Notes for the Message based on Ezekiel 37:1-14 and John 11:1-45; “A”–L5

Scripture readings for this week are: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130 or UMH 848; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45

You can read these Scriptures here: NIV // NRSV // CEV // The Message

 

“I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest” (John 10:10 CEV).

 

Between 2003 and 2007 I had to drive to Lancaster three or four times a week. On a back road in one of the remote corners of Lancaster County there is an old church building with a big faded sign, “Now Enrolling New Members.” The church building itself is obviously not in use, part of the roof is collapsed, most of the windows are boarded up, the parking lot is covered with weeds in the summer, and is muddy the rest of the year.

 

I suspect that the little country church simply ran out of members, was unable to sustain itself and had to close its doors sometime in the 1990’s. The only remainder of their final heroic push for life is a faded sigh, “Now Enrolling New Members.”

 

Have you ever felt depressed and hopeless?

Today’s reading from Ezekiel was addressed to a congregation of Hebrews in exile. They were uprooted from their homes, forced to march to a foreign land and to settle there. Many of them died in transition. And now the survivors who made it were mistreated, felt displaced and treated as inferior. Life seemed bleak and hopeless. Their emotions and pain are expressed in the song that we know today as Psalm 137:1-4.

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.
There on the poplar we hung our harps,
for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?

When was the last time that you felt that there was no song in your heart? When was the last time that you thought about doing something and asked yourselves, “why bother?”

 

Ezekiel was called to bring the hope of the Lord to the group of people who had no songs left in their hearts. Ezekiel was sent to minister to the remnant who felt hopeless, a congregation that needed to hear that God was with them, and that when they are with God all things are possible…

 

Ezekiel was called to bring hope to the people whose identity was taken away from them and who did not think that putting up a huge sign “Now Enrolling New Members” made sense anymore, because everything that gave normalcy to their lives was taken away from them or destroyed.

 

“Ezekiel, can these hopeless remnants, can these dried up bones ever again live an abundant life?” – “I don’t know God, but you do,” was Ezekiel’s reply.

Then we heard another reading about Jesus learning of the death of his friend, His coming to Bethany a few days later and bringing Lazarus back to life. In the last scene of the Gospel reading, we see Lazarus coming out of the grave, wrapped in straps of linen, and Jesus telling the people to give Lazarus different clothes. Lazarus was no longer dead; he needed clothes that identified him as one of the living.

Have you ever wondered what a “valley of dried bones” would look like in our lives? Have you ever wondered what “Lazarus” looks like in 2011? What is OUR hope in all this and what’s in it for us?

How many of us are trapped in the remnants of something that happened in the past? Something that makes us angry or bitter or frustrated. How many of us experience the “strips of cloth” that prevent us from living the abundant life that Jesus brought to us. How many of us are bound by old habits? What are the “strips of cloth” that bind us, that paralyze us with fear and feelings of hopelessness and loss? What are the “strips of cloth” that prevent us from finding newness and joy in our lives? What are the “strips of cloth” that do not allow the fresh air to reach our lungs and warm wind to caress our faces?

An image of that dilapidated church with the faded sign “Now Enrolling New Members” is burned into my memory. At one time that building housed a community of our Christian sisters and brothers who gathered regularly for worship and for fellowship. I cannot help but wonder whether it was grief, anxiety, anger, financial deprivation, hatred, resentment, indifference or a lack of mission that turned that once thriving community into a pile of dried-up lifeless bones.

Twenty five hundred years ago, God asked, “Can these bones live, Ezekiel?” - To which Ezekiel replied, “Lord, only you know! Put your Spirit in us and we will live!” Two thousand years ago Jesus called, "Lazarus, come out!"

 

God is still calling us today, calling us out from our fears, frustration, despair, denial, and death, to new life where and when we live. God is still gifting us with new life. All we need to do is ask “Lord, put your spirit in us!”

 

Today’s readings are about allowing the power of God, the life-giving presence of Jesus, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit to transform our individual lives and our life as a community.

 

As usual I would like to leave you with a couple of questions:

• In what ways do we – the community of Christ United Methodist Church - participate in what God is doing today around us? What are the signs of renewal and regeneration in our community and around us?

