Anointing

Anointing Exodus 30:22-31 1 Peter 2:4-5 1 John 2:24-27 (Prepared for Student Pastor Jacqueline Forbes) October 5, 2014 God Preparing his people Exodus is the story of God preparing to live in the promisedland. God said that he wanted to bring his people out of slavery and to bring them out into the wilderness, so that they would be free to worship their God. Worship is not just what we do, or what we say – true worship of God is who we are. God wants to have all of our being, and God knew that as long as they were in slavery, they could not give their whole selves to God. We have been looking at Exodus as a part of our lectionary readings. But I am going to take us a little beyond the lectionary today. Once the Isrealites were free of Egypt, Moses needed to teach them how to prepare a tabernacle in order to worship God. Once the tabernacle was completed, God said that everything and everyone that was used for worship must be set apart and made holy in order to be of service to God. Ingredients for anointing In Exodus 30 God gives Moses instructions on how to make special oil to anoint people and things for worship. He gives Moses 5 ingrediants: myrhh, cinnamon, calamus,cassia and olive oil. As I was doing research for this sermon, there are many meanings of these particular ingrediants. Myrhh was used in anointing people for death. In order to serve God, we have to be dead to our own wishes and desires. In looking for these ingrediants, I was reminded to be careful with this oil because cinnamon is hot. We have to be hot with the spirit of God. Calamus is a root the gives off a sweet aroma – Christ calls us to live a life of sweetness. Cassus is the bark of the cinnamon tree- it is very fragrant – out faith should stick out and make others aware of our presence, and finally there is olive oil. In the mediterannean world – olive oil is the essence of life. There is nothing without it. I think it is interesting that none of these ingrediants would have been readily available in the wilderness, but they would have been very familiar with them in Egypt. Also, there was nothing special about each of these ingredient alone. But together they were holy. God tells Moses that this oil was so holy, that no one should try to make it. And that it should be used for only special purposes. In the Isrealite tradition, anointing was reserved for priest, prophets and kings. And eventually, only kings were to be anointed. Eventually they began to speak of the anointed one who would come and save his people. The anointed one was the messiah. Jesus the anointed one The messiah was definitely not Jesus. Jesus was a layperson, not a priest, not a prophet, and he was a carpenter,not a king. Jesus was never anointed with God’s special oil. As a matter of fact, when Jesus begins his ministry, he does not use oil – he says that it is the spirit that anoints him to heal the sick, feed the hungry, free the captives, and to preach the good news of salvation. We call our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus is his name, Christ is his title. Now we have always been told that the Jewish word messiah and the greek word Christ mean the same thing – the anointed one. Well I did a little research and discovered that is not true. Messiah is a special person, give a special task anointed with a special oil. Oil that was literally poured over the persons head. Christos does not mean anointed one- it means smeared with ointment. Jesus the common messiah Last week when we went to the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas – Leonard Sweet was the keynote speaker. And he gave an inspiring sermon on the anointing of Jesus. Now according to him – I couldn’t find this anywhere else – but he says that Christos was the name of a common grease that you would keep around the house. It was cheap and easy to come by. In modern times we have become afraid of any type of grease or oil. Never mind the fact that our bodies need to have oil in order to function. Our brain needs it, our hearts need it, our joints need it – but health experts are constantly telling us that greasy stuff is bad for you. It all depends on what kind of grease you use. Christ who can take the heat About 14 years about – I went on this health kick and decided that I would only use healthy ingrediants in my kitchen. I got rid of all of my butter, Crisco, corn oil. I decided that I would only use olive oil in the kitchen. A few years ago I decided being healthy was nice, but being practical made more sense. You see, you cant heat olive oil. Heat makes olive oil break down and disintegrate. So recently I had to make the decision that if I couldn’t use olive oil to fry chicken, then there was really no need to have it in my kitchen. I don’t saute a lot of vegetables. Now mind you, I only fry a about two or three times a year, but my point is that when I do fry, I need something that can take the heat. So common everyday cooking oil came back into my kitchen, along with my butter and other greasy things. Now if olive oil is the high grade oil of today – what is the common everyday oil that used to be in every household kitchen in America – Crisco. They took transfat out of Crisco in 2004 – but I still don’t use it, so if someone wants it they can have it after service, if not I will put it in the food pantry. But I wanted us to think about Crisco – because there is a lesson in this can for us today. Jesus is the Christ of the common person. He is the practical messiah that can be used by the common person. He intentionally didnt want to be anointed with the good stuff – olive oil – he wanted to be anointed with every day Crisco. Paul was the first to call Jesus Christo. Christo was a joke at the time. The jews would have been scratching their head when they heard Jesus Christ. They would be thinking –if he is not a priest, a prophet or a king. Of he has not been ordained – then how is he the anointed one – themessiah. The greeks would have been scratching their heads - Christos means the smeared one. They would be wondering why would you smear a man with Crisco? Why would you smear a man with Crisco? Because we the common people live in a world full of troubles and concerns. I need a Lord and Savior who can take the heat. An olive oil messiah wont do me no good. A messiah smeared in Crisco, prepared to deal with the realities of life is what we need. Christos. Jesus Christ. Why we are Christians And now to take it even further. We are to follow Christ into his anointing. That is why they started calling his followers Christians. We are Christians, not resurectionists, or Easter people, or Jesusonians. Christ means the anointed one – Christians are those who take on his anointing in their own life. 1 Peter says that we are the priesthood of all believers. 