No Time Like the Present
Acts 1:1-11
Luke 24:44-53
Ascension Sunday
Year C
Introduction – story of the faithful collie
There is a monument to a faithful collie at the train station in Fort Benton, Montana. The collies’s master died in 1936. The collie was there at the train station when his coffin was shipped back east to be buried. The collie followed the train as it pulled off, but of course could not keep up. So he came back to the train station and waited. Every time a train pulled up to the station, the collie was there waiting for his master to return. He never left the station. One summer day in 1942, the dog ran in front of a train and was killed. The conductors buried him on a hill and marked his grace. The monument still stands to his faithfulness to his master. No doubt the dog was faithful and loyal and honorable. But he also wasted six year of his life doing nothing. He was never able to move past the moment of his masters death. If his master had ever stepped off one of those trains, would he be impressed that he was still waiting, or would he has wanted him to go on with his life, carrying the memory of their time together and yet still living.
The point if waiting
Jesus has been constantly telling us to be patient, to wait for the holy spirit – but he is not asking us for a passive waiting, but an active waiting. A waiting where we go on with our normal lives, filled with the knowledge that life gets better. We are called to move forward, even in times when we don’t understand, knowing that it will eventually make sense. Even in times when times are hard, with the knowledge that in time things will get better. Even in times when we believe that jesus is coming back – but have no idea of what that even means
Explanation of scripture
In the story of Jesus- the disciples were hoping that Jesus was going to establish a heavenly reign, that he was the Obama of his time- he was the one who was going to change things- he was going to make a difference on the earthly world. Of course dying on the cross put a wrench in that expectation. But he came back – he appeared to them for 40 days. He promised that things were going to get better, and that the holy spirit was coming to bring about that change they were waiting for. It all seemed to make sense. He only appeared to his disciples- but no matter he was still on earth, he was still present, so there was still hope that he was the one. Ascension Sunday was the end of that dream. God takes Jesus back into heaven. If his body is not on earth – then he can’t very well be the one to change the world.
Two men dressed in white
If you follow the Luke’s Easter story – Luke has a fascination with two men dressed in white. They were at the tomb telling the women to move on and not look for Jesus in the grace. Two men are walking to Emmaus when a stranger comes along side them whom they didn’t recognize. And in Ascension story two men are standing among the crowd – and tell the people to move on – not to look for Jesus in the heavens, but to go on with life. Imagine if the poor collie in our story had a caring angel to give him some direction to move on. Imagine if someone had taken the time to teach him the real meaning of goodbye.
Goodbyes
In life there are always goodbyes. There are always endings. Sometimes we are ready for them. And sometimes we need to hold on for dear life. Some we celebrate, some we mourn. Some are easy, some are difficult. Some we were expecting, some come out of the middle of nowhere. Some are insignificant. Some are so devastating that we have no idea of what to do next. We cannot even picture life from that moment. The one thing that we can be sure of is that no one or nothing will last forever. At some point we have to learn to be comfortable with saying goodbye. Ascension Sunday is goodbye Sunday. The disciples not only had to say goodbye to Jesus. They also had to say goodbye to their hopes and dreams for the future. The beginning of acts – in the passage for today – Luke mentions a mysterious man – theophilus. Luke was a lawyer writing Luke and Acts as a proof of the power of Jesus Christ. Acts is written to show the power of the holy spirit. He intentionally demonstrated the transformation of the disciples from people dependent on their teacher for every aspect of life- to powerful witnesses to the presence of the holy spirit. There was one more thing that the disciples had to say goodbye to that day – their fears, their concerns, their comfort with the way things were. Jesus intentionally took that all with him, and replaced it with one thing – the promise of the holy spirit the promise that the holy spirit would make it all clear, give you all the strength that you need, and lead you where God wants you do be.
The whole point of the Easter story- is learning to be comfortable with change. The first step to transformation is always goodbye.
