A New wine Celebration

Matthew 9:9-17

For most of you it has been a long time, but have you thought about the call Jesus has put on your life? What was it that caused you to say yes to his offer of discipleship? In short why are you a Christian?

At our retirement party (I‘ve only had one official retirement; what I’m doing now is serving in a retired relationship, whatever that means) my son’s Ed and Tim closed the celebration by singing “Thank You” it is a number that tells a scene in heaven when the people influenced by another thank that person for telling them about Jesus. After the song was over Ed said something that really resonated, “Of seven children, we have seven Christians,” and then he said that while they accepted Jesus on their own, that is a personal decision, Alice and I had paved the way.

Do you remember the why and how of your decision? Matthew certainly did. A tax collector, one who was viewed with suspicion and disdain by the people who lived next to him, he was worse than a person from the wrong side of the tracks, he had gotten his wealth on the backs of his friends. Matthew was not a building block for a movement that wanted to bring others to relationship with God. And maybe you haven’t been either. But Jesus called Matthew.

Somewhere, somehow you have heard that call. Or, perhaps the call is still sounding and you are trying to decide . . . Matthew made his life changing decision at the moment of Jesus call. Listen to how the story is told: As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth, “Follow me” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. (Mt 9:9 NIV)

Now there are two things that happen out of Matthew’s encounter with Jesus. 1. He invites Jesus and he invites his friends to dinner. Matthew didn’t become a “hide your light under a bushel” Christian! He wanted to share this decision he made about his life with those important to him. The point is when you are a follower of Jesus it impacts your life. Matthew got up from his tax table, he made a radical change in who he was and he shared that change with others. The life of Christ in you does that. Jesus accepts you as you are, but you can not stay there. Yes, Sainthood is a process, but it has a definite beginning.

For Matthew, and I would argue for all Christians, the beginning is a celebration – a celebration shared with others. Probably the most import note about that celebration is that it is shared with Jesus; he is present. Jesus is not ashamed to be with you in your circles. I don’t get the impression that the dinner hosted by Matthew was a time of reading the riot act about the need to change the ways his friends acted. As a matter of fact Jesus was so well accepted by Matthew’s friends that the religious people of the day were greatly troubled. I mean would a good United Methodist ever go into a bar and expect Jesus to go with him or her?

And that’s point 2 about Matthew’s following Jesus. Matthew widened the circle of Jesus friends and Jesus fit the circle. Not everyone fits the mold of a traditional church person. Not everyone likes the standard hymns we sing or relates to the prayer life we live. Not everyone fits into a cookie cutter Christianity; but Jesus fits them and meets them where and as they are. You will find Jesus in the State Police Barracks, in the School hallways, at the auctions, in the nursing homes, crying with the lonely and holding the hand of the addict. He is there – so much is he there that the religious people of the day (can you say of 2011?) ask his followers “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners.” (Mt. 9:11 NIV)

If you will, Christianity spreads in these United States, in the world, because one person meets Jesus, gets excited and tells another. Christianity has no ground rules for who is able to meet Jesus (sadly the church sometimes does – sadly we are now the ones asking why Jesus is eating with tax collectors and sinners.) No, the truth is that if Christianity no longer speaks to the hearts of our neighbors it is because we are standing in the way of Jesus. Not deliberately – there isn’t a person in this room that doesn’t want Jesus in the lives of their family or their friends, that includes me, but when I put restrictions upon how my Lord can work, when I choose the people worthy of his salvation, my lack of relevance in today’s world projects on to his love for all the hurting.

I want to tell you, UMCOR is very relevant in Haiti and New Zealand and Japan and New Orleans. When nets are distributed in Africa, the message of Jesus’ love becomes very relevant. When Teen Challenge frees an addict from the ravishes of drugs, Jesus is real. When you stand at the side of a dying person and comfort them into the hands of God, you are very relevant. You see none of those situations depend upon stations of life; they are made real only by Jesus love for all of God’s people. Jesus came to Matthew because he saw him as a person loved by God; are there any other criteria for sharing Jesus?

Think of some of the stories you have heard concerning the recent tragedies of our world. I want to tell you that when the aid has come in the name of Jesus, there has been great celebration. Sorrow and tragedy abounded, but as rescuers arrived –it was almost party time. You have heard the story of the miracle baby of the Tsunami, you have heard of the presumed dead being pulled from the rubble only to be found alive.

