It's All About Love

This message was first delivered at Monroe United Methodist Church in Monroe, Virginia on May 6, 2018. It is based on the lectionary texts of John 15:9-17, Acts 10:44-48 and

1 John 5:1-6.

It's All About Love

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

Several years ago – one of the first sermons I ever wrote, in fact – I penned a message based on the choir's anthem for that day: They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love. It was the first sermon I wrote on Love and quite frankly, I've become addicted to the theme. I've spoken in a couple dozen different churches on the district and am probably close to my 50th message delivered. And 9 times out of 10, love comes onto the scene. I'm in pretty good company in that regard...

Jerome, in his commentary on Galatians, tells that St. John continued preaching in Ephesus even when he was in his 90s. Even when he was so enfeebled that he had to be carried in on a stretcher, he would lean up on one elbow and deliver his message, “Little children, love one another.” Then he would lie back down and be carried out. One day, the story goes, someone asked him why he said the same thing week after week. John replied, “Because it is enough.” It is Christianity in a nutshell. Love is the key. And it can't help weaving its way into my messages.

When I'm asked to speak at a church my first action after putting it on my calendar is to pull up the discipleship ministries' lectionary website to see what the scriptures are for that Sunday. I don't know if you are familiar with the lectionary – I really only became aware myself about 15 years ago when we had a pastor who came to Centenary who regularly preached from the lectionary and always printed next week's scriptures in each week's bulletin. A little background for those who may not even know what I'm talking about!

The revised common lectionary is a series of prescribed readings used by protestant churches in worship. It generally includes a passage from the Old Testament, a Psalm, the New Testament and a Gospel reading. It is on a three year rotation, we are in Year B right now. It is the connected worship of many denominations. A great many pastors look to those four weekly scriptures to determine their message topic for the week. Of course, there are also a great many who choose other topics to "preach on."

If you think about it though...if even 1% of the Christian congregations in the world preach on the same set of scriptures...that is 37,000 congregations all focusing on a particular aspect of our relationship with God and with each other. That can be very powerful, especially if we are intentional in the way we communicate with God - and with each other.

So I get into the Word and start looking at the scriptures for that week and thinking about the hymns and seeking God's direction. I read them in different translations and compare thoughts from commentaries written by wise and studied theologians and from time to time I even break out my copy of John Wesley's 44 Sermons. And I sometimes get myself so confused and overwhelmed I wonder when it will all come into focus.

And that particular sermon that I was working on was for the hardest audience – I was preaching at my home church, Centenary! So I was in full-on preparation mode that week when I walked into choir practice that Thursday night. And we started working on the anthem for Sunday, an arrangement of They'll Know We Are Christians. And suddenly, it all came into focus. And I knew what my message was going to be on. That Sunday morning I went into the choir room to pray with them before taking my place behind the pulpit and I do NOT know what got into me. But I basically told them that I had written my sermon around the anthem and threw down the gauntlet. They were going to need to put every bit of power behind it that could muster. I told them to bring it. And they did NOT disappoint.

From the beginning of the first stanza, “We are ONE in the Spirit, We are One in the Lord...” to a resounding “YES, they'll know we are Christians by our Love!” with the sopranos reaching straight for heaven. And I had tears in my eyes as I looked at these beautiful Christians showing me their love with their voices in worship. And they sat down and dared me bring it.

Today's passage from John is Jesus talking with his disciples. I know this will seem strange since Easter was weeks ago – but this is actually from the period of time just after the Last Supper. I can imagine the mindset of Jesus during this time AND the time between the resurrection and the ascension: almost like a coach right before the big game starts. He's trying to get these last critical thoughts into the thick-headed disciples. And he is a lot more gentle than I would be! I'd have been yelling in my stage manager's voice, “Boneheads! My time here is nearly over and you still don't get it, do you? I've got to simplify this one more time. Just stick to the basics – how about you do one thing? Love each other. Do you think you can do the one thing?”

Because what I'm asking you to do is IMPORTANT! Pay attention kids. Just as the Father loved me. I've loved you. Now do that.

Because, like the anthem says. They'll Know.

First of all, they are going to know we are Christians by the love we show to THEM. Who them? Who are THEY? Who is my neighbor?

