January 2014 News Letter

January 2014 Newsletter

January 5-  Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72:1-7; Ephesians 3:1-12; Matthew 2:1-12

In the Northern Hemisphere, we are experiencing the darkness of midwinter.  Days are short and nights long.  But there are other forms of darkness – poverty, war, injustice, oppression, hatred, prejudice, fear – forms that also affect us just as they did the people of biblical times.  In these passages, light breaks through the darkness:  a prophet calls us to arise and see the light of liberation and peace, reconciliation and joy; the psalmist prays for a ruler who will light the way of his people with righteousness, prosperity, and an end to oppression and injustice.  The writer of Ephesians lights the way through mystery, with a message of the good news of Christ Jesus; and the Magi follow the light of a star, finding more than they were looking for, to return home transformed.

January 12 –Isaiah 42:1-9; Psalm 29; Acts 10:34-43; Matthew 3:13-17

Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan, at the hands of John the Baptizer, publicly identifies Jesus as the Christ- the Messiah, the Anointed, the Chosen One of God. [Yeshua]  This baptism also marks the beginning of the ministry for the long-awaited Messiah, whose coming is foretold in the Isaiah reading.  As Peter explains the Acts passage, we can trust in the saving work of Jesus the Christ.

January 19 – Isaiah 49:1-7; Psalm 40:1-11; I Corinthians 1:1-9; John 1:29-42

God’s call emerges as a dominant theme in today’s readings.  Isaiah proclaims that God’s call came even before he was born (Isaiah 49:1b).  John clarifies his prophetic calling to proclaim the coming of Christ (John 1:31b).  Jesus invites John and others to “Come and See” (John 1:39).  Andrew calls to his brother Simon, “ We have found the Messiah” (John 1:41b), and brings Simon to Jesus.  Jesus calls Simon to discipleship and renames him Cephas (Peter).  As God has called disciples since the beginning of time, so Christ calls us through these many scriptures.

January 26 – Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 4-9; I Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23

Themes of light and darkness focus the readings from Isaiah, Psalm 27, and Matthew’s Gospel.  In the midst of loss (destruction of one’s homeland, the death of John the Baptist), hope is not lost.  God’s light shines in the darkness: “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness – on them light has shined” (Isaiah 9:2).

[For the year 2014, listed below are a few books the Pastor recommends.

Breaking the 12 Jewish Codes that will Transform your Life, Family, Health, and Finances – Perry Stone

The Four Blood Moons –Pastor John Hagee

The Seven Festivals of the Messiah – Eddie Chumney (Thursday Night Bible Study – Belt Parsonage)

Who is the Bride of Christ- Eddie Chumney

Restoring the Two Houses of Israel-Eddie Chumney

Ponderings of the Pastor

Shared from the book- God Calling.

Between the Years

Our Lord and our God.  We joy in Thee.  Without Thy Help we could not face unafraid the year before us.

I stand between the years.  The Light of My Presence is flung across the year to come – the radiance of Sun of Righteousness.  Backward, over the past year, is My Shadow thrown, hiding trouble and sorrow and disappointment.

Dwell not on the past – only on the present.  Only use the past as the trees use My Sunlight to absorb it, to make from it in after days the warming fire-rays.  So store only the blessings from Me, the Light of the World.  Encourage yourselves by the thought of these.

Bury every fear of the future, of poverty for those dear to you, of suffering , of loss.  Bury all thought of unkindness and bitterness, all your dislikes, your resentments, your sense of failure, your disappointment in others and in yourselves, your gloom, your despondency, and let us leave them all, buried, and go forward to a new and risen life.

Remember that you must not see as the world sees.  I hold the year in My Hands – in trust for you.  But I shall guide you one day at a time.

Leave the rest with Me.  You must not anticipate the gift by fears or thoughts of the days ahead.

And for each day I shall supply the wisdom and the strength.

Blessings on the New Year 2014

Pastor Cleve

Emmanuel God is with us

Sermon December 22 2013  Emmanuel: God is with us.

Isaiah 7:10-16

The four Sundays of Advent  are like great tympani beats sounding a prophetic word of yearning and hope.  In the Fourth Sunday, Isaiah brings us round to the great sign of god’s promise: A young  woman will give birth to a son whose name will be Immanuel, “God with us”.

The child’s name, Immanuel (God with us), reinforces the divine promise to deliver the nation from its enemies; a brief prophetic oracle in Isaiah 8:9-10, likely connected to the same events, develops the implications of the name.

