Healing, Gratitude and Attitude

This message was first delivered at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Rustburg, Virginia and Brookneal United Methodist Church in Brookneal, Virginia on October 9, 2016. It is based on the lectionary text of Luke 17:11-19.

When we are harmed, we want justice. When we do harm, we desire mercy. How are we called to be in ministry to the world? The Gospel lesson for today is from Luke 17:11-19 (NRSV)

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Today we are going to look at this from three angles – Healing. Gratitude. And Attitude. First, healing...because this is an encounter about ten people in need of healing.

First, a little background on leprosy – it is a long-term infection which is spread among people that, if left untreated, can cause permanent damage to skin, nerves, limbs and eyes. Contrary to folklore, it does not cause body parts to fall off – but they can become numb or diseased due to secondary infections that can cause tissue loss causing fingers and toes to become shortened and deformed. Yes, it still exists today. Most new cases occur in 14 countries – with India accounting for more than half of the roughly 180,000 new cases each year. The US reports about 200 new cases each year. It is treatable and the World Health Organization is dedicated to eradicating the disease in the world – beginning with India, Africa and Brazil.

Leprosy was a more than just disease in Jesus' time (still is more than a disease in our time – but much more so back then). Lepers were not just perceived as a physical threat. They were also seen as a ritual and spiritual threat. These folks were more than just potentially infectious; they were ritually unclean. They were cast out (the same term as was used for how demons were treated) because their disfigurement was thought to be not just physically but also spiritually deadly and contagious.

And they were cast out from everywhere. This group apparently included nine Judeans and one Samaritan. They were all equally unclean. The difference in their religious practice was irrelevant now. Somehow, these ten had been grafted into a community by this physical and spiritual contagion, and now they would have to make the best of it together as a community of outcasts. Can you imagine being cut off from everything and everyone that you know and love because of a disease? Not able to be a part of their home communities? Unable to interact with family? Not able to participate in traditions or worship of their faith?

There was only one way back in for them. If a priest declared them clean after an appropriate examination, they could rejoin their own societies.

But Jesus was not a priest. So, Jesus himself could not perform all of the healing needed, a large part of which was being allowed back in regular society again. So, he did what he could. He told them to go show themselves to the priests responsible for making the declaration. And they went on their way to do just that, discovering as they did that they had been made clean.

The physical healing had taken place. The sores were gone. Their flesh was made whole. And these guys were understandably excited. This is a physically painful and uncomfortable disease. To suddenly be freed from that discomfort was extraordinary. We do not know what nine of them did next. Maybe they all headed to the priests to show themselves, like Jesus had instructed. Maybe some of them were so overjoyed they headed straight to family and friends to share the incredible news!

That would have probably been my first motivation – it would be like winning the healthcare lottery! If I suddenly had all my health issues wiped away – knees not achy, back not hurting, no more cluster headaches, scars faded – I would be thrilled! If Jesus said, go and show yourself acceptable to the priests and I found myself 100 pounds skinnier and no gray hair! I would be texting my family and taking selfies and posting them to Facebook saying – look at this, I'm transformed! But this healing was different because the stakes were so much higher!

The ten lepers were outcasts and now they were going to be let back inside. They were going to be acceptable again. This was more than physical healing – this was a healing of relationship to the rest of society. These ten were being restored – being welcomed back. They were worthy again.

One of the ten turned back. From Eugene Peterson's The Message: One of them, when he realized that he was healed, turned around and came back, shouting his gratitude, glorifying God. He kneeled at Jesus’ feet, so grateful. He couldn’t thank him enough—and he was a Samaritan. Jesus said, “Were not ten healed? Where are the nine? Can none be found to come back and give glory to God except this outsider?” Then he said to him, “Get up. On your way. Your faith has healed and saved you.”

How interesting. How ironic. That out of this band of outsiders, it was the MAJOR outsider – the one with two strikes against him: leper AND lone Samaritan – who remembered to give thanks.

The temptation to moralism with this story of the “ungrateful lepers” is very strong. “You ought to be more thankful for what you have and for what God has done for you!” or “Don’t be ungrateful like so many people, even religious people, are!”

Do we have room for improvement in expressing thanks and praise to God? No question about it. We all do. We all should do better.

But today’s story isn’t primarily about moralism. It’s about ritual and boundaries and spiritual realities. And it’s about the underlying call of Jesus to all disciples to keep on healing all people—including people who are deemed beyond the bounds by cultural or religious assumptions or leaders.

It's about bringing people inside these imaginary boundaries of what is acceptable. Do we forget that through Jesus all are saved? That the only question is whether a person desires to be saved? The turning toward Jesus and the desire to be in relationship to God are the ONLY requirements? Who are our lepers...those who we would exclude from our community?