With the recent tornado, I've heard a lot (and read a lot on Facebook) about neighbors taking care of each other. People collecting clothes, food and money. People clearing debris and gathering the few possessions that some folks were left with after their homes were damaged or destroyed entirely. Watching out for each other. Providing shelter and a shoulder to lean on. These neighbors are important. But we know from scripture that our neighbor is more than the guy who lives next door with the chainsaw. The whole world is our neighborhood.

So, suddenly – They and them are more clearly defined. They are the people on the outside who are just waiting to be invited in. I know that the last time I was here at Monroe UMC that I shared a story from Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle, a Jesuit who began Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles. The book is a collection of stories from the gang-intervention program that was started in the poorest parish in LA, center of the gang capital of the world. You don't get much more “they” than that.

In this book, Pastor G (as the homies call him) tells about the instance in scripture where Jesus is in a house so packed that no one can come through the door anymore. So the people 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. They're 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.

I know that Monroe UMC has a rich history of reaching out. In fact when I was texting with Pastor Dalton he told me that the slogan on your T-shirts is “Love one another.” That is a great message. Jesus would wear that shirt.

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. 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.

But who do we offer this love to?

Today's lectionary scriptures also include scriptures from Acts 10:44-48 and

1 John 5:1-6 – both of which touch on the topic of WHO should be included.

In Acts, Peter is speaking and the Holy Spirit falls on all who were listening. And the circumcised are astounded that the Gentiles are included! They know it happened, because they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God – but what the heck? And Peter baptizes them! Peterson's The Message phrases Peter's response in verses 46-48 this way, “Then Peter said, “Do I hear any objections to baptizing these friends with water? They’ve received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did.” Hearing no objections, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay on for a few days.”

And 1 John 5 – the final chapter of that book begins with the awesome statement that “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child.” Everyone who believes belongs. And they'll know by the love we show for them.

Is it offered to all? Is it offered without strings and conditions? Does God's love have conditions? He doesn't even demand we love him back! It is love freely and unconditionally offered – this is the love we are instructed to show to others. What they choose to do with the love is all up to them. What we choose to do with God's love is all up to us.

I feel Jesus' urgency in explaining this to his disciples. He says it's simple, keep my commands and dwell in my love. He goes on to tell them that his purpose for telling them this is so that they'll feel the same joy that he does! “that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

And Jesus hits it from one more angle, just in case they don't get it (which is normally the case with us humans). Verses 12-15 in The Message, “This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.”

We are in on the secret – we know what the master is doing and why. So we aren't just blindly following orders...We Know! We are to love others the way that God loves us because it is the best way to love. Put our lives on the line for our friends. And before you get too comfortable with the concept that you only lay down your life for the people you call friends...as my youth class would say, “check yourself before you wreck yourself.” I don't think we get to limit it to only people we like. As my buddy Father Greg wrote, “Jesus says if you love those who love you, big whoo...” oh. man. He's right. How hard is it to love those who already love us? Sure, they'll irritate us and frustrate us – but loving people we already love isn't much of a challenge.

Maybe...just maybe, we're going to have to expand our circle of friends.

I am the middle child of five. Four girls, One boy – you can all pray for my brother...he deserves your pity and respect.

My sister Karen is one of those people who has never met a stranger. She can sit down at any table, on an airplane, in a church, standing in line for a roller-coaster and make friends. She just says that strangers are friends you haven't met yet. She'll ask questions, get people smiling and laughing – finding common ground with everyone. I'd like to be more like her – but I'm the person who has a random conversation starter app on my phone to help me strike up a chat with a stranger. Yes, seriously, there is an app for that. With questions like What is your favorite pizza topping? Or Where is the best place you've ever visited? Or What was your worst job ever?

Seeking common ground with and showing genuine interest in our fellow human beings is the answer to the question – what would Jesus do? Love God and love who God loves. Which is everyone – Jew and Gentile, slave and free, man and woman, no exceptions. No exclusions. No conditions.

If we are going to do what he told us – in the best way possible. Love one another as I loved you. Because they'll know. They are going to know we are Christians by our Love.

One more thought before I wrap up – an obstacle that I need to warn you about before you run into it yourself. Here is the wall that I slam into headlong on a regular basis. It can be hard to show the love of God to others if we haven't accepted it for ourselves. I'm going to own this statement for me – I have to believe God loves me in order to show that love to others.

