we celebrate, we know why Jesus has come to Jerusalem, don’t we? We know the purpose of this journey He has taken – this journey we have followed Him on.  The cries of “Hosanna” will be replaced by cries of “Crucify Him!” before the end of this week and Jesus will be crucified.  He will die. He will die for our sins. The grand celebration of Palm Sunday is quickly replaced by the passion of the events of Holy Week, but a much grander celebration at Easter next Sunday is coming, also. Before we get to Easter, though, we have to make it through this week. We have reached Jerusalem on our journey with Christ, but we still have a lot to think about as we move through this Holy Week, and we pray that our commitment to follow Jesus will strengthen as we follow Him, not just to Jerusalem today but all the way to the cross.

            Our scripture passages for today give us glimpses of Jesus’ commitment to do God’s will, and as we look at these we pray that our commitment will be made stronger.

            Listen to God’s word as we read from Isaiah 50:4-9(A), Philippians 2:5-11, and Matthew 21:1-11.

            Read Scripture

            When I lived in North Carolina I was part of a group of ministers who gathered each week to share ideas on the scripture passages we would be preaching on that week.  I remember one such meeting the week before Palm Sunday when we were discussing these passages before us today, their meanings, and the best ways to communicate their meanings to our congregations.  Each of us were throwing out ideas – “What about this?” and “What about that?” “What about the suffering servant?” and “What about the mind of Christ?”. Finally one of us held out his hands and said: “What about the palms?” We all stopped and looked at him as he held up a palm branch that was on his desk – then put it down and tapped the palm of his hand.  We all sat there and began thinking –

            Yea – what about the palms?

            Let’s do some imaginative thinking today as we consider the palms.

Try to go back in time and imagine with me that first Palm Sunday.

Jesus is entering Jerusalem.  Most pictures of the event have the sky a beautiful blue and the sun shining as the crowds wave their palm branches and shout:                                   

“Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord –

Hosanna in the highest!”

There is a lot of excitement!  

Jesus of Nazareth is coming into Jerusalem and the people are celebrating.

Yes – that first Palm Sunday must have been quite a day – that first Palm Sunday parade quite a parade.

            But – why?

Why all the excitement?

            Why is everyone so excited?

            Jesus is coming into town with some of His followers – but it must look like quite a ragtag bunch – this teacher on a donkey and his followers shouting.

            What’s the big deal?

And – what about the palms?

            Why is everyone waving palm branches?

            Yea – what about the palms?

            Well – palm branches were used as symbols of peace – and also of power.  When wars were over and peace was in the land returning triumphant soldiers were greeted with a palm branch parade. I guess they had palm branch parades in those days much like we now have Ticker Tape parades.   

            Some of the people may have thought that Jesus was the Messiah – the Savior coming from God to overthrow the hated Romans and establish a kingdom of God’s peace and righteousness and justice. Those who understood Jesus to be the Messiah would have been very excited as He entered Jerusalem. Maybe they thought that the Messiah was entering Jerusalem – maybe they thought He would confront the Romans and inspire a rebellion! This would certainly have been a great cause for celebration – a great cause for excitement – a great cause for a palm branch parade! The Jews had been praying for centuries for God to send His Messiah into the world to overthrow the foreign governments that ruled them – in this case the Romans — and rule in power and righteousness, and just the thought that Jesus just might be the Messiah would have filled the people with excitement and joy and sparked spontaneous, celebrative parade.

            But – historians tell us that this was probably not the only parade that would have been going on in Jerusalem on this day.  Pilate, the Roman Governor, would have been arriving in Jerusalem to help keep the peace during the Jewish feast of the Passover on this day also. Pilate’s parade would have certainly looked more grand and impressive than Jesus’. With a show of power, strength, and prosperity —  an army of troops carrying  flags to symbolize Roman rule and weapons to enforce that rule,  Pilate’s parade would have indeed looked more impressive that the rag tag bunch following Jesus.

But there is no joy among the people for Pilate. Pilate represented the hated Roman government. There were no palms in Pilate’s parade.  It was Jesus that had the people excited. It was for Jesus they cut and waved the palm branches.      

            But they didn’t understand Jesus did they?

They may have thought they had understood Jesus, but when it became apparent that they had misunderstood Him their mood quickly changed. When Jesus did not gather the people for a revolt, their mood changed, didn’t it?

            The shadow of a cross began to hide the joyful mood of the palm branch parade much like a cloud hides the sun. It only took a few days for the shouts of “Hosanna” to turn into shouts of “crucify Him!”. The palm branches that greeted Jesus on Palm Sunday were trampled by the crowds and thrown away because Jesus did not do what they thought He should do – He did not do what they wanted Him to do.

            The crowd did not understand. They did not understand the Old Testament prophecy of Isaiah. They had no understanding of or room for a Messiah who would be a servant whom God would call to suffer to redeem the world. They did not understand Christ as Paul and the early Christians did as they sang of Christ – who came into the world for our salvation.  They did not understand that it was not a political victory God was achieving through Christ – but a spiritual one – one that would reach far beyond their time, but was for all time.

            So – what about the palms?

            The palm branches were done away with – swept out with the other garbage of the day.  But – there were other palms – - weren’t there?

There were the palms of Jesus’ hands.

There were the palms that were pierced with the nails.

There were the palms that truly brought God’s kingdom – and truly brought salvation.

            There were the palms that were truly more powerful than Pilate – or any other worldly power.

            These were not the palm branches that were for Christ in that parade on Palm Sunday – but these were the palms of Christ. These were not the branches of the palms the people of Jerusalem offered Christ on that first Palm Sunday – but the palms Christ gave for the world. 

            The palms of Christ.

            Christ came into the world and came into Jerusalem so that His palms could be pierced. He came into the world – He came into Jerusalem — so that He could die and rise again. He came into the world – He came into Jerusalem — so that we could have salvation and eternal life.

            Well — what about it?

            What about the palms?

            What about the pierced palms of Christ?

            What do you make of them?

            What do they mean to you?

            Yes – they can mean salvation – but they also can mean a changed life – a changed mind – here and now.

            Paul calls upon us to have the same mind as Christ did.

            What does that mean?

            It means to be willing to give.

            It means to be willing to experience God’s love and share God’s love with others.

It means to let God change your life – and work for God to make a difference through you in the world.

It means to do all you can to share God’s love with others.

            Paul reminds us that Jesus did not flaunt the power He had as God Himself in the flesh, but instead gave of Himself and did God’s will.  Having the mind of Christ means we do the same.

This was certainly not easy for Christ, and it is certainly not easy for us, either.  At least it’s not for me – and I doubt it is for you. No — this is not easy. We would rather be like Pilate with all his trappings of power and authority than be like Jesus who gave of Himself on the cross.  We would rather be served by others than to serve others. We would rather follow the one in power and have the prestige than to follow the one who gives of Himself and serves. We would rather sit back and let others serve us than get involved in serving them.  We would rather promote our ideas and push for our agenda than to pray for God’s ideas and God’s agenda for us.  We would rather have the mind of the world and go in the world’s ways than the mind of Christ and go in Christ’s ways.

But – Christ – who gave Himself for us – can strengthen us to be more like Him. Christ – who gave Himself for us – can give us His mind – strengthen us to think as He thought – and strengthen us to act as He acted. When we pray to have the mind of Christ, God can change our minds into Christ’s mind.

            As you begin and proceed through Holy Week, pray that God will give you the mind of Christ. Focus on the palms of Christ, and how the fact that they were pierced makes a difference in your life and in the world.  