The Epistle lesson today is from Paul's second letter to his right-hand man Timothy. Paul is writing from prison (talk about exclusion from society!) and he is insistent that Timothy get the church focused back on the important stuff. The Message paraphrases 2 Timothy 2:8-15 in this way:

Fix this picture firmly in your mind: Jesus, descended from the line of David, raised from the dead. It’s what you’ve heard from me all along. It’s what I’m sitting in jail for right now—but God’s Word isn’t in jail! That’s why I stick it out here—so that everyone God calls will get in on the salvation of Christ in all its glory. This is a sure thing:

If we die with him, we’ll live with him;
If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him;
If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us;
If we give up on him, he does not give up—
for there’s no way he can be false to himself.

Repeat these basic essentials over and over to God’s people. Warn them before God against pious nitpicking, which chips away at the faith. It just wears everyone out. Concentrate on doing your best for God, work you won’t be ashamed of, laying out the truth plain and simple.

Paul is serious. Repeat these things over and over to the church: If we die with Christ, we'll live with him. If we stick it out, we'll rule with him. If we turn our backs, he'll let us...free will and all that. But he won't give up on us, because that just isn't in his nature!! He does not give up and can't fake it.

But we can't ignore that warning from Paul. Stop it with the pious nitpicking, it chips away at the faith. From the NRSV it reads, “avoid wrangling over words, which does no good but only ruins those who are listening.” New King James translation, “[don't] strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers.” One more – the Good News translation, “give them a solemn warning in God's presence not to fight over words. It does no good, but only ruins the people who listen.”

It ruins the people who listen! You see...somebody is watching and listening and seeing how WE act as the church. And they are going to accept or reject our message based on that knowledge.

We have got to get our act together! The world and its people need us. They are counting on us. They'll know... They'll know we are Christians by the love we show for each other.

We have to exemplify God's love in every aspect of our lives, but it is critical that we show love within the church. This story was related to me and it hit so close to home, it felt like a story I could have told myself. “I became a Christian as a teenager, and I immediately wanted to be involved in my church. Hoping to channel that enthusiasm, the church leaders put me on the committee which was planning the promotion for the church's building fund. The adults were working on a brochure, which I was supposed to help them write. It was exciting to be performing an important service, and to be working along side a group of mature Christians-or so I thought.

After the first meeting it was clear that these "mature" believers were more concerned about whether or not to have an air conditioner in the new sanctuary than they were about spiritual matters. They argued and fought through the entire meeting. I got my eyes off the creator and onto the creation, and it was discouraging. For 6 years after that day I refused to go to church, read the Bible or even consider anything relating to Christianity. "If that's what Christians are like, why would I want to be one?" I reasoned.”

You see? They'll know! They will figure it out before we even get the chance to tell them about Jesus and the unfathomable love he has for every single person. Mahatma Ghandi said, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” Do not let this be our story.

What does Paul say right after he tells us to NOT be pious nitpickers? Let's not get stuck on verse 14 without moving on to verse 15! The NRSV, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly explaining the word of truth.” But I particularly like the Living Bible's clear statement: “Work hard so God can say to you, “Well done.” Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means.”

Work hard. Be a good workman so that God can say to you, “Well done.” That is a worthy goal. We have all had performance reviews of some kind. Maybe at work? I have experienced a lot of different employer review styles. The executive director of my current employer, Rush Homes, has implemented a new style. It is a wheel of competency (which sounds more fun than it really is). He and I each had a chart which was kind of like a round spider web. Each section had a topic like flexibility, teamwork or expertise and we colored in our opinion of my performance so we could compare how each of us felt about how well I do my job. In some areas we agreed – we both think I am expert in the job that I do. We disagreed on how flexible I am...I rated myself higher than he did...

How would we pass on a performance review from God? Are we following the example of Christ? How are we doing with this unconditional love thing?How are we about sharing that love with others? Are we impacting the ones who are watching us in a positive way? If they know the love of God through us...are they getting the right picture? Can we, as Paul wrote, “be one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines our work?”

There is another passage of scripture that describes an instance of healing - where Jesus is in a house so packed that no one can come through the door anymore. So his four friends open the roof and lower this paralytic down through it so Jesus can heal him. Although the focus of the story is, understandably, the healing of the paralytic...there is something more significant happening. It involves his friends and what their faith urges them to do for their friend. They ripping the roof off the place, and those outside are being let in.

We need to rip some roofs off. We need to go outside and see the people who are hurting and need Jesus. We need to find every way possible to get them connected to the one who loves them – and let them know that he does.

There are people who are hurting out there. People who need to see the love of God. We have neighbors who don't have enough to eat, who need a listening ear, who need a helping hand to get back on their feet, neighbors who face barriers that we can dismantle. They are counting on us.

