Sermon Sampler (September 27) - Why only some?

Take a moment to think about a person in your life (past or present) who needs (or needed) healing. What feelings do you have in connection to this person and the events surrounding their need for healing? What questions might you have for God?

When I begin to think about healing, I immediately think of a young boy named Danny. He was about 9 or 10 when he needed healing. Danny was the manager/ball boy/pain in the neck for our football team when I was in highschool. He was that kid that was never around when you needed something from him, but always around when you wanted to be left alone! Danny was also the coach's son, and so we were stuck with him. Early on in that season, Danny went from being the kid everyone hated to the boy everyone loved. It was discovered that Danny had cancer.

Danny's dad was fairly religious, and when it was discovered that he was sick youth rallies/healing service began popping up. Small churches would be packed with 200-300 teens from our town praying, singing, and mostly asking God to heal Danny. We just knew he would be healed! How could God ignore so many sincere and heart felt prayers from so many people? Unfortunately we were all wrong. Danny died later that year, and the feelings of anger, confusion, and betrayal were felt everywhere!

My thoughts on healing don't end here though. My own father was diagnosed with heart problems that the doctors told him he wouldn't recover from. He was given a limited time to live (think months, not years) and told there wasn't much hope. Like Danny, my father went to healing services, like Danny people prayed for him (although not nearly as many), but unlike Danny my father was healed!

So when I think about healing, I have one big question that always hits me...Why are only some people healed?

My guess is that many of you have similar stories, and that you can relate to the feelings of anger, confussion, and betrayal that I've felt. I would be willing to bet that many of you have asked that same question, "Why only some?" To the issue of being angry with God, I would point you to 1 Kings 17:17-24, a story where Elijah yells at God, and likely was quite angry. Such stories exist in the Bible, and show us that God can handle us being angry and yelling. God is big enough, and wise enough to understand and not hold it against us. As far as that darn question about why only some are healed, while others are not...well I can't help you as much here. There's only one person who can answer that, and sometimes it seems like God is less concerned with answering our questions as promptly as we would like.

What I can talk about is this idea of healing we have. First off I want to point out that healing, is God's work. Whether you go to a faith healer, are prayed for by the elders of your church, or pray alone in your house, it's not the person, people, or prayers that heal, it's God. Second, spiritual healing (that which we are talking about) is not a substitute for doctors, medicine, and taking care of yourself. Healing should be seen as a complement to the other things we do to be healthy. For example if I hit my thumb with a hammer, I should put a bandaid on it, take tylenol, and pray for healing. Finally I want to point out that healing does not equal curing. I'll say that again, healing does not equal curing. Often when we think of healing we think of "making better" or curing, but that's not always what's meant by healing. Some will point out that the only true healing is actually death! The thinking goes that all people will die someday, so those that we think are healed (those who are made better or cured) will in fact get sick again and die at some point in the future. The only people who won't get sick, who won't hurt, who will no longer suffer are those who have died.

Whether you know a person who was healed (made better) or "healed" (died) one thing is certain, God loved them, still does love them, and promises to be with them (and you) no matter what.

I am reminded of an event that occurred in my family not too long ago. My youngest daughter split her lip, and was bleeding. My wife and I comforted her, but everytime we would get the bleeding to stop, she would bit her lip and start the bleeding again. After about 20 minutes of this I couldn't take it any longer and volunteered to take our oldest daughter into the other room. It was too painful, too hard for me to be around my hurting child and not be able to help. Especially knowing that she was hurting herself even more. Luckily for us, God is not as weak as I am. God promises to be with us, to walk with us through any pain, any suffering, any loss and never leave our side. God makes (and keeps) this promise even if we are in fact hurting ourselves, even if we're made at God and yelling at God. Even when you don't realize it, even when you think you're abandoned, God is still there with you, still hurting along with you and still loving you!

So today I'm lifting up this problem of "why only some?" But I'm also lifting up the truth that God loves all, that God is with all, and that God will never walk away or abandon anyone!

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John

Sermon Sampler (September 13th) - The Political Gospel

Many would agree with the following statement:
"Political messages should NOT come from the pulpit."

