Sermon Sampler (June 27th) - Picking up the Mantle

If you don't know, I enjoy watching Track & Field competitions on television.  I know, lame right?  Well I'm that guy, and I do.  My favorite events are the relays (where four men or women run varying lengths and transport a baton around the track).  Relays are the only time in Track & Field that people actually utilize teamwork, and it's one of the few times that the fastest/strongest athletes don't necessarily win.  The past twenty (or so) years of the United States Men's 4x100 relay team illustrates this point perfectly.  In previous  competitions our men's team has been favored to win or at the very least medal almost always, and yet, often they have fallen quite short.  One year the baton was dropped during an exchange and the team was disqualified.  Another time the baton was handed off too late and the team was disqualified.  Once the hand off was done so poorly that it cost the team the victory.  Needless to say in relay events the exchange from one runner to the next is very important.

One of the best examples of a good "hand off" can be found in the Bible in the book of Kings (starting with 1 Kings 19:19-21 and moving into 2 Kings 2:6-14).  In these two passages we see the passing of the prophetic torch from Elijah to Elisha.  The first passage finds Elijah seeking out and calling Elisha to be his successor (while still in Elijah's prime) and Elisha responding by symbolically making a break with his past, in order to fully commit to the call.  The second passage finds Elijah nearing his end, and yet offering to further mentor Elisha by asking "Tell me, what can I do for you".  We also see Elisha affirming his commitment to the call to be Elijah's successor by remaining with Elijah every step of the way, and then picking up Elijah's mantle.  The key steps in the two passages can be summed up simply as follows: Elijah calls, Elisha responds, Elijah mentors, Elisha picks up the mantle.

In the church this calling, responding, mentoring, and succeeding process is vital.  The saying is true that the church is always only one generation from extinction, and all it takes is one generation (either those who have gone before or those who are coming) to drop "the ball" for things to fall apart in a hurry.  In the church, we don't often use Elijah and Elisha titles for these two groups, but rather descriptors like "the old guard" and "the new folks" suffice.  The old guard are those who have been there and done that.  They are the ones who are reliable and know how things are done.  The new folks are more often seen as being occassionally inconsistent, and needing to learn a thing or two.  But the so called "new folks" are uniquely gifted to lead the church into a changed and changing world.  Let me say this again, the Elisha's of the church are uniquely gifted to lead the church into a changed and changing world.

Having said all this, the questions for the old guard (the Elijah's) are Who's going to seek out and call the successors?  Furthermore, Who will mentor those successors and ask "what may I do for you?"

For the new folks (the Elisha's) the questions are Who's willing to burn their plow and break with their past?  Furthermore, Who will pick up the mantle and lead the church?

Regardless of who you are this final question needs to be asked: the church is filled with a decreasing number of Elijah's (old guard), while the world is full of uncalled and uncommitted Elisha's (new folks), What are you going to do about it?

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John

Ordination (June 19th)

This past Saturday (June 19th) I was ordained in the first class of the Upper New York Conference of the United Methodist Church.  The conference was held in Syracuse and was filled with a day of meetings and legislation creating and confirming the newly created (but not newly conceived) conference.  The final act of the day was the ordination service and several made the trip to witness the historic event.  In case you missed it (and even if you didn't) here are a few photos. 

(If you'd like to see more, contact Rich Howard who was doing his best paparazzi impression.)

Sermon Sampler (June 13th) - Love Much?

You're a good person, right?  I mean, nobody's perfect, but you're not a terrible, awful person like some people, right?  Don't worry, I'm sure the answer is "yes".

Speaking of others, have you ever played horseshoes?  I learned not that long ago, and what a wonderful game!  Horseshoes is the game of close is good enough.  You're supposed to get the horseshoe around the stake, BUT if you get it even close, that's good enough too!  What a wonderful game.  Unfortunately the saying "close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades" is more often than not true.  The reality is that too often in life, close is not good enough, and according to the law, close is still infinitely far away when it comes to God.

This point can be better understood by exploring the following scripture passage: Luke 7:36-50.  This passage finds Jesus attending a dinner at the invitation of a man named Simon, who was a Pharisee.  Among other things, Pharisees were known for their strict adherence to the law and their righteous lifestyles.  Also in attendance at this meal was a woman (no name given, only described as living a "sinful life").  This woman came to the meal upon hearing Jesus would be in attendance, and almost immediately she began weeping at Jesus' feet and wiping his feet with her hair.  Now as strange (and inappropriate) as this may sound to modern readers, it was even worse to those 1st century Jews in attendance!  For in their culture and time, for a woman to let her hair down was an act only appropriate in the bedroom with her husband, prior to having sex.  It was roughly the equivalent of a woman today taking her top off in public!

