The Honor Roll

This is the message given at the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Mark 14:12-26.

             This Thursday is Thanksgiving.  And despite what you may have heard on the news, there is nowhere in this country that Thanksgiving has been cancelled.  There are places where the numbers are limited, and the types of gatherings are limited.  But Thanksgiving is not cancelled.  It is always, always, legal and proper, and a good thing to do, to thank God.  As we talked last week, we are to be thankful in all circumstances, even when it’s a really hard thing to do.

            Now, God understands why, in times like this, it can be hard for us to feel thankful.  But that even though God understands when we cannot feel thankful, feeling thankful should still be our goal.  Not in the sense of feeling guilty if we don't feel thankful, but in the sense of knowing that we'll feel better if we do.  It's okay for us to feel whatever we feel, but we also need to try to find ways to not feel it any more, to start feeling the thankfulness that really will help us once again feel joy and feel that we are one with God.

            And that's why we read the story from the gospel of Mark about the Last Supper.  Some of you might have wondered about that, because we’re not taking communion tonight, and besides, we usually read that story when it's getting close to Easter, not at Thanksgiving.  But it seems to me, when I read that story, that one of the things Jesus does there is give us an example of being thankful in all circumstances.

            Let's look at what's going on here.  Jesus is about to take the Passover meal with his disciples.  This is the last time he's going to be with them before he gets arrested—that, of course, is why we call it the Last Supper.  The arrangements are made.  The meal is prepared.  Jesus comes, and the way it's written, the first thing he tells the disciples is that one of them is going to betray him.

            The disciples—other than Judas—are shocked.  Judas himself might be shocked, at least shocked that Jesus knows what he's going to do, anyway.  But Jesus tells them it really is going to happen, and that it really is one of them.

            Then, it's time to eat.  What happens then?  Here's what it says:

            "Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it, this is my body.”  Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it."

            Think about that.  Jesus knows exactly what's going to happen.  He knows that later on that night, he's going to be arrested.  Then he's going to be beaten, he's going to be tortured, and he's going to be killed in a very hard way.  And he knows that the person responsible for turning him over to the authorities and making all this happen is sitting right there with him.  And yet, Jesus gives thanks.  He gives thanks twice, once before giving his disciples the bread and once before giving his disciples the cup.  Knowing everything that's going to happen, Jesus still gives thanks to God the Father.

            I wonder what Jesus actually said.  There's no way to know, of course.  None of the gospels quote Jesus there.  They just say he gave thanks.  It may have just been a ritualistic Jewish prayer, just a formula prayer that Jews always said before taking a meal, especially the Passover meal.  That would explain why we don't have Jesus' words.  On the other hand, all the gospels that talk about this specifically point out that Jesus gave thanks twice.  If it was just a ritual, there'd have been no need to say it at all.

            What would Jesus have had to be thankful for, at that point?  The food?  What good was that going to do him?  This was the last meal he would have on earth.  His friends?  One of them was going to betray him, and all of them were going to abandon him.  The coming day?  Jesus knew what that was going to bring for him.  Yes, he knew he would eventually triumph over death and would later go to be with God the Father in heaven, but he was going to have to travel a long, hard road to get there.  And as we learn from Jesus' time in the Garden of Gethsemane, it's not a road he particularly wanted to travel, any more than anyone else would.  If you were Jesus, what would you be thankful for right then?  Anything?

            Again, there's no way to know what Jesus was thankful for.  The only thing I can think of, though, is that Jesus was thankful for the chance to serve God the Father.  Jesus was thankful for the honor of being the one who would bring salvation to the world.  Jesus was thankful that, as the Divine Son, he had the privilege of being the one who would suffer, die, and then conquer death so that our sins would be forgiven.

            Maybe some of us would look at that and think, “Oh, yeah, that was some honor, all right.”  But if we think about it, it really was an honor.  After all, who else could've done it?  Who else could have been fully divine and fully human at the same time?  Who else could've been sent from heaven to do what Jesus did?  Who else could have left the presence of God the Father, abandoning the power that comes from God the Father, leaving the joy and beauty and peace and love that comes from being in the presence of God the Father, in order to bring salvation to us?  No human could've done it, obviously.  No angel could've done it, either.  None of the cherubim or seraphim or any other heavenly beings could have done it.  Out of all the earthly beings and all he heavenly beings, there was only one who could do it.  The only one who could be sent from heaven, the only being capable of doing what Jesus did, was Jesus himself, the divine Son of God.

            Only the divine Son was uniquely qualified to suffer, die, and then conquer death so our sins would be forgiven.  And we're told that Jesus was honored for it.  If you wonder why we're told that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God the Father, well, that's one of the reasons why.  To be seated at the right hand of the king was the place of greatest honor.  And Jesus was given that honor because he accepted the chance to serve God the Father in a way that only he could do.

            You and I are asked to serve God the Father, too.  We are asked to serve God in a way that no one else can.  Each of us is.  There is some way in which you are uniquely qualified to serve God, just like Jesus was.  And maybe some of you are thinking, “Oh, yeah, right.  I'll just bet there is.  I'm no better than anyone else.  There's nothing I can do that lots of other people cannot do.  In fact, they can all do those things a lot better than I can.  There's nothing special about me.”

