Preached February 7, 2010         
 from Luke 5:1-11         

"Bring in people instead of fish."  "Tend my sheep."  "Make disciples."  "Gather in the harvest."  "Gathering," some people refer to this process as "evangelism." 

But we sometimes have a very negative view of evangelism, and sometimes for good reason.  When I was in college, there was a young man who would get permission each year (under campus freedom of speech rules) to preach on the library steps.  He was awful.  He would tell the students that they were all going to hell.  He would point at typical female students and accuse them of being promiscuous only he would use bad names to say it.  He would say that their clothing proved it.  He would point at male students and call them names too.  He would tell everyone that they were terrible and were going to suffer for eternity if they didn't repent of all the sins he was accusing them of. In my memory, he was everything that is wrong when people try to evangelize without love.

Many of those people may have had a very sincere and deep desire to show others what they had found in Jesus Christ, but the way they went about it seemed to me to have nothing to do with Jesus.  It was uncomfortable, awkward, embarrassing, and annoying.

So what IS it that Jesus wants us to do when he tells us to fish for people, make disciples, feed his sheep, or gather in the harvest?  Well, I picture open arms embracing others, gathering people into community.  Christian evangelism is supposed to mean telling others the good news, the gospel message.  But the fellow in front of the library didn't tell us any good news.

In fact, the term evangelical has become in the minds of some, a synonym for intolerant or fundamentalist (which is another word that started out positive but had been hijacked).  Once upon a time, being a fundamentalist meant that you focused on the basic fundamentals of Christian faith, and didn't add things like church structure, denominational practices, or agreement with specific creeds to the requirement for membership.  The term fundamentalist may have gotten too far away from its original meaning to be reclaimed, but I think we in the mainline churches should try to reclaim the term evangelical for ourselves. It's a biblical term, and who doesn't like to tell others good news?

 We all love to tell people our good news.  Do you keep silent when you get engaged, or you are expecting a baby (or grandbaby)?   What about when you land that great promotion or find the exact house you've been looking for at a really good price.  You get excited and you let people know. And if your good news is something others could share, we share.  If I find a restaurant I like, I tell people.  If I see a good movie or I find a great sale, I tell people.  That's evangelism, bringing messages to others. 

In the church, the term refers to telling people why we follow Jesus Christ, why we meet together as a community, and what our relationship with Jesus and with each other means to us.  But, even if we can't get past all the negative connotations of the term, we need to do it, whatever we call it.  Otherwise, we're actually being incredibly selfish.

Because Jesus Christ has conquered sin and death, there is hope for all of us.  But what does this mean for you?  Is God real for you?  Has there been a time in your life when you knew that what had happened had been "a God thing,"  Have you ever dealt with a problem that you know you could not have dealt with without God?  I've recently had the opportunity to visit with some of the homebound saints of this church.  More than once, one of them has told me that it was their personal relationship with Jesus that sustained them, that helped them deal with pain. It was that relationship that gave them comfort when they were lonely, or helped them cope with the loss of a loved one.  This is evangelism, telling what Jesus has done for them.

Why do you come to church?  What is it that this community means to you?  What does your relationship with Jesus Christ mean to you? Are you part of this community because it gives you opportunities to serve Christ through serving others?  Tell people that.  They may be longing for that opportunity too.

Tell about the book. Over a hundred regular people contributed.  Each told one simple story about something special God had done for them.  One experience they had had where Jesus Christ made his love clear to them.  When I read it, I cry.   This is evangelism.

Most people in our city, our state, our nation, and our world do not attend church. They may believe in God, or even in Jesus, but they are missing out the fullness of Christian community.  Churches are imperfect, because they are made up of imperfect people, but with Christ at the center, they are a community like no other.  Each of us is here today for a reason. Following Christ, learning about Christ is valuable to us. We should want to share that reason with others, and tell other people what it is we have found. 