The sign of the child is to be seen and heard against our deepest fears, but also our desires that the world be transformed.  As in the great Advent hymn “O Come, O come, Immanuel,” the ancient biblical images of what God has promised stir us beyond our cliché’s and our presumptions. 

The sign God gives, despite our own refusals and our self-interests in deliverance, goes beyond our ambivalences to God’s  eternal self-consistency.  God’s covenant with the creation is to redeem it from the inside out. 

The promise of a Messiah is grounded in God’s intention to restore us and to transform the world we have come to make it into our own image.  The divine promise is thus deeply hidden in God’s own being, juast as the child is hidden in the mother’s womb.

Psalm 80: 1-7, 17-19 (UMH 801)

Psalm 80 reflects an experience that Jews, ancient and modern, have described as  hester panim, the “hiding of God’s face” or the “eclipse of God.”  The refrain of the psalm (vv. 3,7,19) pleads for the return of God’s countenance: “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved.”  The refrain recalls the much beloved priestly benediction in Numbers 6:24-26, which associates God’s shining countenance with well being; it also recalls prophetic warning in Deuteronomy 31:17-18, which links the hiding of God’s face as the Israelites’ turn to other gods. Christmas is coming and the “hopes and fears of all the years” will be met in the one who is born in that manger.  “Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved. In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven!”  It is this hope that sustains us on even the darkest bleak midwinter day.

Romans 1:1-7

Paul’s salutation frames for us a life lived in light of the coming of Christ.  Who among us does not yearn for this kind of clarity of identity and purpose in Life?  Surely the culminating call of the Advent season is a call to renew our commitment and devotion to Christ and his purposes for us in and for the world.  There is a crucial reminder to be heard and heeded as we turn the corner to the familiar tunes and tales of Christmas. As we prepare for the season in which we celebrate the Word became flesh,  Paul’s salutation  provides the perfect segue.

Matthew 1:18-25

American culture and media both load Christmas with false expectations of family harmony and good cheer.  These images and expectations allow Hallmark and the shopping mall catalog to define the “perfect Christmas.”  In the weeks before Christmas, many who worship in our congregations invest a great deal of time and energy trying to achieve that picture-perfect Christmas.  Others feel emptiness or sadness that their lives and families prevent them from having the sort of Christmas they believe they should have.

In today’s story of Mary and Joseph, God’s work often upsets comfortable social expectations and conventions.  The first Christmas was not produced by a flawless lead up and elaborate preparations dictated by convention. 

Certainly most people would not expect the incarnation to happen through the life of the young virgin girl, Mary.  Many in our congregations forget just what a scandal the incarnation and the virgin birth really were, that behind the pretty nativity scene lies both a Wonder and a Scandal.

To Joseph, the pregnancy is  a violation of social convention and ethics for an unmarried woman.  He decides to divorce Mary, the more humane of his customary legal options.

Perhaps out of kindness, or regret, he will do this quietly in order not to shame her, and he realizes that things are not going to go as planned.  Mary has simply violated the important moral rule that she should not be pregnant when they were married.

We are all like Joseph at times, are we not?  We go about our business and do not want to make trouble; we just handle things quietly and without fuss. Perhaps this text reminds us that things we want to do loudly should be done quietly.

God had to get Joseph’s attention.  God sent an angel to appear to Joseph in a dream.

The angel basically said, “ I know this is not what you expected, Joseph, but it is going to be OK. God is about to do something wonderful, despite the fact that according to Jewish custom and law you are in a rather socially unacceptable situation.”

Somehow Joseph has to trust this strange news:  that this child is from the Holy Spirit; that he already has a name, Jesus; and that he will save people from their sins.

This child will somehow show us a different way to be.

So often God opens a door for us, or gives us a vision, beckoning us to trust and follow. The call of Abraham. The call of Moses.  The call of Noah.

Think about the last time God called you to do something strange or out of the ordinary.  There was no guarantee that what He asked you to do would be a great blessing.

As Mary and Joseph journeyed to the first Christmas, they did not know where God would take them; all they knew was that something wonderful had been promised and that they had been beckoned to follow.

So the text calls us to rise and follow God’s call, not knowing where the journey will take us, or the path that God has set before us.

Immanuel : God with us.  Amen.

Go Tell John What you See and Hear

Sermon   December 15  2013    Go tell John what you See and What you Hear 

Isaiah 35:1-10

In the early sixth century B.C.E. Judah experienced the catastrophe that the prophet Isaiah had threatened, and many people were taken into exile.