            I understand why you think that, but it's not true.  Each of us is special and unique.  God knows everything about us.  God knows when we get up and when we go to bed.  God knows when we go out and when we come back.  God has known us since before we were born.

            What that means is that there is something about you that is different from everyone else on earth.  There is something about me that is different from everyone else on earth.  If I was exactly like someone else, there'd have been no need for God to put me here.  If you were exactly like someone else, there'd have been no need for God to put you here.  The fact that you are here, and the fact that I'm here, shows that there is something we are supposed to do, something that no other being on earth or in heaven can do.

            That's part of what it means to be one of God's children.  Those of you who have children, think about it.  Are any two of them alike?  Even if you have twins, are they exactly alike?  Of course not.  Even if they're identical twins, they're still not exactly alike.  Each of us is different.  Each of us is unique.  Each of us is special.  And each of us has something God wants us to do that no one else can do.  Each of us is asked to serve God in some special and unique way.

            Think of the honor that is.  Out of all the billions of people on this earth, out of all the heavenly beings, there is something you, and only you, have been chosen by God to do.  It may be easy.  It may be hard.  It may be enjoyable.  It may not be.  It may be something you do with a group of people.  It may be something you do alone.  It may not be the same thing all your life.  In fact, it probably won't be.  But God has chosen you, and only you, to do something.  Out of all the billions of people on earth, God has selected you.

            So if you have a hard time thinking of something to be thankful for, be thankful for that.  Be thankful that, out of all the billions of people on earth, out of all the billions of people who are and who have been and who will be, God knows your name.  God knows everything about you.  God has known you since before you were born.  There is no one else on earth like you.  And there is something God wants you to do that no one else can do.

            Think about what an honor that is.  And be thankful for the honor of serving the almighty, all-loving, eternal God in your own special, unique way.

 

Request With Thanksgiving

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, November 22, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Philippians 4:4-9.

It’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  It hardly seems possible.  I don’t know if it’s the pandemic or what, but my whole sense of time seems to be off these days.  It seems to me like Thanksgiving should still be at least a month away.  And yet, here it is. 

           We know that, as Christians, we’re supposed to give thanks to God.  There are all kinds of Bible verses about it.  You probably know a lot of them.  We read one of them last week:  “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”  That’s Colossians Three, Fifteen.  “Be thankful in all circumstances.”  That’s First Thessalonians Five, Eighteen.  There’s the one we read today:   Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  And we could go on and on.

            We know we’re supposed to give thanks to God.  The question is whether we’ll do it.  Because I’m thinking a lot of us are not feeling very thankful right now.  The world is in chaos.  A lot of our communities, and our schools, are in chaos.   There’s an extent to which our families are in chaos, as a lot of us are not going to be able to have family Thanksgiving gatherings.  

None of this is meant as a criticism of anyone, don’t get me wrong.  Everyone’s doing the best they can.  None of us has all the answers.  But it’s tough.  I don’t know anyone who likes it.  And it’s really hard to feel very thankful in these circumstances.  

Now, I don’t mean to be painting with too broad a brush here.  Some of us probably do live up to that statement of being thankful in all circumstances, even these circumstances.  Others of us probably remember to give thanks when things are going well, but are not so good at feeling thankful at times like now, when things are not going the way we want them to.  Others of us probably are not even very good at giving thanks when things do go well.  We’re all at different points on the spectrum.

God understands why it’s hard for us to feel very thankful right now.  I don’t think God is mad at us for how we feel.  But I think God would like us to feel thankful anyway.  Not because God needs to hear our thanks.  But because we would be happier, we would feel better, we would live better lives, if we could feel thankful, even in these times.

            But the thing is, how?  How can we do that?  How can we get to where we really do feel thankful, even with all that’s going on right now?            

Well, let’s look at what the Apostle Paul write in his letter to the Philippians.  Look at how he starts out.  “Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again:  Rejoice!”

            How many of us have ever done that?  Put the current circumstances aside.  How many of us have ever truly rejoiced in the Lord?  Even if we sometimes give thanks to God, even if we are truly grateful for what God has done, how many of us ever actually rejoice in the Lord?

            In fact, how many of us even know what it means to rejoice in the Lord?  That word, rejoice, means to feel or show great joy or delight.  And those words, joy and delight, mean to take great pleasure.

            How many of us, when we think about God or when we pray to God, feel joy or delight?  How many of us, when we think about God or pray to God, take great pleasure in doing that?

            I’m guessing not very many of us, and not all that often.  And I base my guess, quite frankly, on the fact that I don’t feel those things as often as I should.  I do sometimes, but a lot of times I don’t.  

Now, maybe that’s not fair.  Maybe you’re a lot better at this than I am.  Maybe you feel great pleasure and joy and delight every time you think about God and every time you pray to God.  I really hope you do, and if you do, that’s awesome.  That’s wonderful.  You probably don’t need to hear any more of the message today.

            But for the rest of us, for those of us who are still listening because you feel like you can improve on this, what do we do?  How do we get that feeling of great pleasure and joy and delight?  How can we get to where we rejoice in the Lord?

