One God or Many

^{Sermon given at Sydenstricker UMC on October 26th and 27th, 2019}

^NRS Deuteronomy 32:17 They sacrificed to demons, not God, to deities they had never known, to new ones recently arrived, whom your ancestors had not feared. (Deut. 32:17 NRS)

^NRS Exodus 20:1 Then God spoke all these words: ² I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery; ³ you shall have no other gods before me. ⁴ You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, (Exod. 20:1-5 NRS)

Today we are going to explore the question that was asked, is there more than one God? Or put in another way, are the God’s of the ancient world the same as the God of Israel, the God the Christian church worships? I had youth years ago, that came back from an English class where the teacher had told them that the Christian God was no different than the Greek and Roman mythological Gods and was not real. So today, we are going to explore that concept and light of the scripture that you heard today.

So is there more than one God? The Bible certainly indicates that God believes that we think so. God does not say, I am the only God. Rather what we glean from the scripture is that God is acknowledging that we have other God’s. Therefore, God says to us that we are not to set any of them as more important than the God of Israel, Abraham and each of us. That God is a jealous God and will not have us worshiping these other deities. If God acknowledges other God’s, then who might they be and where did they come from?

Every ancient culture has its understanding of God. Whether we are talking about the Hindu people and Buddha, Krishna and Shiva, the Greeks with Zeus, Apollo, and Aphrodite, the Romans with Jupiter, Mars and Venus, the Egyptians with Osiris and Re and the Norse people with Odin and Thor, all of them have deities they revered as God. Some of the them, in fact, most of them were creatures with powers beyond that of humans, they reside in places not of the earth though they frequent the places where humans exist and they interact with humans in mostly malevolent or mischievous ways.

The Bible also shares the names of other God’s as we encounter the people who inhabit the land where the people of Israel go. There is Baal, the God of the Canaanites, Ashur, the God of the Assyrians, Marduk the God of the Babylonians and Moloch another one the Canaanite Gods. In fact, there are quite a number of God’s mentioned in the old and new testaments.

There are in the stories of the ancient world, numerous names for the supreme God, the one central figure often associated with creation itself. Ahone is the God creator of the Powhatan people who populated this part of the country long before Caucasian people arrived here. Makemake is the creator of the Polynesian people while Huracan not only created the Mayan people and all the earth but also called forth a flood when displeased with the people that Huracan created.

In Exodus, God, Yahweh, or Jehovah decrees that God will execute all the God’s of Egypt. Now some might suggest that God is talking about human beings since Pharaohs and then Caesar self-proclaimed themselves God’s. In this passage, God implies that God is not the only God but that God will conquer all the others. Since Human beings die, this clearly is an indication of some other type of being. In Isaiah, we are introduced to a cosmic battle that takes place before time itself and there is one who seems to be above the rest, the Shining One or the son of Dawn. We know this figure as Satan but we will return to this a little later.

So where does that leave us? Clearly the world has known God’s, whether they are deities that were created from their own minds trying to explain things they could not understand. Or as some say, all mythology is based on some basis of fact; there is in fact beings that we humans have interpreted as God’s that interact with human beings in the past and maybe in the present as well. Is there one more important than the others or are they all the same as the English teacher once told some of my youth?

Here is a matter of faith and then another theory. We believe in the one Trinitarian God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit or Creator, Redeemer, and Sustainer. As a matter of our historical interaction that we learn about through scripture, this One God, called Yahweh, Jehovah, Lord, etc. is in fact the God of creation. Why other cultures decidedly use other names might well be how their historical traditions received that information and from whom.

Which leads us to another theory that is biblically supported. If we were to meet an Angel, what would we think? In the Bible, when human beings interacted with angels they were in such awe that they bowed down to them only to be told to rise up, that they were not to be worshipped but simply messengers of God. So we then are to think that if we suddenly were in the presence of an angel that we would think them a God. What then about the peoples who populated the earth thousands of years ago. Is it possible that many of the God’s are simply angels that for whatever reason enjoyed the worship of human beings so much that they created different versions of creation, different understandings of God and yes, different cultures where humans worshipped them rather than the one True God? Is it not possible that all of the stories of different God’s are simply Angels of God’s creation that interacted with human beings?

