Christ the New Way to Hope, Faith and Love

November 14, 2021 Year B Hebrews 10:11-25 Opening Song Welcome Opening Prayer Holy One, there is no God like you. In praise and thanksgiving, we come before you ready to learn of your power, ready to follow your path for our lives. Through days of jubilation as well as dejection, help us realize your influence in the world. We ask simply for ears to hear, eyes to see, and minds to comprehend the blessings you bestow. Amen. Call to Worship Leader: This nation, under God, depends on each generation accepting the call to serve both God and country. People: Everywhere we look we are reminded of the commitment our veterans made in presenting their bodies as a living sacrifice. Leader: So today we honor them as we shout a resounding…. People: THANK YOU! Leader: THANK YOU! That we are free to come and to worship the One who presented His body as the ultimate living sacrifice for ALL. People: Come, let us worship! Stewardship Moment Do you shake your head, sometimes, when you read of the confusion and seeming slow-wittedness of Jesus’ disciples? It almost makes me laugh when Peter, James, John and Andrew (the first-to-be-called) want Jesus to give them private info about when the Temple would be destroyed. Were they hoping to avoid the place when destruction began? Or wondering if they could be the first to tweet the news, grabbing the rights to a “breaking news” story? Jesus doesn’t oblige. Rather, he suggests they beware! Don’t be led astray. We don’t get private info given to us, just because we’re followers of the Jesus Way (like the State Farm commercials of all the folks who believe they’ve been given special rates). Rather, our task is to stay aligned with Jesus — no matter what “birthpangs” we may observe around us. Despite the wars and rumors of war, despite the earthquakes and famines, our task is clear. Day by day we act out our faith. Week by week, we register our intention to follow Jesus with the gifts we bring. We deliberately give away some of what is “ours”, offering financial support along with our time and talents, to proclaim our desire to move the dial one more tick toward God’s Realm. What will you offer, today, as a sign you choose to follow Jesus? Offering Prayer (1 Samuel 1, Psalm 113, Hebrews 10, Mark 13) Today, O Lord, we offer you our sacrifice of time, energy, and love, knowing full well they are mere tokens of the awesome faith you inspire within us. Accept these gifts, that they may continue the good work in Christ — in our church, in our community, and in the world. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Scripture Hebrews 10:11-25 Common English Bible 11 Every priest stands every day serving and offering the same sacrifices over and over, sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right side of God. 13 Since then, he’s waiting until his enemies are made into a footstool for his feet, 14 because he perfected the people who are being made holy with one offering for all time. 15 The Holy Spirit affirms this when saying, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them. After these days, says the Lord, I will place my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds. 17 And I won’t remember their sins and their lawless behavior anymore.[a] 18 When there is forgiveness for these things, there is no longer an offering for sin. Second summary of the message 19 Brothers and sisters, we have confidence that we can enter the holy of holies by means of Jesus’ blood, 20 through a new and living way that he opened up for us through the curtain, which is his body, 21 and we have a great high priest over God’s house. 22 Therefore, let’s draw near with a genuine heart with the certainty that our faith gives us, since our hearts are sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies are washed with pure water. 23 Let’s hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, because the one who made the promises is reliable. 24 And let us consider each other carefully for the purpose of sparking love and good deeds. 25 Don’t stop meeting together with other believers, which some people have gotten into the habit of doing. Instead, encourage each other, especially as you see the day drawing near. Sermon Christ the New Way to Hope, Faith and Love I had the strangest dream this morning. I was walking down the street this morning. I was with two of my clergy colleagues and we were walking down the street. And one of them got arrested for something and we were all put in jail. We were put in this plain white room with no furniture. The one who had been arrested started to debate whether he was a good man or a bad man. He didn’t know whether he had committed the crime or not. Some how I got the key to let all of us out. I was about to open the door, but before I opened the door I needed to know if he was going to attack me if he discovered he was a bad person. He got really upset and came after me, and I told him, you are not a good person, or a bad person – you are just a human being – we are a little bit of both, and not really either. And just as the other colleague had to hold him back from coming at me – my alarm went off and I woke up realizing that it was just a dream. I am not sure of what brought that dream on – was it the heartburn from eating Mcdonald’s just before going to bed, or the guilt from staying at the game too late and being too tired the write my sermon – I am not sure. But as I got going I realized that that was the point of my sermon – everything that I was going to preach about was right there in that story. If I right the outline of my sermon before I go to bed, my mind had a way of putting it all together. It is all there, but I guess I have to break it down for you for it to make any sense. You see this is the third and I hope final sermon on the book of Hebrews. There is one more chapter, but luckily we are coming to the new year. I love the book of Hebrews, but I didn’t think I could say anything else about Jesus being the high priest of heaven and offering us the highest level of salvation and access