            Well, let’s look at what Paul says next.  “The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

            The Lord is near.  The peace of God will guard your hearts and minds.  That would great, don’t you think?  To know that the Lord is near?  To have the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds?  I mean, that’s really what we all want, right?  If we felt the Lord near, if we felt the peace of God guarding our hearts and minds, we’d be able to do what Paul said.  We would not be anxious about anything.  And how awesome would that be?  To not be anxious about anything.  Because my guess is that almost every person here is anxious about something.  It may be a big thing or it may be a small thing.  It may be something that some people would think of as a small thing, but it’s a big thing to you.  

            It would be so wonderful to be able to get rid of all that anxiety.  It would be so wonderful to not have to worry about anything.  It’s our worries that keep us from feeling that the Lord is near.  They keep us from feeling the peace of God.  And because we cannot feel the Lord near, because we cannot feel the peace of God, we cannot rejoice in the Lord the way Paul tells us to and the way God wants us to.  And because we cannot rejoice in the Lord, we cannot live with an attitude of thankfulness the way we know we’re supposed to.

            But does saying that help us any?  Probably not.  Saying “do not be anxious about anything” is easy.  Actually not being anxious is hard.  How do we do it?

            Here’s what Paul says.  “In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Paul says that if we do that, we will feel the peace of God.  And then, we’ll be able to rejoice in the Lord and live with an attitude of thankfulness.

            So let’s break that down a little farther.  What are we supposed to do?  Present our requests to God.  That means any requests.  There is nothing too big for God, but there is also nothing too small for God.  That’s one of the amazing things about God.  God loves us so much that God is interested in every aspect of our lives.  God is interested in the big things, but God is interested in the small things.  Remember, this is the God who knows the number of hairs on our heads.  Basically, if something is important to us, it’s important to God.  That’s not to say God will always do what we want, and we know that.  We have no ability to order God around.  But there is never a time when we request something of God and God says, “Ah, that’s not important.  I’m not interested in that.  I’m not gonna pay any attention to that.”  God is interested in everything.  God pays attention to everything.  Everything is important to God.

            So no matter what’s on our minds, we can present that to God.  If it’s COVID concerns, we can present that to God.  If it’s other health concerns, we can present that to God.  If it’s more of a mental or spiritual health concern, we can present that to God.  If we’re feeling lonely, if we feel like no one understands us, we can present that to God.  If we’re worried about our finances, we can present that to God.  Whatever it is, whatever our requests may be, we can present them to God.

            By what method are we supposed to present these requests to God?  By prayer and petition.  And when are we supposed to present them?  In every situation.

            In other words, we don’t need to wait until we have a specific prayer time to talk to God.  It’s fine to do that, don’t get me wrong.  I have a specific prayer time of my own.  But we don’t need to limit our prayers to that time.  In fact, we’re not supposed to.  We can pray to God in every situation.  No matter where we are, no matter what we’re doing, we can pray to God.  We can present our requests to God.

            Now all that should help.  Knowing that we can pray to God at any time, that we can present our requests to God at any time, knowing that there’s nothing too big or too small for God to be interested in, that all can help us feel the peace of God.  It can help us be able to rejoice in the Lord.

            But here’s the big thing.  How are we supposed to present our requests to God?  With thanksgiving.  Paul says we should present our requests to God with thanksgiving.

            Think about that.  Present a request with thanksgiving.  Does that make sense?  I mean, I can understand being thankful after our request is granted.  But Paul says we’re not supposed to wait for our request to be granted to be thankful.  We’re supposed to be thankful as we’re making the request.  We’re supposed to present our request with thanksgiving.

If we’re thankful to God as we’re making our requests to God, what does that mean?  It means that we trust God.  It means that, as we’re making the request, we trust that our request will be taken care of.  Whatever request we make, whatever the situation is, God’s going to handle it.  Once we’ve prayed to God about it, it’s over.  It’s in God’s hands, and we trust that God will take care of it.

            It’s trust.  It’s faith.  It’s believing that, once we’ve prayed, we can turn the situation over to God.  We can leave the situation in God’s hands.  Again, that does not mean God will do exactly what we want exactly when we want it.  That’s not what we’re thankful for.  What we’re thankful for is that we can trust God to do what’s right.  We’re thankful that we can trust God to do what’s best.  We’re thankful that we can trust God to take care of things and handle them in the right way, not just for us but for everyone involved.

            Even in today’s chaotic world, we can trust God.  So, let’s present our requests to God.  When we present our requests to God, we’re turning our problems over to God.  When we turn our problems over to God with thanksgiving, trusting that God will take care of them, we can feel the peace of God guarding our hearts and our minds.  Then, we truly will be able to rejoice in the Lord.  Because we will truly know that the Lord is near.

 

All the Time

This is the message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Job 1:1-22.

It’s the month of Thanksgiving.  Giving thanks is an important thing for Christians.  The Bible tells us over and over that we are supposed to give God our thanks and praise.  Paul, in his letter to the Thessalonians, says we should be thankful in all circumstances. 

We know that, and we pay lip service to it.  But actually doing it is something else again.  Thankful in all circumstances?  Seriously?  Does God really expect us to be thankful in literally all circumstances?