We have the power to show them God's love. But we have to understand something very important. One more warning. They will experience God's love through the love we show. And they will be able to tell if it is genuine. They will know if we are helping them out of a sense of obligation or if our helping them is just an extension of the joy we have in being loved so much by God. If we aren't reaching out because of the healing that we have received through God's mercy and gift of his Son's sacrifice...if we aren't serving the Lord with gladness – it won't have the same impact. Not that it won't have an impact...if you give a hungry man a sandwich because you are feeling guilty or fearful of God's Wrath...the hungry man will still get a sandwich. But the attitude is different.

If you sit with the man – in community with him – and share a meal or a kind word or listening ear. What a different impact. I work with the homeless response system in Lynchburg as part of my job. One of the organizations that I love the most is a scrappy little non-profit called Warm Streets. It's just a guy and a pickup truck and 5000 Facebook followers that he calls his Rapid Responders. It all started with him handing bags of useful supplies to people he saw living on the street. Simple stuff like a blanket, ready to eat non-perishable food, hygiene supplies. It has grown to even more. One thing he does help get people exiting homelessness (especially homeless veterans) settled into homes. Mainstream programs like Rapid Re-housing through Miriam's House or Permanent Supportive Housing through the Lynchburg Housing Authority help find the assistance, support and shelter...Warm Streets provides the human touch. A smiling man and his responders - with a donated microwave or a basket of cleaning supplies, furniture, a NEW bed through his partnership with Mattress Warehouse. A hug and a lot of tears.

That is serving the Lord with gladness. That is the work that we can be unashamed of. It's not about the stuff, the the leper encounter isn't just about the healing...it is about the relationship. It is about caring deeper about THEM. I think this little story illustrates how easy it is to make an impact.

Mamie Adams always went to a branch post office in her town because the postal employees there were friendly. She went there to buy stamps just before Christmas one year and the lines were particularly long. Someone pointed out that there was no need to wait in line because there was a stamp machine in the lobby. "I know," said Mamie, 'but the machine won't ask me about my arthritis."

We all feel a need to be a part of community. A sense of belonging. That someone cares for us even when we feel like we are on the sidelines. Part of being church is that caring, bringing people on the outside into the warmth of God's love and grace. Ripping off roofs so that those on the outside can come in and meet this Jesus we worship.

The mission statement of the United Methodist Church states that we are “to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” Disciples, by biblical definition aren't simply worship attenders or financial givers, but people who answer the call to follow Jesus with their lives. And their love.

They'll know we are Christians by our love. Everyone needs to hear about this incredible. Unfathomable. Unconditional. Love. When we dive into the depths of that unfathomable love, then we start to see the people around us differently. And this love thing starts to spread. And this just might catch on.

Communion and Unity

This message was first delivered at Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in Rustburg, Virginia and Brookneal United Methodist Church in Brookneal, Virginia on October 2, 2016. It is based on the lectionary text of Luke 17:5-10.

Gospel Lesson Luke 17:5-10 NRSV

“The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

Today is World Communion Sunday. We'll look at a couple of different ways that we can interpret the meaning of “communion” as Christians - and as members of our world community.

One part of today is recognizing and honoring the sacrament that we, as believers, practice. Today it will be celebrated all over the world by a variety of denominations. In some places it will be called “The Eucharist” and in others it will be “The Table of the Lord” or “The Lord's Supper.” In some gatherings it may be an “Agape Meal” or a “Love Feast” and sometimes simply, “Communion.”

In some places the elements may be a little different – there may be wine instead of the our traditional Methodist grape juice. Did you know that Thomas Welch was a Methodist? In 1943, at age 17 he joined the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion which strongly opposed the “manufacturing, buying, selling or using intoxicating liquors.” In 1869 he successfully used pasteurization to create un-fermented sacramental wine for fellow parishioners in Vineland, New Jersey. That was the beginning of Dr. Welch's Grape Juice.

In some congregations there will be leavened bread, in others there will be unleavened bread, still others use communion wafers. Once, when I was about 13, I was visiting my grandmother's church in a small town in Northern Virginia...it was a very small congregation that was part of a three point charge. When one of the ladies of the church arrived for worship that Sunday she saw in the bulletin that it was communion Sunday and she was that month's communion steward! She ran home (just a few doors away!) and grabbed a jug of grape juice but there wasn't a slice of bread in the house! She snagged the best substitute she could find and ran back to the church and had everything in place when the pastor rushed in from his first service. It wasn't until my large family was kneeling at the rail that we discovered what her substitute element was...it looked just like a square cube of bread. But when all of us respectfully placed the bread in our mouths...there was an unexpected crunch. Croutons are not a good idea...even in a pinch. My brother was trying so hard to suppress his laughter that he was shaking the whole communion rail. I like to think that the rest of the congregation believed he was overcome by the spirit. I was pretty proud of his self-control.