1 John 27 says that the anointing that you have received of him lives in you. Christ intentionally chose to be the messiah of the common person. He choose to remain a layperson. And he chose to give us his power, his anointing so we can continue his work in our everyday lives. Honor student pastor On this day we want to honor the ministry of our sister, Jacqueline Forbes. At his point in her life, Jacqueline is a layperson. She has not been ordained. Yet she is in seminary, which means that she has started her journey to some type of service to God. While she is here, she is Pastor Forbes, or Pastor Jacqueline. The terms pastor and Reverend are not synomous. Pastor is a role, a job description. Reverend is a title for someone who has been ordained by some denominational church. Pastor Forbes has chosen to wear a robe for worship, which is well within her right. She is not however entitled to wear a stole. A stole is a symbol of ordination. A lot of new clergy like to brag that they have been appointed as Senior Pastor of a church. In the United Methodist Church, Senior Pastor is term for a pastor who has an appointed associate pastor serving under them. My official role in this congregation is pastor. (unless you all want to pay me more money to be senior pastor). But a pastor is simply the shepherd of the flock. I am going through this all pretty quickly. When we use the words anointing, consecration, ordination, these are all terms that have varied meanings according to the situation, the denomination, and who you ask. Today – consecration simply means our acknowledgment of the beginning of Jaqueline’s walk toward specialized ministry. And acknowledgement of her work with us in the coming year. She may share her journey and indeed why this is a time of being set apart. Jacqueline I want to share this story 820 Take All The Keys, Lord Dr. F. B. Meyer came to a crucial, transitional time in his ministry. He sat dejectedly in his study. “My ministry is unfruitful, and I lack spiritual power,” he said to himself. Suddenly Christ seemed to stand beside him. “Let me have the keys to your life,” Christ said. The experience was so realistic that he reached into his pocket and took out a bunch of keys! “Are all the keys here?” “Yes, Lord, all except the key to one small room in my life.” Christ said: “If you cannot trust me in all rooms of your life, I cannot accept any of the keys.” Dr. Meyer was so overwhelmed with the feeling that Christ was moving out of his life because he was excluding Him from one interest in his life that he cried out, “Come back, Lord, and take the keys to all the rooms of my life!” —Walter B. Knight Let this be a moment to be reminded that we are Christians – we share in Christ anointing to heal the sick, feed the hungry, free the captives, and to spread the good news. Amen. Children's Sermon: A New King by Patricia Hatfield Can anyone tell me what a king is? (Listen to the children's answers.) Yes, a king is a leader or someone who is in charge of a country. Do you know what a king does? (Makes laws; leads the army; speaks for the people.) So what do you think a king looks like? (Old or young; tall and strong; wears a purple robe and crown.) Someone who looks like that we expect would surely be a strong and powerful king, able to lead the people in war and in peace. In our Bible story today, we hear how God chooses a new king for the Hebrew people. God tells the priest, Samuel, to go to Jesse, a father with eight sons. The Lord would tell Samuel which one of the eight boys would be the new king. When Samuel arrived at Jesse's house, he saw the oldest son, Eliab. Eliab was very tall and handsome. Samuel was sure this was the son who would be the new king. But God said to Samuel, "Don't pay attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have not chosen this son because I do not judge by how a man looks on the outside. I look at the heart." One by one, Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel, but each time Samuel said, "No, the Lord hasn't chosen him. Do you have any more sons?" Jesse answered, "There is still the youngest, but he is out taking care of the sheep." "Tell him to come here," Samuel said. So Jesse sent for him. He was a handsome, healthy young man, and his eyes sparkled. The Lord said to Samuel, "This is the one!" And right in front of the older brothers, Samuel marked David with special olive oil to show that he would be the new king. Did you expect God to choose the youngest son to be king? It doesn't matter to God how old we are, or how tall we are, or what we look like. We can still be a king for God if we have a good heart. Do you think there are any kings here today in our congregation? (Children will probably think this is funny. Mention some of the church leaders such as Sunday school teachers, the board moderator, or the elders.) All these people were called by God to be leaders in our church, to make rules for our church, and to speak for the people of the church. Do any of you think that you will be called by God to be a leader in our church? Probably David didn't expect to be chosen. Perhaps some of our leaders didn't expect to be chosen either. But they are serving God through their good hearts and by what they are willing to do. Let's pray: