The Body

This message was first delivered at Providence United Methodist in Rustburg, Virginia and White's United Methodist in Lynchburg, Virginia on August 5, 2018. It is based on the lectionary texts of John 6:24-35 and Ephesians 4:1-16. 

John 6:24-35 NRSV

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.”Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Ephesians 4:1-16 NRSV

I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to the one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.

But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. Therefore it is said, “When he ascended on high he made captivity itself a captive; he gave gifts to his people.” (When it says, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? He who descended is the same one who ascended far above all the heavens, so that he might fill all things.)

The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine, by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming. But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

Both Paul and Jesus are talking to their followers about a calling. A task that is to be done. In each of today's scriptures we are not only instructed about WHAT we are supposed to be doing on earth, but the way we should approach the job at hand. Both Jesus and Paul are trying hard to guide a wayward group of people – with their own ideas and tendency to get their eyes off the ball. Are we really any different from the crowds they were addressing in Capernaum and Ephesus?

At the beginning of our Gospel lesson today, we are picking up after Jesus has fed 5000 with 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. The people are amazed and excited and ready to make Jesus their king by force. So Jesus has vanished. And the crowd piles into boats to go after him. When they find him he indicates that they are more motivated by what he did for them than the real substance of WHO he is. Verse 26 in The Message is paraphrased as “You've come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I filled your stomachs – for free.” And he is calling them (and us) to a higher level of understanding. He wants us to strive for things that last, and not the perishable things of the earth.

Paul, from prison, is urging – even begging – the followers to get to work! He says they need to live a life worthy of the calling they have received. Once again – what is that calling? What are we supposed to be doing here? In John, the crowd even asks “What must we do to perform the works of God?” What – specifically – are you asking us to do Jesus?

Have you ever worked on a project with volunteers who needed a lot of guidance? It takes about the same amount of patience that Jesus had...which is about one more measure than I usually have. Recently I was a part of the Kiwanis Club of Lynchburg's annual Shrimp Sale. We sold 1450 pounds of shrimp which was picked up on the morning of distribution day down in Oriental, NC by a member and chauffeured in a refrigerated van in boxes of ice to the parking lot of Holy Cross School. The club members then have the task of removing the ice and weighing the shrimp into 1 pound bags for pickup by the people who ordered. We've been doing the same fundraiser for several years and have the process worked out so that we can go from 50 pound boxes of icy shrimp to happy customers in under four hours.

The problem with this year was that there didn't seem to be anyone in charge of getting things set up to start bagging shrimp! I was in charge of orders and check-in and money so I was there, but had to get my station setup before the customers started driving through. But I kept looking over at the weighing station seeing people wandering and putting a box from here to there, and there to here...yet there wasn't any shrimp going into bags? I walked over and one of these grown people, who has worked the event for several years, looked at me and said, “what should we be doing?” Jesus would have approached it better than I did. And he would have left out one of the words from my next sentence... “how about you start putting shrimp in bags?” Jesus was patient with the question, “how should we go about doing God's work?” He didn't pick up a bat and say, “what did I JUST tell you people?” He tells them (again) what the work assignment is “this is the work of God: believe in him whom he has sent.” Believe in him who God has sent. Jesus says, it's simple stupid – put the shrimp in the darn bags!

Even easier than getting a dozen Kiwanians on task – your job is to believe in Jesus. Just believe. Because if you believe – then it is going to change you. Change the way you see the world. Change the way you see the people around you. If you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, sent from God. Listen to him. Hear what he is saying about how we are to relate to each other in God's world. How we impact the people around us. Believe. And then what?

Strangely, even though this is the same crowd that just saw him feed 5000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish with baskets of leftovers...their next question is “what sign are you going to perform for us now?” They go on to babble about signs given to their ancestors in the form of manna – bread from heaven – while their ancestors were in the wilderness. “Hey Jesus! Sure, the trick with the bread and fish was cool – but what is next? What wonder can you do NOW to prove you are who you say you are?” Jesus should be lauded for not dropping a giant loaf of sourdough on them.

