Sunday, June 25, 2017

Love God Above All / Based on Matthew 10:24-39 / Delivered on June 25, 2017 to CCH in Hudson WI

Love God Above All
Based on Matthew 10:24-39
Delivered to CCH on June 25, 2017
Hymns: Come and Find the Quiet Center, Trust and Obey, I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

Matthew 10:24-39
10:24 "A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master;
10:25 it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!
10:26 "So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.
10:27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops.
10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
10:30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted.
10:31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.
10:32 "Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven;
10:33 but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.
10:34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
10:36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household.
10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;
10:38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
10:39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

Hello, my name is Darci Strutt McQuiston and I am one of the Lay Speakers of the United Methodist Church up on the hill.  It is my honor to be here speaking with you today.

The Gospel lesson in this Sunday’s lectionary is a little unsettling, and I hesitated to take it on.  It has some important thoughts within it for us, so I decided to give it a go.  The lessons I’m hoping to bring you from this reading are:

Love God above family
Love God above life
Love God above all

Love God above family
10:34 "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.
10:35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
10:36 and one's foes will be members of one's own household.
10:37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me;

In the past I have thought this scripture to be unreasonable.  Is Jesus really asking us to give up our family?  We need to turn that question around.  Does our family ever ask us to give up following Jesus? 

I was blessed to be brought up in a Christian home.  We went to church, my mother was the church choir director, my father served on multiple committees, and the Sunday rule was you didn’t get to go out for breakfast if you didn’t either teach or attend Sunday School. 

You would think there would never be an issue within my family that would test this scripture, but there was.  Not a relationship breaking one, but one of some conflict.  My eldest brother decided religion was a virus of the mind, and felt intelligent people should realize this and evolve to a higher level and leave such superstitions behind.  We have love for each other as siblings, but he and his family don’t come for Easter or Christmas services.

Even in Christian homes there can be conflict if a child becomes too zealous.  I’m not 100% sure my parents would have supported me becoming a pastor instead of following my career in computer science.  My own daughter has spoken of going out into the mission field, and my protective mothering side needs to work to keep the “don’t go” at a quiet level.  She is willing to die serving, and I’m much more interested in having her live a very long comfortable life, with multiple children – grandchildren for me, as she serves God.

Sometimes the sword is a gentle pull away from where you feel called to be.


Love God above life
10:38 and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
10:39 Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it

The companion lectionary scripture from Romans brings out this same theme.
6:3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
6:4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in the newness of life.
6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
6:7 For whoever has died is freed from sin.
6:8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
6:9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
6:10 The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

This puts life and death in a different perspective.  If we understand we are already living in eternity then fear of death should be behind us.  Death has already been overcome. 

I had a coworker pass away from cancer this spring.  She said as she continued to fight the disease, “I do not fear dying, but I’m not ready to die yet.”  She trusted she would be in God’s hands when she died, but also saw life as precious.  I find wisdom in her words.  Life is very precious and I believe we are here for a purpose.  Our time on earth should be a time of learning and growing our talents so we can fulfil that purpose.  This scripture is a reminder that being alive to God is the greater life.  That life is not limited by our earthly body.

Love God above all
10:28 Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
10:29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
10:30 And even the hairs of your head are all counted.
10:31 So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Peer pressure works so well because we have a survival instinct that tells us we need our tribe.  We have a strong need to feel loved and accepted.  Here in our little pocket of world it is very rare to have our life threatened because of our belief in Jesus Christ as the way to God, but it has happened in our country.  Probably more likely is to be afraid of what our friends with think about us if we get too “churchy”.  Most peer pressure falls away when we get a strong sense of ourselves and our own beliefs, but often there is still that nudge that wants approval from outside.  We need to feel love.

This scripture makes it sound like you need to be a fighter, but that isn’t what it is saying.  It is setting the expectation that following Jesus will not be supported by everyone.  There may be loss a of friends and family due to their pulling back, not because you are supposed to pull back.  Our call is to continue to love. 

1 John 4:19-21 “19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”

We are much loved.  Romans 8:38-39 tells us, “38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God lets nothing stand in the way of His love for us.  The question for us from this passage is, how are we doing at loving Him back?  Do not be afraid to love God openly and fully. 

In Matthew 22:36-40 a Pharisee asked; “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

It is what we are called to work toward.

Amen





Sunday, June 18, 2017

Being the Church / Based on Matthew 9:35-10:23 and Romans 5:1-8 / June 18, 2017 at UMC

Being the Church
Based on Matthew 9:35-10:8, (9-23) and Romans 5:1-8
Delivered to UMC Hudson on June 18, 2017
Hymns: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, Freely Freely, and The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve (IFWS)

Romans 5:1-8
5:1 Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
5:2 through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.
5:3 And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
5:4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5:5 and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
5:6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
5:7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person--though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die.
5:8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.