I am going to suggest that while not unfounded, the opinion represented by this statement might not be possible if one intends to stay true to Christianity and faith in Christ. The root of our English word "political" comes from the Greek word "polis" which is translated as city, citizen, civil, or civic. Quickly we can see that anything involving people coming together can be termed "political".

Taking this a step further and looking specifically at the buildings we call churches, we can find many political symbols. For example in the Oxford and McDonough United Methodist churches, we have American flags, Christian flags, banners, and images of crowns. All political symbols.

Our worship language is highly political as well. For example the "Lord's Prayer" which in part says "...thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as in heaven..." could be seen as revolutionary in its implications. By praying that God's "kingdom come...on earth as in heaven" some could (and have in the past) interpret it to mean Christianity seeks the overthrow of secular government. Of course we don't see these words as inflammatory or political any longer, but rather hear them with 2,000 year old ears!

Moving from worship language to the Bible itself, the political language and imagery doesn't decrease, but rather it multiplies. Words like "King," "Kingdom," "Lord," "Savior," "Crown," "Throne," and "banners" all betray the very political nature of the Bible and specifically of the Gospel.

Finally looking at the life and teaching of Jesus', it cannot be denied that the one we claim to follow, was himself very, very political. The story of the Wicked Tenants is so political that those in power who hear it want to have Jesus killed! The tenants in the story are the people of Israel (the Chosen People of God, another political designation), while the servants/slaves sent to the tenants are the prophets. The son sent and killed of course is Jesus. You will notice at the end that the vineyard will be given to others. This is exactly what the early Christians understood to have happened, as they were now the "Chosen People of God".

Luke's Gospel account follows this story up with spies trying to trap Jesus with a trick question that will either diminish his public support or get him in trouble with the Roman authorities. The question is about paying taxes and Jesus of course answers not (a) or (b) but rather (c). If he had said "yes" it was right to pay taxes to Rome, he would have lost his public support. If he had answered "no" it wasn't lawful to pay Roman taxes, he would have certainly been in trouble with the Roman authorities. So instead Jesus asked for a coin and asked whose head was upon the coin. The answer was the emperor's. Jesus then replies that the people should give to the emperor what is his, and give to God what is God's.

This perfect answer, is perfect for Christians when considering politics. For while Christianity is fundamentally political in nature, it is not partisan. This is to say that God is not a Republican, a Democrat, or an Independant. Christianity is political, but not caught up in any particular political system. So as Christians we are to give to God what is Gods, and give to the emperor what is his.

So what are the politics of the Gospel then? Or to put it another way, what is Jesus' campaign slogan? John F. Kennedy said "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." Richard Nixon said "I am not a crook." George H. W. Bush said "Read my lips, no more new taxes." Barack Obama ran with a slogan of "Change we can believe in." So what is Jesus' platform? You could say it's "Release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, and good news to the poor" (Luke 4:18). Or maybe we could say it's to love our enemies, be slow to anger, quick to forgive, all while not judging others (Sermon on the Mount). But I think possibly the best way to sum it up, is how Jesus himself summed it up "love God and love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:34-40).

Having said all of this, and keeping in mind that Jesus called us to give to the Emperor what is his, while giving to God what is God's, it's helpful to remember Amos' example. Amos was a prophet who was sent to prophesy to Israel. His message was not warmly received and Amos was asked to leave (not so politely). In asking him to leave, Amos was accused of being a professional prophet (delivering his message in order to receive financial compensation). Amos bristled at such a notion and pointed out that he wasn't a prophet, nor was his father, but rather that he was a herdsman and a tree farmer! (Amos 7:14-15) What Amos has to teach us about Christianity, Politics, and Christian involvement, is that while we might be called to be involved in politics, we are not (in most instances) called to be politicians.

So in summary, Christianity is political by its very nature. While political, the Gospel (or Good News) is not partisan, we are truly to give to God what is God's and give to the world what is the world's. As Christians it seems that we are called to be involved in "politics" (think love God, love neighbor) but we are not called to be politicians.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John

Sermon Sampler (September 6th) - Show and Share

Have you ever heard of the Fruit of the Spirit? If you haven't you can find out a little more about it right here. But we didn't talk about that this past Sunday, and we won't be talking about it today. Can you think of anyone with amazing musical, artistic, or athletic ability? Well, we didn't talk about that on Sunday, and we won't be talking about that today either!