In Genesis and Ezekiel, there are references to the Nephilim. These are the offspring of Angels and human beings. The scriptures indicate that they had powers that exceeded those of normal human beings. Here this from Genesis 6: “When people began to multiply on the face of the ground, and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that they were fair; and they took wives for themselves of all that they chose. Then the Lord said, "My spirit shall not abide in mortals forever, for they are flesh; their days shall be one hundred twenty years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days—and afterward—when the sons of God went in to the daughters of humans, who bore children to them. These were the heroes that were of old, warriors of renown.” Is it possible that these are the giants that the spies that Moses sent into the Promised Land saw? In Ezekiel the word that is often translated into Nephilim is often also translated into fallen. So we would understand that the Sons of God would in fact be the fallen after the great cosmic battle of good and evil. If that were true, who are these angels? They are the angels, created by God that desired to be God. They follow the Son of Dawn, we know as Satan. And they were thrown down from heaven and given dominion or power and control of the world, we live in. They are a mischievous bunch who believe their role is to convince you and me that they are God, that their answers are true and that we are to ignore the Words of the One True God. Hmmmmm! Doesn’t this sound a lot like the Greek, Roman and Norse God’s of old.

My friends, I hope that I have given you much to think about today. God tells us that there are other God’s. Some of them are the things we worship like money and material things, idols in sports and entertainment. Some of them might well be the fallen who work in the world to subvert the efforts of God to bring love into fulfillment in your life and mine. But regardless of what you come to believe, there is only one True God of creation, redemption, sustaining power who gave of God to become human, went to the cross, and gave up that human life so that you and I may know love for eternity.

Feast on the Mountain

^{GIven at Sydenstricker UMC on October 5th and 6th, 2019}

^NIV Matthew 26:26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." ²⁷ Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. ²⁸ This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. ²⁹ I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom."

^NIV Psalm 34:17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles. ¹⁸ The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. ¹⁹ The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; ²⁰ he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.

^NIV Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine-- the best of meats and the finest of wines. ⁷ On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; ⁸ he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.

We come to this place and this hour preparing for communion. There is so much history and tradition within this service. So I thought I would start today with a little background. Jesus is in Jerusalem with the disciples and even though they are unaware of what is about to happen, Jesus, I believe, is fully aware. Jesus has come to this moment to set the world on a new path, to start a new church or should we say, resurrect the original intent of God. But on the night before all this will transpire, Jesus is doing something old, traditional and familiar. They are celebrating the Passover. Passover is the story of God’s unconditional love for the people we call “Hebrews” or “Jews”. It is the story of bondage and slavery, of being in the wrong place and under incredible oppression. They have come to Egypt 400 years before because of treachery and jealous emotions. They came because there was a great famine and they were hungry. They came because God wanted to reconcile a terrible act with a loving one, the reuniting of Joseph with his father and brothers.

Now they find themselves slaves for the Pharaoh, forced to labor in the heat of the day and to build the things that Pharaoh wants. There is a side story here too. Moses who supposed to be put to death as an infant has survived. Not only survived by was raised in the very court of those who wanted him dead. Moses, exiled now to the plains is called by God to come back and set the people free from bondage and slavery. God sends him back to Egypt and there he encounters some believe, the half-brother he grew up with. Pharaoh does not want to lose the workers so of course he says no. God sends plague and pestilence into Egypt that causes great disruption and harm but Pharaoh Stays the course and says no. God remembered that day when the Hebrew firstborn were killed. So God’s final answer is to tell the Hebrew people to take a perfect lamb or goat, to sacrifice it and place the blood of the animal on their doorways and lentils. That night, God sends the angel of death who goes throughout the land taking the lives of all the firstborn, except those who have the mark upon their doorways and lentils. This is the first Passover and the Jewish people celebrate this every year. Jesus sits with the disciples to celebrate this event and then changes it.

Jesus knows what is coming. So at the end of the Seder meal, Jesus takes the bread and passes it among them saying, “take eat, for this is my body given for you.” He also takes the cup of forgiveness and passes it among them saying, “Take drink of this, for this is the blood of my body shed for the sins of the world.” Sound vaguely familiar? It should, it resembles the Passover itself thousands of years before. What God did for the Hebrew people God is about to do for the world. Jesus sets up a meal for us to share with us what God’s unconditional love looks like that we might share it together until that day when we will share it with Him.

