Nature Preaches

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 2/26/17

Click here for audio

^NRS  Psalm 19:1 <To the leader. A Psalm of David.> The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork. ² Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge. ³ There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard; ⁴ yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun, ⁵ which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy, and like a strong man runs its course with joy. ⁶ Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them; and nothing is hid from its heat. ⁷ The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the decrees of the LORD are sure, making wise the simple; ⁸ the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is clear, enlightening the eyes; ⁹ the fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever; the ordinances of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

Have you ever spent time just enjoying the creation of God? A number of years ago a songwriter Mac Davis wrote a song that reminds us of this.

“Did you ever take a walk through the forest
Stop and dream a while among the trees
Well you can look up through the leaves right straight to heaven
You can almost hear the voice of God
In each any every breeze

You got to Stop and Smell the Roses
You've got to count your many blessings everyday
You're gonna find your way to heaven is a rough and rocky road
If you don't Stop and Smell the Roses along the way”

Have you ever taken the time to walk through the woods, along a trail, next to a river or lake and enjoyed the focus of nature? Have you listened to the voice of God in the sound of the Dove or the Whippoorwill as it sings its melody and when they answer each other across the distance? If we don’t take the time to share in the beauty of creation that God has given us, how are we ever going to have the opportunity to know God? David shares it with us the Psalm when he says that the heavens are telling us of the glory of God. I love to get to a place where I can look up into the heavens and see the Milky Way as it cuts across the heavens right above us. And to marvel at the flight of a hummingbird as it makes its way from flower to flower grabbing the nectar of creation as sustenance for life.

The American Indian has at the very center of its understanding, to take in the beauty of the world around us and become one with it. I took a class some months back and was reminded again of the understanding of life in everything around us. We were reminded that life is sacrificed in order to allow life to grow and prosper. From the very essence of life in water as it falls from the sky, soaks into the ground where it gives up itself in the nutrients that are taken by the plants as it works its way into the water table, there to give up its essence to the formation of springs and rivers. Then the waters work their way toward the oceans, often evaporating into the heavens to start the cycle all over again. Meanwhile animals and even we humans find nourishment and sustenance in the cool waters. The plants give up their essence to the Birds, the Bees and other animals as food for sustenance to live. Animals give up their lives for larger animals as food for life and that includes those that give up their essence for our dinner table. Even trees give up their essence; sacrifice themselves if you will for our tables, chairs and homes. All of lives, the circle of life as it was famously called in the Lion King, gives and gets from this wonderful thing we call creation. But do we pay attention to the beauty and sacrifice in it? Do we see God working in the blossoming of the flowers, in the budding of the trees and in the song of the birds at the feeders? I would say that most of the time the answer is no.  

If we truly want to know God, to experience God and to share with God then we must learn to recognize God in the natural world around us. The very essence of the natural world reveals God. Take for example the complexity of our human bodies and the synchronization of the world around us. That we could by chance evolve into a place where the spin rate of the world, the gravitational forces and connection to our sun create a place where air is trapped if you will, in between the physical earth and the void of outer space is incredible if not impossible. That scientists even now are in agreement that it took some form of a third party intervention to get the Big Bang of creation going shouts to the existence of God. That the vastness of nature also shouts to the existence of a being far greater, far more intelligent and far more benevolent than anything we can imagine or devise.

Some years back I watched a great movie about an angel who falls in love with a doctor. He finds out that even for angels there is choice and so he chooses to leave the boundaries of the angelic world for those of the human one. What he misses most every day is the song that comes when the sun rises. I think it is a great way of sharing the beauty of creation that as the sun rises there is a great singing that takes place in the world. I have lived in the country much of my life. As the dawn approaches and then happens we too are allowed to hear this heavenly chorus. Just before the break of dawn there begins a great crescendo of voices including the birds, many vocal species of larger grasshoppers and katydids that continues for several minutes as the sun rises into the sky. It truly is breathtaking if you get a chance to hear it without the sounds of the world around us drowning it out. And then there are the tree frogs. By some great focus of creation they begin their singing at the exact second that the sun disappears in the western sky. For those of us who grew up around them, they are the clock by which we define night. How can we not experience God in those moments?

I read this devotion the other day that I want to share with you today. “Some of my fondest memories as a child and early teen are of times when I would take walks through the woods behind my parent's home to sit on top of a hill overlooking a small community that sat nestled below it.  As I sat there in the stillness of God's creation, listening to the sound of the birds and watching the beauty of the trees and flowers around me, I felt His presence in a way that was equal to any church service I have ever participated in.  My faith was nurtured on that hilltop, and in times when my faith grows weary, I find myself returning to nature to restore and replenish the faith that is deep within my soul.

Many of us have had our most meaningful spiritual experiences in relationship to the environment.  Beauty provokes us to transcend our mundane concerns, shortcomings and conflicts.  We have heard the voice of God in our woods and waterways, in bird song or the remarkable delicacy of a flower.   Yet, there are those around us who readily abandon the idea of a higher power, or ascribe all this complexity to the whim of chaos.  For me, when I look into the eyes of nature, and see all the beauty that God has placed here for us to enjoy, there is no denying His presence in the world He created, or in my life. In those still, quiet moments when I am intertwined with Him, He is as real as the air I breathe, and His voice speaks to me as softly as a gentle breeze. 

I often find myself looking at the clouds by day and the sunset by night, admiring the colors and the way that God seems to paint His beauty across the sky for all to see.  He is quite the artist and nothing can compare to the beauty that He sets before us.  This spring, I have particularly been impressed by the colors of the leaves and blooms that have covered the landscapes.  And, have you ever seen so many different shades of green?   It is amazing !!!”

Sounds a lot like the words of David as he looked upon the heavens and heard the voice of God speaking to him. In nature we see God’s wisdom and intelligence in the divine design of it. How careful each piece comes together and who we human beings are carefully added to this complex existence we call our world. How we see the goodness of God in the life cycle of all creation. But we only see it when we take a moment, open our eyes and our senses to it, and then share in the world around us. Nature can and will preach to us the beauty and majesty of God if we only will stop and smell the roses along the way. 

Unbroken

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 2/19/17

Click here for audio

^NRS  Exodus 6:6 Say therefore to the Israelites, 'I am the LORD, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. ⁷ I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. ⁸ I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.'"

I want to share with you the ten signs that you are in for a long sermon.

10.       There’s a case of bottled water beside the pulpit in a cooler.

9.         The pews have camper hookups

8.         You overhear the pastor telling the sound man to have few dozen extra tapes to record today’s sermon.

7.         The preacher has brought a snack to the pulpit.

6.         The preacher will break for intermission

5.         The bulletins have pizza delivery menus

4.         When the preacher asks the Lay Leader to bring in his notes and the Lay Leader rolls in a file cabinet.

3.         The choir loft is furnished with La-Z-Boys

2.         Instead of taking off his watch and laying it on the pulpit, he turns up a four foot hour glass.

1.         And the number one reason you are in for a long sermon, the minister tells you he will have you out in time for the Super Bowl and the last one just ended.