to God. But chapter 10 has a really good message – a message about perfection. When we are ordained, all United Methodist pastors are asked a set of questions which is in the book of discipline. One of the most important questions is are you going on to perfection. And of course the right answer to that question is yes. That is not a question of good and bad, right or wrong. It doesn’t mean that United Methodist Pastors are supposed to be perfect people. Actually the founder, John Wesley asked that question of all Christians. Are you going on to perfection? Hebrews 10 says that we are all made perfect through Jesus Christ. The reality is that we never get there in this lifetime. We are only made perfect when we get to heaven. Perfection is not about anything that we do, it is about what Christ does for us. Whereas most priest or preachers stand when they are preaching or praying – Christ sits at the right hand of God. Whereas most priest and preachers have to preach and pray every Sunday, christ only had to do one act of sacrifice and it made all of the difference in the world for anyone who believes in him. That is why Christ is the high priest. On this veteran’s day we thank our veteran’s for the sacrifice that they made for our freedom. But we also thank Christ today – because it was his sacrifice on the cross that opened the door for all of us to go on to perfection. If it wasn’t for that sacrifice – we would all be weighed down by our sins. I heard a saying this week that says that perfect people are not real and real people are not perfect. We all have a story to tell. And yet when Christ died on the cross – he asked for our forgiveness. And that is all that it took. We don’t get into heaven because we are perfect, we get into heaven because we are forgiven. There is an old story about a girl who was in a coma for a very long time. When she woke up, she told her parents that she had spent time with Jesus. So the preacher asked her if Jesus had a message for anyone in the village. She said that Jesus knew everyone present. He knew all about everyone and he knew everything that everyone had ever done. So they asked what he had said about them – he said he knew, but that he had forgotten everything. That is the definition of forgiveness – as humans we like to hang onto everything. We forgive, but we don’t forget. And yet in Christ forgiveness – our slate is wiped clean. According to Hebrews 10 – when God forgives us – we don’t have to continue to be sorry. Because in Christ, not only are our sins forgiven, but they are forgotten. We don’t have to hold onto to them in our spirit. When we come face to face with Christ in heaven, we stand in perfection. Not our perfection, but in Christ’s perfection. Perfection is our faith in the power of Christ, not in our actions. I think that first time that I went downtown Chicago, I would have been a child about 9 or 10. The one thing that sticks out about that trip was a man standing on the corner, preaching to people walking past telling them to give their lives to christ before it is too late. If you continue to live in your sins then you are going to hell. When I started going downtown by myself, he had moved across the street, but he was still giving the same message. I think the last time that I was downtown he was still there. I haven’t been downtown in a while, but I remember that he would stand in front of walgreens – preaching the good news of Christ forgiveness for a sinful world. I don’t think that he preaches anymore, but for over 45 years he was there telling people that they were going to go hell if they don’t give their lives to Christ. See that is the difference between a priest and a high priest. Rev. Samuel Chambers had to give the same message everyday over and over again for 45 years. Christ preached for three years, but when the people killed him for his message – that one act made a difference for eternity. Recently, I heard one of the best benedictions in the world – that summed up all of the sermons in the world. I don’t even think the lady was a Christian But as she ended her lesson – she told us to remember one thing – God created us to be free. Go out and live in that freedom. We are created to be free. Free in spirit. Unfortunately, as we go through life day to day – we forget that. We get caught up in relationships, we get caught up in situations, we get caught up in conditions, and life can get so heavy. Sometimes we even get to the point that we think that our problems are all that there is to life. We listen to preachers telling us everyday that Jesus is the answer – and we tune them out and think of their message as irrelevant. Hebrews 10 message for all of us is simple – have faith, hold fast to hope and care for one another in love. When John Wesley asks us if we are going on to perfection – perfection is a way of life, not a destination. We are made perfect when we choose to live in love. Amen. Veteran’s Prayer and Acknowledgement You, O God, are our God. You are with us in all the times of life to offer hope and light and comfort. We come to you now with thanks: thanks for our freedom; thanks for our peace; thanks for our prosperity and security. On this Veteran’s Day, we thank you, especially, for the women and men who gave of themselves in times of war to help to ensure the blessings that we enjoy. The names, the faces, the stories come to us, once again, and we honor them, their courage, their sacrifice, their willingness to put themselves in harm’s way for a better cause. May we never forget. We pray that wars and rumors of wars would cease, but if there is a need, let those of us of younger generations go forth as faithfully as did our ancestors that the cause of peace and justice may be defended and upheld. That freedom found in our county and the freedom found in and through Christ is always worth fighting for. With our Freedoms today we pray for the sick of our congregation and community. On this day, we lift up in prayer …. (here each should take the time to call out those you are praying for) Be with them and all of us offering healing