The importance of Easter time
When I used to read the gospels I used to get really depressed when I got to the point when Jesus was gone. What was the point in reading anything that was written about the time after Jesus death. Now I realize that us indeed the whole point of telling the story – to understand what happens after Jesus has moved on. Of Jesus has not left, there would be no story of the disciples, there would be no church, there would be no reason for us to gather today, there would be no hope for those who don’t know the story. Jesus knew that he had to step out of the way in order to let the holy spirit take over. As a pastor, this is my favorite part of the story. The goodbye. The place where the past meets the future, where what we learned meets what we always wanted to do, the transformation for when it is our time to take over and continue the work.
Interestingly enough, in Jesus time it was believed that above important cities was a portal between heaven an earth. And that you had to be in the right place in order to pass from heaven and earth. In the Easter sitings, Jesus travels from Galillee to Jerusalem. The hole to heaven would have been above Jerusalem. So he travels up the tallest mountain above the city and is taken up to heaven. Interestingly, Muhammed also travels to Jerusalem in order to be taken up to heaven.
For us today that portal is in time, not in a place. It is between ascenscion and Pentecost. Next week we celebrate the birth of the church post Jesus.
Goodbyes in the Methodist church
Speaking of goodbyes, as United Methodist we have to learn to become comfortable with goodbyes. Someone asked me if it was difficult to say goodbye to a congregation. After ix times you get used to it. When I am here I am here, when the district superintendent calls and tells me to move on- then I have to get ready to say goodbye. After your sixth appointment you get used to it. As a matter of fact, the one thing that I have learned – is that my ministry has nothing to do with the time that I am here. Everything that I do points to the day that I leave. What is the church going to look like when I am not there. If it is not going to last past the minute that I am there to manage it, then it is really not worth doing. I have learned to spend my entire ministry anticipating saying good bye.
The appointment season is more determined by annual conference. And annual conference is in June because that was the time when it was easiest for people to travel by horseback in order to gather. But I appreciate that we go through the Easter story as appointments are coming to an end. As we reflect on what it means to say goodbye to Jesus, we can reflect on what it means to say goodbye to our leader. As we gather the strength to go on past Jesus goodbye, we gather the strength to redefine ourselves as faithful disciples. We learn to respect the fact that goodbye is not the end of the world – it is the beginning of a new chapter in our faith story.
Story of the chief’s successor
A tribal chief lay dying. He summoned three of his most loyal subjects and told them that it was time for him to choose a successor. He told them to climb the holy mountain and to return with the most precious gift you can find. The first brought back a huge gold nugget, the second brought back a priceless gem. The third returned empty handed, saying “when I reached the mountaintop, I was on the other side a beautiful land, where people could go for a better life. The chief said, you shall succeed me. You have brought back the most precious gift of all: a vision of a better tomorrow.
The Importance of Joy
That is the whole point of the ascension story – to learn to see the good in goodbye.
The last paragraph of the good news for today say “Then he led them out at far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.”
They were able to see the joy in the moment. And that joy gave them the strength to go on. To wait in anticipation of a new life in a new world.
On earth – the story was about a middle eastern man, who got a group of friends together to change the mindset of his people. A story that would have been written in time and forgotten in time
In heaven – the gospel is the story of all people in all times. Passed on in the lives of those who listen and sing the story for their times. A Christ for all time and all situations. He is our strength to get us through any and all goodbyes. Let us pray……
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sunday, May 09, 2010
One wish, One Dream, One Hope
May 9, 2010
Mother’s Day
Your Hope is Alive in Me
Acts 16:9-15
John 14:23-29
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Year C
I think that we are all waiting for that moment – when we meet that one person, when we will turn down that one street, when God will give us that one vision, when we will come to that once place – where everything changes. Where we know that we have come to our destiny. Where we know that we are following the intentions that God has for us, and from this moment on, things will all fall into place and make sense. Things may not be perfect, but they will at least make sense.
For Paul, the person was Lydia, the vision was from a man from Macedonia, the place was the place of prayer, the street was the Via Ignatia.
Via Ignatia is a pretty significant highway now – the highway is much more significant and much busier then Phillipi. As a matter of fact if you don’t slow down and intentionally look for the stop on the side of the road you will miss it. It is a five to six hour highway drive to Macedonia from Phillipi. I could only imagine how long it would have taken to walk that journey.
