Sermon 1, Worship...

Sermon 1,
Preached August 8, 2010
FUMC Wortham

Worship
Luke 12:32-40

This week we begin a series on Worship. We will look at worship from several angles but first let us ask, What is worship?
For some it is a service we come to, for others it is a chance to gather with others and make contact (maybe a business contact or a contact with other humanity as so many of us are shut-in in our homes for one reason or another), maybe it is a time of fellowship or a time to sit and learn a moral lesson or a time to hear something to help us through a time of crisis. All these are good things but if that is all our worship is we would be better off joining a country club or fraternal organization because we can get all that in other places. Our worship has to be so much more... it should be so much more.

Today we are simply going to spend a few moments looking at another aspect of worship. Jesus didn't spend much time talking about worship, instead he would talk about our life. He would talk about finances - the second most mentioned topic in the gospels. Jesus would talk about his prayer life. He would talk about caring for the needy. And, Jesus would talk about the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the most often mentioned topic in the New Testament, being mentioned 86 times in the Gospels and 984 times in the New Testament.

We have talked about the Kingdom of God before - that it is not so much about an earthly kingdom as we think of but rather a relationship. The Davidic example of kingdom was based upon the relationship.. That David was one of the people who became a king, not a part of a ruling class that inherited the kingship. That is what this Kingdom is about... relationship.

So, what does all this talk about the Kingdom of God have to do with worship? Maybe it would be helpful to hear from another theologian about the Kingdom of God and what it is. Dr. Brian McClaren is a professor, author, theologian, and pastor who has studied this concept in detail and relates it to our Post-Modern culture.


http://www.theworkofthepeople.com/index.php?ct=store.details&pid=V00248&hittail_ok=1&fyi=secure_ssl_not_required

We recite the Lord's Prayer every week, yet do we really think about, do we really want God's will to be done here on earth as it is in Heaven?
Our very life, our job in this life, is to bring God's Kingdom to earth as ti is in heaven.
Our very life, our worship of, to, and for God is to reach this end...

Frederich Buechner says "Phrases like Worship Service or Service of Worship are tautologies. To worship God means to serve him. Basically there are two ways to do it. One way is to do things for him that he needs to have done – run errands for him, carry messages for him, fight on his side, feed his lambs, and so on. The other way is to do things for him that you need to do – sing songs for him, create beautiful things for him, give things up for him, tell him what’s on your mind and in your heart, in general rejoice in him and make a fool of yourself for him the way lovers have always made fools of themselves for the one they love.

A Quaker Meeting, a Pontifical High Mass, the Family Service at First Presbyterian, a Holy Roller Happening – unless there is an element of joy and foolishness in the proceedings, the time would be better spent doing something useful." (Buechner, Frederick. Wishful Thinking: A Seekers ABC. Frederick Buechner, New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993, p.122)

In other words, what we do, how we serve, the very life we live are our worship...
That worship is part and parcel to bringing God's Kingdom on Earth as it is in Heaven.

And now for the "So What?" So what does this mean for us? So what difference does this make? It comes down to one questions that you have to answer. What can you do to bring the Kingdom of God to Earth? What can you do to bring your worship into the world around you?
Maybe it means for you that you carry a case of water in your car and give it to a hot worker that is in need of a cold drink. Maybe for you it is to buy a meal for a family in need. Maybe for you it is to work at the Food Pantry or the Christian Clothes Closet... and the list goes on...

Whatever it is, you have to decide and you have to do it.

Sermon 2, The Sacramental Nature of Corporate Worship

Sermon 2,
Preached August 15, 2010, 11:00
FUMC Wortham

Our Worship is Sacramental
Galatians 2:19-20

Last week we looked at how our worship is a life style, that it is not just for 1 hour a week but that we are to be worshiping God with our lives. Romans 12:1 tells us to “offer our bodies as living sacrifices, this is our spiritual act of worship.” In other words, a sacrifice is something that is placed on an altar before a god and given fully to that god. When we follow this verse we lay our bodies before God and give ourselves fully to God, not as a dead sacrifice that is given once but as a living sacrifice that continues to give and serve until we are taken from this earth. This is our spiritual worship.

But, lets not fool ourselves, when I say we are going to talk about worship the first thing that comes to our minds is what happens when you walk through those doors on Sunday morning from 11:00 – 12:00.

So, being mindful of that, we will be looking at the aspects of our Corporate Worship over the next three weeks and at the 5th Sunday Service to be held at Victory Church on August 29th.

Our Corporate Worship is the times we gather together to hear God's Word proclaimed and to sing praises to God. Our corporate worship is the time that we as the Body of Christ are drawn closer together and closer to God.
Something that seems to bog down discussions of Corporate Worship is when the discussion turns to styles of worship – We argue over what type of music is to be heard, whether video and lights are to be a part of the worship, who should participate, should it be contemporary or traditional...
The truth is to get past this we need to look at how worship has changed ove the years
Think of the change from a sacrificial system – that goes all the way back to Cain and Able,
or the nomadic worship of the Israelites in the Tabernacle that traveled with them,
or the Temple Worship of the Years in Jerusalem
or the Synagogue worship that followed after the Temple was destroyed
or the House church worship of the 1st Centuries of Christianity
or the Monastic worship of the early Catholic church
or the Cathedral worship of the Dark Ages
or the early Protestant worship in Germany and Sweden
or the Stoic white-washed worship of the Puritans
or the Pioneer worship of the Wild West
or what we now call traditional worship, or High Church, or contemporary Worship, or Emerging Worship, or the New Monasticism...

Volumes are written about each of these and I think it best to steer clear of trying to say that one is better than the other.
Rather than that, we are going to look at aspects of our worship and what they mean. Over the next 4 sermons we will look at how Corporate Worship is:
Sacramental
Communal
Incarnational, and
looks toward a future hope in Christ.

This week our topic is that Corporate Worship is Sacramental.

So, What is a Sacrament?
The word sacrament is the Latin translation of the Greek word mysterion – i.e. Mysterious
Way back in around 400 AD, Augustine of Hippo said that a “Ssacrament is a visible sign of an invisible reality.”
The Book of Common Prayer says that a “Sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible Grace.”
Sacrament. It sounds so Catholic doesn't it? In fact where we have 2 Sacraments in the UMC, the Catholic church recognizes seven.
Penance (Confession)
Confirmation
Matrimony
Anointing of the Sick (Extreme Unction or Last Rites)
Holy Orders (what we would call Ordination)
and the last two that we recognize as well
Baptism and
Communion.

For sure each of these are Sacred Moments, times when God's grace is revealed to us in special ways, but as Methodists we recognize as Sacraments only the events that Jesus himself participated in directly, that is Baptism, as he was baptized by John the Baptizer, and Communion as Jesus instituted the Lord's Supper or Communion.
Each week our worship should point toward these sacraments but how so, maybe it would be helpful to look at each of these for just a moment to see what they mean to us and then how they are a part of each week of worship.

Baptism - it is the door through which we enter the church and become a part of the Body of Christ.
We don't just recognize Methodist Baptism but we recognize all baptisms that come through churches that proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord.
We baptize all ages.
Since the earliest times children and infants have been baptized into the church.
- A legend I have heard says that during the early years of the church in Jerusalem, the Christian church would adopt children that had been abandoned at Gehenna (the Trash Dump/Incinerator outside Jerusalem). These children would be brought into the community of faith and baptised as a representation of God's grace on their lives and their full acceptance and membership in the church.
- Also, the baptism of children signifies for us God's initiative in the process of Salvation
“John Wesley preached “prevenient grace,” the grace that works in our lives before we are aware of it, bringing us to faith. The baptism of children and their inclusion in the church before they can respond with their own confirmation of faith is a vivid and compelling witness to prevenient grace.” (UMC.org)
(http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.1697379/k.9027/Baptism_Overview.htm)
We believe that Baptism is forever... It doesn't need to be done again. That is because we believe that baptism is a God thing, not a human thing. By saying that we need to be baptized again we are saying that God messed up when we were baptized. To be sure, we can mess up. We can fall away. We may need to redo our part but God doesn't. To take care of that we have a liturgy that is a Sacred moment in our lives just like any other. We call it a Service to Remember our Baptism, or to Reaffirm our Baptismal Vows. We recall the promises we made when we received God's Prevenient grace in that special way at our Baptism.
Finally, we believe that Baptism is the beginning of a lifelong journey with God. While it doesn't “save us,” in fact baptism isn't even necessary for salvation – just ask the thief on the cross, instead, our baptism starts us on the path toward salvation. It's not a once and done thing, but instead it is a beginning of a process of growth as we commit our lives to God and each day, through God's mighty grace we grow closer and closer to the perfection that we are called to in Christ.
Each week when we gather in corporate worship we remember our vows before God and our commitment to Christ and the Body of Christ. When we gather together as believers in the faith, we remember that Jesus was Baptized in the Jordan River. We remember that the Disciples baptized believers in the early church as its numbers grew. We remember the grace that God poured upon us as we were baptized. We celebrate the sacrament together each week, or at least we should.
By the same token, we remember the sacrament of the Lord's Supper – Communion. In the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the wine we remember that Christ has died, Christ is risen, and that Christ will come again. Each week as we worship together our worship should point toward the Sacrifice of Christ – that Christ died for us, the sinners – remember, Romans 5:8, “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
We didn't deserve the sacrifice. We didn't deserve what Christ did for us that Good Friday. We sure didn't deserve what Christ did for us that blessed Easter morning. Yet, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
As we come together for Corporate Worship each week our worship should point toward the sacramental nature of our life with and for God. And just as we stated last week, it can't just stop with what happens on Sunday morning. Our very lives should reflect our Baptism into the Body of Christ and our Communion with Christ and the believers of all times.

What does that look like? How does that play out in our daily living?
What did Christ tell us that we as the Body of Christ are to do and be?
Matthew 25 reminds us that we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick
visit the lonely...
Matthew 28:19-20 reminds us to “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 teach them to obey the thing that Jesus has taught us.