Evangelism doesn't mean that we convince people to come our particular church. It means that we tell them how we have experienced God through Jesus.  If they then begin to know God and want to follow Christ, God will lead them to the church they need to become a part of. 

Evangelism isn't about numbers or conquests or making people say particular words.  It is simply telling people our own personal, special, individual "good news."  It is opening up our arms as a follower of Jesus Christ and offering to bring them into the boat with us and Jesus.

The good news is that Jesus will help all who call on him.  This is wonderful, but as we read in Romans 10:14 "But how can they call on him to help them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?"

But there may be people here who do not have a relationship with Christ.  If you haven't entered into a relationship with Christ because you think you are too tough, or too intelligent, or too sophisticated, or too sinful, or for any reason, you are missing out on love, on life.

Remember what we talked about last week?  If you don't have love, nothing else matters, because everything will pass away except love.  Jesus Christ is the embodiment of Love.  Pray that God will help you know this Love.  Maybe it's time for you to climb into the boat with Jesus and row out into the deep water. 

Let's share with others what God has done for us. AMEN

Preached January 31, 2010     
from 1 Corinthians 12:27 - 13:13      

At the time Paul wrote this, the church in Corinth was a very vibrant church.  It was also very blessed.  They were in good financial shape. They were growing.   The Holy Spirit had blessed the members with an amazing array of spiritual gifts.  Although the Christian faith was out of the mainstream, the people were not being overtly persecuted, or even openly opposed.  Yet, the church of Corinth was in trouble.  Members were quarreling. Factions were forming.  Services were sometimes disruptive with so many people wanting to share their spiritual insights and discoveries that people interrupted others. 

The imagery of a body with people as individual members of it would have been something that the Corinthians were familiar with.  In the Greek and Roman culture of the day, the image was often used to keep various social classes in their place.  People believed that the highest social class represented the head, the ones in charge; the lower classes needed to maintain their assigned roles and positions in order for the body to function.  Some members of the congregation in Corinth were applying this same kind of hierarchy to the roles in the church.  They believed that the possession of certain gifts made them more important than other church members.  Others then were, perhaps jealous and tried to "develop" the various gifts, or at least prayed constantly for them, not for the good of the church, but for the honor they felt others were receiving.  In our reading last week, we saw how Paul took this culture based image of the social body, and turned it around, explaining how there was no hierarchy in Christ's body.  He told the people that some of the "less honorable" members were actually the most vital for the life of the church.  Christ's body gave equal honor to all.

In today's reading, Paul tells us that, if there is any hierarchy at all, it is not in the honor that possessors of particular gifts should receive, but in the usefulness of the gift for the health of the church.   And, in fact, Paul tells them (and us) that NONE of the gifts matter without love.  Paul says, "You want the better gifts?" I'll show you the most excellent way."

The term "prophet" meant someone who spoke forth the word of God.  The message from God could be about the future, or it could be an interpretation of scripture.  The term prophet often meant the same as "preacher." If a preacher lacks love, if a person speaking in an unknown language lacks love, the person is just making annoying noise, like a gong without the ability to hear its own sound.

Someone working miracles or someone who was given the ability to heal others, if that person does it for fame, admiration, the glory, but is not doing it in love, it is ultimately useless. 

We see this same idea in Matthew 7:22-23 where Jesus says:

Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

No amount of giving or service to others, even martyrdom is useless if these things are done in an effort to impress others, rather than out of true love.

Even faith, even true trust in God without love is useless.  How can that be? Isn't faith the thing that brings salvation?  Yes, but true faith has love as a result.  True faith causes love.  Just believing that God exists; just believing about Christ, without trusting in Christ and following the way of love, just believing in our heads is not true faith.  We are not called to believe about, but to trust in Christ.

Let's read what Paul says about love again.

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,

it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes,

always perseveres.

Love lasts forever.