and hope and strength to see beyond our problems to the glory of your Kingdom. We pray in the name of Jesus, the Prince of Peace. who taught us to pray… Lord’s Prayer Great is Thy Faithfulness Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Go in peace, remembering a mother’s faith in God — a faith that provided her with comfort and strength in her time of need. May you pray unfailingly, grow steadily, and love constantly. Amen. Community Time Benediction Benediction (1 Samuel 1 & 2) May we leave this house of worship reconciled, redeemed and renewed by our time spent in the presence of God. May we leave this house of worship full of the hope our Savior provides. May the grace, hope, peace and love of the God the Creator, Redeemer and Sustainer be with us now and always. Amen. Additional Illlustrations Obviously most of us are not now dwelling in a building called a prison, but there is more than one kind of prison. You may know of no one who is presently under legal arrest, but there is more than one kind of arrest. And when Jesus says in the gospel that the Spirit of the Lord has sent him "to proclaim release to the captives," I don’t think he was talking only about those who were in the Jerusalem jail. I think his words are meant for me and you too. His very life was intended to discharge people from the prisons of their own making - the prison of sin, the prison of illusion, the prison of despair. "A Lady Named Olive" is a modern parable written by Pat Ryan, and it is really the story of a jailbreak. A lady named Olive owned two shopping bags full of words. One bag was plain brown, very old, and filled with the kind of words that could reach out and connect her with other people. Words like share and care, grow and touch and listen and love and yes. Olive’s other shopping bag was white with a big shoe printed on the sides of it. This bag carried words to keep people away. Words like no and ignore and don't and mine and who cares. Olive carried both shopping bags everywhere with her. But she only used the connecting words on very special occasions like Christmas or somebody's birthday. The separating words, on the other hand, were used every single day. Olive used them well. She flung them about like darts whenever someone got too close. After a while people moved away without a word. One day as she was walking to the discount store, Olive’s plain brown shopping bag broke and spilled out all its words. Suddenly Olive was connected to everyone around. and it wasn't even Christmas.4 Olive had been arrested. Now Olive was free. And how about you? Are you under arrest? I happened to be leaving the small frame office building which also served as the police station, when I saw a lot of people running toward the office. Leading them was a man running from a woman holding a knife in her right hand as she chased him. A crowd was running alongside them. She chased the man around the building before the police came out and caught hold of her. They took her knife away and pushed her to the ground, where they started kicking her with their boots. She didn't try to defend herself. She just lay there and took it. I was at the road then, getting into my Suzuki jeep. When I saw the policemen start to kick her, I got out of the jeep. I flinched each time they landed a kick on her defenseless body. But I didn't do anything more. I was afraid. They were armed. I was an outsider. Whatever, I drove home feeling sick. Years later, as I reflect on that moment, I imagine the concentric circles of guilt for the evil I witnessed, with pain at the center. At the center, the woman and her husband. I have no idea what the man had done to his wife to make her so angry with him. I don't know who started it all, or when. I'm sure there was enough blame for everyone. The first circle, the police who broke their rules to kick her, and seemed to enjoy it. And the police who stood by. The next circle, the neighbors-become-spectators, some of them snickering. The expanding circles of sin and guilt included me, too, for not helping. And then the tribe and its culture, for allowing this type of thing. And other nations, for the tragic byproducts of colonial rule. The dark circles of guilt get thinner as they get farther out, maybe ... but in a way they come all the way to include you. Where were you? What were you doing to help her? Of course, the woman being brutalized by the police in Kenya was not the only thing in the world that went wrong that day, thirty years ago. Or since. The world is awash in sin and guilt. If you don't see it, it's because you are not looking. You cannot opt out. A youngster in Sunday School asked the pastor, "If Jesus died on Friday, why do we call it good?" It seems contrary to reason to call this day Good Friday, when congregations around the world remember Jesus' death with black and an empty chancel. Images like these recount the day: forsaken, scorn, thorns, despised, grief, sorrow, wounded, tears, darkness, and death. How can we use a word like good in the same breath? What good can come from Jesus' death on the cross on a day long ago on a hill called "the place of the skull"? We can pray with Soren Kierkegaard, that melancholy Dane who prayed his way through cross-marked Fridays: "Lord, hold not our sins up against us, but hold us up against our sins; so that the thought of you, when it wakens in us and every time it wakens, may remind us not of how much we have sinned, but of how much you have forgiven us; not how we went astray, but how you saved us" (paraphrase). Good Friday! It is a good day to die; it is a good day to live. Amen. CSS Publishing Company, THE VICTORY OF FAITH, by Mark J. Molldre

The Priestly Functions of Jesus