Reflect upon the pierced palms of Christ.

            Reflect upon the love of God for you.

            Reflect upon how God wants you to have the same mind as Christ had, and let that love – those pierced palms – change you – change your mind – change your actions – change your attitude – and through you change the world. Amen.

 

             

Isaiah 35:1-10, Matthew 11:2-11

Isaiah 35:1-10

Matthew 11:2-11

Advent 3

December 12, 2010

“How Will They Know?”

Advent is not an easy season.

In Advent, we wait – and waiting is not easy. We might find ourselves wanting to fast – forward through Advent and arrive at Christmas early – and maybe stay in the Christmas season longer.

Part of the problem is that “the world” – society – many people – want to rush straight From Thanksgiving to Christmas and forget Advent all together.  Outside the Church and even inside we feel the pull to rush to the birth of Christ – and not look at the message of Advent. Another part of the problem is that it is a busy, rushed time for all of us – and I am no exception.  I try to slow down and focus on what is truly important – but that is not any easier for me than it is for you.

It is not an easy time.

We want to rush to the manger – sing the joyous Christmas carols – celebrate the birth of Christ – but we have to remember that it is not time. It is still Advent — regardless of what the newspaper says about how many shopping days are left until Christmas – it is not Christmas yet. It is Advent – a time to wait. It is Advent – a time to reflect upon texts that help us remember what God’s will is all about and why Christ came into the world, so that when the day comes – when we do celebrate the birth of Christ – we will know what we are celebrating and we can dedicate our lives to doing the work Christ cane to do – and we now are called to do.

And so — in Advent – we wait — but waiting is not easy. In this fast food, fast service, fast paced world, waiting is not an easy. Psychologists call the ability to wait patiently for something you want “delayed gratification”. This is one of the last things children learn – and some children – and some adults—never learn it.

Watching Sally ply her craft as a potter has taught me a lot about the necessity of acquiring patience and the ability to wait. Patience is indeed part of the art of the potter. If you rush while throwing the piece on the wheel, it might flop. If you rush the piece into the kiln for the first firing before it completely dries, it will probably explode. If you don’t fire it in the kiln long enough, you won’t be able to glaze it after you take it out. If you don’t let it cool sufficiently after the first firing, the glaze will not stick to it. If you don’t let the glaze dry before firing the piece the second time the glaze will run all over the kiln – which ruins the piece and is a major mess to clean up. If you don’t fire the piece the second time in the kiln long enough the glaze will not stick to it as it should. If you don’t let the piece cool long enough after being fired the second time it will be ruined – and all your work will be for naught.

I recall that someone asked me 2 weeks before Christmas one year about Sally making them a piece of pottery to give as a Christmas present. Realizing that they will want it in 2 weeks, and that it might take more time than that to make, fire, glaze, re-fire, and have the piece ready, I told them Sally would call them – but I was not sure she could get the piece ready by Christmas.

They looked at me as if to say: “Why not”?

Yea – in this fast food, fast service, fast paced world, patience is not an easy virtue for us to acquire.  Waiting is not an easy thing for us to do.

And yet – in Advent – we wait.

This explains why – even though we might want to hear about the birth of Jesus on this Third Sunday in Advent, our passages for today remind us that it is not time. It is not time to celebrate Christmas – it is still Advent – and because it is still Advent we still have to focus on why Christ came and what we can do because Christ came.

The passage from Isaiah is one of those beautiful visions of rivers and streams in the middle of a desert – the lame leaping and the blind seeing – and the people of Israel returning to their homeland from captivity in Babylon.

A beautiful vision.

A beautiful picture of God’s will for peace – healing – and wholeness becoming a reality.

Isaiah first spoke these words to the captive Israelites in Babylon – but when he first spoke these words many people probably did not believe him.  His words of streams in the desert – the lame leaping – the blind seeing – and the captive Israelites returning to Jerusalem just did not match what they were experiencing.  As they stood in Babylon and looked across the dry, barren desert towards Jerusalem – they did not see much to hope for streams in that wasteland or a highway back home. It seemed fruitless to hope that God would do anything to change their situation. If God were going to do anything He would have done it before then. It seemed fruitless to hope that anything would change. It had been too long. The Babylonians were too powerful. Nothing was going to change.

Face it – Isaiah – they may have thought — these words of yours are pretty – but pretty words don’t change things.

What would it take to convince them – Isaiah must have wondered.

How will they know? he must have wondered.

You know – I think that that’s the bottom line to the question John the Baptist sends his messengers to ask Jesus as John sat in jail, also.

John – the strong witness to Jesus – is now in jail for confronting Herod with his sinful lifestyle. As happens many times, God’s will goes up against the powers of the world – and the powers of the world seem to get the upper hand. And now – in prison – John may be having some doubts. He sends messengers to Jesus asking if He is the Messiah – or if another is coming.

In other words – how can we know that You are the one?

It may have looked to John like Herod was as powerful as ever. It may have looked to John like nothing was ever going to stop the power of the world as it went against the will of God.

But Jesus tells the messengers to go back and tell John what they were witnessing in the ministry of Jesus. The blind were seeing. The deaf were hearing. The lame were walking. Lepers were being cleansed. The dead were being raised.

In other words – Jesus is telling John’s messengers that if John wanted to know if I am the Messiah – go and tell him the evidence – let him know the evidence you have seen that God’s Kingdom of healing and salvation has come!

How will they know?

During Advent we wait for the celebration of Jesus’ birth – while we reflect upon it’s meaning. Jesus came into the world to bring God’s will for healing – wholeness – justice and salvation. But, as we reflect upon this, we must remember that there are many people in the world who may be like the Israelites in captivity in Babylon, whose experiences did not match the vision Isaiah proclaimed.  We must remember that there are many who – like John – may be wondering how they can know that Christ has come, because the hope – healing – love – and justice Jesus brought is still not a part of their experiences.

How will they know?

Christ has brought healing – wholeness – justice – and salvation into the world – but how will they know?

How will people who are homeless know that Christ has come into the world to help them?

How will people who are hungry know that Christ has come into the world to help them?

How will people who are unemployed or had their hours at work reduced and feel that there is no use in trying any more know that Christ has come into the world to give them hope?

How will people who are sick – and people that are dying – people who feel lonely and afraid know that Christ has come into the world to give them hope?

How will they know?

The only way they will know that Christ has come to give them hope and salvation is when they can see Christ touching people’s lives – and experience Him touching their lives. The only way they will know is when they can see the evidence – just as Jesus presented the evidence to John’s messengers. Jesus told the messengers from John to see for themselves that the blind are seeing — the deaf are hearing — the lame are walking — the lepers are being cleansed – and the dead are being raised.

How will they know that Jesus has come – and their lives can be different?

Only when you and I take the strength God gives us and reach out to them in God’s name – and proclaim God’s love and will.

The homeless will know that Christ has come into the world to help them when we quit criticizing them begin helping them. People who are hungry will know that Christ has come into the world to help them when we begin helping them. People who are unemployed or who find their hours at work have been reduced and feel that there is no use in trying any more will know that Christ has come into the world to give them hope when we quit talking about how lazy they are or blame them for the fact their company is cutting back on jobs and start helping them see that God loves and believes in them – and so do we. People who are sick  or dying  and feel lonely and afraid will know that Christ has come into the world to give them hope when we begin showing them God’s love instead of walking away from them.

How will people who need to know that Christ has come?

They’ll know when we act in ways that show them that Christ has come!

So – the question for today is – do we as a Church let people who know that God has come into the world and that God loves them?

