Mother's Day

I hope that everyone had a good Mother’s Day.  This Mother’s Day, of course, was different from a lot of them.  Many of us were not able to see our mothers, and many mothers were not able to see their kids or grandkids.  That’s especially true for those mothers who are older and are living in nursing homes or assisted living facilities.  Most of those places are not allowing visitors, even close family members, because of concerns over the coronavirus.

I understand that.  I know why they’re doing it.  But still, it stinks.  It’s not anyone’s fault that it stinks, necessarily, but it still does.  It’s no fun to have family separated at any time, but on a special day like this, it’s even worse.  

In my case, I haven’t seen my Mom since late February.  I did not see her then in anticipation of the coronavirus or anything else--it just so happened that I went down there just before all the lockdowns took place.  I know I could have it worse--lots of people do.  There are a lot of people who have not seen their mothers for a lot longer.  And, of course, there are a lot of people whose mothers have passed on, and who won’t see them again until they have a reunion in heaven.  There are others whose mothers have dementia, and are not able to even talk to them on the telephone.  I can at least talk to Mom every day, and I do.  The people at her nursing home were even nice enough to arrange a video chat for us once.

I know it could be worse--but it still stinks.  There’s just no other way to say it.  Mom will turn ninety-five next month.  She’s in remarkably good health for ninety-five, but still, ninety-five is ninety-five.  There’s no way to know how many years she’ll have left.  And it feels like part of whatever time she does have left is being taken away.

Again, I understand it.  I’m not blaming anyone.  It just is what it is.  We have to deal with it because, well, what choice do we have, really?  We can get mad, we can get sad, we can yell and scream and cry, but it does not change anything.  All we can do is find a way to cope with the situation as it is, because, well, it is.  We make the best of it, because what good is it going to do us to make the worst of it?  

I called Mom later this morning to wish her a happy Mother’s Day.  I wish I could’ve given her a hug, and I’m sure she wishes that, too.  But she’s doing the best she can to deal with the situation.  She’s actually dealing with it remarkably well.  Sometimes I think maybe she’s dealing with it better than I am.  She’s seen a lot, of course--she grew up in the Depression, went through World War II, had her father pass away at a young age, had her spouse die, and all sorts of other things.  I suppose the more you go through, the better you can handle life.  And she has an incredibly strong faith, and I’m sure that helps her, too.

Anyway, I hope you had a good Mother’s Day.  If you’re a Mom, I hope you’re able to see your kids.  If you cannot, I hope you’ll be able to talk to them or do a video chat, and I hope you’ll be able to see them again soon.  And I hope, whatever your situation is, that you have as strong a faith as my Mom has.  If you do, that will carry you through this Mother’s Day and every day.

In Jesus' Name

The Sunday morning message in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on May 10, 2020.  The Bible verses used are John 14:1-14.

            There’s a phrase we often use at the end of a prayer.  You’ve heard me say it many, many times.  Lots of other people use it, too.  Right before we say “Amen”, we say “we pray in Jesus’ name”.

            We say that so much that we pretty much stop thinking about it.  It just comes out, automatically.  But why do we say it?  Why do we so often close our prayers with “we pray in Jesus’ name”?

            Well, our reading for today, and similar things in the Bible, are the answer.  Jesus says “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  And so, we say “I pray in Jesus’ name”.

            But of course, those are not magic words, are they?  There are many times I have prayed, and closed the prayer with “I pray in Jesus’ name”, and God did not do what I asked.  I suspect you’ve had that same experience.  God does not do everything we want just because we say “I pray in Jesus’ name”.  If God did, the coronavirus would be at an end, the Vikings would’ve won the Super Bowl, and I’d have won the lottery.  

            And of course we all know that.  We know we cannot get God to do whatever we want just by saying “I pray in Jesus’ name”.  But that raises the question, what exactly did Jesus mean by this statement.  What did Jesus mean when he said he would do anything we ask in his name?

            Well, let’s look at what he said right before this.  He said, “Whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these.”

            So, when we ask something in Jesus’ name, what we’re really asking is to be able to do what Jesus did.  Now, I don’t mean that literally.  I don’t mean that we’re likely to get the power to walk on water or turn water into wine or anything like that.  I mean, obviously God could give us that power if God chose to, because God can do anything.  But I don’t expect it to happen very soon.