You get me? I'm saying that I don't always feel worthy of God's love – so I reject it. I was brought up and taught to accept certain things such as God is love. I concede “God loves us,” and yet there is this lurking sense that perhaps I'm not fully part of the “us.” The arms of God reach to embrace, and somehow I feel just outside God's fingertips. Thinking that God embraces me begrudgingly and reluctantly... But that is false thinking. That is putting God's ability to love down with my defective human ability to love. As St. Paul wrote – when you completely know the one in who you move and live and have your being...then you see that it has been God's JOY to love you all along. God's joy to love me...not just put up with me. God LOVES loving you! It is his joy.

We'll know we are Christians by our love. Everyone needs to hear about this incredible. Unfathomable. Unconditional. Love. We need to hear this too. We need to come to the place of accepting this for ourselves. We need to know – we are wholly acceptable to God. And he loves us. Right here. Right now.

In Tattoos on the Heart, Pastor G relates a story about Willy. Willy has hit up G for a ride and 20 bucks. When Pastor G stops at the ATM to coax the 20 from his thin bank account Willy asks him for the keys so he can listen to the radio but G tells him to pray instead. When he returns to the car he finds Willy changed. Quiet and reflective and he knows that Willy has made a connection to God. Pastor G asks Willy how he sees God. Willy replies that “God is my dog.” (meaning his homie, good thing) Then he asks Willy how he thinks God sees him. After some thought Willy says, “He thinks I'm firme (spanish word).” In gang terms, it means “it could not be one bit better.”)

God thinks that we are all Firme. He loves us completely. When we recognize how much God loves us.

Right now.

Not when we do better.

Not when we get our checklist done: read bible daily, fast weekly, tithe, stop speeding, never lose our temper...

No, we are wholly acceptable. No conditions. Firme. Could not be one bit better.

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.

Go Team Go!

This message was first delivered at Cove United Methodist Church in Coleman Falls, Virginia on May 8, 2016. It is based on the lectionary texts of Luke 24:44-49 and Acts 1:1-11.

Today is the day that we celebrate Ascension Sunday. Ascension Day was actually Thursday. The is actually one of the few feast days from the Anglican calendar that John Wesley retained for use by Methodists. The other two were Good Friday and Christmas Day – all other non-Sunday holy days were eliminated. Wesley wrote in the preface to The Sunday Service of the Methodists in North America that the others “at present answering no valuable end.” For Wesley, then, there was no doubt Ascension Day served a valuable end. It was not merely because it was a marker in the life of Christ or the history of the church. After all, Mr. Wesley omitted Maundy Thursday as well. Ascension marked not just something about Jesus or the church, but about the scope of salvation for the whole universe. Victorious over sin and death through cross and Resurrection, Jesus, 40 days after his Resurrection, ascended to heaven to assume the fullness of his reign.

Both the ascension and the 40 days are important. Throughout the 40 days, a time period denoting preparation for a momentous new era to come, Jesus made numerous appearances to his disciples and to others, both to show he was indeed risen and to teach them more about their upcoming roles as apostles, those sent forth to proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name among all the peoples of the earth.

So it was time for his full enthronement at the Father’s right hand. This is why our psalm for this day was an enthronement psalm. We sing it or pray it or embody it in some way this day in celebration that Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, is enthroned at the right hand of the Father as Lord and Judge of the living and the dead. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him, and he exercises that authority fully in preparation for the day when he returns to complete the renewal of all things.

The church calendar has several periods of preparation, ones that we easily recognize like Advent and Lent – others are more subtle. This period between Easter and next week's celebration of Pentecost remind me of Spring Training. Although I've never been a huge baseball fan – one of my favorite pastors counted down the days to Spring Training every year. I wasn't exactly cut from my childhood softball team – but my coach's advice was to stand still and never swing the bat. Being shorter than most of the other players, it was almost a given that I would walk to first base. I was praised for being the coach's “good little statue.” Not exactly a foundation for becoming a great softball player, but I did get to be a part of the team.