Do we do enough to reach out into the community and the world with the love of God?

Do we actively seek out those who might need to experience the love of God in their lives? Do we actively seek out those who may be hungry – homeless – sick – dying – out of work or not working enough hours to make ends meet — or – do we just sit here and think that they will come to us? Yea – some might come to us – but how many are still in our community that are in need?

There are many in our community who need to know that Christ has come – that salvation, healing, hope and love is possible in their lives because God loves them and Christ has come into the world.

How will they know?

Only if we show them and tell them.

Only if we reach out to them.

We need to do that – as a Church – as the combined people of God here at Hopewell.   We also need to do that as individuals.

So here’s another question for you — do you actively seek out those who might need to experience the love of God in their lives? Do you actively seek out those who may be hungry – homeless – sick – dying – out of work or not working enough hours to make ends meet?  Do you actively seek out people who might not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and find ways to tell them – or ways to show them – about Jesus?

There are many in our community who need to know that Christ has come – that salvation, healing, hope and love is possible in their lives because God loves them and Christ has come into the world.

Do you look for ways to show them the love of God – and ways to tell them about Christ?

A few weeks ago you had the opportunity to share God’s love with the students at Francis Marion University as we prepared and served a supper for them before their Tuesday night Bible Study.  It was a wonderful opportunity to support these Christian young people and share God’s love with them.  Did you help out with this? Maybe you were not specifically asked to do something, but Jesus still calls you to let other people know that He has come.

We have been trying to get a Good News Club, where students can learn about Christ, started at Wallace Gregg School, but we have not been able to find anyone interested enough to help with this. Can you help with this? Again, Jesus calls you to let others know that He has come.

We have the opportunity to help 5 families have a blessed Christmas this year as we reach out with the Angel Tree in the Fellowship Hall.  These are families in our community that the principal at Wallace Gregg School has told us about. What are you doing to help us with this? Jesus calls you to let others know that He has come.

How will people know that Christ has come?

They’ll know when we show them and tell them.

They’ll know when you show them and tell them.

I will never forget one cold and rainy December day several years ago. As I at the table at the front of the Reidsville Outreach Center helping check in clients for our food distribution, a young girl – probably in her 20s but her very early 20’s – ran in and closed the door.  I must admit that I was startled to see her. She was dressed in a sleeveless T shirt and overalls.

“Aren’t  you cold”? I asked.

“Well – me and my 3 kids just moved in the apartment upstairs a few days ago – and I just had to run down the steps – into the street – and in your door.” she replied.

I nodded. I knew that I had not seen the other girl and child who had lived in the apartment upstairs for a few weeks. Now I know they had moved out – and this girl had moved in.

“We don’t have any food” – she said.

“Ok “ I responded – “let me take your name and we can give you food today – but you’ll have to come in on a Tuesday or Wednesday and fill out an application before we can give you more food.”

As I began to fill out her card – she said:

“They told me y’all cared – but I wasn’t sure. Now I know.”

In Advent we think about the fact that Christ came into the world to bring God’s will for love – peace – healing – justice – and salvation into the world, and we think about how we can dedicate ourselves to taking the strength God gives us to do His will in the world – so that those who need to know will know –

Christ has come.

Lives can be changed.

God wills for lives to be different.

In our words and our actions, they will know.

Amen

Isaiah 11:1-10, Matthew 3:1-12

Isaiah 11:1-10

Matthew 3:1-12

Get Ready! Now!

Advent 2

December 5 2010

I am sure that all of you – like me – are very busy this month!

Most, if not all, of us are very busy these days and are caught up in the preparations for Christmas.

Maybe you are checking your shopping lists to make sure you did not leave anyone off, or checking your lists of ‘things to do” to make sure everything is on the list, or checking to see how much longer you have to do certain things, or moving things from your “B list” of things that you can put off doing until later to your “A list” of things that need to be done immediately – if not sooner. Maybe you find yourself checking your schedule to make sure you know when you have to be where, or checking your watch to make sure you get where you need to be on time!

It is indeed a busy time, isn’t it?

As they say – “Welcome to December”!

We are all busy – getting ready for all types of things and events.

But – as I rush along with the rest of you – I have to wonder – are we getting ready for the right things?

Yea – for most of us many of the things we are getting ready for are important – but are there other things – really more important things — we need to be paying attention to also?

The Season of Advent that we are celebrating in the Church during December is a time of preparation, but it’s not so much a time of preparation for parties and presents – but it’s a time for preparation for the coming of God. It’s a time for preparing for the coming of Jesus Christ – but also preparing for the coming of God’s will for peace, justice, salvation, and love into our world.

So – I wonder.

As we rush together through this month of December – even if we are doing things that we deem to be important – do we overlook the things which is truly important?

As we get ourselves ready for our celebration of Christmas – are we also getting ready for Christ?

Are we getting ready for God?

Are we taking the time to look at our lives and look at how we are living as disciples for Christ?

The Season of Advent gives us an opportunity to look at how prepared we are for God’s coming into our world. It gives us an opportunity to look at our commitment to Christ and our commitment to living in His ways.

Advent gives us an opportunity to recommit ourselves to being the people of God in the world.

You know — reflecting on our “readiness” for God’s coming into our lives and our world and reflecting on our commitment to Christ and living in His ways—even recommitting ourselves to being the people of God in the world – is not something we can put on our “B list” of things that can be done later or our “C list” of things that would be nice to do if we ever get a chance to do it – it is something that needs to be on our “A list” of things that need to done now – and not later. In the midst of all the other activities we find ourselves involved in, we have to find the time – or should I say we have to make the time – to reflect on our commitment to living in the ways of Christ.

We have to get ready and live in Christ’s ways – and we have to do it now!

That’s the message of John the Baptist in our Gospel passage from Matthew 3:1-10.

“Repent – for the Kingdom of heaven is near”

In other words — Christ is in the world.

It’s time to live in His ways.

Get ready – and do it now.

Get ready – now!

Don’t get so busy and so caught up in the things of the world that you overlook the most important thing – living in the ways of God.

Don’t get so caught up in living your life that you forget about God and living in His ways.

When John the Baptist looked around and saw that some of the Pharisees and Sadducees had come to listen to him, he had some pretty harsh words for them.

“You brood of vipers!”

he said.

Why do you think he said that?

I think it was because he saw that they were pretty smug in living their lives as “religious people” and were doing a lot of “religious things” – but they did not have a personal relationship with God and – as he said in the next verse – they did not

Produce fruits in keeping with repentance

In other words, they thought they could just live a “good life” and act real holy without actually repenting of their sins and following God.

Well, John knew better than that.

John knew that the time had come for them to quit acting and to start living.

John knew that the time had come for them to quit playing like they were interested in God and start living like they were interested in God.

John knew that play time was over – it was time to work.

Quit playing like you are interested in God – and

Produce fruits in keeping with repentance

John knew it was time to get ready – it was time to live in God’s ways.

Get ready. Now.

John says.

That was John’s message then – and it’s God’s message to us – now.

In the midst of all we are doing to get ready for Christmas, it’s time to make sure we are living in the ways of Christ and doing what He wants us to be doing.

It’s time to quit acting and start living.

It’s time to quit playing like you are interested in God and start living like it.

Play time is over – it’s time to get to work.

Time to produce fruits that are in keeping with repentance.

Time to get ready – and live in God’s ways.

Get ready. Now.

So – how do you get ready for God – and how do you “produce fruits that are in keeping with repentance”?

How do you get ready – and live your life in the ways of Christ?