What about those times when we don't really feel like we have much to be thankful for?  What about when our life stinks?  What about when it feels like life has punched us right in the nose, and then just when we're about to get up life kicks us in the stomach?  What about when we feel so beaten up by life that we feel like we can hardly catch our breath?  What about, well, times like now?  Are we supposed to be thankful?  For what?

In our reading from Job, Job had almost every bad thing happen that it's possible to have happen.  He loses all his possessions.  All his servants are killed.  Then, all his children are killed, too.  Later, in a part of Job we did not read, Job himself is afflicted with painful sores all over his body.

Now, Job stays faithful to God through all this.  He does not turn his back on God.  He says, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”  Later on, he asks the question, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”  Obviously, Job thinks the answer is no.  We need to accept whatever God gives us, good or bad.

And you and I know that, too.  And sometimes, knowing that helps us.  But sometimes it does not.  It's like all the other platitudes we hear.  “Count your blessings.”  “Things could be worse.”  “Think of all the people who have it worse than you do.”  Those things may be true, and the people who say them may mean well, but when we feel like our lives are falling apart, those platitudes don't make us feel any better.  In fact, sometimes they make us feel worse because we know they are true.  We know we should feel thankful to God, no matter what our circumstances are.  But the fact is that, a lot of times, we don't feel thankful.  And because we know we should,, we start feeling guilty about not feeling thankful, and we pile that guilt on top of all the other stuff we feel.

You know what, though?  I think God understands how we feel.  I don't think God gets mad at us when life turns on us and nothing's going right and we don't feel very thankful.  We might be better off if we could feel thankful, but I think God understands that sometimes we just cannot do it.  No matter how much we may know we should feel thankful, we really cannot force ourselves to feel things we don't feel.  Sometimes, we cannot feel things until we're ready to feel them.  And we don't need to feel guilty if we're not ready to feel thankful at the moment.

And you know, that's in the story of Job, too.  Job may have said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised”, but in a lot of the book of Job he is not praising the name of the Lord at all.  There are a lot of times in the book of Job where Job basically says, “God, what in the world are you doing?  This is not fair.  I don't deserve this.  And these friends of mine who keep giving me these platitudes about needing to trust you and to ask your forgiveness and all that are just making things worse.  If I'd done something wrong, I'd ask you for forgiveness, but I have not done anything wrong.  I've praised you.  I've honored you.  I've glorified you.  I've served you as well as I could all my life.  And this is the thanks I get?  What's the matter with you, God?  What are you doing here?”

All that does not sound like Job was feeling very thankful.  That does not sound like Job was just graciously accepting what had happened.  Job was upset.  Job was angry.  Job was demanding answers from God.

I'd guess that some of us have felt that way at some time in our lives, too.  We've felt like we've been mistreated by God, like God is not treating us fairly, like we've served God as well as we could and the thanks we get is to get shoved down into the mud.  Maybe you’re feeling that now.  If you've never felt that way, I'm glad, but you still might at some point in your life.  It's not that uncommon of a thing.

But there's one thing to notice about the story of Job.  Job may have been upset with God.  Job may have been angry with God.  But Job never gave up on God.  Job never decided that God was not there.  Job never decided that God did not care.  Job never lost faith in God.  No matter what happened to him, no matter how bad or mad or sad Job got, he never gave up on God.  He may have been arguing with God, he may have been demanding answers from God, but he never turned his back on God.

That's what we need to do.  When we cannot feel thankful to God, when we're upset with God, when we're angry with God, it's okay.  God understands it.  God won't be mad at us.  All God asks is that we not lose faith.  All God asks is that we not give up on God.  No matter what happens, all God asks is that we never turn our backs on God.

Job goes on being angry with God, being upset with God, demanding answers from God, for verse after verse, page after page, chapter after chapter.  These bad things happen to Job in the first two chapters of the book of Job.  Chapters three through thirty-seven are Job being upset with God and Job's friends giving him these platitudes about asking forgiveness.  Think about that.  Thirty-five chapters of Job ranting against God, demanding answers from God.  And then, finally, in chapter thirty-eight, God finally shows up.

And you know what?  God does not give Job any answers.  Instead, God reminds Job of just who God is.  God reminds Job that God is eternal.  God is all-powerful.  God is all-knowing.  God created everything there is.  And God is in control of it all.

God spends about four chapters telling Job this.  Some people read this as God being mad at Job, but I don't think so.  The people God gets mad at are Job's friends, the ones who sit there spouting these platitudes.  God explicitly tells them, “I am angry with you...because you have not spoken of me what is right.”  God tells them they need to apologize to Job for not being more understanding of Job.  God is angry with them, but God is not angry with Job.

I think God understands why Job felt the way he did.  I think the reason God goes on for those four chapters telling Job who God is, is so Job, and we, will get the point.  God knows more than we do.  God sees more than we do.  God knows the reasons for things that we cannot even being to understand the reasons for.  As Job ultimately realizes, “I spoke of things I did not understand, things to wonderful for me to know.”  

When you and I have those times in our lives when it seems like every bad thing in the world is happening to us, that's what God wants us to know.  God does not get mad at us for being angry with God.  God does not want us to feel guilty about it, and pile guilt on top of all our other problems.  God understands.