We are now a few short weeks from the season of Lent. It is a season when we reflect and celebrate our relationship with God. Grace, the principle understanding of what God has given us is the foundation of our faith. Without the grace of God, love in action, that comes from God whether we accept it or not, we would not be here in this place to worship and praise. But what is Grace without covenant? Covenant means that there is an agreement between two parties, one side giving something in consideration from the other side. We call them contracts or agreements today and they typically involve the legal community. In my younger days they usually involved a handshake and a promise and that was all that was needed. Funny, those agreements from my younger days were probably closer to what God had in mind.

Most biblical scholars would say that there are seven covenants in the Bible. The first four were covenants between God and the people of Israel. And the next three were between God and the people of the world. The Abrahamic covenant promised that the descendants of Abraham would be great nations and they would be as numerous as the stars in the sky. Since technically the Islamic, Jewish and Christian worlds claim Abraham as father, that covenant has in fact been kept. Part two was that the world would be blessed by the descendants of Abraham and since Jesus is that blessing and descendant, it also has been kept. The land grant covenant is still in flux. God gave the land to the descendants of Israel as long as they were obedient but said that they would eventually receive all of it again. They currently occupy a portion but time will tell and my bet is on God. The Mosaic covenant, the Ten Commandments promises that if we obey the commandments then God will bless us. God has kept God’s part; we have failed to be an obedient church. And finally the Davidic covenant proclaimed Jesus and that has and is continuing to be fulfilled.

The final three were between God and us, the people of the world. The Adamic Covenant gives us free will to choose and also the consequences of choice. But ultimately the covenant leads us as humanity back to the Garden. The Noahic Covenant promises that the earth will not be destroyed by water. The rainbow is the sign of that covenant for us.

Finally we have been promised the ultimate promise, the New Covenant that is created between God and the people of the world. This covenant promises us that if we believe in the power of God’s love as demonstrated through the life, death and resurrection of the Son, Jesus Christ, that we will not perish but have eternal life. That covenant has been the subject of my last two sermons on what it means to experience God’s love, to share that love with others and to be disciples for the world.

So today we have this passage from God in the time of the Egyptian experience. God is making a promise to the people of Israel and I would suggest that God is working at keeping that promise to you and me today.

The truth of the covenants of God is that God has never broken a covenant. Not once in all the history of the world has God reneged on a promise that God has made. The people of Israel and I would suggest that God is keeping those promises even now to us.

God says that I will deliver you to freedom. Nothing is more sacred than freedom. Throughout the history of humankind, peace and freedom have been fleeting. One group finds a way to hold another group in oppression and slavery. But God says that we will be free. Jesus Christ went to the cross to assure that we have that freedom and God’s promise has been fulfilled in the death and resurrection of God’s Son.

I will deliver you from slavery and give you liberty. Again, we acknowledge that there are many forms of slavery in the world. Today there is human trafficking that takes young lives and submits them to the slavery of the sex trade. In some parts of the world we have actual slavery still a fact of life. In this country we see slavery exhibited in undocumented jobs that force people to work below poverty levels. We have financial slavery where people are oppressed by interest rates and financial commitments that force them to live lives making choices between necessity and payment. We have welfare systems that keep people from being able to live productive lives. God says to us all that God will free us and give us liberty. Today the church should stand for the oppressed man, woman and child in the world around us. God’s love does give us liberty from oppression knowing that this is not the end all of life. There is something bigger and better.

God said that I will redeem you. The reason we are here today is because God kept that promise. Not just for the people of Israel but for the whole world. Jesus came into this world fully human and fully divine. But the fully human part gave all that He had to give in atonement for our sins.

I will take you as my people. God told the people of Israel that they would become the people of God. Here we are as much as three thousand years later and nothing has changed. The people of Israel are the chosen people of God. That has not changed in the thousands of years since the freeing of the Israelites from Egypt. Paul reminds us of this in Romans 11.

God says that I will be your God. In our world today there are many Gods. We call them idols. We worship them whether we acknowledge that or not. There are many worshippers of money, of worshippers of material things and of self. And yet, God has created an unbroken covenant with us to be our God

I have had the pleasure of talking to lots of folks in my time together with folks. One of the topics of conversation always seem to center around what in next in life, what is my purpose in life, and what are the right answers to life’s most difficult questions. I often say that the answers are right in front of us if we would simply open the book and read it. God has continually created covenant after covenant in hopes that we would get it. God has never broken a promise in all the history of humanity. Some of the covenants are conditional and it is we, the human side of this agreement that have fallen short of the glory of God. But God has never even bent the rules on an agreement, promise or covenant that God has made with us.

Several years ago, a preacher from out-of-state accepted a call to a church in Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had an occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change. As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, 'You'd better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it.' Then he thought, 'Oh, forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway, the bus company gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a 'gift from God' and keep quiet.'

When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, and then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, 'Here, you gave me too much change.'

The driver, with a smile, replied, 'Aren't you the new preacher in town?'

'Yes' he replied.

'Well, I have been thinking a lot lately about going somewhere to worship. I just wanted to see what you would do if I gave you too much change. I'll see you at church on Sunday.'

When the preacher stepped off of the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, held on, and said, 'Oh God, I almost sold your Son for a quarter.'

Please turn to page 52 in your hymnals with me. Covenant – a relationship between two where one gives something in consideration for the services of another. Covenant of God – a relationship where God offers something whether we reciprocate or not.

Today we will share in covenant together as we share in the words of the United Methodist Church vows under the title Thanksgiving. Let us rejoice in the faithfulness of our covenant God.
We give thanks for all that God has already given us.

As members of the body of Christ and in this congregation of The United Methodist Church,

We will faithfully participate in the ministries of the church by our prayers, our presence, our gifts, our service and our witness that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.

Are we willing to covenant or will we sell our soul for a quarter?  

Love is the answer

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 2/12/17

Click here for audio

Scripture Reading:

^NRS  John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." ³ Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" ⁵ Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' ⁸ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." ⁹ Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

Today we are pulling materials from two of John Wesley’s sermons. The first is titled Original Sin from 1759 and the second is titled God’s Love to Fallen Man from 1782.

