Jesus Alone

This is the message from the Wednesday Lent service in the Gettysburg United Methodist Church March 12, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Luke 5:1-16 and Luke 6:12-16.

            Our sermon series for Lent is called “Jesus in HD”.  The “HD” part really has two meanings.  In electronics, of course, “HD” stands for high definition.  It allows us to see things on a television or a computer or other device much more clearly than we could otherwise.  And we hope this sermon series will help us see Jesus more clearly than we have before.

            But in Jesus’ case, “HD” stands for something else.  Some of you may have figured out what it is.  We refer to Jesus as having been both fully human and fully divine.

Now, understand what we mean when we say that.  It’s not like Jesus was half-human and half-divine.  It’s not like Jesus was sometimes human and sometimes divine.  Jesus was both fully human and fully divine at the same time.  So, in this case, that’s also what “HD” means:  human and divine.

Now, if you don’t quite understand how that worked, don’t worry about it.  No one else, including the best theologians the world has ever produced, really quite understands it either.  And of course, there’s never been anyone else on earth who was both fully human and fully divine, so there’s no one we can compare Jesus to in an attempt to learn more about how it worked.  It just did, somehow, in a way that only God knows and understands.

But while we don’t understand how it worked, there are lots of things that are really neat about it.  And we’re going to look at some of them in this sermon series.  We’re going to look at both the human Jesus and the divine Jesus.  We’re going to do that in an attempt to understand better who Jesus really was when he walked the earth.

One of the great things about Jesus having been fully human is that it means Jesus went through the same things we go through.  Jesus did some of the same things we do.  Jesus felt some of the same things we feel.  And one of the things Jesus felt when he walked this earth was loneliness.

We already said that Jesus is the only one who has ever been on earth who was both fully human and fully divine.  That made him absolutely unique, in the strictest sense of the word.

All of us are unique in some way, of course.  There’s no one in the world exactly like me, and there’s no one in the world exactly like you.  But Jesus was unique in his very essence.  There has never been and never will be anyone like him.  There has never been and never will be anyone even similar to him.  

And while in one way, it might seem like it would be cool to be absolutely unlike anyone else, it seems like it would have to be a pretty lonely existence.  To have no one who knew what your life was really like.  To have no one who could really understand what it was like to be you.  To have no one you could really explain your feelings to, because even if they really wanted to there was no way they could ever really understand.

Jesus did what he could to try to lessen his loneliness.  We heard tonight about how he asked people to travel with him.  Twelve of them, the disciples, were his special friends, the ones who would be closest to him in his ministry.  

And while I’m sure that helped in some ways, it probably did not help in others.  Because even though those twelve people were his friends, they could not really understand who Jesus was or what he was doing or what he was going through.  We see that lots of times in the gospels, times when Jesus tried to explain things to the disciples and they did not have a clue what he was talking about.  

In fact, having people around may have made it worse in some ways, because the disciples had each other.  They could talk to each other and understand each other.  They knew what each other was going through.  And that probably just emphasized to Jesus that he did not have anyone like that.

And so, sometimes, Jesus would go off by himself.  We’re told that Jesus went to spend some time with God, and I’m sure that’s true, but I suspect he also went off by himself because sometimes being around people was just more than he could handle at that moment.  Because even when Jesus had people around him, he was still really alone, because there was still no one else who could really understand.

Have you ever felt like that?  Have you ever felt like there was really no one who could understand what your life was like?  Have you ever felt like no one really understood what it was like to be you?  Have you ever felt like there was no one you could really explain your feelings to, because even if they wanted to understand there was no way they really could?

I’ll bet a lot of us have felt that way.  I know I have.  We may or may not have let anyone else know how we felt, but we felt it.  Maybe some of you feel that way tonight.  It hurts.  It hurts a lot.

Maybe we try to get out among people to make ourselves feel better.  And that helps in some ways, but it does not help in others.  Because even if those people are our friends, it feels like they still really don’t understand who we are or what we’re going through.  Even if we try to explain it to them, they still don’t really have a clue.  

And sometimes, being with people just makes it worse, because we see them interacting with each other and seeming to understand each other, and it just emphasizes to us that we don’t have anyone like that.  And so, we go off by ourselves, because sometimes being around people is just more than we can handle at that moment.  Because even when we’re around people, we’re still really alone, because there’s no one else who can really understand.

As I said, I’ve felt that way.  If you’re feeling that way right now, I don’t have a magic cure for you, any more than I had one for myself.  But I can tell you a couple of things.

One of them is that you have a God who understands what you’re going through.  Jesus knows exactly how you’re feeling, even if no one else does.  And because Jesus is the Son of God, that means God knows exactly how you’re feeling, too.  God knows, and God understands.

And you can always talk to God about it.  That’s what Jesus did when he was alone.  He talked to God.  God will be there, and God will understand, even when it feels like no one else does.  And God will help you keep going, even when you feel like you cannot keep going or don’t want to.  God will give you the strength and the courage and the faith you need.  God will get you through it.

God does not want you to be alone.  God does not want any of us to be alone.  One of the first things God says in the Bible, right after creating Adam, is “it is not good for the man to be alone”.  And it’s not good for a woman to be alone, either.