I even read about a pastor in New Mexico whose elements one Sunday were root beer and Twinkies. When he was asked why – he explained that he wanted to do something that would make people stop and think. He felt that something as important as The Lord's Supper needed thoughtful consideration, not just a mindless ritual.

That is something that pastor and I wholeheartedly agree on. I believe that this is one of the best parts of worship...when I take my own advice and give it the thoughtful consideration that this holy mystery deserves.

World Communion Sunday was begun among several Protestant denominations in the 1940s as a way of recognizing and celebrating that we celebrate Communion with Christians of many theologies and denominations all over the world. At that time, many Protestant denominations in the United States celebrated Communion very infrequently. Quarterly celebration was often the norm, and it was rarely coordinated across denominations or even within them. That was certainly true in the Methodist church despite the fact that John Wesley strongly urged “every Christian to receive the Lord's Supper as often as he can.” In his 1872 sermon The Duty of Constant Communion, Wesley gives two reasons why: #1 – he states that it is a plain command of Christ, from his Jesus' own words “Do this in remembrance of me.” and #2 – “because the benefits of doing it are so great to all that do it in obedience to him. Benefits such as; the forgiveness of our past sins and the present strengthening and refreshing of our souls.” He continued by admitting how challenging life is, “In this world we are never free from temptations. Whatever way of life we are in, whatever our condition be, whether we are sick or well, in trouble or at ease, the enemies of our souls are watching to lead us into sin. And too often they prevail over us. Now, when we are convinced of having sinned against God, what surer way have we of procuring pardon from him, than the "showing forth the Lord's death;" and beseeching him, for the sake of his Son's sufferings, to blot out all our sins?” In short, by humbling ourselves and seeking God's mercy, we bring ourselves into communion with God. Into a relationship with God. Intentionally. Deliberately.

Communion, in addition to the sacrament...is also about being a part of community. Of being in communion with our fellow man.

Setting the first Sunday of October as World Communion Sunday through the Federal Council of Churches became one way to ensure that at least once each year, many American Protestants, and their related missionary churches outside the U.S., might celebrate at the same time. All together – pulling in the same direction! Because as diverse as the titles of this holy mystery are (Love Feast, Lord's Table...) and as unique as the elements may be...that is nothing compared to how unique and diverse the people coming to “table” are!

Even within this room we come from a variety of life experiences and traditions. We have different backgrounds – maybe you're a farmer or a banker or a teacher. Some have college degrees and some of us were lucky to make it out of high school! Big families and little families. And those are just some of the varieties in this room. When we look outside these walls to the community around us we see poor and rich, content and anxious, spenders and savers, red, yellow, black and white...

If we look beyond our region and our state and even our national borders – there is a global smorgasbord of people! All differently abled. Each with gifts to share. All part of this glorious dysfunctional family of human beings.

Mother Teresa, well...now Saint Teresa of Calcutta, diagnosed the world's ills in this way, “maybe,” she said, “we've just forgotten that we belong to each other.” I want someone with the gift of needlework to cross-stitch that on a pillow for me: We Belong to Each Other. One of my favorite authors, Father Greg Boyle calls it “kinship.”

Kinship is what happens to us when we refuse to forget that we belong to each other. When we see our similarities before we focus on our differences. When our goal is to seek out the common places instead of jealously guarding our position or opinion. Too often we want others to bend to our perspective. It is an area that I struggle with on a daily basis.

I was blessed with a keen intellect and good memory. I get a lot of satisfaction from researching topics and enjoy sharing my knowledge. I'm the first to reach for my handy reference tool (my smart phone) when questions arise in a conversation. “Who was the king that abdicated his throne for love?” or “Is Lucille Ball still living?” or perhaps “What was that movie with Kevin Bacon as a lunatic whitewater rafting guide?”

I enjoy having the right answers (which by the way are Edward VIII to marry American socialite Wallis Simpson, Lucille Ball passed away in 1989, and the Kevin Bacon movie was White Water Summer). I have also worked as an efficiency expert helping increase production outputs... This is a recipe for disaster! I always want people to do things my way or see things my way! I'm right, right? Well...not always... and sometimes doing things a different way isn't stupid – it's just different.

I'm pretty good about accepting differences in others when it comes to gender or race or cultural backgrounds. I work as a landlord for people with disabilities...so I'm accepting of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities, physical disabilities and mental health struggles. Since many of them are unable to work...I get socioeconomic differences and the challenges of generational poverty. Maybe some of those are differences that challenge you. Where I get humbled is having to climb down off my high horse of being an insufferable know-it-all offering unsolicited solutions to problems that might not even be there!