Well, our passage points us to four of the fruits of repentance.
Repentance, of course, is an essential starting point of the Christian journey.     You begin your walk with God by admitting that you need Jesus’ in your life and by expressing your sorrow for the sin in your life.

But – what are the

fruits in keeping with repentance

As we look at John’s message here in Matthew 3 we see four fruits of repentance.

1. The first fruit of repentance we see is humility.

John says in verse 9:

do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham

In other words, we can’t be so proud of our family history that we think that alone can save us.

The Pharisees and Sadducees were quick to point out their Jewish family history as a proof of their closeness to God.

Some folks are that way even now. If you ask them if they’re a Christian and they might respond: “Oh, my family are all Presbyterians” or “Sure, my parents were Baptists.” The thing is that your parents or your family cannot get salvation for you – you have to choose to repent of your own sins and follow Christ on your own.

The first fruit of repentance is humility.

When you rely on your family history like the Pharisees and Sadducees did, you feel that you can claim a special relationship with God without the need to personally come to a moment of repentance and a personal decision to follow Christ.  This creates a feeling of pride, rather than the humility that should characterize our relationship with God.

You might feel “God is certainly going to save me because my family has been in this church since 1770.”

Or you might feel “My grandfather helped build the education wing and fellowship hall.”

Or you might feel “My mother taught Sunday School here for years.”

While all these things are well and good – even great – they don’t save you. They are not one of the fruits of repentance John is talking about.

We see a similar phenomenon when people try to claim a closeness to God that is not based on God’s grace.

You might believe that your work for the church or your Sunday morning attendance or your financial contribution is what God will bless you for. Again, these things are great – but they are not what saves you.  They are not the fruit of repentance John is talking about.

The fruit of repentance is humility.

The fruit of repentance is humbly bowing before God and admitting that you cannot earn our way into heaven. The fruit of repentance is acknowledging your sin and asking for God to forgive you. This brings a humility into your heart that cannot come in any other way. This helps you realize that you are a sinner — and yet God has forgiven you.

That is a humbling place to be, because you have received what you did not deserve and what your family did not give you. Only God gives it – and does so when you repent and follow Him.

So — is your relationship with God characterized by humility, or are you lacking that fruit of repentance?

To be a true disciple of Christ, you need to bear fruit that leads to repentance – and the first is humility.

If you don’t have the fruit of humility in your life, you need it to be ready for the coming of God in your life and our world.

You need to get ready – now!

2. The second fruit of repentance is urgency.
John says in verse 10:

The ax is already at the root of the trees

Maybe you think that your sins are not all that bad.  Maybe you haven’t murdered anyone of gone on a shooting spree. Maybe you feel your sins are nothing major – you can get around to confessing them another day. But John is pointing out that we need to have a sense of urgency when it comes to living a life that bears the fruit of repentance.

You need to come to the point that you realize your sins may not be as “big” as someone else’s, but your sins put you in a dangerous situation. You need to realize that you need God’s forgiveness in your life, no matter how great or small your sins might be. When you confess of your sins and repent, you get an awareness of the seriousness of your sins and you begin to want to get the problem of your sins taken care of right now – not later.

This is the fruit of repentance of urgency.

Once you repent and begin producing the fruit of repentance in your life you ask God to forgive you of your sins and to help you live in His ways – and you don’t do this “some day when you get around to it” – you do it as soon as possible – because you recognize the urgency of the matter.

So – two of the fruits of repentance are humility and urgency.

If you don’t have them in your life, then you are not ready for the coming of God into your life and your world – are not living in God’s ways – and you need to

Get ready. Now.

The third fruit of repentance John tells us about in Matthew 3:1-12 is the fruit of change.

3. John says in the second part of verse 10:

every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

You know – being saved by God and living the life God wants you to live is not all about “religion,” but rather it’s about “relationship.” It’s about the personal relationship you can have with God through Jesus Christ. It’s about the fact that you can have a personal encounter with the most powerful being in the universe.

You would think if you’ve had an encounter with the most powerful being in the universe that you would walk away changed – a different person.

Sadly, though, folks often claim to know God and yet it does not change their lives.

John reminds us in the last part of verse 10 of a third fruit of repentance — change.

Too many good people think that they can be “Christian” without any evidence that their lives have been changed.

To bear the fruit of repentance, you have to live the changed life of Christian discipleship. You have to stop living like you want to and live like God wants you to live. The Bible knows nothing about a faith that does not lead to a changed life.

Jesus was very straightforward:

“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. . .. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching” (John 14:23-24).

And in James we read:

“What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith, but has no deeds? . . . Faith without works is dead.” (2:14, 26).

An essential part of genuine repentance is that it leads to a changed life. If you are serious about being the person God wants you to be, you will let God change your actions.

So – to be ready for the coming of Christ you have to live in the ways of Christ – and bear the fruits of repentance that we have seen so far – humility, urgency, and change.

You need to have these things in your life now – and not later.

You need to get ready – now!

4. The 4^th fruit of repentance is dependence.

John says in verse 11 –

after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry

This is the powerful Savior – Jesus Christ – he’s talking about.
The act of repentance includes admitting that you messed up, that you tried

to run things on your own and you failed.

The fourth fruit of repentance is dependence.

You have to recognizing that you have fallen short, admit your sin and live a changed life. But you will also need more strength than you possess to finish this journey of repentance and discipleship you’ve now begun. The good news is that you are serving a mighty Lord who is able to provide all the resources you need for victory in your journey. The key is that you must recognize your need for Him — depend on Him — and trust in His strength. You can’t experience “Victory in Jesus” through you own power, smarts, and insight. You will inevitably fail. But – if you come to Jesus and depend on Him – He will give you the strength you need to be His disciple.

So – John tells the crowds around him – and he tells us – that we need to have the fruits of repentance in our lives if we are going to be ready for the coming of Christ, be saved from our sins, and live as followers of God.

We need to have the fruits of humility, urgency, change, and dependence.

You need to be humble before Christ – you need to realize the urgency of your need to have your sins forgiven – you need to let Christ change your life – and you need to depend on Christ to give  you what you need for living in His ways.

These are fruits of repentance.
As we rush and get ready for Christmas, let’s also rush and get ready for Christ.

Rush and get your life in order before God.

Rush and bear the fruits of repentance – the fruit of humility before God — the fruit of realizing the urgency of your need to have your sins forgiven – the fruit of letting Christ change your life – and the fruit of depending on Christ to give  you what you need for living in His ways.

By having these fruits of repentance in your life you will be ready for the coming of God into your life and your world.

Friends – don’t put it off!

Get ready – now!

Amen.

Isaiah 2:1-5, Matthew 24:36-44

Isaiah 2:1-5

Matthew 24:36-44

“Ready Or Not”

Advent 1

November 28, 2010

Thanksgiving morning found me driving to Camden so I could join Sally – who had been in Camden with her Mom since Monday – and two of her brothers as  we then traveled  to her sisters house in Cayce — where we gathered with some from Sally’s family and some from her sister’s husband’s family for a great Thanksgiving time of good food and fellowship.  It was a wonderful day with family – the oldest in his 90’s and the youngest around 3.

As I was driving to Camden I was listening to a Sports Call In Show on the radio. One of the topics they were discussing was whether they preferred the Thanksgiving holiday or the Christmas holiday.  By far most of the sports stars  they were interviewing and most of the folks who were calling in said they preferred Thanksgiving. They reasoned that there was a lot of food to eat and a lot of sports to watch without the hassle of decorating, shopping, and getting up early so everyone could tear into their gifts – leaving mounds of wrapping paper to clean up.