What do we do in our lives that look like that? Maybe it's the Food Pantry. Maybe it's the Christian Clothes Closet. Maybe it's going to the Nursing Home. Maybe it's going to the Hospital, or the Prison, or a mission trip...
I can't answer that for you, but this week, as we worship corporately and you go to worship with your life, I pray that you will find where and how it is that God is calling you to worship him as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.

Sermon 3, The Communal Nature of Corporate Worship

Sermon 3, Preached Sunday August 22, 2010
FUMC Wortham

The Communal Nature of Worship
Acts 2:42-47

We have been looking at Worship... We have seen that worship isn't something that is simply an event we attend on Sunday; it is something that is connected with our life. Worship comes out of our mission and ministry in the world around us and thus results in us gathering together on Sunday Morning to corporately worship God. Last week we looked at the Sacramental Nature of our Corporate Worship. Next week we will see the Incarnational Nature of our Corporate Worship and the the fact that our Worship should point to a future hope in Christ. But, that future hope isn't something that is “pie in the sky by and by” No, it is something that starts right here, where we are in this community. Therefore, we are looking at the Communal Nature of our Corporate Worship today.

So, what is “Community”? According to Wikipedia, a community is a group of interacting species sharing an environment. From a more sociological standpoint, a "community" has been defined as a group of interacting people living in a common location.
Thus Wortham is a Community, Kirvin is a Community, even parts of towns are communities... I grew up in Lone Star,TX – a town of only 2500 people but with in the city limits we had editions – I lived in the Edgemont Edition – it was a community in and of itself. And, of course, our church is a community.
If we were to really go deep in to the linguistics of the word, "community" is derived from the Old French communité which is derived from the Latin communitas (cum, "with/together" + munus, "gift")... In other words, we are a gift to one another when we come together.

Now that we have the science behind the word I can branch out and share with you what I think the word sounds like it should mean – and from a Biblical standpoint I think it is a better definition. It seems to me that it is made up two parts too, Comm – like in communication, and unity – like in sticking together, being united. So, let's talk about that first part.

Comm.. as in communication. As a community we have to communicate with one another. When we stop communicating something else starts happening. The same thing goes on in relationships of all kinds: friendships, marriages, politics, business, you name it. Tell me if this doesn't sound like something you have experienced...
You have a bad day at work and a co-worker says something to you that you take as offensive. You haven't spoken much over the past few days and you think back to when you borrowed that coworkers book and hadn't yet returned it. “Well”, you think, “all he had to do was ask me to return the book, he didn't have to be so snotty about it.” and you go on. The Co-worker, who had forgotten he even loaned you the book, is having a bad day too – The boss had been on both of your cases and you didn't know it – He didn't realize he snapped at you but he did notice your response and that you treated him differently at the recent birthday social in the break room. “Well,” he thinks, “what's got her all upset?”
Still you two don't communicate and each of you begins to notice little things the other one did and then it starts – what we call in the the counseling field as “Stinking Thinking” That's a technical term for letting your mind run wild and stink up the relationship – thinking you know what the other one thinks when they say something and blowing it out of proportion.
Before you know it, You think he is after your job and he thinks you have it in for him and are in cahoots with the boss trying to get him fired. Each of you “triangulate” that is you get people on your side. Now it's not only a problem with two people in the office, suddenly it is affecting more. The others get so stressed about your “stinking thinking” that they go home and tell their spouses about it. One of the spouses works out at the YMCA with the Boss in the mornings and asks the Boss about it. Now the Boss is involved... Well, the Boss has been upset because profits have been declining for the last 6 weeks and now he thinks it's because of the conflict in the office. He sets up a meeting with the employees and now, someone is going to get fired.

Whew. Sounds like the script for a evening sit-com, or maybe a crime drama... but you get my point. All this could have been alleviated if only the original two had communicated and worked it out. Neither one of them meant to hurt the other one but then “stinking thinking” got in the way of everything.

Even more important than that, when we fail to communicate within the community of faith, we affect our own worship as well as the worship of others. We affect our relationship with God and others. I could name a dozen or more people right now that have changed their attendance at church or church involvement because of conflict that hasn't been resolved. Some of the situations go back as far as 6 or 7 years. Their change in attendance has affected others and if it isn't resolved it could affect others for generations to come. Don't get me wrong, we are not a bad church. This happens in all churches and even all social groups – But that makes it neither right nor acceptable.

Communication is the first step in building unity within any community. Especially the community of faith.

So, let's look at that word, Unity. The root is unite, to come together for a common purpose. We as the Body of Christ unite under the banner of Christ. We come together to worship God. We gather to care for others as Christ taught us.
Dan Kimball, Author and pastor, says that we are to be “a gathering where the holy God who created the universe and everything in it will be worshiped. We are creating a time for the saints to gather and encourage one another, a gathering where unbelievers joining us will know without a doubt that God is among us.” (Emerging Worship, Dan Kimball, p. xvi)
Communication and Unity – now I know linguistically that is not the make up of the word community, but it sure works when you place it next to the Bible. In the passage we just read we see the disciples – those that followed Jesus, communicating with one another, gathering to worship in unity, and caring for one another. We see in this early formation of the church a model of what we are to be, what we should be, who we should be. The question is, “is that who we are?” Or is that who we say we are until you get to know us? Or is that who we want to be but haven't quite made it yet?
I know we aren't there yet – no place is. But my hope is that as we continue to become more and more like Christ we will become more and more like the image of the Church Christ has showed us. My prayer is that each day we are becoming more and more of a community than less of a community. To wrap this up I want to let you hear from a young man, a pastor, a graduate of Duke Divinity School, a leader of what is called an intentional Community of Faith called the Rutba House outside of Durham, N.C. Hear his words about his community and think about ours.
[Video – workofthepeople.com, v00752, “Christian Community”- Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove]
{Read Acts 2:46-47} and close with prayer.

Sermon 4, The Incarnational Nature of Corporate Worship

Sermon 4, Preached Sunday August 29th, 11:00 AM
FUMC Wortham
The Incarnational Nature of Corporate Worship
John 1:1-14

Well, we come to our final two sermons on Worship. We remember that our Worship is who we are. It is how we live. Our worship is our life. Romans 12:1 tell sus that we “present our bodies to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, for this is our spiritual act of Worship.”
We remember that our Corporate Worship, when we gather together on Sunday in what we call church, grows out of the life we lived during the week, the mission and ministry that we have done for Christ - the way we have treated our fellow men and women. It leads us to remember the sacrifices of Christ as we remember our Baptism and partake of Holy Communion.
And Last week we saw that our Corporate Worship is Communal, that we are a part of a community that communicates and builds unity to work together that others may come to Christ and be a part of the Body of Christ, that we may go out in ministry and mission to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the lonely...
So today we look at the final two elements of our Corporate worship. Tonight we will look at the future hope that our worship looks toward but today we look at the Incarnational Nature of our Corporate Worship.

Now there's a big word for you... Incarnational.
This word comes to us as a religious word. Not just a Christian word but a religious word. Greek Mythology is repleat with gods coming to Earth and taking on human form. Hinduism calls their deity in human form an Avatar, the one that brings order and peace to the world. Budhism is based upon the concept that the soul is continually reincarnated, continually working toward perfection until all the evil is vanquished from the body and one becomes a Buddah – a god in human form that needs not be reincarnated. Other religions have this concept as well but only Christianity has the concept of incarnation in the form of Jesus.

In John 1:14 we read that the Word, that is Jesus, became flesh and dwelt among us. A completely different concept. In the other ideas of incarnation the god comes down to take a wife, the god comes down and is seperate from humanity, or the god (the person themself) is seeking to overcome humanity. Jesus becomes human.



So, what does this look like? How can we understand the concept of incarnation in todays life? Well, without giving away the plot, I want to share with you a little of a story of two men. Their intersecting lives are the subject of the best selling book that they co-authored with Lynn Vincent called, “Same Kind of Different as Me.” I know many of you have read it and if you haven't I highly suggest it to you.

But how does the story of Ron Hall and Denver Moore share what incarnation is like?
Well, you have to start with Deborah Hall, Ron's wife. Deborah was a Godly woman who loved her husband and coerced him into helping out at the Homless Shelter off Lancaster St. in Fort Worth one day a week. At that point in their marriage Ron figured anything he could do to keep her happy was good for him so he agreed. The problem for Ron was that Deborah had a dream of more than just serving a meal one day a week. She wanted to change lives for Christ.

Most people that came into the shelter for this purpose would come in once or twice a week and tell the homeless how they needed to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and get a job. Good advice but not what they needed to hear or see. These others that came in were one of two types: either they were trying to make themselves feel better or they were trying to earn their spot in glory. In both cases it was about the big “I”.

Deborah was different. She came and served the meals, learned their names, came back to give birthday parties, took groups on trips to musicals and concerts, she came to them and got to know them. While she never “lived” at the shelter she became one of them. They loved her and accepted her because she truly loved them. Not for any personal gain but for the simple fact that God created them and loved them just as much as God had made and loved her. It was her presence among them that endeared her to them and them to her.

But one resident would truly test her patience. Denver was a large, angry, black man that had grown up in abject poverty as a share-cropper in Red River Parish Louisiana. Up till the late 1960's and 1970's black share-croppers were basically modern day slaves in that region – simply working for “the man” in order to have a place to lay their head and hopefully have a bite to eat.

This is where Deborah really put the screws to Ron. She wanted Ron to be friends with Denver. Ron obliged and once they finally got Denver to talk to them and open up to them Ron and Denver would go to Starbucks and Denny's and places like Del Frisco's and the Old Warsaw.
Gradually Denver left the shelter but continued ministering there. But it was Ron who was changed the most. Ron had come to make Denver a better person but as Denver came to dwell with Ron, Ron was changed.

It is a fascinating true story that goes on through tragedy and triumph but the point is that Ron thought he was coming to Denver because Denver needed his money and influence when in the end it was Ron who needed Denver's practical insight and spiritual guidance.

