Monday, August 27, 2018

Known by our fruit: self control August 26, 2018 CFUMC

Known by our fruit: self-control
August 26, 2018 CFUMC
This is our last week with the fruit of the spirit. Can you name them with me? The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,... and the last two are gentleness and self-control.
 As I studied the fruit, I felt like gentleness had kind of been covered in other fruit.
The one thing I want to point out is a specific application for gentleness, and that is in our public discourse.  Our culture has really lost touch with what it means to be gentle with each other.  There is so much blaming, finger pointing, divisiveness, and vilifying “us vs them” language everywhere from capitol hill to Main street Carroll that I think gentleness is a forgotten art.
As Christians, we cannot forget our gentle savior. You may know that we are 5 months from the special Called General Conference which I pray will resolve the 40 year long unholy war over human sexuality and what full inclusion in the church means for anyone… specifically homosexuals and other members of the LGBTQ community. These next months must be an exercise in gentleness. Gentle listening, gentle understanding, gentle sharing, and gently loving each other through this even if we disagree about the details. We have plenty of opportunities to practice gentleness and I will frequently remind you.  

 The last fruit of the spirit, however, is different. When we hear Self-control, we probably all feel just a little guilty because none of us is exactly who we want to be. How many of you join me in confessing that you struggle with self-control when it comes to deserts. Perhaps your self-control battle is waged at against alcohol, pornography, overspending, overeating, gossiping, over committing or some other area where we are tempted to go over the top of reasonable.
That is only the surface of self-control. Behavior control is not the same as self-control so we have to go a little deeper. 
Behind behavior control and leading, every battle for self-control is the word “self.” Self.
Behind every battle for self-control is a distorted perception of the importance of the self.
Our culture is one that puts self first. Do you remember “you deserve a break today, so get up and get away to McDonalds?” you are dating yourself. The idea that our selves are so important that they DESERVE something better, something special, in fact, we deserve whatever we want…customized and delivered to our door within 24 hours. We are encouraged to put ourselves first.
The Bible is filled with stories of people who put themselves first.
Adam and Eve, humanity before the flood, kings who lead the nation to worship Baal, the people Amos described as “fat cows of Bashan” because they cared for nothing but their own comfort, and the hated tax collectors. Jesus taught that the great are those who know they are not the first but consider themselves to be last. Jesus called us to get outside of our own self-interest and take up the cross. Paul reminded us that we can’t all be the head of the body, one of us has to be the armpit of the body of Christ. But I’m pretty sure that you are convinced that I should be the armpit and I am convinced that you should be the armpit because as hard as we try our self-importance is hard to control.
In the very simplest terms bearing the fruit of the spirit of self-control is knowing “it is not about you!” and living with the knowledge that it is not about you.

Let me share 3 things that might help keep our self-importance under control
 Nothing is really yours… it was all given to you.
Psalm 24 and 1 Cor 10 remind us that
The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains The world, and those who dwell in it.
One of the best examples is Job. He loses everything… everything he had is taken away and he complains to God. Actually, the language used is legal terminology metaphorically he files a lawsuit against God and hauls him into court.
Then in Chapter 38 god calls job on the witness stand.
38Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
2 ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
3 Gird up your loins like a man,
   I will question you, and you shall declare to me.

4 ‘Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
   Tell me, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measurements—surely you know!
   Or who stretched the line upon it?
6 On what were its bases sunk,
   or who laid its cornerstone
7 when the morning stars sang together
   and all the heavenly beings* shouted for joy?
How do you answer those questions… you don’t because God is God and we are god’s children.  We have to know our place and act like his children.
I saw a skit once at a youth event.
A young man was pretty proud of himself and his new car. God speaks to the young man in a dream saying you know that car is not yours.  It is mine and I am letting you use it.
The teenager argues that he bought it and God replies the money he had was not his but God’s and God was letting him use it.
He continues to argue that he earned it has his summer job. To which God replies, my summer job that I let you have.
The conversation goes on
My clothes? God says no my clothes that I let you use.
My family? God says no my family that I give to you as a gift.
Finally, the young man looks up sheepishly and says “my girlfriend?  God hesitates and says, “oh, she is your girlfriend, but remember she is my daughter.”
All those things that are important to you: the house, the boat, the job, the nice car, the money, the clothes, the collections. All those things we think are so important… it was all really on loan to us from God. Nothing is really yours.

In Luke 18, Jesus give us another lesson on controlling our self-importance
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
 In other words, God is not impressed by your resume. God is not impressed by what you do.
It is human nature to want to impress people. Face book is filled with pictures of the dinner someone prepared, the vacation we just took, the kitchen we just remodeled. It has announcements of promotions, the birth of babies, and weddings. If we have something nice we share it. There is nothing wrong with sharing it with our friends. Be very clear what we do does not make us who we are. And nothing we do… no matter how important we might think impresses god. 
Godsus was not impressed with the Pharisees resume, “I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.”  Jesus blows it off in favor of the man who made no claim to his personal achievements but threw himself on God’s mercy.
If I pray “OK God, listen to me because I’m the pastor of the best church in town or I have been on more mission trips than anyone I know.” God is not impressed. First that’s not my character, but second we a,re saved by faith, not by works and God is simply not impressed by what we do.

