Wesley's Standard Sermons #29

In my preparation for Sunday's sermon on Matthew 6:24-34 (the Gospel selection in this week's lectionary), I have returned again and again to John Wesley's sermon on the passage. Good, good stuff.

While I regularly read, study, and meditate upon Wesley's sermons, I confess that for reasons which elude me I often "skip" the 13 standard sermons based on Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. I'm not sure why this has been my practice; I am not proud of my neglect. Wesley's sermon on this passage is so spot on, so much what I have wanted to say, that I am tempted to simply read his text. I won't do that, of course, but I'm not going to make light of the fact that much of my sermon will be drawn from Wesley's fine work.

If pastors who read this blog are preaching on this passage, I'd urge you to look again at Wesley's words if you have not already done so. You can find his sermon here. If you're not preaching on this passage this Sunday, I've no doubt that you will still be challenged and uplifted by this excellent sermon.

Rerun: Trinity Sunday / Peace with Justice Sunday

This Sunday is Trinity Sunday, the one Sunday in the Christian year devoted to a doctrine, rather than an event. This makes sense, for the Doctrine of the Trinity is the most important doctrine in Christianity.

The Doctrine of the Trinity is important for many reasons; it helps define, for example, other crucial doctrines, such as Incarnation and Atonement. Christians are, technically speaking, not monotheists as much as they are Trinitarians.

I am amazed, nevertheless, at the number of pastors who never preach on the Trinity. I relate to Roger Olson's words in his wonderful 2002 book The Mosaic of Christian Belief (pages 133-134):

...some Christians have become so exasperated by the seeming confusion surrounding belief in the Trinity...that they have functionally given up on it. They may be members of a church with the word 'Trinity' in its name; they may pay lip service to belief in something called Trinity if asked; they may sing a hymn about God's triunity now and then in worship. But fewer and fewer Christians seem actually to embrace the belief known throughout Christian history as 'Trinity'. As one modern Catholic thinker has said, modern Christians tend to be functionally unitarian.

This is too bad; it's scandalous, in fact, given that our spiritual ancestors sometimes died for their devotion to the Holy Trinity.

One of the reasons this doctrine is so important is because of what it teaches us about God. From the Doctrine of the Trinity, we learn that God is social by his very nature; God exists in community.

We, therefore, as those devoted to the God who has revealed himself as triune, should also exist in community. We need the Church in order to faithfully incarnate Trinitarian doctrine...an important realization on the eve of Annual Conference.

But Sunday is not only Trinity Sunday, for in her wisdom, the Church has declared the day to also serve as Peace with Justice Sunday. Peace is more than simply the absence of conflict; it is a way of life in which each person has the essentials such as food, water, and shelter, in which sins such as sexism and racism don't exist, in which love is the crucial factor in human relations. In order to faithfully live in community, the Church must prayerfully support the elimination of poverty, war, racism, sexism, hate, and the like. True peace is intimately married to real justice.

And so, we are called to live as faithful Trinitarians, modeling the One God who exists in community, and doing the work of Christ by loving our sisters and brothers in the human family by prayer and sacrifice.

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the love of God
and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all."

- 2 Corinthians 13:14

Originally posted 5/29/07

Pentecost 2008

"When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability..."

- Acts 2:1-4 (NRSV)

What a day! Yesterday turned out to be a terrific Pentecost for Jefferson United Methodist Church!

The Rev. Dr. Donald Scandrol, Pittsburgh District Superintendent, joined us with his wife Barbara, and it was a real treat to worship with them. Don preached an inspiring message about allowing God's Spirit to inspire us and work through us as we try to speak the other languages of our culture and reach a lost and hurting world. Good stuff.

We then moved on to our United Methodist rite of Confirmation, which was a joy. We had a tremendous group of young people this year, all of whom are committed to Jesus and to their faith journeys. They are, in fact, each among the more active folks in our congregation. I have learned far more from them during this process than I will likely ever teach them as their pastor. It has been a fine experience.

As each confirmand knelt at the altar, Don and I lay hands on them, joined by the Rev. Robert Slack (a retired pastor whom we're glad to have with us at JUMC) and the Rev. Dawn Lynn Check (of Janes UMC in Creighton, PA), whose twin nephews were among our confirmands.

Don prayed for each young person by name, calling upon the power of the Holy Spirit, the blessing of the Father, and the presence of Jesus. This was a great moment for me as a pastor who loves these young people, but also as a father, as my daughter Kate was among those confirmed. What a blessing it has been (and continues to be) to watch her grow in her faith and in her service to the Kingdom of God. Most recently, she has become our new Children's Choir Director.