Communion is so sacred, so important that we have been celebrating this meal this way for over two thousand years. If you add in Passover, we may well have been celebrating this meal for twice that time. In the early days of Methodism, the circuit rider would appear every 90 days of so. Upon his arrival, he would share the news of towns far away or the village next door. He would baptize those who had been born since his last visit, share a sermon with the people and then they would celebrate communion together. It was and will always be a sacred event within our understanding. It is a mystery, we do not believe that the bread and juice is really the body and blood of Christ, but we do believe in the mystery that Jesus is present here with us in the moments when we partake of the bread and juice. We believe that this meal can be a converting experience for some and we invite all to God’s table, regardless of where we have been, what we have done and what iniquities, I love that word, we may have committed. God is offering us forgiveness, redemption and eternity in this meal.

I am a sacramental kind of person. I believe with all my heart that this meal is sacred and today we celebrate it across the world together in every nationality, every language, every culture and every understanding. Part of the sacrament is to understand that prophecy is important. God says it, and then makes it happen. God is right 100 % of the time. So in the Psalms God makes a point that the savior of the world, will be bruised, will be hurt, and ultimately killed for our transgressions. He will be suffer greatly that we might share in eternity free of the death from sin. Hear these words, The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; ²⁰ he protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken. HIS BODY WILL NOT HAVE A BROKEN BONE IN IT. When prisoners are crucified, their legs are broken to hasten death. But Jesus legs were never broken; He had already given up His life for you and me. So when you hear the communion message, we say that the bread is His body, given for us, because to say it was broken for us is to say He was not the Messiah at all.

I have shared this story before that some years ago a woman asked me a pointed question. She said she had been operated on some years back and had died on the table according to her doctors. She remembered that she was in a place where she could sense people she knew even though she could not see them. She was behind people who were clearly at a table but she was not allowed to come to the table. She was turned around and woke up in recovery. She wanted to know where she had been. Isaiah lived during a time when the people called Hebrew, had turned their backs on God. They had turned away and God sent them Isaiah to attempt to turn them back. It is an interesting read if you never have read it. In the prophetic voice of Isaiah, God lets us see that there is a path to redemption through one that God will send into the world. I love the words that Isaiah says about a feast on the mountain. Here them again: ^NIV Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine-- the best of meats and the finest of wines. ⁷ On this mountain he will destroy the shroud that enfolds all peoples, the sheet that covers all nations; ⁸ he will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.

With all my heart, I believe that this woman was at that table but because God still had work for her to do, she was not allowed the feast yet. Her story convicted me of the truth of this scripture and how God’s promises will be fulfilled in our eternal lives one day. This meal we are about to take is a foretaste, a teasing if you will, of the real meal that will come one day.

So here we are today, about to take of this wonderful meal that Jesus has set before us. But there is something important I want to share with you today. As you come prepared to take the bread and dip the bread into the juice and consume it, prepare your heart. What Jesus established two thousand years ago, what God put in place in Egypt is an opportunity to be free. It is an opportunity to experience God’s unconditional love in your life. It is more than just bread and juice; it is the gift of God that hung on a cross that we might spend eternity at a feast on a mountaintop. All you have to do is open your heart to God and be transformed by the power of love. Next month, why not invite a friend to come with you and share with them the story I have shared with you today. God’s meal is open to all. Come; be filled with bread and juice that you may never thirst again, that you may spend eternity without suffering or pain. Come, rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light, even though as He says these words, He hangs upon a cross that we might be free. Come!

Let's start over

It has been a while since I posted on my blog and I am not sure who if any of you are still following. If you are it would be nice if you left a comment or two to let me know. My life is wonderful and complicated as a Senior Pastor of a mid size church in Northern Virginia. We have been growing steadily over the last three and one half years, from 207 average worship attendance to 297 as of this week. We Methodist are anything if not methodical. There is much turmoil in who we will be after general Conference in May and my prayers are that we find a way to stay united, even if we disagree on issues. The Methodist Church is my home and I love it beyond measure. It is a place of compassion and love, not hate and anger as some would desire. It is a place where all can feel welcomed, at least in the churches that I serve and have served.

I have received great love here in Springfield as I have throughout my now 19 years of ministry. I have weathered difficult people and situations during those times, no more so than in the last 12 months from a limited few people bent on stopping what I hope to achieve, love and welcoming for all. I will be posting sermons again starting with those from October forward of this year. To listen to them go to the Sydenstricker UMC webpage. https://www.sydenstrickerumc.org/, where they are posted or our Facebook pages. https://www.facebook.com/SydenstrickerUMC.

Again, if you are following I will attempt to post weekly if not more often, but let me know you are there.

Love you, Shalom!