Now the prophet foretells a coming day when Judah will be restored.  The desert wilderness that currently produces only enough grass to support a few sheep will “burst into bloom”(v2).

People in exile who are discouraged will be delivered.  Those who are in despair will have their hope restored.   These great acts of God will open the eyes of those who are currently unable to see the hand of God at work, and will cause people to rejoice and praise God.

Those who have been cut off from Jerusalem will be able to return safely.  Their despair will turn to joy!

Like the people of Judah, do we have  difficulty  seeing God’s hand of transformation at work in our world and in our lives?

UMH 199 Canticle of Mary (Magnificat)  Luke 1:47-55

James 5:7-10

Be patient, …until the coming of the Lord. Like the farm is patient waiting on the seed s to produce a crop. 

Strengthen your hears knowing that the coming of the Lord is near.

Do not grumble against one another.

The suffering and patience of the prophets is an example.

Patience is a virture.

In this busy season observe people while they are out shopping. Some people have patience to wait and wait and wait in a line.  Others get nasty and grumble and make mean and nasty comments to cashiers and waitresses.  They are doing the best they can. Be patient with them and show them the glow of God in your life. Be an example and a shining light in the chaos.

One way you strengthen your heart is to avoid “grumbling against one another”.  What an odd and yet appropriate exhortation.

Survival over the long haul requires patience, not only with the Lord who WiLL return in God’s own time, but with each other, lest you destroy the community that holds you up during the waiting.

Some of the worst behavior I have seen is shown by Christians in a restaurant to waitresses.  What if that was your daughter or son?  What kind of testimony do you leave when grumbling out loudly to them? Or in the line at Target or K Mart, or Walmart. 

You are an Ambassador for Christ in the world around you wherever you find yourself. When you are ugly or have a fowl mouth how can you witness to that person after behaving in such a manner?

Matthew 11:2-11

The Gospels report that those who encountered Jesus were regularly confused about who he really was.  Jesus himself eventually asked his disciples.

“Who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:13).  Those whose existence is bound up with that of Jesus’ end up posing the same question about themselves:  Who am I really?

Such questions of identity come to the front in Matthew 11:2-11.

John wonders who Jesus really is, and Jesus notes that the crowd wonders who John really is.  Jesus alone can bring clarity to both questions.

The Gospels depict John as the first of Jesus’ contemporaries to recognize him as Israel’s long –awaited Messiah.

Remember Jesus asked John to baptize him and John was reluctant until Jesus told him it must be done.

Later John is in prison wondering I am sure why he is about to be behead.

You see when we feel God leading us we may find ourselves in situations that cause us to question our actions.  Following God we think the bands are going to play, the angels will burst out in song. The world will recognize just how powerful and wonderful we are.

True discipleship is never first a question of our efforts to make Christ known to ourselves or others.  The focus never falls first on our achievements, worldly ambitions, or prophetic utterances.

A true disciple knows how easily we substitute the vain imaginations of our heart in place of the living Christ.  A true disciple knows that he or she is still learning how to follow Jesus. 

A true disciple understands the process of spiritual growth and maturity.

If we truly want to receive with joy the long-awaited Prince of Peace, the one who comes at an unexpected hour, we must accept the invitation to walk expectantly in the light of the Lord, each and every day of our lives.

Jesus said:  “ I have yet many things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them now.”  Only step by step, and stage by stage, can you proceed, in your journey upward.

The thing to be sure of is that it is a journey with Jesus. 

Jesus may ask you to sit silent before Him.  He may speak no words for you to write.  Yet all the while that waiting with Him will bring comfort and peace.  Only friends who understand and love each other can wait silent in each other’s presence.

“Who am I?” asked Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in a poem from prison only a few months before the Nazis hanged him.  Despite all his efforts to live faithfully, he wondered whether he was just a hypocrite or a weakling.  “

Who am I? every Christian sometimes asks.

In John the Baptist we find an answer:  to be a disciple is o longer to look at oneself, but rather to look at Christ.

In pointing to him alone, the disciple’s own identity finally becomes clear: “Whoever I am, thou knowest, O God, I am thine.”

Go tell the world what you see and hear.

Jesus lived.  Jesus died. Jesus rose again from the dead. That is our hope that we base our life on. The eternal life that Christ made possible and offers to us when we trust in Him.