We can't believe in a Messiah that is only as good as his last miracle! That isn't belief...that's just fandom. Are we here to be followers of Jesus or just his fans? We've got to be in this for the long haul! My father has been a fan of the Washington Redskins for most of his 78 years. That is through the good years AND the bad. And if you're a fan of the Redskins, you've got to be able to tolerate years of bad... As far as the NFL goes – I've been a fan of the Denver Broncos when Elway was quarterback, I like Boomer Esiason and cheered for the Bengals for awhile, I liked the Baltimore Colts but still hold a grudge against the Indianapolis Colts. I'm a fan...and not even a very good fan...not in any way a follower. I'm ready for the next Superbowl win or gold medal. Fans are fickle. Jesus doesn't want fans, he wants followers.

Believe in him whom God sent. That is the task. And bless their hearts, the crowd still doesn't quite get it. They are still focused on earthly things. Jesus said that the manna wasn't from Moses, but from God and that God was now offering them bread that comes from heaven that gives life to the world. And the wandering Kiwanians said, “oh cool, give us some of that!” “we want to have that all the time”

And Jesus simply says, “I am that bread. Whoever comes to me won't be hungry, whoever believes in my won't be thirsty.” Eugene Peterson's The Message, which is a paraphrase, did not originally have verse markings. In later editions, including the Biblegateway.com edition that I use, the added verse numbers sometimes break up paragraphs in different spots.

Often that is the case because the paragraph and the thought continues on. This final paragraph of today's gospel lesson is one of those instances where Peterson saw how verses 36-38 completed the thought begun in verse 35. Hear 35-38: Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.” This takes “believe” into a whole new level. He understood that even though the crowd has seen him in action – they haven't taken it to the next level of actually turning to God – running to him. Diving into the sureness of truly believing that Jesus is the son of the most high God.

Because the crowd is just like we are – at least sometimes – our minds are on the earthly things. And this is where we often get tripped up in getting the job done that we were told to do – because if we believe, then we are instructed to spread the word. Not out of obligation but because you can't help it!

Like the guy on the commercial who just keeps telling people how much he saved on his car insurance – or the lady who won't stop talking about the new man in her life who takes such good care of her and is smarter/taller/faster than anyone she's ever met before. Or like me when I find a great new restaurant or see a wonderful movie or read an impactful book.

If you've heard me speak before, it is likely you have heard stories from my favorite book (besides the Bible and the Harry Potter series) Tattoos on the Heart by Father Greg Boyle. The funny thing is that even though I have now read it dozens of times (not exaggerating) and have bought and given away about 80 copies...when my sister suggested that I would enjoy it – I didn't try it right away! I'm kind of stubborn like that. But once I did read it. I could not stop talking about it and sharing it.

The story of Jesus being sent by God to reconcile the world to him should spark the same burning desire in us. We can't stop sharing it because it has changed our lives. And that doesn't always mean that you need to stand in a pulpit or on a street corner “proclaiming.” Doesn't mean you've got to quote scriptures to your waitress or leave tracts in the bathroom. You've got to find your own pathway.

That is one my key takeaways from the passage from Ephesians today. Now that we know WHAT we are supposed to do...HOW are we supposed to approach the task? Hmmm...shrimp in bags...what process is required? I will tell you what I wanted to shout that muggy Friday afternoon standing on the asphalt of a parking lot when grown people were wandering around with orange cones and duct tape. “I don't care HOW you get it done...but these people are coming and will need their shrimp...figure it out, find a process that works for you and get to work.” “These people need God's love. You need to show them that love. Figure out your process and get to work.

Because although we are all called to get the same task done – Paul clearly states that we will have different approaches. We need to find unity – despite the fact we will all be given different gifts. Oh man...Jesus, wouldn't it be easier to just tell us exactly how to do it? Give us a formula, some blueprints, some rules. Man, humans sure do seem to like rules. Not that we love following rules but it is so much easier to tell when someone else is doing it WRONG! This is where people thrive...pointing out the faults and defects.

Paul says we need to get over ourselves. We've got to stop focusing on the earthly stuff...which includes our own desires and egos and desperate clinging to “my way is the right way and the only way and if you don't do it my way which is the only right way, you are indeed WRONG.”

Paul says we are all on the same road and heading in the same direction and that we are following the same God and are therefore saturated with oneness. And yet, we don't have to all look and speak and act the same. We are actually given a variety of gifts. You may be an apostle or a teacher or prophet or leader...you need to take stock of your gifts and find ways to stir them up and use them! Because God didn't give you that gift to put in the closet and keep it for a rainy day. He wants you to put that gift to use now! Have you ever given someone a gift to see them smile and set it aside and you just KNOW you are never going to see them wear that scarf you knitted or see them serve cookies off the plate you chose so carefully. It is disappointing isn't it? You want people to use and enjoy your gift!