October 10, 2021 Proper 23 Hebrews 4:12-16 The Priestly duties of Jesus 20th Sunday after Pentecost Year B Opening Song Welcome Opening Prayer God of Grace, Thank you for the gift of this new day. Thank you for gathering with us and providing the free gift of your grace to bless us in this particular time and place. As we worship you, strengthen us to face the challenges of our lives, knowing you’ve provided the One who goes before us without sin. Help us believe and live into your presence, even as we pray in the strong name of Jesus, AMEN Stewardship Moment (from Mark 10) Matthew and Luke also include the story of the rich man seeking eternal life which we hear in Mark 10. A triple threat! Remember how the man comes to kneel before Jesus with his question: “what more must I do to inherit eternal life?” How challenging it is to hear Jesus answer his question: “Go, sell what you own and give to the poor.” Challenging, because on the world scale, all of us are like this man. Wealthy! We have MANY possessions. Does putting yourself in his position change how you hear this story? Here’s the truth. Following Jesus is not always easy! For most of us, it’s tough to imagine giving away our wealth. After all, how will we live if we give like that? Gratefully, Jesus teaches his disciples that salvation is possible, even for the rich. Today, before you place your cash or check in the offering tray, take a moment to give thanks that your offering isn’t measured by what you COULD give. It isn’t the means by which you receive eternal life. Instead, make your offering in gratitude that God makes all things possible – even we who are wealthy and not yet able to give away all we have, receiving eternal life. Prayer of Thanksgiving We give you what is already yours, God, for you are Creator of all. But we pray you will receive our gifts, and use them to respond to the needs of the poor. Help us find ways to truly see the reality which is right before us: of our amazing wealth in a world filled with many who struggle for daily sustenance. Then, once we have seen, embolden us to share ever more, that your Realm may be made known on earth, as it is in heaven. AMEN Scripture Hebrews 4:12-16 Common English Bible 12 because God’s word is living, active, and sharper than any two-edged sword. It penetrates to the point that it separates the soul from the spirit and the joints from the marrow. It’s able to judge the heart’s thoughts and intentions. 13 No creature is hidden from it, but rather everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of the one to whom we have to give an answer. 14 Also, let’s hold on to the confession since we have a great high priest who passed through the heavens, who is Jesus, God’s Son; 15 because we don’t have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our weaknesses but instead one who was tempted in every way that we are, except without sin. 16 Finally, let’s draw near to the throne of favor with confidence so that we can receive mercy and find grace when we need help. Sermon The Priestly Duties of Jesus A few weeks ago Debbie Ritchie and I attended the Billy Graham Route 66 tour. It was truly an uplifting experience. I can’t say that it was fun, because church is not supposed to be fun. But I can say that I enjoyed it. I wasn’t really impressed with Franklin Graham or his message. He has a vastly different style than his father. But I thought that the music was awesome. The Christian group the Newsboys provided the music. I gained a new respect for their lead singer, Michael Tait – I loved the way he was able to express his faith onstage. He too was a pk – a preacher’s kid, but he had a wonderful charisma. Michael Tait is African American. They also invited a Hispanic singer to sing in Spanish with them. I was so impressed with Michael Tait, that I went home and googled anything that I could find about him. Just two days ago I read an article where he talks about sometimes feeling like an honorary black person in a very white contemporary music world. But the article got my attention as he talked about what he called the deconstruction of the church. I know that we can all agree that the pandemic has changed us. None of us are the same person we were 18 months ago. And many of those changes are permanent – we are not going to just pick up where we left off. As we start to meet in person, as we struggle to return to normal – it is becoming painfully obvious that we are not the same church. We can’t just pick up where we left off – you all in the pews have fundamentally changed- your needs are different, your relationship with God has changed. People are not participating in church the way they did 18 months ago, and yes – giving is way down. How do you come up with a plan for the church to go forward in these new circumstances? That is what Michael Tait means by the deconstruction of the church. If an international church singer can recognize and name it, it is not just our church, not just our community, not just the United Methodist Church. But in reality, the church has been deconstructing for the last 2000 years. What does that mean about God? Is God just an illusion that our ancestors created? Is God an out of date fantasy that is no longer relevant. One of the Newsboys biggest hits – God is not Dead. But I think the more important question- is not about God but us. What does this mean for our relationship with God? How has the pandemic changed our relationship? Have we gotten busy with many more pressing issues, so God is on the back burner? Have the practices of faith become so tedious that they are a waste of time? Have they too become irrelevant? And all of us are 2 years older than we were when this started – we just don’t have the energy and attention that we had 18 months ago. What has changed? I think that is a different answer for each of us. The church is the people, and of the people have changed the church has changed. God stays the same. But times show us that the church can easily become outdated and irrelevant. God is a force working within and outside of our building. The Holy Spirit is always out there doing something. People are always asking questions of that only the spirit of God can answer. We in here may not see what God is doing in the world clearly. That is why it is so important to keep the faith, keep praying, study the bible. If you read the bible yesterday, that really might not be what it says to you today- the word changes with our experience. A