            When we ask to do what Jesus did, what we’re really asking is to be able to be the type of person Jesus was.  We’re asking to be a person who loves God the Father and loves our neighbors as ourselves.  We‘re asking to be a person who will sacrifice for others.  We’re asking to be a person who will be obedient to God the Father, no matter what that obedience may cost us.  We’re asking to be a person who will be faithful to God, no matter what the circumstances may be.

            It also means praying, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done.”  We say that all the time, but do we always mean it?  I’m not so sure.  We mean it in theory, probably.  We know that’s what we should want, what we should believe.  But there are a lot of times when we really are praying “My will be done.”

            And there are times when we think the two must be the same.  There are times when we think that what we want is so good, so perfect, so right, not just for us but for everyone, that it obviously must be what God wants.  We are convinced that our will and God’s will have to be identical.  And so we pray for it, and we think we really mean it when we say we’re praying in Jesus’ name, because we cannot think that Jesus would not want what we’re asking for.

            The end of the coronavirus is a good example.  I know lots and lots of people have been praying for the coronavirus to end.  Maybe some of you have.  And some of those people have been praying in Jesus’ name.  At least, they sure thought they were.  And they were praying honestly and sincerely.  Yes, it’s what we want, but why would it not also be what God wants?  How could God not want the coronavirus to end?

            Yet, the coronavirus is still here.  Now, I want to make clear that I am not saying God deliberately created the coronavirus and unleashed it on us.  That’s not the point.  But again, God can do anything.  So, God could do away with the coronavirus before I finish this sentence if that’s what God chose to do.  And yet, the virus is still here.  And while, again, God could change that at any time, as far as we can tell it’s not going away any time soon.

            Why is it not God’s will to give us what we ask?  Especially when it seems like what we’re asking would be the best thing for everyone?

            I don’t know.  But it’s not the first time it’s happened.  And it probably won’t be the last time it happens.  I don’t understand why.  It’s just the way it is.

            And when it is that way, we find out what it is that we’re actually praying.  Are we praying, “Thy will be done”?  Or are we praying, “My will be done”?  Are we truly praying in Jesus’ name?  Or are we really praying in our own name?

            If you have trouble with this, maybe it’ll help to remember that Jesus had trouble with it, too.  To me, one of the most important passages in the Bible is when Jesus is in the garden of Gethsemane.  He knows he’s going to be arrested, tortured, and killed.  In fact, he told the disciples, several times, that he was going to be arrested, tortured, and killed.  And yet, now that he’s actually going to have to face it, he hesitates.  He prays to God for there to be some other way to bring salvation to human beings.  He prays for God to please, please find some other way, so he does not have to go through this.

            It must have been so tempting for Jesus, in that moment, to pray, “My will be done.”  And he could’ve justified it.  He could’ve said, “Father, if I live, think of all the good I could do here.  Think of all the people I could heal.  Think of all the people I could feed.  Think of all the people I could teach.  In fact, Father, I’m not asking you to save my life forever.  But could we not just put it off for a while?  Let it happen next year, or the year after, or five years from now.  Think of all I could accomplish for you in those five years.  Why not?  What would be the harm in that?”

            Of course, Jesus never said any of that.  Instead, he was able to say, “Not my will, but your will be done.”  Dying on a cross was not really what he wanted to do, at least not at that moment.  But he was able to look past what he wanted and pray for God the Father’s will to be done.  Jesus was able to do that.  And so can we.

            There’s one more thing Jesus said about this.  When Jesus said he would do whatever we ask in his name, he told us why.  He said it was “so the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

            The reason Jesus will do whatever we ask is to bring glory to God the Father.  That’s the reason.  That’s the purpose.  Jesus does not do what we ask in his name to make us happy.  Jesus does not do what we ask so we can glorify ourselves.  Jesus does not even do what we ask to glorify himself.  Jesus does what we ask to bring glory to God the Father.

            And if we’re truly praying in Jesus’ name, that’s what we want to do, too.  We want to bring glory to God the Father.  So, that’s a pretty good way for us to check on our true motives.  It’s a good way to check whether we’re praying for God’s will to be done or for our own will to be done, whether we’re praying in Jesus’ name or our own.  If Jesus gave us what we asked, would it bring glory to God?  Or would it bring glory to ourselves?

            I’ve said this before, but I think it’s possible that this is the reason why, despite all our prayers, the coronavirus thing has not ended yet.  It will end sometime, but I think God is going to bring it to an end in God’s way, and at God’s time, and God is going to do that in a way that will bring glory to God.  Not to any human being, but to God.  Human beings may be involved--God usually works through human beings.  But the glory will not go to human beings.  The glory will go to God, at least if people are willing to see it and acknowledge it.