That is so much the way we are. We come to Christ, to the church, to church, because we think we are needed. We think we have something to give to God. Yet, when we actually get to know God and let God influence us we discover that it was God who came to us in the first place. We finally discover that it is we who need God.

That is what John 1:14 is all about...
The Word – the Logos – Jesus, the fulfillment of God came to us and became Sarx, flesh, human, and dwelt, tabernacled, pitched tent among us. What does all that mean?

In the Greek, John uses the term Logos that we have translated as Word. Translated, Logos means “word”, “speech”, “account,” or “reason” but about 500 years before Christ the Philosopher Heraclitus used the term for “the principle of order and knowledge.” Around the time of the Birth of Christ the Stoic philosophers used it as “the divine animating principle pervading the Universe.” So, when we say “The Word” we are saying much more than just another name for Jesus. John is telling us that Jesus was, is, and always will be. Through the use of the term Logos, John is telling us the one who orders all things and has all knowledge, that the one who is the creator of all the world came and became one of us.

Up to that point in History there had been stories of god's coming to earth but never of a god becoming fully human. The word John uses for flesh is Sarx. A word that means human flesh in all it frailty and weakness. No god would do that. The god's were too much above humans, better than humans. The god's wouldn't lower themselves to the weakness of humanity; but, that is just what Jesus did. Not only did he become flesh and blood, marrow and sinew, Jesus came to us in the most frail and fragile of human forms, a baby. Truly the Word became flesh, our Lord became one of us, and dwelt among us.

The Incarnation of Christ didn't happen like the incarnatin of the god's of Egypt, or Rome, or Greece. No, our God didn't live in a palace or cathederal. Some of your translations will say that “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us...” other versions will say that the Word”lived” or “tabernacled” among us. In our language it means that our God, Jesus, pitched tent among us. Think about that idea for a moment. When you go camping, who is it that you want pitching a tent with you? Only the closest and dearest to you. Inherent in this idea of Jesus coming to us and living among us is a certain closeness, a certain intimacy, a certain nearness that hadn't been seen among the religions of the world.

God came to us not when we had cleaned up our act and deserved it. No, God became human while we were still sinners that we might learn how to live and love in the life God had given us. In essence, Jesus came to us that we might come to God.

That is what our worship is all about. We, the Body of Christ, gather together in churches across the Continents of the world to celebrate that God is with us. For some reason we only seem to sing about this at Christmas but the idea of Emmanuel, God with us, is the reason we are here. We celebrate it through song. We celebrate it through prayer. We celebrate it through creeds.

In addition to that we realize that when we come into Corporate worship we know that God is in our midst as we remember that where two or three are gathered in Jesus name, then Jesus is in the midst. We worship God with God. Then, when we leave our Corporate Worship, we take God out into the world. We, the Body and Christ redeemed by his Blood, go out into the world to be the very presence of God in a world that needs God so desperately.

Deborah Hall saw that. She may have been wealthy and privileged but she saw that she was a part of the Body of Christ and could and should do the work of Christ in the world. Because of her vision her husband Ron, and Denver were never the same. Today because of her work at the shelter and Ron and Denver's work in the world, lives are being changed.

That is what heppens when God becomes one of us. That is what happens when we take God into the world around us. That is what happens when we become the hands and feet of Christ.
Now we are the incarnation of Christ for the world. Go then and represent Christ for the world.

Sermon 5, A Hope to Come

Sermon 5 – Community 5th Sunday Service
Preached August 29th, 6:00PM at Victory Full Gospel Church

A Hope to Come
Matthew 8:23-26

This is the fifth and final sermon in a series on worship. To catch up the rest of our Community of Faith gathered here today, we have looked at how our worship is not simply something we do, an event we come to see on Sunday mornings. Our worship is a part of who we are. Our worship is a part of our daily lives that we live, beyond the walls of our church. Our worship is our life. Paul urges us in Romans 12:1, “in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.” Our Corporate Worship arises from this life of worship we have lived through the week. While we live our worship daily, we gather together as the Body of Christ to Corporately praise God for who God is and what God has done. We come together Sacramentally, in other words when we gather in worship our time together should point toward our Baptism into Christ and our rememberance of the Sacrifice of Christ. We gather as a community of faith that works toward unity that the world may be drawn to Christ through His Body – us. And as we gather as believers we recognize the Incarnation Of Christ – that God become one of us, a human, in all our frailty and weakness. As we recognize this, we then go back out into the world as the Body of Christ, the embodiment of Christ in the world around us as we minister to and reach out to the least, the last, and the lost.
Finally as we come to this the final sermon in our series, we are to see that our Corporate Worship points to a hope that is to come. We gather to worship a God that is greater than anything we can imagine.

Open your Bibles with me today and let's look at a passage from Matthew 14:22-33...

I love warning labels. Don't you? Those labels like the one on a hair dryer that said, “Not to be used while showering.”
Well, Ted Frank is an attorney and the president and founder of The Center for Class Action Fairness and he has compiled a list of his favorite wacky warning labels. Here are a few of his favorites:
A warning on a wood router says: “This product not intended for use as a dental drill”
A five inch fishing lure with the caution: “Harmful if swallowed”
A warning on a baby stroller that warns: “Remove baby before folding.”
How about the portable toilet seat called the “Off-Road Commode”. It seems you insert it into your trailer hitch receiver for use while camping or off in the woods. The warning: “Not for use when vehicle is in motion.”
Or I think my favorite is the label on a small tractor that warns: “Danger! Avoid Death.”

We are surrounded by warning signs aren't we. Labels on products, chemicals, and medicines warn of dangers to our life but more than that we are surrounded by warning signs of the end of our days on this earth as we know it. We read the gospels and see that the signs of the end of times are:
Wars – we have plenty of those don't we.
Earthquakes – According to the USGS Website, this past month we have seen over 700 earthquakes greater then a 2.5 magniture with the most significant being a 7.1 in Ecuador.
Famines – The fires in Russia and the Floods in Pakistan are just two areas across the world where famine is being seen. Add Africa, South America, the Far East and other such places and we see that there are desperate needs around the globe due to famine.

There are other warning signs too but I think that is enough to remind us that our days are numbered. But, it is also important that we remember that these signs have existed since soon after Jesus warned us about them. Now some are going to tell us that we are seeing more famine, wars, and earthquakes today than ever before – the truth is, we are seeing the same numbers as always, they are just being reported globally today. I was able to obtain the information about all the earthquakes in 5 minutes by logging on to the USGS website and counting. Not something our prior generations could have done. The perception is that there are more and that must mean that Jesus is coming back tomorrow. The reality is that these signs have existed for 2000 years and the only thing we can say with certainty is that today we are one day closer to the end of days than we were yesterday.

What's my point? When I was growing up evangelism was based upon scaring the Hell out of everyone, literally. We hoped that we could scare a non-believer enough with images and movies of the end of times, the Tribulation, and what Hell was like that they would come to church and get saved so they wouldn't go to Hell, then join the church, begin tithing, and become a committee member. We would ask them, “If you were to die tonight, where would you spend eternity?” The point, to scare them – by the way it's the same tactic I was taught to sell Death Insurance – well most of us call it Life Insurance but what you are insuring against is the financial implications of death. We try to scare people by thinking about death and to a point it worked. The problem is that when you are simply saved from Hell and death is the focus you still don't understand the Hope of Heaven and the joy of the abundant life Jesus promised.

Our Corporate Worship should not point toward the the pain of Hell or the dangers that the “Left Behind Series” points toward but rather a Hope of something greater and better than anything we could imagine. In our passage today we see the disciples gathered in the boat, some of which are seasoned sailors, yet they are battling against the waves for the the wind was against them... Do you ever feel that way, “the wind is against you and you are battling the waves of life?”
You haven't found that job you've been looking for.
You are struggling with the pain of the divorce
You are dealing with the injury that will not heal
The winds are against you and you are battling the waves as they lap over the bow of your boat.
Well, take heart, because that is not the end of the story.

So, what was so fearful about the water? It was thought to be the abode of the demons. When Jesus cast the demons from the man in the cemetery they went into the swine, & where did they go? Into the sea – they went home. So as the disciples battled the tempest and saw a ghost walking on the water, surly they thought their days were through. The demons were rising form the water to get them but instead it was Jesus, the embodiment of God, the Word become flesh, that walked on the water to meet them. After Peter's swimming lesson and test of faith, Jesus gets in the boat and the storm ceases.
When those tempests of life come against you, let Jesus in your boat, only he can calm the storms. And then... Worship him.

That is what the disciples did. Max Lucado wrote in, “In the Eye of the Storm” that
"After the storm, [the disciples] worshiped him. They had never, as a group, done that before. Never. Check it out. Open your Bible. Search for a time when the disciples coporately praised him.
You won't find it.
You won't find them worshiping when he heals the leper. Forgives the adulteress. Preaches to the masses. They were willing to follow. Willing to leave family. Willing to cast out demons. Willing to be in the army.
But only after the incident on the sea did they worship him. Why?
Simple. This time they were the ones who were saved."

We worship God, privately with our lives and Corporately as the Body because we are the ones that are saved. Now I don't mean saved from Hell, or the Tribulation, or anything like that, that's a given. No, I mean we are the ones that are saved from ourselves. We are the ones saved from our sin. We are the ones that are saved from the things that separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is because we are saved that we can have the abundant life that Jesus promised; both today and tomorrow.

We have a future hope. A hope to come that points us toward heaven. We have a hope that endures the test of time and guides our steps today. We have a hope that doesn't end with us but continues with a life that has been offered to us and we must pass on to others.

When we gather in Corporate Worship we point toward a hope that can only be found in Christ and can only be offered through the life changing sacrifice of the Cross. We look toward a hope that guides every aspect of our life, from the joy of new life to the grief of a life that has passed. We look toward a hope that is to be offered to others. A hope that is offered right now to any who choose to believe.