During his final session of training his disciples – what did Coach Jesus have to say to his team? During this 40 days before his departure, what advice did he have for them? Some of it was very individual – he told Thomas that it was okay to doubt, but that those who believed without seeing were blessed. He had a long heart-to-heart with Peter about loving. He asked Peter if he loved him. THREE times! That's when he told Peter to tend his sheep. And to follow him. And Coach Jesus spoke in the presence of John about his authority. Peter asked Jesus about what John's role was to be – in John 21 starting in verse 21, Peter said, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple (John) would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

Coach Jesus telling one player that what he decided about another player's role wasn't any of his concern. If you've ever coached a team or led a group task or directed a play...you know there is often an extra coach or two that you didn't count on. Maybe you've had a Peter under your direction...asking you “what about that guy?” and you've had to say “that guy is going to do what I need him to do, why don't you just focus on your own area?”

Some of what the coach had to say was for all the disciples. Indeed, if we examine the scripture lessons for today...we see directions and advice. Luke 24:44-49 from The Message reads: Then he (Jesus) said, “Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled.” He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations—starting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I am sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until he arrives, until you’re equipped with power from on high.”

This is one of those afternoons I'd love to be able to be a part of. Along with the pair who got to have Jesus explain the scriptures and how present circumstances were fulfillment of the prophets' foretelling as they walked on the road to Emmaus. Or to be in the chariot with Philip as he explained scripture to the Ethiopian Eunuch. Such incredible opportunities for good coaching.

Jesus fills his last days with encouragement and advice and warnings to stay focused. He knew that his team had a tendency to miss the mark. He knew they could be like a 10 year old girl in right field...watching butterflies flutter and ants march with small bits of french fry to their homes. Jesus knew we'd get distracted by the world around us. And he was so right...

Acts 1:1-11 retells the story of Ascension Day – and Jesus' team, moments before the coach is ready to withdraw and leave the game to the players he's prepared – ask if this is the time he's going to restore the Kingdom to Israel. I can almost see Jesus smacking himself in the forehead. No wonder he tells them to wait for the Holy Spirit!

Instead he patiently reminds them that they don't get to know the timing. That's for the Father to know. And he lets them know that help is coming...wait for it. In Luke he says YOU are the witnesses! When you have the power that was promised, you'll spread the word. You'll have everything you need to change the world. And then he ascends. And the disciples stare at the sky.

I wonder how each of them felt. Did they feel lost? Alone? Excited? Mournful or amazed? Prepared for the spiritual battles ahead? Overwhelmed? Was Peter ready to build a monument? Was John longing to have one more conversation with Jesus? Did they understand the significance of the moment?

They just stood there. Until they got a gentle reminder from two men in white. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” The Message says it more plainly: They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”

If you've ever read the Harry Potter books, you'll recall that in the last book Harry is searching for the last Horcrux (spoiler alert!). He has returned to his beloved Hogwarts and the battle is about to begin between the forces of good and evil. Harry is enjoying being back in a place that he loves, surrounded by friends and basking in joy of being so close to his goal. His supporters are getting prepared to battle to give him the time he needs to locate this last piece. His no nonsense teacher walks up to him and says, “don't you have something you should be looking for?” Oh...right...and he gets back to work.

Sometimes the empty sky we are staring at isn't just sky. Sometimes it is the world or work or commitments or even basking in the glow of everything that is going right! Or butterflies and ants. And we need to be reminded – “hey church, isn't there something you're supposed to be doing? Why are you staring at the sky?” Get to work! Get off the bench and be ready to play the game!

You've got what you need. You know what you're supposed to be doing. What's the holdup? Or maybe you don't feel like you're prepared...let's examine a locker room pep talk from Jesus...see if that gets you ready.

The setting is the Last Supper. Feet have been washed. Judas has exited. Jesus has told Peter he will deny him. Thomas wants to follow but doesn't know the way. Philip tells Jesus that if he'll just show them The Father, they'll be content. Jesus, with incredible patience, explains that if Philip sees him, he sees the Father. That the Father is in him and he is in the Father. I can just see the glazed look on Philip's face.

Jesus goes on to state a lot of important stuff – not just for the disciples, but for us:

“If you love me, show it by doing what I've told you.”

“I'll ask the Father to send you another Friend, so that you'll always have someone with you. This Spirit of Truth won't be taken in by the world because it doesn't have eyes to see this spirit...but you'll know and embrace this Spirit.”

