Scripture:  Luke 19:1-9

 I have a very vivid memory from when I was somewhere around 4 ½ and my family was visiting a museum.   My mom had dressed my brother and me in identical outfits.   My brother is sixteen months younger than me, but at that time we were the exact same height.   I remember multiple people on that day making comments about us being twins, and I remember insisting that I was the “big brother.”  Within a couple of years from that point though, all I could claim is that I was the older one because my brother had surpassed me in height.   Despite my best efforts, I never caught back up.  I objectively know it is silly, but to this day it really annoys me when someone assumes my brother is older just because he is taller.   Growing up with a taller young brother always made me feel short, even though my height is more or less right at the average for an American man.   I say all of this to point out that I can empathize a bit with Zacchaeus, because Zacchaeus has been enshrined and forever known as a wee little man, a wee little man was he. 

This is a little unfair to Zacchaeus.  This morning’s scripture does specify that he was short, but his height is not actually the primary reason why he could not see Jesus.  It is unfair to make height the primary attribute we remember about Zacchaeus because it is the least important thing about him in the scripture.  In this morning’s scripture we see how grace can transform lives.  Zacchaeus is noticed and fully seen by Jesus.  Jesus gives us an example to follow, when we take the time to see the people who are often excluded and love the hard to love, then the lost are found. 

The story in this morning’s scripture is only recorded in the gospel of Luke.  It takes place while Jesus is traveling from Gailee to Jerusalem for the final time.  This morning’s story takes place just a couple of days before the triumphal entry on Palm Sunday.  It takes place when the hype and buzz around Jesus was at its highest.  Stories of Jesus’ miracles had clearly traveled around the region, and it gave Jesus a bit of a local celebrity status.  It is no surprise that as he came into Jericho, he drew a crowd.  People wanted to see if Jesus, the miracle worker, was the real deal.  They wanted to see if this man might actually be the messiah.  Zacchaeus was one of these people. 

It is probably fair to say that Zacchaeus was not a popular person around Jericho.  This is because he was a tax collector.  Even today that combination of words is one that tends to instantly bristle us the wrong way.   I imagine employees of the IRS go out of their way to describe their job as anything other than tax collectors.  Not only that, but Zacchaeus was the chief tax collector.   This means that not only was he a tax collector but he administrated other tax collectors.   In general, being a tax collector is not a profession goes into because they want to win popularity contests, but in first century Israel they were especially reviled. 

Tax collectors were viewed as thieves and traitors. During this time Israel was subjugated territory.  They were, not by choice, under the rule of the Roman Empire.  The tax collectors were locals, recruited by the Romans, to take money from the people and ship it off to Rome.    The taxes could feel oppressive, and it was made worse by the fact that it was one of your own doing the oppression, which is why tax collectors were viewed as traitors.   They were viewed as thieves because tax collectors did not have a salary.   They received their income from the taxes they collected.  A certain amount had to be sent in, but beyond that the tax collectors had a lot of discretion regarding how much they collected.   As you can imagine, most tax collectors brought in enough taxes so that they could live quite comfortably.  This lifestyle happened completely at the literal expense of their neighbor.  It had to really grind people’s gears to see the tax collector living so comfortably while they were struggling just to get by. 

While the scripture mentions Zacchaeus could not see because he was short, it really feels like there is more to the story, because unless Zacchaeus was truly tiny there should have been ways he could have seen between people, squeezed through gaps, or somehow found a way to be able to see.  The only way that he would have truly been shut out is if the people of Jericho were doing their best to exclude him and keep him out.   This is not too hard to imagine.  Actively keeping Zacchaeus on the outside of the crowd so that he could not see is extremely petty, but it was a way the people of Jericho could exert some control of a person who had actively made their lives worse.   Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus and he could not.  While his height is mentioned as a factor, it is likely that how the other people of Jericho treated him was a greater factor.  Despite that, Zacchaeus did not give up, and tried to find a more creative way to see Jesus.   In general this is a story that really inspires me to put myself there.  It is a story that has me trying to understand the person of Zacchaeus and visualize how their interaction went. 

 I have to wonder why was this so important to Zacchaeus?  Was it just curiosity or was Zacchaeus wanting something from Jesus?  What stories of Jesus had Zacchaeus heard? I have to wonder, had Zacchaeus heard about how Jesus ate with sinners, and how Jesus extended grace to the people that others had written off?  I have to wonder if Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus because of the guilt and shame he had felt from his life choices?  I have to wonder if it was the possibility of a changed life that led Zacchaeus to climb a tree in order to see the life changing rabbi?
Whatever his reasons for wanting to see Jesus were, Zaccheus probably got more than attention than he wanted.  When I read this scripture, I imagine Jesus looking at him and speaking in a commanding voice, Zacchaeus, come down immediately.”   I imagine there being a pregnant pause, where Zacchaeus’ blood ran cold because he was fully seen.  I imagine the crowd being full of anticipation because they were about to see this hated man get what was coming to him.   But then Jesus continues, and does the unexpected, he invites himself over to Zacchaeus’ house. 

  When Jesus invited himself to Zacchaeus’s house he bestowed honor upon him.  He communicated that Zacchaeus is someone worthy of attention, time, and even blessing.    We get the sense by the muttering of the crowds, that no one had ever really communicated that to Zacchaeus.  They muttered and grumbled.  They saw Zacchaeus as a sinner not worth redemption.  But Jesus saw Zacchaeus in a different light. By asking to come to Zacchaeus’ house Jesus was communicating that despite all that he had done, Zacchaeus was not outside of God’s grace and love.   Not only did Jesus communicate to Zacchaeus that he was worthy of attention, but Jesus also communicated that he is worthy of acceptance.    In doing so, Jesus touched a chord deep in Zacchaeus that caused him to do an instant 180. He pledges to immediately to correct course and begin making right his wrongdoings.

Zacchaeus’s response is worth noting.  He knew that he acted wrongly, he knew that he had benefited at the expense of others.   Zacchaeus does more than just apologize for his wrong actions Zacchaeus repented and backed up that repentance with his actions.  Zacchaeus says he will repay people four times what he had cheated on them.  This is the prescription found in the Old Testament law.  When someone acknowledged their guilt in theft, they provided restitution by returning four times what was taken.   Zacchaeus does not just seek absolution for his wrongdoing; he seeks to correct it and make things right.  Not only does he correct it, but he seeks to go above and beyond by then giving half of what he has to the poor.   The actions of Zacchaeus are the actions of someone who has experienced a changed heart, who has been transformed by grace.  This is why Jesus proclaimed, “Today salvation has come to this house.”

In this morning’s scripture Zacchaeus gives an example of repentance that we can learn from, but Jesus gives us a different example we can follow.  Zacchaeus was pushed to the outside of his community.  He was not a person others wanted to associate with, but Jesus still took the time to recognize him.   Not only did Jesus recognize him, but he sought him out and included him.   There are a lot of people today who are like a modern-day Zacchaeus.  Sometimes these people, Like Zacchaeus, can be hard to love.  Sometimes it is possible that these people may even deserve this reputation to some degree.   However, the example that Jesus gives us is that even those people are still in need of God’s salvation.  The people who we would rather not associate with and pass silent judgement on are still people who God loves and who Jesus died for.   The example Jesus gives us is a reminder that there are no outsiders to God’s love.   Zacchaeus was a traitor and a thief, but Jesus was not willing to give up on him.   In the same way we should be willing to see, engage, and invite people who generally feel like they are excluded from a life of faith. 

While some of these people, like Zacchaeus, are a little harder to love due to the ways they have actively done harm, there is a lot of low hanging fruit.  There are a lot of people, who feel like they have been shut out from Jesus and must go to extremes to see him.  There are so many people who feel like they are shut out of full inclusion into the Christian faith because of stigmas.  Those who have struggled with addiction feel like they don’t belong.   Those who are divorced and single feel like there is not a place for them in church.   Those who live with neuro divergence can find it difficult to engage in worship as we offer it.  Those who struggle with mental illness feel that their illness is shunned in church settings, and those who are just trying to live as their most authentic self constantly get told by others that God did not create them the way God created them.   There are so many people who feel that they do not have a place in the family of God because of stigma associated with their life that keeps them out.  That is heartbreaking.  It is wrong.  It should not be that way.

The example that Jesus gives us in this morning’s scripture is one of radical inclusion.  IT is an example that the gospel is for everyone.  It is a reminder that Jesus does not just hang out in the rarefied air of saints, but he eats with sinners.   Our table should reflect the table of Christ.  All are invited; all are welcome.   There are no excluding stigmas in the kingdom of God, and there should be none in Christ’s church.  It is imperative that we make sure we are never ever standing in the way of someone getting to Jesus.   People should not have to find trees to get around our way of doing things, our ideology, or our judgmental attitudes to get to Christ.    Instead of being roadblocks to the people who are like Zacchaeus in our midst, we should instead reflect Christ to them.   It is through us, not despite us, that people should find the forgiving, live changing love of Jesus.   

