Sent 2 x 2

Sermon given at Grace UMC 6/12/16

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Scripture

^NRS  Luke 10:1 After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. ² He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. ³ Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. ⁴ Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' ⁶ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house.

 ⁸ Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you;

 ⁹ cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' ¹⁰ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ 'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.'

One day Hudson Taylor was traveling on a Chinese junk from Shanghai to Ningpo. He had been witnessing to a man named Peter who rejected the gospel but was under deep conviction. In the course of events, Peter fell overboard, but no one made any effort to save him. Taylor sprang to the mast, let down the sail, and jumped overboard in hopes of finding his friend. But no one on board joined Taylor in his frantic search. Taylor saw a fishing boat nearby and yelled to them to help, but they wouldn't do it without money. Finally, after bartering for every penny that Taylor had, the fishermen stopped their fishing and began to look for Peter. In less than a minute of dragging their net, they found him, but it was too late. They were too busy fishing to care about saving a drowning man. 

Good morning and welcome to this opportunity to explore discipleship as God intended it to be. Our story with Hudson Taylor, missionary and extraordinary writer, reminds us that all too often we get so focused on the world in which we live that we fail to see the world around us. And it also reminds us that we have precious little time to witness to someone about the power of God’s love and relationship. Today I want to talk with you about relationship, about witness and about the scripture. Jesus sent out His disciples, seventy of them two by two. Why two by two? Because there is power in partnership and number! One alone would be subject to danger while two will often get left alone. It is why at malls and places that are concerned about safety they will tell you to go out in pairs. It is why when we teach little children about swimming they are required to partner up. There is power in 2 or 3 or more and we are reminded that where 2 or 3 are gathered, there Jesus will be also.

Jesus sent them out to the places He was going to visit. I had never caught that before. He sent them to scout out the area for His ministry. If the area was fertile then Jesus would come there and preach and teach. If the area was not fertile, He would pass this place by. And the mark of fertility was whether or not there were people there that would be interested in peace. I often wonder at those who constantly strive to keep things at a state of unrest. They are more interested in stirring something up than healing something broken. Many churches are full of people who would rather have constant bickering and strife than peace. But Jesus reminds us that when we encounter those who desire peace, we need to stay awhile and bring it to them.

The disciples are sent out with nothing but themselves. I often have heard it said that we struggle in this country because of our affluence. We have so much that we all too often ignore or turn our back on God. We think we have it under control and we know more than God knows or more than we need from God. So God will often break us down so that we find ourselves in a place where we must rely on God. Or we become the people who don’t really desire peace at all. You see, I am convinced that peace in this message is not the peace that comes to mind but rather it is the relationship and love of God that brings joy and peace even in the midst of struggle, trial and tribulation. You have heard me say that we must learn to trust God before anything else, before any decision and before any action. Trusting God is paramount to being a good disciple.

Jesus wants us to witness to the world. I am often asked how to we witness. I have asked people over and over again to come to church and they never come. Or I don’t know enough about the scriptures to witness to people. Jesus did not say to the disciples, go and repeatedly badger those who you encounter. Nor did He say, go to school and get your Doctorate in Theology before embarking on this journey I am sending you on. NO! He said Go! Take nothing with you but yourselves and your belief in God. And when you find those who are interested in your message, spend time with them and tell them the Kingdom of God is near.

I want to share with you how to witness this morning. Witnessing is about the power of relationship, nothing less and nothing more. People are not interested in hearing about heaven or about being preached scripture to. They will be if we first establish a relationship with them, a genuine heartfelt relationship of sharing and being the kind of friend that we are so lacking in the world today. So witnessing begins with conversation that is in part more listening than talking. Learn as much as you can about who they are and what makes them tick. What are their concerns in life and what challenges or issues might you help them with. I remember some years ago a young man came to me worried about losing his job. I shared with him that I had been downsized many years ago and it was hard. I was on unemployment and because I had a Master’s degree, no-one would hire me. I can do electric work but they would not hire me because they felt like I would work for them and look for a better job. Of course, that didn’t help put food on the table. But I trusted God and prayed each day and God brought me work during that period of time and then a great job. See how I was able to connect and then bring my relationship with God. Notice that I did not invite them to my church or get preachy. Witnessing is about developing a relationship with someone so that you can become their friend. And in that friendship bring them into relationship with God. The Kingdom of God is near.

I want to take a moment and talk about verse 10 and 11. There are those who do not wish you to share your relationship about God with them and it is ok. It is not ok in the long run because sooner or later there will be judgment. But that is not for you and me to worry ourselves over. Our role is to share the message, to share God’s love and to spend time with those who want to listen to the message. So when you encounter those who wish to inform you that they want nothing to do with God or the people of God, wipe the dust off your sandals and move on. But remember, offer them the peace of God first and who knows, it may fester in them so that they want to come and learn more.  