The writers and intellectuals of John Wesley’s day began to explore the ideas of enlightenment, that human beings were both innocent and perfect from birth and because of that there was in fact no such thing as original sin. Since there was no sin there was no need for God and for divine grace. Some things haven’t changed in the last 250 plus years. In fact John Wesley argues they have even gone so far as to say that in reality we are created just a little less than God. But if that is true, Wesley asks, “…what must we do with our Bibles? For they will never agree with this.” [i] 

Wesley suggests that if we were born and never educated about God, we would never have a relationship with God. He uses the example of infants raised without being spoken to who develop no language outside of infant babbling raising the reality that language is learned just as everything else. We know that children must be taught how to reason between right and wrong. Without such education children become little more than animals fighting and manipulating for what they desire. That leads to the conclusion then that what God saw before the flood is in fact the reality of human behavior. The truth is we are born with a self-centered brain focused on what we need, desire and want. Our very nature then is selfish and evil in that we don’t consider the impact on others, only that we are satisfied in our desires. We know for example that there is a ruler in China. We may even have seen his picture or heard his name, but if we were to meet him on the street would probably not know him. So it is with God. If we never have the chance to meet God, the opportunity to learn of God, we would not know God nor desire a relationship with God. No human being loves God by our very nature anymore than we might love a rock or a sunset. So in our inherent nature we invent God. That is why we create idols to replace the emptiness we sense without the knowledge of what that emptiness represents. So we go about our lives doing what we want and to who we want because it is our inherent nature to do so.

So what then separates us from goats or other types of animal? Wesley would suggest that nothing does. The strong among us would find a way to bully the weak and control them into submission. What we see we desire and our nature is to have it any cost. So what then is the answer?

God loves us unconditionally and unendingly. I have often been told that my answer is too simple, that is truly must be more complicated than what I say. There must be rules, doctrines and guidelines that I am not telling and I am using this simplistic explanation to suck people in. But the reality is that it is simply that God loves us unconditionally and unendingly, nothing more, nothing less. We make it difficult because we want to believe that life everything else it life, it can’t be simple and uncomplicated. God loves us unconditionally and unendingly.

In a sense we need to be glad that Adam fell. “For if Adam had not fallen, Christ had not died.”[ii] Could God have prevented Adam’s indiscretion? Absolutely but to what end. If Adam had not had the freedom to sin then “free will” meant nothing and the love of God means nothing. God did not create human beings with intelligence and choice only to attach strings that made creation out to be a puppet show. Because Adam sinned, the world has the ability to know and experience grace. If we never fail we can never truly succeed since it is in failure that we recognize our weakness and seek to find our strength. So our failures led God to send us Jesus out of God’s love for us. Through Jesus we have the opportunity to experience that love first hand.

This week we celebrate the day we celebrate love. It is if you will, one day we set apart during the year to recognize relationship and we find ways to express our relationship with each other especially those special to us. But why only one day each year? Why not every day? Well the answer is probably buried in the background of Hallmark, Candy makers and those who stand to gain millions of dollars from setting aside one day. God wants us to know love every single day of the year. Jesus came to the earth not to bring atonement for sin alone, but more importantly to bring the knowledge of relationship and love. If we view Jesus from the viewpoint of atonement alone, then we center our human existence on what Adam did as the central view of what God created. But God created us perfect, created the world in a desire to bring love into physical reality, and we are the ones that perverted that, not God.

Richard Rohr writes that it was God’s plan all along to bring Jesus into the world. That the 14.8 million years since creation began, God has intended all along to bring Jesus into the world. Not to bring atonement but to allow us to learn about God. Jesus came not to change how God is in relationship with us but how we are in relationship with God.

So what does perfect love look like? I read a poster just the other day that sums up perfect love in a wonderful way. It said, “You come to love not by finding the perfect person, but by learning to see an imperfect person perfectly. Jesus came to teach us to look at the world perfectly. To see the love that weaves its way in the flaws of humanity, in the creases of age, in the beauty of a sunset and in the imperfections of our bodies. What lies within all of those things is the love that God gives each day, reaching out to us in a desire for us to feel the warmth of an embrace, the whisper of a kiss and the fullness of being loved. Today is the day when we have the opportunity to go out and change the world. It cannot be done through violence, deceit or manipulation. It can only be done when people understand that you care about them in an authentic genuine way. Paul sums it up well when he wrote these words, “⁴ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant  ⁵ or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  ⁶ it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  ⁷ It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  ⁸ Love never ends.”

Jesus summed it up a different way. He said that true love, perfect love is the willingness to lay down your life for it. Complete submission is the way of love for Jesus. It is a love where we give all that we have to another without regard to promises, conditions, strings or even life itself. Imagine with me for a moment that kind of love. Imagine if the world around us learned to love one another in a such a way, that we would be willing to give our lives to secure that love. That is the essence of this scripture this morning and of the one from Corinthians. If we, the people of God, were willing to sacrifice everything so that everyone else in the world could experience that kind of love, then I believe we could and would create paradise here on earth. I believe that is the reason that Jesus came into the world, to show us what that love looks like and to go to the cross that we might experience it.

As we go from this place today let us go with a desire to open our hearts to the world around us. Let us go forth from this place in a desire to share love with everyone we encounter. That is the way of the early disciples. Let it be our way too.   

---

[i] Outler, Albert and Heitzenrater, Richard, John Wesley’s Sermons, 1991, Abingdon Press, Nashville, page 326

[ii] Ibid, page 477

I'm a Christian - Chapter 10

Click here for audio

Chapter 10

So what does it mean?

So here we are at the final chapter. So far you have had the chance to learn about history and tradition, learn a little Wesleyan Theology and participate in fellowship with your peers. This study has spent a great deal of time telling you what it looks like as a Christian and what worship looks like. We have learned about humanity and the need for God’s grace. And the steps of grace (one grace, several steps in the journey) that we travel through as Christian people who call themselves Methodist. But the real question that has not been answered completely at this point is what does it all mean. It begins with our belief. We proclaim belief in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, who was born fully human and walked the earth for approximately 33 years, taught us by lessons and example, died on the cross for our sins and then was resurrected on the third day, conquering sin and death forever. Sound right? But do we really believe it? That is the real question. Real belief is lived out! Real belief is seen in us by others.

Three Simple Rules

John Wesley established Three General Rules for the people called Methodist. Remember when you were in Kindergarten or the First Grade? Remember the basic rules? They were share with others, play fair, don’t hit people, clean up your own mess, say you are sorry when you hurt someone, take a nap every afternoon, hold hands and stick together when you go out into the world and  live your life enjoying the wonder of the world. What happened? Did somehow we forget all these things when we began the second grade? Bishop Reuben Job wrote a little book some years back called, Three Simple Rules. In it he tried to summarize what Jesus taught us so many years ago. And what John Wesley was so passionate about all his life. So I have to ask the question, when we are out in the world, do others see God in us? Do we look around at each other and see our transformations to become more Christ-like? If not, why not? We profess to be Christian’s right? We with a smile on our face tell others how we go to church on Sunday and how wonderful it is. So do they believe that we are somehow different than they are if they are not professing Christians? Truth is, we live in a world today that is too fast, too complicated and turbulent, and it strives to divide us as it forces us to blend in.