But a man appeared in a dream and told Paul that he was needed in Macedonia and he needed to make the trip. So he and Silas set off for Macedonia. On my trip following in the footsteps of Paul, we travelled down the via ignatia. There are two major roads from Rome – the via Appian and the via ignatia. They were actually built in 2BC – they were roads intended to connect all of the roman provinces to Rome. Soldiers followed this road in order to get anywhere they needed to be to keep order, supplies could be transported anywhere. More than 2000 years later- both roads are still used. It makes it pretty easy to follow in the footsteps of Paul. In his travels, Paul went where the people were. He followed the major urban areas of his time in order to spread the gospel. In the beginning, he stayed close to home, close to the middle east. The call to Macedonia was a call to reach out into the heart of the land of the gentiles. To reach people who would not have known Jesus Christ, yet and still knew the Holy Spirit. As I said, Macedonia was six hours away in a car- but he made the trip walking. Along the way he stopped by the river and met a group of women praying. Lyddia was the head of that group – she was not a jew- but she followed the jewish ways, she prayed and she believed in God. And she became Paul’s first convert. Since she was a wealthy woman, once she was baptized, that meant that all of her servants, her relatives and her household also became Christians.
Today, you can still visit that place along the river. It has been left alone. I think that I still have water in my refrigerator from that river. And a little ways from the river is a small chapel, it is not a place of worship, it is intended just for baptisms. People come to baptize their babies at the place where Lyddia was baptized.
We are all waiting for our destiny. Waiting for that person, the place, that turn down the street, that vision that will change our lives.
Lyddia not only changed Paul’s life, but she changed the life of us all. She was the first European to be baptized, she was influential in her community so she was able to bring others to Christ. Phillipi is a long way away from Macedonia – and yet her conversion was proof that Paul was following the way of God. All of Greece followed Lyddia and became Christian. The greek flag is blue and white to represent the sea. But where our flag has 50 stars, the greek flag has a cross. The entire nation is Greek Orthodox. Because one woman praying next to a river saw the presence of the holy spirit in Paul and his message. From the via ignatia – the word spread all over the world.
The good news for us- is that we all have Lydias in our lives. People who paved the way for us, people who believed in us, people who introduced us to our destiny.
There is a story of a king,who wanted to set aside a special day to honor his greatest subject. There was a great contest throughout the land- and during a festival the four finalist were brought into the court yard. The first was a wealthy philanthropist who had given lots of money to help the poor, the second was a celebrated doctor who had faithfully taken care of many people, the third was a judge who had a reputation for being wise as well as fair. The fourth was an elderly woman. No one quite understood why she was there. No one seemed to even know who she was. She did not look like someone who deserved such an honor from the king. The king even asked here who she was. She pointed at the three distinguished men, and told how proud she was, how she appreciated all that they had grown up to be, and all that they had done for the world. They had taken her message and sped it to great places. Her message – yes, she had been their elementary school teacher. She had taught them all. She had encouraged them all, she had mentored them all. She made a difference in their lives.
Each of us has a person, a place, a time, a turn in our lives that made all of the difference in the world. The message of easter is that Jesus is sending a teacher into our lives. A teacher that will comfort us, will guide us, will support us no matter what.
Let me tell you about a very different kind of mother. Carole, a third-generation Japanese-American, was born in an internment camp during World War II, married a man who had also been born in a camp and they had a baby girl. The child was born with feet that turned inward. Carole was determined to do everything necessary to ensure that her child was able to walk normally. By the age of six, after years in very expensive corrective shoes, she was finally able to walk.
That wasn't good enough for Carole. To ensure continued corrective development, she told her daughter to choose a sport that would strengthen her legs. She chose ice skating and it became her passion. That meant years of early mornings at the rink. It took an incredible amount of time, money and patience but Carole and her husband were happy to give it for the sake of their little girl. After fifteen years, they found themselves standing with the world as their daughter, Kristi Yamaguchi, received the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics.
That mother gave life to her child, not only through the birthing and nursing but by making every necessary sacrifice to give Kristi the dream, the discipline, the resources and the encouragement to claim her full potential.