In order to live in community we have to learn to embrace the varied gifts and experiences of the others we encounter. It is this marvelous variety which is our strength!

Tex Sample, a professor of Church and Society at St. Paul School of Theology, cites in his book “Ministry in an Oral Culture” an observation made by a colleague, that goes like this. 'What is common in community is not shared values or common understanding so much as the fact that members of a community are engaged in the same argument... in which alternative strategies, misunderstandings, conflicting goals and values are thrashed out." Think about that for a minute. What helps to define us as a community is the fact that we are all engaged in the same argument - that we all view ourselves as followers of Christ. That we are all trying to work out the best way or the right way, to live our lives as his people in response to his calling.

Part of what makes us a World Wide Communion - is not that we agree with one another in everything - but that we believe that the discussion we have - even that the arguments that we have - are of importance. The Apostle Paul, in discussing the differences of opinion in the Church in Rome over the Holy Days that they should celebrate and whether or not people should eat or not meats that had been purchased in the market place - which generally came from the animal sacrifices that were offered at various pagan temples, writes : One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

The important thing that Paul is telling us in this passage, is that - "each of us should be fully convinced in our own minds" as to what is important - and do all that we do - or don't do - with thanks to God and in the realization that Christ is Lord of all.

There is nothing wrong with our differences of opinion as to what is right and what is wrong, what is good - and what is not good, what is true and what is not true. Our common argument in fact helps to define us as a communion - as the people of God, as brothers and sisters of one another.

Indeed, there will be differences, some of them quite profound, in how our brothers and sisters around the world view the sacrament of communion. Some will think that their way is the only proper way to do it. Some traditions will welcome only those persons who have made a public profession of their faith to the table, while others will welcome very young children, even babies to the table. Some will insist that each person must belong to the denomination and the community where the sacrament is being observed - others will have an table open to "all those who love the Lord and desire to walk in his path". There will be a tremendous variety of practices and understandings this day as we celebrate the Lord's Supper - but one thing will stand out above all the differences of opinion and practice. That we consider what we are doing as important, so important that we might even risk argument with one another about it's meaning. So what do we make of that? What is our communion with one another when we have such a wide variety of practices and understandings? Where, given our differences, is our "Commune - ity"

Think of your own families for a minute - families of flesh and blood and how they function. Is there perfect agreement among you? Are there not members who believe, sometimes quite passionately, that the family should do this or that thing while others in the family hold forth for something else - something entirely different? Yet - while there are these kinds of disputes - do we not sit down together at meal time - and eat as one? We eat of the meal which has been prepared for us - some taking more from a particular dish as their tastes and their inclinations lead them - others more from another?

Do we not, if we have any sense at all of being a family, gather on special occasions and join together at the table that has been set and give thanks to God for providing us the opportunity to be together and providing the food that we eat - even if our diets are different?

The church around the world today is a family. We are the family of God - a family formed by our common desire to follow Jesus, who is both our brother and our Lord. We are the people of God, called together and given life, through Christ Jesus our Lord.

In the Gospel reading today, the disciples asked Jesus for more faith. He told them they didn't need MORE faith. They needed a different kind of faith. They needed mustard weed faith! What does that mean? The disciples may have known, because they knew about mustard weed.

Mustard weed was the curse of farmers in Palestine. It grew wild. Birds would eat but not entirely digest its seeds and drop them everywhere. It would take over fields and vineyards. It would compete with existing crops. Pulling it up did little good, because more birds would just bring more seed from somewhere else, and you'd be back in the same place in a few weeks. It was persistent, irritating, and fast-spreading. It would be there whether you liked it or not. It was like kudzu around here!

Mustard weed was so effective because it was so purpose-built and so intent on fulfilling its purpose—to spread itself by all means everywhere.

That's the kind of faith we need, Jesus says, faith both small and contagious enough to be carried everywhere by folks living like birds. Not more. Not bigger. Not even deeper. Just contagious enough to be caught, dropped, and then take root. We need faith that goes and gets carried everywhere. That’s how the message spreads. Are we spreading like kudzu? We can be! We can spread the love of God by all means everywhere – it doesn't have to fancy to be contagious!

As we prepare ourselves for our time of communing and remembering today, we will share an experience that is a little different from the Lord's Supper that you are used to. As a lay servant and not an ordained minister, I am not qualified to perform the sacrament of holy communion. It is an act that the United Methodist Church considers so important and significant that is requires an additional level of knowledge and training. Instead we will observe the tradition of an Agape Meal or Love Feast.