little boy was talking to his daddy one time and he said, "Daddy, is the devil bigger than me?" He said, "Yes, son, the devil is bigger than you." He said, "Well, Daddy, is the devil bigger than Mommy?" He said, "Yes, the devil is bigger than Mommy." He said, "Well, Daddy, is the devil bigger than you?" That little boy really looked up to his daddy and his daddy said, "Yes, son, the devil is bigger than me." The little boy had only one thing left to say. He said, "Is the devil bigger than Jesus?" The daddy said, "No, son, the devil is not bigger than Jesus." The little boy said, "Well, Daddy, there's no need for me to be afraid of the devil." All of that is true because of Jesus. Michael Tait said that in the midst of COVID he felt that God was receding in his life. r e c e d i n g. But then he realized that God was actually reseeding. R e s e e d i n g. I think that God is reseeding all of us – encouraging us to start the process all over again from scratch. Every week I look back at my old sermons to see what I said about a particular scripture. Usually I still end up writing a new sermon, because the circumstances have changed. I couldn’t even find anything on this particular scripture. The book of Hebrews is unique because it reminds us of who Jesus is for us. Jesus is the high priest In Latin, priest means Pontifex. The pope is the pontif. A Pontifex is a go between, a bridge, a mediator, an intecessor. The high priest would be the bridge between heaven and earth, the mediator between God and the people. The priest speaks to God on our behalf, and interprets God to us. A priest is also someone who performs certain rituals to facilitate the relationship between the sacred and the normal life. The catholic church and the episcopal church have priest – who perform ritual duties on behalf of the people. The Methodist church has pastors – who perform priestly functions, who have the job of leading people to Jesus. But James says that the people are the priesthood of all believers. God hears your prayers just as well as God hears mine. I can’t pray on your behalf, and my prayers don’t matter any more than yours. There are no special words to say – you don’t even have to have words – Jesus listens to us all – thanks to Jesus. Hebrews 4:12-16 has two important lessons – well really 3 but I will talks about he third one last. First lesson – God’s word is always living and active. God’s word is always relevant. This book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's charter. Here paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand object, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened in judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.1 There is only one book in all of the world that fits that description. It is the book that I hold in my hand, known all over the world as the Bible. The word of God intends to instruct us, but it also holds us accountable. If you cut it, it will bleed with the blood of Jesus. If you listen to it, it will tell you supernatural truth beyond all of the sages of all of the ages. If you believe it, it will fill your soul with joy, your spirit with life, your mind with truth, and your heart with wisdom. That brings us back to Jesus – who the book of John calls the living word of God. God’s word come to earth. He was God’s son but lived his life as a poor carpenter. He knows what it means to be human. He bled, hurt, crucified. When we pray – he knows what we are talking about. Each chapter of Hebrews explains a different reason to think of Jesus as the high priest. In chapter 4 Jesus is humble to hear our prayers from our perspective. Jesus is someone who we can talk to who has mercy because he understands where we are coming from. Daniel Benedict tells about a group of college students who were having a discussion about the nature of God. Some of the students did not believe in God . . . but most had a belief of some kind. The discussion was lively. One young woman said, “God is like a great big Teddy Bear who gives me a hug when I need it.” To this, a young man replied, “No Teddy Bear God for me! God is the Chief Justice of some kind of universal Supreme Court who’s going to nail me to the wall when I show up for judgment!” The discussion raged on for some time and finally someone offered up this idea, “God is whatever we think God is. One person’s idea is as good as another person’s idea. We shouldn’t be judging other people’s religious ideas.” This opinion seemed to gain traction with the group. Benedict, who had been mostly silent to this point, then asked a question. “What about Son of Sam’s idea of God? He said God told him to kill some people. Is his idea of God okay?” The group decided to modify their opinion just a bit. “People can have any idea they want of God as long as they don’t hurt other people,” they decided. “That really sounded like the most reasonable way to many of the students. Nobody gets hurt and everybody gets their own god . . . .” (2) These young people were genuinely searching for a way to understand God. Most of us, however, would be uncomfortable with the idea that God is whatever people think that God is. We believe that God has revealed himself through Jesus Christ. God is neither a Teddy Bear nor is God a Supreme Court justice who is going to nail us when we show up for judgment. God, we believe, is like Jesus. The second important point of this scripture – our relationship to God is an important key to our faith. Jesus is the mediator of that relationship. The language of that relationship – prayer. Our scripture in Hebrews says that we can go to the throne room praying boldly, because God heard the prayer. We don’t have to have special skills, we don’t even have to have words. Jesus is in the throne room and Jesus has our back. Prayer is talking to God – it is as fundamental as reading the bible. Since the pandemic – praying boldly has been my struggle. I try to pray as much as I can – but sometimes I am afraid to ask God directly – what happens if I get what I ask for. I find that usually that is when the challenge starts – when God hears my prayer – I am still complaining and asking for more. But praying boldly means that God will answer – in some way – usually not in the way we are expecting. But answered prayer always leads to action on our part. Sort of like Michael Tait’s concept of reseeding. When we pray we don’t see what it happening. We are earnestly looking for good news after this pandemic, but don’t see it. We are asking where if God in all of this? Remember to come to the throne room with confidence. God will answer. That leads us to point three – the most important – Jesus Christ is our intecessor, our mediator, our bridge to heaven. The church seems to be shrinking here in America, but in others places the church is growing by leaps and bounds. The church is growing in Africa, in the Phillipines. But the fastest place the church is growing is in Korea. Another example. The Christian faith is growing today in Korea faster than anywhere else in the world except, perhaps, for parts of Africa. Many people have speculated as to why Christianity is growing so fast in that unlikely Asian land. One reason may be that the Buddhist and Confucian religions, which once were dominant in Korea, both put their emphasis upon religion as mystical, speculative, and remote. The Christian faith came into Korea with a message of involvement, a message of love, a message of compassion. The Christians started right from the beginning feeding the starving, sheltering the homeless, and teaching the illiterate. The Korean people were receptive to that kind of selfgiving religion. So the Christian community is growing by leaps and bounds in Korea today. The Korean church, of course, is simply being the selfgiving body of Christ. (1) God is alive and well. Each of us here today is responsible for our relationship with God. The reseeding process is our job. The seeds are in our own hearts – and we are the only people with access in our own hearts. We are charged with watering those seeds and being patient enough to let them grow. The good news, we are not alone. We have the bible, we have worship, stewardship, mission. We have a Jesus who cares about us enough to listen understand and work. Most importantly – we have each other working together as the church. Let us pray…… Prayer God of infinite patience and wisdom, we come to you with so many things that claim our time, our energy, our resources, our very lives. We are easily drawn away from serving you by the enticements of the world for wealth, ease, and comfort. Just like the young man in the scriptures, we are owned by our possessions, held captive by our treasures. You continue to offer to us healing and hope. You seek to transform our lives from captivity to freedom in witness and service. We look at the world in which there is so very much warfare and strife, anger and hatred, and we easily become overwhelmed by the needs and the stresses. Help us to place our lives and our trust in you, knowing that with your help, many wonderful things can be accomplished which will provide hope and peace for others and ourselves. Give us courage and strength to truly be your disciples. For we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN. Song God of Grace and God of Glory UMH 577 Announcements Closing Prayer for Facebook Even in this time of pandemic, we are a blessed people. We will go to be a blessing in the world. Even when there are so many angry people around us, we are the face of Jesus. We will go to be love and compassion to all. Even when we are isolated, quarantined, living in lockdowns, we are the family of God. We will go to serve our sisters and brothers wherever we may find them. Community Time Benediction With God all things are possible. May you carry that confidence into your daily life and work, as you walk in Christ’s footsteps, guided by God’s hand. Children’s Time Object: a sports pennant Good morning, boys and girls. I have a small flag for you to see and talk about today. It's not the flag of our country, is it? (Let them respond.) No, it doesn't have stars and stripes. Does anyone know where it's from? (Let them respond.) This is called a pennant. It's a tiny flag that some people wave on a stick at a football or basketball game. (If there is time, you might want to tell about the school or team it is from.) How many of you have ever been to a basketball game? (Wait for show of hands.) It's exciting to watch all the players. Sometimes they run really fast, stop quick and all of a sudden they are at the other end. It would be exciting to be one of the players and have all the fans shouting and cheering for you. Basketball looks pretty easy. But if you ask players, I think they would tell you it is hard work. The players practice, sometimes three or four hours a day. They have to do exercises and keep their muscles just right. They have to eat the right kind of food and get the right amount of sleep. It's called being in training. Most of them had to learn where to go on the basketball court. Sometimes it looks to some of us like they're just running back and forth; a big group up and then the same big group back down the court. But to a real basketball player, that's not at all what happens. The players all have a different special place to go on the court. Everyone has their own spot. Who tells them where to go? (Let them respond.) The coach does. The coach teaches them all the different special places to go when they run back and forth. If they didn't do what the coach tells them, would their team win very often? (Let them respond.) No, they probably wouldn't win. Sometimes they win anyway even though they didn't do what the coach told them. Most coaches aren't happy just to win. They want their team to do what they learn in their practices. Our lesson today is about Jesus learning to do what God told him to. God was a little like a coach. Jesus had to learn many things before he could teach other people. Our verse for today says one of the things Jesus learned was to be obedient. That means he learned to do what he was told. You would think that Jesus could do whatever he