The first rule is “Do no harm.” Now that seems simple enough to me. I remember that old saying, Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Words do hurt don’t they? And sometimes we say those words without thinking about the harm they may cause. Sometimes words are spoken and the effects of them last lifetimes. I know families that don’t speak together anymore because words were said that divided them. So what does no harm really mean? Simply, it means when we enter the playground, you know, work and such, it’s just the toys that got more expensive; we must work hard not to hurt anyone. Imagine with me for a moment that every thing you say and everything you do not once causes another to be harmed. In the Old Testament there was a man called, Jabez. His name literally meant causing others pain. And so he prayed for God to assure he did not. And God answered his prayer. So each day we wake up, we pray that God will work within us so that we do not hate, do not gossip, do not bad mouth others, and do not do anything that causes another human being to be hurt. Sounds like a tough job to me.

The second thing we must do is to “do good.” Hmmm! That sounds easier than the first one, Pastor Don; I think I will try that one first. Well, what does it mean to do good? What if tomorrow morning you woke up, went to work and there on your doorstep is a homeless person. Would you pass him or her by as you go into your air conditioned office? Or would you offer to feed them, clothe them and bring them out of the weather. Hmmmm! Doing good suddenly doesn’t sound so simple anymore. What if I told you that our Discipline, the book that defines us and drives us, says that we must use every opportunity to be merciful and kind? Sounds a bit life our Galatians scripture doesn’t it? Proverbs 25: 21 tells us that if our enemies are hungry, give them bread and if they are thirsty give them water to drink. But Pastor Don, these are our enemies. We don’t like them and they don’t like us! REALLY? HMMMM! This doing good stuff is tougher than I thought. And Jesus said to us in Luke, one of the passages we just heard, to love our enemies and to do good to those who hate us. Is it getter a little hotter in here or is it just me?

I love Micah 6: 6-8. It should be our mantra each and every day of our lives. The final simple rule is to “love God.” Micah puts it best when he says do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with your God? There are ways to work at this. Daily bible reading, constant prayer and sharing in fellowship with one another are ways we work at our relationship with God. There was a time when I was in management in an industrial setting. When I left there a young man paid me a great compliment. He said, you know, I did not always agree with the things you did. But you never surprised me and when you fired me, I knew it was coming. That caught you by surprise didn’t it? Our love for God should not surprise us or God. It should and needs to be the same kind of love that God gives to us. When we are having a great day, thank God! When we are having a bad day, thank God too! We should thank God that our day is not worse than it is. Or better yet, thank God because no matter how bad our day is, it doesn’t end on a cross bleeding and suffocating to death. Hmmmm! That puts it better perspective don’t you think.

Truth is that we have to work at this some. So what does the world look like if you had never had the opportunity to view it from the perspective of an outsider? I used to spend a lot of time in airports, sometimes waiting for flights for hours. It was an incredible experience in which I had the opportunity to view humanity. All walks of life, people from different states, different countries and different walks of life. On any given day you could see every hair style, every clothing style and hear every language, even some that dialects that are English and yet not understandable by the average person. On any given day you would have the opportunity to see the best and the worst of humanity. I have seen people shoved, fist fights in airplanes, sickness and hatefulness. But I have also seen the young man who reached out the older gentleman to help him up the stairs, the older woman who befriended a young person down on their luck, people stepping up and stepping out of their comfort zones to assist others in some of the most difficult of circumstances. See, what I am suggesting is that national origin, culture and language have nothing to do with the concept of being who you can be. Even someone who was born on the other side of the tracks and lived their life in the squalor of a lower social class can be the one person who steps up and lifts a person out of a burning car or assists an elderly lady across the street. Have you seen the commercial where one person helps another and that leads to the person who watched this event helping another and so on and so on? It is a great reminder that sometimes we affect the lives of people we never meet and never see by the actions that they see in us on any given day. Kind of incredible to believe that you could befriend a person in Parksley Virginia and the results of that action cause a person in Bangkok Thailand to befriend a person! It happens every single day in places all across the world. And it can happen here and now with you.

The Vows We Take!

We take many vows as members of the church. Sometimes these vows are long lasting vows, taken once and remembered, like Baptism and our profession of Faith, sometimes they are our vows of confession that we take during Communion services and there are even vows we take as we became members of the church. Most, if not all of these vows are in the United Methodist hymnal.

Our vow of Volition says, “Through confirmation, and through the reaffirmation of our faith, we renew the covenant declared at our baptism, acknowledge what God is doing for us, and affirm our commitment to Christ’s holy church.”[1] At that moment when you stood before the church you agreed to acknowledge that God is working in you to make you a transformed person in the image of Jesus. And we agreed to commit to the church.

Our Vow of Church Membership says, “As members of Christ’s universal church, will you be loyal to The United Methodist Church, and do all in your power to strengthen its ministries? As members of this congregation, will you faithfully participate in its ministries by your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service and your witness?”[2] As we took these vows to become members of this church, did we hear ourselves agree to serve? We are called to serve where our talents and gifts will glorify God. We agree to offer ourselves and our monies to the church in order that it may further its mission. And we agree to witness our faith to the world around us.

            Each time we take communion we take the Vow of Confession and Pardon which says, “Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us we pray. Free us for joyful obedience through Jesus Christ our Lord.”[3] These vows we take have meaning and substance and require of us commitment.

So what is it specifically that we are vowing to do? What is it that God wants of us? In order to answer that question, I will present to you the Word of God from the Bible. God tells us in the story in Matthew 22 what we are to be obedient to. ^NRSVMatthew 22: ³⁶ "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" ³⁷ He said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.' ³⁸ This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' ⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." And then he declares for us the mission of the church and each member of the church individually. ^NRSVMatthew 28: “¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." And finally I believe that we receive the Vision of the church in Paul’s writing in Acts. ^NRSVActs 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." So there you have it. We are to love God and one another, bring others into relationship with God and witness about our relationship to the world.

How do we do this?

There is a broad assumption that we need to deal with here. The assumption is that each of you has already made the commitment to Jesus Christ in your lives and is now focused on becoming better disciples. If that is not the case, now is the time to make that decision. If you have never been baptized, as an infant or adult, now is the time to let God work in your life. Once that decision is made, our focus becomes on being the best imitation of God that we can be to the world around us. It means obeying the commandments in Matthew 22: 36-40.

What does loving God look like? It shows up when you forgo the Sunday morning sleep in to attend church worship services. Loving God means that you spend time in prayer. Maybe you develop a routine in the morning of taking time away from the computer and the television to read a devotional, the bible and share a prayer. It means taking the time to pray for others who are in need. Loving God shows up when you take the time to be in fellowship with others.