But God wants us to understand, too.  God wants us to understand that God is eternal.  That God is all-powerful, and all-knowing.  That God created it all, and God is in control of it all.  That God knows more than we do, sees more than we do, and knows the reasons for things we cannot even begin to understand.

At the end of the book of Job, because Job stayed faithful to God, God blesses the rest of Job's earthly life even more than he had the first part of Job's life, before all the bad things happened.  That may or may not happen to us in our earthly lives.  But we know that if we stay faithful to God, God will certainly bless our eternal lives.

We are better off if we can be thankful to God in all circumstances.  But if you're having trouble being thankful, it's okay.  In fact, if you're mad at God, it's okay.  God understands.  Just stay faithful to God.  Just remember who God is, and that God knows the reasons for things that we cannot even begin to understand.  Don't give up on God.  Because God will never give up on you.

 

Peace in Uncertain Times

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, November 15, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Colossians 3:1-17.

            We live in strange, different, unusual times.  You know that, and you don’t need me to go through all the ways in which that’s true.  The world has changed a lot, and in many ways, from what it was a year ago, or even nine months ago.

            Change is not an easy thing for us to deal with.  Most of us like routine.  We can carry routine too far, of course, and allow our routine to become a rut.  But still, most of us like for things to stay more or less the same.  Even if things are not great, we don’t like them to change too much too fast.  We like to know how things are going to be tomorrow, next week, next month.

            It’s unsettling to live in a time of uncertainty.  We hope things will get better, we fear things will get worse, but we have no real evidence that convinces us of either one.  Yes, we believe that God is still in control, and that God is eventually going to win.  We even believe that, if we stay faithful to God and believe in Jesus as the Savior, we will eventually win, too.  But it’s that “eventually” that’s the tricky bit.  We can know things will be all right “eventually”, and still be unsettled and even fearful about what’s going to happen until that “eventually” gets here.

            In times like this, what we need, what we want, is peace.  We look for peace in lots of places.  We look for it in money or material possessions, thinking security can be found there.  We look for it in status, thinking the belief that others think well of us will make us feel better.  Sometimes we look for it in politics, thinking that if the “right people” are in control of the government, then somehow everything will be all right and we can be at peace.

            But peace cannot be found in any of those places.  True peace can only be found in one place, and that’s in faith in Jesus Christ.

            But maybe you think, wait a minute.  I have faith in Jesus Christ.  But there’s still all this stuff going on.  There’s still all this uncertainty.  I have faith, but with everything that’s happening, how can I possibly feel peace?

            The Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Colossians, tells us.  He says, “Set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

            When you think about it, all the things that have us concerned, all the things that get us upset, all the things that get us rattled and even fearful, are earthly things, right?  Whatever they are, whether it’s physical health or financial health or relationship problems or concerns about the country or the world or whatever it is, they are all earthly things.  They are not the things above.  They are not the things of heaven.  

            Now, it’s understandable why we have all these concerns about earthly things.  Earth is where we live, at least for now.  Earth is the only home we’ve ever known.  We have the hope and the promise of heaven, but we have a hard time really understanding what heaven actually is.  And besides, heaven is for someday.  Our concerns are for now, today.  And again, knowing that things will “eventually” be all right is not necessarily a lot of comfort when it seems like things are not all right now.

            But here’s the thing.  Paul is not saying we should ignore all earthly concerns.  He’s saying we need to focus on the things that concern both earth and heaven.  

            What are those things?  Paul lists them.  Compassion.  Kindness.  Humility.  Gentleness. Patience.  Bear with others.  Forgive others.  And over all those things, Paul says, put on love.

            Those are earthly things.  But they’re heavenly things, too.  They’re the things Jesus wants us to do.  They’re the things Jesus did.  And they’re the things that lead to peace.

            What do those things have in common?  Well, maybe a lot of things, but one of them is that they take our focus off of ourselves.  They are things we feel toward other people.  They are things we do for other people.

            It seems to me Paul is saying that’s how we can feel peace.  Take the focus off ourselves.  Put the focus on others.  If we do that, a lot of the things that make us feel unsettled, that keep us rattled, that keep us from feeling peace, will go away.  I mean, they’ll still be there, but they just won’t seem as important anymore.  We won’t have time for them.  We’ll be too busy focusing on others.

            So how can we do that?  Well, Paul tells us that, too.  He says this:

Be thankful.  Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.  And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

            The way we focus on others is to focus on God.  Learn from God.  Acquire wisdom from God.  Do that through psalms, hymns and other songs of the Spirit.  Take in everything the Bible has to teach us, so that Christ’s message will dwell in us.  When we do that, when Christ’s message really dwells in us, it becomes part of us.  When Christ’s message truly becomes part of it, we can no more get rid of it than we can get rid of a part of our body.  Christ’s message is no longer something we can choose to ignore.  We may not think about it every waking moment, but it’s always there.  It’s always part of us.

            When Christ’s message dwells in us, and becomes part of us, that message influences everything we do and everything we say.  It influences us even when we’re not consciously thinking about it.  It influences us even when we don’t realize it.  Because Christ’s message of compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience and forgiveness and love is so strong, it’s so powerful, that once it’s in us we cannot help but be influenced by it.  We can ignore it, for a while, but Christ’s message will always come back.  It may come back in the form of regret or guilt or conscience or something else, but it will always come back.  Once Christ’s message truly dwells in us, it is a part of us forever.