• What difference does it make to know that God regards us as partners and co-creators in God's work? What does it mean to us that God is calling us to care for all of God’s creation?

Our Great commission is found in Matthew 28:19-20 and it reads, “…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.” The reason Jesus gave us this commission is so that we, the church, could better serve God by being instruments of renewal and regeneration to all of God’s creation.

 

The Great Commission unites us in common mission and challenges us to be bearers of God’s love and hope. The world that we live in does not need to see a church divided by angry rhetoric, bitterness, frustration, anger and fear. What our neighbors crave to see is the church united and energized by the love of Jesus for the purpose of being salt and light in the world we live in.

God rules Christ United Methodist Church! In this season of our lives, at this stage of our journey, God is calling us to re-think and to re-imagine what we will become in the future. God is calling us to use our rich tradition of service and mission to inform and to shape our future.

 

May the Spirit of our living Lord, fill our community and guide our efforts!

 

= = = = = = = God is my conscience, Jesus lives in my heart = = = = = = =

Currently Pastor Asher Tunik is serving at Christ United Methodist church located in Chestertown, MD.

Pastor Asher blogs at Zis-N-Zat; his blog is at this link.

Notes for the Message Based on John 9:1-42; “A” - E4

Scripture readings for this week are: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Psalm 23 or UMH 137; Eph 5:8-14; John 9:1-41
You can read these Scriptures here:   NIV  //  CEV  //  NRSV  // The Message

Mother Theresa used to say, "I know that God won't give me more trouble than I can handle ... but sometimes I wish God wouldn't trust me so much." I am pretty sure that the blind man whom Jesus healed in today’s Gospel reading could relate to that.

Can you imagine how tough it must have been to continually explain what happened and how he was healed; being accused of doing something wrong when in reality all that man did was receive healing from Jesus. Throughout the reading we hear this man continually explaining who Jesus is, and we can hear his understanding and his testimony as they develop. As a result of receiving sight and being mistreated by his own people, we observe his faith and his understanding of God develop until they culminate in the statement of faith.

When questioned by his neighbors, we heard him say, “The man they call Jesus made some mud and put it on my eyes. He told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see” (John 9:11). What he basically said was, “this man healed me, he is a talented doctor.”

Later when questioned by the Pharisees, he was asked whether the healing happened on Saturday. He replied, “He [- Jesus] is a prophet” (John 9:17), which is different from being a doctor.

 

Still, more questions were raised. This time Jesus was accused of being a sinner because he healed on the Sabbath. At that juncture the man said, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:25) “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing” (John 9:33). He actually defended Jesus.

 

Finally, Jesus and that man met for the first time since the healing. That was the first time that the man actually saw Jesus. In the course of that conversation we heard the man say, “Lord, I believe” (John 9:38). That is a confession of faith.

 

As the story progressed, this man’s understanding started with “Jesus healed me, he is a talented doctor” and ended with “He is the LORD and savior, I put my trust in him.”

In her book The Kitchen Table Wisdom, Dr. Remen recalls a story out of her medical practice that happened at Sloan-Kettering in the mid-1970s.

 

There was a man who came into the hospital to die. Back then, the hospice movement was not common and frequently people were admitted into hospitals to die. A man riddled with cancer was admitted to die. His treatments were stopped approximately 11 months ago and there was nothing that medical science could do to heal him anymore. His bones looked like Swiss cheese. Cancer was throughout his entire body. However, in the two weeks or so that he was in the hospital, his cancer disappeared and even his bones began to heal.

 

Dr. Remen recalls how FRUSTRATED all the doctors were. Think about it: there were not in awe of the healing that they witnessed, they were frustrated. Second opinions were thought out (copies of X-Rays were sent out to many other leading authorities) and the original diagnosis was confirmed. The only conclusion that the doctors could come up with was that the chemotherapy that was stopped 11 months earlier suddenly worked.

Dr. Remen writes: “For the next 15 years I never questioned this conclusion. I think too great a scientific objectivity can make you blind.” She continued: “I think that that was one of the purest encounters with mystery that I have ever had in my life.”