As I was listening to these comments, I thought

“What about the fact that Christmas is the celebration of God coming into our world through Jesus Christ? Shouldn’t that make Christmas more important than any other day – except for Easter?”

Not only did I just think this – I admit that I was yelling at the radio (maybe you do that sometimes yourself):

What about Christ?

Shouldn’t the fact that Christmas is about Christ make a difference in the Christmas vs. Thanksgiving voting?

Of course it should – but I am afraid that too many folks – and even sometimes some of us – get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas that we forget that Christmas is really about Christ.

By now all that’s left of Thanksgiving may be the leftovers – and by now they may be gone also. The world has moved on from Thanksgiving to Christmas. People are now focused on “the Christmas rush” – and some of us may be rushing right along with everyone else!

For some Thanksgiving may not have lasted too long.  Some may have gone through the fliers in the Thanksgiving day newspapers before they sat down for their Thanksgiving meals – already planning out their “Black Friday” shopping. Some of you may have been a part of the hubbub around the mall on Friday  – I steered clear of it myself but noticed Thursday morning they already had the “Congested Traffic” signs ready around the mall as I drove to I-20 on my way to Camden.

Some of you may have used the weekend to decorate your homes for Christmas.

As you see, some of us spent some time yesterday decorating the Church for Advent and Christmas.  It truly looks beautiful – and we truly appreciate those who helped in the decorating.

The December newsletters are ready and on the Pulpit area for you to pick up.  You may want to make sure you do that today, because there are a lot of things going on this month.

We have definitely moved from Thanksgiving to “the Christmas rush”.

But – what’s it all about?

Has our preparation for – and celebration of – Christmas become like the folks on the radio show I was listening to Thanksgiving morning  were bemoaning – and giving as the reason they preferred the Thanksgiving holiday over the Christmas holiday?

Do we need to shout at ourselves – much as I shouted at the radio Thursday morning –

What about Christ?

Do we do what we do at Christmas – and really all year long — because we want to celebrate the coming of Christ – and the difference He makes in our lives?

What’s our celebration of Christmas all about?
Is it only about — as the folks on the radio show I was listening to seemed to indicate – food and family and presents?

Maybe – just maybe — you’re busily getting ready for Christmas and you are busy with the shopping and the decorating – and maybe you look at the calendar and feel like you’re playing a game of “hide and seek” and December 25 is saying :

Ready of not – here I come!

Well, as I yelled at the radio Thursday morning — what about Christ?

As Christians we need to know that Christmas is not really about the hustle and bustle and decorating and shopping the world may try to convince us that it’s about!

No – as Christians we need to know that Christmas is about God’s coming into our lives through Jesus Christ – and making a difference in our lives and in our world.

Christmas is about John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Christmas is about the quote that is attributed to Ireanaeus – one of the leaders of the early church:

The Son of God became a son of man so that the sons and daughters of men and women could become sons that daughters of God.

That’s what makes a difference in our celebration of Christmas.

The Season of Advent that we observe as Christians during the month of December is about getting ready – but not so much getting ready for Christmas as it is about getting ready for Christ.

The theme that our scripture passages for this first Sunday in Advent put before us is that we need to be ready for Christ to return – live our lives as if we know that Christ could be returning at any moment.

For us as Christians the theme is not so much that Christmas is coming — but that Christ is coming – and we need to be ready.

Instead of looking at the calendar and feeling like Christmas is saying to us:

Ready of not – here I come

We need to be looking at the Bible – and know that Christ is saying to us –

“Ready or not – here I come!”

That’s the theme of our passage from Matthew 24 for today:

“Ready or not – here I come!”

Now — I don’t want to frighten you by saying the world is coming to an end soon – because I don’t know.  What I can tell you, though, is that you need to be ready because it could happen any time.

After all, James 4:14 reminds us:

“Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

Jesus may return at any time.

Or – you may die – at any time.

Really it’s more probable that you will die before Jesus returns since people have done that for almost 2,000 years. Life is short and Jesus says to each of us today:

“Ready or not here I come …”

So here’s the question you have to answer –

Are you ready or not?

Only you can answer that!

I don’t know when Jesus is coming or when you’ll die and meet Him face to face — I cant give you a date on either of these events — but one thing is for sure –

One day you’ll meet Him – whether it’s when you doe or when He returns — whether you are ready or not. That is more certain than whether or not you will celebrate Christmas in a few weeks  – so you need to be more concerned about it than you are about getting ready for Christmas, or getting ready for anything else for that matter.

I heard about a woman getting ready for her first date with a particular fella. She was all excited and got ready – got dressed and ready for the date – and waited.  She waited for an hour for him to show up and finally gave up. She figured that he stood her up, so she went to the bathroom, took off her makeup, and slipped into her pajama’s, then grabbed a pint of ice cream and sat down in front of the TV.

After 2 hours had passed guess who showed up at the front door?

Right. It was her date.

He took one look at her and said “I’m two hours late and you’re still not ready!”

In a way, that’s how we are as Christians.

We know that Christ is coming, or that one day we will meet Christ, but we settle in to our habits and our daily lives, and we might forget about the fact that one day we will meet Christ and we don’t get ready to meet Him. The problem is that one day He will return – or we will die – and we will meet Him face to face.

Don’t let Jesus sneak up on you. Be ready – all the time.

The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4:

“For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people says ‘All is well; everything is peaceful and secure, then disaster will fall upon them as suddenly as a woman’s birth pains begin when her child is about to be born. And there will be no escape. But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief.”

Are you ready? Have you asked Jesus into your heart and made Him your Lord and Savior?

Are you trying to live in His ways?

Do you try to live in the ways of peace – the ways God tells us we should live in in our passage from Isaiah today – where the nations learn to beat their swords into plowshares and not study war any more?

In that regard have you asked others for forgiveness and have you forgiven those that have wronged you?

If Christ were to come – or if you were to die — right now are you ready?

Are you sure? Are you putting off today what you hope you can do tomorrow?

Well, are you sure you’ll have a tomorrow?

I used to love to watch the TV program MASH. I still watch the reruns sometimes. I remember one episode where Hawkeye was called out to the front lines because they were short of doctors there. When he arrives, there are bombs and bullets flying all around – and he suddenly realizes that his life is on the line. When the bombs quit for a moment he takes out a piece of paper and begins writing his last will and testament. Eventually another doctor comes and Hawkeye is able to go back to the 4077. He arrives back at the compound, sits down at the desk and works on the conclusion of his will. About this time Klinger comes in and see him writing and asks “what are you doing”? Hawkeye tells him and Klinger’s responds

“No paper work is so important that it can’t wait until tomorrow”.

Hawkeye looks at him thoughtfully and says, “I use to think that way too, but not anymore.”

You see, it was not until Hawkeye had experienced his close encounter with death there on the front lines that he realized the great importance of being prepared for death.

Are you ready, or do you let the things of the world pre-occupy your thoughts?

On September 11th 2001 a woman got a call but she was engrossed in the conversation she was having with her sister about going shopping that she didn’t answer it or check to see who is was from. It was from her husband. He was on the 110th floor of the World’s Trade Center, and it was the last chance she would ever have to talk to him, and she didn’t check to see who was calling.

Jesus says that at the end of time people will be so engrossed in their activities that they don’t pay any attention to Him.

Are you so engrossed with your life that you don’t pay attention to Jesus calling you?

You need to pay attention to Jesus.

