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
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
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
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 Kingdom of God
which will be fulfilled completely in the feast at the table of God on the mountain of God
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?
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