 

It took Dr. Rachel Remen fifteen years to recognize the healing touch of God on her patient. In today’s Gospel reading, the man born blind made a similar recognition of God’s presence in his own life.

 

The doctors at Sloan-Kettering were frustrated with their patient’s scientifically unexplainable healing. They were so focused on “why” their patient was healed that they completely overlooked “what” happened – their patient was healed. Similarly, in today’s reading, the blind man’s neighbors, family, friends and religious leaders were frustrated with the man’s unexplained healing. That is why they were questioning him; that is why they were trying to understand how Jesus did it… They completely overlooked what Jesus did, and by doing that, they were blinded to who Jesus was.

 

Just like that, we can also be blind to the presence of the Holy in our midst. Today’s Gospel reading teaches us that Jesus is with us always, giving us opportunities to heal our spiritual blindness and to recognize God in our lives and the presence of the Holy all around us.

In the mid-13^th century (between 1244 and 1253), Bishop Richard of Chichester, wrote a prayer that was popularized in our culture by Stephen Schwartz in the musical GODSPELL. Richard of Chichester prayed, “Most Merciful Redeemer, may we know you more clearly, may we love you more dearly, and may we follow you more nearly every day of our lives.”

 

That prayer acknowledges that we don’t become mature Christians instantaneously; it is a gradual (and at times very uncomfortable) adjustment and reorientation of every aspect of our lives. It is a process and a journey that takes time. For the man healed in today’s Gospel reading this journey began with, “Jesus is a doctor” and ended with “Jesus is my Savior.”

 

Today I want to leave you with a question – Where did your journey begin? Where are you at on your journey? How is your understanding of God’s presence in your life different than it was when you were 15, 25, 40, 50, or even 60 years old? How did you grow in your faith and how is this growth is evident in your life?

 

To remind us that God is with us on that journey, Jesus established the Sacrament of the Holy Communion. Today we will celebrate this Sacrament.

 

{Transition into the Holy Communion}

= = = = = = = God is my conscience, Jesus lives in my heart = = = = = = =

Currently Pastor Asher Tunik is serving at Christ United Methodist church located in Chestertown, MD.
Pastor Asher blogs at Zis-N-Zat; his blog is at this link.

Cool post on Bishop Willimon’s blog…

Here is the link to the post.

Well worth the reading in my opinion. Here is an excerpt:

Today's rapidly changing world is pressing the church to respond to a shift of paradigms—but not for the first time. In previous shifts, the church has both responded slowly and responded imaginatively.

The challenge of change for a congregation on a steady downward slope is precisely to redefine and redirect its mission.

Meaningful, lasting outcomes are the result of the journey …Transition time is life's curriculum.

The Bible is replete with stories of transition and exile. …Jesus spends forty days in the wilderness—alone, hungry numb—and the devil tempts him three times. The process of thinking, testing, and exploring contains the lessons… Only by going out, being there, and seeing from a fresh angle will the process lead to learning.

Again, here is the link to the whole post.

Notes for the message based on John 4:5-42; “A”– L3

This week’s readings are: Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 95 or UMH 814; Romans 5:1-11; John 4:5-42

You can read these readings here: NIV  //  NRSV  //  CEV  // The Message

 

Today is the third Sunday in Lent and today we heard the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well. We know that in first century Palestine Jews and Samaritans did not get along. We also know that in the culture of first century Palestine, men and women generally kept a social distance from each other. That explains why the Samaritan woman was threatened and surprised when Jesus asked her for a drink. She voiced her concerns, and in return, Jesus offered her the “living water” that would lead to eternal life (here is the link to John 4:5-42).

 

Just like Nicodemus, whom we met last week, the Samaritan woman was confused and intrigued by that offer; but unlike Nicodemus, her curiosity propelled her to ask Jesus for that living water. In reply, Jesus tested her; Jesus asked her to call her husband and when she replied that she had no husband, he agreed: "You have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband" (4:18).

 

There is a tradition in some churches to think of her as a woman with a shady past and loose morals. The Biblical text itself does not support that view. We do not hear Jesus telling her to “go forth and sin no more.” Jesus does not invite her to repentance and the word “sin” is not in the reading. In their exchange, Jesus treated her with respect and in return she was honest with Jesus. We know that she was open-minded. We know that she had a strong sense of empathy and that she was able to think for herself.