Instead we are going to talk about symbiotic relationships. That's right, symbiotic relationships. Specifically symbiotic relationships that are mutually beneficial to both parties (also known as mutualism). In order to talk about it though, we should probably understand what it is. You could read the textbook definition found here, or you could take my word for it. Essentially what we're talking about is a relationship that exists between two living things where they both benefit.

One example of this, can be seen with a bee and a flower. The bee receives nectar, while the flower has its pollen distributed (necessary for reproduction). A second example can be seen in the relationship shared by a rhinoceros and oxpecker. The oxpecker is a small bird that lives around rhinos (also zebras) and eats various parasites off of the rhino. So the oxpecker receives an ample supply of food from the rhino while the rhino has harmful pests removed by the oxpecker.

Obviously this was a sermon, and so you know that the third examples just has to be a "churchy" one, and you are correct! Our third example has to do with spiritual gifts. The pertinent passages may be found here and here. There are other passages in the Bible that speak about spiritual gifts, but these are the two we looked at this past Sunday. Today's message is not a doctoral study on spiritual gifts but rather an introduction to them. It is not important that you understand every aspect, but only a few simple concepts.

First of all, spiritual gifts come from God, and they are not skills or talents. They are gifts. Second, spiritual gifts may be gifts you have for your entire lifetime, or like the apostles at Pentecost, they may only be given for a short period of time. Most people have multiple spiritual gifts (think 2 or 3) and those gifts may or may not be different at different times in your life. Finally it's important to realize that spiritual gifts are given to Christians for the purpose of building up the Church/Body of Christ/Kingdom of God and therefore should be used in harmony with other people's spiritual gifts.

It was at this point that I gave the following list of 19 spiritual gifts that can be found in the bible:

Teaching
Evangelism
Administration
Leadership
Giving
Wisdom
Faith
Prophecy
Servanthood

Healing
Discernment

Compassion
Shepherding

Miracles
Exhortation

Interpretation/Tongues
Apostleship

Helping
Knowledge

After giving the list of gifts, I spent a good bit of time pointing out a few members of each congregation who I felt demonstrated various gifts. Then I used the example of those people to better explain a few of these gifts and how they could work together. I won't do that now, but instead I will direct you to this web address (run by the United Methodist Church) that helps to explain spiritual gifts and even helps individuals identify what spiritual gifts they may have.

I also want to be sure to point out that even if you don't remember what a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship is, and even if you can't list the fruit of the spirit (which we weren't talking about anyway), and even if you don't know all the spiritual gifts, that you at least remember this next point. Spiritual gifts are meant to be used and they are meant to be used together. That is to say that whatever spiritual gifts you have, you need to use them in order for them to be any good to anyone. Secondly it is vitally important for you to realize that our spiritual gifts work best when they are used in conjunction with other spiritual gifts.

It's not show and tell, but rather show and share. Show your spiritual gifts off, by sharing them and using them with one another.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John

Wednesday's Thoughts (9/3/09)

In his book Dirty Word:The Vulgar, Offensive Language of the Kingdom of God, author Jim Walker spends some time discussing the current nature of the church. He looks at how many churches seem to function and then suggests how he believes the church (Kingdom of God) should function.

Walker compares the current church to a store. Like a store churches use flyers, signs and television and radio commercials to get people to come into their doors and check out their "product". Like a store churches hire professionals (pastors, youth pastors, church administrators, etc.) to do the "work". Like stores, it seems that churches are constantly in competition with other churches to offer their parishoners (customers?) the best, most exciting "product". According to Walker, the worst part of the church acting like a store, is that those who are members of the church, act like customers. This means that people come to church looking to get their needs met, looking for the best, most exciting product available. And if they don't find what they're looking for, they will simply move on to the next store...I mean church.

Instead Walker suggests that churches should be like bridges. He explains that while a store is valued because of what it has, a bridge is valued because of what it connects. Stores attract people with signs, flyers, advertisements and flashy new products (and sales). Bridges attract people because they allow people to get where they're going. Walker points out that the church, or Kingdom of God, is supposed to be about connecting people to God. This should make the church the most valuable and important bridge in existence!