The other thing I can tell you is that you have a church family who wants to be there for you.  One of the reasons God formed the church is so that we could be there for each other.  We may not be able to feel what you’re feeling, but we can love you.  We can support you.  We can encourage you.  We can pray for you.  God does not want anyone to suffer at all, but God especially does not want anyone to suffer alone.  

So even if you cannot tell us exactly what’s going on, you can let us know that you’re in need of help and in need of prayer, and we will be there for you.  If you’ve tried that in the past, and we’ve not been there for you, then I apologize, because we’ve failed you.  But I encourage you to give us another chance.  We’re not perfect--I most definitely and certainly am not perfect--but we do want to be there for you.  And we know God wants us to be there for you, too.

The fully human Jesus knows what it’s like to be alone.  And the fully divine Jesus will be there for you and help you through it.  The church that Jesus started needs to be there and help people through it, too.

It hurts to be alone.  Let’s all do what we can to reach out to those who are hurting.  With God’s help, we can build a community where no one will ever have to be alone again.

Talk To Me

This is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish Sunday, March 9, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 5:1-12 and Luke 11:1-13.

            This is basically the end of one sermon series and the beginning of another.  We’ve been doing a sermon series called “God Has An App For That”, looking at the ways God gives us to strengthen our faith and get closer to God.  Our next sermon series will be called, “Pray This Way”, in which we’ll be looking at the Lord’s Prayer.  So today, we’re going to take a look at the Lord’s Prayer and look at how it can strengthen our faith and get us closer to God.

            As you noticed in our Bible readings today, there are two versions of the Lord’s Prayer in the Bible.  They are a little bit different.  Neither of them is exactly the way we say the Lord’s Prayer today.  So, when we introduce the Lord’s Prayer by saying it’s the prayer Jesus taught us, that’s really not quite true.  It’s similar, but it’s not the same as the prayer Jesus taught the disciples, at least not according to the best sources we have on the subject.

            The other thing you probably noticed is that the setting for the two versions of the Lord’s Prayer are different.  In Matthew, Jesus teaches this prayer to everyone listening.  It’s part of a larger speech Jesus made on a mountainside, what we now call the sermon on the mount.  In Luke, Jesus teaches this prayer only to the disciples, and teaches it to them as a direct response to one of the disciples, who asked Jesus to teach them to pray.

            Which setting is the “true” setting?  Which version of the prayer is the “true” version?  We have no way to know.  Does it matter?  Not a lot.  It’s kind of a matter of historical curiosity as to which setting was the “true” one, but that’s all.  The differences, which we’ll talk about in our next sermon series, are not that great, really.  The principles of prayer that Jesus was trying to get across are the same in both cases.

            I do find it interesting, though, that in one case it was Jesus who made the decision to teach people how to pray, and in the other case it was the disciples who made the decision that they needed to learn how to pray.  Because I think both of those things are true.  I think God wants us to pray, and I think we have a need to pray.

            To me, that shows the most powerful thing about prayer.  Prayer involves a relationship.  It involves us talking to God.  It also involves God talking to us.  Both of those things are necessary for us to have a relationship with God.

            Now, I don’t know how much or how often anyone here prays.  I suspect some of us pray quite a bit.  I suspect others of us pray on occasion.  I suspect others of us rarely if ever pray.

            That’s okay.  Our prayer life, like other aspects of our faith, involves a process.  If you don’t pray very often right now, I’m not trying to make you feel guilty.  I’ve had times in my life when I did not pray very often, either.

            What I want to do, though, is encourage you to pray more.  Because that’s how we start feeling close to God.  That’s how we start feeling that God is with us in our lives.  By talking to God.  By God talking to us.

            Think about it this way:  have you ever had a close friend who moved away?  Or, have you ever been the one who moved away from a close friend?  What happens?  At first, you call each other up fairly frequently.  You keep in touch with what’s going on in each other’s lives.  You still feel close.  But gradually, what usually happens?  Those calls come a little less frequently.  Then a little less.  Then a little less.  It goes from every day to once a week to once a month.  Then, maybe it’s a call at Christmas.

            And as that happens, what else happens?  You don’t feel like you’re as close as you used to be.  Your friendship is not as strong.  You might still care about each other.  But the close relationship you once had is not there any more.  It’s gone.

            Why not?  What happened?  You stopped talking to each other.  You’ve drifted apart.  Not because you intended to.  Not because either of you made a conscious decision that you did not want to be close any more.  But you got busy.  You got distracted.  You were living your life.  The other person was living his or her life.  And so, you stopped talking to each other.  And you don’t feel as close any more.  If it goes on too long, this person you used to be so close to can become a complete stranger to you, because you don’t know what’s going on in their life any more.

            That’s how it is when we don’t pray.  If we don’t talk to God, if we don’t listen when God is talking to us, that’s what happens.  We stop feeling close to God.  Our relationship to God is not as strong.  God still loves us.  And we may even still feel love toward God.  But the close relationship we once had with God is not there any more.  It’s gone.

It’s probably not because we intended to break that relationship.  That can happen, but that’s not usually how it works.  Usually, we don’t even make a conscious decision that we don’t want to be close any more.  But we get busy.  We get distracted.  We’re living our life.  And we stop talking to God.  And we don’t feel close any more.  And if it goes on too long, God can feel like a complete stranger to us.