 

I suspect that she had a difficult and tragic life. She was probably widowed and/or abandoned by some men in her life. Living through that many tragic experiences would be heartbreaking and would harden most people’s hearts. Yet we know that she never lost her curiosity, her trust, or her faith.

The remark that Jesus made about her living with a man who was not her husband indicates that she was living with someone that she was dependent on. An example of such an arrangement would be called a Levirate Marriage and it is commanded in Deuteronomy 25: 5-6:

 

NIV Deuteronomy 25:5 If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband's brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her. ⁶ The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.

There are any number of ways that we can imagine her story. We simply do not know what it is, but we know that Jesus treated her with utmost respect, that she was intelligent, a deep thinker, open-minded, good hearted and inquisitive.

 

We also know that she was profoundly changed by her encounter with Jesus. Immediately after Jesus described her past, she said, "I see that you are a prophet" and wanted to discuss religion with him: “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

Last week Nicodemus asked Jesus how a grown man or a woman can get back into his mother’s womb and be born again. He was trying to wrap his brain around the information that Jesus was giving him. Nicodemus was trying to break God down to manageable pieces that he could relate to and understand.

 

By contrast, the Samaritan woman, whose name we do not know, made an affirmation of faith when she said, “I see that you are a prophet” and asked him a difficult question of faith. By doing that, she demonstrated that she took her faith seriously; she demonstrated that God is as real to her as we are to each other. What she asked was a question that Christians have struggled with for the last two thousand years, “What is church and how do we do church?” That is recognition of Jesus’ identity and a powerful confession of faith (Lose).

 

In response to her question Jesus did not argue theology with her. Jesus did not answer her question about whether it was appropriate to worship on Mount Gerizim or on Mount Sinai. Instead, Jesus offered that woman himself, Jesus offered that woman relationship with God, Jesus offered her the “living water” of faith.

The impact that Jesus had on her was so overwhelming that she jumped at the chance to share the good news with all her neighbors. For that reason, some traditions honor this nameless woman as the “first evangelist” because of her eagerness to share the message of Jesus and his offer of the “living water.” Some traditions even give her a name: Eastern Orthodox tradition refers to her as Saint Photina (the same word root as in word “photosynthesis”), Russian Orthodox tradition refers to her as “Saint Svetlana” – the bearer of light (Bellan-Boyer).

 

So what’s in it for us? How can we apply all that to our lives as we live them in 2011, as we journey through Lent and as we are working to re-imagine what our community could be.

The movie The King’s Speech was released in 2010. It is the story of King George VI of Britain (known as Bertie to his friends and family), his unexpected ascension to the throne of England, and the speech therapist (Lionel Logue) who helped the reluctant monarch to overcome his speech impediment and to become a statesman able to lead the country through the horrors of the war with Nazis and post-war reconstruction.

There is an episode where Bertie and Lionel are practicing for the coronation. We see Lionel Logue (the speech therapist) sit down on the throne of England. Bertie says to him:

Bertie: Get down! You cannot sit there! Get down!

Lionel: Why not, it is just a chair.

Bertie: It is St. Edward’s chair.

Lionel: It is just a chair...(pointing to the back of the chair) Look, people carved their names in it.

Bertie: Listen to me, listen to me...

Lionel: Why should I waste my time listening to you?

Bertie: Because I have a voice.

The whole movie is about Bertie finding his voice. “I have a voice” was a strong statement for a man who stuttered through most of his life and was deeply ashamed of his disability. By trusting and working with Lionel Logue, Bertie was able to find his voice and to become the King of England not only in the title but also in who he was.

The point that I am making is that just as Bertie found his voice through his encounter with Lionel Logue, so the Samaritan woman found her voice and dignity through her encounter with Jesus.

 

In his interaction with the Samaritan woman, Jesus teaches us that the way we relate to others can build them up or it can rob them of their dignity and ability to deal with life’s challenges. Hers is a story of the transforming power of love, the capacity to receive that love, and the ability to live into her new identity by reinventing herself (Lose).