If we want to keep our self under control, we have to remember that
nothing we have is really ours,
nothing we do impresses God,
 And finally, we are merely passing thorough this life.
Isaiah 40 says all people are grass; their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades, when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
    surely the people are grass.8 The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.
We would like to think we leave a mark on the world, but the truth is most of us are lucky to make a difference for one or two people. We are hardly a blip on the course of history. We can make a world of difference to the people around us.  They will remember us, but honestly except for those few people whose lives I have touched the world won’t even notice when I die.
 If we were to take the whole history of the universe and compress it into one day with eh big bang starting at midnight.  The clock would pass noon and no humans, 6pm and no humans, 9 pm and no humans.  11 pm and no humans, 11:59 and still no humans.  It would be 11:59 and 56 seconds before humanity came into existence. Those 4 seconds represent the last 200,000 years.  None of us are even born the last1/1000 of a second.
The end of the creation story reminds us “from dust we came and to dust we shall return.” So from God’s perspective we a,re just passing through this short life.

 Now, I don’t want anyone to be depressed or discouraged. Because this is all part of God’s amazing love.  In spite of the fact that we have nothing, can’t do anything, and won’t be here for long… god loves us more than we can ever imagine.  To me looking at the great starry Milky Way and realizing how small I really am… how insignificant I really am… is part of what keeps control of myself.  Helps me with my self control. And remembering that God still loves me makes God’s love absolutely unbelievably amazing. And it is God’s love and only God’s love that makes us important.
The fruit of the spirit that is self control is not letting our self’s get out of control.
The fruit of the spirit of self control is knowing that it is not the ME or the SELF that is important in the New testament.  It is the “One anothers” “love one another”  “don’t judge one another." "Don’t put a stumbling block in the way for one another”  “build one another up”  and “live in harmony with one another … [and] welcome one another” . “bear one another’s burdens”  to “be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another”  and to “submit to one another out of reverence for Christ”  In sum, “Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves” 
Not me, me, me, but one another, one another, one another.
Bear the fruit of the spirit that is self control… control of the importance of our self….and the practice of self control will naturally follow.
And you know what?  I for one would be glad to be even the armpit of the body of Christ.


Saturday, August 4, 2018

Known by our fruit: generosity John 4:7-15, 39-42 Carroll First UMC 8/5/2018


Known by our fruit: generosity
John 4:7-15, 39-42
Carroll First UMC 8/5/2018

              The fruit of the spirit is Generosity…
               Charles Dickens' “Christmas Carol” has an ungenerous character we all know… what is his name… scrooge.
               Dr. Seuss also has a book about a character that stole Christmas.  What was his name?  The Grinch.
Even in our culture in which the drive to get more, be more and have more is considered a valuable character trait, I have never heard anyone say that stinginess is good.
 Even in that culture stories like that of Eileen Taylor go viral. Eileen was an out of work Physicians assistant when someone in the drive-through line at heavenly donuts paid for her order. The next day she paid $12 for the order of the family behind her, who paid for the car behind them, and on and on until a total of 55 drivers paid it backward over the next 2 ½ hours.  Generosity is contagious.
Did you see the story not long ago about the Detroit man, James Robertson, who walked 21 miles and took 2 buses to get to his job? A 19-year-old college student raised $355,000 in a go fund me campaign and a dealership donated a new car. Generosity is contagious.
I grant you these stories make the news because they are unusual, but they warm everyone’s heart because at a basic level people know that generosity is good. Even non-Christians understand that Christians are to be generous, and rightly so they are quick to point out the hypocrisy of a supposed Christian who behaves selfishly.
Certainly, you would be hard-pressed to find a person who thinks “selfishness” is a fruit of the spirit. Paul writes, “The fruit of the spirit is Generosity.”
 The Bible says it over and over.
            “Do nothing from selfishness,” Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi (Philippians 2:3, NASB),
            Adding in his first letter to the Corinthians that love “seeks not its own way” (13:5, KJV).
            Christ Himself put this concept in the boldest of terms, proclaiming that “whoever desires to save (HOLD ON TO) his life will lose it, but whoever loses (GIVES AWAY) his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25) I think many people blow this verse off because they don’t understand it, frankly it sounds a little crazy, but to hear it in the context of selfishness and generosity changes the whole thing doesn’t it.
            The rich young ruler was told “Go sell all that you have and give the money to the poor” before he could be Jesus’ disciple. (Mark 10:21)
            Mary is affirmed for her generosity in using an expensive bottle of oil to anoint Jesus’ feet.
            God is described as a vineyard owner who is so generous that he pays everyone a whole days wages and asks the question, “Do you begrudge me my generosity?”
            The gospel itself is based on God’s generosity in “giving his only begotten son.”  The hymn says “What more could he give… oh, how he loves you, oh how he loves me, Oh how he loves you and me.”             
God’s generosity is the foundation… our generosity is the fruit of the Christian gospel.

