A Gift not taken

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC on 10/7/18

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^NRS Matthew 26:17 On the first day of Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Where do you want us to make the preparations for you to eat the Passover?" ¹⁸ He said, "Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, 'The Teacher says, My time is near; I will keep the Passover at your house with my disciples.'" ¹⁹ So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them, and they prepared the Passover meal. ²⁰ When it was evening, he took his place with the twelve; ²¹ and while they were eating, he said, "Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me." ²² And they became greatly distressed and began to say to him one after another, "Surely not I, Lord?" ²³ He answered, "The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. ²⁴ The Son of Man goes as it is written of him, but woe to that one by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been better for that one not to have been born." ²⁵ Judas, who betrayed him, said, "Surely not I, Rabbi?" He replied, "You have said so." ²⁶ While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, "Take, eat; this is my body." ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you; ²⁸ for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

 ²⁹ I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." ³⁰ When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

In the mid to late 1800’s the Temperance movement began. Alcohol became an issue for churches because they served wine during communion. How could they find a way to have communion without serving alcohol. Some churches began to use water instead and then there all sorts of concoctions that took raisins or eggs. Needless to say, the dilemma grew over time. At issue was the ability to serve communion to recovering alcoholics and those who abstained from alcohol. A physician/ dentist who was also a retired Methodist minister began to study this dilemma. In 1869, he found a way to crush the grapes and make a drink that did not ferment. Soon his product became the staple for communion in churches that choose to honor those who could not or would not drink alcohol. His name was Thomas Bramwell Welch and his product carries his name today, Welch’s Grape Juice.

I want to share with you the story of communion, what it means and what we believe. However, in order to do that I have start at the beginning. In Genesis, we have several accounts of special times when people sat down to share a meal together to seal a covenant between them. Abraham upon seeing the messengers of God immediately has a meal prepared for them. Moses and Aaron eat in the presence of the Lord just before Moses receives the Ten Commandments. Meals in the first century were important occurrences. Receiving an invitation to a meal at a person’s house was equivalent to being invited to become lifelong friends.

But the real basis for the communion supper begins in the Old Testament times of Moses. The people having moved from their homes in Israel during the time of Joseph because of famine found themselves slaves of the Egyptians. Four hundred years had passed and now they cried out to God to be set free. God called Moses, one of their own, who had been raised in the court, out of exile. He was in exile because he had killed a fellow Egyptian. God called Moses to go back into the land of Egypt and to lead the people of Israel back into their promised lands. Moses went and the Pharaoh said no to his request. God sent plague and pestilence into the world of the Egyptians and yet Pharaoh still said no. Moses when he was born was supposed to have been killed by the same Egyptians that ended up raising him. God remembered that brutal killing of the innocents. So God decreed through Moses, take the perfect lamb, sacrifice it and take the blood, placing it on your doorways and lentils. That night God sent the Angel of Death throughout the land and all the first born of Egypt perished. Except of course for the faithful. They received life in place of death. We know this story as the Passover story or Pesach (Pay sock). It is a high celebration that has been witnessed over the last two to three thousand years.

In the 25^th chapter of Isaiah, we learn of a great feast on the mountain that awaits all of the believers in the world when it is our time to pass from this physical existence into God’s very presence. A woman once shared this story with me about an event in her life as she was seeking understanding of it. She had died on the operating table and at that moment before she was to be pronounced, she woke up. But during the time she was dead, she found herself in a place of many people, people she did not know. She told me she was looking for anyone she might know and noticed that in front of her the people surrounded a great table. But she was not allowed to come to the table. As she struggled to get closer, she was turned around and woke up in the operating room. I believe to this day that she was at the table Isaiah is telling us about. The table represents all that is God, the hope, the grace, the mercy and the love. Our table today is simply a foretaste of that table.

Jesus sat in the Upper Room on the eve of Passover. We believe He shared a Passover meal with His disciples. He knew what they did not, that He was about to be taken, beaten close to death and then hung on the cross. We believe as United Methodist that He instituted this new thing in the midst of the tradition of Passover to make the connection for us between life with God and death without God. When Jesus met with those in the Upper Room, He and the disciples were there for that celebration of Passover. Little did the disciples know that God was about to do a great thing. He took the bread, broke it and said to them this is my body given for you. Jesus took the cup and poured it, lifted it and blessed it, and then said to them this is a new covenant from God. Each time you take of it, remember that God’s perfect lamb, was slaughtered and hung on a cross, to shed his blood for the atonement of the world.

We observe this meal because God told us to. Jesus said to his disciples, “DO THIS…” which means as disciples that we have been commanded by him to share in this meal. In this meal, we are remembering Jesus. However, it is more than a memory. One of my professors at seminary said that so often we think of the word as a remembrance, but in fact in that moment we are re-membering Jesus body and his death and resurrection that we might become participants in it. We as United Methodist do not believe that the bread is actually his body nor do we believe that the juice is actually his blood. Through the great mystery of God, we do believe that Jesus is present with us in the meal. That Jesus is communing with us through the taking of the bread and the juice. Communion is a time for us to reflect. It is a time to examine our lives and our obedience to God. That is why there is a part of our service that is a confession of sin. Have you ever really listened to the words and felt their sting. We have not heard the cries of the needy or the needs of our brothers and sisters in pain. Communion is a time to turn away from our worldly ways and return to following Christ in the manner in which he expects of us.