What do you think? Is your church a store or a bridge? Are you a customer or a traveler? Maybe you're a customer and your church is a store, and gosh darn it that's the way you like it, and that's the way it should be. Maybe you've already sampled several other churches (stores) and if your current church begins to slip, you'll move on to the next one. But maybe you agree with Jim Walker and think the church is not a store, that it's not about products, slogans, and amazing employees, but rather that it's about connecting the world to God and being a bridge.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John

Sermon Sampler (August 30th) - Suicide

Let's start today off with a quick little quiz:
1) True or False - Teens are the most likely age group to commit suicide.
2) True or False - Women are more likely to commit suicide than men.
3) True or False - Winter is the season with the highest number of suicides.
4) True or False - A person is most likely to commit suicide while in the depths of depression.
5) True or False - Committing suicide condemns a person to hell.

If you answered true for any of the above questions, you would be incorrect. See the bottom for the answers to questions 1-4.

Now let's talk about question number 5, starting with what the Bible has to say about suicide. Suicide is mentioned in the Bible on a few occassions, most notably in the cases of Judas, King Saul, and Samson. Now in all three instances there is no mention of judgment or punishment for the person who committed suicide. As a matter of fact, nowhere does the Bible judge or condemn suicide. So if this is the case, then where have people (and the church in some times and places) gotten the idea that to commit suicide automatically condemns a person to Hell?

Historically speaking this idea comes from St. Augustine, in the 5th century, who in his work The City of God grappled with the problem of Christians volunteering for martyrdom. This means, that Christians were turning themselves in to the Roman authorities, knowing that they would be killed for their faith. This had become such a prevalent thing, that Augustine felt the need to combat it with some teaching to stop people from turning themselves in and being killed. Augustine looked to the ten commandments, specifically the one about killing, and reasoned that to kill yourself (as those who were turning themselves into the Roman authorities were doing) broke this commandment. From here Augustine stated that such a sinful act, which resulted in death, left the sinner no opportunity to repent, and therefore the result necessarily was damnation and Hell. Augustine might possibly have been the first person to formally write a manual for suicide prevention!

Throughout the centuries that followed this teaching was adopted by the church, and taken for granted as truth, but it was also twisted and elaborated upon by various superstitions and customs. In the middle ages, a person who committed suicide was not only denied a church burial and burial within the church cemetery, but they also might be buried in strange or unusual places (under a crossroad) and the bodies might even be mutilated (stake through heart). Such things were never part of official church law or practice, but none-the-less infiltrated common practice when dealing with a person who had committed suicide.

Today the stance held by most churches has softened a great deal regarding suicide, with denominations realizing that often those who commit suicide do so with various extenuating circumstances, and that those who are left behind deal with very real grief and hardship. For example, the Catholic Church's stance, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, which includes statements from the Catechism of the Catholic Church can be found here, while the United Methodist Church's stance can be found here.

As you can see, the United Methodist Church not only rests on the apostle Paul's teaching that nothing can separate us from God's love, not even death (Romans 8:38-39) but also encourages that we all work to break the stigma that often surrounds suicide. It is often the case that when a person dies from suicide, the family is treated differently. People often don't want to talk about the deceased, or even to the family themselves. Quite often this is because people "don't know what to say" or they "don't want to bring up painful memories".

I will tell you plainly, that in our own congregation we have had two families forever changed by suicide, and in conversations I've had with both they've assured me that nothing anyone says is going to make everything better, and secondly that they're always thinking of the loved one they've lost! They've also told me that they enjoy hearing about their lost loved one from other people's point of view. When we talk about those who have died we affirm that we have not forgotten them, and that they were special to us. This is one of the best ways we can support those who are hurting and begin to break down that stigma that often surrounds suicide.

So, maybe you're not an expert on suicide. Maybe you failed our little quiz up above. But now you know. Now you realize that suicide, while unfortunate and tragic, shouldn't be something that alienates those who are left behind or those who have attempted suicide in the past. Now you know that there are things YOU can do to begin to help break down the stigma that surrounds suicide and those affected by it.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John

Quiz Answers:
1) The group most at risk for suicide is the elderly (75 and above)
2) Men commit suicide nearly 4 times more than women (look here)
3) Spring is actually the season where suicide rates are highest
4) A person is most likely to commit suicide when he or she begins to come out of severe depression. It is at this time that the person has the energy and motivation to go through with the act of committing suicide.