Connect the Dots: connecting with God through Scripture First UMC, Carroll, Iowa September 22, 2019

Connect the Dots: connecting with God through Scripture

First UMC, Carroll, Iowa

September 22, 2019

 It seems like our lives are getting busier day by day, doesn’t it? These days, most of us are always connected, constantly running kids here and there, spending weekends with the grandkids, working long hours, striving to keep ourselves healthy; Trying to keep our homes clean running smoothly along with fitting in family time. We feel disconnected from ourselves, disconnected from each other, and disconnected from God. So how we can stop the merry-go-round and focus on God?

  This series is called Connecting the Dots and is focused on helping us connect with God. In fact, that is exactly why we are here between Main and Adams Street. Our purpose statement is so simple… “connecting people with God.” Our discipleship wheel is a new tool to helps us explain how we connect people with God.

Last week we talked about connecting with God through worship. You can always go back and read or watch any sermons you miss by going to our website, facebook or Youtube.

 This week we stay in the upper right-hand quadrant of the discipleship wheel which is the “connecting up with God” quadrant, and we will talk about connecting UP with God through Scripture.

  I doubt that I need to convince you that the Bible is important. In fact, 88% of all Americans believe that the Bible is important but 41% read it less than one time a year. We probably beat those odds significantly. Well, I hope we do.

The problem can be illustrated this way. Turn to your neighbor and between the two of you come up with as many of the 10 commandments as you can.

There is the answer list. How many got all ten. How many got more than half. See what I mean… I won’t make the others stand, but it isn’t just our church. Basic Bible knowledge is really lacking in local churches, in most denominations and in the culture in general.

A new pastor asked the junior high boys’ Sunday school class who knocked down the walls of Jericho. All the boys denied having done it, and the preacher was appalled by their ignorance. At the next church council meeting, he told about the experience. "Not one of them knows who knocked down the walls of Jericho," he lamented. The group was silent until finally, one trustee spoke up. "Preacher, this appears to be bothering you a lot. But I’ve known all those boys since they were born and they’re good boys. If they said they didn’t know, I believe them. Let’s just take some money out of the maintenance fund, fix the walls, and let it go at that."

OK maybe that didn’t happen, but it represents the quality of today’s Bible knowledge in the church! BTW if you are wondering: the answer is Joshua with God’s help.

  If 88% of Americans and a greater percentage of churched folks like us believe the Bible is important why don’t we read it more? Why don’t we know it better?

Some people say, “there isn’t enough time.”  You can blame time if you want. The truth, however, is we find the time to do the things that are most important to us. I can carve out time for the hawkeye game or a new NCIS episode, but I can’t find time for other things? Let’s be honest here. Some folks make sure they get to all their kid's games. Others would never miss their favorite TV show or bridge game or fishing or whatever. We find time for the things that are important to us. If the Bible is important to you, you can find time to read it.

  Some will say it is so hard to understand… OK, I can understand that…I know that…

The Bible can be hard to read. It can be hard. But there are things we can do.

Like, make sure you have a translation that is easy to read. If you read ancient Greek or Hebrew use that. If you are fluent in 17th century Elizabethan English like Shakespear, read the King James version. If not find one of the high-quality modern translations that you can read and understand. We use the New Revised Standard in worship. Today we gave Contemporary English Bibles. Find one that you can understand and start reading it.

 Or you might find the Bible it hard to read because it all took place 2000 to 3000 years ago. Most of us know almost nothing about the world in those days, culturally, geographically, or politically. So, make sure that you have a study Bible. Your Bible should have notes and maps and cross-references, and maybe a small concordance. Just know that different study Bibles might show a bent toward a more liberal or more conservative perspective. Those notes, are, after all, written by scholars, not God.

Finally, I think sometimes we make reading the Bible harder than it needs to be. We expect the Bible to read like a novel. The Bible, however, is not a single type of literature. It is a 66 book library. It contains some history, but even the history is not written like a textbook. The Bible also contains poems, hymns, parables, biography, letters, prayers, sayings, prophecies, laments and other styles of literature. Just to make your life a little harder the Bible is not in chronological order.

I say all of that just to make the point that we can’t read the Bible like a newspaper or a novel. Every passage of the Bible has to be interpreted prayerfully, through the eyes of faith, and with the power of the Holy Spirit if we are to understand its true meaning. So don’t try to grasp the Bible. Let the Bible grasp you.

Let me tell you how to do that.

             First we approach the Bible with prayer. The Bible was not written by people on their own. It was not engraved on printing plates by God. The Bible was written by people who had an intimate experience with God and were led by the Holy Spirit to share that experience with us. Most United Methodists do not believe that God actually wrote or dictated verbatim the entire Bible, We believe it is the “inspired Word of God” given through the saints of old.

So I say to you… Start with prayer. Ask God to help you to understand what you read. Focus on God and ask for God’s help to understand the story or poem, or lament or whatever you are reading. This process of just understanding the words is described by Pastor Randy Frazee as seeing the lower story. It is the history, the names, the places. It can be interesting but that is not all that is there. If you stop reading the Bible at that point you are only touching the surface of Holy Scripture. Paul and the author of Hebrews refer to this as spiritual milk. Hebrews (5:13-14) says

 13 for everyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is unskilled in the word of righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties have been trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.

Growing disciples, as I hope we all are, can’t live on milk alone. There has to be meat. There has to be more.