Simon, the righteous, legalistic, Pharisee comments on this inappropriate action, suggesting that if Jesus truly were a prophet he would not let this woman (widely speculated by later commentators to be a prostitute) touch him.  As was his way, Jesus turned the tables on Simon.  Jesus told a parable of two men forgiven debts.  One was forgiven roughly two months wages, while the other was forgiven two years income.  The question was then posed to Simon, which man would love the creditor more for forgiving his debt.  In answer Simon grudgingly stated that the one forgiven more would love more.  Jesus then points out that this woman who was a sinner had showed Jesus greater respect and hospitality than Simon the Pharisee had.  For while Simon didn't greet Jesus with a kiss (like a handshake in our culture), nor did he provide water for Jesus to wash his feet, this woman washed his feet with her tears and hadn't stopped kissing them.

Jesus concludes his teaching by pointing out that those who are forgiven much (implicitly the woman), love much, while those who are only forgiven a little (implicitly Simon) only love a little.  The truth is that both the person forgiven much and the one forgiven little are in fact the same.  Remember God isn't like horseshoes.  Close to the mark is still missing the mark, and the price paid to forgive the person who's close is the same price as the person who's way off.  Jesus died for both, so that both might be forgiven and both might be reconciled to God.

So my final question to you is whether or not you're a good person, whether you have much to be forgiven of or little, are you trusting in Jesus and loving much or are you still playing horseshoes?

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John

Sermon Sampler (May 30th) - Holy Who?

The Trinity is a very, very, VERY difficult topic to really understand.  Let me repeat that, the theological concept of the Trinity (God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons, one God) is not easily understood.  As a matter of fact in his sermon "On The Trinity", John Wesley suggests that it is not necessary to understand the Trinity, but only that the fact of Trinity is believed.  The assertion that Wesley is making about the Trinity is similar to my daughter's understanding (or lack thereof) of escalators.  Neither of them really know how an escalator works, but in truth they only need to know that the escalator will deliver them from one point to another.  In other words the escalator's effectiveness is not dependent upon their understanding of it.  The same is true for the Trinity.

One thing we do know about the Trinity is that because God exists in this way, God is fundamentally a relational being.  This means that even if nothing else ever existed (think people, angels, fish, rocks, trees, etc) God would still be in relationship with Godself.  Furthermore, since we as humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27) then we to have as a fundamental aspect of our very being the propensity for relationship.  This means that as much as you might like to some days, you have been created (and even need) relationships with others.  As people we have been made to exist within community!

Having said all of this I would like to spend a moment trying to better understand the third person of the Trinity, namely The Holy Spirit.  Just like when trying to describe a person to those who don't know him or her, we are apt to describe specific actions of that person, so to can we come to better know the Holy Spirit by taking into account some actions of the Spirit. 

One action in particular, found in John 16:12-15, is the Holy Spirit as the bringer of truth.  This truth is not simply truth vs. lie, but rather the bringing of a complete and total truth.  This would be truth vs. half truth.  In the context of the John passage, the Holy Spirit is going to complete the message about Jesus and his true identity.  Specifically the Spirit brings the truth of Jesus' oneness with God and diety.  Furthermore the Spirit inspires the completion of Scripture, what we as Christians refer to as The New Testament.  Finally the truth that the Holy Spirit brings does not end with God and Jesus, but also includes humanity.  The passage immediately before the one linked above (John 16:5-11) finds Jesus explaining that the Spirit will reveal the reality of sin's pervasiveness throughout all humanity and therefore the universal need for divine grace.  In other words, the Holy Spirit convinces (or convicts) us all of our sinfullness and need for forgiveness from God.

So now you know that the Trinity is tough stuff, that you don't need to fully understand it, but rather accept what has been revealed, that the Trinity (and therefore people) fundamentally exist in relationship, and that the Holy Spirit (3rd person of the Trinity) brings truth.  What are you going to do with this knowledge?

Maybe you'll remember the understanding part, realize that understanding is not always as necessary as we make it out to be and not be so tough on yourself and others when understanding in other areas isn't completely there.  Maybe you'll latch onto the relational aspect of God and yourself and make more of an effort to foster positive relationships with those around you.  Maybe you'll seek the truth of the Holy Spirit for your life and seek to mirror that truth in your words and actions.  Or maybe you'll just say "interesting" and move on.

Grace & Peace,
Pastor John