Worship Sermon Series

The preceding 5 sermons were preached in Wortham, TX as a series on Worship. I hope God will bless the readers as much as I was blessed in the writing.
Thank you and may God's richest blessing be upon you.
Jay

Solace in the Story

Luke 24:33-35

We all love a good story don't we? We all know that yesterday was a busy day for us all. My day started here at the church were I pulled a couple of tables out and put some my cooker under the tent. A few others showed up about that time and we told a few stories. Some about fishin', some about cars, and some about cooking stuff. Shortly after that I headed to Fairfield for a soccer game. While I was there I heard stories. Mostly stories of things that had recently happened and things that were happening with the game. After that game was over, we headed to Blooming Grove for a Baseball tournament. During the games I heard stories of practices in back yards. I heard stories of the glory days in Little League and High School.
When I left there I came back here to the fish fry and the stories continued. We love to tell stories. I also understand that we love to hear a good story. From what I have been told, some of my better sermons are the ones where I tell stories. Like the story of Emperor Bokassa of the Central African Republic, or the story of my time in the jungle of El Salvador, or the story of man with weather balloons tied to his lawn chair flying into San Diego Airports airspace. I remember stories from sermons too. In fact, I heard the story of the balloon man of San Diego from a pastor that lived in the area when the event took place. We love a story don't we.
One thing about stories though, sometimes you wonder if you can or should believe all the story. When we get the email and read the story from Renaud Abonnel Deputy General Manager Finance & Administration,Societe Generale De Banques Au Burkina, talking about the $4.2M he needs to send to the United States and he will split the money 50/50. Well, that story, I don't think you need to believe that story.
Just like the story of this church having a hundred or more people in worship. I know, some of you probably thought that I was crazy to suggest a year ago that I wanted to see this church with 120 people in worship on average. Then 7 weeks ago I told you a story. A story of me getting a pie in the face if we could average 65 and have 100 in worship. You thought it was a nice story but not really anything to believe. You knew we couldn't average 65, much less have 100 in worship, even with Easter. But then what happened? In the last 8 weeks we have had over 100 in worship twice and had averaged over 75.
Well, I waited for the pie. I was ready for the pie. In fact, I'll still take the pie. You deserve to give it to me and I'd love to take it.
But here's the next challenge. Attendance is great, but now we are looking at adding membership. Would you think I was just tellin' you a story if I said I'd get in a dunking booth a the BBQ if we have 20 people join the church this year? You know we had 14 join last year. Wouldn't that be a nice story to tell? A story about a church changing lives and making a difference in the community. As story of a church that is growing, but as it grows it is doing things as an outreach.
Now that's the kind of story we like to tell and that is the kind of story other people like to hear. That is the kind of story that the long-time members of the church take solace in.
Ohhhh, there's that word again. You were wondering when I'd get back to it weren't you. Solace: safety, comfort, peace. Yes, to see this church as a strong church that makes a difference, not only in the lives of the people in the church, but in the lives of the people in the community. That is the kind of story to in which to find comfort.
But there is an even better story. A story that, though it is hard to believe, no it is a story that is unbelievable, yet is true. It is a story that offers comfort to us. It is a story that has brought solace into the lives of many for nearly 2000 years.
It is the story that the 11 Disciples were discussing when Cleopas and his friend returned from Emmaus to the upper room. Jesus had risen. Jesus is alive. He had appeared to Peter. He had appeared on the road to Emmaus.
It is a story that began with a miraculous birth and proceeded through an extraordinary birth that changed heaven and earth. It is a story that continued through a remarkable life of healing and teaching. It is a story that didn't end with a death on a cross but continues today bringing solace in the lives of those who follow Jesus.
It is because of this story that it matters that we have 120 people in worship. It is because of this story that we care enough to have a health and welfare event with medical, clothing, and food available this coming week-end. It is this story that we tell to others so that they too can know the solace that it brings into our lives.

Solace in the Grief

Solace in the Grief
Luke 24:13-32

Solace – Today we begin a series called Sundays of Solace, Six Weeks with our Risen Lord. Sunday we understand, it is the first day of the week. It is not the Sabbath of old that those of the Jewish faith follow, it is the day of the Resurrection of our Lord. It is the day that we gather together to worship our Risen Savior.
Six weeks with our Risen Lord, we can even get that too. There are Six Sundays between Easter and Ascension Sunday. But Solace. Why Solace?

When you Google the word Solace, you get a couple of options, information about the James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, or definitions. Well, since I'm not near the fan of 007 since Sean Connery retired, I chose to check the definitions.
The top definition for Solace is: 1) comfort in sorrow, misfortune, or trouble; alleviation of distress or discomfort. 2) something that gives comfort, consolation, or relief:

Solace is comfort. Solace is peace.

So, solace is what we seek in our risen Lord. Over the next six weeks we will slowly work our way through Luke 24 and Acts 1 as we walk with our risen savior the his last weeks before the ascension. It is in this time with our resurrected Lord that we find Peace and Comfort in this life. It is in seeing Jesus offer solace to his Disciples, be they the two Disciples on the way to Emmaus or the Disciples who wouldn't believe until they saw the wounds. My prayer is that over the next six weeks you will find this sanctuary to be a place of solace, but more importantly you would find that Christ is the only one that can truly offer you solace.

We begin with the gentlemen from Emmaus. So often we read this passage within the context of the entire Christian story, which is fine in some respects, but it doesn't do justice to Luke's writing of this story. It is only found in Luke and it is carefully placed after Mary, and Mary, and Joanna, and Salome have returned from the tomb wondering and Peter has gone to the tomb and been amazed. In fact, vs 12 tells us that Peter went home amazed, bewildered, wondering, what it all means. We then get this story that tells us what it means.


As we read we see their grief. They drop their heads as they talk, you can almost hear it in their voice.
They are defeated, everything they had believed had died with Jesus. How could the things he said be true if he were dead. They are dejected. They are grieving.
What makes it even worse is that a couple of women have gotten everyone's hopes up that he isn't really dead. These women said he's alive, but these disciples were in Jerusalem. They knew what had happened. They likely saw the bloody body of Jesus. The may have helped bring him down from the cross. They knew he was dead.
They have lost a friend. They have lost a leader. They have lost a teacher and a revolutionary. At this point they may feel that they have lost everything except their own life – and that is even questionable. If the Jews and the Romans were willing to kill Jesus, his followers can't be far behind.
In fact, the road that they are walking is a rough and dangerous road that winds through the hills. I have been told that there are many places where someone looking to do them harm could have hidden.

Can you imagine their surprise when they have been walking by themselves for an hour or more and suddenly they are not alone? Maybe they thought Jesus had come from a side trail or had been resting behind a rock and they didn't see him enter the trail. Maybe he had been behind them all along and they didn't realize it until he caught up with them. Who knows what they thought, but I would definitely think they were alarmed when this stranger was suddenly with them.

Why would they not recognize Jesus? Some say it was because they had been walking into the setting sun. Others because Jesus' appearance had been altered from the resurrection. I don't know, maybe they were followers of Jesus that hadn't seen him closely for a while. Maybe they wouldn't recognize him because the last time they saw him some three days before he was so badly beaten that he scarcely resembled a human. Why they didn't recognize him, we don't know. But what we do know is that Jesus came into the midst of two of his followers who were hurting and brought them solace. Jesus still brings us solace through his presence.

I have heard well wishing people tell grieving family members that God needed their loved one more than they did, or that God always picks the best roses first. Each phrase is intended to offer comfort and show care, but what they end up doing is making people question why God would “need” their loved one or “take” the one they care so much about.

I don't think that God “takes” or “needs” any of our loved ones. What I know is that God is with us when it happens. Just as he did that day on the road to Emmaus, Jesus comes along side us as we grieve, as we hurt, as we cry. Jesus isn't the picker of young roses, but the maker of footprints in the sand as he carries us through the tough times of our life.

These disciples had lost their way. They had missed the story of what Jesus had done for them and were going home with only half the truth and all the grief. But Jesus comes to them and begins to teach them. He begins with the Moses and the Prophets and then the rest of the Scriptures as he teaches them why Christ had to suffer and how the Scriptures had predicted it all along.

Not only does Jesus bring us Solace through his presence, he brings us solace through his teaching. Psalm 119 tells us that we are to “hide God's word in our heart that we may not sin” and that “God's word is a lamp unto our feet and a light to our path.” We can't receive this Solace, this peace, this comfort if we do not study the Word of God. What, or who is this Word? Jn 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God... Jn 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. Jesus is the Word. The Word of comfort, the Word of peace, the Word of Solace.
When was the last time you sat down with others and had a conversation about the the Word? When was the last time you studied a lesson and then got together with other believers to study it together? When was the last time you spent time alone in the Bible? We can not receive the solace of Jesus through his teaching if we are not willing to study the Word incarnate.

These disciples walked with Jesus and learned from him and their hearts began to be warmed and they couldn't get enough. Jesus had made his point without them even realizing who he was and he was going to continue walking off into the sunset but they begged him to stay – As if to tell us, that once you begin to receive Jesus' teaching you can't get enough of it.
Jesus enters their house and sits at the table with them. A common table. A regular meal of hospitality, yet, when he broke bread with them they realized who they were with. Maybe it was the way he broke the bread and it reminded them of when he had broken the bread and fish for the 5000. Maybe it was the prayer he prayed. Maybe it was the similarity to the last meal that they had heard about from the 11 remaining disciples that were with Jesus the night he was betrayed. What ever it was they found solace in the meal that was shared.

Today, some of us are are grieving the loss of a friend, a relationship, a family member. Some of us continue to grieve a loss from 5, 10, 20, or even 50 years ago. It may have been a death, or it may have been something else – a friendship that was interrupted or a marriage that was broken. Our grief is OK. Our grief is normal. Our grief is acceptable. But for some of us we need to find solace in that grief. Some of us need to move beyond that grief because it is hampering our relationships today. Some of us need to see past the grief because it is blocking our relationship with our family, our friends, and more importantly, our Lord.

You don't have to hang on to that pain any more. Jesus can take that pain from you and comfort you. Jesus will walk with you through the pain and on to the other side. Through the word of God you can be comforted as you study. As we are told in Revelation we only have to open the door and Jesus will come in and dine with you and comfort you. We bread bread together, we fellowship together and offer one another peace as we come together as the Body of Christ – the holy Church of God.