            There’s no harm in ending a prayer with “I pray in Jesus’ name”.  But if we want to actually pray in Jesus’ name, we need to pray to be the type of person Jesus was.  We need to pray to always be faithful to God, no matter what.  We need to pray for God’s will to be done, even when we don’t understand why God’s will is not the same as our will.

            And most of all, we need to pray that, when God answers our prayer, it will be in a way that brings glory to God.  And when God does answer our prayer, in God’s way and at God’s time, we need to give the glory to God.  Then, we will have truly prayed in Jesus’ name.

God Does It

The message in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are Acts 2:42-47.

            All the churches of the Wheatland Parish are fairly small.  And so, we talk sometimes about what we can do to make our churches grow.

            Now, believe me, we are not the only churches that talk about this.  Churches constantly talk about how they can make their church grow.  Every time I’ve ever been to Annual Conference, there have been seminars about church growth.  And there are seminars, meetings at other times, too.  There are books, videos, all sorts of things.  Really, there’s an entire industry around the subject of church growth.

            But here’s the reality of the situation.  You cannot make any of our churches grow.  And neither can I.

            Now, don’t get me wrong here.  I’m not saying our churches cannot grow.  They can.  And I believe they will.  But you and I cannot make that happen.  Only God can make it happen.  Only God can make our churches grow.

            And in saying that, I’m not saying that you and I should do nothing, that we should sit back and wait for God to start filling up our churches.  There are things that we should do.  There are things that we are doing.  But all we can do is set the stage.  All we can do is make conditions more favorable.  God is the one who will make our churches grow.  If we try to do it by ourselves, without God, we will surely fail.  We can do everything right, we can take all the advice from all those church growth experts, but it will still be up to God to make our churches grow.

            Look at our reading from the book of Acts for today.  If you look at that, you can see the disciples and the people who were following them were doing everything right.  Bible study:  we’re told that “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”.  Prayer:  they also devoted themselves to “the breaking of bread and to prayer.”  Worship:  we’re told that “everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.”  Generosity:  we’re told that “the believers were together and had everything in common.”  Missions:  we’re told that “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”  Fellowship:  “They continued to meet together in the temple courts.”  Outreach:  “They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.”  Publicity:  we’re told they were “enjoying the favor of all the people.”

            I mean, when you look at that, it looks like they pretty much checked every box.  All those things that you learn in the church growth seminars, they were doing them.  I cannot think of anything I’ve ever heard from a church growth expert that these people were not doing.

            But did they make their church grow?  Were the apostles and their followers responsible for making the church grow?  No.  That’s not what Luke, writing in the book of Acts, says.  What Luke says is this:  “The Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”  

            The Apostles did everything right.  But it was still the Lord who made their group grow.  No one else, and nothing else.  God did it.  Not them.

            Now, does that mean that the things the apostles and their followers did were worthless?  Not at all.  They were very important.  But what was important about them was not the things they did.  What was important about them is that they showed faithfulness to God.

            That’s the reason they did the things they did.  They did not do them to grow their group.  I’m sure they hoped the group would grow.  They were trying to do what Jesus said, to go and make disciples.  But the reason they were trying to do that is not because they wanted to have a big group.  The reason they were trying to do that is because Jesus told them to do it.  It did not have to do with what they wanted.  It had to do with being faithful to God.

            Maybe that seems like a distinction without a difference, but I think there’s a tremendous difference.  I think the difference here is tremendously important.

            You see, if we do things because we want our church to grow, what are we doing?  We’re taking the responsibility on ourselves.  We’re saying that we are the ones who are going to make our church grow.  And of course, if our churches do grow, then we can take the credit for it.  We can say that we were the ones who succeeded and made the churches grow.

            But if we do things because we want to be faithful to God, then what are we doing?  We’re putting the responsibility on God.  And we’re also saying that we trust God.  We’re saying that we believe that if we stay faithful to God, if we do our best to serve God and show love to God, if we do our best to obey the commandments that God gave us, then we trust that God will bless what we do.  

            We don’t put any limits on that blessings.  We don’t say when it’s going to happen.  We don’t say how it’s going to happen.  We don’t say what form that blessing is going to take.  We just say that we trust that God’s blessing will come.  It will come in God’s way, and at God’s time, but we believe that it will surely come.