             Second, approach the Bible with prayer a second time,… this time to look behind the words. Randy Fraze calls what you see on the page the lower story.

But if you prayerfully approach scripture. You can also find what Frazee refers to as the upper story. You might think of this as the big picture of what is happening in heaven. That’s why he calls it the upper story. This is the trajectory of God’s work with humankind. We ask, “how does this story fit into God’s long-range goals for creation and humanity?”

The best way to understand these layers is an example. Let’s go to the temptation of Jesus we read. One can read it for what it says. The newly baptized Jesus faced temptation and used Bible passages to win. That is the lower story. That is what the words say.

 If you look behind the curtain, however, you might notice that is a battle between good and evil. Between God and the devil which is a major theme in the Bible. And in this one instance, we see for the first time ever that Jesus has the power to face down and defeat darkness and evil.

Now, I want to admit two things. First I know that many people and I am sure some of you never get to the upper story. They never get to the meat. Maybe you have never known that you can get anything but milk. I’m telling you that you can, and we want to help you do that. Watch for classes like I BELIEVE and other opportunities. Finally, I’ll admit this does not happen quickly. It takes some practice and some perspective. And it requires knowing that there can be multiple equally true answers. My favorite sermons are the ones where the preacher uncovers a whole different perspective than I have ever seen before. That doesn't mean it is better or I am wrong. It is just another layer. I know it can be hard, but keep it up…seeing that there is an upper story really helps to make sense of many of the troubling Old Testament passages. But more importantly, it can make all the difference in your life as a disciple.

 Third we again approach the Bible in prayer; this time that we will see ourselves. First to understand the words. Then to see behind the words.  Now to clearly see ourselves. Besides the lower story and upper story, we begin to see where the two intersect is our story. Your story and my story. Where does this scripture come alive for you? Where does it make you feel stronger, or ashamed, or guilty, or joyful? Where does the scripture live in you?

Taking the same story of the temptation of Jesus, you might realize, for instance, that Jesus’ victory over evil gives his disciples the ability to battle temptation. That means you have power over temptation.

 Maybe you notice that Jesus used scripture to fight temptation and you don’t know scripture very well. If we were in the desert that day, we probably would not come up with the scriptures off the top of our head. Maybe it challenges you to learn more scripture by heart.

Maybe as we peel back this layer we reflect on Jesus words, “Man does not live by bread alone.” We ask, “What is it that I am living on?” Am I on a diet of bread that which I can see and touch. Or Am I nourished by the presence and power of God?

Do you see what I mean? You read the lower story, put it in the perspective of what God is doing in the upper story, and then bring it right back down to your life.

We ask, “How will I live differently because I encountered this scripture today? How am I changed by this time I have spent Connecting with God in scripture?”

Second Timothy says, (3:14-17)

14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, 15 and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

Scripture is useful for changing us and helping us to grow. If we don’t approach scripture in deep prayer we might as well be reading a 2000-year-old newspaper.

Dig in and you can connect with God through scripture… because God is already there seeking to connect with you.

             Looking at the Discipleship wheel, the person on the outside ring might own a Bible but probably doesn’t read it.

 If you want to take the next step (to the next ring) you might be reading the Bible occasionally and seeing only the lower story.

  The next step is you might be reading it regularly and understanding the upper story.

   But as you grow more and more connected with God you may find yourself craving more than milk. And you may dig into your story to see how you can be changed by God working through the scripture.

            You can do it. I know you can.

   An unknown writer penned these words and I would like to read it together to close the sermon today.

 "This book is the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to be holy.  It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter.

  Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully.  It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will lead you to Calvary, to the empty tomb, to a resurrected life in Christ; yes, to glory itself, for eternity."

Rev. Terry Plocher- All rights reserved.

Connecting the dots #1 Connecting through worship September 15, 2019

               

Connecting the dots #1

Connecting through worship

 We live in a connected world… connected refrigerators, smart TV’s, internet enabled thermostats and doorbells. When we are disconnected, as I was most of the time on vacation, I can’t tell you how many times I pulled my phone out to look something up and realized I couldn’t.  Some people get so worked up we have invented a name for it, “nomophobia,” as in “no-mobile- phobia”.

I don’t tell you to shut off your cell phones here because the church is in the business of making connections. I want you to connect to friends who aren’t here with a Facebook post telling them they are missed.  If we pray for someone, I want you to text them and say we are praying for you right now. I want you to be able to connect with the great and powerful google to see if I am right about some wild statistic I share in the sermon. I want to be a church connected to all of you who are watching on Facebook and YouTube. But more than all that, the church is a place to connect with God.

   A few months ago, the Church Council simplified our purpose to “CONNECTING PEOPLE WITH GOD.”

 In this new series, “connecting the dots,” we are going to use our new discipleship wheel. We developed the wheel to help us describe how we grow in discipleship. The top right quadrant, the blue section, represents our CONNECTION UP TO GOD. That is our purpose. But there are other connections.  Sometimes connecting people to God leads to these other connections… sometimes it is the result of these other connections,..

   Sometimes we connect people to God so they can connect IN to other people in the church, building Christian friendships. Sometimes it is the other way around; you bring a friend and the end up finding a connection to God. 

 Sometimes we connect people to God so they can go deeper in their own lives.  Sometimes as someone goes deeper into them self, they come to us seeking a connection with God.