For many of us – our first teacher, our biggest supporter, the one mot interested in guiding us is our mother.
But today I want us to honor our mothers, but to think of all of the people especially the women in our lives who made a difference. Who formed our destiny, who guided us along the way.
And to honor the fact that all of them were sent by god as a gift in our lives. All of them are proof that easter is upon us and that the holy spirit is at work in the world and in our lives. Where would we be if they were not there to form our destinies., to dream our dreams, to believe ourselves.
In return for all they have given us – let us wish them all the love of God, let us dream for them the grace of God let us celebrate the life they have given to us- by celebrating the life god has given to them.
There are many others who are waiting for their destiny – who are waiting for that one person, that one place, that one vision that will make all of the difference in the world. Let us all pass on the dreams, the wishes, the hopes, the visions that have been entrusted to us on to others. Let us Pray…..
Mother’s Day
Your Hope is Alive in Me
Acts 16:9-15
John 14:23-29
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
Year C
I think that we are all waiting for that moment – when we meet that one person, when we will turn down that one street, when God will give us that one vision, when we will come to that once place – where everything changes. Where we know that we have come to our destiny. Where we know that we are following the intentions that God has for us, and from this moment on, things will all fall into place and make sense. Things may not be perfect, but they will at least make sense.
For Paul, the person was Lydia, the vision was from a man from Macedonia, the place was the place of prayer, the street was the Via Ignatia.
Via Ignatia is a pretty significant highway now – the highway is much more significant and much busier then Phillipi. As a matter of fact if you don’t slow down and intentionally look for the stop on the side of the road you will miss it. It is a five to six hour highway drive to Macedonia from Phillipi. I could only imagine how long it would have taken to walk that journey.
But a man appeared in a dream and told Paul that he was needed in Macedonia and he needed to make the trip. So he and Silas set off for Macedonia. On my trip following in the footsteps of Paul, we travelled down the via ignatia. There are two major roads from Rome – the via Appian and the via ignatia. They were actually built in 2BC – they were roads intended to connect all of the roman provinces to Rome. Soldiers followed this road in order to get anywhere they needed to be to keep order, supplies could be transported anywhere. More than 2000 years later- both roads are still used. It makes it pretty easy to follow in the footsteps of Paul. In his travels, Paul went where the people were. He followed the major urban areas of his time in order to spread the gospel. In the beginning, he stayed close to home, close to the middle east. The call to Macedonia was a call to reach out into the heart of the land of the gentiles. To reach people who would not have known Jesus Christ, yet and still knew the Holy Spirit. As I said, Macedonia was six hours away in a car- but he made the trip walking. Along the way he stopped by the river and met a group of women praying. Lyddia was the head of that group – she was not a jew- but she followed the jewish ways, she prayed and she believed in God. And she became Paul’s first convert. Since she was a wealthy woman, once she was baptized, that meant that all of her servants, her relatives and her household also became Christians.
Today, you can still visit that place along the river. It has been left alone. I think that I still have water in my refrigerator from that river. And a little ways from the river is a small chapel, it is not a place of worship, it is intended just for baptisms. People come to baptize their babies at the place where Lyddia was baptized.
We are all waiting for our destiny. Waiting for that person, the place, that turn down the street, that vision that will change our lives.
Lyddia not only changed Paul’s life, but she changed the life of us all. She was the first European to be baptized, she was influential in her community so she was able to bring others to Christ. Phillipi is a long way away from Macedonia – and yet her conversion was proof that Paul was following the way of God. All of Greece followed Lyddia and became Christian. The greek flag is blue and white to represent the sea. But where our flag has 50 stars, the greek flag has a cross. The entire nation is Greek Orthodox. Because one woman praying next to a river saw the presence of the holy spirit in Paul and his message. From the via ignatia – the word spread all over the world.
The good news for us- is that we all have Lydias in our lives. People who paved the way for us, people who believed in us, people who introduced us to our destiny.