Matthew 9:35-10:8, (9-23)
9:35 Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.
9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
9:37 Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
9:38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
10:1 Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.
10:2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John;
10:3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
10:4 Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
10:5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: "Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans,
10:6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
10:7 As you go, proclaim the good news, 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.'
10:8 Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
10:9 Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts,
10:10 no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food.
10:11 Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave.
10:12 As you enter the house, greet it.
10:13 If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.
10:14 If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town.
10:15 Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
10:16 "See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.
10:17 Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues;
10:18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles.
10:19 When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time;
10:20 for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
10:21 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death;
10:22 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
10:23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

When I preach at CCH I normally start with “I’m Darci Strutt McQuiston, a Lay Speaker from the United Methodist Church up on the hill.”  Now today here I am up on the hill!  It is a blessing to be able to lead service today while Rev Dawn is at annual conference. 

When I volunteered to take on this service, Rev Dawn said I could choose any scripture but she’d like it to be about what it means to be the church.  Rev Dawn also told me I didn’t need to cover the topic of hospitality since I’ve delivered a sermon on that recently.  It made me think of the Saturday Night Live skit where a character says, “You can talk amongst yourselves.  I’ll give you a topic.”  As I began some of my study I ran into papers with this topic and realized this subject is often used as a Master’s thesis.  It has some weight to it.

I looked up the lectionary and as it always does, it fit the need.  The Old Testament lesson in the lectionary is from Genesis with Abraham entertaining the three strangers that let them know Sarah will bring him a son.  It’s a lesson on hospitality so that made me smile.  Hospitality comes shining through multiple times so I can’t quite skip it altogether.  I won’t cover the Genesis lesson very much though – don’t worry.

I am going to be pulling from Romans as well as Matthew for this message.  I’m also going to mix in covering the stages of life.  I see the church as a living being so it feels natural for me to talk about it in this way.  I’m hoping by comparing a human being, a Christian being, and the being which is the Church, that I can help you see it this way as well.  A few different sources see life in four stages but I’m going to compress the final two and deal with them together. 

The three stages I’m tying in are:
Stage 1: Birth/Student
Stage 2: Work/Relationship
Stage 3: Wisdom/Death

Birth/Student – The beginnings
The first stage of life begins with birth and learning the basics of life.  When you think of this stage in human terms it is obvious to see how important it is.  We come into life rather helpless and need to focus on being a student both by being taught by others and by learning from experience.  This stage sets us up for success in the later stages so is critical to our development.  We learn many skills to help us live, including how to work with others socially.  It starts with understanding our own needs and expands over time as we mature to letting our focus take in others and their needs as we start to move out of this stage.

Jesus said in the Gospel of John we must be born again, born of the spirit.  In this case it is a decision.  I chose “I have Decided to Follow Jesus” to represent this stage for our Christian life.  We are transformed, and experience a rebirth, by the decision to become a disciple of Jesus.  We need to remember the importance of the first stage – student!  We hold Sunday school for the youth and understand the importance for their learning.  They are in the stage of “student” from a human perspective already so that’s easy to see.  We need to remember that as new believers of any age we begin in the “student” stage.  We begin with the knowledge from Romans, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”  This is a time of learning and based on our Roman’s passage some suffering, as well as a time of hope. 

Thinking of the church itself as a person, the lesson from Genesis fits in.  Abraham and Sarah were the birth parents of the church.  God had promised he would bless Abraham and his offspring would become his chosen people.  When I look at the Old Testament it is quite easy to see the books of the Old Testament as describing the student stage of the life of the church.  It is filled with laws and rules.  Throughout multiple generations, the people are being trained and learning what it means to be God’s chosen people.  The focus is on understanding their own needs primarily, which is very like our human life at this stage.

Work/Relationship – The middle and beyond
The second stage of life is where an individual begins to make their way in the world.  The child has become an adult!  It is when we start our career and build a family.  Education will continue, but by now we’ve learned the basics to make our way in the world.  We learn independence in our student stage, but now is the time to understand interdependence and how we fit together.  We have a desire to make a difference in the world.  Some people have a hard time moving from the first stage to this one. 

This is the stage the disciples have just begun to hit in our gospel lesson.  They had studied at the feet of Jesus and watched his life as an example.  Verse 35 “Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness.”  Now they were ready to be sent out without their teacher to do the work he had been training them to do.  The job description Jesus gave was straightforward. “As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.”  The salary was a little vague.  “You received without payment; give without payment.  Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food.”  Their job title was interesting; “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

The coming of Jesus could be thought of as marking this stage of the church.  The story of the Old Testament was the story of the Chosen People.  It was the relationship between God and the people, but mostly it was all about them.  Jesus came and altered the focus.  Part of his message to the people was – “It’s not all about you!  It is all about God!”  When he was asked “who is my neighbor” his example was of a person outside their inner circle.  He helped the newly forming church to understand their focus needed to expand to include the whole world.  The ultimate mission wasn’t to care for just the people born from Abraham and Sarah – it was to see all human kind as their neighbor.  The Church took on that role and expand as the disciples worked to fulfil the commission from Jesus.  Matthew 28:19-20 “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”


Wisdom/Death – What’s important in the end
This third stage is when the children have left home and the time of retirement has come.  We have lived full lives and have the wisdom to share with the generations behind us as a teacher and mentor.  Often it is a time of service to the community since we are no longer focused on our own life, but on advancing those behind us.  There is no denying our mortal bodies.  This is a time of preparation for death, and more of our thoughts are on leaving a legacy.