This morning’s scripture is about how a wee little man became a man of big faith.  Zacchaeus entered a life of discipleship.  May his story be an inspiration to our own faith story and may our own level of discipleship grow from knowing it.  As followers of Jesus, may we seek to follow the example that Jesus gives us in this morning’s scripture.  May we also ask God to show who are the people like Zacchaeus in our community.   May we be willing to reach out to those people, invite them, and may we shine the love of Jesus Christ into their lives.  May we take this task seriously, because as this morning’s scripture reminds us, “the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”   By the grace of God and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, may we do our part to help the lost get found.                
 
 
 

Scripture:  Luke 18: 9-14
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The story goes that there was a woman who taught Sunday school.   While you do not know this specific woman, you probably have met her type.   She was quick to look down on others.   She had mastered the art of saying “bless your heart” or “I’ll pray for you” as a way to insult, put down, and belittle.   She had a pompous, self-entitled, and overall self-righteous attitude.   One Sunday morning she was trying to make the point that good Christians did not keep their faith a secret.   They made sure that everyone knew exactly what they believed.  With her head held high, nose up in the air, she strutted impressively back and forth across the room and asked, “Now class why do you think people call me a Christian?”    The teacher thought the answer to this question was obvious, but she was met with uncomfortable silence.   She started to show her disappointment at the class when one of the boys slowly raised his hand and said, “Probably because they do not know you.”  

I do not know about you but jokes and stories like that one are a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine.  In movies and TV shows when the person who has been smug, arrogant, and downright mean spirited finally gets their comeuppance it is the payoff I have been waiting for.  I find it to be very satisfying when the smug get knocked down a peg or two, when the arrogant are humbled, and when the self-righteous are called out.   There are a whole lot of reason why I like Jesus, and this is one of them:  In the gospels he calls out the self-righteous all the time.  Time and time again across all four he calls out the Pharisees, the scribes, and the teachers of the law.  Jesus is regularly calling out the pharisees and the ways that the puffed themselves up instead of glorifying God.   This morning’s scripture seems to be part of that greater collection.  It even seems to immediately state up front who this scripture is directed to in verse 9: “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable.”  

 However, Jesus is not telling this parable to the Pharisees of the teachers of the law.  Jesus is not addressing the religious leaders of the day that he so often sparred with.  In the parable that begins in Luke 18:1, Jesus is clearly talking to his disciples.  There is not a shift to the next scene in the narrative until verse 15, so this morning’s scripture is also addressed to the disciples.   This morning’s scripture was a parable addressed to Jesus’ closest followers, and it was intended to call them out.   The most honest way that we can approach this scripture is to read it as if Jesus were addressing us and see how we might feel called out.  

Unfortunately, within churches there are still plenty of people with self-righteous toes to get stepped on.   There is a study from Barna Research group that tried to quantify how big that number is.   It is an older study from 2013, but I imagine its findings still have a lot of relevance today.   For this study they surveyed Christians and asked them to rate their agreement on a four-point scale with twenty different statements.   Ten of these statements were meant to reflect a Christ like attitude.  These were statements like “I am personally spending time with non-believers to help them follow Jesus” and “I feel compassion for people who are not following God and doing immoral things.”  The other ten statements were self-righteous statements that would be in line with the Pharisee of this morning’s parable.  Statements such as “I like to point out those who do not have the right theology or doctrine” and “People who follow God’s rules are better than those who do not.”  Of the Christians surveyed it was found that 51% were in more agreement with the self-righteous statements than the Christ-like statements.   All this self-righteousness might be why a different Barna study found that only 21% of non-Christians have a positive perception of the local churches in their community. 

Despite what the research shows, it can still be easy to justify that self-righteousness is not a problem.  In some ways this scripture creates a caricature of self-righteousness.  The Pharisee in the scripture is a little over the top in how he calls out just who he is not like and how he brags about all he does.   The Pharisee in the parable is the absolute epitome of a “holier than thou” attitude.   This serves the story by creating a contrast, but it unfortunately gives us an out.  We can think to ourselves, well I am not like that guy, so this story does not apply to me.  When it comes to self-righteous behavior or attitudes, we often think of it as viewing oneself as “holier than thou”, but the reality is that is not the case.  Several years ago, a study from the University of Chicago found that when it comes to self-righteous attitudes a “holier than thou” outlook, is uncommon.   What is much more common is for people to believe they are “less evil” than other people.  So often self-righteousness looks less like “I am better than you and you know it” and more like “At least I am not as bad as you are”.  

  Unfortunately, this kind of self-righteous behavior that seeks to define others as worse than is all too common.  We see it everywhere today.   We see it in the polarization, which seeks to demonize people who disagree with a specific point of view.  So often it seems that people take those who they disagree with and cast them as evil.  It is not just that they disagree so often it seems people cast their opponent as hateful, deceitful, and morally wrong as if it were their nature.  It seems today it is common for someone to point to someone they disagree with and say “at least I am not like them.”  We need to call this current epidemic to divide into us vs. them groups and vilify the “them” as what it truly is: It is a way to be self-righteous-it is a way to look down on others. 

The research shows that self-righteousness exists in unhealthy quantities in church settings.   Which is why it is worth remembering that Jesus told the parable in this morning’s scripture to his disciples, to his closest followers.   The message of this morning’s scripture and its warnings against self-righteousness are still intended for those who follow Jesus.  It is intended for us.  It calls us out. Fortunately, within the parable Jesus shows us how we can overcome our struggles with self-righteous attitudes.  Ultimately, this morning’s scripture is a parable about prayer, and it contains the life changing prayer that has been crucial to the Christian faith since the beginning.    

In the parable the tax collector prays, “Lord have mercy.” Lord have mercy in Greek, is Kyrie Eleison, and that phrase is one of the oldest phrases of worship in Christianity.   Almost back to the beginning of the church, Christians have prayed Kyrie Eleison as an act of worship.   To this day Kyrie Eleison is still used in Greek Orthodox liturgy. A slightly more developed version of this prayer, which is often referred to as the “Jesus prayer”, dates back to the 5th century Egypt but it could easily be older.  The prayer is ‘Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”     It is a fundamental prayer and expression of the Christian faith.   Because Lord have mercy is not about what we do for God, it is about what God is doing for us.    Lord have mercy is an acknowledgement that there is nothing that we can do to reach God.  It is a humble confession that on our own we are not good enough to stand in the presence of true holiness.   The prayer of the Pharisee is touting all of the ways that he has reached up to God, the prayer of the tax collector is the realization that it is God who reaches down to us.     

Perhaps because Jesus is talking to his disciples, he gives a little bit more clarity on what the takeaway should be in verse 14, “For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and all those who humble themselves will be exalted.”  We are humble when we refuse to think of ourselves as more important than we are.   Friends, as those saved by grace and offered forgiveness through Jesus Christ being humble is something that should come easy to us.  Because we know the depths of sin that Jesus has saved us from.   We know the wrong that we have been forgiven of, and we know just how much we do not deserve it.   We should not have any problems over estimating our own importance, because we should know it is Jesus and Jesus alone who has the power to save us.  We should know how much we need grace.  We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We all, every single one of us, are in a position where we can stand at a distance, not even look up, hit our chest, and pray “Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” 

Every single person alive today stands in need of mercy.  The University of Chicago found that the main way we exhibit self-righteousness is by thinking “at least we are not like those people”, but that is such a flawed premise.  The reality is that we are like those people, and it does not matter who those people are.   We all stand in need of grace.  As the old saying goes we all put on our pants one leg at a time just like everyone else.   Self-righteousness emerges from us looking around and comparing ourselves to other people.   The reality of grace and mercy should change how we treat and see people.   We should not see ourselves as more important than others or see others as somehow worse than us, because our need for grace is the same.   So, we should treat all people the same, we should treat them with the same compassion, gentleness, and kindness that we want to be treated with.  Instead of trying to vilify someone else we should seek to understand them and embrace that we need Jesus just as much as they do.  We should claim the freeing truth that the ground at the foot of the cross is level.    The rich the poor, the righteous and the unrighteous, the liberal and the conservative from every tribe, tongue, and nation bow at the feet of Jesus and pray “Kyrie Eleison”.  Lord have mercy on me a sinner.   Instead of finding people with differences that we can look down on or be thankful that we are not them, we should be beacons of grace that declare Jesus saves everyone, even a sinner like me.    We should always be checking our heart to make sure we love people like Jesus instead of judge people with smug self-righteousness. 