            But the thing is, that relationship can be repaired.  God does not want to feel like a complete stranger to us.  And I don’t think most of us want God to feel like a complete stranger to us, either.  After all, the fact that you’re here, in church, listening to this message shows that you do want to have a relationship with God.  And it shows that you want that relationship to be closer than it is now.

            But here’s the thing.  Think about that close friend who moved away again.  Have you ever seen them again, after a long time apart?  What happens?  At first, you’re really happy to see each other, right?  You shake hands, or you hug, or you do whatever you do.  You’re excited to get caught up on each other’s lives.  But then, after a while, something else happens.  You start struggling for words.  You cannot think of anything to say.  You want to pick up the relationship, you want it to be close again, you want it to be the way it used to be, but it’s not, because it’s just been too long.  You no longer have much to say to each other.

            And it can be that way with our relationship with God, too.  Sometimes we want to go back to God.  We want to have that close relationship with God again.  We want to start praying again.  But we go to pray and--we start struggling for words.  We cannot think of anything to say.  It’s just been too long.  We no longer have much to say to God.

            And I think that’s one of the reasons Jesus gave us what we now call the Lord’s Prayer.  If we need to talk to God, if we need to pray, but we just cannot think of anything to say, we can say that.  Whether we use one of the versions out of the Bible or we use the version we learned as kids, it does not matter.  The important thing is that we use it.  The important thing is that we talk to God.  When we feel like we don’t have anything to say to God, Jesus has given us words to say.  Jesus has given us something we can always use to talk to God and restore that relationship.

            The Lord’s Prayer gives us all the basics we need to say to God.  We acknowledge who God is, that God is our Father and that God’s name is holy.  We state a desire to have God’s kingdom come on earth and have God’s will done on earth.  We ask for as much as we need for today.  We ask for forgiveness, and we ask for the ability to forgive others.  We ask not to be tempted to do wrong, but to be delivered from wrong.  And we acknowledge that God is all-powerful.

That’s really all we need to say to God.  We’ll go into each of those in more depth in the coming sermon series, but those things are all we really need to say.  There’s a lot more we can say to God, but those things are all we really need to say.  If we say those things, and mean them, our faith will be strong, and our relationship with God will be restored.

So, if we want a stronger relationship with God, God has an app for that.  That app is prayer.  Talking to God, and listening as God talks to us.  And if we can think of nothing else to pray, we can always pray the Lord’s Prayer.  If we pray it, and mean it, our relationship with God will get stronger.  And God will not seem like a stranger any more.

Here We Are Again

This is the message given at the Ash Wednesday service in Onida and Gettysburg March 5, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 19:16-26.

            The first thing you may notice about tonight’s service is that the message is coming a lot earlier than it usually does.  That’s intentional.  When we plan a Sunday service, we generally try to plan it so that the main focus of the service is the Bible reading and the message.  Tonight, though, the message is not the focus of this service.  

I mean, I hope this’ll be a good message.  I hope it’ll be helpful to you and that you’ll find some value in it.  But the focus of tonight’s service is on repentance.  The focus tonight is on our sins, our need to confess our sins to God, and our need to ask for and receive God’s forgiveness.  The focus tonight is on our need to change our lives.  That’s what’s important, much more than the message.

Another thing that may have occurred to you is that we have an Ash Wednesday service every year.  We have had for a long time, probably as long as this church has been here.  That means every year at this time--and I hope at other times, too, but especially at this time--we confess our sins to God, we ask for God’s forgiveness, and we ask for God to help us change our lives.  

Now, logically, if every year we ask God to help us change our lives, it must not be working very well, right?  I mean, if we’d really changed our lives last year, if we really were now God’s people, we would not have to do this again, would we?  The fact that we’re here again this year means, pretty much by definition, that we failed to change last year.  And the year before, and the year before that, and the year before that, and on and on and on.

Why is that?  I mean, I’m assuming that we’re serious about this.  And I’m not just saying that, I really do think most of us are serious about it.  Most of us know what our sins are.  We know how far short we fall of who God wants us to be.  We know we need God’s forgiveness.  We know we need to change our lives.  And yet, we never seem to do it.

Some of us do, to an extent.  That extent varies a lot, of course.  There are some of us whose lives truly have changed, who are much different people than they used to be.  There are others of us who’ve made a few changes around the margins, who may have managed with God’s help to improve ourselves in a few areas, but who have not had any serious change of heart.  And there are others of us who never really change at all, who continue year after year to be pretty much the same people we’ve always been.  Why?

I don’t think it’s because we don’t want to change.  I mean, that may be true for some people, but I think the fact that we all took the time to come out tonight and come to this Ash Wednesday service means we really do want to change.  After all, it would’ve been a lot easier for us all to just stay home.  The fact that we’re here, that we’re going to confess our sins and ask for God’s forgiveness, means we are serious about wanting to change.

I think what happens a lot of times is that life just kind of beats us down.  We get busy.  We get tired.  We get distracted.  After all, if we’re serious about changing our lives, that’s not going to be easy.  It’s going to take a lot of effort.  It’s going to take a lot of time.  It’s going to take a lot of focus from us.  