 Finally, sometimes our connection to God leads us to mission and service in the world, and sometimes people who love to serve connect to God when they realize how important serving and changing lives is to the church.

As you might guess, this means that everyone is at different places on the target. Wherever you are, however, there is always one more step you can take closer to Jesus. That is what discipleship is all about.

 So, we will spend in spend two weeks in the blue quadrant talking about connecting up with God. Our primary means of connecting with God are worship and prayer.  We will start with worship today.

Let’s start with the premise that everyone worships. Worship is a wonderful combination of awe and wonder; and praise and thanksgiving that we offer to whatever is most important in our lives. Not everyone worships God. Some people worship money or things. Others worship success or popularity. Still others worship pleasure or even themselves.  Whatever our ultimate concern might be, we worship because we want to connect to it.

The good news is that God wants to connect with us as much as we want to connect to God. That is why we were created. God looked around creation and realized something was missing. So, God took a hand full of mud, breathed the spirit in it and made people--- he made people in what…” in his own image.” God made people not because God wanted to be entertained or because God needed us, but because God wanted to love and to be loved.

  The short version of the Westminster catechism, asks,

Q: What is the chief end of man? (sic)

A: Man's(sic) chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him (sic) forever. 

God wants to be connected to us and we need to be connected to God.

Worship is one way that we connect to God offering that wonderful combination of awe and wonder and praise and thanksgiving to God.

Let’s look at our story of the woman at the well and learn a couple of things about worship.  We are going to look at it as a worship experience for the woman because she ultimately came to worship Jesus.

               

 First… who starts that conversation. Jesus lived in Galilee and was traveling through Samaria. Most Jews went around Samaria, but Jesus went to Samaria on purpose and initiated this conversation with the Samaritan woman. 

Very simply… that is how worship works too.  We don’t start it. God comes to us. That’s what I mean when I say, “God was waiting for us before we got here.” Like a parent watching out the window for a child to come home from school, or a puppy waiting for the master to return from work, God is waiting for us to come home to our heavenly parent and worship.

Worship does not start with us. It starts with God. Notice the words:  awe, wonder, praise and thanksgiving are all responses to something. Awe is the response to something greater than us. Wonder is the response to something we cannot understand. Praise doesn’t start with us, it is our response to something that is worthy or praise.  Thanksgiving only makes sense in the context of having received a gift.

In order to connect with God in worship we must remember that God does not come because we are here. God does not come to be entertained by us.  We don’t have to conjure up God…  We come to worship because God first loved us. And God deserves our worship.

The second thing we see is that worship is part of everyday life. The woman is drawing water from a well. She could just as well have bene cooking, sewing, cleaning, bathing, or hanging out with her 6th husband to whom she was not really married. Worship is part of real everyday life. When you see a flower and say WOW that is a moment of worship for the glory of creation.  When we see our child for the first time, the wonder that fills us is a moment of worship.  When the test comes back negative, we experience relief or thanksgiving that is a moment of worship.

Worship is not limited to an hour on Saturday night or Sunday morning. Worship has a way of breaking in to our lives at the most unexpected moments. A glimpse of the milky way in the night sky might bring a moment of awe. Being selected for the job might bring a moment of thanksgiving.  Worship should not be set apart as something unique that can only be done at certain times in certain places.  Worship can break out at any moment, anywhere, for any reason. 

If we really want to connect to God through worship, we need to remember that Sunday is only the appetizer, intended to prepare us for a whole week of feasting on awe, wonder, praise and thanksgiving.  Worship is not an event it is a lifestyle.

 The third lesson about worship we find in John 4 is that worship is not about us. Do you remember why the Jews and Samaritans hated each other?  There were three things that separated them. First, during the Babylonian exile the Samaritans intermarried with the Babylonians. They were no longer pure.  Second, the Samaritans did not recognize any of the Hebrew Bible except the first 5 books.  You can see why that would be hard. Most importantly, however, the Samaritans thought God wanted them to worship on Mount Nebo instead of the temple on Mount Zion. They forgot worship is about God, not them or their building.

Both the Jews and Samaritans were stuck on the unimportant stuff.  Wouldn’t you agree that the important thing is that God is worshipped, and it a little silly to fight about on which mountain worship is held?

Let me tell you, Churches and denominations have split over less. What is your mountain that you will defend to your dying breath saying this is the way it has to be? Is it sitting in a particular pew every week? Ooo… I got some of you with that one didn’t I. I am not trying to be mean… just point out that in worship God is the only thing that is important… neither our pew, or whether it is padded or even if it is a chair really matters because worship is not about us, it is about God.  How we receive communion is not what really matters because worship is not about our preferences but about God. Whether we sing to piano and organ, or guitar and drums, out of the hymnal or the faith we sing, or a contemporary song on a video doesn’t matter because worship is not about our favorite anything, it is about God and God alone. Whether worship is on Saturday or Sunday, 8, 10 or 2 pm doesn’t matter because our convenience is not the most important thing. God is the only important thing.  If you want to connect with God in worship, stop majoring in the minors (as they say). Focus on the one true God and God alone.

 Finally, we see Jesus interacting with this Samaritan… and even worse a Samaritan woman… and even worse an adulteress Samaritan woman.

Jesus, however, is not in the judging business… and neither are we.

When we come to worship, we don’t come to judge the people around us. We don’t come to be better than someone else. We don’t come to be the best dressed, we don’t come to be with our friends and neighbors.  We come to be the kingdom of God on earth.