Faith, hope and love are what we need most in this life.  Spiritual gifts are important for building the church, for building God's kingdom, so, yes, we should rejoice in them, but when we see Christ face to face, we won't need them anymore. Now, spiritually, we are like small children, and we do things like small children.  But when we have completed this life of spiritual growth, we will do things differently.  Now we can only see God and the things of God as a reflection, like in a fuzzy darkened mirror.  We need help understanding God's word.  But when we are completely with God, and God's kingdom is finally all in all, we will understand, and our understanding will continue forever.

When God's kingdom comes, we will no longer need to hope, our hopes will be fulfilled.  And we won't even need faith anymore, because we will actually see and comprehend what we have been trusting in. 

But love will last throughout all eternity. AMEN

Preached January 10, 2010 
from Luke 3: 15-17, 21-22 

So, here is John, living in the desert and calling people to change their ways and get ready for the coming of someone so special that he wasn't even worthy to be a lowly servant to him. John was careful to make it clear to the people that he was not the Messiah they were waiting for. He called the people to be baptized in the river as a symbol of their death to their old way of being, as a symbol of cleansing and renewal. And then Jesus shows up on the banks of the Jordan River. 

John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, and, although Luke's gospel doesn't mention it, Matthew's gospel tells us that John was a little freaked when Jesus came to be baptized.  John said, "You should be baptizing me" but Jesus said that it should be done "to fulfill all righteousness."  We aren't sure what that meant.

Over the last 2000 years or so, many people have speculated on why Jesus did this.

•     This was a major turning point in the life of Jesus.
•      He was identifying with the brokenness of humanity as a symbol of solidarity.
•      The act models humility and submission for us.
•      Water is a symbol of newness and power; Jesus was beginning a new ministry in the power of the Holy Spirit.
•      Baptism is a symbol of death and resurrection to new life.

Perhaps it is some of all of this.

But part of why John was reluctant to baptize Jesus is because he realized that there was a greater baptism than what he offered, and that Jesus, the Messiah would bring that baptism to the people, a baptism "with the Holy Spirit and with fire." 

So, what was the difference?  John's baptism focused on the individual decision to change one's life.  The baptism of Jesus focuses on what God does for us.  Yes, even the best of people have ways they need to change, things they need to repent of, but even more than this, we all need the salvation that only the baptism of fire and the Holy Spirit can give us.  The baptism that Jesus brings burns away our pretenses, and fills us with spiritual power. The baptism that Jesus brings is not a one-time event.  It is a rebirth into lifelong role as a beloved child of God.  As John the Baptist did, we use the symbolism of water baptism, but because of Jesus, our baptism is much more.  The water ceremony is just a symbol of something that seems almost too good to be true.  Through Jesus, we become the chosen ones of God.  The reading from Isaiah 43 tells us what it means to be chosen. 

God tells us: "I created you. I formed you. I have redeemed you.  I summon you by name.  You are mine.  I will be with you.  I am your God."

This is not some kind of exclusive superiority of Christians.  God wants everyone to share in this.  But too few people do. It is though our identity with Christ that we discover God's claim on us. 

Let's read it again. "And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."

Heaven opened up. This was the inauguration of a new working of God. The Hebrew people had understood that they were God's chosen, but far too few others understood this.  Jesus shows us that if we will just die to self, our true identity in God can be born. 

Baptism is not about our repentance, our changing direction, although that is part of it.  But it is primarily about God.  God has claimed us as God's own.  We are God's beloved.  We are God's much loved children.

Throughout the New Testament, we see the term "beloved" or "those loved" used as the term for the followers of Christ.  In the English Standard Version Jude 1:1 says, "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ"

And the title "beloved" also appears in Romans, Hebrews, Corinthians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, and Timothy. WE ARE GOD's beloved! 

Sometime try saying it out loud.  It is truly amazing.  "God LOVES me." Or maybe "GOD loves ME."  "I am God's beloved."  The psalmist found this amazing too when he wrote "When I consider the heavens the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have set in place, what is humanity that you think about us, that you care for us.  You made us a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned us with glory and honor"

Let us LIVE as God's beloved. Let us share the good news of our place in Christ.  AMEN.