And when we get busy, when we get tired, when we get distracted, sometimes it seems like it’s more effort than we can make, more time than we can take, and more focus than we can manage.  And so we slide back into living the same old way we always have.  It’s easier.  It’s simpler.  And besides, we tell ourselves, it’s not like my old lifestyle was so bad.  I was not hurting anyone.  I was not cheating anyone.  In fact, I’ve been doing some good things.  And so we don’t change much of anything, not because we don’t want to, but because we just don’t really think we can.

Which, of course, brings us to our Bible reading for tonight.  A man comes up to Jesus.  He asks Jesus a question.  It’s a very good question, I think.  In fact, if you or I were able to talk to Jesus, it might be one of the first questions we’d ask.  He asks Jesus what good thing he has to do to get eternal life.

Now, the fact that the man asked Jesus this question shows that he knew, just as we know, that he needed to change his life.  In fact, I think it shows that he wanted to change his life, just as we come here tonight wanting to change our lives.

And Jesus gives him an answer.  He tells him certain things to do, based on the Ten Commandments.  And the guys says what we might say.  He says, basically, “Yeah, yeah, I know all that, but it’s not enough.” 

In other words, he knows, again just as we know, that our current lifestyle is not enough.  He’s thinking, just as we think, I’m not hurting anyone.  I’m not cheating anyone.  In fact, I’ve been doing some good things.  But it’s not enough.  I know I’m missing something.  I know I need to change my life.

And Jesus tells him, yes, you do need to change your life.  He tells him, you need to sell your possessions, give to the poor, and then come follow me.  And we’re told the man went away sad, because he had great wealth.

            Now, the point here is not that we have to sell everything and give to the poor.  Most of us, including me, could probably make do with less and give more to the poor, and it would probably be good if we did, but that’s not the point for tonight.

            The point is that if we truly want to change our lives, we need to get rid of everything that gets in the way of serving God.  We need to get rid of the distractions.  We need to get rid of the things that take our time and our effort away from serving God.

            For this man it was possessions.  That may or may not be what it is for you or for me.  It could be possessions, but it could be a lot of things.  It could be work.  It could be a hobby that’s taking up too much of our time.  It could be too much enjoyment of free time.

It could be more than one thing, of course.  It could even be something that’s not a bad thing in and of itself.  In fact, it could be something that seems like a good thing, but that has gotten too important in our lives and is taking our time and attention and effort away from changing our lives and being the people God wants us to be.

And the thing is, we don’t necessarily have to totally do without those things.  Jesus told the man “sell your possessions and give to the poor”.  He did not say he had to get rid of all his possessions and give all his money to the poor.  Some translations say that, but from what I’ve been able to learn that’s not accurate, and I think it takes away from Jesus’ point.  

Jesus was not saying that all possessions are bad.  Jesus was saying that anything, including things that are good or things that are neutral, become bad when we lose our perspective on them.  Anything becomes bad when it becomes more important to us than it should be.  Anything becomes bad when it distracts us from making the changes we need to make in our lives.  Anything becomes bad when it gets in the way of you and me becoming the people God wants us to be.

I don’t know what those things are for you.  I need to think some more about what they are for me.  I have some ideas, though.  I’ll bet you do, too.  And as you and I think about it some more, I’ll bet we’ll get more ideas about things that have become more important to us than they should be and that are distracting us from making the changes we need to make in our lives.

Thinking of those things, of course, is only part of the battle.  It’s an important part, but the really important part comes next.  It’s the part the man who talked to Jesus could not do.  It’s actually being willing to make do with less of those things that have become too important.  It’s actually either de-emphasizing or totally getting rid of those things that are getting in the way of us changing our lives and being the people Jesus wants us to be.

The man Jesus was talking to could not do it.  The disciples wondered if anyone could.  And Jesus says no.  No one can.  Not on our own.  The only way we can do it is with God.  All things are possible with God.

So, as we enter this season of Lent, let’s ask God for help.  Let’s ask God to help us get rid of the distractions.  Let’s ask God for help to help us get rid of all the things that get in the way of our serving God.  It’s not going to be easy.  It’s going to take a lot of effort.  It’s going to take a lot of time.  It’s going to take a lot of focus from us.  We cannot do it on our own.  The only way we can do it is with God.  All things are possible with God.

We Believe. Now What Do We Do?

This is the message given on UMW Sunday, March 2, 2014 in the United Methodist Churches of the Wheatland Parish.  Thus, Pastor Jeff takes no credit for these words.

In the United Methodist Church,we practice two Christian sacraments, Baptism and Holy Communion.  John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, believed that there are two parts necessary in sacrament.  The first is the fact that God actually offers grace and power through the sacraments and then, with an evangelical spirit, we as individuals make a decision to embrace the grace and freedom God offers in the sacraments.

The sacraments are intended to remind us that God will not desert any of us, His creation of us isn't over when we are born; it continues throughout our lives.  Communion and baptism are assurances of God's desire to be in relationship with us.  They are conduits through which God works to protect, heal, transform and liberate us.  
 
The sacrament of Baptism is practiced casually in our church.  Family customs my influence at what age a person is baptized.  Infant baptism activates the promise of God for that child.  In teenage years, we are offered instruction and the opportunity to claim our baptismal vows for ourselves and meet the requirements for church membership.  Still others may have found God in adulthood and choose to be baptized.
 