We take this meal in community. We do it in community because Jesus gave it to us in community as God had given it to the Hebrew people. When the people cried out in pain from slavery, God heard their cry. Passover is remembering God’s mighty acts and is done in community, just as we celebrate in community.

In the taking of the bread and juice, we acknowledge the gift that God has given us. While we are eating the bread and tasting the juice, we can sense the very presence of Christ upon the cross. Think of it! God demanded sacrifice, blood sacrifice for the atonement of sin. Yet, we are all born with this inherent desire to be in control, to push God out, to live, as we want to live without guidance or rules from God. Original sin is not the litany of symptoms we call sin. When we act on that desire to be disobedient to God and to go against God’s wishes that we sin. Moreover, since it is inherent to our very natures, God is the only one who can atone for it. So how does God do that? By sending God to the world as a human being, who ultimately gives his life, his blood in atonement for our sin! I once had a professor who said that Hell is not a place but an existence. When we die, either we share in eternity with God or we spend eternity existing, knowing that we exist and there is nothing else but the darkness. Think of it! When Jesus hangs on that cross, at the moment of his death, as he takes on the sins of the world, your sin, my sin, he is looking into darkness and God is not there. Jesus was looking into a vast darkness, an emptiness void of love, grace, mercy and God. Is there any wonder that he cries out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” But in that moment, God is there, to pull him from that place into the resurrection just as God will be there for every believer to pull them from that darkness into eternal light. And this meal allows us to be forgiven again and again, as we share it with one another.

Henri Nouwen says, “… when we gather around the table and eat from the same loaf and drink from the same cup, we are most vulnerable to one another. We cannot have a meal together in peace with guns hanging over our shoulders and pistols attached to our belts. When we break bread together we leave our arms – whether they are physical or mental – at the door and enter into place of mutual vulnerability and trust.” Would you join me in a place of vulnerability where we put our trust in God alone?

Revelation - Chapter 5

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Chapter 5 – The Seven Seals

Read Chapter 4 – chapter 8:5

After the letters to the seven churches, we begin to see John’s vision of a great tribulation and hope. We go from the present time of John’s day with the seven churches (note this is not the Dispensationalist view of the letters) to the future. I think at this point we should be mindful that like Jonah, we as the church have been given a warning to prepare and now we will begin to see what we are preparing for. When it will happen may well be in the clues of scripture that we have been given though I remind the reader that Jesus told us quite plainly that no-one would know the hour and the day. So again, why give us these visions and clues? Because God wants us to know what God is up to! Why else send Jonah to Nineveh! Chapter 4 opens with the view through an open door. Doors are very symbolic in the scriptures. Jesus said knock and it shall be opened for you. John is told to “come up here and I will show you what must take place after this.” We note in this statement that he is given a heads up that he will soon see what the events are that will transpire at some future time. For John and all the early Christians they believed that these events were imminent. As time passed and they had not transpired then they began to look to the future. Arguably some of these events may well have happened in the past as the Preterist believe and some may continually happen as the Idealists believe while many may still be in some distant future as the Dispensationalists believe. Clearly the two things that we see in John’s vision from this point through the end of the text tell us is that there is judgment and there is hope for creation.

John paints for us a beautiful but frightful picture of heaven itself. God sits on the throne and John describes God not in a human form but in the form of precious jewels, jasper and carnelian, precious gems of John’s day. John describes God as full of color, looking like a rainbow. John’s description of God reminds us of the Psalmist in 104:2 who says God is wrapped in light as a garment and in 1 Timothy 6:16 where God is described as dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. Surrounding God are 24 Elders on their thrones. John might be creating imagery that points back to the 24 Elders established in the Levites for caring for the Holiest of Holies found in 1 Chronicles 24 or it may flow with the image of 1 Kings 22:19 and Isaiah 24:23 of the host of heaven sitting around God. Dispensationalist thought suggests that they are the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve Apostles of Jesus, symbolizing the Nation of Israel and the Christian church as one combined group. Among the throne we also see four living creatures described as having eyes on both sides of their head, with six wings and never ceasing in praise to God. Ezekiel had a similar vision of these creatures (see Ezek. 1:6, 10, 22, 26) except that in Ezekiel’s vision each creature had four heads, one of an ox, one of a lion, one of a human and one of an eagle. Irenaeus in 170 AD suggested that they represent the best of the Kingdom. The Lion represents the Son of God, the Ox symbolizes the Priesthood and servant ministry, the Human face represents the incarnation of God in Jesus and the Eagle the Holy Spirit. Whatever you may decide, it is interesting that Ezekiel and John both have a similar view of the throne in heaven.  

In the ancient world, everything written was done using a scroll. So it makes sense that in John’s vision the scroll would contain the instructions for the coming events. Interestingly to me is that in John’s day, the Roman world used a scroll sealed by seven individuals as a final written will. Only in the presence of the seven original folks or their representatives could the will be opened and read. In the vision the scroll is sealed with seven seals and yet there appears to be no one worthy to break the seals. John weeps that there appears to be no one within the Kingdom of Heaven with the power and authority to break the seals.