I occasionally hear someone refer to the hypocrites at the church, my response is, “Yes there are hypocrites in the church …that’s why people like you and I fit in so well.”

Which brings us to our growing point for today.  What does it mean to worship in spirit and truth.?  Jesus says we will worship in spirit and truth.

Let’s think about the great commandment for a moment, Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'  Mtt. 22:37

 When we first start to worship it might be all heart.  It might be all feel good and fill me up. And we ATTEND when it is handy, and it is mostly for us.

 But as you grow deeper you start to understand worship is not about you, but it is about God. We come a little more regularly

 As we grow a little deeper, we begin to understand what worship is an offering, or as the great thanksgiving prayer says, it is a holy and living sacrifice. Maybe we have moved from heart to soul. And we come to participate.

 As worship continues to grow in us and we become rooted and grounded in worship as a lifestyle 24/7,  365 days a year.  And we not only come to worship but we live our worship and we may begin taking leadership in worship.

Have you ever tried to purchase as a gift for the person who has everything? Perhaps you have faced that dilemma and walked with frustration through stores hoping to find a special gift that communicates your love and meets a need in the life of the one receiving the gift.

Now think about worship as an offering God the gift He desires. God knows all things and possesses all the treasures of heaven and earth. He does not need anything. But there is one commodity that God longs to receive from each and every one of us.  God desires for His children to freely, boldly, and passionately worship Him in spirit and truth.

Notice the angel host of Revelation, never ceasing to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” Never do they stop. Day and night, they proclaim Him as central in all Creation. Without pause they are constantly affirming His infinite worth.

And you know what’s really wild? This massive God, who has never known any shortage of worship. This amazing God who is the source of all love. The perfect all-powerful creator of all that is including you…, wants to be worshiped…by you. Right now.

 Take a step deeper in discipleship by taking a step deeper in worship.

Blessed are the persecuted September 8, 2019 First UMC Carrol

Blessed are the persecuted

September 8, 2019

First UMC Carrol

One last time I can say- “GOOD MORNING FIXER UPPERS.”  You are indeed God’s favorite fixer upper project!  If you have been open to the teachings of the beatitudes, I’ll bet God has really enjoyed having the opportunity to work on your heart and life. 

Today’s beatitude, however, is really hard. I had a hard time connecting with it. I had a hard time figuring out what it said to people who live in a country that has a founding principle of freedom of religion… but I think God made something clear to me.  And I am going to try to share it with you.

A beatitude is a blessing, right? Let’s read this to see if it sounds like a blessing. “BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS’ SAKE, FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.” Does that sound like a blessing to you?  It doesn’t to me.  So what are we to make of this beatitude

Let’s start with the context of the beatitudes. Remember that Jesus lived in an occupied nation. The Roman empire stripped most political power from Jewish officials and gave it to Roman politicians or Jews who were willing to be puppets of Rome. The cross was the ultimate symbol of Roman cruelty.  Taxation was outrageous. The Roman army was always hovering over them… even when they worshipped.

Then add the fact that the leaders of his own people were plotting to trick Jesus and discredit him, so they could demand his execution.

The next 300 years were some of the worst years of persecution with crucifixions and feeding Christians to lions being the largest part of it. 

Persecution never went completely away. There were many martyrs including John Huss that the UME talked about Wednesday. In fact, do you realize that our name… “METHODISTS” was a name used to mock John and Charles Wesley’s methodical way of approaching the faith.

Think of people like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor during world war II. Imprisoned and hung for his faith.

The stories just keep coming. So, the first thing to remember is there is good reason for Jesus to warn and prepare the disciples and us for persecution.

Then, our video today reminds us that religious persecution is real and alive in many parts of the world today. The Voice of the Martyrs estimates that one Christian dies for their faith on average every four minutes. That is why we have the chime today. That is why we are extinguishing candles. Let that sink in a minute. One every 4 minutes.

·         Over 245 million Christians are living in places where they experience high levels of persecution

·         1,847 churches and other Christian buildings were attacked last year including some in our own country.

·         3,150 believers were detained, arrested, sentenced or imprisoned just because they were Christian,

But this is about more than numbers… these are real deaths of real people with families and hopes and usually an unbelievably strong faith.

·         A woman in India watches as her sister is dragged off by Hindu nationalists. She doesn’t know if her sister is alive or dead.

·         A man in a North Korean prison camp is shaken awake after being beaten unconscious; just so the beatings can begin again.

·         A woman in Nigeria runs for her life. She has escaped from Boko Haram, who kidnapped her. She is pregnant, and when she returns home, her community will reject her and her baby.

·         A group of children are laughing and talking as they come down to their church’s sanctuary after eating together. Instantly, many of them are killed by a bomb blast. It’s Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka.

And do you know what? By and large they consider themselves to be the fortunate ones because their faith is tested and proven. This 8^th beatitude affirms that… not Blessed are those who have religious freedom, not blessed are those who don’t have to be afraid.  Not blessed are the secure.  But BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO ARE PERSECUTED FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS SAKE… what is the rest?  FOR THEIRS IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.  