wanted to. But our verse says that he did what God told him to. Sometimes it's not fun to do what we're told by our parents. But that's one of the things about being a player instead of a coach. Players are only a team when they do what the coach tells them. Next time you don't want to do what you're told, remember that Jesus had to do what he was told, too. CSS Publishing Co., , by CSS Additional Illustrations Prayer is the bridge that Jesus builds in order to talk with his Heavenly Father. The Latin word for "priest" is pontifex, which means "bridge builder." Jesus is described in the Letter to the Hebrews as "a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek." As a priest, Jesus builds a bridge of prayer between heaven and earth. He crosses that bridge not once, not twice, but three times in that short span of time in the Garden of Gethsemane, as the future stared him straight in the face and straight through his heart. It is not unusual for persons visualizing Christ to see him as being like themselves. The extreme of this is probably Van Gogh's painting which he called PIETA. It is a painting of Jesus and his mother. The unique characteristic of the picture is that Jesus has red hair. Obviously it is highly doubtful that Jesus had red hair. Very few people living in that part of the world do, but Van Gogh had red hair and that is how he saw Jesus. There is that natural tendency to paint Christ in our own image. Yet for most of us that is not enough. After World War II, the people of Genoa, Italy commissioned an eight ton statue of Christ. Once it was finished, it was not put on a hilltop, as other statues of Christ have been. It was lowered into the depths of the bay in Genoa where a great naval battle had been fought during the Second World War and where many ships were sunk. It was a site where many sailors gave their lives. The symbolism of Christ being lowered into the deep where the bodies of those brave men rest is powerful and profound. The statue is called CHRIST OF THE DEEP. It represents what Christ has done in our behalf. He emptied himself and became as we are. I heard about a pastor who was being honored by his congregation for his humility. They presented him with a medal. Unfortunately after a while they had to take it back because he PUT IT ON and thereby revealed that he wasn't as humble as he appeared. We live in a tainted world. None of us escapes. Steven Leacock wrote a brilliant, humorous piece about a young pastor named Melpomenus Jones. This young pastor was honest; honest in a timid sort of way. He couldn't even bring himself to tell the little white lies that are part of our normal etiquette as a society. For example, on his first pastoral call, he got along fine at first. He drank some tea, leafed through a family photograph album, and chatted pleasantly. Then after about an hour, he stood to leave and he said, "Well, I really must be going now." The hostess, trying to be polite, said "Oh, must you go so soon?" Well, being totally honest, he had to admit that he really didn't have to go at that particular moment. So he sat back down. As the afternoon progressed, they went through this little ritual several times. He would say he had to go and she would say, "Really must you?" and he would respond, "Well no. I really don't have to." After all, he began his vacation the next day. There was nothing really pressing. Finally the husband came home. It was now late into the evening, and the husband with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice said to the pastor, "Well couldn't you just stay all night?" The young pastor said there really wasn't any reason why he couldn't and so he did. He stayed the next day and several days afterward. He had leafed through that photograph album til his fingers were sore. Even worse he was bloated from drinking so much tea. Finally he was so filled with tea and with boredom he became physically ill and his condition deteriorated. With a sigh he said to the host, "Now I really must be going," and he died. Well, he was honest, but this is a world that isn't ready for that kind of honesty. (2) Karl Barth was once asked what he would say if he met Adolph Hitler. This great theologian responded, "I would say to him Jesus Christ died for your sins." This is not to make light of sin or our responsibility for sin. It is to say we have one who sympathizes with us in our sin, who understands our weaknesses, and who is able to forgive us for all our transgressions. There is a story about two little boys who were fighting, as little boys are often prone to do. One of them yelled at the other, "I'll never speak to you again." They went to their respective houses, but the next day they were back out playing as if nothing had happened. One of the little boys' mother asked him why they were speaking to each other now. He responded, "Me and Johnny are good forgetters." (4) There is not a heart so hard that the sword of the Spirit cannot pierce that heart and penetrate that heart, and bring that heart to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. George Whitfield, the great Eighteenth-Century evangelist, was hounded by a group of detractors who called themselves the "Hellfire Club." They mocked him, they laughed at him, they derided his work, they made fun of his preaching. On one occasion, one of their ring leaders, a young man named Thorpe, was mimicking Whitfield, making fun of him. He was actually delivering one of his sermons with brilliant accuracy, perfectly imitating his tone and his facial expressions. They were laughing, having a wonderful time. Then all of a sudden, a strange thing happened. As this young man, Thorpe, was preaching Whitfield's sermon, his lips began to quiver, his eyes began to water, the color drained right out of his face; his friends didn't know what was going on. They thought he was getting ill. But in reality he was getting well. Because all of a sudden he sat down on the ground and cried out to God and asked the Lord Jesus Christ to save him. This man, Thorpe, went on to become a prominent Christian leader in the city