Make no mistake Jesus told this morning’s parable because he was trying to step on a few toes.  If we are being truly honest with ourselves, then there is a good chance that ours are some of the ones stepped on.  We live in a culture where we likely see a lot of actions and beliefs we do not agree with.  We live in a culture that is actively trying to polarize us and see others as a “them” to shun and judge.  Often it becomes very easy for us to say, “at least I am not like that”.  The reality is that it does not matter if we have followed Jesus for days or decades our payer should always be Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.  The Jesus prayer as it is called, is always an appropriate prayer for us.  So, when we find ourselves getting a little judgmental may we pray, Lord have mercy.   When we find ourselves getting a little smug and self-important may we pray, Lord have mercy.   When we find ourselves looking down on anyone for any reason may we pray, Lord have mercy.   Then may we live that prayer out as we show the same mercy and kindness to everyone else.  Lord, have mercy.    

Scripture: Luke 17:11-19

  In high school track longest running event is the 3200, which is about 2 miles.   Cross Country goes further, and the standard cross-country track is 5K.  At the national championships and Olympic level, there is a 10,000-meter track race, which is a little over six miles.  The half marathon more than doubles that at 13.1 miles and running a marathon requires running 26.2 miles.  For most of us, that probably sounds like further than we would ever want to think about running in a month, much less at one time.  However, for a small number of individuals they think they can still push themselves to go further.   For those people who want to take it to the extreme, there is the ultra-marathon.  While there are several different types of ultra-marathon events, one of the more common formats is a 100-mile cross-country race.  The world’s oldest official 100-mile foot race is the Western States 100, which takes place in California’s Sierra Nevada mountains.   The most extreme of these extreme races is the Barkley marathon.  This esoteric event takes place in the mountains of Tennessee.  Over the entirety of the course, it gains 60,000 feet in elevation.  Unlike other races, this one does not use established trails or paths.  Instead, the racers must truly go cross country and find their own way through the Appalachian forest.  The race has been run every year since 1995, but it has only been completed six times.  More years than not all the competitors fail to finish the race within the 60-hour time limit. 

The Barkley marathon might be the most extreme race in the world.  It pushes even the fittest and best runners in the world to their absolute limit.  To have any chance of finishing the race a runner has to unswerving focus and unstoppable determination. While the journey may not have been as arduous as the Barkley marathon, this morning’s scripture features the same level of extreme dedication, but I think we often miss that.  Often the focus of this story is on verse 17 where Jesus asks, “Were not all ten cleansed where are the other nine?”  The focus we tend to put on the story is a simple one, we should be grateful like the one as opposed to being ungrateful like the other nine.   However, when we make the story simple, we overlook the profound point that is right there in the story.   This story is not just about gratitude; it is about the extreme lengths that one man took to show gratitude.  This story illustrates that giving thanks is not always easy, but it is always worth it.   Considering this morning’s scripture can have the ability to help us rethink how we go about expressing our own gratitude. 

One of the reasons why we might miss the extraordinary nature of this morning’s scripture is that we are not familiar with some of the cultural details.  The scripture states that Jesus was traveling to Jerusalem along the border between Samaria and Galilee.   From Galilee, where Jesus did most of his ministry, there were two main paths to Jerusalem.  The most common path was to follow the Jordan river down to Jericho and then take the road between Jerusalem and Jericho.   The other way was through the rugged hill country of Samaria.   The Samaria route is what we might call the scenic route.  Today it would be like avoiding the Interstate to take the state roads because you wanted to see the countryside.   That means this town that Jesus passed through was out of the way.  It was not the kind of place that a person would pass by often.   Despite that, it was a place.  It was a place where people lived and worked.  It was likely a small town where everyone knew everyone else’s business.  It was a small town that also had its group of marginalized and outcast. 

Leprosy in the bible is a bit of a catch all term. In Jesus day, leprosy could refer to the actual disease of leprosy, or it could refer to a whole host of skin conditions.  Having a disease that was exteriorly visible was the worst thing for a Jewish person at this time, because it clearly marked them as unclean.     Victims of these diseases were barred from living in towns and cities.  They gathered in colonies well away from where people lived.  For access, these colonies were often close to roads, but the lepers had to warn those who passed by to stay well away from them.  When Jesus passed by instead of yelling warnings, they asked Jesus for help. 

I find this detail of the story interesting, because remember this town is out of the way.  The word-of-mouth buzz on Jesus must have been going strong because the stories of Jesus, of a healer from Galilee, had made it to these afflicted individuals.   We do not know the details, but somehow these ten men had gotten word that it was Jesus who was traveling by.  So instead of yelling out their normal warnings of stay away, they said “Jesus master, have pity on us.”

That is of course, exactly what Jesus did.  Jesus did indeed heal them and told them to find a priest.  In the Torah there were rules for being cleansed of leprosy.  To follow the biblical law, when someone was healed, they were required to present themselves to the priest to be considered clean.     We need to remember these men could not google the closest priest, do a tele-health session and be declared clean in less than an hour.   It was a process and it was one that even under the best of conditions was going to take some time.  We do not know where exactly Jesus encountered these lepers, or how far the closest priest was.  However, we can safely assume that there was not a priest just standing there.  The healed men would have to go and see one out.  Once they reached the priest, and the priest was actually willing to take the time to examine them, it could be a full seven days before they are declared clean.  Under the most ideal circumstances it would likely take more than a week to finish this process. 

Try to imagine yourself in the position of these ten men.  These ten lepers that Jesus healed had their life given back to them.  Because they were sick, they were completely cut off from their friends and family.  For some of them, it could have been years.  Perhaps some of them had resigned themselves to believing they would never see some people again.  After being declared clean they would be allowed to return home.  After being away from those you love for so long, isn’t that what you would do?  It is not that they were ungrateful for what Jesus had done, but their lives had been given back to them.  They had so much lost time to catch up on.  I think most of us would have done something similar.   This is what makes the one who sought Jesus out so remarkable and his gratitude so extreme.

Remember Jesus was traveling on his way to Jerusalem when he encountered the lepers.  Also remember it could have taken well over a week for the lepers to be declared clean.  It was not like during that time, Jesus just stood in the same spot waiting for the healed men to come back.  In fact, the most logical assumption we can make is that Jesus continued traveling.   This is the element of the story we often overlook.  It is not just that one man came back to give thanks, it is how much effort he put into it.  He had to go seek Jesus out and find him in order to throw himself at the feet of Jesus and give thanks.   What is noteworthy in this morning’s scripture is not just one person came back to give thanks, but the lengths the man went to show his gratitude.  When we consider this, I think there are three big takeaways for us.

First, this scripture points out that gratitude is more than just words.   The way that the one leper expressed gratitude had a lot less to do with the words of thanks he said, and a lot more with the   actions he undertook.   He showed how thankful he was to Jesus by his actions.   Being thankful, truly thankful is a lot more than just the words we say.  It is probably not fair to think that the others healed were ungrateful, but only one was willing to undertake the extreme actions to find and give thanks to Jesus.  If we truly have an attitude of gratitude, then our thankfulness should influence and be evident in our actions. 

The ten men healed of leprosy received an amazing, divine gift from Jesus when they were healed.  The second point for us to consider is that every single person here has been extravagantly blessed by God.   For starters we have all been offered the free gift of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ.   That alone should be more than enough to put us in a position of forever gratitude and thanksgiving.   However, God’s great love and provision goes even further for us.   James 1:17 reminds us that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.”  We all have many good and perfect gifts in our lives to be thankful for.  The gratitude we have for God’s goodness in our lives, is something we need to be intentional about expressing and acting upon. If not, we can begin taking God’s gifts for granted- or worse start feeling entitled to them.
 
   This reminds me of an old story.  Two old friends bumped into one another on the street one day.  One man looked very sad, discouraged, and almost on the verge of tears.  His friend asked, “What has the world done to you?”   The sad fellow responded, “three weeks ago a rich uncle of mine died, and he included me in his will.  I received a check of $40,000.”
 “That’s terrific” said his friend, “That’s a lot of money.”
 “Yes but two weeks ago they sent me another check- this time for $100,000.”
  Amazed his friend replied, “That is amazing, you are really blessed!”
   “You don’t understand” the man whined, “Last week I got another check, this one was for a quarter of a million dollars.”
 At this point the friend was getting very confused, “You are right I don’t understand why then are you so unhappy?”
The man wailed, “Because this week I haven’t received anything.”
 
We too can fall into a trap of getting so caught up on focusing on what we have not received, that we are not thankful for what we have received.  When we focus on what we do not have, it leads to bitterness and constant sorrow.  When we instead focus on how we have experienced the goodness of God, then our gratitude can inspire us to acts of devotion and service.
 