Paul writes in Philippians, “FOR YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN NOT ONLY THE PRIVILEGE OF TRUSTING IN CHRIST BUT ALSO THE PRIVILEGE OF SUFFERING FOR HIM.”[i]

2 Timothy says, “IN FACT, EVERYONE WHO WANTS TO LIVE A GODLY LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS WILL BE PERSECUTED.” [ii]

Romans says, “WE BOAST IN THE HOPE OF THE GLORY OF GOD.  NOT ONLY SO, BUT WE ALSO GLORY IN OUR SUFFERINGS, BECAUSE WE KNOW THAT SUFFERING PRODUCES PERSEVERANCE; PERSEVERANCE, CHARACTER; AND CHARACTER, HOPE.  AND HOPE DOES NOT PUT US TO SHAME, BECAUSE GOD’S LOVE HAS BEEN POURED OUT INTO OUR HEARTS THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US.”[iii]

So, what do we do with this? What do we do with this last Beatitude? We could just ignore it because it doesn’t apply to us.  I’m uncomfortable with that in part because this is the only beatitude that Jesus repeats it just a little differently. Just in case we ignore it because we think it does not apply to us, Jesus says it a, “BLESSED ARE YOU WHEN PEOPLE REVILE YOU AND PERSECUTE YOU AND UTTER ALL KINDS OF EVIL AGAINST YOU FALSELY ON MY ACCOUNT. REJOICE AND BE GLAD, FOR YOUR REWARD IS GREAT IN HEAVEN, FOR IN THE SAME WAY THEY PERSECUTED THE PROPHETS WHO WERE BEFORE YOU.” [iv]Do you think we has serious? I do.

            We are some of the luckiest people on the face of the earth. Would you pray to be persecuted so you can “have the kingdom of God?”       Of  course not. 

I don’t think we pray for persecution. But I do think we can learn something about perseverance from those who do suffer for Christ. I’m not saying this is what Jesus originally intended, but I am saying this is one way we can apply this beatitude to our lives.

Let’s just be honest. None of our lives are perfect. We try to put on a good public face, so no one knows how much we are hurting, but we ARE hurting. Maybe your family relationships are broken. Maybe you are watching your child struggle with learning disability or anxiety. Maybe you think your family would be fine if you just made 20% more money each week. And we get to feeling sorry for ourselves.

Maybe you have chronic pain.  Maybe you have a miserable boss.  Some of us struggle with our own depression.  And it is human nature to sit down and have a good pity party once in a while.

Maybe you can’t stand one more day with that teacher… or that student and school has only been in session for 2 weeks.  Maybe you are lonely. That is some of the greatest pain of all to feel like no one cares. Maybe no one knows that you are being bullied or abused. 

Where is your pain. What is so painful that you might have thought I would be better off dead? What is so agonizing that you have to numb yourself with drugs or alcohol? What is so bad that it seems to suck all of the energy and joy from your heart before you are ever out of bed in the morning.

I am not equating these things to the persecution that happens around the world. I  am saying we can learn something by watching them.

Take the man chained in a Chinese prison , chained in a solitary cell, surrounded by rats,                                                                                                               find out that the reason they are beating him is that he insists on constantly praying… and then you find out that he is constantly praying for the guard’s salvation. When you feel imprisoned by the circumstances of life? Maybe the solution is in the power of prayer.

When you hear that Jesus is appearing to Muslims in bodily form and telling them how much he loves them, and the Muslims are risking their family, future and even their life in order to convert to Christianity.  Do you see that Jesus really does care for each and every person individually?

When we hear the story about the man who hid in a coffin with a dead body in order to smuggle Bibles across the Laotian border, may we be reminded that in the midst of death we are in life because Jesus died to give us life.

            I don’t want you to compare your suffering with that of the persecuted church. In all likely hood they would win that twisted game.

But look at their perseverance. Look at their determination to keep the faith.  Look at their grit as they face death.

·         See the power of persevering in prayer.

·         Know the undying love of Jesus for you is as great as Jesus love for the little girl orphaned when a bomb went off in her church.

·         Rest assured that the struggles of this life can not take away the new life we have in Christ, and they are nothing compared to the glories of the life to come.            Our suffering is different… but the power of Christ in our lives is the same. Philippians 4:13 says, “I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME.”  Say it with me. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  Now think about your biggest struggle in life. Then replace the words all things with your trouble.  Like I can beat my addiction through Christ who strengthens me. Or I can deal with the credit card company through Christ who strengthens me. Ready to say it. Everyone will be talking so don’t be self-conscious,

            “I can ______________ through Christ who strengthens me.” My new friend Kay or Kerstain here even has that Phil 4:13 tattooed on her shoulder and as you come to know and love her, you will come to appreciate what a powerful statement of faith that really is.

Can you depend on the power of prayer?

Do you trust Christ to stand with you when you make your toughest decisions?

Do you believe that Christ cares for you and protects you so much that he died and rose again as though he did it just for you.

Do you really believe that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you?

The question is can you trust Jesus through the hardest thing you have to do this week, no matter what that is?

When the time comes… say it one more time with me.  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Louder… I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.  As loud as you can… I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. AMEN

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[i] (1:29 NLT)

[ii] (3:12 NIV)

[iii]  (5:4-5 NIV)

[iv] (Mtt. 5:11-12)

Christians under construction Peacemakers 9/1/19 Carroll UMC

Christians under construction

Peacemakers 9/1/19

Carroll UMC

Good morning fixer-uppers.

How is your remodeling coning?

Are you starting to get what Jesus is doing in your hearts? I know it is a lifetime worth of work and someday we’ll come back to the beatitudes.