When the fullness of Jesus Christ is presented, when Jesus is present, it is not time to fast and wear sack-cloth and ashes; it is time to rejoice, to have a new wine celebration. Jesus is so different, his purpose, his followers and his love are so huge that the former systems of belief or rituals for living simply can not contain all the Jesus brings. Again to quote Jesus: “no one sews a patch of un-shrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Mt.9:16,17 NIV)

Brothers and sisters, when the church tries to accommodate the culture, when we preserve the brokenness of life, we are pouring new wine in old wineskins. We are, if you will, patching a torn garment with that which destroys it. Our Jesus is God’s new wine. Our church is God a live in the world bringing God’s Spirit and God’s life style to a world discouraged and broken from the life of law and legalism. When you attempt to live both, having the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ but holding on to the systems and mores of life as usual; Jesus will burst out and the system will lie in ruins. Perhaps worse, is to try and contain the new wine in the old wineskins and have it be contaminated by what has gone on before. Jesus will not be contained or contaminated and he invites his Church, you and I, to a celebration in the life of love as given by our Father whose resources know no boundaries. We are invited to a “New Wine Celebration!”

In living out that celebration we find our family enlarged to include all of God’s children. We are freed from deciding who or whom for God calls whom God will. We are freed from guarding the resources of life for it is God who not only provides but sends the rain on both the just and the unjust. We are freed from “getting even” or even making sure others keep the letter of the law, for God has determined that grace is the operative word. Ours is the joy of reconciling the world, our neighbors and family to God. Ours is the celebration of life in all its forms. If we mourn it is because so many refuse the gift God has offered in Jesus. If we mourn it is because the systems of the world are so unjust that there is poverty and abuse and lust and all the works of the flesh. But even here we are able to celebrate for Jesus has invited us to be a part of his ministry: we are to feed his sheep; to care for the least; to heal and drive out the demons of this world. Ours is the celebration of New Wine as we care for God’s garden and wipe the tears from the eyes of God’s children. And beyond all this, ours is the New Wine celebration of an eternity of being in the presence of our Father who loves us and has called us home.

So how do we live out this celebration? How do we minister to a world that is jaded, suspicious and desperate for love? How do we minister to one another? Jesus met people in their need and at eye level. Jesus invested himself in individuals and brought them into the comfort of a family – what if we did that? What if we lived among our family and neighbors out of the surplus of God abundance and God’s love? What if our concern was not of salaries or building needs but what if we as the individuals and people of God asked God to show us those whom God loves and invite them to celebrate the New Wine God offers? Could we possibly live Jesus love in this community? That would be a new Wine Celebration. Amen

Miracles! What Do We Learn?

Matthew 8:23-34

The Gospel of Matthew really has an interesting writing style. Once the writer begins to tell us about Jesus he will give us a section of teaching, like the Sermon on the Mount, and then he’ll give us a section on Jesus inter action with people. For Matthew, it seems like the miracles give validity to the teaching and the other way also. That makes sense doesn’t it? When we bought our coal stove, the salesman told us that this model was capable of heating us out of the house; that was the teaching, the proof was in its actual working – believe me, it has that capability – Friday I woke up to a house of 87 degrees. We have windows opening and fans running; you would think it was mid summer.

We learn a lot about who Jesus is, his personality by reading his teaching – what he said was most important, but we learn as much, maybe more by what he does. It is one thing to preach, it is another to live. When your deeds and words don’t match, the faith level of others becomes low.

So, let’s take a look at a couple of pictures of Jesus in action and determine what we learn, “What kind of a man is Jesus?”

Action under pressure tells you a lot about a person; I have often said, “Ministry occurs by interruption.” The images of firemen and police rushing into the collapsing twin towers on 9/11 are forever seared into my memory. They were protectors of the public safety. They lived what they were taught and what they taught others.

Mother Teresa bathing a leper of India is a story of love that doesn’t need words. It is a story that has taught the world the truth, the power of God’s love for the least.

Have you ever been bone weary tired? Jesus was tired; so he climbed into the fishing boat, found a spot out of the way and let the sea give him that refreshment his body needed. He had shared God’s love through teaching and healing and now he sought the gift of rest; if you will, it was his Sabbath.

Without warning, suddenly, in an action that catches seasoned fishermen by surprise, “Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.” On Galilee, on Erie, on small lakes that happens; and when the lake is surrounded by high hills it can be really wicked.

Now at least Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen, they handled boats for a living – storms were not new to them; but Matthew says they were taken by surprise; what do you do in a Tsunami?

These men, these fishermen who had fought storms all their life ran to Jesus. It wasn’t so much that they needed his expertise in sailing, a storm is no time to learn how to handle a boat and as a carpenter he might have gotten in the way; no listen to how the story is told, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” In a storm that overwhelmed their abilities, these men turned to Jesus.