Prepare the Way of the Lord

Sermon December  8 2013 Prepare the Way of the Lord

Isaiah 11:1-10

Isaiah sings a  song of peace, telling the story of Israel’s promised restoration.  Jut as a tree that has been cut down can grow again, so a “shoot” or “branch” (V.11) will grow following the exile

One will emerge who will later be called God’s Messiah.  He will be everything that a king is supposed to be, and righteousness and justice will prevail.  The weak will be safe, and no one will need to be afraid.  It may be difficult to imagine the beasts of the animal kingdom living in harmony with one another.  It is even harder to envision a world of nations of peace.  But through the eyes of faith, Isaiah is able to perceive that ultimate reality.

Psalm 72: 1-7, 18-19 UMH 795

Psalm 72 is simply a prayer for the king, concluding with a blessing to God.

Pslam 72 does more than simply offer support and blessing to the existing authorities, however. The particulars of the prayer also hold the governing authorities to account; what is prayed for the king clearly indicates what the king’s power is to be used for.  Justice, righteousness, prosperity, and peace are to be the hallmarks of good government.

According to the universal witness of the Hebrew Bible ( and in keeping with ancient Near Easter ideals of kingship), the king was primarily responsible for rightly administering justice, particularly for those persons who had no one else to stand for them:  the widow; the orphan, and the stranger.

 

Romans 15:4-13

In this passage, Paul describes the transformation that results from the new life in Christ.  The coming of Jesus is the fulfillment of the hope that was promised to the patriarchs and foretold by the prophet Isaiah.

Those who recognize that Christ is the fulfillment of the promises of God are to live in harmony with one another, both Jews (the circumcised) and Gentiles.  Each group is to welcome the other, while accepting and respecting each others differences.  Christ, who has welcomed us, is our model. His coming fills us with Joy and peace so that we are enabled to live lives filled with hope.

Matthew 3:1-12

Warning Lights! We have all experienced them.  Warning Ink is Low.  Warning Fuel is Low. Warning Oil pressure is down. Door is open.

What do we do with these warnings?  Usually just ignore them? If you ignore your ink warning you will be printing something and before you finish a blank page comes out of the printer.

Ignore the fuel sign and keep driving and you will be walking to get gas.

The point is we are given a warning for a reason.

John the Baptist was warning people out in the wilderness that they must repent because Jesus the Messiah was coming.  “Prepare the way for the Lord….make his paths straight.

We who live on the other side of John’s proclamation understand that he was urging people to prepare their minds and hearts for Jesus, the one whose coming to the world changed everything.  A few people listened, but most ignored this strange man who ate weird food and dressed in a rather unusual fashion.

After all you ignore warning lights and get along for a while.

What about eternity? Preachers in the past used to warn folks that the time is near for Jesus to come. Only those looking for Him are now warning people.  This preacher has been proclaiming this for a long time.

We all need to change at times.  1) if you don’t change your study habits you will flunk. 2) if you don’t change your priorities, your marriage will fail.  3) if you don’t kick that habit, you will ruin your health.

Preacher I have plenty of time!. No need to change now. Some are downright resistant.

Do you know how many church members it takes to change a light bulb?  CHANGE? My grandmother donated that light bulb!!!!!

Preachers sometimes do lay on a lot of guilt.  But that’s our job. We are to sound the cry. AWAKE to righteousness.  Nowhere in the bible does it say I’m ok you’re OK.

The scriptures teach me that while God meets us where we are, He does not leave us where we are. Our whole life is a  journey of opportunity to do better to be better. Warning lights come on all the time and those remind us that we should repent and get back on track.

Yes, I know it is uncomfortable coming in here and listen to the preacher point out where you have failed God. Reminders. Warning Lights if you will.  You see I am accountable  for the sheep God has placed in my care. Life is not a joke or a game.

The warning light is on.  The time is come. Today is the day of salvation.  Prepare the way of the Lord.

You know how long it takes to plan a wedding.  Especially those that have just experienced that say back in the summer? Everything has to be  just right.

The church is the bride of Christ and we are to be preparing on this end for the bride groom. He has gone to prepare our mansions and make ready the wedding feast.

Our duty is to make ready and be prepared like a bride.

John 3:29  The bride belongs only to the bridegroom.

John’s descrptions of the future (in the book of Revelation) steals your breath. His depiction of the final battle is graphic.  God clashes with evil.  The sacred encounters the sinful.

The pages howl with the shrieks of dragons and smolder with the coals of firy pits.