Baptism is a bold act.  We are marked with God's stamp.  God says a resounding YES to us in our baptism.  YES, I CLAIM YOU AS MY OWN.  Whatever happens to you, I will be there with you, seeking to redeem you, holding you in my arms, rejoicing in your beauty and uniqueness.
 
This promise is movingly stated in the hymn, "I Was There to Hear Your Borning Cry".
 
        I was there to hear your borning cry, I'll be there when you are old.
        I rejoiced the day you were baptized, to see your life unfold.
 
        I was there when you were but a child, with a faith to suit you well;
        In a blaze of light you wondered off to find where demons dwell.
 
        When you heard the wonder of the word I was there to cheer you on;
        You were raised to praise the Living Lord, to whom you now belong.
 
The covenant of baptism is a crucial channel of what we call the grace of God.  Grace pervades our understanding of Christian faith and life, according to United Methodist teaching.  "By grace we mean the undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God in human existence through the ever-present Holy Spirit."
 
John Wesley was very emphatic about God's grace and what it means for us.  As United Methodists we have been offered clear directions on how we should live our lives to obtain all the wonders of the grace God wishes for us.
     Prevenient (or preparing) grace comes before any response from us.  It has been there from the beginning.
     Justifying (or forgiving) grace restores us and reconciles us to God.
 
Wesley described prevenient grace as the "porch of religion" and justifying grace as the "door of religion".  The actual "house of religion" is the realm of sanctifying (or perfect) grace.  This is the life of faith in which one grows.  In this grace, we are sustained in life, empowered with the gifts of God, equipped as disciples, and led ever more intimately to our true home in God.
 
For Wesley, the Eucharist was a central experience of Christian worship.  In fact, John Wesley practiced daily Holy Communion.  As we partake in Holy Communion, of bread and juice, we are taking the fullness of Christ within us--his body and blood and we are empowered to be the real presence of Christ in the world.
 
Consider how the real world is turned upside down by the Eucharist.  All are invited, and all are nourished.  Division is erased.  Dissension ceases.  And we humble ourselves at the altar to share equally in Christ's sacrifice, love and justice.
 
Wesley challenges us to embrace living sacramentally, in public and personally, in equal measure.  For Wesley there is no personal religion but social religion, no holiness but social holiness.
 
Based on the Bible, the great spiritual writers of his time, and his personal experience and observation, John Wesley identified five works of piety which he also called "windows" of grace:  scripture, prayers, Christian conferencing and conversation, Holy Communion and worship and fasting.  These are channels through which God places grace within our heart, and Wesley considered them indispensable for sacramental living.
 
Sacramental living does not stop there, but expresses itself through works of mercy.  By feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, entertaining or assisting the stranger, visiting those who are sick or in prison, comforting the afflicted, instructing the ignorant, reproving the wicked, exhorting and encouraging the well-doer, we are showing mercy.
 
If baptism gives us our "marching orders" that send us out into the world, then Holy Communion reveals the destiny that God intends for us.  Living sacramentally and walking justly isn't just about "doing good".  Above all, it is the transformative act that moves us in the direction of God's promised kingdom.

Living in Hope

This is the message given in the United Methodist Churches of the Wheatland Parish on Sunday, February 23, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 5:1-12.

            Sometimes I think it would be nice to have lived back in Biblical times.  Do you ever think that?  I mean, think what it must have been like to have heard Jesus’ actual voice.  To have heard Jesus’ real words from Jesus’ own lips.  And then think about the times he talked to people one-on-one.  I mean, it would have been incredible enough just to have been a face in the crowd, just to be one of the people who heard Jesus’ message.  To get singled out by Jesus, to have a time when the Son of God was just talking to me, to have a time when Jesus had a message specifically for me.  That would be more incredible than almost anything I can imagine.

The thing is, Jesus does have a message specifically for me.  He has a message specifically for you, too.  As we come to the second in our sermon series, “God Has an App for That”, looking at the ways God gives us to help us get closer to God and to strengthen our faith, the one we’re going to look at today is the Bible.  The Bible is God’s message, given specifically for you and me.

            How many of us read that message?  I’m not asking for a show of hands or anything, but just think about it.  One of the things we claim to believe is that God inspired the writing of the Bible.  It is God’s message to us.  So how often do we actually read it?

            Now, my goal here is not to make anyone feel guilty.  I think guilt is a lousy motivator for us.  My goal here is also not to point fingers.  Before I became a pastor, I had some very long stretches in my life where I read the Bible seldom if at all.  Even as a pastor, I’ve had some stretches where I did not read it other than what I had to read in order to do my job.  

Also, I’ve said, and I continue to believe, that nowhere in the gospels can you find a time when Jesus commanded us to go and be Bible scholars.  Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and to love others.  Those are the main things we’re supposed to do.  If we were to say, “I don’t have time to go out and show love to people because I’ve got to read the Bible”, well, that would be a misuse of the Bible, don’t you think?

