Change happens- what kind will it be?
RUMC April 25, 2010
How many united Methodists does it take to change a light bulb.
109.
Seven on the Light Bulb Task Force Subcommittee, who report to the
12 on the Light Bulb Task Force, appointed by the
15 on the Trustee Board. Their recommendation is reviewed by the Finance Committee Executive of
5, who place it on the agenda of the
18 member Finance Committee. If they approve, they bring a motion to the
27 member church Board, who appoint another
12 member review committee. If they recommend that the Church Board proceed, a resolution is brought to the Church conference. They appoint another
8 member review committee. If their report to the next Church conference supports the changing of a light bulb, and the conference votes in favor, the responsibility to carry out the light bulb change is passed on to the Trustee Board, who in turn appoint a
7 member committee to find the best price in new light bulbs. Their recommendation of which Hardware Store has the best buy must then be reviewed by the
23 member Ethics Committee to make certain that this hardware store has no connection to any unjust corporations. They report back to the
Trustee Board who, then commissions the
Trustee in charge of the Janitor to ask him to make the change.
By then the janitor discovers that one more light bulb has burned out.
Nevertheless, everyone has a pot luck to celebrate what they accomplished.
It is a good thing that we can laugh at ourselves isn’t it?
Let me ask you a serious question now. How many Christians would it take to change the world?
Change is inevitable in life isn’t it? And not just light bulbs. They say the only thing that stays the same is that nothing stays the same. We have seen a lot of change. I like to ask our older members what has changed life the most since they were a child. Some say electricity, some computers, some say cars and some say communications. But they all agree that the change has been tremendous.
They also agree that some change has been good and some has not.
God is a God of change. Read the next to last chapter of Revelation.
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev 21)
You think imagining the new heaven is hard; now wrap your brain around this. God has appointed the church to be the ushers for this new kingdom.
It has always amazed me that God trusted the kingdom to such a group of stumbling and bumbling people as us. However, God did! Thus the idea for CHANGE THE WORLD DAY which we celebrate today.
The question was what if we got 11 million people on the same page to work to change the world? It just so happens that the United Methodist church has 11 Million members. But how . . . how do we do it?
How about starting with prayer? Do you think prayer changes things? I do. I am convinced that prayer is the greatest power in all creation. God says, “Ask whatever you will in my name and I will give it to you.” Just last week we read, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Do you take those promises seriously?
You should . . . both individually and corporately; we have seen over and over again the tremendous power of prayer. Bodies healed, jobs found, disasters averted, marriages saved, prayer is the number one most powerful tool for changing the world because it connects us directly to God's intention and God's power to change.
If there is any greater hope for changing a world that so desperately needs to be changed, I don’t know what it is. So the number one world changing tool whether you are a single Christian or 11 million UM’s or 2 billion Christians worldwide, the number one world changing tool is prayer. Pray, pray, pray, pray and when you are just about prayed out, pray again. Change the world with prayer.
The second way we change the world is by banding together in worship. Worship might be as small as 2 or 3. . . Or as much as 25-30 thousand like Joel Osteen claims.
What is so powerful and world changing about attending worship? Let’s put it this way, don’t you think changing the world should start in our own hearts? How can we teach forgiveness while we are holding a grudge? How can we teach hope when we are in despair? How can we teach about love when our own hearts are empty? Worship transforms by the renewing of your mind
Being present in worship is the place to start because that is where we are ourselves transformed. That is where we ourselves are made new. Worship is where we ourselves are molded, shaped, disciplined, and changed into the creation God envisions for us.
Being present in worship is the place to start because that is where we are ourselves transformed. That is where we ourselves are made new. Worship is where we ourselves are molded, shaped, disciplined, and changed into the creation God envisions for us.
Every time we expose ourselves to the influence of God's word and every time we sing the songs of the faith; we walk away changed. We walk away transformed.
Change the world with your presence in worship.
The third tools we have to change the world are our gifts. This is a very generous church. As we celebrate “Change the world day,” we start a new offering for Mosquito Nets to wipe out malaria.
We are using our change to change the world. We can use bills and checks too, but it is not as catchy.
But this latest project is just the tip of the ice berg. The apportionments are fundamentally the United Methodist church banding together 11 million members strong and saying together we can change the world with our gifts. We gave $25,000 to apportionments last year.
But that is not the whole story either because on top of that you gave through your noisy offerings and fund raisers and your Operation Christmas child boxes and your health kits and the post garage sale donations--- are you ready for this?. . . $18,156. That is what these posters are about back here. Please look at those. When you add in the apportionments, a big percentage of which also goes for changing the world, that accounts for about a 1/3 of our spending last year.
Do you think we might have changed the world for a child when they received their operation Christmas child box?
Do you think we might have changed the world for one of the families I took to our local food bank?
Do you think we might have changed the world Change the world for a mother with a hungry baby when we gave to CROP or 30 hour famine or society of saint Andrew?
Do you think we might have changed the world when we helped provide a rent deposit so an abused woman and her children could have a place to live?
I would say you have changed the world with your gifts.
The fourth tool we have for changing the world is our service.
I warned Mrs. Christiansen that I was going to do this to her. She sits before us as a living breathing illustration of how the world changes because we love and serve.
I met Beverly and Carl about a year ago when they moved in as my new neighbor. And Beth met them and so did Sherris and others. Little did any of us know that Carl would die in the December blizzard. The congregation rallied around Beverly Beverly
Again Look at LIGHT! Look into the faces of those young children as they learn about Jesus. Talk to the parents as they tell you how grateful they are to have a time that works for them to worship and learn as a family. Do you think you just might be changing the world for them?
And what about our campership dinner. Do you think that going to camp might change a child’s life? Just ask me I will tell you it can.
What about love your neighbor day? Or the blood drive? Or the Valentine’s Day cookie walk? None of them seems earth shattering, but for a family with a warm floor or a woman with clean windows or the parents with the child in need of blood or the person who thought no one cared for them. You may have changed the world.
Change the world with your service.
Add all of these things added together- Prayers, presence, gifts and service then couple that with the final tool of our witness to the life changing power of Jesus Christ and, my friends, you have a recipe to change the world for someone.
Isn’t that what the scripture was about this morning. for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me. When we do these things with the knowledge that we are doing them for Jesus, we just may be changing the world.
I don’t know how many united Methodist it takes to change a light bulb. I don’t know how many united Methodists it would take to change the world. But I do know that it only takes one person faithfully living out their Christian commitment to change the life of one other person, and then another and then another.
Let’s change the world one person at a time.
Change the world with your prayers
Change the world with your presence
Change the world by your gifts
Change the world by your service.
Change the world by your witness.
AMEN
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