It's time... Let go of the pain. Let go of the grief. Let God have it all, so that through God you can be all you were created to be.

Amazed

LUKE 24:1-12

Have you ever been a failure? Have you ever failed? You tried. You did what you through was right but it didn't work. You didn't succeed. You failed.
Maybe it was on the job. You thought you understood what your supervisor had told you. You thought you knew your job. But you failed.
Maybe it was the stock market. You followed all the rules, buy low – sell high. You did your part, then in one week the market drops, you lost all the growth, you lost some of the principle. You thought you were doing right. You thought you were careful, but no, you failed.
Maybe it was a marriage.
Maybe it was a friendship
Maybe it was a sport
It could have been so many things...

If you have ever failed, then you can imagine what Peter felt. He was a failure. He had followed Jesus. At times, he seemed to understand... “Jesus, you are the Messiah.” he would say in one breath, then reprimand Jesus for talking about his impending death in another. He had learned so much. He was looking forward to a long rule with Jesus. He was looking forward to being “The Rock” but not without Jesus. In the final meal, the passover meal, Jesus tells the Disciples that one will betray him, but Peter says “not me”. In the Garden Peter draws his sword to defend Jesus and injures Malcheus, but is reprimanded by Jesus. Jesus heals Malcheus and goes peacefully with the guards.

Peter is confused. Peter is scared. Peter denies that he even knows the one he once called Messiah. Peter had failed.
Some of the stories tell us that he had gone to the lake to fish during the days. I understand that. When I am down, when things aren't going right, when I'm tired of the daily grind of life, I like to go to the woods, to the lakes, to the wilderness. I like to get away. I can understand Peter.

But what I can't imagine is what was going through his mind. Did he finally understand what Jesus was talking about? Did he ask himself why he didn't stand up more? Did he wonder if he could have saved Jesus from the hands of the Romans? Did he wonder just how he had failed? Did he blame himself for what Jesus was going through?

I don't know. What I do know is that I, and I suspect some of you, are more like Peter than we care to admit. We ask ourselves, “How is it that we keep on failing?” “How is it that we don't seem to understand?” “Was it our fault that Jesus had to die?”

I can't imagine all that was going through Peter's mind on that Sunday some 1977 years ago when Mary Magdeline came rushing into the Upper Room to tell the Apostles that Jesus had been Raised from the Dead. According to Luke, nobody believed them, that is no one except Peter. It seemed as foolishness to them, but not Peter, he got up and ran to the tomb, saw the linen cloths, and went home amazed at what had happened. Amazed... what a word...
NRSV - Amazed... NIV – filled with wonder NASV – marveling

Any of these words and expressions fit for what Peter was going through on that day. Can you imagine the thoughts as he walked back home? “Is that what he meant by 'rebuild the Temple in three days?'” “Is this what he was preparing us for?” “Did someone take him, who would do that, no, He had to have risen, but where is he?” “What will this mean for us now?”

Ahhhh, there is a question for us as well. As we peer into the empty tomb, as we hear the cry of the women that “He is risen”, what will it mean for us now? What does it mean that he is risen? Well,
It means his teaching is true.
It means that we have a hope that we too will rise.
It means that we have a future with Christ.
And it means something else too... Let me illustrate with a story.

In the book Travels in Alaska, John Muir told a story of his encounter with the Stickeen and Sitka Indians of Alaska in the late 1800's. The two tribes had been at war for some twenty years and winter was approaching. The Chiefs met together and the Stikeen chief said to the other, “My people are hungry. They dare not go to the salmon-streams and berry-fields for winter supplies, and if the war goes on much longer most of my people will die of hunger. We have fought long enough; let us make peace. You brave Sitka warriors go home, and we will go home, and we will all set out to dry salmon and berries before it is too late.”

The Sitka chief replied: “You may well say let us stop fighting, when you have had the best of it. You have killed ten more of my tribe than we have killed of yours. Give us ten Stickeen men to balance our blood-account; then, and not till then, will we make peace and go home.”

“Very well” replied the Stickeen Chief, “you know my rank. You know that I am worth 10 common men and more. Take me, and make peace.”

The offer was accepted, the Chief stepped forward and was shot down in sight of the fighting bands and peace was made. The Stickeen Chief sacrificed himself for his people. Had he not given his life, then many more would have died from both the Stickeen and the Sitka as a result of war and starvation. The Chief saved his people.

Years later when missionaries came and told the story of Jesus to the Stickeen and Sitka people, they already knew of the sacrifice of one for many. As was recorded of the Indian people, they replied to the missionaries, “ Yes, your words are good, the Son of God, the Chief of Chiefs, the Maker of all the world, must be worth more than all mankind put together; therefore, when His blood was shed, the salvation of the world was made sure”

Salvation was brought to us, to you and me, on that day when Peter was amazed and today,

I stand amazed in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene
and wonder how he could love me
a sinner condemned unclean
Oh, how marvelous
Oh, how wonderful
and my song shall ever be
oh, how wonderful
oh how marvelous
is my Saviors love for me.

Today we stand amazed before a table that is set. A table that symbolizes all that Christ has and continues to do for us. Let us stand amazed, let us gather at this table, and let us go home, but let us also do as Peter and go forth into the world to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ to a world that needs to know of his love and grace.

Laying Down the Branches of Our Life

Luke 19:28-40

Some of you may remember the coronation of Jean-Bedel Bokassa in 1977. Bokassa took over the presidency of the Central African Republic by cout-d’etat in December 1967. Within a year he had invalidated the Constitution of the Country and created a new form of Government. In 1972 he named himself “President for Life.” Then, on December 5, 1977 he crowned himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire.
At 10:10 AM trumpets and drums announced the approach of His Majesty.
The beginning of the parade had eight of Bokassa’s 20 official children proceed down the royal carpet to their seats.
They were followed by the heir to the throe, Jean Bidel Bokassa II – dressed in a white admirals uniform with gold braid. He was seated on a red pillow to the left of the throne.
Bodassa I’s favorite wife, Catherine, one of nine of his wives, paraded next to her throne wearing a $73,000 gown that was hand sewn with pearls.
Bokassa then arrived in an imperial coach decorated with golden eagles. His coach was drawn by Six matched Anglo-Norman horses.
The Central African Empire Marine Band struck the hymn “The Sacred March of His Majesty,” a song written especially for the event. Emperor Bokassa I strutted proudly to his throne. He was bedecked in a 32 pound robe decorated with 785,000 strewn pearls and embroidered in gold.
The emperor wore white gloves and pearl slippers on his feet. On his head, he wore a gold crown of laurel-wreaths, similar to those worn by Roman consuls of old and a symbol the he was favored by the gods.
As the “Sacred March” ended, Bokassa I seated himself on his $2,500,000 eagle throne.
He took his gold laurel wreath off and placed a crown on his own head that contained a 70 carat diamond in the shape of Africa. The lavish coronation ceremony cost $200,000,000 and all but ruined the country’s economy.

Contrast that with how Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Jesus sends for a young Donkey to ride. Not a stallion. Not a noble animal, but a Donkey. For those that were watching and waiting, this was a clear sign of who Jesus was claiming to be. Prophecies had claimed it to be true: Zechariah 9:9, written some 250 years before Christ, tells us:
Rejoice greatly, O Daughter of Zion!
Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem!
See, your king [a] comes to you,
righteous and having salvation,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
But by our standards today, Jesus wouldn’t have been coming to town in a Rolls Royce, or a Lincoln Limo as we expect royalty to come. No, Jesus didn’t even come in a Mustang, He came in the equivalent of a new Pinto.
Jesus didn’t come with glitz and glamor, Jesus came into Jerusalem, the place where he was to die, being heralded by his followers as the Messiah that he was. Jesus was rejoiced over by the Disciples and celebrated by the people along the way. He knew the rest of the story. He knew what was to happen at the end of the week, but, that didn’t stop him. Romans 5:8 reminds us that, “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus knew that the people that were celebrating on Sunday were going to be crucifying him on Friday. Though I think Jesus hoped with every step that the people would truly turn and follow him, he also knew that you and I would need the salvation he was to offer at the end of the week.

Oh, that Sunday was a day of celebration. A day that Jesus enjoyed. I can just see Jesus smiling as he told the Pharisees that “if they keep silent, then the rocks will cry out.” In other words, some things just must be said, I am the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. I will be worshiped.

Today is an enjoyable day for us as well. We come together on this Sunday. We celebrate. We have an Easter Egg hunt. We rejoice with our family and friends. We wave palm branches and sing praises to our King. Today we Crown Jesus king of our lives, yet, by Friday we have crucified him with our actions. Today we vow to be good. In the church we try to do good. Then, by the time we get to the end of the week we have lived our lives in such a way that our actions are the very reason that Jesus had to face “Good Friday.” Just in case some of you are as self-righteous as I can be sometimes and think that you have done well this week, that you didn’t sin. Were you completely honest this week? Did you always say kind things about people? Did you gossip any? Did you lust after anyone? Did you covet your neighbors wife, husband, dog, car, truck, tractor….
You get my point.
We crown him on Sunday and Crucify him by Friday.
That is the fact of this week. I can’t sugar coat it. I can’t change it. I may want to. I could make this sermon all lovey dovey. I could tell you how wonderful you are. I could make you feel good. But that is not what happened between Sunday and Friday. To get to Easter we can not forget what happened the week before.
In fact, we can’t forget what we talked about last week: the cost of following Jesus. That is as much a part of the day and the week as the palm branches.
You see, I look at these palm branches as a symbol of control of our life. These palm branches are those sins that keep us from Christ. These palm branches are the busy lives that interfere with our relationship with God. These palms represent all those things that get in the way of our commitment to the life Jesus taught us. Today, I invite you to lay yours down. I invite you to lay down the palm branches of your life and fully give your life to God. I invite you to take a step toward the life that Jesus taught you to live. I invite you to hear the Holy Spirit’s call on your life to do what you were called to do, to be who you were called to be, and to live a life worthy of that calling.
Given the choice, without the intervention of God in our lives we would be more like Emperor Bokassa than we care to admit: lavishly bestowing upon our lives hundreds, if not millions of dollars worth of nothing. Given our way, we would follow the example of a man that thought he was a god rather than the God who became a man.
Today, I invite you to lay down the branches of your life and allow Jesus, the God who became a man to take them up and make them to be what they need to be. Won’t you let him?