A couple of years ago my sister Denise was just beside herself when she came to my house to celebrate my birthday. It is also my mother's birthday, so I just assumed she had found something really cool for mom. Denise is a very thoughtful gift giver. I wasn't even paying that much attention when I unwrapped a strangely shaped heavy object. When the paper was off, I realized that she had given me a blowtorch!! Now, I understand this isn't a gift for everyone...but I was so excited. I went straight into the kitchen and torched some marshmallows and bruleed some sugar on a banana. The funny thing is – Denise was just thrilled that I was excited. I don't know who had more fun that evening...I think it was me, but she was glowing.

God wants to see us use our gifts. He is glowing whenever we do! But Paul's list of gifts in Ephesians is NOT ranked in order of importance. It isn't indicating that one gift is better than any others. And we know from the old testament that we aren't to covet...so we need to let others use their gifts while we use ours. Because this is truly the way that the followers will be able to accomplish our goal. The way that we show the love of God in the world. The way we transform the world by making disciples of Jesus Christ. We work within the body until we're all moving together rhythmically and easily, efficient and graceful.

Paul has words of caution that we would be wise to hear once again, that we be careful not to be children, tossed to and fro...blown about by every wind of doctrine, trickery and deceitfulness. We need to be more mature than that!

Verses 15-16 from the Message sum up the goal of HOW we work together: “God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love—like Christ in everything. We take our lead from Christ, who is the source of everything we do. He keeps us in step with each other. His very breath and blood flow through us, nourishing us so that we will grow up healthy in God, robust in love.” Do it the way Jesus would...follow his lead...do his work with all humility and gentleness, with patience bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Humilty, gentleness, patience, peace and love.

Search out your gifts. Find the ways that you can use those gifts to show everyone the truth. That God loves us and sent his Son as proof. Let's rededicate ourselves to the task at hand.

As we close this time of worship together I'd like to share a prayer in the form of scripture. Sometimes when I don't know what to pray, I turn to the Psalms and pray scripture instead. Close your eyes and listen to a portion of Psalm 51...the psalm written by David after he was confronted by Nathan about his affair with Bathsheba. As David pours out his heart to God, seeking his forgiveness...pour out your own heart feel God's loving embrace.

Generous in love—God, give grace! Huge in mercy—wipe out my bad record. Scrub away my guilt, soak out my sins in your laundry.

I know how bad I’ve been; my sins are staring me down.

You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil. You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair.

I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born. What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean, scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life. Tune me in to foot-tapping songs, set these once-broken bones to dancing.

Don’t look too close for blemishes, give me a clean bill of health. God, make a fresh start in me, shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.

Don’t throw me out with the trash, or fail to breathe holiness in me. Bring me back from gray exile, put a fresh wind in my sails!

Give me a job teaching rebels your ways so the lost can find their way home.

Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God, and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.

Unbutton my lips, dear God; I’ll let loose with your praise.

Amen

Mourning, Lamenting and Moving On

This message was first delivered at Court Street United Methodist Church in Lynchburg, Virginia on June 27, 2015. It is based on the lectionary text of Psalm 130.

Last week your choir did the most glorious rendition of Psalm 130. Just like today, this choir does not fail to deliver! It is really quite an extraordinary text – let me read it for you now:

Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.

Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!

If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?

But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning.

O Israel, hope in the LORD! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is great power to redeem.

It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.

Powerful stuff. And a very similar message was delivered in the scripture reading from Lamentations: Thank God that the Lord is steadfast in his love because between the challenges of life and the ways we willfully walk away – if he was keeping score, we'd all be ashes.

Life sometimes just – doesn't seem to be going our way. Sometimes we are incredibly overwhelmed by life. But since the writer of Lamentations reminds us that God does not “willingly afflict or grieve anyone” - why then, does life sometimes just...suck?