That’s not the only way we can misuse the Bible, of course.  There are people who will use the Bible as a weapon.  That’s what the Pharisees did in Jesus’ time, right?  Jesus went out and showed love to people by healing them on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees said, “Hey, you’re not supposed to do that.  It says right here in the Bible, you are to do no work on the Sabbath.”  They were so worried about the strict interpretation of the rules that they missed the whole purpose of why the rules exist.  As Jesus said, the rules are there to help us.  They’re not there to keep us from showing love to each other.  It’s a misuse of the Bible to look at it that way.

And then there are people who don’t believe, who’ll try to use the Bible to get us to go against God.  That’s what Satan did when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness.  Satan quoted the Bible to try to get Jesus to go against what God wanted.  And there are people like that around today, too.  There are lots of people who will quote the Bible to try to persuade us that our faith is nonsense and to try to get us to stop trusting God and stop believing in God.

You know why Jesus was able to resist Satan?  Because Jesus knew the Bible even better than Satan did.  For every quote that Satan could use to try to get Jesus to go the wrong way, Jesus could pull out a better one to resist.

And that’s one of the reasons why we need to read the Bible.  Because the world is going to try to weaken our faith.  Sometimes it will be people making a deliberate attempt to get us to give up on God.  But other times, it’ll just be life that weakens our faith.  

After all, we all have times when things are going wrong.  We all have times when things go against us.  We all have times when the world does not seem to make sense to us.  We all have times when it seems like we’ve done our best to follow God and do what God wants us to do, and our reward for it seems to be that we get knocked down.  And then we try to get up and we get knocked down again.  And when that happens, it can be really hard for us to keep our faith strong.

But that’s why we need to read the Bible.  Because when we do, we can see that nowhere does Jesus promise us that if we trust in God, we’ll have an easy life on earth.  I do believe that trusting in God makes our lives better, but not necessarily in a physical or a material sense.  Jesus certainly did not have an easy life on earth.  Neither did the Apostle Paul.  Neither did a lot of the Old Testament prophets.  Neither did John the Baptist.  Neither did more modern believers like Mother Theresa.  The Christians in the Middle East who are being killed for their faith right now do not have an easy life.  Again, that’s one of the ways the world uses to take away our faith.  It tries to tell us that if God loves us God should make our lives easy on earth.  But they cannot quote Jesus saying that, because he never did.

That does not mean, of course, that God will never help us while we’re on earth.  I can think of many times God has helped me.  I believe that God continues to help me every day of my life.  But God does not owe it to me to help me.  God does not owe me anything.  And if God should ever choose to stop helping me on earth, I hope I would continue to believe in God and trust God, because that’s what faith is really about.

We read the words of Jesus today.  These things Jesus said are part of his famous Sermon on the Mount, and are called the Beatitudes.  That’s a fancy word that just means “the blessings”.  Jesus was giving blessings to a lot of people, many of whom had been beaten down by life.  The poor in spirit.  Those who mourn.  Those who are persecuted because of righteousness.  Those who are insulted and slandered for their faith.

What did Jesus say to them?  He did not say, “Don’t worry, I’ll solve all your problems and make you rich.”  He said, basically, “Hang in there.  It’ll be okay.  God sees what you’re having to go through.  And God will reward you for it.  Your reward is the kingdom of God.  Your reward is the kingdom of heaven.”

That’s why God gave us the Bible.  God did not give us the Bible as a homework assignment.  God did not give us the Bible as a weapon.  God gave us the Bible to help us.  God gave us the Bible to give us hope.   God gave us the Bible so we would know that God sees what’s happening on this earth and that God cares about what’s happening on this earth.  God gave us the Bible so we’d know that God will be with us every step of the way on this earth, through the ups and the downs and everything in-between.  And God gave us the Bible so that we would know that, as long as we keep trusting God, God will take us through this life into the next life.  And that’s a life in which we will never be beaten down.  We will never be poor in spirit or in anything else.  We will never mourn, or be persecuted, insulted, or slandered.  In that life, we will have nothing but eternal peace and love and joy.

It can be intimidating to try to read the Bible if we’ve never done it, or even if we have.  But it’s not supposed to be.  The Bible is God’s gift to us.  God wants us to read it.  And God wants us to understand as much as we can about it.

So, get an easy-to-read translation of the Bible.  If you want, I can give you some recommendations.  Then, dig in.  Don’t feel like you have to read it front to back right off.  It’s okay to do it that way, but it’s okay to do it other ways, too.  You can start with the gospels.  You can start with the psalms.  You can start with Paul’s letters.  You can start with the proverbs.  You can even start by getting a book of the best-known or best-loved Bible verses.  Start with whatever way works for you.  But start.  Open up this gift that God has given us.

We’re not required to read the Bible to get to heaven.  We get to heaven by God’s love and mercy and grace and through our faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior.  But reading the Bible can help make our faith stronger.  Reading the Bible can help us feel God’s love and mercy and grace.  So use the app God has given us.  Read the Bible.  And feel the hope, both for this life and the next one.

Come Together

Below is the message given in the United Methodist churches of the Wheatland Parish Sunday, February 16, 2014.  The Bible verses used are John 20:19-29.

Welcome to a new sermon series!  Today we start a three-part sermon series called “God Has An App For That”.