There is a story of a king,who wanted to set aside a special day to honor his greatest subject. There was a great contest throughout the land- and during a festival the four finalist were brought into the court yard. The first was a wealthy philanthropist who had given lots of money to help the poor, the second was a celebrated doctor who had faithfully taken care of many people, the third was a judge who had a reputation for being wise as well as fair. The fourth was an elderly woman. No one quite understood why she was there. No one seemed to even know who she was. She did not look like someone who deserved such an honor from the king. The king even asked here who she was. She pointed at the three distinguished men, and told how proud she was, how she appreciated all that they had grown up to be, and all that they had done for the world. They had taken her message and sped it to great places. Her message – yes, she had been their elementary school teacher. She had taught them all. She had encouraged them all, she had mentored them all. She made a difference in their lives.
Each of us has a person, a place, a time, a turn in our lives that made all of the difference in the world. The message of easter is that Jesus is sending a teacher into our lives. A teacher that will comfort us, will guide us, will support us no matter what.
Let me tell you about a very different kind of mother. Carole, a third-generation Japanese-American, was born in an internment camp during World War II, married a man who had also been born in a camp and they had a baby girl. The child was born with feet that turned inward. Carole was determined to do everything necessary to ensure that her child was able to walk normally. By the age of six, after years in very expensive corrective shoes, she was finally able to walk.
That wasn't good enough for Carole. To ensure continued corrective development, she told her daughter to choose a sport that would strengthen her legs. She chose ice skating and it became her passion. That meant years of early mornings at the rink. It took an incredible amount of time, money and patience but Carole and her husband were happy to give it for the sake of their little girl. After fifteen years, they found themselves standing with the world as their daughter, Kristi Yamaguchi, received the gold medal at the 1992 Olympics.
That mother gave life to her child, not only through the birthing and nursing but by making every necessary sacrifice to give Kristi the dream, the discipline, the resources and the encouragement to claim her full potential.
For many of us – our first teacher, our biggest supporter, the one mot interested in guiding us is our mother.
But today I want us to honor our mothers, but to think of all of the people especially the women in our lives who made a difference. Who formed our destiny, who guided us along the way.
And to honor the fact that all of them were sent by god as a gift in our lives. All of them are proof that easter is upon us and that the holy spirit is at work in the world and in our lives. Where would we be if they were not there to form our destinies., to dream our dreams, to believe ourselves.
In return for all they have given us – let us wish them all the love of God, let us dream for them the grace of God let us celebrate the life they have given to us- by celebrating the life god has given to them.
There are many others who are waiting for their destiny – who are waiting for that one person, that one place, that one vision that will make all of the difference in the world. Let us all pass on the dreams, the wishes, the hopes, the visions that have been entrusted to us on to others. Let us Pray…..
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Sharing Our Differences
May 2, 2010
Acts 11:1-18
John 13:31-35
Year C
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Salma and Lily were best friends at school.
They drew pictures together.
They played on the swings together.
They jumped rope together.
And they ate their lunches together.
But just what they ate was a little different.
Lily ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for lunch.
Salma ate a hummus and pita sandwich every day for lunch.
And although Lily never said it out loud, she thought Salma's sandwich looked weird and yucky. She felt terrible that her friend had to eat that icky chickpea paste every day. EW. Yuck.
And although Salma never said it out loud, she thought Lily's sandwich looked strange and gross. She felt just awful that her friend had to eat that gooey peanut paste every day. EW. Gross.
You will have to wait a couple of months in order to hear the rest of the story. That is an excerpt from a childrens book coming out by the Queen of Jordan called the “sandwich Swap”. It is about her experiences as a child, where she at one type of food and her best friend ate another. Both felt uncomfortable with what the other was eating. But it was through food that they came to understand one another and developed a closer relationship in the process.
A perfect story for our scriptures this morning. Peter prided himself on being a good jew and making sure that everything that he ate was kosher. He considered that to be a part of what God called him to do – that is until he heard from God – which told him something different. That in the name of trying to understand others, he was free to eat whatever god’s people ate. There was nothing wrong with it
But not everyone of the disciples heard that same voice, and they criticized Peter, until he explained it for them. Once again this is a demonstration of how the holy spirit works in our lives It takes something that makes sense to us (in this case food- we all understand food) in order to explain something that doesn’t make sense to us. (in this case how to get along with other people)
This fits in with the gospel lesson which talks about love- Jesus tells his disciples to strive to love one another as you have been loved. – we know that there are 10 commandments – many say that this is the 11th commandment from God – to love. Love is not a concept unique to Jesus – because there are many commandments to love – love the lord the god with all of your heart, mind body and soul. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, there is even a commandment for Esau and Jacob to love one another as brothers.