The writings within the Bible are the follower’s efforts to provide their wisdom.  The Apostle Paul wrote letter after letter to teach and mentor those he had brought into relationship with God through Christ’s teachings.  He was aware his time on earth was short and wanted to make sure the new groups of people continued in their spiritual journey.  The Gospels and Acts were written to capture experiences and teaching for future generations.

The Church as a being isn’t in this final stage, but perhaps glimpses of it can be seen within the book of Revelation or within other passages that talk of future times.  Jesus said in Matthew 24:35-36 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.  But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”  The wisdom of Jesus words will remain.  Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  Faith is belief without seeing, but in the end, all will be known.  Hope is for future things that have yet to happen, but in the end, all will be received.  So, love is what is left.


Here’s what I’m hoping you take away from this message.  The Church is a living thing.  It has been going through its own lifecycle for thousands of years.  Our call to be the Church is a call to become part of this living thing during the time we share on earth. 

Our development as Christians can be compared to our development as people.  We begin by a new birth through our decision to accept Jesus as Lord, and then begin the student phase.  Don’t short change the importance of study to understand this new life in Christ.  Coming to church teaches scripture, but consider Bible study or spiritual book study as well.  Jesus’ teachings and example of how to live points the way.  The first church was called The Way.  Learning how he lived during his time on earth helps us know how to live now.  Also spend time listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit who was sent to guide and teach you one-on-one.  Study should continue throughout your life.  I spent years in a corporate job where CPE’s Continuing Professional Education credits were a requirement to keep my knowledge and focus so I could do my best.  They were required to keep my certifications.  We need to take our role as Christians just as seriously.  Lean on our Wesleyan quadrilateral of (1) Scripture, (2) tradition, (3) reason, and (4) experience.  Learn where Jesus led so you know how to follow.

Then comes the work/relationship stage.  This is where most of us should be.  Our study to understand Jesus journey and our study to develop our own talents comes together.  While we were sitting in the basement waiting out the tornado warnings last Sunday our little group was singing children’s songs.  One of them was about David throwing the stone and killing the giant Goliath.  I’ve done a message on David before but I want to bring out one very important point.  David could throw that stone because it was a life skill.  He was the youngest of the children and in the fields with the sheep.  He had developed his skill with a sling and a stone by using those tools to scare off or kill, bear, wolves, or whatever other predator was coming to attack his sheep.  He used his skill to protect his family’s property and income.  He became part of the life of the church when he rose up a level and used his talent to protect God’s chosen people.

We have life skills.  We have used them to support our homes and families.  Some of us have found ways to use these skills to support the greater community.  We become the Church when we take those skills and give them to the service of God.  There is not an expectation that all of us do everything miraculously well.  We each bring the skills and talents we have, and every one of them is needed and valued.

1 Corinthians chapter 12 brings this thought out beautifully.  Here are verses 12-20:
Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ.  For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.  Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.  Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.  If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?  But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

Jesus taught the greatest commandment was to love.    In Matthew 22:36-40 a Pharisee asked;
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

So our command is to love God and each other. Sounds simple enough?  Jesus explained to Peter what it means to love in John 21.         
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.”  Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”  The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep.”  Sorry Rev Dawn – I can’t totally leave out hospitality.

As we age our working lives are done and our service to the church also changes.  This is the wisdom stage.  Retirement from the job that created income does not mean retiring from life.  We may no longer be able to do some of the physical things we use to do, but we can share our experience love of God during the final stage of our lives.  We can have the blessing of knowing we have been a part of something much greater than ourselves that will continue serving because we have done our part.

David knew how to use a sling and stone.  He served God with the skills he had.  You may know how to cook.  You become the Church when you use that skill beyond your home to feed those in need.  You may be good at home repair, or writing, or singing, or nursing, or gardening.  Turn that skill toward serving God’s people as well as your personal family.  Hopefully you get the idea. 

So what is my answer to how to be the Church?  Claim the words from Romans.  “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us.”  Share this good news not only as something the Bible says, but also as your personal experience.  Bring yourself and your talents to the people of God’s world, for they are all loved by God.  When we respond to the call to be sent into the world by Jesus we are sent as Jesus to those we reach.  Love as Jesus loved and you will be the Church.  Sometimes you become it by doing it.

I’m going to close by offering you a Father’s Day song I wrote in 2011.

Amen