We are Methodist

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC on July 9th and 10th

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^NRS  Luke 6:27 "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

^NRS  Galatians 5:14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." ¹⁵ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

Some years back a movie was written about a terrible event in the life of a college campus and a town. So much so that it took hope away. It threatened to strike at the very fiber of their being. It affected how they felt about themselves. And into that situation came a man who was determined to pull them up out of their desperation and hopelessness. And they began that with a definitive response to who they were. You may have heard of them. Their defining cry was “We are Marshall” and they energized themselves around that focus as they pulled themselves out of the dark despair. They have emerged a successful football program, a larger college and a town that rewrote who they were to the world. Today I want to talk about who we are. We too have a rallying cry, “We are Methodist.” Can you say that? [WE are {pause} Methodist] But what does that mean? So often we have as many interpretations of what it means to be a Methodist as we do people who are Methodists. Today I want to talk about one aspect of being Methodist. There are five things that make us unique as a denomination, not better than anyone else mind you, but different. We share some of these things with other denominations but all five make us who we are and if we understand that it allows us to focus on our work and not get hung up. If you know who you are and what you stand on foundationally, then you can focus on the work at hand. Today I want to talk about what it means to be Methodist and then next week about three simple rules that should be at the center of our lives.

           

There are five things that make us uniquely United Methodist. While we share individually some of these things with other denominations, all five of them together make us uniquely who we are. I often have this discussion with other United Methodist ministers as we explore Wesleyan concepts. This is to say, we explore what John Wesley wrote about being a Methodist or more importantly, what it means to be a Christian. There is no particular order in priority.

1.    Baptism – We believe that baptism is a sacrament. In other words, God is the principle actor and what happens is a mystery to us. In baptism we are cleansed of the taint of original sin, welcomed into the Kingdom of God and participate as community in the sacrament. Since God is the principle actor, when it happens and how it happens is not as important as that it happens. Baptism is a gift of God where God does all that needs to be done. Since God doesn’t make mistakes, if you were baptized as an infant through sprinkling or pouring or immersion, it never will need to be redone. What is given by holy ordinance of God is sacred and holy. We believe that we are welcomed into the Kingdom of God through baptism. But it is not salvation! We will focus on that in a moment.

2.    Communion – We believe communion to be a sacrament. God is the principal actor and we acknowledge the mystery of Holy Communion. We believe Christ to be present in the communion with us, the bread is still bread and the juice is still juice but through the mystery of God there is a presence. We are not people who believe that through the blessing the bread and the juice is anything other than bread and juice and we also are not people who believe that the service is simply a remembrance service. We understand Christ to be present with us each time we share this Holy Covenant of God given to us by Jesus in the Upper Room. But we also acknowledge the connection to Passover. Communion is the continuation of a long story that begins with the blessing of Abraham and is fulfilled in the Passover in Egypt. God proclaimed the gift of grace in the blood of the unblemished lamb and that night the Angel of Death passed over and gave them life. We remember the events of the Upper Room, the cross and resurrection. And we look forward to the promise of the Feast on the Mountain of God given in the prophecy of Isaiah.

3.    Connection – We are a connected church. We are connected to other UMC churches in this region through the Alexandria District Conference, to other UMC churches in Virginia through the Virginia Annual Conference and to UMC churches throughout the world through the General Conference. Our denomination determines the business of church through conferencing where members of laity and clergy come together in a democratic type process. Pastors are members of the Annual Conference, not the local church and serve at the appointment of the Bishop. The local church is governed by the Charge Conference and operated day by day through the Council with all other Committee’s holding allegiance to the Charge Conference through Council. This connection allows us to be stronger, to support one another and to grow in ways independent churches cannot. We combine our resources, our knowledge, our spirit and our faith to be the church God called us to be.

4.    Free Will – When God created Adam, God created him perfect. When God created Eve, God created her perfect. Perfect love is not full of strings that bind us to one another against our will. Perfect love is given with the hope that love will be given back. In order to assure that perfect love can be accomplished, one must have the right to choose. We believe that we have free will, that God gives us choice to decide whether to return God’s love or not. Our lives are not predetermined but God sees all possibilities of every choice. Free Will is the greatest expression of true love.

5.    Grace – The biggest element of the five is that we believe that we are saved by Grace alone. That we have Free Will to accept that grace but without the grace of God we would all be condemned. Our inherent nature is to be sinful, to be disobedient to the will of the one who created us. If not for the grace and mercy of God we would be subject to death, spiritual death, the true separation from God. But God is a God of second chances. God provides us that opportunity to live into that relationship with God through grace.                        We believe that there are three points in life’s journey when we experience Grace. Prevenient Grace is the offer of God from the moment we are conceived until the day we die. God constantly desires a loving relationship with us. God woos and courts us into that relationship from the moment that we are born. Justifying Grace is that moment when we finally accept the offer of God’s love. It is the moment when we understand what God is offering and we open our hearts to the gift and promise. We are justified in that grace by our faith in Christ. It is in that moment that we are reborn anew into the creation God intended from the beginning of the world. From that moment on we are working towards Sanctification. Sanctifying Grace is that path to perfection that all Christians strive towards, a path of perfect relationship with God where we submit ourselves to the will of God.

In addition there is the Quadrilateral that we use as a tool to determine our response to life’s challenges with Scripture, Tradition, Experience and Reason.  These things are the foundation of our Wesleyan theological understanding. It is what makes us Methodist among the denominations of the world. We share any number of these with other denominations but all of them together make us unique. It does not make us better, just Methodist. As we come to understand each aspect of our faith journey better, we become better followers of Jesus. As we explore and grow in our understanding we become closer to God and one another. Jesus said to us, Love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul and then love your neighbor in the same way. When we commit to that in our lives, we are changed forever. We become the people that the light of God shines through to those who live in the darkness.

I heard a story about a man who went to heaven. A man dies and goes to heaven.  Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates.  St. Peter says, “Here’s how it works.  You need 100 points to make it into heaven.  You tell me all the good things you’ve done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was.  When you reach 100 points, you get in.”  “Okay,” the man says, “I was married to the same woman for 50 years and never cheated on her, not even in my heart.”  “That’s wonderful,” says St. Peter, “that’s worth three points!”   “Three points?” he says. “Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service.”  “Terrific!” says St. Peter.  “That’s certainly worth a point.”  “One point?!”  “I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans.”  “Fantastic, that’s good for two more points,” he says.  “Two points!?!!” Exasperated, the man cries.  “At this rate the only way I’ll get into heaven is by the grace of God.”  “Bingo, 100 points! Good and faithful servant, come on in!” 

We are Methodist!