As many of you know, the word “app” is short for application.  An app is something you download to a smart phone or a tablet or some other electronic device.  It lets you do something, or it helps you do it better.  There are all kinds of apps.  There are apps that help you figure out where you are or how to get where you’re going, there are apps that enable you to communicate with people, there are apps that let you follow sports or listen to music, there are apps that let you play games, there are apps for--well, just about anything you can think of.  And if you do think of something there’s not an app for, there probably will be pretty soon, because they come out with new apps almost every day.

Now, I know some of you may think this whole deal about apps for tablets and such is a new thing, but it’s not.  It’s talked about in the Bible.  God invented the tablet thousands of years ago.  God created two of them, carved ten apps on them, and gave them to Moses on Mount Sinai.  After all, God always has the latest technology.

But in this sermon series, what we’re going to look at are some of the ways, some of the apps, God has given us to get closer to God and to strengthen our faith.  And the one we’re going to talk about today is the church.  God has provided the church to us as a way of getting closer to God and strengthening our faith.

Now, it’s not going to come as a big surprise to anyone that a preacher is going to tell you that you should go to church.  But that’s not really what I’m talking about today.  I mean, yes, I do think people should go to church.  I certainly hope you find some value in coming to a worship service on Sunday.  I hope you find that it does help you get closer to God and that it does strengthen your faith.  But we all know that, as they saying goes, going to church does not make me a Christian any more than sitting in the garage would make me a car.  So when I talk about the church being one of God’s apps, I’m really not talking about going to church.

What makes God’s app of the church work is not just walking through the door on Sunday morning.  What makes it work is when we actually become part of the church.  What makes it work is when we become part of a group of believers who care about each other.  What makes it work is when we work together and pray together and love each other and then extend that love to others.

We read from the gospel of John today.  Think about what was going on at that point in John’s gospel.  Jesus has been killed.  The disciples don’t know what’s going to happen next.  In fact, they don’t know if anything is going to happen next.  They don’t know what to do.

        The women have come back from the tomb and said they’ve seen the risen Jesus, but the disciples could not go by that because, after all, these were women.  Seriously, that’s how the disciples probably looked at it.  At that time, a woman was not allowed to testify in court because the law said a woman’s testimony was unreliable.  So when these women come and tell them what, to be honest, was a pretty unbelievable story, they may very well have just dismissed it as a bunch of foolishness from a bunch of women.

So, there are the disciples.  Sad.  Confused.  Scared.  And what did they do?  They came together.  That’s what the first verse we read said:  “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together.”

They came together.  Because they knew that, whatever was happening, whatever was going to happen, they could not face it alone.  They needed to be there for each other.  They needed to support each other.  They needed to encourage each other.  They needed to help each other.  Whatever they were going to face, they needed to face it together.  When you think about it, that really was the first meeting of the first Christian church:  ten sad, scared, confused disciples locked in a room somewhere in Jerusalem, not knowing what would happen, but knowing they needed to be together.  Not exactly a bold, brave start to the church, is it?

But yet, somehow, it’s kind of fitting.  Because that describes all of us at some point in our lives.  Whether we’re Christians are not, that describes us.  We have times when we’re sad.  We have times when we’re confused.  We have times when we’re scared.  We have times when we don’t know what’s going to happen next to us, or even if anything is going to happen next.  And we don’t know what to do.

And God has an app for that.  And that app is the church.  When we feel that way, when we feel sad, or scared, or confused, that’s when we need to come together.  Because at those times, whatever is happening, and whatever is going to happen, we cannot face it alone.  God does not want us to face it alone.  God wants us to be there for each other.  God wants us to support each other.  God wants us to encourage each other.  God wants us to help each other.  Whatever it is that we’re facing in life, we need to face it together.

That’s why God created the church.  If we could do it by ourselves, there’d be no need for churches.  But we cannot.  Maybe we can sometimes, but not always.  No matter how strong we are, no matter how self-confident we are, no matter how self-sufficient we are, at some point in our lives each one of us is going to come up against something we cannot handle by ourselves.  We need each other.  That’s why God allows us to be a part of a church:  so we can have loving, caring people who will be there for us when we need them.

Now, some of you may have noticed that I said the first meeting of the Christian church was ten scared, confused disciples.  And you may have thought, wait a minute.  There were twelve disciples, not ten.  Well, you’re right, but remember, this after Jesus was killed.  So, Judas was no longer with the disciples, which cuts the number to eleven.  And then, remember, one of the disciples was not there.  Thomas.

Thomas was not with the other disciples at that first church meeting.  We don’t know why.  We’re not told where he was.  But whatever the reason was, it means he missed out on what the other ten got.  He did not have people who were there for him, at least not at that moment.  He did not have the support of the others.  He did not have the encouragement of the others.  He did not have the help of the others.  He had to face the sadness, and the fear, and the confusion, alone.

And what happened?  His faith got weak.  He doubted.  When the others told him what had happened, how they’d seen Jesus, how he had been raised from the dead, he would not believe it.  He could not believe it. He refused to take the word of the others, because he had not been a part of things himself.

And that’s what can happen to us when we’re not part of a church.  That’s what can happen to us when we don’t have people who are there for us, when we don’t have the support and encouragement and help of others.  Our faith gets weak.  We start to have doubts.  We don’t believe.  We cannot believe.  We refuse to take the word of other Christians, because we’re not a part of things ourselves.