God is truly gracious, loving, and kind – but there is also truly an end to the window of opportunity God offers. This comes at death or the second coming, which ever comes first for you. And then there are no second chances.

Are you ready?

Jesus says you will have to meet Him – ready or not.
Are you ready?

Is your life in order?
If He were to come right now will you be prepared?

If you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, that would be the place to start to get ready to meet Him.

You also need to seek to freshen and deepen your relationship with Christ every day. You need to grow in your faith and live for Him. You need to move forward in your spiritual growth.

How is your prayer life?

Are you growing every day and getting refreshed by prayer, studying Gods word, and fellowshipping and worshipping with other Christians?

Are you daily growing deeper and more in love with Christ?

If you knew that tomorrow was your last day on earth, how would you live

differently?

That’s a question you need to ask yourself.

Jesus says –

Ready or not – here I come.

Are you ready?

If you knew that today was your last day on earth, would you confess hidden sins that you thought you got away with?

If you knew that today was you last day on earth, would you still hold a grudge against that person you hold a grudge against?

If you knew that today was you last day on earth, would you finally follow through on committing your life 100% to God’s and quit being a part time Christian?

If you knew that today was your last day on earth, would you not heal a relationship with someone you are angry with or someone you hurt?

Jesus says He is coming – you will meet Him – ready or not.

Are you ready?

Live like it!

Live in the ways of Christ.

Live in the ways of God!

Don’t put off the decision – because you don’t know when it will be too late!

Have you ever read any of Flannery O’Connor’s stories?

Flannery O’Connor was a writer who was born and raised in Georgia.  She died of lupus at the age of 39.  She was a devout Roman Catholic who went to Mass every week. In here writings she tried to emphasize that grace of God, but in most of her writings she would take extreme personalities and show how God could work through them.  In one of the short stories — “A Good Man Is Hard To Find” – a family is on a trip and the car careens off the road.  The family is stranded when an escaped murderer – whom she gives the name The Misfit — comes upon them and murders everyone in the family except for the grandmother. She begs to be spared and tells The Misfit that she knows he has some good in him. She then reaches out to him and says: “You are one of my children” – but he shoots her. She dies with her body in a prayer like position and her face turned upward.

O’Connor never explained if the grandmother’s actions towards The Misfit were intended to be a ploy to keep him from killing her or an act of Christian grace – but most critics agree that it was an act of Christian charity from a woman who realized she may die at any moment.

At the end of the story The Misfit looks at the grandmother’s body in a prayer life position and thinks about what she had said to him – and says:

“She could have been a good person if there had been someone to shoot her every minute of her life”

Yea.

In our passage from Matthew 24 Jesus is exhorting us to be awake and prepared, because we don’t know “the day or the hour”.  It is as if Jesus is waving a gun in our faces – and that gun is the end – either the end of our lives or the end of time. Jesus is calling on us to reform our lives, because we know that in an instant our lives – or the world – could end. The grandmother was at her best when her life was in jeopardy. May we learn to be at our best at all times – because we don’t know what the next moment may bring.

As you get involved in the “Christmas rush”, find ways to remember that everything we do is about Christ. Don’t let the rush of getting ready for Christmas take away your sense of urgency to be ready for Christ.

Never forget that Jesus says He is coming – whether we are ready or not.

Amen.

Isaiah 1:1-3, 11-10

Isaiah 1:1-3, 11-20

“RSVP”

August 8, 2010

A few months back Sally and I got an invitation to a family reunion. It was the reunion of my grandmother’s family – my Dad’s mom – the Drennan family.   They always have a big gathering on the last Saturday in June at a lake house on Lake Wylie outside Rock Hill. When I was a kid we would go every year and I would have a great time playing with my cousins and going on boat rides and having a wonderful day. We always looked forward to it. Even after my Grandmother died Dad always wanted to go.  But – after Dad died – my sisters, their families, Mom, Sally and I quit going. It just wasn’t the same – we really didn’t feel like a part of that family any more. The ones we had known and grown up with weren’t there any more – and it just wasn’t the same “fun day” we had remembered it being.

On the bottom of the invitation Sally and I received in the mail were the letters “RSVP” – and we knew we had to let them know if we were coming or not.  I glanced at my calendar and found a convenient excuse – I would be with the young people at the Work Camp in Kingstree that day – so I told Sally to write a nice note to let them now we couldn’t come.

“And whose family is this?” she looked at me and asked.

I knew what she was inferring – it was my Dad’s family – so my responsibility to let them know we couldn’t come.  I glanced at the invitation again and noticed there was an e-mail address to send the RSVP to – so I composed a nice e-mail declining the invitation and sent it on.

RSVP – the letters refer to French – “respondez, s’il vous plait” – or “respond, if you please”. We put these letters on invitations so folks will let us know if the are coming to the event we are inviting them to – and we know that it’s polite to respond to an RSVP so the people inviting us will know how many will be at the event we are invited to.

Our scripture passage for today is a wonderful invitation – it’s the greatest invitation you will ever receive because it’s an invitation to have a personal relationship with God. But it’s an invitation with a RSVP.  You have to respond to it.

But it’s a surprising invitation to say the least – much different from any invitation we might send or receive.

We usually send invitations to parties or events we are hosting to folks who are our friends – or who we might think might be interested in coming. This invitation from God is surprising in that the people who were invited weren’t showing any interest! There is nothing in this passage to indicate that they wanted a closer relationship with God at all! In fact, in the first seventeen verses of this chapter, God sounds like He’s getting pretty angry at them. He doesn’t sound like he’s in the mood to give an invitation to them – at least not an invitation to a relationship with Him! In verses three and four, God says:

`           “The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner’s manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evil doers, children given to corruption! They have forsaken the Lord, they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him.”

And if you read further, you can see that the tension between God and Israel escalates higher and higher. In verse sixteen, God says:

“When you raise your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong! Learn to do right! Seek justice! Encourage the oppressed!”

Yea – it sounds like God is ready to “give them the boot” instead of extending  to them an invitation to have a personal relationship with him.  And then all of a sudden, in the middle of this thunderous message from God, there is the invitation to have a personal relationship with Him. These people had done nothing to deserve it – had shown no interest in having more than a casual knowledge of God – had done nothing but gone against God – and yet God reaches out to them with an invitation to have a personal relationship with Him.

Listen to God’s invitation in verse 18:

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”

There are three things I want you to notice about God’s invitation here.

First – this is an invitation to reason

This is not an invitation to a debate.

God is not saying:

“Let us argue together” or “Let us fight together.”

No. This is an invitation to reason. This is an invitation to think things through. This is an invitation to discover the wonders of God, the truth of God, and the grace of God!

God’s saying:

“You’ve spent enough time going through the motions of religion. You’ve spent enough time resisting me and rebelling against me. I want you to think about what your life could be like if you repented of your sins. I want you to consider how much more wonderful your existence could be if you decided to love me with all your heart, soul, mind and strength!”

That’s God’s word to Israel.

That’s God’s word to you.

Think about what your life could be like if you would let God really touch your life and make a real difference in your life.

Think about what your life could be like if you took God’s invitation seriously – and really tried to live in God’s ways.

Really think about it.

Think about your relationship with God.

How often do you really think about your relationship with God? I am amazed at how many people go through life without ever stopping to think about their relationship with God. They have time to work 50 or more hours a week. They have time to go on family vacations. They have time to raise their kids and have fun and play games, but they don’t have time for the most important person in the whole world! They don’t have time for God! And God is saying:

“Come on now, let’s talk about this! Let’s put aside the sins and the mistakes of the past! Let’s talk about the future. Let’s talk about the things that are truly important!