 

That unnamed Samaritan woman was a bearer of light. She joyfully carried the good news of eternal life in Jesus Christ – the “Light of the World” – to her neighbors. Because of her Jesus stayed in that village for two days and many men and women had an opportunity to spend time with him.

 

Today I want to leave you with a few questions:

• What is your voice and how does it reflect your connection with Jesus? Who helped you to find your voice?

• How do we carry the light of Jesus to the world around us as a church and as individuals?

• How do we spread the wonderful news of Jesus beyond the walls of our church?

• How do we live the great commission to make disciples?

May God bless our efforts and our journey!

 

Works Cited

Bellan-Boyer, sa. City Called Heaven. 11 03 2011. 25 03 2011 <http://citycalledheaven.blogspot.com/2011/03/he-told-me-everything-i-have-ever-done.html>.

Lose, David. Misogyny, Moralism and the Woman at the Well . March 2011. 25 March 2011 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-lose/misogyny-moralism-and-the_b_836753.html>.

The King's Speech. Dir. Tom Hooper. Perf. Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth. 2010. <http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004R36QUE/ref=atv_feed_catalog&tag=imdb-amazonvideo-20>

= = = = = = = God is my conscience, Jesus lives in my heart = = = = = = =

Currently Pastor Asher Tunik is pastoring Christ United Methodist church located in Chestertown, MD.

Pastor Asher blogs at Zis-N-Zat; his blog is at this link.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?

- Luke 9:23-25 (New International Version)

As I have reflected on the state of the world and the state of my spirit throughout these days of Lent, I have been awestruck by the amount of death in this world. Death from earthquakes in New Zeeland and Japan, death from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya, death from illness and famine and peril and sword, and death from self destructive behaviors that invade our neighborhoods like a plague out of the Middle Ages. I get a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach almost every time I read the news that we are not OK and that our best efforts to build a society that is good and benevolent have made things even worse. Ash Wednesday and Good Friday only reinforce these thoughts. “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” are said as the sign of the cross is made in ashes on the hands and foreheads of believers, signifying the inevitability of death in our world. Even Jesus, the most innocent human in all of creation, was subjected to death—a death he did not deserve.

Then I think about the Good News. In the midst of this very troubling year, there is something at work in this world that death can never overcome, the ultimate power of Resurrection. There is nothing that can die that cannot be raised. God has promised us that and sealed this covenant on the third day. Death is never God’s final answer. The question for us is do we really believe this? On an intellectual level, I’m sure that we do. We know that God is calling us into a glorious future, but in our gut, do we really trust God enough to stand up to the evil power of this world with love instead violence and increasing hate? Do we really trust God enough to stand up to the sin in our own lives and own up to our failures instead of running from them? Do we trust God enough to give our lives so that others may experience resurrection with us? The world is constantly selling us death, are we buying?

While death comes in all kinds of forms, so does resurrection. Embrace the Easter promise. Embrace the cross and the empty tomb. Walk in the difficulty and hardship of this world and know that God has always been and will always be able to redeem it. God bless you on your journey to resurrection.

May the joy and love and hope of Easter be with you always!

Back to (Christ in) the Future

I am writing to you, little children,because your sins are forgiven on account of his name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, because you have conquered the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

- First John 2:12-14 (NRSV)

In what ways can we reach out to those who need Christ? Most of us can probably point towards a number places, situations, and relationships where the Spirit of the Living God would make all the difference in the world. I know that I am constantly aware of people who cry out to God for help and salvation. But what does this mean to share Jesus in today’s wild, crazy, ever-changing context for ministry? One of today's cutting-edge United Methodist thinkers, Rev. Dan Dick, has a great deal to say about this topic and I want to share with you this month his take on what the future holds . . .

I will say it again: our future does not lie in our past. Trying to “become” what we once were is like trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube (a lot more trouble than it is worth). Why can’t we be the church we were in the 50s or 70s? Well, a lot of reasons. We are no longer a big duck in a small pond — there are hundreds of alternative “churches” we weren’t in competition with back then. We have a much greater social conscience than we did in the 50s — look at our Social Principles. We are no longer defined by missional service and evangelism — we’ve gotten complacent in our old age. We were assimilated into the “Church Growth” collective mindset of the late 20th century and have never recovered. Our culture and Western world has evolved and isn’t looking for the same things from us. We stopped having as many kids, so our Sunday schools dwindled (still the best way to have a booming Sunday school — grow your own! Just add water…). Competition for time, energy, and entertainment value has shifted. Sunday school or soccer? Tae Kwon Do or choir? American Idol or Church Council?