Jesus is just trying to get them to follow the law of love in a brand new way. Not to love because you are supposed to, but to love because you have been loved. Not to guess what love means, but to know what love means. To realize that love is not about what you do – it is about the relationship that you have. In order to love somebody, you have to identify with that person, get into their lives and know what it going on, and be willing to eat with them. For instance Peter could very well have refused to eat with the gentiles and kept his kosher habits. But somewhere along the way he realized that his relationship was more important than his beliefs. And that it was the relationship that changed him and transformed the situation. The gentiles became a part of the family, the outsiders became insiders. All because the holy spirit took something that made sense and used it to teach something that they otherwise would not have understood.
Finally – I while teaching a class on Methodist studies for the district a few months ago – and one of the things I came across is a list of the signs of a United Methodist – you might be a United Methodist if….
The ones that I found a few months ago are much more positive, but here are some that I found last night…
You might be United Methodist if you raise your hand and promise your pastor that you have read the 17th chapter of Mark as part of the introduction to a sermon on truth telling. (Note: Mark only has 16 chapters. You might be United Methodist if you did not know that
You might be United Methodist if you think "Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego" is the name of a rap group from Detroit.
You might be United Methodist if you are a Siamese twin - well connected.
You might be United Methodist if you think you have to have a potluck dish to get into heaven
You might be United Methodist if you clapped in church last Sunday and felt guilty about it all week.
You might be United Methodist if you think the epistles are probably the wives of the apostles.
You might be United Methodist if you think the Holy Land is Nashville.
These seemed to concentrate on the negative things about United Methodist – making fun of where we may be lacking in faith. I thought it interested the author of the website said these were all statements submitted by United Methodist clergy.
But the list go worse when I looked for signs of a Christian. The only place where I could find the marks of a Christian were written by an atheist. Here are some examples.
1. You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.
2. You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.
3. You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history, but still call yourself a Christian.
But seriously, if you read and listen to the book of Acts this Easter season, you will learn the marks of a true Christian as one who follows Jesus, who trust in the teachings of Jesus, one who looks for the presence of the holy Spirit in their lives and is willing to follow it, and one who puts Christ as the center of their lives, allowing the spirit of Christ to dwell and live in them.
In an interview with John Travolta in 1995 he speaks about the love of Christ. He said “I love people and I have compassion and empathy for them, I am alive to the degree that I am able to do that. I have lost a lot of people that I love, but I guess that I have learned that when it comes to living people, you really don’t have a choice. Jesus knew the risk that he was taking in living the world.. he know it would come to disappointment. Love, the particular kind of love that God demonstrates in Jesus remains the most difficult thing we are called to do, but it’s the only thing that makes existence meaningful.
Love is the 11th commandment – love one another as I have loved you. Love can be painful – but it still makes a difference, it still transforms people – one relationship at a time. Love is a way of speaking, a way of doing, love is who you are in Christ. Love is the one mark of a true Christian. They know we are Christians by our love. Let us pray.
Acts 11:1-18
John 13:31-35
Year C
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Salma and Lily were best friends at school.
They drew pictures together.
They played on the swings together.
They jumped rope together.
And they ate their lunches together.
But just what they ate was a little different.
Lily ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich every day for lunch.
Salma ate a hummus and pita sandwich every day for lunch.
And although Lily never said it out loud, she thought Salma's sandwich looked weird and yucky. She felt terrible that her friend had to eat that icky chickpea paste every day. EW. Yuck.
And although Salma never said it out loud, she thought Lily's sandwich looked strange and gross. She felt just awful that her friend had to eat that gooey peanut paste every day. EW. Gross.