“I won't leave you orphaned. I'm coming back.”

“A loveless world is a sightless world. If anyone loves me, he will keep my Word and my Father will love him.”

“Live in me.”

“Let my joy be your joy.”

He warned the disciples that the world wasn't going to be easy. He reminded them that servants aren't treated better than their masters. If the world beat up on Jesus, the world was not going to take it easy on his followers. The world would hate them too. John 15:21-25 says it clearly: “They are going to do all these things to you because of the way they treated me, because they don’t know the One who sent me. If I hadn’t come and told them all this in plain language, it wouldn’t be so bad. As it is, they have no excuse. Hate me, hate my Father—it’s all the same. If I hadn’t done what I have done among them, works no one has ever done, they wouldn’t be to blame. But they saw the God-signs and hated anyway, both me and my Father. Interesting—they have verified the truth of their own Scriptures where it is written, ‘They hated me for no good reason.’

Fulfillment of scripture. The glory of the Messiah, the stubborn heart of Man, the betrayal and hatred from the world. The good, the bad and the ugly. God help our unbelief.

But Jesus, despite our hard heads and hard hearts, provided all that his disciples needed. He did send the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost – which we will celebrate next week. Jesus taught and illustrated and told stories and related all that he was about. And the church was born. And despite what the world may say, the church is still very much alive today. And the world needs the church...as an extension of the love from the Father.

In my reading and studying for this message, I came across a passage in John that I did not know well...but I may have parts of it tattooed on my body so I can be reminded. John 17 is a prayer by Jesus for his followers. Listen closely to see what is has in it for you today:

Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:

Father, it’s time.
Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
I glorified you on earth
By completing down to the last detail
What you assigned me to do.
And now, Father, glorify me with your very own splendor,
The very splendor I had in your presence
Before there was a world.

Father, I spelled out your character in detail
To the men and women you gave me.
They were yours in the first place;
Then you gave them to me,
And they have now done what you said.
They know now, beyond the shadow of a doubt,
That everything you gave me is firsthand from you,
For the message you gave me, I gave them;
And they took it, and were convinced
That I came from you.
They believed that you sent me.
I pray for them.
I’m not praying for the God-rejecting world
But for those you gave me,
For they are yours by right.
Everything mine is yours, and yours mine,
And my life is on display in them.
For I’m no longer going to be visible in the world;
They’ll continue in the world
While I return to you.
Holy Father, guard them as they pursue this life
That you conferred as a gift through me,
So they can be one heart and mind
As we are one heart and mind.
As long as I was with them, I guarded them
In the pursuit of the life you gave through me;
I even posted a night watch.
And not one of them got away,
Except for the rebel bent on destruction
(the exception that proved the rule of Scripture).

Now I’m returning to you.
I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing
So my people can experience
My joy completed in them.
I gave them your word;
The godless world hated them because of it,
Because they didn’t join the world’s ways,
Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways.
I’m not asking that you take them out of the world
But that you guard them from the Evil One.
They are no more defined by the world
Than I am defined by the world.
Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth;
Your word is consecrating truth.
In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world,
I give them a mission in the world.
I’m consecrating myself for their sakes
So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.

I’m praying not only for them
But also for those who will believe in me
Because of them and their witness about me.
The goal is for all of them to become one heart and mind—
Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you,
So they might be one heart and mind with us.
Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me.
The same glory you gave me, I gave them,
So they’ll be as unified and together as we are—
I in them and you in me.
Then they’ll be mature in this oneness,
And give the godless world evidence
That you’ve sent me and loved them
In the same way you’ve loved me.

Father, I want those you gave me
To be with me, right where I am,
So they can see my glory, the splendor you gave me,
Having loved me
Long before there ever was a world.
Righteous Father, the world has never known you,
But I have known you, and these disciples know
That you sent me on this mission.
I have made your very being known to them—
Who you are and what you do—
And continue to make it known,
So that your love for me
Might be in them
Exactly as I am in them.

And now, we are “the rest of the story.” We are the followers that Jesus prayed for and continues to advocate for. We have our mission. It isn't complicated. Tell the story. That Jesus came down from heaven and died for our sins. And he ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to guide us and be with us. To comfort and when we are too comfortable...to discomfort. We know the strategy he conveyed – love one another just as he loved us. Love all the people. All the time. Even the ones who aren't easy to love – the ones who reject love, the ones who the world would say don't deserve love, the ones who haven't experienced your love AND the ones whose experiences with love haven't been good.