What we now see is a great image of Christ. A lamb, with the marks of its recent slaughter still visible. This image reminds us of Jesus in the Upper Room with the Disciples after the resurrection. A lamb with seven horns and seven eyes which John describes as the seven spirits of God sent out into the earth. A parallel to this is Zechariah who in his vision is given imagery of the seven eyes of God that are sent out into the world to see all and know all. Seven is a complete number representing power and authority. Note John’s vision of the Lamb and the praise that is given comes from the saints (those who have been martyred for God), the angels, and every creature in heaven, on earth and under the earth providing a connection with those living and dead. What a great connection to the entire Kingdom of God. Here we begin the judgment phase of the future (or past).

We are introduced in the first four seals with the four horseman of the Apocalypse. We first met them in Ezekiel (14:21) and Zechariah (6: 1-7). In Ezekiel they are the four acts of the sword, famine, wild animals and pestilence to bring judgment into the world. In Zechariah they are the four winds (note the connection to Rev 7: 1-2) of God. It was thought in ancient times that winds that flowed directionally were ok, i.e. northerly, westerly, etc. but winds that flowed diagonally brought havoc and destruction. Here in the Western world we do not get the wind reference well except maybe those of us on the East Coast during Hurricane and Northeaster seasons.

The first seal is opened and out rides a white horse. There is much discussion about who this is. Later in Revelation we will see Jesus riding a white horse in judgment of the world as he conquers the forces of evil. Conquering heroes often rode white horses into the towns they had conquered so this imagery would have been widely recognized in John’s day. Dispensationalists tend to think this figure is the Anti-Christ who comes in the image of Christ bringing not victory but the wrath of God. The second seal is opened and out rides a red horse. Almost universally this rider is recognized as bringing war, destroying all human relationships. Preterist believe this was accomplished with the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD and the disbursement of the people of Israel. The third seal is broken and out rides a black horse. Again there is almost universal agreement that this horse represents hardship, poverty and famine. Famines were a reality in John’s day in many parts of the world just as they are a reality today in our modern world. The fourth seal unleashes the pale green horse. Its rider is given a name, Death. It is believed by the Preterist that this represents the death to Christians throughout the world of John’s day, while idealist believe it represents death throughout time and Dispensationalist believe that this is a future prediction that will destroy ¼ of the world. In fact verse 8 clearly indicates this rider will kill the ¼ of the earth through pestilence, famine and wild animals. Note the similarity to Ezekiel’s judgment in 14:2. Truthfully, we have not met a historical time of great death that killed off ¼ of the world. We have seen millions die during great famines and over the course of the 19^th and 20^th century 700 million died of Tuberculosis. The world population at the time was around 107 billion. Even in John’s day, great volumes of death centered on war, famine and illness were prevalent.               

Now that we have met the Horsemen of the Apocalypse we can move on to the rest of John’s Revelation. Seal number five is opened and we see a picture of the martyred saints. Remember that in John’s time there were literally hundreds if not thousands who went to their death for their faith. We have stories of unspeakable tragedy to the early Christians by the Roman people under Nero and other Caesarean leaders. So we see them crying out for justice. Note the last verse (verse 11) says that there will be a period of rest for those already martyred to wait for those that are going to be killed before the end will come. At the time of the writing there was still plenty of persecution going on in Rome against the Christians and many more were martyred between 70 AD and 305 AD when Constantine comes to power. Dispensationalists believe that this speaks to a time in the future when there will be martyrs in a final tribulation period yet to come. This was the promise that Jesus made to the disciples in Matthew 24: 9 that folks would be persecuted for believing in Him.

With the opening of the six seal, we see the judgment phase preparation. This seal unleashes a great earthquake, the moon becoming like blood or stars falling to the sky. To the first century Jew, this would be catastrophic in that they understand that order is preserved as long as the heavens (Stars, Sun, Planet) stays in place. This prophecy connects to the Day of the Lord in the Old Testament Prophets (see Amos 8:8-9; Ezekiel 38:19; Isaiah 13:10 and Joel 2:31). In verse 15 and 16 we see a reference to hiding in the caves and among the rocks. The first instinct is to hide when sin is present and one is in the presence of the Lord is imminent. Remember Adam and Eve hiding from God after the eating of the fruit.   

Now we come to a pause. Chapter seven begins with angels holding back the four winds which are synonymous with the Four Horseman. In each of the judgments in John’s Revelation there will be a pause before the final judgment is put into place. Is this a resting point, what we might call the calm before the storm? Likely this is a time of preparation before the actual events will transpire. But we have a pause. In this case for the servants of God that have to be marked or sealed. We have this elaborate list from John of 144,000. Pay close attention to the tribes listed for they are not the twelve tribes of Israel. Now there has been great discussion about who the 144,000 are. Certain denominations believe this is the elect that gets into heaven. That however is contrary to what we heard in chapter 5 and 6. Some believe that this is 144,000 of Christian and Jewish believers who will witness to the world during the coming tribulation. Some believe that this is a complete number and cannot be taken literally but rather means a large group of faithful Christians. Some Dispensationalists believe that this refers to the Jews alone and that the age of the Gentile is over. What we do know is that servants of God will be marked. Has this happened in the past? Not to our knowledge unless we view this as an Idealist who would say that when we profess Christ we are marked.

Verse 9 says there is a multitude from every nation who have come out of the great ordeal. Does this mean that what John is seeing is that there will be a great group of witnesses that are martyred during the time of tribulation? Did John see the immediate future which did result as I said before in many going to their deaths or is John looking into our future? Only God knows the answer which will be revealed in its time. This is a good place to talk about the Rapture of the church.