You will have to wait a couple of months in order to hear the rest of the story. That is an excerpt from a childrens book coming out by the Queen of Jordan called the “sandwich Swap”. It is about her experiences as a child, where she at one type of food and her best friend ate another. Both felt uncomfortable with what the other was eating. But it was through food that they came to understand one another and developed a closer relationship in the process.
A perfect story for our scriptures this morning. Peter prided himself on being a good jew and making sure that everything that he ate was kosher. He considered that to be a part of what God called him to do – that is until he heard from God – which told him something different. That in the name of trying to understand others, he was free to eat whatever god’s people ate. There was nothing wrong with it
But not everyone of the disciples heard that same voice, and they criticized Peter, until he explained it for them. Once again this is a demonstration of how the holy spirit works in our lives It takes something that makes sense to us (in this case food- we all understand food) in order to explain something that doesn’t make sense to us. (in this case how to get along with other people)
This fits in with the gospel lesson which talks about love- Jesus tells his disciples to strive to love one another as you have been loved. – we know that there are 10 commandments – many say that this is the 11th commandment from God – to love. Love is not a concept unique to Jesus – because there are many commandments to love – love the lord the god with all of your heart, mind body and soul. Love your neighbor as you love yourself, there is even a commandment for Esau and Jacob to love one another as brothers.
Jesus is just trying to get them to follow the law of love in a brand new way. Not to love because you are supposed to, but to love because you have been loved. Not to guess what love means, but to know what love means. To realize that love is not about what you do – it is about the relationship that you have. In order to love somebody, you have to identify with that person, get into their lives and know what it going on, and be willing to eat with them. For instance Peter could very well have refused to eat with the gentiles and kept his kosher habits. But somewhere along the way he realized that his relationship was more important than his beliefs. And that it was the relationship that changed him and transformed the situation. The gentiles became a part of the family, the outsiders became insiders. All because the holy spirit took something that made sense and used it to teach something that they otherwise would not have understood.
Finally – I while teaching a class on Methodist studies for the district a few months ago – and one of the things I came across is a list of the signs of a United Methodist – you might be a United Methodist if….
The ones that I found a few months ago are much more positive, but here are some that I found last night…
You might be United Methodist if you raise your hand and promise your pastor that you have read the 17th chapter of Mark as part of the introduction to a sermon on truth telling. (Note: Mark only has 16 chapters. You might be United Methodist if you did not know that
You might be United Methodist if you think "Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego" is the name of a rap group from Detroit.
You might be United Methodist if you are a Siamese twin - well connected.
You might be United Methodist if you think you have to have a potluck dish to get into heaven
You might be United Methodist if you clapped in church last Sunday and felt guilty about it all week.
You might be United Methodist if you think the epistles are probably the wives of the apostles.
You might be United Methodist if you think the Holy Land is Nashville.
These seemed to concentrate on the negative things about United Methodist – making fun of where we may be lacking in faith. I thought it interested the author of the website said these were all statements submitted by United Methodist clergy.
But the list go worse when I looked for signs of a Christian. The only place where I could find the marks of a Christian were written by an atheist. Here are some examples.
1. You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.
2. You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.
3. You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history, but still call yourself a Christian.
But seriously, if you read and listen to the book of Acts this Easter season, you will learn the marks of a true Christian as one who follows Jesus, who trust in the teachings of Jesus, one who looks for the presence of the holy Spirit in their lives and is willing to follow it, and one who puts Christ as the center of their lives, allowing the spirit of Christ to dwell and live in them.
In an interview with John Travolta in 1995 he speaks about the love of Christ. He said “I love people and I have compassion and empathy for them, I am alive to the degree that I am able to do that. I have lost a lot of people that I love, but I guess that I have learned that when it comes to living people, you really don’t have a choice. Jesus knew the risk that he was taking in living the world.. he know it would come to disappointment. Love, the particular kind of love that God demonstrates in Jesus remains the most difficult thing we are called to do, but it’s the only thing that makes existence meaningful.
Love is the 11th commandment – love one another as I have loved you. Love can be painful – but it still makes a difference, it still transforms people – one relationship at a time. Love is a way of speaking, a way of doing, love is who you are in Christ. Love is the one mark of a true Christian. They know we are Christians by our love. Let us pray.
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