New days call for new wineskins. I look at the churches that are thriving. They aren’t wasting time trying to talk people into wanting to come to church — they are doing life-transforming ministry and faith-transforming service and people who want to make a difference are turning out. United Methodism needs to get the “mega-church” gleam out of its eyes and focus in on the most fertile niche market available — small, intimate, active and engaged cadres of highly motivated people. Big church markets are saturated. Where there is real life and energy is in small clusters of Christians not much concerned with numbers or the institution who are living their discipleship in spite of “the church” rather than because of it.

I was talking to a young couple who have a group of Christian friends. Nine people. Nine people who pray together and meet a couple of times a week. Nine middle-class people… who ponied up a total of $45,000 to go to Haiti to volunteer two weeks of their lives to serve those in need. I sit with church groups every week who gripe and moan about their financial plight who have no interest in doing anything for anyone else, but they want to keep their own building open with the lights and heat on. Such a church will have no appeal to a young group of Christians seeking to heal others in the name of Jesus the Christ.

We have effectively coated the gospel with layer after layer of church goop until it is all but unrecognizable. We talk endlessly about the ministry we aren’t doing, instead of marshalling our forces to do something worthwhile with what we have. We spend millions of apportioned funds on market research and advertising while the world goes to hell in the proverbial handbasket. Shame on us. We can do so much better. Perhaps the time has come to… I don’t know… “rethink” something. (United Methodeviations - Posted 11/13/2010)

What do you think of Dan’s words? Prophetic or irrelevant? I personally think that he has a really exceptional point, but what does that mean for us? And what should we be “rethinking?” May God grant us the grace and wisdom to know and understand . . .

The God of peace be with you all!

Pastor Tom

Tom Pasmore is the pastor of Richardson Park UMC just outside of Wilmington, DE and would love to write more cool stuff, like Dan R. Dick, but he just can't seem to find the time . . . You can reach him at pastor@rpumchurch.org.

Notes for the message based on Matthew 5:21-37; “A” -E6

This week’s readings are: Deut 30:15-20; Psalm 119: 1-8 or UMH 840; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; Matthew 5:21-37
You can read these Scriptures here:  NIV  // ESV // NRSV // The Message

Human beings are notoriously resistant to change. Christians are especially resistant to change because we believe that God is with us and therefore we expect God to take care of us. We expect God to be there at a moment's notice, bailing us out of all kinds of mayhem.

That is why the image of Jesus as a gentle shepherd is so popular in our culture. We, as Jesus' sheep, graze peacefully on a gentle slope of the hill (preferably with a large screen TV somewhere nearby) while Jesus watches over our safety and security day and night and prepares a picnic lunch to delight our senses by a gently flowing stream.

The truth is that Jesus did not come to protect the world; Jesus came to redeem the world. Jesus came to empower us to live in the world, to serve the world, to tend and take care of the world and to transform the world. Jesus came to empower his church to infuse the world with joy and zest for life: "you are the salt of the earth and the light of the world" (Matt 5:13,16) and "I've come so that you have life and live it abundantly" (John 10:10).

We are created in the image of God; that means that all of us have reasoning abilities and we are able to construct norms and follow rules by which our society operates. In today's Gospel reading Jesus deals with several portions of the law. Before we begin I want to make it clear; RULES AND LAWS ARE GOOD!  Rules are the foundation of a civilized society. We can get into our cars and drive to Florida or to California and be fairly certain that other drivers will follow rules and that we will get to our destination. We know that if everybody follows the agreed upon rules of conduct, we will enjoy fulfilling and productive lives to the glory of God.

 

On the other hand we are God's creations, and being created in the image of God means that we have an ability to love and to experience emotions and feelings.

 

These abilities: {1} to reason and {2} to love and feel, are two complementing aspects of our lives. We need both.