This week we come to “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called sons of  God”. This is like Jesus’ top 10 list except there are only 8.  By that, I mean that many of Jesus’ other teachings can be listed under one of these top 8. Some have said that there are only 7 beatitudes with persecution being different because it is a likely outcome of the other seven. They further argue that the list is in ascending order. So, it would be like.

 number 7 beatitude: poor in spirit

Number 6: Those who mourn

Number 5: Meek

Number 4: hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Number 3 beatitude: Merciful

Number 2: pure in heart

 And the number one beatitude and goal of the Christian life is (drumroll please?) Datadada! Peacemakers.

Now I don’t know if that was Jesus’ intention, but I do know that Jesus was all about peace. Helping people to make peace with God. Helping people to make peace with others.

Before we address those three areas of peacemaking. Let’s talk about the word peacemakers. Obviously, there are two words here knit together as a compound word: “peace” and “maker.”

  It won’t surprise many of you to know that peace is the Hebrew word is shalom. It is a blessing word used for either coming or going.  It is like “hello” and “goodbye” all rolled into one.  Shalom covers health, prosperity, harmony, and wholeness. Shalom wishes serenity, fulfillment, trouble-free living, and contentment. When a Jew said “Shalom” they were wishing the other person Peace with others (like the family) peace within themselves and peace with God. Now we must be careful because in the bible there is no peace without justice and righteousness.  It goes both ways, you can’t have peace if you don’t have justice and righteousness. And if you have justice and righteousness, you very likely have peace.

 The word “make” in “peacemakers” comes from the Greek verb that means “to do” or “to make.” But it is more than that. It is filled with energy and commitment and it demands action right now. It is filled with passion and urgency.

 “Notice Jesus did not say “Blessed are the peacewishers or the peacehopers or the peacedreamers or the peacelovers or peacetalkers.”  Peace must be made. Peace never happens by chance. We can’t wish, hope, dream or talk peace into existence. It is hard work and takes someone who is committed to getting it started and seeing all the way through. A peacemaker is never passive. They always take the initiative.

The peacemaker, then is one who actively and energetically works toward peace.

They are likely to run TO a conflict rather than away and they may possibly cause more conflict before peace can come and they might become targets themselves.

Jesus calls us all to be peacemakers actively working for a righteous and just peace in every sphere of life.

Peacemakers seek peace in the family, between neighbors, between different cultures, between the police and the public, between different religions, and between nations. You know as well as I do that there is plenty of work to be done.

 You know the song “I’ve got peace like a river?”  When I look at the world around me, I don’t see rivers of peace.

I see rivers of conflict, road rage, bullying and more. I see political parties entrenched stubbornly and unreasonably in a seemingly permanent standoff.  I see rivers of hate between races, classes, competing interests, and competing values.

I see rivers of mistrust and animosity between people and their government (actually I get that), and between nations.  There is so much mistrust and suspicion between so many nations right now China, Russia, Mexico, and North Korea seem to top the list. And that isn’t even taking in to account our epidemic of mass shootings, domestic terrorism and the multiple terrorist cells hiding around the world.

In a world with so many rivers of anger, and hatred, and fear, and mistrust, and extremist hate, and wars and rumors of wars…we are supposed to be peacemakers?

Yes. That is what Jesus says.  And remember peacemakers are by definition “makers” doers, workers… peace will not come if we sit back and wait for it. Peacemakers are those who actively seek a wholistic, comprehensive peace with God and our neighbor. We are peacemakers… and Kent Hughes says, “If we aren’t peacemakers, we are troublemakers.”  No one wants that label.

 So, let’s start with the vertical aspect. Peace with God. We aren’t at war with God. But the sin in us is against God.  And Paul describes the war that robs us of peace when he says, “the evil I do not want to do is what I do. And the good I do want to do is what I don’t do.  It is sin that lives in me.”

It is a good thing for us that God is the God of peace.  Isaiah predicts the coming messiah using the title “Prince of Peace” (Isa. 9:6). At the Nativity, the angels sing “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors!” (Luke 2:14). Jesus’ often told sinners and those whom he had healed to go in peace.  And his last will and testament included the words, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful” (John 14:27). After the resurrection, Jesus’ first word to the disciples was “Shalom.” "Peace to you!" We could follow the theme of peace through all the new testament because it is a very prominent theme.

Instead, let's talk about what it means in real practical terms.  Paul writes about the work, of Jesus, “Through Christ, God was pleased . . . to reconcile everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross” (Col. 1:20).

So, the truth is that from God’s perspective, Christ has already given us the gift of peace with God.  He gave himself up for the sake of removing the barrier of sin that separated us from God. With the simple gift of faith, we can have peace with God.

Do you feel that peace? … Do you feel the forgiveness flowing through you from all sides as Jesus’ peace washes over you as though you are standing under a big waterfall?  Grace is everywhere. It is on us, in us, around us, it flows through us, it fills us… Grace is everywhere. Does your heart feel the peace that comes from God? If not, ask and you will receive. So, I want each of you to think of someone you know who needs God’s peace. Maybe it is you maybe a friend. And let’s pray.

God, there are so many people in this world who do not know your peace. There are probably some in this room who really struggle with trusting in the peace you made by the blood of the cross. There is a whole company of names we lift in prayer right now. We offer them to you and pray that they would come to know and accept your peace.  We claim for them the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Draw them close to you and grant them your peace AMEN

Se we seek peace with God for ourselves and those around us.

