My Heart is Holy - Social Holiness

Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC 10/1/17

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^NRS  Mark 10:17  As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" ¹⁸ Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. ¹⁹ You know the commandments: 'You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.'" ²⁰ He said to him, "Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth." ²¹ Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." ²² When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.

Several years ago a small stone created great havoc in my life. For those that have ever had a kidney stone you know what I am talking about. It is hard to believe that something as small a grain of sand can cause such havoc in your body. And yet that is exactly a great analogy for sin, something so small at first maybe, some little white lie, some exaggeration, borrowing something and then never giving it back, all of these are so small and yet they lead to great sin. Sin starts out simple and small and quickly changes to something sinister and large. Jesus asks the young man a question responding to the young man’s question, what does it take to get into heaven. Jesus lists off the Ten Commandments and the young man assures Jesus that he has followed all of them. But Jesus sets the standard so much higher than that. Many years ago I made a six figure income, had my own business with employees and spent time traveling all of the country and in several parts of the world. But Jesus was calling me to something bigger, something better and something awe inspiring. But I had to be willing to let go of the personal stuff to achieve the spiritual stuff. And when I did, Jesus had been providing for my needs all along. It is not an easy path mind you. There will be people who want to take advantage of your good humor, your willingness to compromise and you desire to teach them that they are loved. The young man sadly cannot give up what he has for the promise of eternal life with Jesus. Would you? Each of us will have to answer that question one day. How will your respond? I am not a prosperity theologian. I believe that the message of Jesus is that everyone gets an even break, nothing more nothing less. If you have, then you give to those who do not. If you do not, then you receive from those that do.

I want to digress a moment to understand what it means to follow Jesus or be a Christian. Following Jesus means that everything we do we do in an effort to mimic or imitate Jesus. God sent us Jesus in order that we would know what it means to always place God’s will above our own. God sent us Jesus in order to show us what a perfect human being looks like. And God desires that we be in a perfect relationship with God. When we desire to be in a loving relationship with someone, we want to spend time with them, get to know them and do what they want to do. And we cannot do that unless we desire to do it. If we think that we can enter into a relationship with someone by spending a little time with them and then not having a lot to do with them for the next thirty years, it isn’t going to work. We cannot be who we say we are unless we recommit to the ideals that guide us, strengthen us and prepare us for that day when we cross over. I have begun to believe that when we cross over into paradise the measure by which we will be judged will not be our sins. In keeping with James and Paul, I believe that the question we will be asked is what have you done to further the Kingdom of God? That question will be both convicting and condemning. What did you do while here on earth to build and establish relationships? What did you do while here on earth to foster relationships with God? And how did you respond to the poor, the hungry, the prisoners, the sick and those who are different than us. Matthew 25, verse 45 and 46 sum this kind of thinking of Jesus by saying, “⁴⁵ Then he will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' ⁴⁶ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." I take it from that chapter that our eternal salvation depends on reaching out to those in the world around us who are in need of comfort and spiritual healing. John Wesley developed his ideals of Christian living. He focused on two equally important aspects, personal holiness and social holiness. We will explore our personal relationship with God in the coming weeks. But what is our discipleship relationship with God?

Jesus asked the disciples to give all that they had and follow him. Each of us comes to this place today with special gifts and unique talents that God has chosen for us. I see a people with love for their neighbors and their families. A people who know what it is to be loved and to love. And yet as we sit here this morning, in this quiet and comfortable place, there are those in our community who are hungry, sick and do not know Jesus. Jesus set the example for us by feeding those who were hungry and healing those who were broken. Jesus placed himself in the company of lepers, mentally ill, and bleeding people. He placed himself there to heal them so that they might be restored to the community and to their relationship with God. John Wesley had three simple rules he followed. Do not harm, do good and follow the ordinances. In other words, do nothing to harm anyone in all that you do. That is a hard task to do. And do the best you can do for the world around you.

There are two aspects of social holiness and we have struggled through one of them – to reach out and help our neighbor. And everyone is our neighbor. The second aspect involves social justice. I have spent the better part of this week dealing with conversations about the world we live in including the issue of whether or not people have the right to stand, sit, or ignore the National Anthem, white privilege and other issues we face every day. In the 60’s and 70’s we fought for social justice for racism and gender equality and those fights continue today. Then it was about the length of our hair, the color of our skin and the gender God gave us. Today those same issues continue to cause us to be divided and bring great harm to our country and to the people in it. I believe that as we sit here today that democracy is in in trouble. But more importantly even than that is that Christianity is in trouble. If we don’t stand up for social justice who will? If we don’t call out the wrongness of off color jokes, gender based issues, and the right of someone to disagree with us even when that disagreement does not sit very well or comments, who will? And I wonder what Jesus will say to us when we stand face to face with him? Maybe like the young man, we will not receive the promise of heaven that we so desperately seek. Today we stand in a world divided by race, by status and by demographics. We decide how we are going to interact in that world. If we draw lines in the sand constantly rather than finding ways to have discussion and learning to compromise for the good of the many, we have no chance. The message of the Bible is unchanged. It tells us to love one another. So why do we divide churches and neighborhoods and people.

The reason we are here this morning is to provide a foretaste of heaven. We are instruments of God’s mercy and grace in the world. If we don’t share the love of God in the world around, no one else will. That is why we are here. Recently I was having a conversation with someone about the spending of the church. Some years ago I had a conversation with a member of the church who said to me with sincerity in his words, if you would stop giving to mission we would have enough money to do what we want. These are the words of the rich young man. And Jesus condemned him.

James would tell us faith without works is dead. In other words, if there is no sign of our faith in our actions, words and deeds, then we must not have faith. In the Methodist faith we would suggest that salvation is at stake. But we all agree that if there is no evidence of that faith walk, then there might not be a faith walk. And right now, right here in this community there have needs that need to be met. There are people hungry, people who will soon need winter clothing, food and heat. We have elderly people in the community who could use assistance with their heating bills but may be too isolated or too proud to admit that need. There are children whose only meals during the week are during the school hours. So much so that elementary schools have added additional opportunities to serve. Extravagant generosity means reaching beyond our comfort zones to give what is needed, not what makes us comfortable. And risk taking mission means reaching beyond our comfort zones to go where the need is. Early Methodists went into the districts where bars and brothels flourished in order to bring the light into the darkness. Jesus himself went among the thieves and prostitutes, the lepers and the demon possessed in order to create relationships. When Christians are made aware of a need, they have to respond. So I want to ask you this morning, how will we respond? Thanksgiving is coming. Are you willing to take your time to serve those who are in need? Will we be willing to offer a ride to those who cannot drive or offer to go to the grocery store or pharmacy on their behalf? Christian charity begins by us stepping out beyond our comfort zones and truly loving those around us.

And when we are asked how we helped build the kingdom, the answer will be there in the people who are witnesses to our salvation. We can make a difference. If you will allow a spark to form in your heart, a spark of hope, of love and of compassions, God will take your spark and the sparks of others and make it a flame. As a community we should endeavor to assure that no one this winter is hungry or cold. And that no child goes without Christmas. A Christian who never reaches out in Christian love is simply a member of the world. If we profess to follow Jesus on Sunday morning, then we must share God’s love with others on Monday and then again on Tuesday. Social holiness means that whenever we see need or injustice, we respond in loving, caring and nurturing ways. We are the rich young man and Jesus is waiting for an answer!