            If that’s our attitude, then if the church grows, who gets the credit?  God does.  God is the one who made it happen.  God is the one who’s responsible for it all.  The only thing we did was serve God and stay faithful to God.  But the result of our service and faithfulness was in God’s hands, not ours.  

            You see the difference, I’m sure.  In the first instance, we are taking the responsibility on ourselves, and we’re giving ourselves the credit for success.  In the second instance, we’re giving the responsibility to God and we’re giving God the credit for success.

            But of course, that leads to a question.  What happens if our church does not grow?

Well, if we’ve done these things to make the church grow, then we’ve failed, right?  We did all these things to make the church grow, and it did not grow.  We were failures.

But if we did those things to be faithful to God, if we did those things to serve God and to show love to God, and our church does not grow, have we failed?  Not at all.  We’ve succeeded.  Because that’s God’s definition of success:  being faithful to God and serving God and loving God.  If we do what God wants us to do, we’ve succeeded, no matter what the results might be.

But still, we ask, what happened?  Why did God not bless what we did and make our church grow?  

Well, a couple of things.  One, maybe God still will.  Again, we are not supposed to put limits on God’s blessings.  God may be waiting for a better time to make our church grow.

But even if not, that does not mean that God did not bless what we did.  It could just be that the blessing has come, or is coming, in a way that we did not expect.

God is not obligated to bless us in the way we have in mind.  God might, but God might not.  In fact, quite often God does not.  God knows more than we do.  God sees farther into the future than we do.  

It’s like Garth Brooks sang years ago, “Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers.”  I can think of a lot of times in my life where God blessed me by not giving me what I wanted, because God had something better in mind.  I suspect you can think of some of those times, too.  And that does not just apply in our personal lives.  It applies to the church, too.

If, as churches, we stay faithful to God, if we serve God, if we listen to God and love God, God will bless our churches.  But we need to keep our eyes open.  Because if we don’t, God might bless us, and we’ll miss it.  And what a sad thing that would be, for us to not even notice the blessings that God has given us.

The apostles did the right things, but they did not do them to grow their church.  They knew they could not make their church grow.  So instead of doing things to make their church grow, they did things to be faithful to God.  They did things to serve God and show love to God.  They did things because they were what Jesus had told them to do.  And God blessed what they did.

We cannot make our churches grow, either.  So, instead of doing things to make the churches grow, let’s do things to be faithful to God.  Let’s do things to serve God and show love to God.  Let’s do the things Jesus told us to do.  And let’s keep our eyes open to see how God will bless what we do.  And God will surely bless them.  Because God is always faithful.

Worth the Wait

Remember when we were kids and it started to get close to Christmas?  I don’t know about you, but I got really anxious for it.  My birthday is close to Christmas, so I’d get doubly anxious.  

I’d start thinking about all the presents I might get.  I’d start thinking about how we’d get a break from school, so I could just stay home and do whatever I wanted (well, when Dad didn’t put me to work, anyway).  And as a sports fan, even then, I’d start thinking about all the football games that were going to be on TV.  Back then, of course, we didn’t have a bunch of sports channels that showed football every night and all day on the weekends.  So the holiday football games were a Big Deal to this young sports fan.

But the point is that I was really anxious for Christmas to come.  And it seemed like it took forever.  The days went by soooo slooowwwwly.  It seemed like Christmas was never going to get here.  But there was nothing to do but wait.

That’s how I’m starting to feel about the end of the lockdowns due to the coronavirus.  We’re starting to see a few things open up.  We’re going to have some meetings to talk about having in-person worship again.  I’m getting really anxious to do that.  

But of course, I need to slow down.  Yes, we all want to have in-person worship again, but it’s not that simple.  We need to make sure, to the extent we can, that when people come, they’ll be safe.  And not only that, they need to be confident that they’ll be safe.  We need to think about what we need to do to make that happen.  Yes, I’m anxious to get back to in-person worship, but we have things we need to work through.  And so, there’s nothing to do but wait until we can get those things worked through.

But you know what?  When I was a kid, when my birthday and Christmas finally came, they were worth the wait.  In fact, in some way, the waiting made it even more special when they finally came.  And in the same way, when we do get back to in-person worship again, it will be worth the wait.  In fact, in some way, the waiting will make it even more special when it finally comes.

There are all kinds of things we get anxious for.  But sometimes, God asks us to wait.  And when God does, God always makes the waiting worthwhile.  That was true of my birthday and Christmas.  It will be true of in-person worship.  And if you’re anxious for anything, God will make your waiting worthwhile, too.