Where do you turn in the storms of life that threaten to cause you to drown? You’ve battled and used all the skills of living you know – now the storm is poised to swamp your life – where do you turn, to whom do you turn?

Do you have a safe haven? Have you been with Jesus long enough to wake him up? Do you trust him?

Sometimes his followers get in the way of that don’t we? Sometimes we so confuse Jesus with our culture that the sudden storms of life swamp us – we aren’t really prepared for their ferocity.

Several of us attended the United Methodist Women Day apart on Thursday – I was the only man with 69 women and we watched a video and discussed spousal abuse. I could feel the energy as those women watched and reacted to stories of abuse. You just knew that none of them would ever stand for that, and yet, and yet statistics tell us that even in the church, even among the clergy 1 out of every three women are in abusive relationships. Out of 69 women, 13 of those present could have been hearing stories of their storms.

And do you know what was equally sad? Some of their stories were of the church not hearing their cries, not listening with the heart. They came to Jesus, but the church wouldn’t wake him!

What kind of man is this? What can we learn from this miracle?

To our ears Jesus response may seem a little out of touch with reality. “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” But understand, he has been teaching about God’s love; he has been teaching to ask, seek and knock; he has been teaching about their value – and they don’t get it! In the middle of the storm, do you get it? Do you hear and practice his teaching or are you caught up in life as it has always been, broken.

What kind of man is this? What can we learn from this miracle? “Jesus got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.” When the storm was at its most powerful, Jesus was its master. Do you hear the message? Do you believe it? When the storm of your life is at its peak will you live it?

What do we learn? Is there good news today? Jesus not only hears our cries; he responds with power. He speaks with the authority of the creator; the darkness and chaos of the storm calms at his command. Jesus cares about your storm. My prayer is that I, we the church, do not get in the way of his speaking to the storm of your life.

I say that because we learn from Scripture of the love of Jesus for us individually, but we also learn from history the failure of his people to hear the cries of those who hurt.

What kind of man is this? Even storms obey him; when we go to him, he is present.

Matthew follows this story with another story of Jesus compassion; this is the story of the healing of two demoniacs.

Now there are a couple things to note; Matthew wants us to know that we are no longer in Jewish territory, we are on “the other side.” Thus the herd of pigs is not unclean; they are a source of economic income. They are job and food producing, of great value.

But the demon possessed men are unclean, they live among the dead. No Jew would be in their presence, Samaritans and Gentiles viewed them with disdain, perhaps a bit of fear. Yet Jesus enters the life of the4 demoniacs, and he brings the church with him. For Jesus, the distinctions of clean and unclean, of Jew and Samaritan and Gentile, of male and female are gone. Jesus looks and sees the need of the person, whether it is a storm at sea or possession by evil Jesus sees the need of the person and acts out of God’s love.

So important are the needs of these two men that Jesus destroys the economy of the village, an economy built on their demon possession. Jesus action sends the whole herd of pigs crashing into the sea and drowns. And the villagers, seeing the men healed but also seeing the pigs drowned, ask him to leave.

Sometimes following Jesus forces us to act against our own self interest. Sometimes Jesus puts persons ahead of what culture has deemed important.

It is quite obvious the people of t he town aren’t happy. Who are these two men and especially who is this Jesus that he would destroy their livelihood simply to heal them?

Miracles! What can we learn?

From these two miracles we learn that Jesus is willing to use his power and his compassion on behalf of people. When he teaches that you are more valuable than anything else he lives that teaching by calming the storms of life and by challenging the very foundation of culture. Neither the chaos of the storm or the demon can withstand his love for you.

But there is another thing, and we need to hear it well. Just as the firemen and the police lived their teaching by rushing into the collapsing towers; just as Mother Theresa gifts the least with love – you and I as the Church are called to be Jesus to the world.

All of our actions are to show the love of God and the value of people. We are the ones God has called upon to calm the storms that threaten to swamp our brothers and sisters. We are the ones God has called upon to enter the lives of the possessed to bring sanity and worth.

That we involves me as an individual, it also involves the resources of the whole church. You and I as the Church are conduits to the power of God’s love. Jesus says, “When you love the least of your brothers and sisters, you have loved me.” That’s what we learn from these miracles. Amen

A Defense of Christmas

A Defense of Christmas

First let me state unequivocally that I love Christmas, I believe it is one of the most important days in the Christian Calendar. Its actual calendar date is immaterial and the fact that this date is not mentioned in Scripture does nothing to diminish its role in the life of today’s believer. After all, Easter is not a day mentioned in Scripture and the celebration of the resurrection occurs weekly, not on a specific date based on a lunar calendar. To use Pentecost is another “waving at the wind” argument. True Pentecost is scriptural, but it has never been celebrated by the Church in the manner of the Old Testament tradition.