What does loving your neighbor look like? It shows up when you forgo that leisurely day at the seashore to work with the Men or Woman of the church in their soup kitchen or food pantry or on someone’s house. It shows up when you share your meal with someone who is in need, offer coats to school children and share your financial blessings with those who are in need of electricity. As United Methodist it also shows up when you take a stand against hate and bigotry. When “racial” statements are made do you stand up and ask those saying it not to, or remain silent thereby telling those around you that you accept them?

Witness is often the most difficult thing we do in our society today. Everyone has become so scared of hurting others feelings that we fail to share the love of God. Witnessing does not require in depth knowledge of the Bible as many think. It simply means that you share your story of your relationship with God with others. Some of the most powerful witness never uses a scriptural reference.

I believe that the nature and mission of the church continues to be centered on Jesus Christ, offering Jesus to all persons that they may know him as the Son of God and through him enter into the Kingdom of God growing in the image of Christ and witnessing to the world. The nature of the church is to be the sign of the reign of God, exists to be a redemptive community and to be the instrument of God’s presence by providing the means of grace in the offering of the sacraments, Word, order and service. The church is a foretaste, an appetizer of the Kingdom of God which will be fulfilled completely in the feast at the table of God on the mountain of God. The church through its worship brings the Word of God to the world and proclaims the message of grace, love and salvation. The church is, “a community of believers brought together by the profession of the same faith and conjoined in the communion of the same sacraments.”[4]

The mission of the church includes leading a meaningful, relevant worship within the church which relates to the community both inside and out through the use of a scripture based interactive and uplifting service. And in that worship we proclaim the WORD of God through the message and the grace of God with the Clergy presiding over the giving and taking of the sacraments. In addition to the worship service, the church builds disciples for the transformation of the world through Sunday school and small group study where we continue the study, discussion and understanding of Christ together in fellowship with one another. My role as a member of the Clergy carries with it the responsibility to lead and empower others to lead these opportunities for discipleship growth.

In addition, the church is responsible for outreach and nurturing ministries to the community and the world. We do this through service ministries aimed at providing for those who are in need with an emphasis on eliminating poverty where we are able to do so, standing against social injustice wherever we find it and reaching out with love to those we encounter. The church has lost its focus as the center of the community and we as clergy should work to reestablish this within our appointed communities.

Our primary task is completed by receiving, relating, equipping and sending disciples in the world, found in our miss ional statement in (Matthew 28:19) “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." I believe that the nature and mission of the church is summed up in those words, that we are tasked with finding those who are searching wherever they may be, building relationships with them in order to win them to Christ, building disciples through our instruction on the Word and then sending them out in mission to the world.

In the end, our job ain’t easy as the song used to say. But the reward is out of this world and the joy of helping others is above words. I hope that you will share in the ministry of your church. God Bless!

Questions

1.    Discuss ways to follow the General rules in your daily life?

2.    Discuss how you are living out your vows and your belief in Jesus Christ.

3.    How has this study changed your perception of being

a.    a Christian?

b.    A Methodist?

---

[1] United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, page 33

[2] United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, page 38

[3] United Methodist Hymnal, 1989, page 12

[4] Garrett, 2005/06, n.p.

Power in Death

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 2/5/17

Click here for audio

^NRS  John 3:1 Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. ² He came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God." ³ Jesus answered him, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, "How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother's womb and be born?" ⁵ Jesus answered, "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. ⁶ What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not be astonished that I said to you, 'You must be born from above.' ⁸ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." ⁹ Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" ¹⁰ Jesus answered him, "Are you a teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? ¹¹ "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony. ¹² If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? ¹³ No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. ¹⁶ "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.

I could take this scripture so many different ways. It is the scripture that defines for us our understanding of baptism and salvation. It is the scripture that tells us the story of Jesus and the prophetic message He gave the Disciples about His crucifixion. But what I want to do is focus on the last verse, that famous verse, John 3:16. Jesus reminds us that He came because of the love of God to save the world and offer us eternal life. It requires us to believe and to welcome in the breath of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. That is what the first part of our scripture today is all about. But what Jesus is really focusing on is death itself and the power that death has. Of course we are talking primarily about His death on the cross and then the resurrection. But we are also talking about our death and eternal life.

A grandfather found his grandson, jumping up and down in his playpen, crying at the top of his voice. When Johnnie saw his grandfather, he reached up his little chubby hands and said, “Out, Gramp, Out.” It was only natural for Grandfather to reach down to lift the little fellow out of his predicament; but as he did, the mother of the child stepped up and said, “No, Johnnie, you are being punished, so you must stay in.” The grandfather was at a loss to know what to do. The child’s tears and chubby hands reached deep into his heart, but the mother’s firmness in correcting her son for misbehavior must not be lightly taken. Here was a problem of love versus law, but love found a way. The grandfather could not take the youngster out of the playpen, so he crawled in with him. God did not spare Paul and Silas the suffering and imprisonment, but He did come down into the prison with them. God did not keep the three Hebrew children out of the fiery furnace, but He went into the furnace with them. God will not always deliver us from trouble and heartache, but He has promised grace for every situation of life.—By Fred W. Parsons, These Times, March 1969.

I want to share another story with you that comes from James W. Moore in his study, God was Here and I was out to lunch. A young boy named Paul became intrigued with the phone and found that there was a person on the other end whose name was information please. He soon discovered that she had a lovely voice and he would call her often, asking her questions about things and she would respond back to him in a loving way. She told him how to spell the word fix and how to feed a chipmunk. When his canary died she told him that there are always other worlds to sing in. One day he hurt his finger and he called her and she suggested he put some ice on it. Shortly after that he and his family moved away and he missed her voice and her advice. Years later he was back in the area and he called information. Her beautiful voice answered and he asked her if she could spell the word “fix”. She responded, well your finger must be well by now. They talked for a while and he shared how much her phone calls had meant to him. She responded that she never had had children and she loved his calls. She told him her name was Sally and he could call her when he was in the area. Several months later he was again in the area and he called but a different voice answered the phone. He asked if Sally was there and the man on the end of the phone asked if he was a friend. He said he was. The man told him that Sally had been ill and had passed. He then asked if this was Paul. Paul said yes. He then told Paul that Sally had left him a message, "that he was to remember that there are other worlds to sing in."

I often sit with those who are ill and dying and we can have great discussions about what is next. I remember a man who was struggling with death and as he approached it he became agitated and afraid. We talked often about those who had gone on before and how we believe that love is the final answer and in that love we have the opportunity to see those who had gone on before. That seemed to calm him. We talked about Jesus and God’s promise to the faithful. I remember that began a series of phone call like conversations that I was present to witness between him and his mother who had passed long ago. They were one sided like if you are in the room when someone is on the phone and you are only hearing one side of the conversation. After the conversations he was visibly calmer and as time went on he became ready if you will for the time of passing. When he did pass it was peaceful.