The Rapture of the Church

Prior to this great tribulation some (Dispensationalist) believe that the church will be taken up into the clouds with Jesus in order to avoid this terrible time. They believe that it is clear in 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15: 50-54. This is the basis on the popular book series, Left Behind. But let us examine it in scripture and then using scripture, tradition, experience and reason, the four points of the quadrilateral to understand it.

^NRS  1 Thessalonians 4:13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. ¹⁴ For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. ¹⁵ For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

^NRS  1 Corinthians 15:50 What I am saying, brothers and sisters, is this: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When this perishable body puts on imperishability, and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

1 Thessalonians is written by Paul to offer an explanation to the challenge that has infiltrated the church. False preaching has convinced many that the church has already been taken from the world and judgment has already happened. Paul is responding to that false teaching. Paul throughout his Epistle’s continually talks about the imminent return of Christ but not before the church walks through a time of great tribulation (Parousia). This letter to the Thessalonian church was likely written before John’s Revelation, around 52 AD. Paul clearly here and in 1 Corinthians is describing the coming of Second Christ when Christ comes for final judgment. There is no reference to the church being removed in John’s Revelation. But let’s say for a moment that there is such disagreement and ambiguity and that we cannot clearly see the timing of the church raised up to Christ. When we look at the traditions of the church we clearly see that though there was disagreement about Postmillennial and Amillennial views of the return of Christ but Premillennialism doesn’t surface until the 16^th century and so is the newest of End of Times theories. Rapture surfaces with John Nelson Darby in 1830 and though it is widely accepted today it has not stood the test of scripture and time. So what then of the experience of the Holy Spirit within the church? Again we have a wide disagreement across the world between the three understandings of John’s Revelation with Dispensationalism being primarily an American view of John’s writing. Finally using reason, the last point of the Quadrilateral, I point to two challenges to Darby’s theory. One that Paul throughout his writings speaks to the tribulation that every Christian will walk through prior to Christ’s return. It permeates his entire thinking and skews his view on marriage and family because of his concern about loyalty to God throughout that trial period. Second, when has God ever removed us from trials of faith especially when there are still souls to be won to Christ? Why would God remove the church and depend on folks of little faith or no faith to suddenly step up and become the leaders of this new church of the tribulation period. Granted some will probably get it as times become tough but do you put partial understanding when you could have scholarly leaders?

Finally the seventh seal is broken. We have ½ hour pause of silence in heaven. What does this mean? Is it as I said earlier the calm before the storm? Or is it the preparation of the end? Angels have been given seven trumpets. Trumpets have been used throughout the Biblical text to represent the proclamation or presence of God (Exod. 19:16; Isa 27:13, Joel 2:1). So hold your breath and here we go.

  

Twelve Tribes

Of Israel by birth, order                                      According to John

Reuben                                                              Judah

Simeon                                                               Reuben

Levi                                                                    Gad

Judah                                                                 Asher

Dan    (not in John’s list)                                     Naphtali

Napthali                                                              Manassah  (Son of Joseph)

Gad                                                                    Simeon

Asher                                                                  Levi

Issachar                                                             Issachar

Zebulun                                                              Zebulun

Joseph                                                               Joseph

Benjamin                                                            Benjamin

Revelation - Chapter 4

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Chapter 4 – The seven churches

Read chapter 2 & 3

We come now to the letters to the seven churches. Much has been discussed about the meaning and timing of these letters. There is within each letter a series of similarities that we should look for and in the absence of those similarities within a specific letter note the significance of that absence. Each of the letters is written to the Angel of the church. Whether this is a literal interpretation or John is referring to the messenger to the Head of each church is open for discussion. Certainly within the framework of the Biblical and Judean understanding, God has set apart an Angel to protect or look over nations, churches and even individuals. But the likelihood that God would be speaking to the Angel protecting an individual church is probably not the context of what John is writing. In each of the letters we will find an introduction, which includes an expression of Jesus, and an expression of commendation to what the church is doing and/or dealing with. Then we will see some form of condemnation or judgment about what they should not be doing. Then we find a call to repent or turnaround from where they are heading in order to come back to God. Then we hear this statement, “let anyone who has an ear hear”. This is John’s way of sharing that the message leads us to open our spiritual senses to hear what is being said. We can also glean from that message that John’s writing is relevant across time. Finally a challenge that if we are faithful what reward is before us.

Now there are different opinions about the individual churches in John’s Revelation. Preterists believe that the letters are to actual churches that existed in John’s day. And in fact, all seven churches were churches that Paul and the early apostles founded and spent time at. Each church had its own unique flavor and context much like the present day local church which fits in its geographic and demographic context. Differing views include that these letters addressed issues of that time while others believe that the issues are universal and address issues of churches in any age. Dispensationalists or futurists believe that the churches represent the church through the ages. Ephesus represents the church from 70 AD to 170 AD, Smyrna from 170-312, and so on to Philadelphia from 1750-1900 and the Laodicean church is the present day church. Though there is supporting evidence of this theory it tends to follow the European and Western church history more so than world history. For example the churches in China and Africa today are more like the first evangelistic churches following the persecution era of Paul and the early Apostles. Whatever you believe, the messages within each church are certainly relevant to our day and our time depending on the individual church or denomination and the issues facing it today. I think it is important to note that an individual messenger carrying the letters would have reached the churches in order of the way that they were written.