You know what I'm talking about. Sometimes it is just little things in life: the washer breaks down and the fridge stops making ice. The Maple Leafs don't win the Stanley Cup. Feeling annoyed and frustrated. Then there are the bigger things: loss of a job, the house in foreclosure, betrayal of a friend, feeling alone. Challenges ramping up past a simmer – death in your closest circle of friends, cancer diagnosis, homelessness, feeling desperate. And past the boil – abuse, loss of a child, feeling devastated. What do we do then?

Over and over in scripture we see people experiencing overwhelming challenges and the suffering makes them cry out to God. Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD. Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications! They – cry out – TO God.

One of the hardest things I have to remember to do – is to stop relying on myself. I can't seem to get it through my thick head – when I'm overwhelmed...I need to lean on God. I know, I know...it seems simple. Turn it over to the one who is in control. I'm like a crazy person trying to drive the car from the passenger seat! The driver keeps saying, “no Chris, I've got this...the wheel is over here” and I'm just a'grabbin' away trying to wrestle the wheel over to me. The worst part is – I'm also partially blindfolded! At least with blinders on – knowing that I'm right and if this fool would just hand me the wheel...

Cry out – to GOD. He's an incredibly powerful God. He's got mad skills – made the world in 6 days and then was smart enough to kick back for rest. (another one of my problems for another time).

The Bible is full of people crying out, lamenting, and asking why: the people in the desert asking Moses WHY he brought them out here to die in the wilderness, Job cried out and lamented for CHAPTERS (the original Blues - Obliterate the day I was born. Blank out the night I was conceived! Let it be a black hole in space. May God above forget it ever happened. Erase it from the books! - even teenage angst has nothing on Job!). One of my favorite tales of crying out is from 1 Kings – Elijah is on the run. Jezebel wants him dead after his showdown with the prophets of Baal.

He flees and after leaving his servant in Beersheba, he goes another day into the wilderness finally coming to rest under a solitary broom tree. Further into seclusion. There – this mighty prayer warrior of God, the one only recently prayed fire from the skies to prove the power of Yaweh...prays that he might die.

It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better than my ancestors. Elijah is in a serious state of depression. He has had enough. He is saying “I can't do this any more Lord.” The work was stressful, exhausting, and it seemed to have accomplished nothing. The great miracle at Mount Carmel did not result in a lasting national revival or return to the Lord. Elijah probably hoped that the events on Mount Carmel would turn around Ahab and Jezebel and the leadership of Israel. But Elijah forgot that people reject God despite the evidence, not because of the evidence.

He says he is no better than his ancestors. When he looks at the apparent failure of his ministry he instinctively blames his own unworthiness.

I think we can all relate to Elijah's despair. At some point in our lives we've all gotten to the point where we say, “what's the point? I can't go on. I don't want to go on.” Most of us have gotten to the end of our rope at some point in our lives. Maybe we were overwhelmed by a family issue or something at work or even felt burned out in our faith or church ministry. Perhaps you or someone you know has even lay under the broom tree and wanted to give up completely. Prayed for death.

God didn't grant Elijah's prayer for death. He gave him something else.

In the midst of this great despair, God sent an angel. Not with a pep talk...he took care of Elijah's physical needs first. This is not always His order, but physical needs are important. Sometimes the most spiritual thing a person can do is get enough rest and replenishment.

God sent Elijah on a 200 mile, 40 day trip to Mount Horeb, also known as Mount Sinai. God didn't demand an immediate recovery – he allowed his prophet time to recover from his spiritual depression. Lamenting and mourning. They are a natural response to challenges in life.

Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” How often have we heard that? Sometimes when we think things are starting to smooth out – God says, “What are you doing here?” God knew the answer, but he allowed Elijah to speak freely and unburden his heart:

Elijah answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away. He protests to God, “I have faithfully served You and now look at the danger I'm in!” To Elijah – and many servants of God since – it seemed unfair that a faithful servant of God should be made to suffer. And strangely, the reasons that Elijah provided for wanting to give up, are actually the critical reasons he should stay alive! If he really was the last prophet or believer alive, should he not seek to live as long as possible? If the enemies of God like Jezebel wanted him dead, shouldn't he seek to defeat her wicked ways? But this is what fear and unbelief will cause in us!

So, what did God do after he let Elijah vent? After Elijah said, “I've served you faithfully but now I'm running for my life and the children of Israel have broken their covenant, torn down your altars and killed your prophets and I'm all that's left...” “I'm really, really good and they're really, really bad. Life isn't fair. Nobody loves me, everybody hates me, I think I'll eat a worm....”