            The key to it, really, is what Paul tells us next.  “Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.”  That’s how we feel peace in our lives:  by living them for Jesus.  That’s how we can stop focusing on ourselves and our problems:  by living our lives for Jesus.  If we do everything in the name of Jesus, we won’t have time to be focused on ourselves.  In fact, we won’t even think about that.  We’ll be too busy doing things for others in the name of Jesus.

            It sounds simple.  And it is simple.  But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  Our “earthly nature”, as Paul puts it, is strong.  It’s powerful.  Even when we really try to live our lives for Christ, when we really try to do everything in the name of Jesus, our earthly nature keeps coming back at us.  It tries to pull us away from Jesus, and back to our earthly concerns.

            How do we avoid that?  Paul tells us that, too.  He says, “Be thankful.  Give thanks to God the Father through Jesus.”

            Being thankful to God keeps our focus on God.  Being thankful keeps us living our lives for Jesus.  Being thankful is what will give us lives of peace.

            How does being thankful do that?  Because when we focus on being thankful to God, we realize how much God has done for us.  And when we realize how much God has done for us, we realize how much God loves us.  And when we realize how much God loves us, we think about all the times God has been there for us.  

We think about all the times when we were worried, when we were concerned, when we were scared, when things in our lives were uncertain and that uncertainty had us rattled.  And then God was there.  God showed up, and somehow God made it all work out.  Not necessarily the way we wanted, but in a way that was best.

God has done that for me time after time after time.  And I suspect God has done that for you, too, time after time after time.  And when I think about that, I know there’s only one thing I should feel.  I should be thankful to God for all that God has done for me for almost sixty-two years now.  And I suspect, when you think about it, you’re thankful for God for all that God has done for you for all your life, too.

And when we feel that thankfulness, we also feel confidence.  If God has always been there for us in the past, why would God not be there for us now?  God does not set us up just to let us fall.  The same God who has been there for us all our lives is still there for us now.  God promises to never leave us or forsake us.  God will see us through everything we’re going through.  We don’t have to be afraid of what’s going to happen.  God will see us through all the chaos and uncertainty and fear that’s going on right now.  

Knowing that, we can take our focus off ourselves and our problems.  We can live lives of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and love.  We can live our lives for Jesus.  And we can feel at peace.

The times are uncertain, but Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  If we trust him, take our focus off ourselves, and live for Jesus, God will take care of us.  And we will feel the peace that we all want in our lives.

 

Shout For Joy

The message given in the Gettysburg United Methodist church on Sunday night, November 8, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Psalm 100.

            Wanda’s favorite TV channel is the Hallmark Movie Channel.  That channel has been running Christmas movies for at least two weeks now.  I checked the calendar, and it is still only November 8.  But still, they’re already celebrating Christmas.

            Now, that’s not sinful or anything.  But still, this is November, and November is the month of Thanksgiving.  And while it’s not sinful to celebrate Christmas early, I think it is wrong to just skip over Thanksgiving.  After all, the Bible talks a lot about it.  Not the holiday itself, obviously, but the idea of giving thanks:  why we should do it, how it benefits us, and how it affects our relationship with God.

            The Old Testament, especially, tells us all the time that we should thank God.  In fact, one of the Old Testament rules that the people had to follow, one that's referred to lots of times in the Old Testament, is the thank offering.  This was a specific offering that was to be given to God at certain times and in certain ways as an expression of thanks to God.

            And even though we don't follow the Old Testament rules on thank offerings, we still carry on the spirit of them.  After all, we still take up an offering every week, right?  The real purpose of that offering is not to pay the bills of the church.  It's not even to fund mission projects or things like that.  That's what the money is used for, but that's not the reason we take up an offering.  We take up an offering to give thanks to God.  That's the real purpose of it.

            One of the things people will say sometimes to make fun of the Christian faith—and I'll bet some of you have heard this one—is “Why do we have to thank God all the time?  Is God so dependent on praise and thanks that God needs to constantly hear us say it?  Is God vain, or weak, or needy, or something?”

            Obviously, none of that's true.  God is not vain, or weak, or needy, or anything else.  God does not need to hear our thanks.  We need to say it.  We need to thank God for our benefit, not for God's benefit.

            One of the reasons we need to do that is just to make sure we have our priorities straight.  It's to make sure we recognize how important God is to our lives.

            Because it can be easy to forget, you know?  One of the things about our human nature is that we tend to take things for granted a lot of times.  If I go to the store and buy, say, some hamburger, and it turns out to be pretty good hamburger, am I going to go to the store and thank them for selling me such good hamburger?  Probably not.  I'll eat it and I'll go on about my business.  But if I go to the store and buy some hamburger and it turns out to be lousy, am I going to go to the store and complain?  Probably, yes.  It's just the way we are.

            And we tend to be that way toward God, too.  When things do not go the way we think they should go, we tend to be pretty quick to complain to God and ask why God is allowing those things to happen.  When things go the way we think they should go, though, we often don't take the time to go to God and say thank you for that.  We just accept it and go on about our business.