The final point for us to consider is the response that Jesus gives to the man who returns to give thanks.   Jesus tells him, “Your faith has made you well.”  Jesus recognizes the man’s faith through his thankfulness.  Our faith in God and thankfulness to God for all that God has   done are closely linked.  The early church fathers and mothers recognized this.  When the early church met, they met around the table.  The basis for their worship was the taking of communion, and they called this act Eucharist.  Eucharist comes from Greek and it means “give thanks.”  Giving thanks to God is the basis of worship.   When we give thanks to God we make a connection with God.   We acknowledge the wonders that God has done on our behalf, and we humbly express our gratitude.     At its foundation when we worship God we should be giving thanks to God.  We can have faith in God because the ways that God has worked in our lives testifies to God’s goodness.  When we take the time to go out of our way and name those works and give thanks, then that cannot help but increase our faith.  When we thank God our faith grows, and when we thank God we are actively worshiping God. 
 
To worship God in thanksgiving takes effort and commitment.   In this morning’s scripture the one who sought Jesus out is an extreme example of what this means.  In the same way we should be so dedicated to giving thanks to God for all that God has done.   May we not take or granted or feel entitled to how good God has been to us, but instead may we make giving thanks to God a dedicated priority in our lives. Through thanksgiving may our faith grow, as we come to realize how good God is to us.     May our gratitude motivate us to action, as we give thanks to God and seek to share the goodness of God with others. With a grateful heart may we give thanks to God the Father, the source of all gifts.  May we give thanks to Jesus, who’s powerful mercy uplifts.  May we give thanks to the Holy Spirit who enables us to be a blessing to others.  With extreme gratitude, may we truly be able to proclaim thanks be to God.  
 

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:6-19

               Since 1979 the research group Gallup has conducted an Ethics and Honesty study.  In this survey they ask people about the perceived honesty and ethical integrity of various professions.  While some professions rotate from year to year, there are others that are included in every survey.  One of those professions that has been asked about since the beginning are pastors, and the report is not great.  The 2025 report shows that public trust in pastors has fallen to an all-time low, with only 30% of respondents believing pastors have high or very high levels of honesty and ethics.   Twenty years ago, this was at 56% and this twenty-six point decline over that time is steeper than any other profession.  

 Unfortunately, someone does not need to look very hard into news sources to see why this is the case.  For instance, in May of this year Mitchell Summerfield pastor of Word of God church in Raleigh, North Carolina pled guilty to bank and wire fraud, where he leveraged the church to illegally obtain $400,000.   In August of this year Eli Regalados, pastor a Victorious Grace Church in Colorado was indicted on 40 counts of theft, racketeering and securities fraud.  He used his position to leverage more than 3 million dollars from congregants in a cryptocurrency scheme.  Amazingly, a different pastor in a different state was indicted for almost the exact same scheme in January of this year.  Those are just a few examples, from just this year!  

 The reason why public trust in pastors is so low is because every year there are dozens of stories of people who should know better, doing these things or worse.  Even though we are separated from the time that Paul wrote 1 Timothy by centuries, it seems his words are just as true today: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”  As this morning’s scripture points a love of money is ultimately empty, and it does not compare to the all surpassing love of God.  This morning’s scripture is about more than money, it is about the abundance of God and it is a reminder that for those who follow Jesus- generosity should be a way of life for all. 

1 Timothy, like many of the epistles in the New Testament, was not written to stand alone in a vacuum.  It was written to a specific audience, in a specific place, for a specific reason.  Paul wrote 1 Timothy as a letter to one of his protégés, Timothy, who he had commissioned to lead the church in Ephesus.  Much of 1 Timothy are encouragements to Timothy and instructions on how to lead a church.  However, chapter 1 begins by addressing an issue with false teachers that were causing problems and distrust in the area around Ephesus.  Exactly what these teachers are teaching is never explicitly stated, but Paul returns to the topic at the end of the letter.   We started reading at verse 6, but in verse 5 Paul alleges one of the motivations of these false teachers is to use godliness for financial gain.

From there this morning’s scripture picks up and Paul urges Timothy to not find motivation in accumulating wealth.  He points out that a love for money has not only brought about so much evil in the world, but it has wrecked people’s faith and caused them to wander away from the truth.  I think we know the truth of this.  The stories I already shared show that a love of money has brought about the downfall of multiple church leaders, and the fallout from those instances has damaged the faith development of many people. 

 Paul then encourages Timothy to put his focus and his energy on something more important than material wealth.  He encourages him to fight the good fight of faith, to pursue following God above all else.  Perhaps the biggest problem of a love for money in our faith is not the greed and the pain that greed can cause, the bigger problem is that it is a distraction.   If our main focus, if the thing that we put all of our energy behind is acquiring more and more, then we cannot pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.  We cannot fight the good fight, if we are instead fighting to get a bigger horde of loot.  Jesus himself said the same thing.  In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says, “"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money".   While I think many of us can get behind the idea of a love of money being the root of all kinds of evil, and we can fired up about the idea of fighting the good fight of faith, I also wonder if we do not pay attention as much to the next part. 

 In this morning’s scripture, Paul continued to write “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor put their hope in wealth” and “command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”  We might not pay as much attention to this scripture, because we might not think it applies to us.    But they do.  The command to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous is something that all of us can take to heart.  There are a couple of points about generosity that we should keep in mind.  

Generosity is not about quantity; it is about quality.   A while ago, I heard a story about a United Methodist Church in Indiana from decades ago.  It was a small-town church in a poorer area.   Often, the church struggled to meet its annual budget.   In this town the only real factory was owned by two brothers, and every Christmas Eve one of the brothers would come to the church.   Before the service began, he would loudly ask the preacher how short the church was this year.   When the offering plate was passed, he would wait until the plate was to be handed to him.  In big gestures he would get out his checkbook.  This paused the whole service as everyone watched him write his check.  Every year, it would then be announced at the January ad council meeting that the church met its budget for the previous year, and everyone knew why.   There is no reason why this rich factory owner could not quietly give that money, or given it regularly throughout the year.  It was an intentional choice to wait until the 24th day of the last month to make a public display of giving.  It does not matter how many zeros that check had, that was not generosity.  The goal of generosity is to be a blessing to someone else, to make the world better for another.  That is the motivation that makes an action generous. 

Second, generosity is not just about giving to an institution like a church.  Generosity is an approach to life.  Unfortunately, American Christians do not always make generosity a way life like perhaps we should.  For instance, if you know someone who works as a server in a restaurant, then there is a good chance that their least favorite time to work is the Sunday lunch shift.  It is common knowledge among servers that church-goers give the worst tips.   This is such a prevailing thought that studies have been done to see if this is true.  The good news is that the studies found that the majority of Christians going out to eat for lunch after church do tip in line with national averages.  However, one study found that on average, non-religious people are slightly better tippers than churchgoers.  Another the same study found that a church goer was much more likely to give a tip of 5% or less on Sunday when compared to a non-church goer.  If we collectively took seriously the command of this morning’s scripture to be generous and willing to share, then that attitude would be present in all areas of our lives.   Sunday afternoon should be the best time to be a server, not the worst, because the people of God should be the most generous people on the planet. 

Often one of the hindrances to us being generous is that we feel it is hard to share when we can barely cover our bases.  We can fall into the trap of thinking that we will be more generous when we get a little better off, but often when we reach that milestone, we end up moving the goalpost a little further down.   We can get stuck in the trap of feeling like we never have enough.   This is why this morning’s scripture starts with the wisdom of “godliness with contentment is great gain.”  We can struggle with generosity because of an attitude of scarcity that informs us we do not have quite enough.  However, when we reframe how we think about wealth, we can move from an attitude of scarcity to one of abundance. 

This morning’s scripture focuses on money, and because of that we often associate generosity with sharing financial wealth.  Money is not the only way to be wealthy.  This year business coach Sahil Bloom’s book The 5 Types of Wealth made the New York Times Bestseller list.  In this book Sahil lays out a framework to think about wealth differently, because we can be rich in more than just money.   There is financial wealth, but Sahil also identifies social wealth- the strength of friendships and quality of one’s social network.  He identifies time wealth, the ability to have time to spend on things you value most.  He also lifts mental and physical wealth because our health has a large impact on our overall wellbeing. 

When we consider wealth as more than just money, then we can all be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share.   So perhaps you are on a fixed income, but you are retired and have a lot of time wealth.   Then perhaps you can be generous with your time and show up to serve, show up to encourage, and show up to make a difference.   Perhaps life is busy and there seems to only ever be enough money to just make it, but you are the kind of person who seems to know everyone.  Perhaps you can use that abundance of social wealth to help other people.  You can help connect people who need help with those who can help, or you could mentor a young person.   When we think of wealth as more than just money, then we realize most of us are likely to be far wealthier than we often think.   When we think about wealth as more than money, then we likely get a better picture of how abundantly God has provided for us.   If we can claim we blessed by God’s abundance, then we should share that generosity with others. 