And God doesn’t say that we can come and reason with Him tomorrow, or we can come next month or next year. Verse 18 says “Come now…!”

“Come now and let us reason together!”

I’ve lost count of how many people have said to me:

“Bill, someday, I’ll give my life to Christ. Someday, I’ll make my peace with God. Someday, when my life isn’t so crazy and hectic, I’ll go back to church.” But more often than not, “someday” never comes.

You know why?

I believe it’s because people who procrastinate about their relationship with God have their priorities out of whack. They want to “live it up” for just a while longer – but the truth is that God doesn’t invite you to have a personal relationship with Him “someday” – He invites you to have a personal relationship with Him now! Today!

God’s promises are not for “someday” – they are not like the mail that you can stack up and look at later – God’s promises and God’s invitation is for right now – today.

I’ve never read anywhere in the Bible where God says “you can come back to me someday.” No – later in Isaiah it says “Seek the Lord while He may be found” – that’s in Isaiah 55:6. The implication is that if you don’t turn to God now, you might not find Him later! And 2 Corinthians 6:2 says “Today is the day of salvation!” – not tomorrow – not next week – not next year – not someday – but today.

You may remember the “Rocky” movies that made Sylvester Stallone a star. There’s a scene in Rocky III where Apollo Creed is training Rocky for his return fight with Mr. T. Well, Rocky is having a hard time training for the fight. His mind is on a million different things. Apollo says to him, “What’s the matter with you? This guy will kill you to pieces! We’ve got to get down to some serious training!”

And Rocky responds, “I can’t today, Apollo. Maybe tomorrow.”

And Apollo gets in his face and says, “There is no tomorrow! There is no tomorrow!”

That’s what God is saying here: “There is no promise of a tomorrow. There is no guarantee that you’re going to get a second chance at this. So take me up on this invitation today!”

You don’t know if there will be a tomorrow or not. You don’t know what will happen in your life. You may not have another chance to think about your relationship with God and how your life can be with God.

Sally and I had a friend in North Carolina who was raised in the Church and knew about God – but didn’t live like God wanted her to live.  She partied way too much and treated people horribly – thinking only about herself and how she could advance her career. We knew that she lied to get ahead in her career and lied about other people to make herself look better.  Every time we would try to talk to her about how she was living she would say:

“O – I know I’m not living right – but someday I’ll talk to God about it and start living like God wants to me.”

The last time we talked to her, that’s what she said.

Last year we heard that she had gone into the hospital with pneumonia and died three days later.

We don’t know if she ever took the time to “talk to God” about her life or not.

If you haven’t taken God up on His invitation to think about your life and how your life could be with Him, do it – today. Again — 2 Corinthians 6:2 says “Today is the day of salvation” – so you need to accept God’s invitation – respond to God – today.

So – the first thing about God’s invitation is that it is an invitation to reason – to think about how your life could be with God – how it could be if you began letting God really make a difference in your life.

The second thing is that it is an invitation to redemption.

Verse 18 says:

“though your sins be as scarlet they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool.”

Professional cleaners will tell you that that scarlet and crimson dye are the only two dyes in the world that cannot be bleached out of a fabric without ruining it. If you get red dye on your shirt or on your pants, even if you scrub it by hand until the material becomes threadbare and worn, the fibers that remain will still be red. There is no scientific method that can successfully remove a scarlet or red dye stain. And God is saying that the same thing is true with your sin. No matter how hard you try to remove it or hide it or dismiss it or downplay it, there is nothing you can do to eliminate the scarlet stain of sin from your life. But God is saying that:

“if you come to me now and reason with me, I can do for you what no man can do for you! I can wash away your sin so effectively, it will be as if there was never anything there to begin with! I can make your life as white as snow.”

There’s nothing we have to do to make pure snow or pure wool look white.  That’s the way they look in their original form. And God is saying that if you come to Him, He will make your life the way He intended it to be!

You know – you can hide your sins from people. You can hide what you do when no one is looking from others and can disguise those thoughts that you are thinking and no one will ever know they are there. You can look to others like you’ve got your life under control and you can even fool yourself into believing it – but you can’t hide your sins from God. Others might think your life looks pretty clean – but God sees the stain of sin. But – here’s the thing – God offers you a way to have your sins forgiven and your life made clean to you can have the salvation He offers.

God’s saying:

“I will redeem your life and make you into the beautiful and awesome and unblemished person I have always desired you to be.”

“if you come to me now and reason with me, I can do for you what no man can do for you! I can wash away your sin so effectively, it will be as if there was never anything there to begin with! I can make your life as white as snow.”

There’s nothing we have to do to make pure snow or pure wool look white.  That’s the way they look in their original form. And God is saying that if you come to Him, He will make your life the way He intended it to be!

Thirdly – it’s an invitation to a rich reward.

Verse 19 says that

“if you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land!”

That’s the richly rewarding life God offers you.

God’s invitation to you is to reason – to think about what life with Him could be like. It’s also an invitation to redemption – to have your sins forgiven by Him and have your life cleansed by Him. It’s also an invitation to a life that has a rich reward.

I love Psalm 103 because it lists all of the rich rewards we have in this life when we give ourselves to the Lord.

Verse two says, “forget not all his benefits”  – and then it goes on to list the benefits of following God:

God forgives all your sins

God heals all your diseases

God redeems your life from the pit

God crowns you with love and compassion

Then verse five says that God

“satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”

And verse six says that “The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.

Those are the blessings that God wants to give to you.

But do you know what will happen if you reject the Lord and His rich rewards? Look at the last verse in our passage for today:

“if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

So there you have it.

You can respond to God’s invitation and reason with the Him – find redemption in Him – and experience the rich blessings He offers you.

Or you can resist and rebel against the Lord, and pay the price.

So – let us reason together for a moment.

If you are living a life of sin and rebellion against God, do you really think that it’s in you best interest to continue living that way?

If you’re running from God – do you think it’s in your best interest to keep running?

Do you think it’s in your best interest to just walk out the door after Church and not think any more about God’s invitation to you for redemption and blessings?

Do you think it’s a good idea to turn away from all of the tremendous blessings that God has in store for those who love Him and give Him their lives?

Or – do you think it would be a better idea to read the Bible more carefully?

Do you think it would be a better idea to give God an opportunity to speak to your heart and change your life?

God’s invitation is to reason and think about His offer of redemption and rich blessings. But – God’s invitation needs a response. You need to respond to God’s invitation and take Him up on that offer of redemption – salvation – and rich blessing.

If you’ve been putting off making that response to God – there is no better time than right now to come back to the Lord – and no better place to do it than right here.

Remember, there is no guarantee of a tomorrow.

Now is the time to make things right.

Now is the time to give your life to Christ.

Now is the time to make your peace with God!

Though your sins be as scarlet, they will be as white as snow — though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool.

Don’t put off God’s invitation.

Pray your RSVP – your response to God – here and now.

Here and now discover the redemption and rich blessings God has in store for you – the blessed life God has prepared for you.

Here and now let God change your life.

Amen.

Sermon: Isaiah 65:17-25, 1 Corinthians 15:19-26, John 20:1-18

Isaiah 65:17-25

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

John 20:1-18

The Greatest Despair And The Greatest Hope

Easter Communion Meditation

April 4, 2010

Easter is the most joyous day we have in the Church as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ and what it means for our lives.