Estimate the Cost

Luke 14:25-33

Some called them the “Auca Indians” meaning the Savages. They were actually the Waorani Indians, one of the indigenous peoples of the Rain Forrest of Ecuador that segregated themselves by families. Each family lived independently of the others until food was short or wives were needed then one family would raid the other family and take what they could. As family members were killed by spear, the other family would avenge the death of their relative and so the cycle of violence continued year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation.
These were a people that lived in fear, fear of a raid by the other families, fear of illness, but mostly the fear of “Jumping the Great Boa.” This expression was their way of explaining how one crosses over from this life to the next. Their legends told them that the great Boa guarded the afterlife and only those strong enough to jump over the boa could enter eternity, otherwise they become “termites” – the bugs of the earth. To gain strength they had to spear others. To gain power for eternity they had to take the life of others.
By the mid 1950’s this once great people had become so violent that they numbered only in the hundreds and decisions of the Ecuadorian government and foreign oil explorers threatened to wipe out the remaining members of the tribes.
Nate Saint, a former WWII fighter pilot and now missionary to the area did not want to let this happen. He and four others began what they called the “Operation Auca.” They began flying over the Waorani tribal village, dropping care packages. They even devised a method of circling and dropping a bucket on a rope to the village. As they circled the bucket would remain almost still. The Waorani could take the gift from the “Great Wood Bee” and let it return. At times the gift might be a knife, a trinket or toy, a live chicken, a colorful cloth… Eventually one of the Waorani warriors returned a gift, a parrot, to the bucket. This was Nate’s sign that they were ready to be contacted.
They knew of no one who had ever contacted the Auca and lived to tell about it but they were compelled to contact these people. They felt that it was only through the Gospel of Jesus Christ that the cycle of violence could be ended. The day Nate was to fly in to make first face to face contact with the tribe his young son, Steve, asked him, “If they attack will you use your guns”. Nate replied, “Oh no, They aren’t ready to go to heaven, but we are.” On January 6, 1956 Nate and the others landed on a sand-bar of the river at the edge of the Waorani territory and set up camp. On January 7, three Waorani visited their site and seemed peaceful.
What is more important is that they knew that the missionaries were peaceful. However, in a lie to cover up a hidden relationship between two of the three original visitors to the beach, the rest of the tribe thought they were hostile and on January 8, Jim Elliot, Peter Fleming, Ed McCully, Roger Youderian, and Nate Saint were speared to death at their camp sight. They gave their life for the Gospel in what has been called the most publicized missionary massacre of the 20th century.

They gave their life for the gospel but what do we give? What is the cost of the gospel here in Wortham, TX? What does it cost us to follow Christ? The truth is, it doesn't cost us much to follow Jesus. We live in a time and place where many of us don't have to turn our backs on our family religion in order to be a Christian. Instead, it is our families that have “raised us in the ways of the Lord.” We live in a time where in some circles it costs more to not be a Christian than to claim to be a Christian.
When Jesus was walking among the people of Judea and Samaria, there wasn't much cost to follow him either. At least not in a casual way. The people who followed him were looking for a great leader, a great teacher, a great miracle worker. They found that in Jesus. The problem was that they didn't fully understand what it meant to follow him. They thought it meant walking around, hearing some teaching, traveling from town to town. They thought it meant being a better Jew. They thought it meant becoming a Jew. They thought it meant continuing as things are and being a little better. Jesus was telling them here that there is more to it than that. Jesus was telling them that families would turn against them. Jesus was telling them that some of them would loose their life. Jesus was telling them that there was a cost to following him. So, what is it that he was telling them? What was he asking them to consider?

1.Is there anything in life that is more important than their relationship with God? He was asking them to think of family – mother, father, sister, brother, wife, children... He was asking them to take inventory of their life and their priorities. Today the question is the same.
Is there anything in life more important than your relationship with God? Is your relationship with your family not only a priority, as it should be, but is it taking the place of your relationship with God? What about your job. Is your job taking precedence over God? Is money more important than church? Is your reputation more important than your witness?
What else was Jesus telling the people, and us?
2.He was telling them to carry their cross. When I hear that I think of these guys walking down the highways with their 4 X 4 Cross nailed together with a wheel on the bottom. You may even know some of the people who have participated in this image of “carrying a cross”. But some how I don't think that is what Jesus meant by this.
The people hearing this phrase would have had a different meaning. As they walked the highways and byways of the near east, they would have seen crosses lining the way with victims in various stages of death and dying. For them to carry ones cross would be akin to telling someone to carry ones noose, or carry ones electric chair. It meant to bear the very method of death that was inflicted by the powers that be. It also meant that they were to give up control of their life.
For those that read these words after the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, we know that it means we are to give our life over to Christ. We know that it means that to follow Christ, to live as Jesus, to truly be a Christian means that we give up control of our destiny, we give up control of our life, we give up control.
3.Finally, Jesus was telling them to make sure they knew the cost before they commit. Now, when I think of this one I can't help but follow the analogy that Jesus started. Most of you know that I have a Rent House in Hillsboro that Renee and I remodeled when we lived there. When we started the job I planned, I prepared, I estimated, I got Bobby the builder in there and we planned and estimated. I wanted to know how much it was going to cost to remodel this house before I got started because I had to pay for it. I wanted to make sure that I didn't bite off more than I could chew. As it was, I learned that you always need to plan to spend about 30% more than you think and it will take about 30% longer than you think to finish the job. Even when you estimate the cost, you have to be ready to accept the fact that it may actually cost more.
Another area that my mind goes is the cost of being a church member. For so long we have allowed there to be no cost to becoming a member of the Methodist Church. When someone comes to join we usually say something like this... “Oh, you want to join this wonderful church. Well, I can speak for all of us, we are so happy to have you (meaning – we are so happy to have anyone join the church). I just have one little question to ask you. It's just this thing we ask as Methodists. Ummm, will you do your best to support the church with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, and your service?, and I know you will so I want to extend the right hand of fellowship.” Mary Sue will you play one more verse of 'Just as I Am' while Margaret and Armond go to the back of the church to meet their new family.”
You see, there really hasn't been a cost. Membership has been a privilege, not a responsibility. Since the 1960's when that mindset for membership began, the United Methodist Church has been in a constant decline. While other denominations, both conservative and liberal in social and theological teachings have upped the requirements of membership and seen phenomenal growth, we in the Methodist church have been afraid to offend someone and actually hold people to their membership requirements. As a result we have seen our denomination shrink from 10.6 Million member in 1970 to less than 8 Million today. What has happened? We have lowered our expectations for our members to that of being a warm body that shows up when it is convenient.
Time and time again we have seen this fact. High expectation churches grow while low expectation churches die. My question for us is what are we?
Do we expect our members to actually show up? Weekly? Twice a month? Once a month? At least on Christmas and Easter?
Do we really expect our members to pray for the church? The leaders? The pastor? The Conference?
Do we actually think our members should give of their finances & their time? You mean it's not an either / or?
Do we really expect our members to tell others about the church and more than that, tell others about Christ?
In short, yes. You are expected to be in church when you are in town. You are expected to serve and reach out in ministry to others. You are expected to give... a tenth. You are expected to pray for me, the leaders of the church, and the District and Conference leaders. You are expected to tell others about God and the church.
Is there a cost? I don't know if you could call it that. Maybe you could.

I know Nate Saint thought of his sacrifice as a cost when he lay dying on that sand bar in the jungles of Ecuador.
In the Waorani dialect, there was no word for friend or friendship. As Nate Saint lay dying on that beach looking up at the warrior Micayani, he uttered the words, “Qua Bia Ganumbua” The closest thing that he could say to “I am your sincere friend.”
It was those words and the fact that though these missionaries had guns yet they did not fight back, that stuck in the mind of Micayani. In the weeks that followed it was the wives’ of the missionaries and Nate’s sister, Rachael, that actually made contact with the Waorani and lived to tell about it. With the help of Dayumai, the sister of Micayani who had some years earlier escaped the violence of the family and been living with Rachael, the ladies began to present the message of Jesus’ love to the “Auca’s”. They lived through Polio epidemics, spearing attacks from neighboring tribes, and many other hardships but the power of the gospel was worth it.
In 1969, the first copies of the Gospel of Mark in Waorani were dedicated at “God’s Speaking House.” Kimo, one of the original warriors who attacked Nate Saint’s party some 13 years before prayed, “Father God, You are alive. This is Your day and all of us have come to worship You. They brought us copies of Your Carving, enough for everybody. We accept it, saying, ‘This is the truth.’ We want all of your carving.”
That is the power of the Gospel. That is the power of the cost of following Christ. Through the good news of Jesus, lives are changed.
Prior to the 1960’s the Waorani Indians seldom had more than two generations present in a family. Disease, but mostly spearings, killed off the adults before they could see their grandchildren. Today, because of the Christian example of forgiveness lived out by the families of the Five Missionaries, the Waorani Indians are again a thriving population of Indigenous people of Ecuador. Micayani is a minister who preaches to visitors and tells them the story of the lives he took, the forgiveness he found, and the beauty and power of the Gospel.

Five missionaries gave their life for the Gospel and the power of that Gospel has since changed the lives of thousands in the rainforest of Ecuador. The Gospel has the power to do the same for you today if you will let it. No greater love is there than this, that one would lay their life down for another. Jesus loves you and Jesus can make a difference in your life. What do you want to do with that message? When you estimate the cost, is it worth it?