The Agape Meal is a chance for us to thank God for all his many gifts, but especially his gift of grace. We will humble ourselves and have a time of remembering that we are human and fall short – confessing that we fail in many ways and recognizing that we need God every hour of every day. Then we will thank God for the gift of his only Son, and while remembering the sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf we will partake of the Agape Meal together – in the form of a grape and small cracker. The cracker – simple, unadorned, unbroken – represents the body of our Lord and Saviour. The grape reminding us of the blood shed for our sins.

This time of remembrance will end with a renewing of our determination to follow Jesus. And to obey his commands – Love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength...and to love our neighbor. Love God and love who God loves. It really is that simple. Thanks be to God.

Plenty of Problems

This message was first delivered at Centenary United Methodist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia on September 18, 2016. It is based on the lectionary text of 1 Timothy 2:1-7. An audio recording is available in the CUMC Internet Chapel.

As I saw that today is the 18^th Sunday after Pentecost, it made made me think back to my childhood. Many of you know that I'm one of 5 kids. There were a few times, especially on long car trips, that we would be less than well-behaved and Dad would call us down. Trouble was...in his frustration he'd almost always get the troublemaker's name wrong, and then wrong again... Karen, Den...Gord...whatever your name is! Stop doing that!! I think at times he would have liked the solution that George Foreman came up with – just name them all George! His five sons are all named George and he has a daughter named Georgetta.

The Christian calendar is winding toward Advent, which will be the shortest Advent season possible since Christmas falls on Sunday this year. That is an interesting time in the Christian calendar...it seems for a while that every week has a different and exciting title – the Fourth Sunday in Advent, Christmas, Epiphany... But since Pentecost, it kind of seems like the people giving Sundays names were just phoning it in by now. “Dude, we're already up to the 17th Sunday After Pentecost. You seriously are suggesting we just call this one #18?” But upon closer examination, I find the logic in the pattern of the lectionary. Advent is our new year and we spend time in preparation for the miracle of Christ's birth. We celebrate and learn of different aspects of his time on Earth. And then Lent prepares us for the sacrifice. We ponder and come to an appreciation of the magnitude of the cross. Then Easter! Oh, how we love Easter! It is what sets Christianity apart – the fact that we serve a Risen Savior. And the Christian calendar continues on toward the Ascension. When Jesus departs from us in body but promises something more to come. And on Pentecost, the gift of the Holy Spirit is realized. And you couldn't ask for a bigger party. This is the beginning of the movement. The beginning of the church. And then the sending forth. And now we are 18 weeks into the season that follows Pentecost. I like to think of this as the “get to work” phase. The purpose of this season is to live out our ministries as disciples of Jesus in Christ’s name, the Spirit’s power, and with the accountability and support of the church.

This is where the rubber starts to hit the road. And in the scripture readings that the lectionary suggests during this season...there are some hard-hitting truths. We, as the body of Christ, get told that we have to put family, friends and self second place to Jesus. THAT was a message I was called to deliver as a lay speaker two weeks ago. Walk into a church as a guest and tell them that if they do not “hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, [they] cannot be [Christ's] disciple.” Thank you Luke 14.

We get told that heaven rejoices when one lost sheep is found or one coin out of ten is found...that when the brother that foolishly squandered his inheritance drags his sorry self home Dad is going to throw him a party. What about us other good kids? What about the 99 sheep that stayed where they were supposed to be? Thank you Luke 15.

The work phase is challenging. We'd much rather be back in the joy of Christmas or even the self-reflection of Lent. This following Christ stuff is challenging. Even today's passage from Luke that was the basis for Belva's lesson for the kids isn't a softball. We get called out on a core ethic – honesty. And it gets pointed out that dishonesty is a slippery slope that we ALL slide down as humans. Untrustworthy with the small things makes us untrustworthy in all things.

Hey, Jesus...back off. You're getting awfully close to meddling. You're making me uncomfortable. I don't want to look at all my actions so closely. I'm only human, what do you expect from me? Aha! We're going to circle back around to answer this in few minutes.

Troubles. We gots 'em. It seems as though the world is headed to Hades in the proverbial handbasket faster than a speeding bullet. Turn on the news and you hear nothing but troubles – natural disasters like flooding and hurricanes; war and political unrest; poverty and the consequences of poverty like addiction and desperation; leaders too busy attacking each other to be bothered with seeking solutions. Trouble all around. And people overwhelmed with a feeling that it is all too much to overcome. Then helplessness...and we, as humans, wonder if we can make any difference at all in this broken world. We could easily relate to Jeremiah's crying out that Mike read earlier – a few verses from that reading as paraphrased in Eugene Peterson's The Message: “I drown in grief. I’m heartsick. Oh, listen! Please listen! It’s the cry of my dear people reverberating through the country. Is God no longer in Zion? Has the King gone away? The crops are in, summer is over, but for us nothing’s changed. We’re still waiting to be rescued. Are there no healing ointments in Gilead? Isn’t there a doctor in the house? why can’t something be done to heal and save my dear, dear people?”