We've got the mission, the tools, the playbook and the one the Jesus promised. Time to stop staring at the empty sky and get back in the game. Called to BE the church. Let's see some teamwork! Good hustle! 

The Character of God

This message was first delivered at Cove United Methodist Church in Coleman Falls, Virginia on January 11, 2015. It is based on the lectionary texts of Mark 1:4-11, Genesis 1:1-5, Acts 19:1-7 and Psalm 29.

Acts 19:1-7New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied— altogether there were about twelve of them.

The character of God

Today's scripture lessons illuminate different aspects of the character of God. In the Genesis reading that described the first day of creation – we experience the character of God the builder. In the Psalm we see the glory of a God who is powerful and worthy of our awe and wonder. In Mark, we heard how Jesus was humble enough to be baptized by John. John, who told his own followers that he was unworthy to tie Jesus' shoes. And in Acts, Paul gave witness to the character of the Holy Spirit.

Four scriptures. One God. Many faces.

We are all like that. We have many aspects to our personality that present themselves depending on our mood and situation. You get to experience Good Chris – the one who is upbeat and brings a good message and sometimes even sings pretty. You probably think I'm always smiling and positive and loving. My co-workers sometimes experience Grumpy Chris – the one who feels overwhelmed and frustrated and short of coffee. The kids at Centenary's afterschool program on Thursday nights generally get a blend of those two...with a little extra crazy thrown in. Sometimes it is good crazy, when I amuse them by dancing a little or telling wild stories about my family. But other times they push me a little too far with all the talking and not listening and I'm ashamed to say that they have experienced Angry Chris.

Whether it is Good or Grumpy or Happy or Dopey...it is all Chris.

And whether it is humble Jesus or patient Jesus or creator God or powerful God or the Holy Spirit – it is all part of who God is. Today I want to look a little deeper into some of these aspects of the character of God.

In the beginning, there was God. The earth was a formless void...it was nothing. It was a blank canvas. God decided to get creative. Was God lonely? Was God bored? Why did he start this never-ending project we call Earth? I can't say. But I'm happy that he did. He caused a wind to sweep over the void – or he WAS the wind that swept over the void...regardless...he spoke. He said, “let there be light.” and there was light. And it was good.

But he didn't stop there – God separated light from darkness, he called the light Day and the dark Night. And there was evening and there was morning.

Why not stop with making Light? If light is so good, why not always have light?

In the 1980 movie Oh God! Book II, - George Burns as God is speaking with a young girl who has asked him why there is suffering and darkness in the world: God says, “I know this sounds like a cop-out, Tracy, but there's nothing I can do about pain and suffering. It's built into the system.” Tracy answers, “Which You invented.” He responds, “Right. But my problem was I could never figure out how to build anything with just one side to it.” “One side?” she questions. He says, “You ever see a front without a back? A top without a bottom? An up without a down? OK. Then there can't be good without bad, life without death, pleasure without pain. That's the way it is. If I take sad away, happy has to go with it.

Maybe that is an overly simplistic way to look at it. But without darkness, would we appreciate the light?

In the 1974 Sid and Marty Kroft classic series, Land of the Lost, a father, son and daughter are trapped in a land of dinosaurs, strange plants, odd monkey-men and terrifying lizard people called Sleestak. Perhaps you remember the series? It is available on YouTube and I have revisited my childhood many times watching the series.

There are two episodes in season 2 that pertain to this topic of Light and Dark. One is called The Longest Day and the other is called Blackout. In the longest day, a crystal blows out in the clock pylon (trust me this makes sense if you watch the show) and the sun stops moving. In Blackout, the Sleestak tamper with the clock pylon to keep the sun from rising. In the first instance, the Sleestak are unable to come out of their caves because the sun won't go down and all of the Land is threatened because the unrelenting sun begins to dry up water supplies and wither plants. The consequences of unending night are just as dire. The Sleestak thought unending night would be perfect because they would be able to hunt their food supply all the time. Unfortunately, without the sun, the cold begins to kill off their preferred food source, the Altrusian Moth.