You can tell the joy of Easter as we sing joyous hymns, partake of the Sacrament of Communion, and today have rejoiced as 4 of our young people have publically made their profession of faith and joined the Church.  All these tings add to our joy as we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

Don’t you wish that every day could be as joyous as Easter?

That would be great – wouldn’t it?

But – there are things in our lives that distress us and bother us – things in our lives that worry us and upset us.  Many days are filled with worry and stress instead of joy and celebration. But—the beauty of Easter is that – even when we have great despair – we can also have great hope.

Even when we have the greatest of despair – we can also have the greatest hope – because of the promise of Easter.

Our Gospel passage tells the story of Mary – and how the first Easter moved her from the greatest despair she had ever known to the greatest joy she had ever known.

Let’s take a look at Mary’s story.

What a terrible morning the first day of the week was for her!

The disciples had spent the weekend in hiding.

Jesus was dead!  His movement was discredited!  Mary and the rest of Jesus’ disciples must have felt that there was no hope!

Mary could not sleep.

The cross had shattered her world!  Jesus had meant everything to her, and now he was dead.  She had spent the weekend grieving.  She more than likely looked terrible and felt worse!

The sun had not even begun to rise on that first day of a new week, but she was awake.   She figured she might as well get up – maybe she would visit the tomb.  She could not help Jesus now, but she could honor his memory.  She opened the door and stepped outside. People still slept in their houses as Mary made her way through the darkness to the tomb.

When Mary reached the tomb, she was startled to see that the soldiers were gone.  The stone that had blocked the entrance to the tomb sat off to the side and Jesus’ body was gone!

What had happened?  She could not imagine – and ran to get help.

She found two of Jesus’ disciples — Peter and John.

“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she cried.  “We do not know where they have laid him.”

Peter and John raced to the tomb to see what had happened – and saw Jesus’ grave clothes lying where his body had been.  The clothes lay undisturbed, as if left behind by a person who had just vanished.

Peter and John did not know what else to do and returned to their homes — but Mary remained at the tomb and wept.

She didn’t know where to go or what to do.  She didn’t understand what was happening.

A man came and asked Mary who she was looking for.  Through her tears, she cried,

“Sir, if you have carried him away,

tell me where you have laid him,

and I will take him away.”

Then the man called her by name –– “Mary!”

That voice!

Even through the sound of her own sobbing, Mary recognized that voice.

It was Jesus!  It was Jesus!

She turned and spoke to him.

They talked.

It really was Jesus!

There really was a resurrection!

There really was hope!

Even in her greatest of despair – she realised that she could have the greatest joy and hope – because of the promise of Easter.

You know — we might wonder about such a story.

That first Easter took place over two thousand years ago.

Did it really happen, or was Easter simply a fanciful story invented to make grieving disciples feel better?

Did it really happen?

And – more importantly — does it have anything to do with us today?

What difference does Easter make in our lives?

Well, first, we must answer the question: “Is Easter true?

Was Easter invented just to make the disciples feel better?”

The disciples themselves provide the answer to that question.  The best evidence we have of Jesus’ resurrection is the behavior of the disciples after they saw the risen Christ.

The disciples had gone into hiding.  Most of them had not been present at the crucifixion.  They had been afraid.  They had locked the door of their hiding place for fear of the authorities.   Then, after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples.  They saw him with their own eyes – and when the disciples saw the risen Christ, their lives were transformed.

Let me say that once again –– when the disciples saw Jesus, their lives were transformed.

They were no longer afraid, but became quite bold.

A few weeks later, at Pentecost, they set up their soap boxes in Jerusalem –– right under the noses of their enemies ––the very folks they had hidden from when Jesus  was arrested and crucified — and they began fearlessly to preach the gospel of the risen Christ. Having seen the risen Christ, they were no longer afraid! The authorities arrested the disciples and put them in prison, but the disciples continued to preach –– fearlessly! They preached to their jailers and sang hymns of praise to God while in their cells.

After seeing the risen Christ, the disciples were no longer afraid.  They quit hiding behind closed doors and started putting their lives on the line day after day in behalf of their risen Lord.

For me, that is one of the most powerful evidences of the truth of the resurrection.  If those disciples had not seen the risen Christ, there would be no disciples today.  If they had not seen the risen Christ, there would be no church today.

The results speak for themselves.

The church spread rapidly, and survived every attempt to kill it.  The church has survived persecution from then until now.  The witness of the first disciples started a revolution which continues to this day.

Arthur John Gossip put it this way:

“It was Christ’s resurrection that made the Christian church,  that transformed a huddle

of dispirited and frightened disciples into that valiant band ready to dare anything.”

I believe that the witness of these first disciples –– and the witness of disciples through the ages –– speaks powerfully of the truth of the resurrection.

But – what does Easter have to do with us?

The answer has to do with the fact that Easter was God’s answer to Good Friday.

Good Friday, of course, was the day that they killed Jesus – the day of greatest despair for Mary and the rest of Jesus’ followers.

Easter is important to us because we all have our Good Fridays.

We all have days of great despair.

We all have days when the devil seems to be winning.

We all have days when the sun does not shine –– when it seems that hope is gone –– when we cannot see the way out of our troubles and problems and pains.  We all have days when grief pushes us to the edge. We all have days when we want to give up.  We all have days when we just want to go into hiding – close the door and lock it from the inside, just as the disciples closed and locked the door of the Upper Room.

But – the joy of Easter is that –when we feel the greatest pain and greatest despair – we can have hope – in fact the greatest hope – because God gives us hope and life through the event of Easter – the resurrection of Christ.

When we have the times of our greatest despair, we can rely on God and find our times of greatest hope. Even when we have the greatest of despair – we can also have the greatest hope – because of the promise of Easter.

That’s the hope – joy – and meaning of Easter.

I read a story some time ago in the June 1995 issue of Guidepost magazine that I would like to share with you.  It was the story of a woman caught up in her own Good Friday experience—her time of greatest despair and sorrow — that cut the foundation from beneath her life.  Her son had been killed in an automobile accident, and grief descended on her like the grief that overcame those first disciples when Jesus died.

A year later, still burdened by her grief, she saw that it was a nice fall day.  Before her son was killed, she had bought some jonquil bulbs to plant in your yard –– but then her son was killed, and she forgot about the bulbs — but now it was a year later, and she happened across those bulbs, and thought  it might brighten her spirits to get out in the sunshine and plant them. She proceeded to do just that.  She dug a hole in the ground and planted a bulb.  Then she dug another hole and planted another bulb. But then the bulb in her hand crumbled, and she found herself with a handful of dust.  “Dead!” she cried.  Her bulbs, having spent a year in storage, had died and were no longer good for anything.  Angry, she crushed the remaining bulbs and threw the dust into the wind. Well,

winter came and went.  Springtime came.  Then one morning the woman looked through the window –– and there she saw a field of yellow jonquils.  The bulbs that she had thought dead had come to life under the winter snow, and were now brightening her yard –– and her spirits.  She ended her story writing:

I stood still before this unexpected garden. And clearly, as if spoken aloud, I heard the promise: I am the resurrection and the life:

he that believeth in me,

though he were dead yet shall he live.

Now, each spring when the jonquils bloom, I remember,  and I answer, “Yes, Lord, I believe.”

This Easter, I would like for you to remember Jesus’ resurrection –– and the transformation that came over the disciples once they had seen the risen Christ.

My prayer for you this Easter is that God might fill your life with the brightness of his beauty –– and that every one of your Good Fridays – every one of your times of greatest despair — will be followed by His Easter – and the time of greatest hope.  Amen.