This morning’s scripture contains one of the most well known and most misquoted scriptures in the bible:  A love for money is a root of all kinds of evil.   However, this scripture is about more than just money.  This morning’s scripture is a call to faithful discipleship.  It is encouragement to pursue righteousness, goodliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness over something as fleeting as money.  It is a call to fight the good fight of faith, and it is a command to be generous.   May you realize that wealth is more than the number in your bank account, and may you realize just how much wealth you truly have.   May you be willing to share that abundance with others generously so that you are rich with good deeds.  In this way, may you lay up treasures as a firm foundation for the age to come so that you may take hold of the life that is truly life. 
             
 

Scripture: 1 Timothy 2:1-7

The 1850’s was a time of upheaval and uncertainty in the United States.  Political polarization was high, and the issue of slavery was a divisive powder keg that was primed to blow up.  The country was changing rapidly.  East Coast cities were in the midst of the industrial revolution, and millions of immigrants from Ireland, Germany, and China were making their way to these shores in droves daily.  The Second Great Awakening, which saw a spreading interest and zeal in Christianity, had largely wound down-especially in the costal cities.  All these changes and a dwindling of Christian conviction troubled many disciples during this time.  One of them decided to do something about it.  At the age of forty-eight, Jeremiah Lanphier felt called by God to be a lay missionary to a rapidly changing Manhattan.  He attempted to start a prayer meeting that would meet at noon so that merchants and other businessmen could pray for the city.  Lanphier created and distributed flyers for the gathering all over the city.  The first prayer meeting occurred on September 23rd, 1857.  No one showed up, at least at first.  After half an hour praying on his own a few people filtered in for a total attendance of six.

That was enough for Lanphier to continue.  The second week there were closer to twenty in attendance.  By the third week this had doubled to forty.  The attendance continued to climb so the weekly prayer meeting became daily. Within two months, the prayer meeting had grown even more to the point that there were three simultaneous prayer meetings in different parts of the church building. The desire for prayer was so great that it began to spread throughout the city.   At one point a large theater began opening its doors daily for the prayer meeting and it would be filled with over 5,000 people.   This spread across the country.   Prayer became a daily ritual in places like Washington DC, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis.  This prayer gathering is considered to be one of the catalysts that kicked off the third great awakening in American history, and the revival of 1857 is remembered as a time of great evangelical success.  It all started with six people gathering in an old church to pray. 

In this morning’s scripture Paul urges Timothy to embrace the power of prayer.  Prayer truly has the power to change the world.  While many of us probably believe that on some level, I am not sure if we are ready for what we claim to believe.   Change is rarely smooth, it is seldom predictable, and it is nearly always disruptive.   If we take this morning’s scripture to heart and we pray the way that Paul encourages Timothy to pray, then we will be praying disruptive prayers. 

This morning’s scripture once again comes from 1 Timothy.   As Paul traveled around the ancient world, he inspired people to come alongside him, travel with him, and be a co-worker in sharing the good news of Jesus with others.   Timothy was one such person.   At one point Timothy had traveled with Paul around what is now modern-day Turkey and Northern Greece.   At the time that Paul wrote 1 Timothy, Paul had essentially charged Timothy with leading the church in Ephesus.   In 1 Timothy Paul switches back and forth between encouraging Timothy and giving him practical instructions about leading a church.   This morning’s scripture is related to leading the church, and Paul attempts to convey to Timothy a lot of wisdom in just these few verses.  There are a couple of points that Paul made for Timothy that continue to be relevant for us today. 

The focus of Paul’s writing in this morning’s scripture is on prayer.  I appreciate that on the topic of what to pray for, Paul encourages Timothy to pray for people.  Prayer is communication with God, but it should not always be focused on just ourselves and God.  This scripture makes it clear we are supposed to pray for other people as well.  This scripture states that we should make petitions, intercessions, and thanksgiving.   Petitions are when we ask God for something, this is when someone has a prayer request, and we ask God to grant it.  Intercessions are when we pray on someone else’s behalf.  We intercede for someone, not because they asked us to, but because we want God to be at work in their lives in some way even if the person we are praying for has not expressed that.  Finally, in thanksgiving we give thanks to God for people, because every person is fearfully and wonderfully made.  Every person has been created by God, and for God every person is someone worth caring for, so it is appropriate in prayer to give thanks for God for the unique creations that God has made.  Right off the bat Paul tells us we are to pray for people through petitions, intercession, and thanksgiving.   Paul also makes clear we are not supposed to be picky about who we pray for. 

Some people are easy to pray for.   It goes without saying that most of us pray regularly for the people we love the most.  Other people though require us to be a bit more intentional about lifting up in prayer.   As an example of this, Paul lifts up “kings and all of those in authority.”   Now at first glance, this might appear as an appeal to a civic duty to pray for those in position of power.  That is not quite what Paul is advocating for.  Throughout his ministry Paul’s relationship with those in authority was rocky at best.  On more than one occasion he was arrested, imprisoned, he was put on trial, and he was physically punished.

 This all happened as a response to Paul preaching the truth of Jesus.  Despite being mistreated by those in authority, Paul says to pray for them anyway.   To really drive this point home, at the time Paul wrote to pray for kings, Nero was the emperor of Rome.   It was Nero who set off the first persecution of Christians.  Nero is the man who gave the order to have Paul executed.   Paul encouraged Timothy to pray for the very man who would eventually have him killed.  This is in line with what Jesus himself said, when he taught, “You have heard that it was said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I tell you love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” 

In our modern world, this is extremely important to keep in mind.  It does not matter what side of the political aisle you find yourself on, we should take the call for prayer to heart.  It is too easy in our current culture to vilify those who we disagree with.  And yet, this morning’s scripture encourages us to pray for those in authority.  This does not exclude the people we didn’t vote for.  It is hard to belittle and demonize those who you pray for.

  It is also too easy to disengage completely and to be jaded, assuming the worst of all those in authority and regard the whole thing with disgust.  And yet, prayer has the power to change to change the world.  Prayers have the power to be disruptive and bring about transformation.  So, if you want leaders to lead with compassion, if you truly want liberty and justice for all, then pray for it.  Pray for all our leaders, even those who you disagree with or even view as an enemy, because prayer is more effective than despair, hope is more transformative than hate, and God still has the power to change even the hardest of hearts. 

  We are not to exclude who we pray for, but from a practical standpoint all of us cannot pray for “all the people” all the time, but we all have people we can pray for.  When it comes to living out this scripture one of the struggles in praying for all the people, is knowing what to pray.   On one hand, praying for others can be easy because we just pray for their health.   We tend to be really good (like really, really good) at praying for people’s health.  The bible does say when someone is sick, we should lift them up in prayer, but it seems far too often our prayers get stuck on illness and injuries.   We can struggle with lifting people in prayer, when they are healthy, or when we cannot see the battles that they are fighting.  One of the reasons why we may not be more diligent in praying for more people, is that we are not quite sure how to pray for them. 

In this morning’s scripture Paul gives us some direction on how we can go about praying for people.  Verses 3 and 4 state, “This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”   Praying for the salvation of others is always in the will of God.   In our Methodist expression of the faith we believe strongly that it truly is the desire of God to be reunited with all of God’s people.   After all it was because God so love the world, not just a few, that God sent Jesus to be the mediator between God and humanity.  It was because of a great love for all that Jesus gave himself as a random for all people, not just the elect.   Because God seeks to be reconciled with all people, then praying that all people will come to know the life changing love, the forgiveness of sins, and the everlasting life made known through Jesus Christ is always an appropriate prayer.   There are so many people with testimonies of how the good news of Jesus has disrupted their lives.  How faith led them into a new path and new life.   More often than not, the starting point for that transformation is because someone prayed that the person’s who life has changed would come to Jesus. 
 
Prayer has the power to bring about transformation, and transformative prayers can often be disruptive.  However, we should be prepared that when we pray the greatest transformation will be in ourselves and the greatest disruption will be in our lives.  There is a quote that is regularly misattributed to Pope Francis that states, “You pray for the hungry, then you feed them.  That’s how prayer works.”  When we pray, we are asking God to intervene in the world.  We are asking God to work, to move, and to change the current reality.   If it is our desire that God be willing to do that, then we must be willing to be the agent through which God is going to work.   This means if we are going to care enough about the hungry to ask God to provide for them, then a love that arises from Christian character should compel us to do what we can to provide for them.  It means that if we want there to be less hate and more peace in the world or in our country, then we must be willing to be peacemakers who strive to build bridges of understanding to those who have a different perspective.  It means if we want some to come to know Jesus then we must be willing to tell them about Jesus.  God answers prayers, but there are times when the way the prayer is answered is through being led by God into action. 