We cannot change that death is coming for all of us. As we approach the season of Lent we recognize that death is inevitable. But we also have faith and hope that there is something more, something greater and something that transcends even death. We are the people of faith in a God who has not only answered that question but has described what it will be like, a place of many mansions and a place where He will come and take us there. Death is not to be feared by revered and respected. My travels have taken me to places where death and even suicide were issues and challenges that needed to be addressed. Suicide is the absence of hope and yet even then I believe that God, the God of love and grace, understands that and has a place for those folks to find peace and joy. Death is a simply a transition from one place to another, from one existence to another and from physical to spiritual. Paul tells us that we will be in a place where in life we could only see dimly as if looking in a mirror.

I talked with a Doctor at a hospital once who shared many stories with me of those who were in the transition of death. Some he said spoke the names of those they loved, some shared a smile, and some simply closed their eyes and passed. But he also said some cried out in agony as if the place they looked into was a place to avoid. I remember a dear friend who had told me that she was ready. Later that day I was called to her house where she had passed moments before. There she lay on the bed with her arms outstretched as if reaching for someone and the brightest smile on her face as she lay there on her bed.

There are books that can be read about what death is like. If we can believe them, it is a place of serenity and peace, a place where the colors are more magnificent than we can ever imagine. It is a place where we get to see those who have gone on before us including in some accounts, our animal friends throughout life. Many years ago I had an industrial accident that left me unconscious for a period of time and robbed me of my short term memory for well into the next year. I don’t have recollection of being in a different place or what those moments were like. But I do remember having this deep sense of peace with the world and with life following it. I think as I look back on it that it caused me to search for answers, sometimes in the wrong places and sometimes in the right. I believe that we are searching for love because of that place where death hangs in the balance and true love is on the other side.

  

Jesus came into the world not to condemn the world but to save it. But in order to save it He must sacrifice everything He had. I believe that deep down there is a message that I will continue to share next week in that sacrifice. I believe that there is power when death no longer has the power to frighten you. I believe that there is power in death when the love of life offers answers about what comes next. What Jesus taught us on the cross was that death is inevitable as a condition of life itself. But death cannot hold us when we have the power of death overcome by the power of love. You see what this scripture reminds us is that Jesus went to the cross not to die, but to bring eternal life to those who believe in that power of the cross.

I heard a story once about a dog and his master. There was an old country doctor who would take his dog along with him when visiting patients. The dog would remain outside while the doctor went in for the house call. On one occasion, the physician went to the home of a man with a terminal disease who didn’t seem to have much time to live. The man confessed to the doctor his fears about death and said, “What’s it like when you die?” The doctor thought for a moment, then got up and opened the front door. His loyal canine friend, who had been waiting patiently on the porch, gleefully bounded in to join his master. The doctor turned to the dying man and said, “Do you see this dog? He didn’t have any idea what was on this side of that door. All he knew was that his master was there, and he wanted to be with him.” “That’s how I feel about death,” the physician continued. “I don’t really know all the what’s and how about dying. I’m not totally sure what’s on the other side of that door. But I know who is there, and that’s enough for me. I’m looking forward to being with my Master.”

I'm a Christian - Chapter 9

Click here for audio

Chapter 9

Baptism, Salvation, Grace and Holy Communion

History of Sacraments in America

            In order to look at the practices of early American Methodist as it came to the administration of the sacraments, we first need to delve into the mind of John Wesley. From that perspective we can truly see what he intended for this new movement as it relates to the administration and the meaning of the sacraments. But from that point we need to deviate to the actual understanding and practices of the early Circuit Riders, local Pastors and/ or communities. These two points tend to be in harmony in the macro sense but could be very much at odds in the micro.

How John Wesley saw it!

            There is no question to any who have studied or have been exposed to John Wesley as to his desire for personal holiness which included the sacraments. His own Anglican background forms the basis for much of what he believed, which in the end was tempered by his experience with the Moravian’s and his own study of the scripture and work in the field which in and of itself was somewhat unique or even rare for a traditional Anglican Priest. In order to look at his view on how the sacraments should be administered, we divide the sacraments into Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Of Baptism, there is not a great deal of information from John Wesley. This may be in part due to his Anglican roots where he may have felt that the subject of Baptism spoke for itself through the tradition of the church. The Anglican Church at the time of John Wesley practiced the traditional baptism of infants and adults. On the subject of adult baptism we find little reference, but on the subject of infants, John has indicated his belief in its justification through the power of the Holy Spirit.

“On balance, then it seems best to say that Wesley remained convinced that infant baptism conveyed the regenerating Presence of the Holy Spirit, though he emphasized that the full effectiveness of the gracious Presence emerged gradually as the developing child responsibly appreciated it.”[i]

On the subject of communion, his views were greatly influenced by his own desire for personal holiness. He is quoted as having said that, “The Eucharist does not itself confer grace, but the Holy Spirit through the sacraments does confer grace…”[ii] And we know from his personal accounts that:

“He communed every week if possible ( a rarity in his day), and often communed daily in the octave of Easter and the twelve festival days of Christmas…This helps explain why he encouraged the American Methodists in 1784 to celebrate the Lord’s Supper weekly…”[iii]

How the American movement saw it!

            From the beginning of the American movement, it quickly became apparent that different understandings were at work between what the Anglican Church believed and what the American minister faced as a daily challenge. Some of them may well have resulted from the desire for detachment from anything English and others for the necessity of purpose that would become evident as the movement gathered momentum. “For the early period it may be concluded the Baptism must have meant less than official definitions and systematic treatises suggest.”[iv] In fact, early accounts indicate a lack of ordained elders available and the complete disregard by Episcopalian leadership to affect any kind of change or assistance. This led some drastic action by some.

“Although Strawbridge was not ordained, he believed that those under his spiritual care needed the sacraments. And so in 1762 or 1763, he performed the first baptism, that of a child…”[v]

A need for doctrine of the church was sensed and so in 1773 the following rules were agreed to at the first conference in America:

1. “Every preacher who acts in connection with Mr. Wesley and the brethren who labour in America, is strictly to avoid administering the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
2. No person or persons to be admitted to our love-feasts oftener than twice or thrice, unless they become members…”[vi]

But by the year 1779 when faced with a lack of ordained elders who could administer the sacraments and facing an increasing need for them, the Conference of Fluvanna voted 19 to 10 to ordain themselves in order to fulfill two important requirements of John Wesley, the necessity of communion and the prerequisite of ordination in order to administer the sacraments. It is interesting that the very nature of John Wesley’s belief was at the foundation of a break from his viewpoint on the organization, structure and polity of the early church. 