But in the midst of the battlefield there is a rose.  John describes it in chapter 21:

I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

In this final mountaintop encounter,  God pulls back the curtain and allows the warrior to peek into the homeland.  When given the task of writing down what he sees, John choses the most beautiful compassion earth has to off.  The Holy City, John says, is like a “bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

Are you ready?  Just like the African-American spiritual says:  I want to be ready to walk in Jerusalem just like John.

Are You Ready?

Sermon December 1, 2013  You Must Be Ready

Old Testament – Isaiah 2:1-5

Isaiah offers not only a vision of global transformation, but an invitation to live toward that day. “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” However, hard it may be to believe that a new and longed-for realit will take hold some day, there is power in walking in Gods light now one step at a time.

The future belongs to God, but the first step toward that future belongs to those who have glimpsed God’s light and are willing to trust that enough light lies ahead.

Psalm 122 UMH 845

It seems important to pay attention to the form of our prayers, in light of this psalm.  What are the assumptions behind or prayers?  Do we pray as the privileged, for others who are disadvantaged?  Do our prayers somehow imply a division between “us” and “them”, somehow raising us and our interests to a place of greater importance?

Church and society approach Christmas ostensibly seeking the same things: celebration, peace, prosperity.  Under the surface , though, there are profound differences.  Society tends to focus on our own families and communities, and tends toward materialism (though longing for something deeper). 

Are we ready for Jesus to Come?  The yearning inside is always looking for something better. If I get that degree things will be better. If I get that promotion things will be better. If I buy that new car all will be well.  Regardless of what we are searching for unless it is that relationship with God we will always feel that nagging emptiness. God created us to be in relation with him. If we do not find that relationship the emptiness remains.

The church is called to worship, to a wider community, and to a deeper and more widely shared prosperity.  This purposeful hope is good news to a congregation of worshipers who are eager to say, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord.”

Epistle  Romans 13:11-14

The lives of most American families are completely overwhelmed by the demands on their time; (even in smaller communities like Belt and Highwood) : households must accommodate multiple work schedules, with school and extracurricular activities too numerous to count.

The school calendar on the refrigerator can no longer manage the schedule a busy family keeps.  Even finding the time to coordinate multiple calendars can be a challenge. 

As the First Sunday of Advent brings the “holiday season” into full gear, time becomes a scarce commodity indeed.

 

Because we can communicate with anyone, anywhere, anytime, we increasingly feel that we ought to be connected 24-7 and that all of our electronic systems should be up and running at all times to make this possible. That is one reason it is hard to  BE STILL and KNOW that God is God.

We are racing so fast. Talking so fast. Doing everything so Fast.  We just need to slow down a bit and realize how really close it is until Jesus Comes.  WE must be ready. At all times. Even in the busy times.  Jesus is coming. We must be ready.

Where do we go?  Where is the sanctuary that we can flee to. How can we escape from misunderstanding, from ourselves.

Where can We get away from ourselves, from the sense of failure, our weakness, our sins and shortcomings.???

We can go to the Eternal God our refuge. Once we are in His Immenseness we forget our smallness, our meanness, our limitations. Then the relief of safety merges into joy of appreciation of our refuge, and we absorb the Divine, and absorb His strength to conquer.

Gospel Matthew 24: 36-44

The day and hour of Jesus return, no one knows. Only the Father.  For as the days of Noah were so will it be the coming of the Son of Man.  Eating , drinking, marrying and giving in marriage.  They knew nothing until the flood came and swept them all away.   So shall it be the coming of the Son of Man.    We must be ready.  The Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.

Two in the field one taken, one will be left.  Two women will be grinding meal one will be taken and one will be left. KEEP Awake…you do not know what day your Lord is coming.

Be ready Jesus is coming.

Christians have long debated when and how this day of judgment will take place.  One line of thinking has combined Matthew 24:36-44 with other apocalyptic passages in the Hebrew Bible and New Testament to work out a timeline of events that are already underway or soon to transpire.

Representative of this position is Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth (a bestseller in the 1970’s) or more recently Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkin’s Left Behind novels.  Like other American fundamentalists, these authors anticipate a day on which God’s elect will be raptured – that is , lifted up in their physical bodies to the Lord – while the reprobate are “left behind” to incur God’s wrath.  We must get ready, because these things may take place yet in our lifetime.

One major function of our apocalyptic text is to remind us to keep awake.  Faith, hope, and memory all help draw us toward Christian responsibility.  We respond to the God who acted in Jesus Christ, who acts now, and who will act in the consummation of history.

