We've only just begun

Sermon given at Grace UMC 7/5/15

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Scripture Reading:

^NRS  Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as children-- "My child, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, or lose heart when you are punished by him; ⁶ for the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, and chastises every child whom he accepts." ⁷ Endure trials for the sake of discipline. God is treating you as children; for what child is there whom a parent does not discipline?

Paul Williams wrote the song, “We’ve only Just Begun” which was a huge hit for the Carpenters. It is a song about beginnings, about young love which has the whole future of life ahead of it. The second verse reminds us of this:
Before the risin' sun, we fly
So many roads to choose
We'll start out walkin' and learn to run
And yes, we've just begun
We arrive at this point today with the future in front of us. There are many roads to choose as we move from this point forward. Roads paved with good intentions, roads paved with successful conversions and roads that lead to decline and closure. Our momentum at the moment is good but it needs to be reignited by the passion of the spirit that was in your confession’s to Jesus Christ so many years before. We must relinquish the forces that hold us apart and pull us away from this place. This week I had the pleasure of working with young people at Camp Occohannock. Young people who were there to spend some days exploring and learning. But in the midst of that they were open to the touch of the Holy Spirit. I remember one incident where they attempt to climb a wall with small rock like things used as foot hand holds. This particular day a young woman who was scared of heights was attempting the wall. Her fellow campers were gathered round encouraging her. As you watched them suggest hand holds or foot placements, you could see their bodies moving as if they were on the wall with her. That focus is what we understand in the Body of Christ. When we become one people and we begin to work together as one people to do the task at hand. She made it to the top and rang the Bell. We make rules and policies for the church so that we can become the Body of Christ. Pulling, sharing and working together for one goal, one people and one God.

We have just begun to journey to the place where God reigns supreme. We are part of the Kingdom of God and we share in the love of God that permeates the Kingdom. In the last few weeks I have talked about Grace, about God’s unwavering love, about following Christ, my vision for the future and what God wants from us. Today we begin a new year and a new opportunity to transform not only the church we love but the community we live in. Abraham began a journey on faith to a place he did not know but God had called him to new realities and so he went. So too we are Abraham being called by God to new places and new realities. Some of them may be difficult and others complicated, but with God behind us, there is absolutely nothing that is impossible.

What will it take for us to survive? What are we doing well or what are we doing wrong? What is to become of us? And the number of similar questions worded different ways. There is a problem here. The problem is that those asking the question are hoping that I have a simple answer. The challenge is always how one answers a closed ended question when the answer is complicated and open ended. I am going to attempt to answer this complicated question by starting if you will at the beginning of our churches. The answer in simplest terms is that when we truly become Disciples of Christ; God will direct us to become the instruments of his glory. That seems so simple. I liken it to a story I heard once of a child who came home from Sunday school to tell his father about Moses at the Red Sea. The young man described how the Israelites had put down pontoon bridges for their jeeps to cross on. Then, as Pharaoh approached and his army came over the bridges, they were dynamited and the whole Egyptian army sank in one fell swoop. The father calmly asked the excited son if that was really the way it happened. The child's response was, "No, but if I told you what they really said at church, you sure wouldn't believe it." Paul is trying to focus us on two important truths in this scripture which has as its goal to lead us to becoming more focused on our own lives. And this story reminds us that sometimes complicated questions have simple answers that people will either not believe or chose not to follow.  

We gather today Independence Day. It is a day that celebrates those who laid down their lives so that we can live here in this country with freedom. We are reminded of the heroes, young men and women who fought for that freedom, who gave all they had. Their names now stand in stark contrast on plaques and monuments across the country. But for the families they stand as reminders of lives cut short, futures that went on without them and families that grew up without brothers, sisters, and fathers. We need to celebrate their sacrifice today as we gather in this place. But we also need to realize those who went before us in the church also made sacrifices. Many of the early Christians gave their lives that we might worship freely here in this space and know the truth of Jesus.