“In the course of this year (1779) there were great troubles and distresses in the Methodist connection, both among preachers and private members; owing to an unhappy division which took place among the traveling preachers. Many…concluded, that if God had called them to preach, he had called them also to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.”[vii]

Wesley had sent Joseph Pilmore over in 1770 with instructions on how to perform a ‘love feast’ in an effort to deal with the problem. He introduced to the American culture the idea of the ‘love feast’ as a way of compromising the issue of ordination. By 1789 it had become a duty of the ministers to conduct ‘love feasts’ when they visited with the societies and classes throughout their circuits. “In its most basic form, an American Methodist love feast consisted of a sharing of bread and water and a time of testimonies.”[viii] Communion was typically administered when the presiding Elder arrived during his quarterly visit. By 1812 local Pastors were ordained in order to provide sacramental administration. Either communion or the ‘love feast’ was by invitation only and invitation was restrictive and often difficult to obtain. This was done in order to allow the attendees the freedom to witness without fear. Doorkeepers were used to keep people who were not members out. You might gain admission for two or three times but admission required a ticket or permission slip for all. During ‘love feasts’, it was a common practice to take an offering for the poor, hence the connection with the word love. It was also a time of intense and shared witnessing with some accounts of frenzied excitement and even visions were reported. The view was that this communion of fellowship led to personal and communal holiness.  

“Early Methodists offered a variety of reasons why love feast privacy was so important. The most obvious was the desire to safeguard the atmosphere so participants felt able to speak freely in testimony. In some ways, personal testimonies were synonymous with the love feast itself, and so creating the best atmosphere possible for speaking was a self-lefting goal. As the bishops noted in 1798, including unawakened persons could "cramp, if not entirely destroy. . . liberty of speech" in love feasts. A particular concern was preserving the liberty of women members since some non-Methodists opposed women speaking in the church.^”[ix]

So we can expect then that the earliest forms of communion and ‘love feast’ worship were very spiritual affairs. The very private nature of these events led to an ability to share one with another of the emotional and intellectual aspects of delving into the study and understanding of the very nature of God. In fact we know that the early American movement viewed these events as being a little bit of heaven on earth.

The Human Need for Grace

We understand our very nature is to be disobedient to God’s will in our own lives and the life of our communities. “Human beings are sinful and without God incapable on their own of being righteous, however they are not irredeemably sinful and can be transformed by God’s grace.”[x] We believe that we are born into a sinful nature where we desire to exert our will over the will of God. We spend our life fighting this nature where we each fight for control of our lives rather than relinquishing that control to God and seeking discernment for our lives through the Holy Spirit. In that inescapable nature our doom is assured except for the intervention of God. Humanity cannot bridge the sinful gap between our own humanity and God. Because of that, it was necessary for divine intervention in the death of Jesus. John Wesley summed up our depraved nature in his sermon on the New Birth saying: “And in Adam all died, all humankind, all the children of men who were then in Adam's loins. The natural consequence of this is, that every one descended from him comes into the world spiritually dead, dead to God, wholly dead in sin; entirely void of the life of God; void of the image of God, of all that righteousness and holiness wherein Adam was created. Instead of this, every man born into the world now bears the image of the devil in pride and self-will; the image of the beast, in sensual appetites and desires. This, then, is the foundation of the new birth, -- the entire corruption of our nature. Hence it is, that, being born in sin, we must be "born again." Hence every one that is born of a woman must be born of the Spirit of God.”[xi] Without divine intervention we would be incapable of redemption and so God provides the means through Jesus, his life, death and resurrection.

I have seen in the past several years the congregations fight to exert their will over the will of God in their lives. It is a constant struggle to overcome our very natures when faced with spending the blessing that God has brought to the offering plates as opposed to saving it for the proverbial rainy day that will never come. Even if it did, the members would not realize that the God given umbrella needs to be opened at that moment rather than remain in the Umbrella Holder where it is protected until eternity comes. And yet they hold on to security blankets rather than test the Lord as in Malachi 3:10. But I have seen the Holy Spirit work even in these discussions, by the willingness to share in benevolence needs, affirming that it is only in the divine grace of God that we receive salvation and it is in this grace that lives are changed and transformed.

The Kingdom of God, resurrection and eternal life

Through the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus, the Kingdom now exists in the plane of human existence and is very present in our lives each and every day. It is not fully complete as Paul says, (1 Corinthians 13:12) “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” I agree with the words of John Wesley, “And this ‘kingdom of God’, or of heaven, ‘is at hand’. As these words were originally spoken they implied that ‘the time’ was then ‘fulfilled’, God being made ‘manifest in the flesh’, when he would set up his kingdom among men, and reign in the hearts of his people.”[xii], as proclaiming that the Kingdom of God (or Heaven in Matthew) surrounds us as Jesus Christ is in us through God’s grace and our own justification. “The thing about which everything turns, like a wheel where God is in the middle and everything is oriented to it.”[xiii]

The death and resurrection of Jesus is the single most pivotal moment in the history of the world. That was the pivotal moment when Christ won the victory over death and took dominion of the world from Satan through his descent into hell and rising from the dead. “Indeed, because of Christ, all persons stand before the possibility of a new relationship to God, whether they recognize and acknowledge it or not.”[xiv] From scripture we recognize that Jesus, in this resurrected form was physical with divine capabilities, he could eat and yet walk through walls. Paul through scripture reminds us that our sin which leads to death comes from Adam and yet through the resurrection of Jesus we are made whole.

Eternal life is the gift that Jesus’ death and resurrection has given through our reception of Him by our faith. (Mark 10:29) “Jesus said, "Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, (30) who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age-- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields with persecutions-- and in the age to come eternal life.” The scripture reminds me that I have been promised and now have eternal life as a result of the gift of Jesus Christ and my willingness to follow Him in the ministry in which he called me. As a result I believe that one day we will shed this earthly vessel and take on a spiritual one as Paul describes to us in his writings because of God’s grace through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

Christian Baptism

The meaning and significance of Christian Baptism begins with the understanding that we are born in sin from birth by virtue of Adam’s sin. John Wesley stated this in his sermon titled “New Birth”. And we understand that God’s grace is extended to us through the sacrament of baptism to bring us into the community of the Body of Christ. “In baptism we are initiated into the community of Gods people, the body of Christ.”[xv] In Baptism, it is God’s activity that is paramount. “It is noted previously that he (Wesley) appropriated the definition of a sacrament as “an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace…”[xvi] In sacraments, the significance is that God is the principle actor. Baptism comes to us throughout the tradition of early Jewish custom, through the scriptural teaching of Jesus and the tradition of the church. Water is used in our liturgy as a reminder of the Old and New Testament cleansing power through water that cleanses us of original sin. As we recognize the scriptural foundation of baptism we also recognize that there is no defined method. Methodists recognize sprinkling, pouring and immersion as acceptable methods of this sacrament.