 

As the next chapter of Matthew’s Gospel will make abundantly clear, we must also keep awake to the needs of others (Matthew 25:31-46). One day Jesus will appear in the clouds, suddenly, like a thief in the night.  But before that – as Matthew reminds us  - Jesus will appear just around the corner, suddenly, like a hungry person, or a neighbor ill-clothed, or someone sick or imprisoned.   “Therefore [we] also must be ready.” (v.44).

The good news is we don’t have to fear the days ahead.  God is for you.  Turn to the sidelines: that’s God cheering your run.  Look past the finish line; that’s God applauding your steps.  Listen for him in the bleachers, shouting your name.   Too tired to continue? He’ll carry you.  Too discouraged to fight?  He’ s picking you up, God is for You.

We are in the winners circle. We don’t have to fear the future.  For all we don’t know about the next life, this much is certain.

The day Christ comes will be a day of reward for those that are looking for him.  The unknown on earth will be known in heaven.  Those who never heard the cheers of men will hear the cheers of angels.

Those who missed the blessing of a father will hear the blessing of their heavenly Father. The small will be great.  The forgotten will be remembered.  The unnoticed will be crowned and the faithful will be honored.

The winner’s circle isn’t reserved for a handful of the elite, but for a heaven full of God’s children who “will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

Let us go forth and invite as many as will come to the winner’s circle. We must be ready.

The Israel Connection - Dr. David Jeremiah

November 29, 2013  The Israel Connection

On May 14, 1948, God made good on His promise to Israel of her restoration to the Promised Land, Incredible as it sounds, the existence of Israel today is the number one evidence for the fact that Bible Prophecy will be fulfilled literally.

According to biblical prophecy, Israel's rebirth as a nation sets in motion the rest of all of the End-Time prophecies.  Israel's national revival was a necessary prerequisite to the final act of human history. 

So why Israel, and what is the connection to her place in the heart of God?

 In The Israel Connection, Dr. David Jeremiah goes to the scriptures and uncovers the mystery of the importance of the Jewish people.

This DVD will lead you through:

The Biblical Record of Israel's Land
God's choice of Israel
God's Covenant with Israel
The Scattering and suffering of the Jewish People
The relocation and rebirth of the nation of Israel
The Return to the God of Israel
Israel's Bible Connection to Prophecy.

Considering that future events cast their shadow before them, we can see what is happening with Israel as we read today's headlines.  Understand the connection of today's Israel to biblical prophecy, and come to a whole new understanding that the Lord Jesus' return is soon.

You may borrow this DVD by contacting the Pastor.

 

A new Heaven and a new Earth

Sermon November 17, 2013 For I am About to Create a New Heaven and a New Earth

Old Testament – Isaiah 65: 17:25

Today’s passage is a reminder that Change happens constantly. Sometimes we are ready for it and most of the  time we are not. We get comfortable in the way things are. Our story from Isaiah is about God Speaking to a people who once had a way of life that is now lost, and like all of us we sometimes think about the way things were in the past.

Life had been good for the Israelites  ( or so it seemed) right up to the time Babylonians came to town, killed many of their family and friends, carried off the youngest and the best into a foreign land, occupied their homes and ate heartily from gardens that they, the people of Judah, had cultivated so carefully.

In many ways, the Christian churches today are like the Jews who dream of the past.  So many people remember the glory of the 1950’s and 60’s when the mainline churches were full and active, and the people gathered each Sunday for Sunday school and worship, and a picnic on the grounds. But like the Jews we are struggling to let go and move forward.  And with some of the changes in front of us we are screaming NO…….

Wesley believed God had raised the “People called Methodist…to reform the nation, particularly the church, and to spread scriptural holiness over the land” (The Works of John Wesley, 1998).

In our Church Charge conference Sunday night it was alluded to that to move forward maybe we should go back to our roots and review how we became the fastest growing denomination for a long time.  The problem is holiness and Sin do not mix.  We all struggle that what we used to consider Sin is now being flaunted in our face to accept.  That’s like mixing oil and water.  

But the hope that God gives us all is in these words:

Look! I’m creating a new heaven and a new earth.

Psalms Psalm 118 :14-29

The Lord is my strength and my power; the Lord has become my salvation. V.14

Without God we are nothing and can do nothing. He empowers us to go great and mighty things in his name. He has commissioned us to go and spread the gospel and to make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So often we find when we try to do something and do not rely on Him it seems to fall apart. Once we accept The Light our path becomes clearer. God gives us success.