Christmas is a date to commemorate a happening in the life of the world that never happened before and shall not again. It is much more than the story of the birth of a child, even the child of prophecy. Christmas marks that specific event in the life of humanity when God, the God of the universe, the eternal Logos, became enfleshed; we call that the Incarnation. The story as related by Matthew says, “He shall be called Immanuel, God with us.” The Apostle Paul says, “At the right time, when we were dead in our sins . . .”
Christmas is that date set aside to remember, to celebrate God’s giving to us. John says, “for God so loved the world that he gave his only son . . “ that’s what we mark on the day we call Christmas.

There are those who liken Christmas to a birthday celebration, and I guess it is, but it is more. Jesus said that to enter the Kingdom of God “you must be born again,” or “born form above. . .” Christmas is the commemoration of the possibility of new birth. I would agree that to celebrate New Birth is more significant than our earthly conception; perhaps we would be better to celebrate our Baptism than our birth but that is precisely what the celebration of Christmas leads us to do. Christ, as God’s gift, opens to us the authority to become the children of God, “born of the Father.” Should such a date not be celebrated, should there not be rejoicing that God has prepared the way for us to come home? So we remember the birth of Jesus and in remembering his birth we remember that we too are offered the gift of new birth, a freedom from the effects of sin. Since the angels rejoice, why not us?

Well then what about the excessive gift giving, the selfish need to receive and the sad abuse that is so prevalent during this time? My weakness does not reflect on the powerful goodness of God. Yes Christmas is over commercialized, and yes people abuse this opportunity- but God’s grace is made perfect in my weakness. Just as I should not sin because grace abounds likewise there is no reason to quit rejoicing in God’s love because others abuse the occasion. There is nothing wrong with the simple act of giving a gift. Nor should God’s act of giving be thrown on the scrap heap of history simply because our imitation of that act is so crass. We are the ones needing to repent – the celebration remains sacred.

But, the argument states, the symbolism often comes from pagan cultures. True, but that is not the reason behind a Christian’s use of a Christmas tree or a wreath or candles. It is what is in your heart and understanding that is of most importance, not the origin. There are those who would argue that the Ten Commandments are a restatement of the Code of Hammurabi – should we then discard the Commandments? Truth is often copied and often surfaces in many different cultures and is found in many different belief systems; that does not deny TRUTH,

You see just as God gave us a dynamic and living creation so our faith is dynamic and living. The Scriptures give us direction but are not meant as chains to bind us to a world that has been filtered through history. There are absolutes, but how you celebrate the gift of God’s love is not. What are the absolutes? Perhaps the prophet answers that question best when he says, “What does the Lord require of you but to do Justice, love Mercy and to walk humbly with your God” Jesus rephrases that and says the greatest commandment is “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and your neighbor as yourself.” How we accomplish those absolutes point to the dynamic and living relationship we have with God.

Christmas is the celebration of our living the absolutes of God. So, pick a date – in your celebration rejoice that the God of all creation became flesh and walked among us and we have beheld his grace and truth.

Merry Christmas.

Matthew 5:13-16
What Would Jesus Say About Us?

This past week I had the privilege of making a Nursing Home call. It was a good visit. After I said my goodbyes and had a word of prayer I was walking down the hall to leave. This hall has a series of alcoves so that the nurses can pull their carts out of the way and make notations or enter meds. One alcove was empty of a cart but it was occupied.

There was a couple – an old couple; she was in a wheel chair and if you can judge by looks she was filled with dementia – it did not appear that she was aware of anything, much less her companion. Her companion, I assume her husband, sat deeper in the alcove on a chair. He was leaning over the woman resting his cheek on her head and whispering to her. I don’t know what he said, but his was the language of a love that had spanned the years.

Every part of his body was saying to her, I love you; you are so important to me, you are my reason for being. He did not see the emptiness of her eyes, he did not see the wrinkles or aged bent form; he saw his love and he was determined that she would know. I believe she did.

That’s the message God has given me from our text today:

Jesus bends comfortingly, protectively over his Church; instead of seeing the obvious, Jesus is intent on telling you how much he loves you. Listen to his words:

You are the light of the world.

You are the salt of the earth.

So much is Jesus in love with you that he sees what is beyond your understanding. He looks past the obvious dementia of our acts and sees the bride he has committed too.

You are the light of the world

You are the salt of the earth

How precious the love of Jesus; how great the calling and expectation he has for our relationship with him.