The Only Way

The message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday morning, May 3, 2020.  The Bible verses used are John 10:1-10.

            As Christians, we believe that Jesus is the Savior.  We believe that, through our faith in Jesus Christ, and through God’s love and grace and mercy, we will go to heaven.  We will receive salvation and eternal life.

            But here’s the question.  Do you believe that there are other ways to heaven?  Do you believe there are other ways we can receive salvation and eternal life?  Or is faith in Jesus Christ the only way to heaven?  Is faith in Jesus the only way to salvation and eternal life?

            There are a lot of Christians who are very hesitant to say that.  It makes a lot of people uncomfortable.  It sounds arrogant to say that our faith is the only one that can lead to heaven.  To say that, out of all the different faiths that are out there, Christianity is the only one that can give salvation and eternal life.  Who do we Christians think we are, anyway?

            It also sounds very exclusionary.  There are, after all, lots and lots of people who follow other faiths, or who follow no faith at all.  Are we Christians saying that none of those people go to heaven?  Are we saying that none of those people will get salvation and eternal life?  Would a loving God really keep all those people out of heaven, and only let the Christians in?  Again, just who do we Christians think we are, anyway?

            Well, here’s the thing.  What I think really does not matter.  I’m not the one who makes those decisions, and I’m certainly glad that I’m not.  I do, however, believe that Jesus Christ is the divine Son of God.  And so, when I read the words of Jesus, as they come to us in the Bible, I believe them.  Do I always follow them perfectly?  No.  Far from it.  I fall short many, many times, more times than I like to think about.  But that’s because some of Jesus’ words are not very easy to follow, and it’s because I’m a flawed, imperfect, sinful human being.  But my failure to follow Jesus’ words does not mean that I don’t believe them.  And it certainly does not mean that Jesus’ words are wrong.

            Jesus said, numerous times and in numerous ways, that he is the only way to heaven, that he is the only way to salvation and eternal life.  And one of those times is our Bible reading for today.

            Jesus uses the illustration of a pen where sheep are kept.  And we kind of understand what he’s talking about, but I read something once that makes it a lot more clear.

            It said that, at that time, it was common for several different flocks of sheep to be kept in the same pen at night.  They did that for safety reasons--it would be easier to protect these various flocks of sheep from wild animals or from thieves if they were all kept together.  Then, in the morning, the individual shepherds would come and lead their sheep out to graze.  And you say, how would they know which sheep went with who?  Well, from what I read, each flock of sheep would recognize the voice of their individual shepherd.  So, when each shepherd came and called out, the sheep who recognized the voice of that shepherd would come out of the pen and follow him.  The ones who did not recognize the shepherd’s voice would stay in the pen until their shepherd came.

            So that’s what Jesus is talking about.  Jesus comes, and his followers listen to his voice.  He calls his followers, and he leads them out.  Jesus leads, and his followers follow him, because they know him and know his voice.  And later he says, whoever follows him will be saved.  They will go in, they will go out, they will find pasture, they will get what they need.  Jesus is the one who, as he says, “has come that they may have life, and have it to the full”.  As for anyone else who comes, they do not come to save the sheep.  They do not come to give the sheep life.  Instead, Jesus says, anyone else who comes, comes to steal and kill and destroy.

            Jesus could not say it much clearer.  He is the one who has come to give life.  Anyone who wants to have eternal life, who wants to have salvation and go to heaven, needs to follow him.  There’s no one else to follow who will do that.  Following anyone else will simply lead to death.

            And of course, this is not the only time Jesus makes a statement like this.  Jesus is quoted several times in the gospels as saying that belief in him is the only way to heaven.  He is quoted over and over as saying that eternal life can only be found through him.

            Does anyone have to believe that?  No.  Everyone’s free to believe whatever they want.  But if we say we believe that Jesus is the divine Son of God, then we pretty much have to believe what he says.  I mean, the divine Son of God could not be wrong about something like that, could he?  If he could, he would not be the divine Son of God.  So, if we’re going to call ourselves Christians, we pretty much have to believe that Jesus is the only way to heaven, that he is the only way for us to get salvation and eternal life.  Again, not because I say so.  What I say does not make any difference.  But because Jesus said so.  

Does that sounds arrogant?  Does it sounds exclusionary?  Well, if so, I cannot do anything about that.  Because I’m not the one who said it.  Jesus is the one who said it.  If someone does not like it, well, they’re argument is with Jesus Christ, not with me.