We are to give thanks and Praise His Holy name.  v. 29 O give thanks to the Lord, who is good; for God’s steadfast love endures for ever!

 

Epistle  2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Two directives are the focus of this passage: avoid people who are not followers of Paul and his group, and avoid unruliness.  Paul is critical of their idle actions and encourages them to do what is right.

The command seems harsh but Paul is admonishing the believers to be mature and not just mooch off the body. During this thanksgiving and Christmas are hearts are conditioned to be kind and loving and to help the poor. But this should be our motive all through the year and not just at certain times of the year.  What is the example that we set before the world?

We should be seen as love in action every day. We should do the right things at all times. Unfortunately we don’t and there are those in the Christian church that have brought a bad name to our faith walk. It must have been very obvious in this church in Thessalonian for Paul to make such a command.

The ideal is that we should be living like Jesus may come at anytime and surely we want to be busy about the Lord’s work when he returns and not hiding our talents in the sand. Each of us needs to take responsibility for our own life – our physical life and our spiritual life. Each of us need to that personal relationship with God and to accept that guidance which will keep us on the straight and narrow path.

Gospel Luke 21:5-19

Every generation, at some time in its history, has thought its time was the end time.

After Jesus spoke of the end times and the disciples questioned him Jesus describes three things that will happen in the future (v.8-11). Imposters will come and try to trick the faithful; war and conflict will rage on; and natural disasters will be prevalent.

He assured them that all of these events would not happen all at once.  Then he said a peculiar thing in verse 13:  This will give you an opportunity to testify.  We all can testify of the great things God has done in our lives. But what kind of testimony does one give in the face of great suffering and great hatred?

Suffering always means pain, disruption, separation, and incompletenesss. It can render us powerless and mute, push us to the borders of hopelessness and despair. So the opportunity to testify during times like this  causes us to muster courage in the face of fear, the boldness to speak in the face of suffering.

The writer of the song “Precious Lord” wrote that song  out of such a situation. Thomas Dorsey played piano for churches, clubs and theaters.  One night he left his pregnant wife to go play piano for a big revival in St. Louis. On the first night of the revival he got a telegram that his wife had died. When he arrive home he leared she died during childbirth and the next day his son died as well.

Mr. Dorsey withdrew into sorrow and agony from family and friends. He refused to compose or play any music for quite some time. In the midst of this despair he was sitting at the piano one day and a feeling of peace washed over him. He heard a melody and started playing it.

That night he recorded his this testimony while in the midst of suffering.

Precious Lord take my hand, Lead me on, Let me stand; I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; Through the storm, through the night lead me on to the light; take my hand, precious Lord, Lead me home. (UMH 474).

In times such as we live with threats of destruction all around.  Cries of financial ruin. Wars and rumors of wars.  Imposters in ministry perverting the Gospel.  The time has come for us to Look up for our redemption draweth nigh.

We comfort one another with these words from the Lord:

For I am About to Create a New Heaven and a New Earth ….Amen

The God of the Living

Sermon November 10, 2013 The God of the Living

Old Testament – Haggai 1:15-2:9

Haggai was one of three postexilic prophets who arose in Judah after Persia became the dominant power in the ancient Near East (539 BCE), and Jews were permitted to return to their homeland. Haggai’s oracles can be narrowed down to the three to four month period between August and December, 520 BCE, making him a contemporary of Zechariah, who prophesied from 520-518 BCE. Malachi was active a century later.

The message is the church cannot live on the past. Something quite fitting for our Church Charge Conference. The central theme of this years Conference has been a living tree. Which means we are active and still alive and growing.

Haggai declares that god is with them, working with and through them which should give us courage. (v.5) My spirit abides among you, says the Lord of Hosts: “do not fear”. Secondly God has all of the resources. There is no need to worry about the future. God is the God of Now. God will provide. The last point of Haggai’s theological thinking is:  the presence of God is evident in the glory of God, which is where the real glory of Haggai’s people lies as well…not in the former glory of the temple.

God is there to guide and stay, even though it may not be obvious to anybody besides the prophet.  Be encouraged, God is with us.

Psalm 145 : 1-5, 17-21

Psalm 145 forcuses on the vast creative power of God in creation, a power that compels the singer to acknowledge god’s providential bounty, strength, and justice.