As United Methodists we should work hard to lift up those being baptized as being incorporated into the community of believers and focus on the covenant of the community to share in the growing journey that begins with Baptism. “…Wesley’s view that the sacrament is a means, not an end. Baptism, whether of an infant or an adult, is the foundation, the beginning, but not the end of a process.”[xvii] And we live out our baptism in our journey as we progress towards justification for infants and/ or sanctification for adults. It is here that we often part from other denominations understanding of what baptism means. It is Act of God that we participate in but do not in and of ourselves have a part that changes anything. We come willingly as adults or young adults or as infants to be joined to God’s church. Baptism is not Salvation!

Salvation, Grace and Marks of Grace

Runyon says, “Grace is not simply one generous act by a judge but a process involving the constant presence, recognized or unrecognized, of the Spirit drawing the person into a relationship that will sustain and reinforce on the way.”[xviii] From the moment we are born, God’s prevenient grace surrounds us, seeks to call us to relationship and provides God’s love to us. And into this grace, a grace that we can never earn, we live our lives in need of repentance which is a desire to seek forgiveness for our sinful disobedient nature. From the fall of humans in the garden, our disobedient human nature is in need of forgiveness. Forgiveness is only achieved through the atonement for our nature by Jesus’ death on the cross. And when we acknowledge that we are in need of forgiveness and come to God with repentive hearts, we meet God there waiting for us with grace and love. We seek to be restored to God’s favor since we are unable to restore ourselves. “In essence, repentance is our personal acknowledgement of our spiritual need, as we are awakened to it by the Spirit.”[xix]

Justification is being reckoned righteous; it is pardon; where we are restored to the right relationship through the atonement of Jesus’ death. It happens when we acknowledge our need to be in relationship with God. Regeneration or “New Birth” is that moment when we receive the power of the Holy Spirit and we are “Born from above” as Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about. Whether justification and regeneration happen instantly together or as Wesley believed, justification logically preceded regeneration; we take the next step on a journey towards perfection in Christ. “Justification begins the process of restoring the image of God in us, for our lives are realigned for a purpose: not only to receive from God but to share what we have received with others.”[xx] When we are justified and regenerated through our faith, we receive God’s forgiveness and “…we are made new creatures in Christ.”[xxi] It is in the moment that we ask for forgiveness and are justified that we receive our Salvation and its promise of Eternal Life. As we continue the journey in faith, God’s grace continues to transform us in this new creation. At that moment when we are made perfect in the image of God, Wesley would say that we are sanctified. “In sanctifying us, God gives us power to live a life of love toward God and neighbor.”[xxii] When our love for God is with our whole heart, mind and soul and we truly love our neighbors as ourselves then we are completed. For many of us, this complete transformation may not occur until after our physical lives are complete. But our Wesleyan background causes us to ask; “Why not now?”

When we think of the marks of a Christian life, we look to Wesley who stated in his sermon on “The Marks of the New Birth” that our transformed lives are inwardly and outwardly visible. That the fruits of our faith and transformation in our New Birth give us power over sin. We live in a world where our lives enjoy a peace with the knowledge of God’s love. In that place there is hope in Christ and it is this hope that we witness to the world. And most importantly, there is love. In God’s love we find a constant desire to love our neighbors and are obedient to God. What we desire comes first through faith and grace and then through Christian discipline. 

Communion (The Lord’s Supper)

The meaning and significance of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper is relived for us each time we participate in the communion of Christ through the meal. At the table we remember the stories of Abraham’s journey, the paschal lamb of Passover and the Supper in the Upper Room as we await the promise of Isaiah 25 of the feast on the mountain. “The Lord’s Supper is yet another of God’s gifts that sustains the holy life. It is the successor to the Jewish Passover meal (Matthew 26:26, Notes) and reminds us of Jesus’ death as the institution of a new covenant with God (Mark 14:24, Notes).”[xxiii] We embrace the presence of Christ in the bread and juice as part of the mystery of the sacrament in communion with those who participate rather than believing that it is the actual body of Christ or just a remembrance service. We also hold that this mystery makes this meal sacred, that God is the principle actor in it. We recognize the importance of the language of “blood’ and ‘covenant’ in the gospels of Mark, Luke and Paul and its link to the covenant at Sinai. Our heritage is that the Eucharist is acted out in community and John Wesley believed it to be a ‘converting means of grace’. “The term Holy Communion invites us to focus on the self giving of the Holy God, which makes the sacrament an occasion of grace and the holiness, our communion with God and one another.”[xxiv] And so, we make it available to everyone allowing God’s grace to work in those who need the saving grace of Christ.

Questions

1.    Now that you have had a chance to hear the story of John Wesley, what significance does the early American Movement have on sacraments?

2.    How might the idea of a Love Feast be used or is currently in use in your church?

3.    What is your understanding now of our human nature and how does it influence your thoughts on the need for God’s grace?

4.    Has your view of Baptism been changed by our discussion and how?

5.    Should we baptize infants? Why or why not?

6.    How does our understanding of the Lord’s Supper impact your own experience?

---

[i] Randy L. Maddox, Responsible Grace, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN., 1994), p 225

[ii] Paul Sanders, The Sacraments in Early American Methodism in Perspectives on American Methodism ed. Russell E. Richey, Kenneth E. Rowe, Jean Miller (Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 1993) p 80

[iii] Maddox, p 202

[iv] Sanders, p 88

[v] Kenneth Cain Kinghorn, The Heritage of American Methodism, (Abingdon Press, Nashville, TN, 1999), p23

[vi] Jesse Lee, A Short History of the Methodists in the United States of America, (Magill and Clime, Baltimore, MD, 1810), p 40

[vii] Lee, p 63

[viii] Lester Ruth, A Little Heaven Below: The Love Feast and Lord’s Supper in Early American Methodism, ed Michael Mattel, Wesley Center for Applied Technology, 2003, p 2

[ix] Ruth, p 2

[x] Garrett, Dr. Daniel, 2005/06, n.p.

[xi] Outler, Albert and Richard Heitzenrater, eds., 1991, page 338

[xii] Outler, 1991, page 128

[xiii] Gutenson, Dr. Chuck, 2004, n.p.

[xiv] Runyon, 1998, page 54

[xv] Felton, Gayle Carlton, 2006, page 2

[xvi] Maddox, 1994, page 200

[xvii] Runyon, 1998, page 140

[xviii] Runyon, 1998, page 29

[xix] Maddox, 1994, page 162

[xx] Runyon, 1998, page 42

[xxi] Smith, 2008, page 46

[xxii] Abraham, William, 2005, page 62

[xxiii] Yrigoyen, 2001, page 33

[xxiv] Felton, Gayle Carlton, 2005, page 9-10