Aren't we guilty of acting like Sleestak sometimes? We are sure that if the world was just like we wanted, there would be eternal happiness. We just forget that what we want may not be the best thing for us – and the world.

So God was wiser and made both Day AND Night. We have Light and Darkness. Because the world needs to have both.

Just like the world needs more than the creator God, the God of power and might – we also need God in the person of Jesus Christ. The one who relates to our human needs and wants and desires...the God who humbled himself to come down to Earth as a tiny baby, to walk among us and die for our sins.

We have just come through the time of celebrating the birth of Jesus and now our gospel scripture talks about the beginning of Jesus' ministry. The church calendar is funny like that! We have Advent in November and Easter in April – which would seem like the beginning and end chapters. But there is so much in between for us to learn.

Today's lectionary scripture shows us Jesus seeking out his cousin, John the Baptist. John has been baptizing in the desert and people are flocking to see him. He is telling people to repent of their sins and be baptized. John is an interesting character and clearly a powerful leader – but he tells his followers that the one to follow him is even more powerful. He tells them that he is unworthy to stoop down and untie the sandals of Jesus. But Jesus seeks him out and is baptized by him in the Jordan River. If JOHN knew that he was not as powerful as Jesus – surely JESUS was aware of that! And yet, he humbled himself and the most amazing thing happened when he was coming up out of the water. John's suspicions are confirmed...a voice came down from heaven and said, “You are my Son, the Beloved. With you, I am well pleased.”

Confirmation. This is the Messiah. The long awaited Savior.

He is not what a lot of people expected. Even among Jesus' closest friends, his disciples – there were those who expected (and desired) a King. A warrior. A power broker.

They did not expect the Messiah to be humble. To be fully human. But he was. We do not have time today to explore all of the wonderful characteristics of Jesus. So I'll focus on the humanity and humility. He started off life in a simple manger, in the town of Bethlehem. It was a humble beginning.

Which reminds me very much of the humble story in John 13. Jesus got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” skipping further into the story: After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord—and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

Jesus came into the world in a very humble way and then lived among people who still didn't understand what he came to accomplish and tried very hard to teach his disciples what being his follower truly meant. And 2000 years later we still have a hard time grasping what we as the church are supposed to be doing. We continue to learn even though our Savior returned to heaven for a time.

But thanks be to God, we are not alone. Jesus and God left a presence with us. The Holy Spirit to help guide us. That character of God without body and without thunder – that is so critical to the followers, even today. The part of God that was so important that Paul asked the disciples that he found in Ephesus if they had received it. And when he discovered that they had not experienced the Holy Spirit – he baptized them and laid his hands on them and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Ah, the Holy Spirit... perhaps that is the face of God that many people have a hard time relating to. We can get on board with the creator God and the wild fury and passion of the God in Psalm 29...and we can appreciate Jesus, who came down to earth in a very human form to walk among us...but the spirit is something altogether different. Because this is the part of God that is supposed to infest our whole being.

The Book of Acts mentions the Holy Spirit perhaps more than any other book in the Bible. But the Holy Spirit is present long before Jesus appears on the scene. God’s Spirit has always been a part of our story of faith.

“In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind of God swept over the face of the waters.” The word “wind” — translated into English here from the Hebrew word ruakh (voo aff), which means air, or wind, or breath — later gets translated as “Spirit.” So the Spirit is, in the beginning, associated with the creation.

The Old Testament also portrays the Holy Spirit as a source of inspiration and power. Israel’s leaders—from Moses to Joshua, Judges, David and Solomon, all the way to Isaiah and beyond - all are said to have received their wisdom, courage, and power as gifts resulting from the possession of God’s Spirit. We see this Spirit at work especially in the prophets, who are said to have been possessed by God’s Spirit to such a degree that all that they say and do is attributed to being the words and work of God. It is as if they are completely taken over by God’s Spirit, so that their whole bodies and minds and beings become vehicles for God’s Word to be spoken to human beings.

The Holy Spirit is God’s presence in the community of God’s people. The Spirit is associated with the hope of Israel and God’s plan for them in the unfolding of their history. So we can see that the Holy Spirit was a significant part of our understanding of God even before Jesus came to live upon this earth.