​In this morning’s scripture Paul urges Timothy to make petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving for all people.  Paul puts forward the idea of having a prayer life that has an emphasis on praying for other people.  As the revival of 1857 illustrates, these kinds of prayers have the power to be disruptive and change the world.  Yet, that only happens when we let those same prayers change our hearts and disrupt our lives.   So may we be a people who pray for other people.   May we be willing to let God change our hearts as we pray and may be open to how God might use us to be an answer to prayer.  May we pray  disruptive prayers and may we act so that disciples are made and the world is transformed. 
 
 

Scripture: 1 Timothy: 1:12-17

One of the unfortunate realities of competition is that in order for their to be winners, there must be losers.  While everyone is trying to be the first person to cross the finish line first, there will also be someone who crosses last.  For every person who is the best at something, there will be someone else who is the worst.  To save face and protect the dignity of the competitors, these facts are not often dwelled on or highlighted.  The exception to this is professional baseball.  Baseball has always been a sport that is obsessed with statistics and record keeping.  So, while baseball statisticians can tell you who has been the best in dozens of different areas, they can also tell you is the worst.   Sometimes those labels can stick with a player.  Consider a player from the 1920’s who was dubbed the strikeout king.   This is because this player struck out a lot.  He set the record for career strikeouts and this record stood for almost 30 years.   In the 1923 season for instance, he struck out 93 times.  He led the league in strikeouts that year, just like he did in 1922.  In fact, from 1921-1924 he struck out more than 220 times.

 This player drew a lot of critics for his batting record, which is where the strikeout king nickname came from.  If George Herman Ruth, better known by his nickname Babe, had ended his career in 1923, then he might still primarily be known as the strikeout king.  However, in 1927 Babe Ruth became the first player to hit 60 home runs in a single season.  That record stood for 34 years.   He also set the record for career home runs and that record stood until Hank Aaron famously broke it in 1974.  Today, Babe Ruth is better known as the homerun king, he is regarded as one of the best players to have ever played the game, and his swing for the fences style completely changed how baseball is played. 

If someone were to focus just on a single statistic, the number of strikeouts, then Babe Ruth might look like one of the worst baseball players in history.  However, that is not the full story.  This is true in life, not just baseball.  There is always more to the story.   In this morning’s scripture, Paul identifies himself as the worst of sinners.   Yet, that is not his full story.  In the same way, every single one of us has sinned.  We have all fallen short of what we know is right.  We have all made choices we wish we could undo or we have said words we wish we could take back.   Those failures and shortcomings are not our full story either.  Because like Paul, our story has another aspect where grace changes everything.  Just like Babe Ruth is known for his hits not his strikeouts, we can be known for how grace has changed our lives.  

This morning’s scripture comes from the beginning of 1 Timothy.  This is a personal letter that Paul wrote to a young person he was mentoring.  He wrote this letter towards the end of his life.  Throughout 1 Timothy he is extremely reflective of his life and ministry.  We see that in this scripture Paul recounts how he was awakened to grace.   In the book of Acts we can read about Paul’s conversion, how we went from someone who persecuted Christians to a follower of Christ after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus.  However, in this scripture we get his personal account, not of the event, but of the feelings he had due to having his life turned upside down by grace.   Paul’s words here are powerful as they are a firsthand account of how one man experienced the life changing, saving grace of God made known through Jesus Christ.  As we consider this morning’s scripture and we consider Paul’s experience with grace, I think we can gain a better understanding of just how amazing grace is.   

We find a great statement of grace in verse 15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance:  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners- Of whom I am the worst.”  The phrase, “trustworthy saying” only appears in the two letter that Paul wrote to Timothy and the one he wrote to Titus.  Biblical scholars believe that the intention by emphasizing this, is that the trustworthy sayings were meant to be the first standardized doctrinal statements.  So, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners was and still is a foundational standard of belief for Christians.  However, Paul then adds his own extra commentary, by saying he is the worst.   This does not feel quite right.  I mean, it feels like I could watch the news for like ten minutes and see stories that feature at least five sinners who had to be worse than Paul. 

It seems odd for Paul to call himself the worst of sinners. Because this is a man who started dozens of churches.  Through him miracles were done.  The book of Acts even recounts a story of when through Paul a young man was brought back to life.  It is hard to think of someone that righteous as the worst sinner.  However, that is kind of the point.   There is a common occurrence that happens across all academic disciplines or fields of study.  The more advanced someone gets in their knowledge, the more acutely aware of what it is they do not know.  In the same way, the closer one gets to Jesus, the more aware we become of how much we are not like Christ.  The more aware we become of our constant need for grace, the more aware we become of just how prone our heart is to wander from the savior we love.    So from Paul’s point of view, he knew just how much he stood in need of forgiveness and grace.   From Paul’s point of view, he was the worst sinner that he knew, because he was the sinner he knew the best.  
 
Paul knew the depths of his sin.  Paul was honest about his proclivity for violence, and he knew how we actively persecuted and breathed murderous threats against followers of Jesus.  If the story of Paul stopped there, then perhaps today he would be remembered as the worst of sinners.  Yet, that was not the end of Paul’s story.  As he wrote in this morning’s scripture, “I was shown mercy” and “the grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly.”   The grace of Jesus added another side to the story of Paul.   He may have viewed himself as the worst of sinners, but because he was saved by grace, he was also the apostle to the gentiles.  This is a story that has been repeated over the centuries and decades.  Time after time, the grace of Jesus Christ takes the worst and reveals the best of a person.  

One story that illustrates this is the story of John Newton.  Newton, an Englishman, lived in the 18th century.   He grew up in the church with a devout mother, but he left that behind and found himself pressed into naval service.  In that profession he earned the nickname “the great blasphemer”.  Newton could curse, drink, and be crude enough to make other sailors blush. After not seeing eye to eye with his original captain, Newton found himself serving aboard a slave ship.  It was while on one of those ships he was caught in a fierce storm for over a week.  Everyone, including Newton, thought they were going to die.  This brush with death, got Newton’s attention and he began to turn back to God.  Over the course of the next several years, Newton drew closer to God, found Jesus to be his Lord and Savior.   He left sailing and the slave trade.   He became ordained clergy in the Anglican church, and he became an outspoken opponent of slavery, writing about the evils he had seen and perpetuated.  Newton’s writing and advocacy put him in contact with William Wilberforce, England’s great abolitionist.   Newton’s efforts helped contribute to England outlawing the practice of human slavery in 1807. 

Once John Newton came to faith, he also wrote several worship songs.  Newton thinking over the depths of sin he was in, and the love that God had for him despite his wickedness led Newton to write a specific song, we still know today.  Newton wrote “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.  I once was lost but now am found.  I was blind but now I see.”  In old age Newton struggled with senility and a failing memory.  However, he was quick to say, “My memory is nearly gone; but I remember two things: That I am a great sinner, and that Christ is a great Savior.”

We should be willing to be honest about how we have fallen short and how we have sinned.  If we are being honest then like Paul, we also could say that of all the sinners we know, we are the worst.  Because we are the sinner that we know the best.  While that should be a sobering truth for each of us, the good news of grace is that it is not the end of our story.   Babe Ruth is known as the homerun king, not the strikeout king.  Paul is known as the apostle to the gentiles, not the great persecutor.  John Newton is known as a hymn writer, not as a slaver.  In the same way, you are not known and should not be known by who you were at your worst.  The mistakes you have made, the ways you have let people down, the ways you have hurt others, the sins you have committed.  They do not define you. 

Because friends, here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.  Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  So here the good news, in the name of Jesus Christ you are forgiven.   Guilt and shame over what has happened in the past should not be something that continues to pull us down.  Like Paul all of us have been shown mercy and like Paul our story does not end at our worst.   If we are saved by grace in Jesus Christ, then our story is still being told. 

In this morning’s scripture Paul states, “I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.”  Because of grace Paul’s worst, became an example of his best.  We found the same thing in the story of John Newton, the former slaver helped bring about the end of British slavery.  We can find the same truth in our lives.  The place of our greatest past hurt is often the place where we can help other find the most healing.  The place of our greatest brokenness is often the place we can help others find wholeness. Because we have been forgiven by grace, we can have a new chapter where what was once a dark spot in our lives becomes a testimony to the goodness of God.    

In this morning’s scripture, we get some insight as to how Paul understood the way grace changed his life.   For all who follow Jesus, grace has added a new chapter to our story.  Our worst is not the end, but it is starting point for living our best.   So may we be willing to be honest about our own sin, but may we not let that hold us down or hold us back. Like the Apostle Paul, may we claim that the grace of our Lord was poured out on us abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.   May our lives be a testimony to how the grace of Jesus has changed our lives for the better.   May we be quick to point that even though we might be great sinners, Jesus is a greater savior; thanks to him I once was lost, but now I am found.  I was blind, but now I see.  Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. 
 