Ephesus is the first church addressed in the letters. Ephesus located closest to Patmos, was a major seaport that was slowly dying because the access to the sea was slowly filling with river silt. It was still at this time the largest of the seven cities. This had one of the strongest churches established by the early Christian movement and was a jumping off point for most of the evangelism in the Middle East and even Rome. God introduces us to the church by telling us that they have been very good at determining sound doctrine. As the largest church they would have been besieged with all sorts of persecution and internal challenges to individual doctrines. But God decreed that they have done well. But God condemns them that they have lost their first love which is Jesus. Not without substance we know the vigor of young faith and how it can often cool as it matures if we are not disciplined. John hears the call to repent, to turn back to their first love of Jesus and to become the faithful and strong witness that they used to be. To everyone who repents and turns back the tree of life is promised in paradise with God. Remember that the tree of life is our eternal promise.

We then travel up the road to Smyrna, a harbor city that was a central Roman city on the way into the Asian continent. We can gather that Smyrna was a church under tremendous persecution from both the Roman’s and the Jew’s. In fact Polycarp had been martyred here because he spoke out against the Jew’s, saying the only true Jew was one who believed in Jesus. The church is warned that further persecution is in front of them and if they are faithful they will have the crown of life. In other words, they are not condemned by God and are given hope instead. Whoever stays faithful to the end will not face the second death that we know as the final judgment. We are reminded that we must stay faithful even in the face of adversity.

From here we travel further north to Pergamum. Pergamum was the capital of the region and a major city in the time of John’s message. Interestingly this must have been a center for Pagan worship because it is described as the place where Satan’s throne is. But they have allowed the false teachings to infiltrate their faith lives. We in the western world have seen a moral decline in our culture and that moral decline can be dangerous if it begins to change the teaching of the church. The message of God is unchanged from generation to generation even if the culture changes. God challenges them to be faithful to the true faith and if they are they will receive manna from heaven, thought to symbolize Jesus, and a white stone with a name that no one knows except the one who receives it. It could possibly carry understanding back to when God changes the name of those that God calls like Jacob, Abram and Saul.

Now we begin to travel to the southwest along the trade routes of ancient Rome. We enter into the city of Thyatira. They are commended for their works and their faith but then we begin to see that they too, like Pergamum, have begun to decline into the culture. We as a church need to be constantly on the alarm against declining from the teaching of Christ as the culture around us changes. The church is given a challenge to persevere and they will be given authority over all nations and the morning star. This likely is a reference to the Psalm 2: 8 promise that those of faith will have authority over the nations. The reference to the morning star is less clear. It may refer to Christ and His return or it could refer to Lucifer, the morning star and indicate that the faithful will have power over sin. There is a reference in Isaiah 14:12 to Satan as the “Day Star – Son of Dawn” or “Morning Star.”

We continue our travel southwest along the trade routes to Sardis. They receive little introduction and no commendation, 14rather they go straight to the condemnation phase. They have become an apathetic church or may have begun that way and never fully came to faith, true faith. They are reminded to wake up and stop living in the past. So many of our churches today focus on what we used to be that they have lost sight of the original mission of the church to teach the Gospel of God’s love to the world. We used to be a giving church. We used to be a loving church. Nothing is stopping that church from being those things today except they have given up the zeal for Christ. The challenge for Sardis is still part of the condemnation, they that prevail will receive white robes but if they do not wake up their names will be blotted out of the Book of Life.

We continue to travel to the southwest and we arrive at the city of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Note that for the church in Philadelphia there is no condemnation. This would appear to be a faithful church that has not wavered throughout the time of its creation even in the face of persecution. Verse 10 creates a lot of discussion. Depending on the version of your Bible, this may be translated I will keep you from the hour of trial, temptation or testing. Dispensationalists point to this as the rapture of the church prior to the coming again of Christ for judgment. The rest simply say that this says that Jesus will, as the Lord’s Prayer asks for, keep us from temptation. That Jesus will stay with us and if we remain faithful will hamper temptation. If you can stay true God promises that we will become the foundation of the church.

Finally we come to Laodicea. This church receives no commendation from God. You are neither hot nor cold. I served a church once that fit this description nicely. They were comfortable and content that they had enough money to survive till the oldest among them was in the cemetery adjacent to the church. They asked of me to do four things, to preach a good sermon, visit them in the nursery home, preach their funeral and not ask them to do anything. When I read about the Laodicean church I think of them often. God minces no words. Either get off the fence or I will fry you, fence and all. It would be difficult to believe as the Dispensationalist believe, that we are in fact the Laodicean church since there are many churches throughout the world that are doing great works still being done throughout the world, but we can see that each succeeding generation leaves us weaker and quieter. To the one who repents, witnesses and loves, they will have a place on the throne with Jesus.

So ends the seven letters.

Five Talents

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 9/30/18

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^NRS Matthew 25:14 "For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵ to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶ The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. ¹⁷ In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸ But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. ¹⁹ After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying, 'Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.' ²¹ His master said to him, 'Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' ²² And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, 'Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.' ²³ His master said to him, 'Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.' ²⁴ Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, 'Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.' ²⁶ But his master replied, 'You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹ For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ³⁰ As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'

I heard a story once of a priest and his parishioners. A priest once asked one of his parishioners to serve as financial chairperson of his parish. The man, manager of a grain elevator, agreed on two conditions: No report would be due for a year, and no one would ask any questions during the year. At the end of the year, he made his report. He had paid off the church debt of $200,000. He had redecorated the church. He had sent $1,000 to missions. He had $5,000 in the bank. "How did you do all this?" asked the priest and the shocked congregation. Quietly he answered, "You people bring your grain to my elevator. As you did business with me, I simply withheld 10 percent and gave it to the church. You never missed it."