That is vertical peace. 

 Now the horizontal peace.

For most of us, it starts at home. Working for peace in the family, with neighbors and with each other. Peace with our bosses, coworkers, and those who report to us. Peace with the cable guy, the food server who is more than a little slow, or the clerk at Casey’s. Those are the things we can control. We can be peacemakers in all those situations. Remember, however, there is no peace without righteousness and justice. Without being in right relationship with God and making sure that everyone is being treated justly, there can be no peace.  Can you think of one your relationships into which you could put some energy and time to work toward peace?  I can, so I’ll bet most of you can.

Let’s pray right now.

God, it is hard to have peace in our hearts when we have broken relationships all around us. We want to be peacemakers. We want to take the initiative, we want to be the makers of shalom.  Fill us up with peace to overflowing. Give us courage to face problems we would rather not face and give us the humility to admit where we may be part of the problem. Walk with us, O God, as we work for peace with the people around us. AMEN

In this same horizontal making of peace in relationships, we also run into situations much bigger than ourselves. The lack of peace between police and the public, for instance, or between racial groups, socioeconomic classes, political parties, and nations.

We can’t individually solve those problems. We are too small to make a difference. It is like David standing up to Goliath… wait who won that battle? … Right. The little guy who was too small to make a difference... Paul has an important point in Romans 12:18 “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”  If possible, and as far as it depends on you. These issues seem so big we don’t know where to start.  But get your sling and a stone and go after those goliaths. Do what you CAN do.  Join a protest, sign a petition, use the power of your vote, write letters, boycott, take a stand, be the Rosie parks or, Itzhak Rabin or, like one of the untold hundreds or thousands who died in Tiananmen Square.

It takes all the preparation of the other Beatitudes like a pure heart, and mercy and humility, but we can do it.

So, one more time chose a situation that needs the peace that seems out of reach.  And let us pray.

God, you call us to be peacemakers. Sometimes we don’t want to, but usually, we just feel inadequate. Help us each to find a way. Even a small way, to be makers of peace in this world. Draw us to the right people, the right organizations, give us the right words for our letters and strengthen us as we stand to face those who block peace.

God, we truly want to be peacemakers: we desperately seek peace with you, peace with each other, and peace in our world.  God make us instruments of your peace.

AMEN and AMEN

Christians under construction: blessed are the pure in heart.

Carroll FUMC August 24 and 25, 2019

  Good morning fixer uppers. Back to work on the rehab project today.  Which means back to work on ourselves.  We are God’s rehab projects and remolding your heart is God’s favorite job.

We have talked about 5 of the beatitudes and you can almost see them as a process.

 The first beatitude tells us that we have to admit that we are poor in spirit, which means knowing deep inside that we are empty, powerless, and completely unable to save ourselves.

The second beatitude challenges us to begin to regret or mourn the ways we have hurt God and the people around us.

Meekness, which is the third beatitude, means that we voluntarily give up our right to direct our own lives in favor of God directing us.

  And then we develop a desperate hunger for God and God’s righteousness in the fourth beatitude.

Once we have been filled with God’s righteousness, the beatitudes start turning outward and talking about our faith in action like giving and receiving mercy.

  And today we come to purity of heart. Let’s say todays beatitude together. “BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD.”

  Pure in heart… Let’s start with heart and we’ll come back to purity. 

The heart is a very powerful organ.

Physicists tell us that in one hour the heart works hard enough to lift a 150-pound man to the top of a 3-story building. In 12 hours enough to lift a 65-ton tank off the ground 1 foot. And in 70 years, a common life span, the heart has done enough work to lift the world's biggest battleship right out of the ocean. I defy you to create a machine that can work continuously 24 hours a day, 7 days a week year after year that does not need lubricating, adjusting, and does not even need to be tinkered with over the course of a lifetime.

Our heart is amazing. Of course, Jesus wants us to take care of it.  He is advocating a little cardio, good food and regular checkups, right? Was Jesus really ahead of his time with a degree in cardiology?  I don’t think so.

  When Jesus refers to the heart he is not talking in modern anatomical terms. He is using the ancient conception that the heart is the center of our being. The heart in biblical thought is the center of passions and emotions, thought and reflection, decision and will. It is the whole of our inner being from which come all our ideas, thoughts, feelings, desires, and decisions.  We might think of it as our REAL character. Jesus said in Matthew 15:18-20 that the heart is the source of the things that defile a person. 'But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a person'.

But wait… good things come from the heart too. What about good thoughts, generosity, faithfulness, truth, and praise? Yes, they come from the heart, but only a heart that is pure.  Only when our true character is not concealed by sin.  The selfish desires, the jealousy, all the hate, all the fear obstructs our view of life and God. … Only as our true character is cleansed from all these impurities, does goodness begin to seep out and then we can see God more clearly.

  So, let’s talk about purity for a minute.

The Greek word Jesus uses for purity is 'CA-THI-ROS'  Ca-thi-ros was used to describe clean drinking water, threshed grain, metals that were 100% a single metal. From it we get the words catharsis, catheter, and cathartic. Each one has to do with getting rid of stuff we don’t need.