 

If we live relying only on rules, we open ourselves to lives of self-justifying righteousness. No murder today; check!  Did not cheat on my wife today; check!  Did not steal anything today; another check! My mom and dad are dead and buried, therefore I do not need to do anything to honor them; another check! WOW! I am a righteous dude!

 

That is a checklist spirituality; it invites us to follow the letter of the law without giving any consideration to the spirit of the law. Jesus that I know wants more for us.

"You've heard... But I tell you..." With these words Jesus is calling us to look beyond the rules and legalism of religion. With these words Jesus is challenging us to consider our Christian identity to be MORE than just a membership in a group of likeminded people. Jesus is calling us to be changed and transformed by loving each other, and taking care of each other and the world in which we live.

So today I want to leave you with couple of thoughts:

• What kind of community do you want to live in? What kind of community do you want to build? What can we do to build and to create such a community?

• In what ways do you minimize your involvement and hide behind the rules? Think of all the times when you said, "we've never done it that way" or "nobody would want that."

These are tough questions and I know such questions are difficult to think about. But if we take the time to think, and then gather together to respectfully and lovingly discuss our opinions and ideas we will be inviting the kingdom of God into our homes, into our community. Our actions (the way we live our lives) will follow and will impact the world that we live in.

"You've heard... But I tell you..." Jesus makes the point that religion is a foundation of a good thing. Religion reminds us who we are and whose we are. Jesus challenges us to live "abundant lives" by living the promise of our faith in God, not because it will change others, but because our faith in God can bring positive changes, healing and emotional maturity in ourselves and help us to build a better tomorrow for each other.

To God Be The Glory!

Currently Pastor Asher Tunik is pastoring Mt. Pleasant United Methodist and Tome Memorial United Methodist churches located respectively in Colora and Port Deposit, MD.
Pastor Asher blogs at Zis-N-Zat; his blog is at this link.

Notes for the message based on Matthew 5:13-20; “A”–Epiphany 5

This week’s readings: Isaiah 58:1-9a ; Psalm 112:1-10 or UMH 833; 1 Cor 2:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20

You can read these scriptures here:   NIV  //  ESV  // NRSV  // The Message

 

When we think about the Sermon on the Mount, in our imagination we see Jesus standing in front of the crowd of people and preaching for a long-long-long time. In reality I think that the Scriptures that we call The Sermon on the Mount represent a period of days and maybe even weeks, during which time Jesus preached many messages rather than one long sermon. Over time, prior to Jesus' words being written down, these messages were passed from generation to generation using oral tradition. In that process, as these messages were told and retold over many generations they were compressed and the resulting portion of the Gospel of Matthew -- what we know today to be chapters 5, 6 and 7 -- became collectively known as The Sermon on the Mount.

We know what Jesus preached about during that revival; all we have to do is read those three chapters in Matthew. The question is, why did Jesus preached what he preached, why did he chose these topics? Matthew gives us a hint in the verses directly preceding the Sermon on the Mount (Chapter 4:23-25):

^NIV Matthew 4:23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. ²⁴ News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. ²⁵ Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

Before preaching at the revival, Jesus "went throughout Galilee," and healed "every disease and sickness." Matthew tells us that "large crowds" from nearby areas followed him. Jesus spent time with the people who followed him; he took the time to listen to their stories; he heard what was bothering them, what they thought was missing in their lives, and what they thought would help them to live better lives.

 

Jesus was preaching to men and women who were struggling with the reality of brutal oppression by Roman garrisons. Their land, their cities, even their religion was controlled by the Romans. To give you an example, the Jews of first century Palestine did not eat pork, yet from elsewhere in the Bible we know that there were herds of pigs in Israel ((Matthew 8:28-33; Mark 5:6-13; Luke 8:27-34)); presumably they were used to feed the Roman conquerors. From secular resources we know that there were heated arguments and debates about what the children of Israel could do to live productive lives that would honor their faith in God, their traditions and their history.