 I am so grateful to be in a church that is very generous with money, and mission giving, community outreach and special needs. I am honored to be part of a church who practices generosity toward one another.  I have heard story after story of how you generously care for one another, how the food pantry is grateful for your generosity, how the school is grateful for your generosity. I have seen it as I have been able to help a couple folks with the special needs fund. I heard about it in the capital campaign. This is a very generous congregation in some wonderful concrete ways. I thank you, the community thanks you, and I believe God smiles as we pass God’s generosity on to others.  Giving generously and being part of a generous community makes us feel great, doesn’t it? Do you want to feel even better?
Let’s not make the mistake that some make when they think that generosity is only about money and stuff.  There is so much more to generosity than money. 
 Mother Theresa said, “Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go.”
Let’s look at how Jesus practiced generous living in the story of the woman at the well… no money changed hands, but look at how Jesus was generous!

 First Jesus had a generous attitude toward the woman. Most Jews would pretend not to see the woman. Jesus had such a generous attitude he not only saw her, he treated her like a human being. He interacted with her. He didn’t judge her for being a Samaritan, for being married 7 times, for living with a man, or for not understanding what he was talking about.
To whom do you have the most difficulty having a generous attitude? People with different political ideas?  (Like the Samaritan woman?) People of a d different race? (Like the Samaritan women?) People with different religions? (Like the Samaritan woman?) Is it hard for you to have a generous attitude to the poor? (The Samaritan woman was not rich, after all, she had to get her own water.) Someone who lies to you? (Like the Samaritan woman?) 
In spite of all those strikes against her, Jesus showed an extraordinarily generous attitude.
To whom do you have the most difficulty havening a generous attitude? People who don’t dress like you do? Their hair is longer or more purple than yours? People who don’t speak English well? People whose kids misbehave? People who are here illegally? Someone whose hygiene is not up to your standards?  People with a negative attitude about the church?
When is it hardest for you to have a generous attitude? Jesus was always pushing the borders and he calls us to break down the borders and barriers that divide and have a generous attitude to people who are like us and unlike us.

Along the way, in their conversation, Jesus realized the Samaritan woman was thirsty… metaphorically speaking…and he offered help. Jesus said, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
 Jesus showed her a generous heart, open to really hear the other person. This is going one step further than a generous attitude.  This requires you to generously invest your time and listen.
When God created humans, God was more generous with ears than God was with mouths. Does that say something to you?  But listening is not just with our ears, but it is also with our heart.
When we say “How ya doin' ” most people don’t really want to know. A generous heart really does want to know. Do you really… I mean REALLY generously listen to the people around you, or are you too busy planning your next words or your next chore, or how to get away from this person?
If you listen you will find almost everyone carrying some pain and some joy, (just like we do) you will find everyone has dreams and hopes (just like we do).  You’ll find that everyone has fears (just like we do.)  You’ll find that everyone has some emptiness…  (you guessed it just like we do.) 
Having a generous heart that really… I mean really connects with others is a fruit of God’s spirit living in us.

 A generous spirit, A generous heart, finally Jesus shows what generous love is.
When Jesus hears her hurts and discovers her thirst he invites her to something better.  He invites her into relationship with himself.  She doesn’t get it. He invites her again. She still doesn’t get it. He invites her again. She still doesn’t get it. He invites her again, and finally says I am the one.  I am the living water. I am the messiah you are expecting.
None of us are Jesus but we can all love others generously. What better way to love than to share the best thing we have: Jesus. Come with me to worship and meet the one who can heal your hurts, calm your fears, and lift your burdens. Come meet my friends and let us introduce the Jesus we know.  Come and see.
How many times do we invite… how many times did Jesus try to invite the woman? As many as it took. A generous attitude, a generous heart, a generous love never, never, never gives up.

 And do you know what happens next?  Generosity became contagious, just like the woman at the drive-through window. She shared a generous attitude, generous heart, and a generous love for her neighbors by saying, “Come and see the savior I met.  And they do.” 
The passage ends, “ Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”  So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.  And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

That is the way it is supposed to work. The generosity is contagious, the gospel is contagious, but we have to be generous enough to “infect” our friends neighbors and relatives.
Everyone says they want to see more people here for our wonderful worship services. The question is what are you doing about it?  Are you bearing the fruit, a generous attitude, a generous heart, and a generous love to your friends neighbors and relatives? Are we bearing the fruit of the spirit of generous attitude, a generous heart, and a generous love?  Are we the kind of church where ALL kinds of generosity are contagious? That is the kind of church I want to have.  I hope that is the kind of church you want to be.
What kind of church do you want to be?