Today I want to talk to you about five talents. Now in Jesus day, this was money and a talent was about a week’s worth of wages for the common person. We are talking about a significant amount of money in His day. I wonder if that is all that He is talking about. You see this parable falls right in the middle of Jesus talking about the end of the world, the final time when Jesus is coming again to set the world right. As He often does, He talks in parables so that those who desire to understand will and those who could care less are not easily offended. There are always two main characters in a parable, you and God. There can be other characters but those two are always a part of every parable and the interesting thing is that we can be one character at this moment and a year later be another character all together.

Jesus is clearly talking about money here. I think we should notice that the Master, you know, God, only gives each person the amount that they can handle. The Master is testing them to see if they are worthy of his trust. So one takes five talents, invests them and earns five more. Good and faithful servant is he. The other takes the two talents, invests them, and earns two more, good and faithful servant is he. The third seems to be more interested in himself and his self-interests than being a good steward of his master. Why do I say that, because he could have simply taken it to the bank of his day, earned a little interest and not done a whole lot else. You have to wonder what is really going on here.

I believe the best message of this parable about money is this, if we give God all that we can, God will give us all that we need. In other words, God has given each of us an abundance and if we are good stewards of that, we will do the best we can with it and return that investment to the Master. Tithing is the only subject that God actually challenges us to test God. Malachi 3:8, bring the tithe into the storehouse and I bless you beyond your understanding.

John Wesley in his sermon, “The Use of Money” shared how we should think about money.  He shared the scripture that tells us that money is the root of all-evil. Matthew 6:21 reminds us that wherever our treasure is there is where our hearts will be. The only time God tells us to test God is in Malachi 3:10 where God tells us to bring our whole tithe to the storehouse and if we do that, God will open up the floodgates of heaven and pour out blessing in abundance. Solomon writes in Ecclesiastes 5:10 that whoever loves money never has enough and whoever loves wealth will never be satisfied with what they have. In addition, Hebrews 13:5 reminds us to keep our lives free from the love of money and to be content with what we have because God tells us that God will never leave us or forsake us.

Wesley believed that we should gain all that we can. In other words, work hard, be successful and strive to earn as much as you can. Are you surprised that he would say that? He tells us to work diligently to earn as much as we can as fast as we can. He remands us to work honestly with integrity to earn it, doing whatever labor or skill that God has given us to earn our way. He admonishes us to earn that wealth in ways that do not deceive or steal from others in our efforts to get rich, but to find ways to use our hands and our minds to find success. He goes on to say, save all that you can. Rather than spend our money on new cars, new houses and new clothes, learn to be content with what we have and put our earnings in places that grow the money and accumulate it for the future.

When I was growing up, I wish that my parents had spent more time teaching me important values about things, especially about money. We never had an abundance but it seems we always struggled. They did instill in me a work ethic at an early age. I began to deliver papers and cut grass before I could ever drive a car. I have never stopped working since that time. Had my own landscaping business at least that is what they call it now. You know it was me, my push mower that got pushed from job to job and the old weed eater of choice, hand clippers. For several summers, it earned me a great income. I only wish that I had learned back then about the 80-10-10 rule. Do you know it? If not get to know it and teach your children to use it! Learn to live on 80 % of your income. If you get a raise, adjust the percentages but continue to live on a maximum of 80 %. Take 10 % and put it away for a rainy day. For a retirement fund or education fund but never, and this is the key, never dip into that fund, your very future depends on leaving it alone. Then give the last 10 % back to God. Give it to the church you attend or to the benevolence that changes lives the most where you are. If I had learned that rule when I was young, I would be in a really good place right now. In fact, if we give God all that we can, God will give us all that we need.

Finally, Wesley says to us, give all that you can. Wesley reminds us that we are all stewards of this great creation. That God put us here to care for all of creation. That means that we should care about how the land is cared for, how the air is kept clean from pollution and how the waterways are kept clean for drinking water and recreation. Fish cannot survive when we contaminate the seaways and rivers and when there are no fish to catch, no crops to harvest because the land is no longer fertile and the air is poison, we will all starve. I often wonder at the increase in skin cancer and digestive issues and the reality that our air and water is not the clean water of our grandparents. But John Wesley tells us to give all that we can to the world around us to make it a better place. We are told to love our neighbors and that love is best seen when we assure that no one in hungry, no one is without shelter and warmth. Jesus reminded us in Mark 12:17 to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Matthew 6: 19-20 tells us to not store up treasures here on other that can be taken or will not last but to store up our treasures in heaven where we will receive eternal reward. In fact, if we give God all that we can, God will give us all that we need.

Here is the second part of this message. We are here to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. To some God gives, true evangelism and they take those talents, there are probably five of them and they go out in the world and make five more disciples to share the message of God’s love. For some the work is not natural so they only get two and yet they too, go out into the world and bring two people into relationship with God and neighbor through the love of God. Good and faithful servants are these two. Some of us, fearful of what the world might think of us, fearful of what we might be asked to do and/ or fearful of how it will change our lives, bury that talent God has given us deep. So deep that no one will find it and expose it for fear we might have to do something for God. One day, maybe one day soon, God is coming and will be asking for an accounting of the talents, gifts, or skills, whatever you want to call them, and wanting to know how we furthered God’s Kingdom here on earth. What will you say? Which one of the three servants will we be? How will we answer the question, what kind of steward of God’s gifts, skills and talents have we been. If we give God all that we can, God will give us all that we need.