Tough Words

Tough Words
Luke 4:14-21

As some of you may know, I made a rushed trip to East Texas this weekend. I had received word that my grandmother was in the hospital in Linden and my mom was sick from the medications after her surgery so, I left Friday morning to go check on them. I found that everyone is doing better, still sick, but better, and I spend the night with mom. When I left Saturday morning I took a detour back through my home town and had some interesting realizations.
I drove into town remembering who had lived where and what had once been on the road where I was driving. I turned on the road where I once lived and went up the hill. The woods I played in as a child were still on the right, but the woods on the left, where I got hurt once, are gone. I continued up the street and saw the house I grew up in. The trees and bushes dad planted were still there and growing. It looked the same, yet something was different. The toys in the back yard were different. The shed in the back was falling down. The yard looked different. It was the same, but different.
From there I drove through the neighborhood and then across town to the old city park were I learned to swim. It had a new pier around the swimming area and a new boat ramp, but the swings and merri-go-rounds were the same. I drove on to one of my old fishing spots. It was the same old rocky point, but they had repaired an area that had washed out and made a walking trail next to the lake. It was the same, but different.
I left there and drove through the neighborhoods where my friends had lived. I was amazed at how little the houses had changed, even some of the cars were the same. I could tell where the Guerreros lived, The McCords still had the same VW Rabbit, and the Tilley’s still had the same old brown 1987 F-150. As I drove around I couldn’t believe that some of the same political figures from my childhood were still running for office, then as I looked closer at the political yard signs I realized – it’s not the same people, it’s their children and grandchildren running for office now. Everything was the same, but different.
I had driven to town with the expectation of progress but I left with the realization that, while things seem different, little changes unless something drastic happens.
I wonder if that isn’t what Jesus felt as he returned to his hometown to preach. I wonder if that isn’t what the people felt when they saw him. Their own home town boy, raised there in Nazareth by their home town boy Joseph, the carpenter.
Jesus has come back home. The people had heard rumors of how well he was doing. They had heard that he was a great teacher of the Scriptures and finally they could see for themselves. He came to the synagogue and took his place among the teachers. Others read, and then it was his turn. He rose from his seat, accepted the scroll that was handed to him, and then did something out of the ordinary. Rather than read what was rolled to on the scroll, he begins rolling through the scroll until he finds what he wanted to read. From the Isaiah scroll, he reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” “Ahhh, he reads so well” they think. As he sits down to begin teaching them they are spell-bound. “He is good” they think, “someone to truly be proud of, and someone that understands us. Look at the passage he read, he does understands us. God is restoring us.”
But something was different. It was the same, but different. Though he seemed the same, at least physically, he was different spiritually. Something had changed. It changed when he was born of the Spirit. It changed when the Holy Spirit descended upon him as a dove in the River with John. It changed when he opened his mouth and began to speak. “Is this not Joseph’s Son? Is he not the Carpenter? He spoke so well, as though he had authority.”
He was saying the words they thought they wanted to hear. We’ll get into the words that changed all that next week, but in the midst of his reading and explaining, they thought he was telling them God was setting them free, that God was healing them and their land. What they didn’t realize was that Jesus was describing the ministry that was to follow in his life – a ministry to the least, the last, the lost - A ministry of spoken words and actions that bring hope to the hopeless.
What Jesus was describing was the work of the ministry that he was beginning and would be continued by the Body of Christ. That is you and me. In the passage read and the explanation given, Jesus is describing the ministry that you and I are to be about – a ministry to the least, the last, and the lost – a ministry of spoken words and actions that bring hope to the hopeless. What does that translate into in today’s world?
Helping out in times of natural disaster – Going to or supporting those who go to offer aid to those in need. Our neighbors in the Canton, Sulphur Springs, and Athens areas are struggling to clean up after all the storms. Not to mention the devastation in Haiti that we continue to learn about. Few of us can give our presence in situations like this but we can give our prayers, gifts, and our service by creating health kits and flood buckets.
Healing the sick and visiting those who are isolated – We can go see those who are sick. We can call those who are shut in. We can offer love and grace to those who needed it in tough times. In doing this we are bringing hope to the hopeless. We are bringing grace to those who need it.
Tell others about what God has done for us – I know, you think this is where the sermon title came from. We have this misconception that it’s hard to talk about God. The truth is we talk about anything that is important to us. We get excited and tell others when HEB has a good special on their Meal Deal – like right, if you buy 2 lbs of ground meat; you get all the fixin’s for a taco meal. I know you have had conversations about the loss of the Cowboys last week. And I sure know some of you got excited about the win the week before. We get excited about these things, why can’t we get excited about what God has done for us? Why can’t we tell people about what the church has done for us? I think we can. I think, if you put your mind to it, you can get past the tough words, get past your fears, and tell others about church, about God, about what Jesus did for you some 2000 years ago and what he still does for you today as you receive the grace and mercy of God fresh and new in your life.
I want to challenge you today to do three things this week. I want you to write this down too. Take out your bulletin, get the pencil in the pew-jacket in front to you, and write on the lines in the back of your bulletin these 3 challenges.
1) Find a way to help out with Haiti or the tornado damage in North East Texas.
2) Visit someone that is lonely – a shut-in, someone recovering from illness or surgery, someone in prison or jail. Visit someone that is lonely.
3) Tell someone about what God has done for you and invite them to your church.

I expect you to do these things.
You know something else about the words that Jesus spoke to his home town crowd that day…
They were not words just for them. They are words for a world that needs to hear them. AND
These were not words just for you. They are words for a world that needs to hear them.
You’re job is to take the words out into that world and spread God’s love and grace in a world that needs to know God’s mercy. So Go, pass it on. Make a difference.

From Emmanuel to Evangelism

From Emmanuel to Evangelism
Isaiah 43:1-11

Last week we celebrated a new year and this past Wednesday we celebrated Epiphany. Since 336 AD the Western Church in Rome has celebrated December 25th as the celebration of the Incarnation – God with us, Emmanuel. Somewhere along the way though, no body really knows exactly when it started, the Eastern Church, at Constantinople, began celebrating Epiphany on January 6th as the time of the Christian Theophany, of God appearing to humanity as Jesus Christ. They celebrated with gifts and parties to remember the birth of Jesus and the appearing of the Wise Men. In Rome, the first evidence of a celebration of Epiphany and the Three Wise Men seems to appear around 361 and it was made a part of the Roman calendar in 380. Even though Rome recognized Epiphany, Christians on each side of civilization, from Turkey to Rome celebrated Christmas differently until the Second Council of Tours in 566 AD where the Roman and Byzantine Churches (that’s the Western and Eastern Churches) came together and decreed that Christmas would be celebrated from Christmas Eve to the Twelfth Night, or the Eve of Epiphany, thus Christmas would be a period of 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany – And that is how we came up with the 12 Days of Christmas.
Many of today’s Christian calendars recognize Advent as a time of preparation for Christmas, Christmastide to be the period from Christmas Eve through the Sunday after Epiphany, also known as the Baptism of our Lord. That is why we still have all our decorations up and that is how I came up with the sermon title, From Emmanuel to Evangelism. We have celebrated a time of Christ being born, of God with us – Emmanuel to the beginning of the ministry of Jesus – the Evangelism or the spreading of the Good News.
So now you say, OK preacher, that all makes sense, thank you for the history lesson, but what does that have to do with the Scripture you picked? To that I would say good job, your paying attention – today’s sermon text isn’t about the New Year, the Three Wise Men, the Baptism of Jesus, or about Jesus at all; it’s from the Old Testament, Isaiah 43:1-11 but let us see if somehow all this can tie together in the end.

Isaiah 43:1-11
But now thus says the Lord,
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.
For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.
I give Egypt as your ransom,
Ethiopia* and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my sight,
and honoured, and I love you,
I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.
Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up’,
and to the south, ‘Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.’

Bring forth the people who are blind, yet have eyes,
who are deaf, yet have ears!
Let all the nations gather together,
and let the peoples assemble.
Who among them declared this,
and foretold to us the former things?
Let them bring their witnesses to justify them,
and let them hear and say, ‘It is true.’
You are my witnesses, says the Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen,
so that you may know and believe me
and understand that I am he.
Before me no god was formed,
nor shall there be any after me.
I, I am the Lord,
and besides me there is no saviour.

Ahhhh, Emmanuel, God is with us. Even in this text we hear the ringing of the words, ‘Do not fear for I am with you.’ The people of Israel had fallen away from God, they had chosen to follow another way and that way led them far from God. Chapter 42 talks of the anger of God burning against the Israelites for falling away but then, Isaiah reminds them that God is with us, Isaiah reminds them that God restores, Isaiah reminds them that they are God’s witnesses. Isaiah reminds them that there is a time for a new start and that time is now.
10 days ago some of you made a new start. You proclaimed a resolution to get organized and yet you still can’t find your car keys in the morning, or resolved to get out of debt, then pulled out the credit card to pay for that burger and fries, or you declared that this would be the year you got in shape but not before I finish off that ½ gallon of Blue Bell. So many of us make our resolutions each year and there is a reason for that. A New Year is a time for a new start. It is a time to begin anew, fresh. The problem is that it’s sometimes hard to start fresh and new, sometimes it takes a little remodeling.
I don’t know about you but remodeling is hard work. Oh, I don’t mean slappin’ a few coats of paint on the wall and having carpet laid, I mean sheetrock crushin’, stud rippin’, wall buildin’ remodeling. My only personal experience with this is our house in Hillsboro. Before Renee and I and the family moved in we had some remodeling to do and this remodeling involved cutting a whole in one wall to make a door, knocking out a couple of walls, building a couple of walls, and rebuilding the floor in some places. Now, there comes a point in a remodel job like that when you walk in and look around and think, you know, it really didn’t look that bad before, what have I done? You look around at the mayhem and then realize, you can’t stop there, as much damage as you have done you’ve got to move ahead. Then when you finish you forget about the pain, you forget about the busted walls and the broken studs, and you just enjoy the beauty of the finished product. That’s the way it is with our lives sometimes.