Things get more complicated when we get to the New Testament. Some of the Old Testament sense of the Holy Spirit continues, particularly the idea that the Spirit gives power to human beings.

But the very close relationship of Jesus to God begins to change and transform the Christian understanding of the Holy Spirit. For Christians, the Holy Spirit comes to represent both the presence and activity of God and the continuing presence of Jesus Christ in the church and in the world. The Gospel of John describes the Holy Spirit as the “Counselor” who represents both divine presence and ongoing guidance for the disciples.

The Book of Acts, which is a record of the early church, shows the development of a close and personal connection to the Holy Spirit. In today’s Scripture lesson Paul starts to draw a distinction between the kind of baptism practiced by John the Baptist, who proclaimed a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and baptism in the Lord Jesus Christ, which has to do with the laying on of hands and the coming of the Holy Spirit to those who believe in him and follow him.

In some denominations, before a person can be recognized as a believer and follower of Jesus Christ, he or she must show clear evidence of having been baptized in the Holy Spirit. Witnesses look for signs that this has happened. Those signs usually include things like having an ecstatic experience such as being slain in the Spirit (falling on the floor and convulsing) or speaking in tongues, or dancing, or physical healing.

United Methodists have a somewhat less dramatic, but equally important, understanding of what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit of Christ Jesus. United Methodists don’t believe that there must be certain kinds of evidence of the Holy Spirit, such as ecstatic experiences or speaking in tongues.

United Methodists focus their understanding of the Holy Spirit primarily on grace. The undeserved, unmerited, and loving action of God through the ever-present Holy Spirit.

Methodists believe that the grace of God is with us even before we know it. We are born with this grace. It is in us while we are still being knitted together in the womb. As we grow and learn more about Jesus Christ, we become more and more filled with this grace—this undeserved, unmerited, loving action of God—until at some point in our lives, we come to this incredible realization that God’s love really is for us. God loves us even though we sin. God loves us even though we make lots of mistakes and hurt one another and hurt ourselves. God still loves us, just as we are, no matter what. John Wesley called this experience “justifying grace,” and he characterized it as a feeling of deep and abiding assurance.

When we come to that realization, it really changes the way we feel about ourselves. In response, we work harder to know Jesus Christ, by praying and studying God’s Holy Word. Through these disciplines, we start to feel his presence in our lives, and we see his face in the faces of people who show us his grace. We enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is the point in which we start to have a faith of our own.We begin to feel God’s love for us in a very personal and intimate way, and that feeling changes the way that we feel about ourselves and about our value and place in the world.

And when that Spirit infects our being – this assurance is the work of the Holy Spirit. It isn’t a body or a form or a shape. It is a breath, a wind, a knowing, a feeling that rushes through us and draws us to others. It fills us with an assurance that there is something underneath it all, something beyond what we can know from science or from intellectual pursuit or from thinking. It is the wind that swept over the dark and formless void and gave it life. It is the breath of God that enters each one of us, giving meaning and shape to our dark and formless lives. It is the voice that spoke the word of God through the prophets. It is the hope that gave the nation of Israel the strength to leave Egypt and head out to the Promised Land. It is the Word of God that came to dwell in Jesus Christ and lives among us. It is the tongues of fire and the mighty rush of wind that fell upon the followers of Christ gathered in Jerusalem for Pentecost. It is the force that enabled them to understand one another, even though many different languages were being spoken. It is the power of God’s grace that lives in and through the followers of Jesus Christ. It is our hope, our center, the very ground of our being, into which we were baptized into the faith through the laying on of hands in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. It is the Spirit of Christ, the light that has come into the world, and that the darkness can never put out.

In 2007 William P. Young published a book called The Shack. This modern day parable described the Trinity in a way that shook up a lot of people. If you haven't read it, I encourage you to do so, simply because it forces you to look at an old mystery (the Trinity) from a different perspective. It may be a perspective that resonates with you – or it may not. The important thing is that every Christian needs to examine their relationship with God – and find that connection for themselves.

God wants to be in relationship with every single one of us. And he (or she) wants that relationship to change the way we relate to each other. Because when we honor the power of God the Father, relate to the humanity of God in Jesus and allow God the Holy Spirit to fill us completely – it will affect us in ways we can barely imagine. And then the church can truly be a part of the transformation of the world around us.