            That's not due to a lack of faith, necessarily.  It could be, but it also could be that we just take God for granted.  We know God is good, so when things go in a way we think is good, we just figure, well, okay then.  God is doing what God is supposed to do.  “God's in His heaven, all's right with the world”, as the saying goes.

            And there's truth in that.  God is good.  Good is what God is supposed to do.  It's just that there's a really fine line between recognizing that God is good and thinking God owes it to us to be good, that God owes it to us to do good things for us.  And that's not true.  God does not owe us anything.  And when we think that way, we get our priorities out of order.  We start thinking God is there to serve us, rather than realizing that we are here to serve God.

            That's why we read Psalm 100 today.  I don't often preach from the psalms.  We read one in the morning service every week as a responsive reading, but I don't very often preach on it.  But there's a lot of good stuff in the psalms, and we need to not just read them, but think about what they say and do what they tell us to do.

            Our psalm today tells us to “shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.”  When's the last time you did that?  When is the last time you shouted for joy to the Lord?  Did you do it in the last week?  In the last month?  In the last year?  Have you ever done it?  Have you ever been so full of joy for what God has done that you shouted for joy, that you shouted your thanks to God?

            Now, I know we're midwesterners.  Shouting for joy is not really our thing around here.  And yet, I go to a lot of football games and volleyball games, and in the winter I go to a lot of basketball games and wrestling meets, and I hear a lot of shouting for joy at those things.  I'm not being critical of that—you all know I love sports, and if you've seen me at a game you know I shout as much as anyone.  The thing is, though, how come we can shout for joy when our sports team wins, but we cannot shout for joy for all the things God has done for us?

            We should shout for joy.  The psalm tells us why.  “Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

            That, right there, should be enough to make us shout for joy.  God made us, and we are his.  That's what it means to be God's children.  We are God's people, the sheep of God's pasture.

            And yet, that's what we so often take for granted.  And that's sad.  Not because we're going to go to hell for it or anything, but because when we take those things for granted, we deprive ourselves of the joy of knowing them.

            We are God's people.  Think about that.  Think about how awesome that is.  God made us, and we are God's people.  We are the sheep of God's pasture.

            That's incredible.  We did nothing to deserve that.  We never could.  We could do nothing to deserve God creating us at all.  And we can do nothing to deserve being called God's people.  I'm not saying we're all terrible people, but we're people.  We're weak.  We're flawed.  We're sinful.  And yet, the all-powerful, flawless, sinless, perfect God claims us and calls us God's people.  God loves us, and God is with us, and God helps us, despite who we God is and who we are.

            The wonder of that is beyond my ability to describe.  The thought of that should constantly fill us with joy.  That joy is we lose when we take what God does for granted.  That joy is what we take away from ourselves when we don't think about all the amazing things God has done for us and when we don't stop and thank God for them.

            That's why we need to do what Psalm 100 says.  We need to come into God's presence with thanksgiving.  We need to come with praise.  We need to give thanks to God.  Not because God needs to hear it, but because we need to say it.  Because when we say it, and when we mean it, we realize all that God does for us.  And when we realize that, we cannot help but feel incredible awe and wonder and joy.

            And then, we will realize why it is that we are asked to serve God.  God does not ask us to serve as some sort of punishment or duty or obligation.  God does not ask us to serve because God needs us to do things.  God could do anything and everything God wants to do without us.  God does not need us to do anything.  We are allowed to serve God.  We are given the privilege to serve God.  When we think about how great and how good and how loving God is, we realize that it is an incredible honor to be allowed to serve our wonderful God.

            As Psalm 100 says, the Lord is good.  God's love endures forever.  God's faithfulness continues through all generations.

            So, if you're struggling tonight, if you're having trouble feeling joy, if you feel like things are going wrong and you don't know what to do, read Psalm 100 and really think about it.  Think about the fact that you are one of God's people.  Realize that God is not there to serve us, we are there to serve God.  Realize what an incredible honor that is.  And then, do what the psalm says. Shout for joy to our amazing, incredible, awesome God.

Extreme Service

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, November 8, 2020.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 20:20-28.

            When you think of the word “great”, what do you think of?

            Most of us would think of something happening that’s really, really good.  Something incredible, really.  Something awesome.  “Boy, that was great!”  Or, maybe you think of a person who’s at the top of their profession, somebody who’s better than anybody else at what they do.  “That person is one of the all-time greats.”  Or maybe you think of an individual performance that was super.  “That team played a great game!”

            That’s how the dictionary defines greatness.  But that’s not how Jesus defined it.  Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”

            Serving is not something we think of in connection to greatness.  But Jesus says we should.  In fact, it sounds like Jesus is saying serving should be the first thing we think of in connection to greatness.

            This is another case--and there are a lot of them--where being a Christian means we really need to adjust our thinking.  We need to not think the way the world thinks, and not value what the world values.  We need to think the way the Lord thinks, at least to the extent that’s possible for a human being.  We need to value what the Lord values.  It reminds me of what it says in Proverbs, Chapter Three, Verse Five:  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”  We need to give up our own understanding, and look at things the way God looks at them.

            Jesus says that “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.”  And in talking about this, I need to be careful.  Because we have a lot of servants who are sitting here in our congregation today.  Almost everyone--in fact, it may be literally everyone--who is here does a lot of serving.  You serve your church.  You serve your community.  You serve your family and friends.  You serve in other ways, too.  You’ve been doing that for quite a long time now.  And in doing that, you serve the Lord.