But in saying that, we need to be aware of the implications of it.  Because if the only way to heaven, the only way to get salvation and eternal life, is to accept Jesus Christ as the Savior, then that means there are people in the communities of the Wheatland Parish who will not go to heaven.  There are people in Gettysburg, and in Onida, and in Agar, who will not get salvation and eternal life.  If you think about it, if you’ve lived here for a while, you know that’s true.

And the truth is, we don’t like that very much.  Because we think, “You know, I know some of those people.  They’re good people.  They work hard.  They take care of their families.  They care about their community.  I don’t want to think they’re not going to heaven.”

And I don’t like to think that, either.  I don’t like to think about the fact that there may be someone I pass on the street, or see in Gas N Goodies, or run into at The Corner, who is not going to go to heaven.  I wish that was not so.  I don’t want it to be so.  But again, what I want is not important.  This is God’s decision, not mine.  And I don’t think I’m likely to get God to change His mind.

But again, we don’t like to think about it.  And so, too often, we don’t.  We don’t think about it.  We put it out of our minds.  We may believe it, in theory, or we may not.  But if we do believe it, too often, we don’t take it seriously.  And I’m as guilty of that as anyone.

But it’s wrong.  We need to take this seriously.  And we need to do something about it.  According to the gospel of Matthew, the last thing Jesus told the disciples to do before he ascended to heaven was to go and make disciples.  And if that’s not enough, all we need to remember is that Jesus told us to love our neighbors.  If we know someone who has not accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior, or if we know someone and we’re not sure they’ve accepted Jesus Christ as the Savior, what’s the most loving thing we can do for them?  The most loving thing we can do is do what we can to help them receive salvation and eternal life.  The most loving thing we can do for them is help them accept Jesus as the Savior.

And we say, well, I’m not comfortable doing that.  We say, well, I don’t think I’d be very good at that.  We make all kinds of excuses.  And again, I do it, too--I’m not pointing fingers at anyone.  But this was a command Jesus gave us.  Jesus did not say “go and make disciples if you’re comfortable doing that.”  Jesus did not say “go and make disciples if you think you’d be good at it.”  Jesus said do it.  No ifs.  No excuses allowed.  Do it.  Period.

And that command continues to apply.  Even in a time of isolation and quarantines and social distancing, that command still applies.  Because Jesus did not say, “go and make disciples unless there’s a pandemic” either.  Is it going to be harder to reach people right now?  Maybe.  I don’t know.  Maybe it’s easier.  I know there are people watching this service right now who we do not reach in our in-person services.  That’s not a criticism, it’s just a fact.  If you’re on social media, there are people you reach on social media who we do not reach in our in-person services.  And in fact, people are spending more time on social media now, because they cannot do some of the things they would usually do.  The way we can go and make disciples will be different now, certainly.  But is it harder?  Is it easier?  I don’t know.

And in fact, it really does not matter.  Because whether it’s easier or harder, it’s still the command of Jesus Christ.  And if we say we follow Jesus Christ, then we need to not just believe what he said, we need to do what he said.

Jesus is the way to heaven.  Salvation and eternal life are available only through him.  Not because I say so, but because Jesus said so.  And it’s up to us, as followers of Jesus, to do whatever we can to help others receive that salvation and eternal life.  Because Jesus told us to do that, too.  And besides, it’s the most loving thing to do.

Going Home

This is the message given in the Sunday night service in the Gettysburg United Methodist church.  The Bible verses used are 1 Peter 1:17-23.  

            Heaven.  We talk about it.  We think about it.  We hope to go there.  We believe we will go there, if we accept Jesus Christ as the Savior.  

            And yet, when we think about heaven, there’s a certain sort of unreal quality about our thoughts.  We have a hard time picturing heaven.  We don’t really know what it’s like.  We don’t know if it’s like anything, at least anything that we’ve ever experienced.  We don’t know what we’ll be like there.  And so, even if we firmly believe in heaven, even if we have a strong faith that we will go there when we die, there’s a certain extent to which it still just does not seem real to us.

            Our lives here, those are real.  We even refer to it as “real life”.  Our senses tell us that it’s real.  We can see things.  We can hear things.  We can touch things.  We can taste things.  We can smell things.  All five of our senses tell us that this life is real.

            And so, we’re comfortable with it.  We’re comfortable with real life.  It may not always be great, especially not now.  But we’re used to it.  And we’re getting more used to things now.  Life on earth is real, it’s comfortable, and it’s familiar.  And for the most part, we’re okay with it.