When DAVE THOMAS died in early 2002, he left behind more than just thousands of Wendy’s restaurants. He also left a legacy of being a practical, hard-working man who was respected for his down-to-earth values. Among the pieces of good advice that have outlived the smiling entrepreneur is his view of what Christians should be doing with their lives. Thomas, who as a youngster was influenced for Christ by his grandmother, said that believers should be "roll-up-your-shirt sleeves" Christians. In his book Well Done, Thomas said, "Roll-up-your-shirtsleeves.  Christians see Christianity as faith and action. They still make the time to talk with God through prayer, study Scripture with devotion, be super-active in their church and take their ministry to others to spread the Good Word." He went on to say they are "anonymous people who are doing good for Christ and may be doing even more good than all the well-known Christians in the world." That statement has more meat in it than a Wendy’s triple burger. Thomas knew about hard work in the restaurant business; and he knew it is vital in the spiritual world also.  (Source: Dave Branon, Our Daily Bread.)

We have an opportunity to share in partnership with others this wonderful journey that Jesus has sent us on. Go as partners, sharing the ride, sharing the joys and the sorrows. Witness to others through the relationships that you develop with them. Don’t keep harping on coming to church, rather show them what God has done for you and then share that church is where you have learned how to be in that relationship. People want to be a part of something greater, something better and something that brings value to their lives. And roll-up your sleeves and get to work.  

The New Creation

Sermon given at Grace UMC 6/5/16

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; ⁴ he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." ⁵ And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true." ⁶ Then he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children.

In the last few weeks I have talked about Grace, Love and Discipleship, about God’s unwavering love, about following Christ and what God wants from us. Today I begin a series of sermons that leads us to saying Goodbye. My farewell is not far away at this point as God takes me on my continuing journey of faith. Just as Abraham went from where he was to where God wanted him to be, so too will Bonnie and I begin a new phase of our journey in a new place. But I would be remiss if I did not try to answer the one question that has been asked over and over again in the last few weeks. Will the new preacher be ok? Will the church continue to grow? And the number of similar questions worded different ways. There is a problem here. The problem is that those asking the question are hoping that I have a simple answer. The challenge is always how one answers a closed ended question when the answer is complicated and open ended. By that I mean, there is an answer, and for the last five years we have focused on discipleship, learning to be followers of Christ and Changing lives for Christ has been our mantra. The answer is simplest terms is that when we truly become Disciples of Christ; God will direct us to become the instruments of his glory. That seems so simple. I liken it to a story I heard once of a child who came home from Sunday school to tell his father about Moses at the Red Sea. The young man described how the Israelites had put down pontoon bridges for their jeeps to cross on. Then, as Pharaoh approached and his army came over the bridges, they were dynamited and the whole Egyptian army sank in one fell swoop. The father calmly asked the excited son if that was really the way it happened. The child's response was, "No, but if I told you what they really said at church, you sure wouldn't believe it."

Most scholars believe that the Apostle John on the island of Patmos was chosen by God to see the future. A vision of something so lovely that John could hardly describe it in terms that we can understand.  Maybe that is why the Revelation of John is so difficult to interpret even today. John was having a mountaintop experience as he looked into the future and saw Jesus return to the earth. A new heaven and a new earth he tells us as he looks into that vision and sees the city of God coming down to earth. Can you imagine it? Heaven here on earth! A place of joy and celebration and the complete absence of pain and suffering, hate and anger, war and conflict. A place where the lion and the sheep lay down beside each other in harmony and peace. Is it truly possible? Since John wrote down this vision Christians have been waiting and praying for this vision to become a reality. You see he saw the effects of churches like ours transforming lives.

We sit here today at the crossroads of a new reality for Grace. A new reality that in fact only God can create! A new reality that will make us a part of the beautiful creation that John saw in his vision! But it takes two things for this beautiful vision to come our new reality. It takes trust and prayer. Trust that God can do what we cannot begin to understand or even figure out how to make it happen. We must learn to trust God with our lives, our time and our money. Billy Graham once said that the best thing that could happen to Western Christianity was for all the special funds that churches keep as sacred to dry up and go away. It is then that Rev Graham said that we could finally learn how to be church again. I believe that the core of what he is saying is that the issue of trust is the most important aspect of believing that we can be something other than what we think we are capable of. If we sit and look back at the last three years we have come to an amazing place with amazing people. All because of God! We did what some said was impossible not because we are exceptional people but because we trusted God to do exceptional things. And it requires prayer. We must become an intentional prayerful church. Each and every one of you needs to have an intentional prayer life. It begins today. Make a commitment to pray to God at least 30 minutes throughout the day. Pray for those who are in need, pray for those who need healing, pray for those in need of comfort, pray for your own lives and the things you need and then pray to God for guidance and direction. Are you interested in continuing that ride? I am! We need to be about the business of transforming lives.