            And so, I don’t want anyone here to think I am criticizing you for not serving enough.  I’m not.  This church would not be here without the service that you have given it, again for many years for some of you.  I’m sure I don’t even know a lot of the things you’ve done.  But know that I deeply appreciate it, and I’m sure God does, too.

            But as I thought about this, I started thinking about who Jesus was originally talking to.  The disciples.  I wonder what they thought when they heard this.

            You know, the disciples gave up a lot, at least in human terms, to follow Jesus.  They left family behind.  They left homes behind.  They left businesses behind.  They left everything behind to follow Jesus.  They did it because Jesus had called them, and they agreed to follow him.  They did that because they understood, at least to some extent, who Jesus was, and they wanted to serve Him.

            And now here’s Jesus, essentially telling them that it’s not enough.  Because Jesus did not stop at saying whoever wants to be great needs to be a servant.  He went on to say that they needed to serve “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

            Jesus was not calling the disciples, or us, to ordinary service.  He was not even calling the disciples, or us, to above average service.  Jesus was calling the disciples, and us, to extreme service.  Jesus was calling us to serve as much as Jesus himself served.  And that means to serve at the cost of everything, even life on earth itself.

            Now, let’s be clear about something.  Jesus did not say that we need to engage in this sort of extreme service to be saved.  He did not say our eternal life depends on this.  Again, as we’ve said many times, we cannot earn our way into heaven by doing good works, not even good works of extreme service.  Our salvation and eternal life depend on our faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior.  Nothing else.

            Jesus did not say our salvation and eternal life depend on extreme service.  What he did say, though, is that extreme service is what we’re called to do if we want to be great.  So, that’s the question:  Do you, and do I, want to be great?

            Not everybody does, you know.  I mean, we might want to in theory.  But in practice, a lot of us don’t really want to be great.  And I’m not just talking about greatness in service.  I’m talking about all kinds of things. 

            Becoming great at anything is not easy.  That’s true whether we’re talking about being a great athlete or a great musician or a great farmer or a great plumber or a great electrician or a great anything.  Becoming great at anything takes a lot of work.  It takes a lot of sacrifice.  It takes a lot of dedication.  And a lot of us simply don’t want to put in that kind of work.  We don’t want to make that kind of sacrifice.  We don’t have that kind of dedication.  What it boils down to, really, is that we don’t want to pay the price.  A lot of us simply don’t want to pay the price to become great.

            But here’s the difference between becoming great in God’s terms and becoming great at those human things I mentioned.  Becoming great at those human things carries a tangible reward.  It might be money.  It might be fame.  It might be the praise of human beings.  But whatever it is, it’s a real and tangible reward.  There’s a price to be paid to become great, but there are substantial benefits, too.

            But becoming great in extreme service does not bring those rewards.  It does not even bring the reward of salvation and eternal life, because again, our salvation does not depend on our deeds.  I suppose it’s possible that a life of extreme service might gain one an exalted place in heaven, but that’s certainly not the point of it.  In fact, service done in exchange for something else would not really be service, would it?  It would be a business transaction--I do this so I can get that. 

            Service, true service, is done with no expectation of getting anything in exchange.  Maybe a good feeling inside, knowing that we’ve done what God wants us to do.  But nothing else. 

            That’s what makes extreme service so hard.  Extreme service involves sacrifice, and what we’re really sacrificing, when you come right down to it, is ourselves.  Maybe not in the way Jesus did, sacrificing our earthly lives.  But in a way, we are.  We’re sacrificing our time, and what is life made up of if not time?  We’re sacrificing the time to do things we enjoy.  We’re sacrificing our ego.  We’re sacrificing our material possessions, either by giving them away or by forgoing the chance to gain more.  We’re sacrificing the chance to relax and take it easy.  Sometimes we may be sacrificing sleep, or even our health.  We sacrifice all kinds of things when we live a life of extreme service.

            But think of how lives like that can change the world.  What would a world like that be like, with everyone sacrificing themselves in lives of extreme service?  What would a world be like if only ten percent of people did that?  Or even five percent?  Or even one percent?  One percent of the world’s population is seventy-eight million people.  Can you imagine a world in which seventy-eight million people lived a life of extreme service?

            But how does that start?  It starts with one.  It starts with you.  Or, it starts with me.  Just as a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, seventy-eight million people living a life of extreme service starts with a single person.  It starts with you.  Or, it starts with me.

            We’re not told how the disciples reacted to Jesus’ statements.  Matthew drops the subject at the end of our reading for today and goes on to tell the story of Jesus entering Jerusalem in triumph, riding a donkey.  And maybe Matthew drops it there because how the disciples reacted is not the point.  The point is, how will you react?  How will I react?  Will any of us be willing to be that one with whom this all starts?

            This is a hard thing Jesus is asking us to do.  If it was easy, everyone would do it.  But let’s take this seriously.  Think about it.  Pray about it.  Really consider whether God is calling you to a life of extreme service.

            Jesus said, “Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant.”  Jesus gave us a call to greatness.  Let’s answer the call.