            Maybe we’re too okay with it.  Because when we read what Peter says, he flips all this on its head.  Peter says we should live out our time on earth as foreigners.

            Think about how it feels to be a foreigner.  Some of you have traveled to foreign countries.  A few of you watching may even have come here from foreign countries.  I have not traveled to a foreign country, but I’ve been to places that were quite a bit different from what I’m used to.

            Think about how that feels.  You don’t really fit in, right?  You’re always aware that you’re different.  You’re always aware that you’re an outsider.  You might enjoy your time there.  You might like some of the things there.  But you’re always aware that you’re a foreigner.  You’re always aware that you’re not at home.  And no matter how much you might enjoy your time there, there’s always a part of you that wants to go back home.

            Peter is saying that’s how, as Christians, we’re supposed to feel during our lives on earth.  Does that sound odd to you?  It kind of does to me.  I mean, I understand it, in a way, and I’ll get to that in a minute.  But when I first hear it, it really seems strange.  Most of us like to fit in.  Most of us like to be part of the crowd.  We don’t like to feel like we’re the outsider, the odd one, the one who’s different.  It’s okay for a while, but eventually we want to find a way to fit in.  And what’s wrong with that, anyway?

            Well, I don’t know that it’s automatically wrong.  But here’s the thing.  When we accept Jesus Christ as the Savior, when we decide we’re going to call ourselves Christians, followers of Jesus, that decision needs to change us.  That decision needs to make us different.  If our Christian faith does not make any difference in our lives, if as Christians we are just the same as everyone else, then what’s really the point of our faith?  What good is our Christian faith, if it does not make us different?

            Jesus did not come to earth to tell us to be just like everyone else.  Jesus told us to be different.  He told us to be different in a lot of ways.  Some of them are not easy to do.  Love your neighbor.  Love your enemies.  Pray for those who persecute you.  Turn the other cheek.  If someone takes your coat, give him your shirt.  Treat others, not the way they treat you, but the way you would like them to treat you, even when they don’t actually treat you that way at all.
 

           If you and I take those things seriously, if you and I really try to live that way, we are going to stand out.  Because the majority of people don’t live that way at all.  They don’t even try.  In fact, it makes no sense to them.  The attitude of society is I’ll treat you any way I please.  If you’re nice to me, then I might be nice to you.  And in fact, you’ll see a lot of people who seem to think they’ve done something great if they’re nice to people who are nice to them.  Love your enemies?  Treat people well even if they’re not nice to you?  What sense does that make?

            If you and I take our Christian faith seriously, if we truly try to live out our faith, people are going to notice.  They may like it or they may not, but they’ll notice.  And there will be an extent to which we are foreigners here.  We will not fit in.  We will always, to a certain extent, be outsiders.

            That’s not always a comfortable thought.  But there is good news.  There will come a time when we are no longer outsiders.  If we hold to our Christian faith, then by God’s grace we will someday go to a place where we fit in completely.  And that’s in heaven.  In heaven, we will not feel like foreigners.  We will be where we belong.  We will be home.

            Maybe that sounds odd to you, too.  I mean, there’s an extent to which we agree with it.  A little while ago, I sang “This World Is Not My Home”.  That’s an old gospel song.  It’s a common idea among Christians that heaven is our true home.  

            We sing it, and sometimes we say it.  And in a way, we believe it.  But as I said at the start of this message, it’s hard to truly believe it.  Because, again, there are so many ways in which heaven seems so unreal to us.  

            Why is that?  Why should this place, this place where we are to live as foreigners, seem so real to us?  And why should heaven, the place we call our true home, seem so unreal to us?

            Well, look at it this way.  Have you ever lived somewhere for a long period of time, and then moved away?  What happens?

            We forget.  We forget what the old home town was really like.  We have memories, but they’re somewhat fuzzy.  And the longer we’re gone, the fuzzier they get.  We forget the names of some of the people.  We forget what they looked like.  We forget where some of the stores were.  And the things we think we do remember are not always accurate.  And if we’re gone a really long time, we’re not sure just exactly what we do remember.  There becomes an unreal quality to our memories.  We know that the town exists.  We know we used to live there.  But where we are now is what seems like real life.  Where we used to be starts to seem more like a story, or a dream.

            And that’s why heaven, even though it’s our home, can seem unreal to us.  That’s why it can start to seem like a story, or a dream.  We know it exists.  But where we are now is what seems like real life.