 

Scripture: John 4:4-26

There is a decent chance that many of you are not familiar with the social media platform Twitch.   The best way to explain this platform is that it is like YouTube for live videos.  The videos on Twitch are all live streamed.  A lot of the content creators for Twitch are video gamers, and they live stream their play-throughs for others to watch.   Those watching can comment and interact with one another in real time.  Twitch is a growing platform, which is especially popular with younger generations. However, there is an odd collaboration between twitch and public television.  On more than one occasion, there have been huge events where marathons of public television icons have been live streamed on twitch.  Thousands of people watched in real time together re-runs of shows featuring Bob Ross and Mister Rogers.  Often these episodes being watched were older than most of the people watching them. 

These old, sentimental shows have found new life with a new audience.   Perhaps it is just the novelty of it, or perhaps there is something to the authentic kindness and care of these shows that resonate.   The simple fact is they just do not make shows like Mister Rogers Neighborhood anymore.   The appeal of Mister Rogers is not just nostalgia, it is that through a TV he made us believe that we were his neighbor, he cared about us, and he believed we could be better.   Fred Rogers has an enteral reputation of being a soft, kind, grandfatherly figure.  However, he was not afraid to tackle hard issues and controversy, he just did it in the kindest way possible.  A great example of this comes from the show’s first season in 1968.    Mister Rogers introduced a new character, Officer Clemmons.   Officer Clemmons became the first reoccurring African American character on a kid’s television program.   Just months after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, when racial tensions were still high, and segregation of public pools was a hot button issue, an episode of Mister Rogers aired where he and officer Clemmons cooled off together by sitting down and putting their feet side by side in a small pool.   The message that Mister Rogers was delivering in this seemingly innocent scene was unmistakable.  When Mister Rogers asked in song, “Won’t you be my neighbor?”  he meant it.   Mister Rogers did not qualify who got to be his neighbor.   

 While a lot has changed since 1968, there is unfortunately a lot that has not.  The fault points and sides may have changed over the years, but we still find so much that divides us.   We still find bias and mistrust.   Culturally, we still struggle to build the kind of neighborhood that Mr. Rogers showed us- some days it feels further away than ever.  This morning’s scripture though is a reminder that division has long been a problem for people.  This morning’s scripture shows us how Jesus dealt with what divides us, and in doing so Jesus gives us an example of how we can be the best neighbors.      

This morning’s scripture gets off to a bit of an odd start.  In the middle of the day Jesus is waiting for his disciples by a well, and a lone woman comes.  This is odd because noon in the middle east is an odd time to get water.  The more common time would have been early in the morning when it would have been much cooler to carry a heavy jar, and when the water could be used throughout the day.  While the scripture does not state specifically why she came at this unusual time, often the most common conjecture is she came during this time because she purposely wanted to avoid other people.  

 I have to wonder if she approached the well with trepidation.  I imagine she approached the well doing her best not to make eye contact.   Then as she began to draw the water, the unthinkable happened.   He spoke to her.   In the first century this was a huge breach of protocol.   The cultural policy of the time is that a man did not talk to a woman he did not know without the permission or presence of her father or husband.   This is why once their conversation really gets going, it is not out of place for Jesus to tell her to get her husband and come back.   However, that is not the only breach of protocol.   Jesus was a Jew, and this woman was a Samaritan.  

The cultural divide and animosity between Jews and Samaritans is something the gospels refer to a couple of times.  Yet, they do not explain the issue, because for the original audience the context was already understood.  To begin to grasp where the animosity comes from, we must go back into the history of the Israelites.  After the reigns of David and Solomon, the Israelites broke into two separate kingdoms.  As a punishment for idolatry and turning away from God, the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered, and the people were taken into exile by the Assyrians.    However, the Assyrians did not take all of them.  The poorest of the poor were left behind in the land.   In time the Southern Kingdom was conquered and taken into exile by the Babylonians for similar reasons.

  Two to three generations later the exiles from Babylon began to return to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple.  They had managed to preserve their cultural heritage and bloodlines in exile.   Those left behind did not.  They intermarried with other people groups, and in light of the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem, their faith practice had evolved.  This is referenced in this morning’s scripture.  The Samaritans had moved the place of worship of God from Jerusalem to Mount Gerizim.   The returning exiles saw these Samaritans, who lived in the hills of Samaria, to be less than fully Jewish. Because the Samaritans had intermarried with non-Jewish people groups, they were viewed as unclean.   If Jesus had drank water from a vessel handled by a Samaritan, then by the standards of the day he would have been considered unclean.  

There were a lot of cultural divides and divisions between Jesus and this woman.  It is worth noting how entrenched these divisions are into the viewpoint of the woman.  This goes beyond just noticing and stating the differences.  Jesus asks for a simple drink of water, but the division leads to the woman focusing on the differences that prevent her from doing that.  Even when the conversation gets deeper, the woman still brings up the different worship beliefs between the Jews and the Samaritans.  The woman was thinking in an us vs. them mentality.  She saw Jesus as someone different than her, and her starting point is this difference was too vast to bridge. 

Even to this day, these are still reasons why we still struggle to be the best neighbors.  It is hard to be a good neighbor, much less love our neighbors as ourselves, when our starting point is how different someone is.  We can not be the best neighbor to someone when our primary impression of them is that they are “one of those people.”  When we define someone only by how they are different than us, then we tend to reduce people to caricatures.  We view them only in terms of the divides, and we tend to assume the more extreme expressions of whatever the difference is.   This does not mean we just brush over differences and ignore them completely.  To do so is to erase uniqueness of others and minimize their viewpoint.   WE can acknowledge differences without letting them be a source of division.  We can embrace and even celebrate the diversity of others.   We do this by ensuring that there is equity for all regardless of the differences.  We do this by being mindful and intentional of being inclusive of those who might be different from us, so that we can be the best neighbors to them that we can be. 

 This is the example that Jesus gives us in this morning’s scripture.  He does acknowledge the culture differences, especially regarding worship practices, between Jews and Samaritans. However, he does not let this be a point of division.  Instead of only seeing the differences of the Samaritan Woman, Jesus sees her full humanity as a person made in the image of God with dignity and worth.   It is worth pointing out that in the gospel of John, and chronologically in any of the gospels, this is first time that Jesus states that he is the Messiah.   Jesus does not reveal his deepest truth to the powerful, the rulers, the leaders, or even his disciples.  The first time Jesus tells anyone about himself, it is a woman radically different than Jesus who was trying to avoid people. Despite their differences, Jesus leads her to believe that she too can worship God in spirt in truth. 

The power of Mr. Rogers is that on the screen it was portrayed that he wanted to be everyone’s neighbor because he had a genuine care for all people.  We see that same love for all displayed in Jesus reaching across all kinds of cultural lines to connect with the woman at the well.   In this, both Jesus and Mr. Rogers show us the most important factor in being the best neighbors.  To be the best neighbor our primary motivation must be to love others.   This means that every program we offer, every mission project, every community outreach initiative, every personal invite to church the reason why we are doing it because of our love for someone else, because we are seeking to love our neighbors as ourselves.  In a world that continues to be full of divisions, and a world where there are more strangers than neighbors, the way that we bridge that gap and be the best neighbors is love people like Jesus loves us.   In his book “A Field Guide to Methodist Fresh Expressions” United Methodist pastor Michael Beck points this out. He wrote, “Any missional strategy that does not begin with an agenda-free love for others is questionable.”

This woman appears once more in the gospel of John.  In John 4:39-40 we find these words: “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony . . So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.  And because of his words many more became believers.”    This is early in the ministry of Jesus.  The woman at the well and her testimony led to one of the first big surges of new believers of Jesus, and it happened because Jesus did not the culture differences be a barrier.  This scripture shows when we seek to include more diversity and differences, when we are the best neighbors, then the kingdom of God expands. 

In the same way our testimony and our witness of being the best neighbors can also attract people to be believers in Jesus and expand the kingdom of God.  Research from the Fuller Youth Institute shows that young people want to be part of churches that are the best neighbors and that have a love for the whole world.   The research shows that young people want to be part of churches that are diverse, inclusive, and stand for the equity of all.  In the book Growing Young the researchers report on their findings.  They asked church leaders, church volunteers, parents, emerging adults, and teenagers “What do you believe accounts for your church’s success at engaging young people?”   One of three of them pointed to the church’s inclusive and open attitude towards other people and the culture at large. 

 In this morning’s scripture Jesus meets a woman at a well who was very different from him.   These differences were a cultural divide, but Jesus overcame this division with love.  May we seek to follow the example of our Lord and Savior.  May we truly be able to say to those around us the same words that Mr. Rogers sung every episode as he changed into his comfy cardigan, “I have always wanted to have a neighbor like you, I’ve always wanted to live it a neighborhood with you.  So let’s make the most of this beautiful day, since we’re together we might as well say Would you be mine?  Could you be mine?  Won’t you be my neighbor?  Friends, if we can approach the community around us and the world beyond with that loving attitude I think we will indeed find it is a beautiful day in the neighborhood where God is glorified, disciples are made, and the world is transformed.   So may the world know we are Christians by our love as we seek to be the best neighbors. 
           