We can make a difference in the next year. We can make a difference in the next five years. It begins with trust. It requires love. Do you love one another without hesitation, without fear, without regard to where we came from and who our parents are? If not we must. And then it requires commitment. The early disciples were asked to drop what they were doing and follow Jesus. My vision does not require you to leave your jobs or your current lives but it does require you to reach outside your comfort zones. We begin this process by determining the why question. So the first thing beyond trusting God is praying to God for guidance and direction. I believe that this church can be the center of mission and transformation for the Town of Parksley and Accomack County but it takes the Body, that’s you, to be in agreement with that. Are you ready to be the Body of Christ and to transform lives for Jesus Christ? That is what church is about, what is at the core of who it is supposed to be and about what I am determined to make Grace known for. Transforming lives is the business we need to be in. In fact I challenge you to a new reality, Each One, Reach One. If each one of you will make a decision to reach one person for Christ in the next 365 days this church can double its numbers of family members. But it requires that you make that determination and then follow through. Not all will be successful but if you don’t try then you surely will fail.

Five years ago I envisioned a church that has a continued mission focus on benevolence – giving of what we have to those in need. Today we have already given more than 24% of our income, about $ 22,580, to mission including local, regional and international benevolence. We provide food for those that are hungry but we can do better. If God is calling you this morning think about how a food pantry would make a difference in our community. We provide assistance to local and international mission. If God is calling you this morning think about how we can channel resources to build and rebuild homes for those in deep need. Transforming lives through love is central to who we are.

Five years ago I envisioned a church that has a focus on our young people. Thanks to some dedicated people like Donna Nelson and Dan and Mary Derby we have more children attending than when Bonnie and I arrived here. If God is calling you this morning think about how we can develop children’s programs like monthly movie nights with pizza or training on alcoholism and drug abuse or providing safe sanctuary for kids in crisis that walk our streets. I envision a church that wants to transform the lives of our young people by offering them mission opportunities, lifting up some to movements like Emmaus and District and Conference programs like Reach which puts them in the midst of making a difference in the world. If you are called by God this morning to lead young people then think about how to invite them in. Transforming the lives of young people assures that God’s message of love and redemption continues on.

Five years ago I envisioned a church that nurtures its own and follows Christ’s example to teach us how to be disciples. God called us all to discipleship, daily reading, and constant prayer, God first and service to others before self. The marks of discipleship were evident in those who built, rebuilt and witnessed in this church before we were born, in our childhood and even now. Forty of you worked with me through learning about your skills that God had given you and what it means to be a disciple. It is about being part of the Body of Christ by participating, becoming more like Christ by modeling our lives after His and joining Christ where He is already working in the world around us. If God is calling you this morning to nurturing relationships then think about being part of a visitation team for our shut-ins, writing cards, mailing good will packages, and working diligently to be the type of disciple Peter, James, John, Paul and even Thomas were. Ordinary people God used to transform the world around them. Don’t think you can? Trust God. We transform at home first just as Christ did.

Think our vision is too ambitious? Christ began Christianity with 12 people and look at what has been accomplished. When we create expectations that are comfortable and achievable we never succeed. But when we create goals we know we cannot do without God’s help, God always provides. Would you rather be a church that is mediocre and dying or a church alive with the spirit of Pentecost? Transforming lives is what we are supposed to be.  

I heard this story once and thought it would be a great story of life for a Christian. A disciple of Christ was in Chicago recounts this story. One night in Chicago, many years ago, when I was on my way home, I saw a man leaning against a lamp-post. Stepping up to him, and placing my hand on his shoulder, I said—"Are you a Christian?" The man flew into a rage, doubled up his fist, and I thought he was going to pitch me into the gutter. I said, "I'm very sorry if I've offended you, but I thought I was asking a proper question." "Mind your own business," he roared. "That is my business," I answered. About three months later, on a bitter cold morning, about daybreak, someone knocked at my door. "Who's there?" I asked. A stranger answered, and I said, "What do you want?" "I want to become a Christian," was the reply. I opened the door, and, to my astonishment, there was the man who had cursed me for talking to him as he leaned against the lamp-post. He said, "I'm very sorry. I haven't had any peace since that night. Your words have haunted and troubled me. I couldn't sleep last night, and I thought I'd come and get you to pray for me." That man accepted Christ, and the moment he had done so asked—"What can I do for Him?" He taught in the Sabbath school until the Civil War broke out, when he enlisted, and was one of the first to be shot down, but not before he had given a ringing testimony for God.

You see, the teller of this story was about transforming lives. When you are in that business God will bring you lives to transform. Are you ready to make a difference in the world around us?