God knows that you and I could never keep our Christian faith solid on our own.  And God has an app for that.  God’s app is the church.  Not just going to church.  Being part of the church.  Being part of a group of people who will be there for us when we need them.  Having their support and their encouragement and their help.  Knowing that, whatever we have to face, we will not have to face it alone.

I’m glad that you’re here in church today.  I hope you find that it helps you get closer to God and that it strengthens your faith.  But what I hope most of all is that you’ll be part of the church.  That you’ll be there for others, and that you’ll let other be there for you.  And then, that we’ll all join and bring other people in, so that everyone can take advantage of God’s app, the church, and face whatever life brings us together.

Perfect Day

This is the message given at the Oahe Manor Communion service Thursday, February 13, 2014.  The Bible verses used are Matthew 5:21-48.

Now, as I read that, you probably noticed Jesus was using kind of a pattern here.  All those statements of Jesus started out with something like “You have heard that such-and-such” and then went on with Jesus saying, “But I tell you so-and-so.”  The first part of the statement, the “you have heard such-and-such” part, was Jesus stating what Jewish law required.  The second part, the “But I tell you so-and-so” part, was Jesus telling the people of his time, and telling us, how we should live.

One of the things that got Jesus in trouble while he was on earth is that he sometimes did not follow the strict Jewish laws.  What people did not realize, though, is why he sometimes did not follow those laws.  It was not that he did not believe in law.  It was not that he thought he was above the law because he was the Savior.  Jesus was not trying to get away with anything by not following Jewish laws.

The reason Jesus sometimes would not follow Jewish laws is that he realized people were using those laws the wrong way.  People were only concerned with following the letter of the law.  No more and no less.  That meant that, while people would do what the law required, people would do no more than the law required.  They were acting out of duty and legality instead of acting out of love.

Listen to what Jesus tells them here.  He says it’s not enough to just not commit murder.  It’s not enough to just avoid killing somebody.  He says that, as Christians we’re not even supposed to be angry with anyone.  He says it’s not enough to just not commit adultery.  He says that, as Christians, we’re not even supposed to look at someone of the opposite sex with any kind of sexual thoughts.  He says we should not take an eye for an eye or a tooth for a tooth, even if the law allows it.  Instead, Jesus says that, as Christians, we are not supposed to get into a fight with anyone at all.  Jesus says it’s not enough for us to love our neighbor and hate our enemies.  Jesus says we need to love even our enemies.  He says we need to pray for those who persecute us.

Jesus was not saying we should ignore the law.  Instead, Jesus was saying that, as Christians, we’re held to a higher standard than just doing what we have to do under the law.  As Christians, we should do more.  As Christians we’re not supposed to just not hurt people.  We’re supposed to love them.  We’re supposed to help them.

The things Jesus is telling us to do here are not easy things.  I don’t know about you, but I’ve had times in my life when I’ve been angry with people.  Sometimes I still do.  I’ve had times where I got into fights with people.  They’re not physical fights, because, well, look at me.  I’d get beaten up.  But I’ve gotten into arguments with people, and sometimes I still do.  I don’t know that I have any real personal enemies that I can think of at the moment, but there are certainly people who are enemies of the United States.  I cannot honestly say I love those people.  These things Jesus is telling us to do are really hard.  And then, making it even harder is the last line in this section.  Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

Let’s see the hands of everyone in here who’s perfect.  Yeah, my hand does not belong up, either.  I’m not perfect.  I don’t suppose any of us is.  And yet, that’s what Jesus tells us to do:  be perfect.  We’re supposed to be perfect in the same way that God is perfect.

So what do we do with these sayings of Jesus?  I don’t think we can just ignore them, because we’re told that Jesus said them, and we claim to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and is our Savior.  And yet, it seems impossible to actually follow them.  Is Jesus telling us to do something that’s impossible?

Well, here’s how I look at it.  See if this helps you.

A major league baseball team plays one hundred sixty-two games in a season.  To have a perfect season, a team would have to win all one hundred sixty-two games.  As a practical matter, there’s no way any team can win all one hundred sixty-two games.  They cannot even come close.  The most any team has ever won is one hundred sixteen, which is a lot, but that still means they had forty-six losses.  They were nowhere close to winning every game and having a perfect season.  And each team knows that at the start of the season.

And yet, every time a team takes the field, their goal is to win.  They know they won’t win every game--again, no one has ever come close to doing it.  Still, every day, that’s their goal.  Their goal is to win every game, even though they know they won’t do it.

I think that’s how it needs to be for us.  We know we won’t live perfect lives.  And yet, every day, that should be our goal.  We know we won’t do it, but still, that should be our goal.  Our goal should be to live a perfect life every day, even though we know we won’t do it.

That’s the standard we’re called to as Christians.  Now, God will forgive us when we fail.  If we go to God and ask for forgiveness, God will give it to us.  But we should not use that forgiveness as an excuse to not try to be perfect.  Every day, we need to try to be perfect.  Every night, we need to ask God for forgiveness for failing.  And the next day, we need to try to be perfect again.  And the next night, we need to ask God for forgiveness for failing.  And on and on and on.

As Christians, we’re called to the highest standard possible:  the standard of Jesus Christ.  We won’t reach it.  But if we do our best to reach it every day, God will see it.  And God will bless our lives in ways we cannot imagine.