God says, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Oh man. Get ready. Daddy's home and now you're gonna get it. The last time God manifested himself on this mountain Moses' face glowed so much that people were frightened of him.

Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but theLord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.

Elijah cried out to the Lord and Lord let him know who was in the driver's seat.

Elijah knew. He sensed the presence. He wrapped his face in his mantle and stood at the entrance of the cave. He knew that God was present in the still small voice, the gentle whisper – in a way that He was not in the more dramatic phenomenon. Because of that special presence of God, Elijah humbled himself by covering his face. He was subdued. He was awe-stricken. Full of reverence. Oh, what a wondrous thing. To be humble enough to admit that we are human. Sinners. In need of grace.

And then the voice of God asked again, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

I'm not sure that after a wind that was breaking rocks or an earthquake or fire...that I would have had the guts to give the same answer as before...but Elijah says again, perhaps more humbly? “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

There is nothing wrong with his answer. It is an honest answer. “I've been working for you faithfully, I feel all alone and I fear for my life.” I think we all agree that we have felt this way – maybe we don't have the death threat over our heads from Jezebel. Maybe we fear something else for our lives. Maybe we are afraid that our friends won't understand if we are a prophet for the Lord. Maybe we are afraid that our lives will change if we become zealous about our faith. Maybe there is something that we don't want to give up in our lives.

Perhaps we are feeling all alone in our walk. Perhaps we think nobody cares enough about the ministry of the church that we are most passionate about. Maybe we are still laying under the broom tree hoping for an angel to come and give us hope and encouragement.

God's answer to Elijah was not what I expected. If I were Elijah I would have been hoping for a “well done my good and faithful servant, here's your cushy arm chair and an unlimited supply of snacks.” I might have settled for “you poor thing. Why don't you take a vacation and go contemplate the stars and the vastness of the universe?” I sure wouldn't have wanted God's answer to Elijah.

“Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram”...and so on, and so on...

A work assignment? Really?

But that is exactly what Elijah needed. Something to do. He needed a task to focus on so he could avoid excessive introspection. He needed to stop looking at himself and his own (admittedly difficult) circumstances. He needed to get on with what God wanted him to do. He sent him off about his Master's business again. I will bet you that when he went back over that road, it was with a different step than what brought him down to Beersheba. He came along terrified and depressed; now he goes back having witnessed majesty. He's not going to be afraid of Jezebel now!

Elijah is like all of us – we can be overwhelmed and burned out. We can feel lost and alone. God provided exactly what Elijah needed. Rest and rejuvenation, time for reflection, a glimpse of his majesty and power – and then the last piece: a kick in the pants.

Lament – sure. Life is hard sometimes.

Cry out – recognize there is something more powerful than you at work here.

Mourn – but then you've got to go to the next step.

Move on. Get back to why we are here. Show love to everyone you meet. Take the gift of God's love and spread it all around. Love – it's the KEY!

In his commentary on Galatians 6:10, Jerome tells a famous story of "blessed John the evangelist" in extreme old age at Ephesus. He used to be carried into the congregation in the arms of his disciples and was unable to say anything except, "Little children, love one another." At last, wearied that he always spoke the same words, they asked: "Master, why do you always say this?" "Because," he replied, "it is the Lord's command, and if this only is done, it is enough."

Listen again to Psalm 130 from Eugene Peterson's The Message:

Help, God—the bottom has fallen out of my life!
Master, hear my cry for help!
Listen hard! Open your ears!
Listen to my cries for mercy.

If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings,
who would stand a chance?
As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit,
and that’s why you’re worshiped.

I pray to God—my life a prayer—
and wait for what he’ll say and do.
My life’s on the line before God, my Lord,
waiting and watching till morning,
waiting and watching till morning.

O my people, wait and watch for God—
with God’s arrival comes love,
with God’s arrival comes generous redemption.
No doubt about it—he’ll redeem his people,
buy back us all from captivity to sin.

O Father, thank you for being so in love with us. Even though we are a big old mess. Forgive us when we whine and want our way. Help us to believe in your power and your unconditional love. Help us to be patient with each other. Let your church be a shining beacon reflecting your love.

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.