We began as a church interestingly enough with a movement that never intended to become a church. William Morgan and a group of students began intentional faith development. So much so that other students began to make fun of them and called them “methodical” as a joke. John Wesley was part of that group and upon Morgan’s untimely death, became the leader. John Wesley and this small group of Methodists begin to expand across England, Wesley travels on mission to Georgia, fails at evangelizing to the Indians and returns home depressed and questioning his call. Then on May 24^th, 1738 while listening to a sermon in Romans, his heart is “strangely warmed” and at that moment he claims his understanding of what God is calling him to do. From there the movement extends across the ocean to America where the flame of a relationship with God burns fiercely among the peoples of America. And then the revolutionary war happens and all things England are despised.

In 1771 Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke are sent over to provide leadership to this growing movement within our country. By 1773 the cries for sacramental authority have grown so fierce that Wesley appoints Coke and Asbury as ministers with the authority to ordain new ministers. By 1784 this movement becomes a church. There were some important and significant things about this early church that set it apart from other churches in the world. Women were included in worship from the start centered on the understanding of Paul’s ministry and the role of Mary Magdalene and Mother Mary in the early church. And African American’s were a part of our weekly worship, with the church ordaining a female African American in 1790. This early movement was focused on two important foundational blocks. One, that inclusion means something. Each week classes would gather and hold each other accountable to discipleship. They would share with one another the answers to three questions:

How is it with my soul?

Where have I stumbled this week?

Where have the fruits of my faith been evident?

Continued inclusion in the group meant that over the long journey members had stories to tell each other about the status if you will of their relationship with God, how that relationship had shown itself in their daily lives and when they stumbled, that they shared that, expected accountability of it and received forgiveness.

And the second thing was that the group had a responsibility to witness and share their faith with others with the goal of growing their community. These two things were not optional for early Methodist and should not be optional for us today.  Maybe that is part of the answer to the question we ask. We need to return to a time when our discipleship of evident, active and accountable. The other interesting part of this is that the weekly meetings were not the central part of their lives, discipleship was.

The foundation of early Methodism was a focused on biblical truths. The first truth is that original sin is our disobedience to God. Nothing more, nothing less! The second is that Grace is given by God because God knows that we fail at being obedient because of our natures. That is not an acceptable reason or excuse, but Grace allows us forgiveness in spite of ourselves. Third that we have "free will" to accept or reject God’s gift of Grace. And finally, these things, original sin, Grace and free will become self-evident to us when we strive to become disciples of Jesus Christ. In that journey we will build our relationship with God. We build that relationship with God through our daily disciplines of bible reading, prayer, being involved and active in our community of believers and reaching out to the world to share this love of God. And it is that journey that each of us must be on or we are wasting our time being here this morning. Early Methodism permeated this area of Virginia. And this brings us to the history of Grace.

Grace began as Parksley Methodist Church in 1892 and Dr. J.E.T. Ewell was its first pastor. On October 30^th, 1908 the frame church burned but the spirit of the church remained and so a new church was built, the cornerstone laid on October 13, 1910 and completed in 1912. By the way, Andrew Carnegie donated one half the money for the organ, $1250, which was installed in the church in 1912. And the church thrived and grew as the center of its community, sharing the love of God with all that would come. In 1974 the church discovered that its beloved sanctuary was literally falling apart. Did that stop them or slow them down, no. With God’s assistance they built the current sanctuary and dedicated it on December 12^th of 1976. Some say to me that to get back to the church they remember we need to go to one service. Really? Did you know that the Chapel service began in 1993 under the direction of Rev. O.H. Burton? It is as much a part of our tradition now 22 years later. All along this path we have been moving on the journey to share the Kingdom of God with the communities we live in and serve.

We have to decide what course we are going to take. Are we going to stand united in the manner of early Methodist, working towards perfection individually and collectively, holding each other accountable to become true Disciples of Christ? Are we as individuals in a focused intentional relationship with God? Are we working together to bring the “good news” of the Gospel to the community around us as our ancestors did before us. For the last one hundred and twenty three years this church has stood here at the crossroads of Bennett Street and Wilson Avenue. Where it goes from here rests on our shoulders. Where will we go? What miracles of faith will be performed here for the next one hundred and twenty three years? How many lives will be changed? The answer is up to you and me? What path will we choose?