            But it’s not a story.  It’s not a dream.  It is reality.  Heaven is as real as our life here.  And we will not be expected to live like foreigners in heaven.  We will be where we belong.

            I talked about leaving your home town and moving away.  But have you ever moved to a new town and felt at home there instantly?  Where from the very first day, you felt like you belonged?  If you have, you know that’s an awesome feeling.

            That’s what happened to Wanda and me when we moved to the Wheatland Parish.  We felt at home here from the first day we moved in.  In fact, we felt at home here before the first day we moved in.  You know, Wanda grew up in Blunt, not that far from here.  The night we were introduced to the SPRC, before anyone else knew we were coming, almost everyone on that committee either knew Wanda or knew someone in her family.  We’d spent three years in North Sioux City, and while the people there treated us wonderfully, and we still have friends there, it never truly felt like home.  But the night of that SPRC meeting, even though we’d never been here before, we felt like we were coming home.

            That, and more, is how it’s going to feel when we go to heaven.  We’re going to feel at home from the day we get there.  We’ll be in the presence of God, and God will know us.  God will know everyone in our family, too.  And we’ll realize that while we were on earth, even though people may have treated us well, it was never truly home.  And heaven, even though we’ve never been there before, will feel like coming home.

            If we take our Christian faith seriously, it’s going to be hard for us to truly fit in on earth.  We’re going to stand out.  We’re going to be different.  But that’s okay.  That’s how it’s supposed to be.  After all, Jesus stood out.  Jesus was different.  If we say we’re following him, then it stands to reason that we’ll stand out and be different, too.

            But it’s okay.  Because we’ll get our reward in heaven.  And in heaven, we’ll fit in.  We’ll be loved for who we are and what we are.  We’ll be in the presence of the holy, all-loving, all-caring God.  And we’ll know that we are truly home.

Praying for Yourself

We talk all the time about the power of prayer.  Every week we have a time in church where we take prayer requests.  Now, when we’re doing livestreamed services, it’s harder to do that.  But still, if someone contacts us with a prayer concern, we’re happy to include that.  And of course, if someone does not want they’re prayer concern made public, but still would like us to pray, we’re certainly willing to do that as well.

We pray for a lot of things.  We pray for others--for their health, for God’s protection, for many other things.  We pray for certain situations--many right now are praying for an end to the coronavirus.  We pray for our churches, which is especially important now when most churches don’t have in-person worship.  

But here’s something you may not have thought about.  How often do you pray for yourself?

Maybe that sounds a little odd.  But when you think about it, why should we not pray for ourselves?  I don’t mean that in a selfish way.  I’m not saying we should pray to get rich or anything like that.  But you know, we’re dealing with a difficult situation right now.  It’s hard on everyone.  I can tell, when I read the things posted on facebook, that a lot of people feel stressed out sometimes.  Not all the time--in fact, I think most people I’ve talked to are handling things very well, when you consider everything we’re going through.  But everyone has days where it just, well, it just starts to get to you.  You’re just tired of it.  If we knew a date when it would all be over, we could handle it a lot better.  But we don’t know that date, and we cannot know that date.  No one can tell it to us, because no one knows.  And it’s stressful.

God knows that.  And God wants to help you.  So, pray for yourself.  Pray that God will watch over you.  Not just in your physical health, although it’s certainly good to pray for that.  But also pray that God will watch over your mental health, your emotional health, and your spiritual health.  Pray that God will help you stay on an even keel and deal with all the things you have to deal with.

But if you have trouble staying on an even keel, don’t beat yourself up for that.  If you’re having a down day, let yourself have it.  Go ahead and be down for a while.  Let yourself feel what you feel.  Feel it for a while, and then ask God to help you let go of it.  Give yourself a break, but then ask God to help you get back into the game.

I talk a lot about how we need to be there for each other and take care of each other.  But we cannot take care of someone else if we don’t also take care of ourselves.  So take care of yourself.  Eat right.  Exercise.  Get your rest.  And ask God to help you get through this.  God will be there for you.  

And we are here for you, too.  If there’s anything we can do, or if you’d like someone to talk to, please feel free to contact us.  If you’d like us to pray for you, we’ll be happy to do that--we pray for all of our congregations every day.

Things will work out.  God is still in control.  God will take care of things in God’s way and at God’s time, and I’m confident that way will be one that brings glory and honor to God.  So hang in there and know that God is with you.