After the confirmation rite was concluded, I invited anyone who wished to join with JUMC to come forward and join the church. To my delight, we had fifteen people respond to the call. Only one of these, it turns out, is a "transfer" - the rest all joined JUMC by profession of faith. God is moving in and through JUMC, and I feel so blessed to be a part of it!

Don then led the liturgy for the Sacrament of Holy Communion, and our confirmands offered the bread and the cup to those present (we had multiple stations to accomodate the full house). Dawn then closed our worship with a blessing.

It was a day filled with joy and a real experience of the Holy Spirit. God is so very, very good. I pray that the Spirit continues to move in and through JUMC, with our newest members, but especially in the lives of the young people who took a bold step yesterday. May they always walk "near to the heart of God".

5 Most Played on My iPod right now

#1 - "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 (live)"
by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

#2 - "Solsbury Hill"
by Peter Gabriel

#3 (tie) - "Instant Karma"
by John Lennon;
"All This Time" by Sting

#4 - "You Still Believe in Me"
by the Beach Boys

#5 (tie) - "Everything" by Michael Buble;
"Follow You, Follow Me" by Genesis

Jesus' Ascension

"...as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.'"

- Acts 1:9-11 (NRSV)

Today is Ascension Day...the day on which we remember the "Ascension of the Lord". This Sunday, Christians all over the globe will be remembering this important event (if you're choosing to ignore it, then shame on you!). This event is a crucial theological event that pastors need to talk about and need to address, particularly in today's postmodern environment.

Too often, we get caught up in the idea of Jesus going "up", knowing that as one rises through the atmosphere, one reaches not the otherworldly realm of the Almighty, but Earth's orbit and, eventually, deep space. We must remember that the writer of Acts, as with all the early disciples, were trying to describe something which happened before them which was difficult for them (and us) to understand, using the vocabulary they had, and working out of the worldview they maintained.

In N.T. Wright's fascinating new book, Surprised By Hope, he deals extensively with the notion of Jesus' Ascension. Bishop Wright describes heaven - the place to which Jesus "ascended" - not as a place far above in the sky, but rather as another dimension of God's creation, which exists concurrently with earth. He (brilliantly) compares it to C.S. Lewis' Narnia, which is distinct from our world yet only a wardrobe away.

The Church believes that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, and affirms this each Sunday in the Creed. Given Bishop Wright's understanding, this means that Jesus is very present with us now, though he is distinctly somewhere else. This says wonderful things about the absolute Lordship of Christ.

More than this, however, the fact that Jesus is now in heaven and not on earth reminds us that he will return on the Day of the Lord. We read on page 117 of Bishop Wright's book,

"At no point in the Gospels or Acts does anyone say anything remotely like, 'Jesus has gone into heaven, so let’s be sure we can follow him.' They say, rather, 'Jesus is in heaven, ruling the whole world, and he will one day return to make that rule complete'."

So, the Ascension strengthens not only our understanding of the Lordship of Christ (a strengthening which is greatly needed in today's Church), it also reminds us that our eternity will be spent not "in heaven" as disembodied spirits flying around the clouds (a la "I'll Fly Away"), but rather in the New Jerusalem on the New Earth, as transformed and embodied children of the living God, a concept sadly forgotten by many Christians, but a concept which has incredibly far reaching implications, theologically, practically, missionally, politically and socially.

So, my prayer is that the Church is blessed this Ascension Day, and that pastors and congregations across the planet ponder these issues and rejoice in the hope of glory!

Very Busy

I have not had a lot of time to attend to this blog lately. That's a shame, because I'd been hoping to comment on General Conference stuff, not to mention the NFL Draft. I'm just too busy, but I hope to get some time soon.

I'm busy in a good way, I think, since things are well with my family, and JUMC continues to be blessed and to be a blessing, to me and to our community. I continue to be in prayer for all that's happening in Fort Worth, and hope that God's Kingdom is furthered by the decisions which are made.

Another Prayer for General Conference

Almightyand everlasting Father,
you have given the Holy Spirit
to abide with us forever:

Bless, we pray,
with his grace and presence,
the bishops and
other clergy and laity
now assembled in your Name
in Fort Worth, Texas,

that your Church,
being preserved in true faith and godly discipline,
may fulfill all the mind of him who loves her
and gave himself for her,
your Son Jesus Christ our Lord;

who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever. Amen.

- adapted from The Book of Common Prayer