God is splendid and glorious, but also kind, watching over those who love God.  All of these attributes of God make God worthy to be praised; but in addition, God is praiseworthy simply for being God, just as a beautiful flower is praiseworthy simply for being itself.

As we orient our lives toward praise of God, making praise our first and last word, we affirm the political statement made by this psalm.  We declare that we believe God is indeed the only ruler of the Universe, the only one capable of protecting and providing for us, and thus the only one ultimately worthy of praise.

Epistle  2 Thessalonians 2:1-5, 13-17

Evil has been present in the world since Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden. Today we see evil like never before because we have technology that reaches around the world and we know events instantly now.  Will God stand up one day and say “Enough!”? yes  some day it will happen.  Evil will lose its power in the world. Sin and injustice, sickness and despair –even death itself –will come to an end. That is the promise.

How do you live for that Tomorrow?  Do you put on your long white robe and sit on the hill and wait? Of course not. Some have given dates, some have sold all they had and waited.

Apparently that was the thinking of the church in Thessalonica. Folk were so sure that the big event was just around the corner that they quit working and moved to full time waiting.  Paul has to tell them it could be a long wait.

Paul points out that there will be an accounting for those who rebel against God.  Deep inside, each of us knows that there are times when, despite our best efforts, we do deny God’s rightful place in our lives.

Rather than speculate about the who and the when of Christ’s return, we need to tend our own souls.  Rather than try to identify the lawless one, we need to recognize our own tendency to play that role.

The promise of Christ’s return and the defeat of evil have been used as weapons to send the message, “ If you do not do whatever you will burn in hell…..” Jesus didn’t use scare tactics to scare people into the kingdom.

The promise is that evil will be defeated.  Evil will not rule the world. As the scriptures point out Christ is the King of Kings. He is the ruler of the Universe and we will rule and reign with Him.

Evil is present. Evil is all around us. But God has given us the tools to fight against it. We need to make ourselves aware of the fact that we must be about the Fathers business. We must do what he says to do. We must say what he tells us to say. We can only do that by knowing his Word and meditating in it both day and night.

God’s favor will fall on those who feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisoned, clothe the naked.

If we love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul and love our neighbor as ourselves we will do that God has commissioned us to do.

Gospel Luke 20:27-38

Luke’ s passage open with intrigue as the Sadducees, who have a clear understanding that there is no resurrection, are asking Jesus questions about the resurrection.

Jesus seizes the moment of questioning as a teachable moment about the nature of heaven.  Rather than taking the question as a personal attack, Jesus uses this moment as a time to teach about the love and mercy of God.

Jesus answers the questions by describing how heaven and earth are not the same.  The ways of God are not the ways of humanity.  God’s judgments are not our judgments.  Things do not work in heaven the way they work on earth – thank God. 

Jesus answers the question by saying that in heaven even the lowliest of society would be considered “like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection” (36).

The radical statement of the gospel, that in heaven there are no sociopolitical strata, is good news even today. The mystery of the resurrection revealed by Jesus is that heaven is a place where those who have been dehumanized will be restored; those who have been oppressed will be set free; and those who have been treated as inferior will be raised up and called beloved.

Jesus said in v.38 that God is the God of the living- the God of newness, forgiveness, and liberation.  Oppression on earth does not dictate the reward of heaven..

Slavery in North America is considered one of the most inhumane and dehumanizing systems of oppression every foisted upon a people by others.

During this time of forced labor and exploitation, enslaved African people were forbidden to read or write, by penalty of disfigurement or death.  If persons were caught with a  book especially a bible severe penalties would be exacted.

Slave owners would cut off hands, gouge out eyes, or give severe lashings with a bullwhip.

This time of brutality and violence would have brought genocide to the people, had it not been for their faith that [God] is God not of the dead but of the living. In other words, the faith of the enslaved Africans told them that things in heaven would be different than on earth. This steadfast belief is captured and articulated clearly throughout the spirituals.

The good news of Jesus Christ is that God is the God of the oppressed, and the children of God will not be forsaken even in death.  We have this wisdom from Jesus, we have examples of this faith and belief in our tradition, and we are strengthened for our own lives here on earth as we walk this Christian journey.

Resurrection is, especially for the least, the lost, and the left out, a place of honor and respect as we experience the joy of God’s love in the resurrection.

Words from the spiritual-

“I’ve got a robe, you’ve got a robe, All God’s children got a robe. When I get to heaven goin to put on my robe. Goin to shot all over God’s heaven….

“All God’s children got a rob.”