Oh yes, we've got troubles. Perhaps some of you already have a song running through your heads...we've got trouble, right here in River City...Trouble with a capital “T” and that rhymes with “P” and that stands for pool!

Well...maybe not...the song You Got Trouble is part of the 1957 Tony award winning musical The Music Man. Slick con man “professor” Harold Hill has come to the Iowa town of River City and he is there to sell the townfolk musical instruments and band uniforms. Then he'll skip town before they realize he has no musical talent! But in order to get them to believe that they NEED instruments and uniforms, he's got to get them to believe that they need a boy's band. So he decides to tell them that their town is in huge trouble. They are on the sliding board to degeneration because the local billiard hall has added a pool table! Gasp! In reality the pool table is no more a threat to the peace and goodness of this town than the billiard tables that have graced that establishment for years. But Harold Hill is shrewd and knows how to play his audience. He gathers quite a crowd as he sings his warnings to a growing crowd:

Friend, either you're closing your eyes

To a situation you do not wish to acknowledge

Or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster indicated

By the presence of a pool table in your community . Well, ya got trouble, my friend, right here, I say, trouble right here in River City.

As the crowd is sucked into his message...the tales of potential woe grow...

Mothers of River City!

Heed the warning before it's too late!

Watch for the tell-tale sign of corruption!

The moment your son leaves the house,

Does he rebuckle his knickerbockers below the knee?

Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger?

A dime novel hidden in the corn crib?

Is he starting to memorize jokes from Capt.

Billy's Whiz Bang?

Are certain words creeping into his conversation?

Words like 'swell?"

And 'so's your old man?"

Well, if so my friends,

Ya got trouble,

Right here in River city!

With a capital "T"

And that rhymes with "P"

And that stands for Pool.

Suddenly the mothers are all looking at their sons with suspicion and distrust. They have just been enlightened to the truth – their fine young men are all degenerates and gamblers and worse! How in the world will we be saved?

Is there no balm in Gilead?

But there is a solution. And it isn't Professor Harold Hill. The solution is in us. We only have to look back to the list of woes from earlier. Natural disasters? Horrific events. Devastation and despair. But then the dawn after the night – we see people and organizations mobilize immediately to provide assistance. Not just food, water and shelter...but comfort, support and hope. Wars and political unrest? Opportunities for coming together, for rebuilding and seeking common ground for peace. It's slow work. Sometimes it seems impossible...but I remember when the Berlin Wall came down, I remember when peace in Northern Ireland seemed utterly impossible. And 18 years have passed since the Good Friday agreement. Peace is possible. Lasting peace is even possible...we must not lose hope.

We must actually BE hope. What are we called to do? Are we like the people of River City hearing the negative message from Harold Hill and figuring it's all hopeless? Are we going to put our faith in false prophets who tell us they've got the solution and we should just let them figure it out for us? We were not called to be a quivering mass of worriers! We are the church! We are a mobilized army! We are empowered by a Risen Savior! Why are we sitting here shaking our heads and mourning the loss of goodness in the world? Hey! Jeremiah! It's great that you care so much about the pain of the people. Verse 1 of Chapter 9 says, “I wish my head were a well of water, and my eyes fountains of tears. So I could weep day and night for casualties among my dear, dear people.” Well, that's real nice...but enough with tears and sadness. It's time for action!

When Paul wrote to Timothy, he was communicating to one of his key staffers. The book of Acts is full of references to Paul being with Timothy and sending Timothy and waiting for Timothy to return to him with his input. He sends Timothy to Corinth, to the church at Rome, to Thessalonica. Timothy is referenced as being with Paul in other Epistles. So when we read Paul's letters to him, we know that he is giving instruction and advice to a key part of the early church. They are both peers in faith – but also have the relationship of mentor to student and leader to worker.

Timothy the evangelist has been sent by Paul to the church at Ephesus. This is some time after Paul himself converted Timothy – and he is like a trusted son. Paul sent him to reside at Ephesus, to perfect the good work that Paul started there. The church planter handing off the watering to his son in the faith. But that assignment doesn't come without support. The first chapter of 1 Timothy lays out the reason that Ephesus needs him, because frankly...Timothy wanted to stay with Paul. Paul has urged (but not ordered) him to go because there's troubles. Troubles in Ephesus City.

There are attempts by outside forces to corrupt Christianity. There is the issue of Jews bringing Judaism traditions into the new church – but on the other side of the aisle Gentiles are bringing elements of paganism! Ministers are bringing their own stuff into the doctrine that they are preaching...no longer the pure truth of Jesus... People using the law to divide. Forgetting that Jesus came for all – Jew and Gentile, Slave and Free, Rich and Poor, Red and Yellow Black and White...Things must have been a real mess for Paul to send his right hand man.