Max Lucado writes,
God loves to decorate. God has to decorate. Let Him live long enough in a heart, and that heart will begin to change. Portraits of hurt will be replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger will be demolished and shaky foundations restored. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a mother can leave her child’s tear untouched….
This might explain some of the discomfort in your life. Remodeling of the heart is not always pleasant. We don’t object when the Carpenter adds a few shelves, but He’s been known to gut the entire west wing. He has such high aspirations for you. God envisions a complete restoration. He won’t stop until He’s finished…. He wants you to be just like Jesus.

You see, God is making us new. God is remodeling us. God wants the best for us. When we set those resolutions to do better, God is with us and God wants us to follow through with them. God wants you to quit smoking because that is what is best for you. God wants you to spend more time with your family because that is what is best for you and your family. God wants you to help others more because that is a part of loving God. God wants you to learn something new because that helps you reach more people and it keeps you mind active. God cares about you enough that he came down here, put on human flesh, lived as a baby, was raised by a mommy and a daddy, was revered by Kings and loved by paupers, was baptized in the River Jordan, taught along the hills and valleys and the highways and byways. Then, Jesus, our God in the flesh cared enough for you and for me that he allowed himself to be beaten and bruised, hung on a cross, and die. Jesus cared enough for us that he rose from the dead and offers us new life.
God came here to be with us and God wants us to accept that new life, to grow and be new. But the story doesn’t end there. Yes, bad things happen and God is with us. Yes, good thing happen and God is with us. Our passage reminds us of that, but our passage also reminds us of another thing. Verse 10 reminds us that “You are my witnesses, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.” I realize that this passage is talking about Israel but I think that Isaiah’s words from the Lord are for us as well. We are the witnesses for God here on the earth. The Christmas season is just one way that we as the people of God witness to the life of Christ. We celebrate Advent and prepare for Christ to come. We open our church on Christmas Eve and have one of the larges interdenominational services in the community every year. We speak about Christ and sing the songs about his birth in Wal-Mart and in our car. We carry the celebration through till this week and we use it as a witness to the world but the witness can’t stop there.
God doesn’t remodel our lives for our own good alone. God is with us so that we can tell others the good news. From Emmanuel to Evangelism – or an easier way to remember is, From God with us to spreading the good news. That is what this season has been about. Today is another day that we can go forth and spread the good news of the new life Christ has given us. Go, Go tell it on the Mountain. Go, Go spread the good news of what God has done. Go, God and remind the world that Christ is with them, just as he is with you.

Lord I Want to See

Mk. 10:46-52
A group of blind men were wandering in the jungle. Now, don’t ask me what a bunch of blind men were doing in the jungle, just work with me here. ANYWAY, so they were wondering in the jungle and they all came upon a large object in their trail. They couldn’t move it, they couldn’t get past it, and they didn’t recognize it.
As one of the men started feeling what was in front of him he said it was about as big around as a tree trunk, was rough, and hard, yet at the same time it seemed to almost feel like a flesh.
Another man said, no, no… it is thin and soft and floppy, like a sheet of leather.
Yet another said no, it is thin like a snake only firmer and with fur on the tip.
And still another said no, it is like a root that has been broken off, on the one end it is damp and odd but then it seems to connect on the other end to a tree or a boulder.
Finally, a native came upon them and saw what they were doing and asked, “What are you guys doing to that poor elephant.”
Each of the men were describing the elephant from their own experience, from their own perspective. Pardon the pun; they were blinded by their own limited vision. How often are we that way? How often do we have trouble seeing beyond our limited experiences? How often is it that we need to back up and open our eyes to see the big picture?
Take for instance the Health Care debate going on in our nation right now. I have heard a number of arguments about what to do about the issue. On the one hand we hear the argument that the health care in the United States is about personal choice and responsibility. No one has a right to health care; our rights are to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, not entitlements. If you want health insurance then go get it.

On the other hand, I hear the argument that the cost of health care has skyrocketed recently. Doctors, hospitals, and insurance companies are charging more and more to add to their profits and offset the cost of litigation from all the malpractice lawsuits. With all the increases in health care costs people are loosing the opportunity to pursue a life of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. The only agency big enough to handle this debacle is the federal government.
If your experience is of having little or no insurance for yourself or a loved one you have one view of the issue. If you have good insurance or good health care regardless of insurance then you have another perspective of the situation. If you work in the healthcare field you have yet another perspective.
Our experiences limit our vision. To truly settle the issue, we need to look beyond our limited experience of the issue. We need to open our eyes and expand our vision. The question is how do we do that? How do we see differently?
This is what happened to Bartimaus. Ol’ Bart was their minding his own business begging for alms at the gate of Jericho. Now it wasn’t uncommon to find beggars there since most of the labor was physical in nature and you couldn’t get a job if you had a disability. However, in Bart’s case he was a step down from most of the beggars. You see, according to William Barclay, the blind were looked upon as having been punished by God. So, Bart’s sitting there, a nobody among nobodies, hoping for enough of a hand-out to get him through one more day when he hears a crowd coming. I can just see him asking, “Hey, who is that, it must be a teacher because I hear lots of people but only one voice over the crowd.” Then the reply, “Oh, that’s that Jesus from Nazareth”.
Having heard all the stories of Jesus, Bartimaus knew him. Bart knew who Jesus was and what he had done, and Ol’ Bart starts to cry out a prayer that we should all be praying, “Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me.” “Jesus, the Chosen One of God, have mercy on me.” When Jesus hears him, Jesus doesn’t walk the other way because he’s a begger, because he’s blind, because he’s a sinner, because God has punished him… NO, Jesus calls Bartimaus to himself, and asks him what he wants. And Bart Said, “I want to see.”
This is the interesting point in the story. The conflict that Bartimaus brings us is our own contrast between vision and sight. Edward Sims writes, “Recognition has to do with vision; seeing has to do with sight. Bartimaus had vision to recognize Jesus. He asked for his sight to see. We have the sight to see and ask for the vision to recognize.” We can see but do we recognize Jesus?
This is even more striking if you back up and read it in context with the other blind man passage of chapter 8. When we do this we realize that the story is less about the miracle of Bartimaus and his sight and more about the vision of the disciples.
They, like we, could see. They had seen the miracles of Jesus. They had witnessed the miracles and heard the teachings. Bart had only heard the stories from others, yet he believed. He had no experience with Jesus and yet he believed.
Our experience can be a vital part of our faith but it can also limit us. I saw a perfect illustration about this once on the show Medical Miracles. There was a little boy who was born blind. The doctors had hopes of healing him and giving him his sight. After dozens of surgeries and the painful rehabilitation from each of them he still could not see. But now, because of a new surgical treatment with an Artificial Corneal Implant there was once again hope that he may be able to see. They prepped him and performed the surgery and all went well. BUT the next day, when the patch came off and it was time to open his eye, he couldn’t do it. He started to, but he was scared. His experiences of the past had been so painful that he just didn’t think he could open his eyes. I don’t know if he was afraid that he would open his eyes and see or if he was afraid that he would open his eyes and not see. In the end, he found the courage and opened his eyes and saw his family for the first time.

Fear can be a terrible hindrance. Bartimaus had nothing to fear. He was already at the bottom of the social ladder. If he believed in who Jesus was and it turned out to be right or wrong, either way, his life could only get better. For the disciples it wasn’t so. They had plenty to fear. Maybe it was fear that had kept them from looking beyond their limited sight. If they looked beyond their limited sight, then they would have to face the cost of what it meant to follow Christ. If they had the vision to recognize Christ, then they would have to change.
That is the same way with us. If we begin to align our vision with that of God, we have to change.
-We will have to see differently. We will have to see people as God sees people. We will have to see ourselves as God sees us.
-When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see our need for revival, individually and as a church. And I’m not just talking about having a few special worship events with a better preacher and some special music. I’m talking about a revival of our relationship with God and how we as a church relate to one another and God.
- When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see beyond our idea of SS and Christian Education – It’s not just for children and youth. Sunday School and Christian education is a life long process. It is one of the ways we strengthen our relationship with God. Not only that but we will have to see beyond our idea of discipleship as learning from someone else and begin to disciple and mentor others.

- When we align our vision with God’s we will have to see that we are all teachers. We are all always teaching. The question is “what are we teaching?” Seeing differently means that we will begin to recognize that we are always having an impact on others regardless of where we are and what we are doing. It is like the story I heard about a 5 year old boy at one of the churches in our Conference. This little boy, Davey, is severely autistic but he is constantly walking up to people and telling them, “Jesus loves me… and… Jesus loves you.” This boy is teaching others about Jesus love.
OR The story I heard about John, a 9 yoa boy with ADHD who had been disrupting his parents and the entire church during worship when a youth, Kris, came and asked if she could sit with him. Now John sits with Kris each week and gives his parents a break. She tries to help him focus, she gives him something to do, and she helps him learn what church is about. John is learning about Christ through the patience and kindness of Kris.
Kris has a vision and because of her vision, John is beginning to have vision, they are beginning to see beyond their own limited sight because of God’s grace.
I know this sermon seems to have bounced around a bit so I will bring it all together here. Up to this point we have been talking about seeing differently. We started out talking about how
we need to open our eyes and expand our vision, THEN we saw the contrast between vision and sight and I hope that I have made the point that we need vision more than we need sight. FINALLY while our experience can be helpful in increasing our vision, we need to be careful that we do not let it limit us.
Bartimaus had vision, and through his vision he regained his sight. Bartimaus called out to Jesus and Jesus met him where he was but Bartimaus knew what he wanted, he wanted to see and by the grace of God he received his sight.
I want to be like Bartimaus, “Lord, I want vision”, yet I am afraid I am more like the disciples than I care to admit.
Afraid to see fully,
-afraid to have vision because of the cost,
-seeking to see only a little of what God is calling me to do and be
BUT through the grace of God, even the disciples received vision as God was revealed in Christ.
Grace is afforded to each of us through Christ as well. As we seek God, we can begin to see more clearly. We can see differently. Maybe today we can see communion as an opportunity to see differently. May God open our eyes that we may see.