Here he speaks to his disciples and recognizes who they are and their tremendous needs; and in this he recognizes us.

You – you who bear the name of Christ – you are the light of the world.

Until all this current craziness started I looked forward to flying. It began for me on a KC 97 Tanker when I used a mammoth earth moving tires for my seat; no safety harness, just a ride from Thule, Greenland – home. We flew down the coast of Canada, over the New England States and over New York until we finally found our way to the base in Delaware. As we made that long trip, whenever I could, I found a window, knelt on the floor and watched. Most of the trip was desolate wasteland – white and cold; but every once in a while we would pass over a town or a city or even a lone house. And at night they couldn’t be missed. The light of that town, even of that individual house cut through the darkness and shouted, here I am; I stand for life.

Jesus says you are the light of the world; where ever you are; no matter the craziness of the world; you shine through the darkness; you stand for life and as the Bible says, the darkness can not understand why you are not defeated by its power. But you see, when ever there is light, darkness must flee.

You are the light of the world. You are part of the company of Jesus.

In Jesus, you are the ministry of God’s reconciliation. You see with all our failures; with all our attempts to hide under a bushel or camouflage our lamps, God has called us to light up the world with his reconciling love.

It was WW2 and I lived in what was known as the projects. From my bedroom windows I could see all of my home town; I could see Railroads, I could see Westinghouse and I could see the red glow of steel mills. What a great target for enemy bombers. Regularly we had air raid drills. Lights would go out, blankets covered windows and if a light could be seen the warden paid you a visit. When I would hear that siren I would rush to my bedroom and watch the lights blink out; the whole area went dark – except the glow of the steel mill continued to light the sky; and when the drill was over; light from homes and shops reclaimed the night.

Do you see what Jesus is saying? The darkness of evil can not overcome the light of God’s love. Sure there are times when “wrong seems oft so strong.” But God is not dead and as his agents of reconciliation, you who are the light of the world – cause the roar of greed to cease – God’s love has the final say.

You are the light of the world – you are God’s agents of reconciliation; but you are more.

You are the salt of the earth. When Jesus coined that term, salt was one of the most valuable, most common and most regularly used of all the substances known to humanity. We use it for cooking, but then: it was an antiseptic, it was used in the sacrificial offering, it was used as an anti skid, it was used as money, it was used to seal a covenant. As the salt of the world, you are all of those uses and more.

Over and again the OT talks about the fragrance of sacrifice and the prophets make clear that the sacrifice of a broken and contrite heart is what pleases God. Jesus describes you as that fragrant offering to God. You are what give this world a pleasing flavor and acceptable odor before the Lord. When you are living the mission of Jesus, God feels, sees, hears, smells and tastes the creation that is good and pleasing to him. But how does such a miracle occur.

Jesus says, “in as much as you have done it to the least of your brothers, you have done it to me.” You see as you engage in ministries of feeding and visiting and healing and reconciling and witnessing you are the salt that makes the world palatable to God. What is it that James says? “True religion is the care of widows and orphans.” These sacrificial gifts; imagining no Malaria, praying for those devastated by earthquakes or the bombs of their own government – your flavoring of salt is pleasing to God.

You are the salt of the earth. Without salt, food is utterly bland; without you and your love for Jesus, the world becomes a place void of God.

You see: You are the light of the world
You are the reconcilers, the agents of God’s love
You are those who drive out the darkness of evil

And you are Friend to Jesus. Jesus “no longer do I call you servants, you are my friend.”

It was 9th grade and I was in love. I made sure I was everywhere she was, I even went to the dance – I’d walk her home and we’d go to the Drug Store for a Cherry Phosphate. I even did dishes at home to make sure I got my allowance to spend being with her. When she asked me to come to the Youth Fellowship I jumped at the chance. She was my friend, in this case, my girl friend. I just hope none of my 9th grade note books are ever found.

Jesus has called you friend. He hasn’t invited you to a 9th grade dance, but he has invited you to walk with him in this life and into life eternal. He knows more than your name; he knows you. He is with you when you are at your best for God and he is with you when your feet get dirty with the mud of life. I once described friendship to you by quoting a friend of mine, Wes said, “a friend is a person who will swing over hell on a rotten rope for you.” That’s Jesus. Not only did he swing over hell on a rotten rope for you, Jesus has endured the crossed and freed the captives. He has opened eternity for you.

As your friend Jesus says,
You are the light of the world
You are the salt of the earth.

And when you are at your end, when you are helpless and all seems hopeless, it is Jesus who presses his cheek against your head and whispers his love, reminding you of who and whose you are.

Amen