of Bristol.7 This sword of the Lord is indeed sharp, living, and powerful. It can cut the cancer of sin out of your heart. It can cut for you the bread of life. But it is a two-edged sword. It can cut you and kill you, or it can cut you and heal you. The choice is up to you. Several years ago, Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks did a comedy skit called the “2013 Year Old Man.” In the skit, Reiner interviews Brooks, who is the old gentleman. At one point, Reiner asks the old man, “Did you always believe in the Lord?” Brooks replied: “No. We had a guy in our village named Phil, and for a time we worshiped him.” Reiner was surprised: “You worshiped a guy named Phil? Why?” Brooks replied: “Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands!” Reiner asked: “Did you have prayers?” Brooks answered: “Yes, would you like to hear one? O Phil, please don’t be mean, and hurt us, or break us in two with your bare hands.” Reiner: “So when did you start worshiping the Lord?” Brooks: “Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up, and a lightning bolt hit Phil. We gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another, ‘There’s something bigger than Phil!’” (1) Well, yes, there is something bigger than Phil. There is Someone bigger than the totality of our universe. Henri Barbusse once wrote a novel with the French title, Le Fleu, or The Flower. In this novel there are two soldiers. One of the soldiers is a man of sterling character. His friend, however, whose name is Dominique has made many mistakes in his life. In one passage the solder with the unblemished record has been wounded and is dying. He turns to Dominique and says: “It can’t be long now. Listen, Dominique. You’ve lived a bad life. There are many convictions against your name. But there are no convictions against me. There’s nothing on my name. Take my name. Take it I give it to you. Straight off, you’ve no more convictions. Take my name, and give me yours so that I can carry [all your past mistakes] away with me.” (4) One night for devotions, a youth leader took a group of kids and their counselors down to the edge of that lake and had them stand behind the cross, so that the light was shining toward them and the lake stretched out before them. Finally, the leader asked them to look up at the cross and tell the group what they saw. Wanting to sound scholarly and devout, the young people blurted out responses like, “forgiveness,” and “salvation,” and “sacrifice.” This counselor wanted them to see more. “What you should see when you look up at the cross,” he said, “is God, on the other side, looking back down at you. Whenever God looks at us, he looks at us through the cross of his Son, Jesus. His victory over our sin, his victory over our chaos is what God sees.” (5) That’s how God looks at us—through the prism of the cross of Christ. And because of that cross God sees us as if we were without blemish. The writer of Hebrews shows us God’s character and God’s relationship to us, God’s children: “Therefore, since we have a great high priest . . . Jesus the Son of God . . . Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Last summer the [Catholic] MadonnaRehabilitationHospital in Lincoln, Nebraska, had reached an agreement with pornographer Don Parisi, who wanted to donate his Internet domain name madonna.com to the hospital. But the agreement was voided because the singer Madonna filed and won a complaint to claim the domain name. Her publicist boldly asserted that she "happens to be the most famous Madonna in the world." Something must have happened, though, because the address madonna.com does take you to the MadonnaRehabilitationHospital. Of course the actress Madonna is better known than the Mother of Jesus in many pockets of culture, but the combination of presumption and lack of awareness of a broader reality on the part of Madonna's publicist is remarkable. And sad. Anyone facing criminal prosecution or a costly civil suit wants a lawyer not only with the highest skill level, but also with a passion to fight ferociously for the client. Likewise, when we need a heart transplant to survive, a well-meaning friend with a penknife and no medical training won't do us much good; and neither will a cardiac surgeon who chooses to vacation in Maui in our hour of need. What we most need is a physician with skill and a deep commitment to the patient. Those of us with sin-sick souls require that similar combination of sensitivity and compassion, balanced by the power to effectively heal and forgive. We need to know, in the words of the children's table grace, "God is great and God is good. "Goodness without power is ineffective, and power without goodness is demonic. That is the secret to understanding this story. Jesus looked into the young man's heart. The writer of Hebrews tells us that "all are open and laid bare" to the eyes of God. Certainly this is a gift that Christ shared with his Father. Jesus knew the young man's heart. He knew what this young man needed. The prescription that Jesus gave this young man is not a prescription Jesus would give to everyone. It was designed to meet this particular young man's need. Mark tells us that Jesus looked on the young man and loved him. Jesus saw his sincerity, his humility, his obvious potential. But he also saw a gaping hole in his life. And Jesus took direct aim at that hole. "You lack one thing," Jesus said. "Go, sell what you have, and give it to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." John Foster in one of his books tells how he came into his home in this country one day in the thirties to find his daughter in tears before the radio set. He asked her why and found that the news bulletin had contained the sentence—“Japanese tanks entered Canton today.” Most people would hear that with at the most a faint feeling of regret. Statesmen may have heard it with grim foreboding; but to most people it did not make so very much difference. Why then was John Foster’s daughter in tears? Because she had been born in Canton. To her Canton meant a home, a nurse, a school, friends.