Sanctifying Grace

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 9/23/18

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^NRS Exodus 19:16 On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, as well as a thick cloud on the mountain, and a blast of a trumpet so loud that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

^NRS 2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. ¹⁵ And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. ¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! ¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

When I was growing up, my mother always had roses. When I was young, I remember her having me help her. I might add, not always willingly. I was not always eager to work with the roses mind you, but she was always eager to teach me. I used to think that she was trying to get me interested in roses, but I think in retrospect, she was trying to teach me about life. There are some important lessons that you need to know to grow beautiful roses in your garden. First, you must work the soil to assure that it is ready for the rose before you plant it. Make sure the soil is rich and soft, adding good soil with fertilizer before planting and then plant the rose. Water it sparingly for too much water or too little water will kill the rose and bring on disease. As the rose begins to grow, you must give it constant attention but not over nurture it. The rose must grow some on its own. There are Japanese Beetles to worry about as well as black spot disease. As the roses bloom, you must deadhead the old buds lest the rose will spend more energy on the dead bloom than a new bud. As you constantly prune the rose bush, cutting the dead away and making room for the new, your rose bush will begin to take on the color and aroma of the flower and enhance your life. Always be mindful that just below that beautiful flower are the thorns. Today I want to talk to you about Sanctifying Grace.

Sanctifying grace is that journey where we are transformed into the image of God through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us and empowering us to love as God loves. In Matthew 5:48 Jesus tells us to go and be perfect. He believed in us, as He loved us unconditionally. If we look at the Greek, we see that the word used could easily be interpreted as mature, complete or full-grown. Jesus is telling us to go and be mature in our faith. However, in order to be mature in our faith, in order to achieve perfection in our relationship with God we need five things. We need a willingness to share this journey with God and other Christians who want to be in close relationship with God. We cannot do it alone nor can we suddenly be transformed if our hearts are closed to the transformation. Willingness to follow Jesus in the same way that the early disciples did, a willingness to drop everything they know and go where He is calling them and us to go. No doubt, you are thinking, Pastor, I cannot do that. Yet, we have the stories of Abraham and Joshua who willingly abandoned what they thought and went where God sent them. We are here today because of that. Imagine what the world would be like if all the people who called themselves Christian actually did.

We must surrender ourselves to the will of God. That means we pray for discernment, go, and do what God is calling us to do wherever and however that call is asking of us. As a church if God is asking us to change, then whether we are 16 or 91, we surrender to that call and go. Change is what caused the world to follow Christ even though in the earliest of times, they did not know Christ.

We then seek the vision that God has set before us. Perfection is not being sinless and doing everything, exactly the way God wants it. We are human after all. Perfection is listening to God and following what God wants. I will talk more about that in a moment. God has set a vision for us individually and corporately. The issue is whether you want to follow that vision.

Remember when you fell in love? Remember how much you wanted to be with the object of your love. How you wanted to share their desires, the things that were important to them and every moment of the day with them. We desire to be in the presence of God, we want to know what God is like, and how to build a relationship with God. However, just like our human love, our Godly love requires of us study, prayer and finding places where that love can develop and be nurtured. God is already there with gloves on, fertilizer in hand. Notice that God also has the pruning shears. I remember a number of years ago I had a business, a six figure income, a nice house in Birkdale on the golf course. Life was good as the marketing people at Birkdale used to say. God was calling for the third time. I allowed God in this time completely. I had received God into my heart when I was a teenager but just as we have shared, there are obstacles or baggage that keeps God out. I had become a weekend dad traveling across the country. Golf, business and anything else was more important than family or God. Funny thing happens when you let God in. You see, sanctifying grace is the work of the Holy Spirit rooting out sin – moving us closer to the image of God that God intended. So little by little, I began to change. Change is good! But change can be painful. Pruning clears away the things that prevent us from being in the kind of relationship that God wants, one of complete love and headed on a path of righteousness and perfection. When Adam and Eve were created, they were protected, loved and nurtured in the Garden. They were created in the image of God. God desires that we return to that place where the soil is rich, the sky blue and the air clean. Sanctifying grace restores us to our original righteousness.

The fourth element in this journey is alignment. We structure our lives to align them with the vision that God has set before us. For each of us that vision entails following Christ where Christ is leading us. Jesus said to us to Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teach them to love God with all their hearts, minds, souls, and love you neighbor in the same way. Jesus could not have been clearer. When, not if, we align ourselves with that mission our vision becomes clear. God has a plan for you using your gifts, skills and talents that allows you to align with that mission. Whether it is teaching, engineering, carpentry work or ushering, there is a purpose for which you are good at that God is calling you to. When you are willing to surrender to that calling, the vision will be clear and you then align yourselves to that vision.

Finally, we need discipline. Daily discipline where we spend time with God. We must live lives of worship, worshipping God not only on Saturday or on Sunday but every day, all day. A life of constant prayer where we connect with God. A life of daily Bible reading where we learn more about God. Finally a life of participating with the Body of Christ where we are recharged and dig deeper. If you are not in a small group, do so. If you are not reading your Bible daily, start. If you are not praying, begin.

We are on paths to perfection you and I. At least I hope you are on this journey with me. That is what true discipleship means. As a church, we are on this journey too. The early disciples would not have differentiated between their church life and their own lives; they would have thought them one and the same. Wish more people felt that way today. I share with you a story.

If I were to say, Kodak moment, what would that mean to you? If you are like me and remember the commercials, we would think of a life moment caught by the camera and saved forever. At the time of those commercials, Kodak was the second largest US Corporation, second only to IBM. They thought that cameras and film were the thing, now and forever. In their labs folks were developing, a new thing called digital photography but the higher ups thought what they had was all they needed. Funny thing about that. On January 18^th, 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy. You see they had forgotten or not understood their “WHY.”

What is our “WHY?” Jesus said it is to make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to love God and neighbor. I believe with all my heart that this is our why. It is why we exist, why we gather and is our purpose on our journey to perfection. If we forget or misunderstand our why we die. Plain and simple. Many churches across the country are dying because they think there why is to take care of the folks inside the building, to nurture and care for them. We were dying because we had come to believe that we were here not for Christ but for ourselves. When we fail to practice radical hospitality and have passionate worship, we die. When we fail to step out in risk taking mission where we do what makes us uncomfortable we die. When we decide we do not like the direction of the church at the moment and try to subvert it back to the old way of thinking, we die. Churches that are dying believe with all their heart that their priorities, desires and goals are what is necessary for the church, not God’s. Sydenstricker is not a small family church and has not been since Jack Martin was here. Maybe that is why for so many years we have been declining from our high point of 518 average worship attendance under the pastorate of Mike Houff around 1999.  We think we are here for us, not God. Let us move on to a path of perfection with passionate worship, radical hospitality, risk taking mission and intentional discipleship. We know our why. We know our purpose. We know what Christ is calling us to do in perfection. Let us come together and share the journey.

Revelation Chapter 3

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Chapter 3 – The Beginning

Read Chapter 1 The Revelation of John

We begin this introduction of John as he proclaims this the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Note here that this is not the Revelation about Jesus or the Revelation concerning Jesus but John clearly indicates that Jesus is revealing this to him. Jesus is the true author of the Revelation of John and more than anything we will discuss, this beginning sets the stage for all that will follow. What it is Jesus is revealing to John? John tells us in this preamble. See in verse one that John tells us that Jesus is revealing what must soon take place. Now historians and dispensationalists all agree at this moment in time Jesus in prophesying what must take place in the world. Where they disagree is when these events actually take place. Historically some of the events in John’s Revelation clearly took place in his day while some are lost in ambiguity to whether they have occurred or are yet to come.

John reminds us that we are blessed when we read prophecy aloud. God intends that we know what God is up to including the final days of the world and when Jesus will come again. Now to the Idealist, this is simply reminding us what the battle between good and evil looks like across the millennium which for them is an undetermined amount of time that only God knows. But we can clearly glean from this that God intends us to read and proclaim the prophecy just as God sent Jonah to Nineveh to change the course of history by having the citizens of Nineveh repent. John’s Revelation is as much a warning that we must walk in the ways of God whether this is the last day for earth or the last day of our lives. John indicates the time is near. What does near mean? Clearly for those in each of the tribulations of the world, the plague in Europe, the Civil War, WWI, and WWII, the people involved in these events thought that the end must truly be near. But we have only history to see that the end has not yet come. The when is what divides us as we look to the events of the End of Time.

John writes to the seven churches. What are the seven churches? Well in John’s day they were actual churches that existed and they are written in the order by which a courier would have encountered them leaving from the Island of Patmos. To Futurist or Dispensationalist they are the church from beginning to end and each church represents an age of Christianity. Truthfully the messages to the churches are as relevant today as they were in John’s day. It is important to note that seven is used often in John’s Revelation. Seven to John is a complete number, a number representing fullness and wholeness. Whether in fact we should take this as a literal number is open for discussion. Here John proclaims the majesty and completeness of Jesus. This preamble is in part to remind us who Jesus is, His authority to rule the world and how we should praise Him. In verse 7 John clearly has a vision of Jesus returning in the clouds that every eye could see Him. I think that it is interesting that John believes that the whole earth will see His coming, even those who persecuted Him.. NRSV 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” 

In verse 12 John describes the risen Lord, Jesus Christ as he gazes upon Him. Note the language and descriptiveness that he gives to Jesus. Standing among the seven lampstands he saw one like the Son of Man. Now if this is truly John the Apostle, he would recognize Jesus since he had spent time with Him. This is one of several descriptions that John will see of Christ throughout the vision. His description gives us hope in that Jesus tells him that He is God, the first and the last, paralleling what God had previously said about being Alpha and Omega. Jesus holds the keys to death and to Hell.  We should note that He describes these as two separate things. Jesus then tells us the meaning of the seven lampstands and seven stars. We have a description from Barclay’s study of John and the early church that the church is the lampstands of light. Jesus is the light and the church is the holder of that light here on earth. We as the church are to be the instruments of God to share the light of the world, Jesus, with the world. The seven stars are somewhat of a mystery. Is Jesus saying that there is an angel for each of the churches? Is Jesus saying that there is a human messenger or head of the church that John is to write to? We may never know but I tend to believe that the former has more acceptance among the scholars when we look back at scripture and the Gospels we see references to angels watching over people, the nation of Israel and the church (Matthew 18:10).