The men and women whom Jesus addressed during that revival were struggling with questions as to how they could preserve their cultural and religious identity as a people called and set apart by God. That is why in that revival, Jesus spoke about such topics as how to forgive, how to create a healthy and productive environment in the home, how to be persistent in the face of adversity, how to make judgment calls without being judgmental, how to deal with anxiety, how to be a better person in trying circumstances. During that revival, Jesus taught his congregation how to be a follower of God, how to pray, how to live out their faith and devotion in the time and place where they lived. During that revival Jesus taught his congregation how to act justly, how to extend mercy and how to walk humbly with the God of Israel, enabling them to live better lives during their time in history and in their geographical place. During that revival, Jesus gave his congregation practical ways to learn more about their God, to grow in their love and devotion to their God, and to be in tune with God's guidance on their lives. Today we would say that during the revival that we commonly call the The Sermon On The Mount, Jesus gave his followers practical guidance on how to be better men and women, how to translate their relationship and devotion to God into practice, and although the word "Christian" was not invented yet, he taught them how to be better "Christians."

Although we live two thousand years after Jesus, we face our share of problems. Every generation does. Just like the men and women in first century Palestine, we struggle with what it means to be faithful followers of God, and what we can do to respond to the challenges that we face in our lives.

Although we may not hear the boots of occupying garrisons on our streets, we struggle with the issue of control. Many families across our land live in anxiety because of an  "occupying force" in their lives called "credit." We may not think of it as "brutal oppression" but what would you call it when parents have to work two or three jobs to pay interest on their maxed-out credit cards and/or to pay the mortgage on their house while their children are left to fend for themselves and to raise each other? Debt is a form of slavery and oppression for our generation.

In first century Palestine, there were heated arguments and debates about what the children of Israel could do to live dignified lives that honored their faith in God, their traditions and their history. If you wonder what those debates sound like today, just turn on CNN or FOX-NEWS during election time. We hear heated debates about the ways we could honor the "American Way of Life," or whether we should print "In God We Trust" on our money. We hear very different opinions as to what our country needs. Usually after the elections there is a stalemate in Congress and the House, “Red People” and “Blue People” blame each other for everything that is wrong in the universe. Meanwhile our health system is the most expensive in the world, a large number of children in this country graduate from high schools without learning how to read or write and without basic math skills, our national debt is rising, unemployment is ten percent, our young men and women serving in the armed forces risk their very lives in wars fought in faraway lands and you don't want to get me started on energy costs and dependency on foreign oil.

I don’t say all of this to depress you. The point I am making is that there is hope. There was hope for men and women who took the time to listen to Jesus 2000 years ago, and there is hope for men and women who take the time to listen to Jesus today.

 

The Sermon On The Mount is just as relevant to us today as it was to the men and women in first century Galilee. During that revival 2000 years ago, Jesus taught his followers the skills they needed to meet the challenges of their day, and He challenged them to transform their lives through their relationship with God. God does the same with us today by examples from Jesus' life and ministry and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

So what's in it for us? What can we take from today's Scriptures and how can we apply it to our lives?

If you look at the Sermon On The Mount in your Bibles, you will discover that today's reading is located between the Beatitudes that we explored last week, and teachings that look in depth at various pieces of the Law. Even a cursory look will reveal the rough equivalence of Jesus' individual messages to the Ten Commandments. In today's Gospel reading we heard Jesus tell to his congregation:

^NIV Matthew 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

¹⁴ "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

The truth is that we need to reclaim our "saltiness" and to re-light our light just as much as the men and women who lived in ancient Galilee. We need to rediscover what it means to grow in our love and devotion to God and how we can be in tune with God's guidance on our lives. We need to learn those same practical lessons that Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount. Men and women who listened to Jesus 2000 years ago changed the world, because they were with God. When we listen to God and work with each other and with God, all things are possible for us as well.

 

In the next few weeks we will explore the Sermon on the Mount in greater detail, and we will discover that Jesus was giving his hearers then, and as well as us today, practical advice on how to rediscover our "saltiness," how to re-light our light, how to meet the challenges of our day, and He challenges us to transform our lives through our relationship with God.

 

{Transition to the Holy Communion}

 

Currently Pastor Asher Tunik is pastoring Mt. Pleasant United Methodist and Tome Memorial United Methodist churches located respectively in Colora and Port Deposit, MD.

Pastor Asher blogs at Zis-N-Zat; his blog is at this link.