Paul makes sure that his letter reminds Timothy that he knows that he, Paul, isn't perfect. He reminds him that he was saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and invites us all to remember the same. And he wants Timothy to observe what is going on and if he needs to enter into spiritual warfare – to know that it is good warfare against sin and Satan. He tells him that we must hold faith and good conscience. He points out that there will be challenges, oppositions and discouragements. He warns about particular blasphemers. But it is in the beginning of the second chapter that he is given an instruction that seems like a no-brainer to us today – and yet, it is the area I struggle with the most. Prayer.

If there is a balm in Gilead, the access point is clearly about prayer. Connecting to God and seeking his wisdom. But there is an underlying warning that is easy to miss. Who do we pray for?

The passage from 1 Timothy 2 is a charge to pray. Notice that Paul doesn't send some sort of prescribed prayer – and contrary to the rumors I heard as a teenager, the bishop and district superintendent don't send the sermons that preachers deliver each week either! His instructions are: “The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.”

I like the way The Message puts that. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Bishop Cho, who officially handed over the role of leadership yesterday to Bishop Sharma Lewis, focused his entire time as bishop on encouraging the church in the area of prayer. He wanted us to be in prayer. Intentional prayer. I heard him speak several times, including here at Centenary a couple years ago. His passion for prayer was incredible. He believes it is key – not only for personal growth and guidance. The thing I gleaned from him was that prayer could be a transforming force outside of self-transformation. During one of his talks he suggested that we think of a person that we encounter that we know needs healing. Whether it be physical or emotional or financial or in the way that person interacts with us or others. Some healing of some need. And then he challenged that it be a person outside of my “comfort zone.” Not a family member that I already love, not a co-worker I already care about...but a person I encounter regularly.

So I settled on a person that I didn't have a very good relationship with – not exactly an enemy...just someone I didn't have much desire to spend time with. And I felt charged to pray for them intentionally every day. Not just for God to swoop in and FIX them. I needed to thank God for that person being in my life, pray for healing for wounds that I knew about, pray for those wounds that I didn't know about or understand, and then to hand over the situation to God. And each day was a little different. Sometimes it was all I could do to come up with a positive thing to thank God for about them. There were days when I felt empathy and days when I felt like I was drawing from an empty well where compassion was concerned.

Prayer transformed the relationship. Through intentional prayer I found myself examining judgments that I had made about the other person's intents and actions. I humbled myself to recognize that they came from a wholly different set of circumstances and life experiences. I came to accept our differences and even embraced the possibility that sometimes their way of accomplishing a task wasn't stupid or inefficient...it was just different.

I'd love to say that the end result was this person recognizing the changed relationship, asking me why and me being able to say that prayer and faith and good Methodist upbringing were the cause. Then I could invite them to church and we'd have a new giving unit and the problems would all be solved! But instead, it's just a seed that was sowed. And I have to trust in the slow work of God.

Now we come back to that question from before – when I was pointing out that we are in the work phase. That we're being reminded of what we need to do, what we need to let go of, who we are supposed to love. The job at hand and the job description that seems so limiting that we are tempted to say, “Jesus...back off. You're getting awfully close to meddling. You're making me uncomfortable. I don't want to look at all my actions so closely. I'm only human, what do you expect from me?”

He wants us to do our best! He wants our first fruits! He wants us to be in harmony. He wants us to love each other. He knows us inside and out – he KNOWS we are going to falter. He knows we are going to fall short and that we will do things that we are going to regret! And just like Paul, I can tell you that I am the chief sinner of all! I don't stand up here to tell you how to be from a place of completeness. Only a week ago I burned with road rage and made a rather rude gesture to a fellow motorist while part of a funeral procession! Who does that?

Humans. And then we, like David in the Psalm cry out - God, take my side! Once, in a tight place, you gave me room; Now I’m in trouble again: grace me! hear me! And then I bow in humility, accept my failures and work to be better. With God's help. Because without God, I am nothing.

Yes, we've got Troubles. It starts with T which rhymes with P and that stands for Prayer. There is a balm in Gilead – and we are part of the solution. With God's help we can bring hope and transformation to a hurting world. Intentionally turn toward God, pray for everyone – especially the leaders in our world. We are warriors! We serve a Risen Savior. No need to meekly accept the idea that the world is too far gone...the church does make a difference. WE can change the world. One prayer, one small kindness, one hug, one smile, a cool drink of water, a sandwich for a hungry person, one glimmer of hope at a time. Show the world that we don't just GO to church, that we ARE the church and are following God's orders – to love God and love who God loves. No chance of failure if we stick with God.

Amen.