Our hearts are like well water… it is indeed water but there are all kinds of minerals and solubles in it. You might like that the taste, but if you want pure water, someone has to filter it and distill it so there is nothing but H2O in your glass.  This is the essence of 'cathiros' is to subtract the bad stuff until there is only one thing left. To subtract all the minerals  from water until is 100% H2O. It is to chip away all the stuff in our heart that was not put there by God at our conception until our hearts are 100% the image of God.

What does it mean to be pure of heart then? 

Does it mean that we are sinless?

Does it mean that we are perfect?

Does it mean that we never doubt?

 No, it doesn’t. The emphasis here is not on PURE but on HEART. Let me explain.

You know that over and over again Jesus gets into trouble with the pharisees. There is a good reason for that.  The pharisees were most concerned about right action in order to stay ritually pure.  Therefore, they avoided pigs and dead bodies and a thousand other things. They ate only approved foods. They washed and bathed in ritual ways to make sure that they were ritually pure, and they thought that being ritually pure made them right with God.

These are the people Jesus called “whitewashed tombs,” pretty on the outside but dead on the inside. These are the people whom Jesus called a “brood of vipers” and asked “How can you speak good things, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.” (Matthew 12:34)

It isn’t that the pharisees were really evil, but they wore their religion on the outside.

For Jesus, religion had to start on the inside. When Jesus says blessed are the pure in heart, he was pointing out that wearing your faith on the outside is not enough. It has to get inside you. Jesus wants to push us beyond outward religion to examine what is in the inside.

•         A good pharisee would never commit murder. But Jesus says murder grows out of hate, which starts in the heart.

•         A good pharisee would never commit adultery. But Jesus says, the sin doesn’t happen when you act on it, you have to trace it all the way back to the first lustful thought.  Who has never had a lustful thought?

•         The pharisee would say, “I am pure because I am very careful to ritually wash my hands or even my whole body whenever it is necessary.” Jesus says, “fine, but no soap can get to the source of your uncleanliness. God looks at what is in the heart.”

Notice that Jesus is not emphasizing purity …the pharisees made a science of ritual purity.  He is emphasizing purity of heart over purity of the hands. Not purity in keeping the law but purity in loving, serving and forgiving.

 Have you ever really listened to the first two vows in the baptism of confirmation service… DO YOU RENOUNCE THE SPIRITUAL POWERS OF WICKNESS, REJECT EVIL POWERS OF THIS WORLD AND REPENT OF YOUR SIN? Wouldn’t it be great if it were that easy?  But we know from the first beatitude that we can’t do it ourselves  so the second question is DO YOU ACCEPT THE FREEDOM AND POWER GOD GIVES YOU TO RESIST EVIL INJUSTICE AND OPPRESSION. Do you accept God’s help to have a pure heart?

You might say, I am “pretty pure”… I mean I would never murder, or cheat on my spouse, or steal, or any other obviously wicked behavior.  Sure, I might have a vengeful thought, or a judgmental attitude, or misdirected anger.  But I am almost pure.

If that’s what you are thinking you might be a little like the 10 year old boy who wanted to see an R rated movie.  His mom said, “No.”  The kid said, “Oh, there’s not a lot of bad stuff in it. There’s just a little bit of bad stuff.”  The mom said, “Fine.  First, I’m going to make you brownies.”  The kid was pumped. 

She went out in the yard, got a little spoonful of dog poop, mixed them in the brownies, made the brownies, and said, “Here you go.  But before you eat them, you need to know there’s just a little bit of poop in the brownies.”

“I’m not eating that.  That’s gross that’s gross.” She said, “No, no, no.  There’s just a little bit of poop in the brownies, just like there’s a little bit of bad stuff in your movie.”

Would you eat the brownies if they were “almost” pure?  Then why would you be satisfied with a heart that is “almost” pure.

 We’re back to  subtraction aren’t we?

Are you OK with your brownies being almost pure?

Are you satisfied with just a little bit of racism in your heart?  If not, you and God need to purify your heart.

Are you satisfied with just a little bit of greed, or hate, or anger in your heart? If not, you and God need to purify your heart.

Are you OK with having just a little bit of unforgiveness in your heart? If not, you and God need to purify your heart.

When I was in youth ministry, I used to tell the girls don’t wear a swimsuit if you would be embarrassed to show it off to your grandpa. Purity of heart is kind of like that. If there is anything that you wouldn’t brag about to God (or your grandma) maybe it needs to be subtracted.

Purity of heart doesn’t happen all at once… at least not for most of us.  It is a lifetime of searching out the stuff that isn’t brownie in the corners of our hearts and giving it to God. The traditional word for it is “sanctification.”

You can start right now. Close your eyes and imagine… Think about the last 24 hours of your life.  Or ,,,if you have a purer heart than I do the last week… and hold it up  to God.  Is there anything you would prefer God didn’t see?  Is there anything that makes you at least a little uncomfortable?

Now, sort out just that part of your heart that is not brownie, just the part you would prefer not God didn’t see.

Do you have it? Now… offer it to God.

Remember you are poor in spirit you can’t do this by yourself.

Hand the impurity to God.  And pray out loud after me.

“God, I give this to you. And I never want it back. Purify my heart so I never do that again. Purify my real character and help me to fill that spot with your joy, or your goodness, or your love.  Free the people sitting around me from their impurities so that together we will see you more clearly.  Thank you for freeing us.  Thank you for purifying us. Thank you for loving us. In the powerful name of Jesus, I pray… AMEN”