 

Scripture:  Matthew 18:1-5; 10-14

 Growing up my Grandma Litherland lived in Tell City, way down in Southern Indiana among the banks of the Ohio River.  When I was young going to visit her was always an exciting prospect, and that is because I knew going to visit her meant we would go to the Tell City McDonalds.  What made that so special was more than just the happy meals, it was that the Tell City McDonalds had an indoor playground.  This was a fairly rare thing in the 1980s.  To this day, I can still remember in detail the layout to that playground.  Unfortunately, I have to remember it because it does not exist anymore.   In fact, there are only a small handful of McDonald’s playgrounds open anywhere in all of Indiana.  In 2020 during the Covid pandemic, McDonald’s closed all their play places, and in most areas they were never reopened.  As individual restaurants have remodeled over the past five years, often the playground have been removed entirely.   While I understand this is a business decision motivated by the bottom line, it is sad to me because I think the world needs more playgrounds not less. 

 Playgrounds are important because they are public spaces that are child-focused and fully centered on the experience of the child.   The history of playgrounds is a fascinating one, and they are fairly recent.  The first playground in the United States was not opened until 1886.  The first playgrounds were created to address the problem of children congregating in busy streets.  Initially playgrounds were seen as tools to craft children into more industrious adults.  They were created to be places where instructional games that taught children the importance of following rules and structure could be taught.  When climbing equipment began being added, many advocated that these spaces provided places for physical training so that children could be stronger workers or soldiers.   However, there were also advocates who saw playgrounds as important places not to train children but to let the kids be kids and just play.  Especially after World War 2, this became the viewpoint that won out and the dominant philosophy behind playgrounds.  While play can offer a variety of physical and cognitive benefits the main point of a playground today is for a kid to play and the equipment is built to prioritize the safety, viewpoint, and fun of the child. 

Playgrounds are a space in our culture where a kid can be a kid.  As we consider the words of Jesus from this morning’s scripture, I think a strong case could be made that churches should also be a place where a kid can be a kid.   Perhaps we also should be built to prioritize the safety, viewpoint, and experience of young people.   In doing so, not only will we be honoring Jesus’ teaching in this morning’s scripture, but we can discover that when we prioritize young people everyone ultimately benefits and grows in their faith. 

This morning’s scripture begins with a familiar theme.  Multiple times in the gospels, the disciples argue about which of them is the greatest.   In fact, in the gospel of Mark, it specifically states that the disciples were arguing about this all the way on the road to Capernaum.   Matthew’s gospel avoids the argument and records the disciples getting straight to the point, and asking Jesus “who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  

While they might have all secretly hoped Jesus name dropped them specifically, I do not think the disciples were looking for a specific person.  They wanted to know what kind of person was going to get the most honor, the most power, and most responsibility in God’s kingdom.   We do not know what answer the disciples were expecting, but it is likely Jesus caught them all off guard by calling a little child over.   Culturally, the disciples would not have considered a child the greatest at anything.  As biblical scholar M. Eugene Boring points out in the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary, “Even in first century Judaism, children were often regarded as inferior, without status or rights, treated more as property than as persons and were never held up as a model for anything.”          

 Jesus lifts up that in the Kingdom of heaven that greatness is not measured by the metrics of power, prestige, and wealth that the world uses.   In the kingdom of heaven, the person who willingly elevates others above themselves is considered great, and then Jesus challenges the disciples to put this into practice in verse 5.   There Jesus says, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.”    Jesus is touching on the hospitality culture and honor culture of the time.   To welcome a child, to extend hospitality to them, is to honor them.  This was often done for people who one believed were their equal or their better.  In the culture of the day, a child was not important enough to extend hospitality to, they had not paid their dues or earned their spot to be worthy of honor. 

 Honoring others above yourself and including those who are often excluded are common themes in the bible and especially the gospels.  However, this morning’s scripture goes further.   Jesus does not lift up a child as an object lesson and move on, but he tenaciously sticks with it.  We skipped over verses 6-9 but in those verses, Jesus lifts up that children are worthy of not just being included but being given special care.  Then when we picked up in verse 10, Jesus is still going on about the importance of children.   He tells a parable about how a man will leave the ninety-nine to go find one missing sheep, and that is an example of how God cares about the children.   We learn that in the kingdom of heaven not only are the children just as important as everyone else, but they are prioritized.   They are worth leaving the 99 behind to make sure the one is found and included.  

It is notable that Jesus places so much priority on children when the larger culture of his time did not.   Throughout time this is an emphasis that some students of the bible have really picked up on.   John Wesley, founder of the Methodist movement, picked up on this.  In his study of the bible, he saw that Jesus placed an emphasis on little ones. For this reason,  John Wesley insisted that Methodist preachers should spend no less than hour a week with children.  He got push back by some for this.   Some claimed that spending time with children was a waste because it kept them from the important work of saving souls.  Others claimed they were not gifted at working with kids.  Wesley was just as emphatic with his preachers as Jesus was his disciples when it came to the importance of children and Wesley’s response was “If you do not do this, you are not to be called a Methodist preacher.”

In this morning’s scripture we see a priority placed on young people, and that priority is part of the DNA of the United Methodist Church.   Prioritizing young people everywhere is one of the six essential strategies that the Fuller Youth Institute found is present in churches that succeed at making meaningful and sustainable connections with young people.   In fact, their research found it is the most essential of the core commitments.  In Growing Young they wrote, “A large swath of our nation’s congregations can and do foster many of these core commitments.  They are filled with lovely people doing lovely ministry, They just aren’t reaching young people. For many congregations making the intentional decision to disproportionately prioritize young people is the inflection point between growing young and growing old.” 

 Their research found that a church can take Jesus’ message seriously, it can build a warm community, and it can even empathize with young people and share leadership with them.  However, for churches to grow young and maintain a church culture that consistently engages younger people it has to prioritize them.  I know some of you may have got in that quote the phrase “disproportionately prioritize young people.”   This kind of means what it sounds like.  It means that a church does not commit its energy and resources to young people based on how much of the congregation they make up.  It means that a church commits its energy, time and resources to young people as if they are a priority.   This goes beyond just offering programs for young people.  Again, in Growing Young the researchers wrote, “These churches have made prioritizing young people a lifestyle commitment.  And the young people know it.”  

A church that prioritizes young people everywhere is one that has moved from having programs for young people, to being a church that is for young people.  Like the man in the parable Jesus told, a church that prioritizes young people leaves the 99 to find the one.   I realize that if you are not a young person, then your initial reaction is what about me?    There can be an instant concern that if young people are prioritized then that must mean everyone else is ignored.   That kneejerk reaction comes from an attitude of scarcity.  An attitude of scarcity is one that leaves us feeling territorial and feeling like we have to protect what we view as ours.   However, the kingdom of God is not a kingdom of scarcity, it is a kingdom of abundance.  When the disciples welcome the little children like Jesus said they should, it does not mean there is less space for them.   The kingdom of God does not work like that.   The Growing young research shows that when younger people get a bigger slice of the pie, the entire pie tends to get larger.   The depth of discipleship, the church’s outreach, the church’s friendliness, and overall level of excitement and engagement all god up.  As theologian Walter Brueggemann once wrote, “The power of the future is not in the hands of those who believe in scarcity but of those who trust in God’s abundance.”

 To prioritize young people requires considering how the way we do things do or do not consider young people and then making changes accordingly.   I think Epworth United Methodist Church in Indianapolis gives us a good example of what this looks like.  One of the responses this church made to the Covid-19 Pandemic was to remove their pews and replace them with chairs, this way people could move chairs around the room to maintain social distance from others during worship.   As the more urgent part of the pandemic wound down, the church began to wonder how else they might be able to better use their worship space.  The church had made the commitment to prioritize young people and their families, and this led to discussions about what this looked like in worship. 

The church did not want children to feel like guests or outsiders in the sanctuary, a space that kids often portray as a “grow up” space.  They did not worship to primarily be an adult activity, so they made the space more friendly for children.  Being good United Methodists, the back part of the sanctuary tended to be the prime real estate people wanted to sit in, but they gave this space up for the children.  They put in a Kid’s Zone.  An area that has seating that is made for children, it has activities and toys that engage young children and busy hands.  Instead of having a nursery for fidgety kids to go to, they brought the nursery into the sanctuary so the kids’ do not have to leave.  It has become their space as much as anyone else’s.

I was amazed when I first saw this area, and I talked to the church’s current associate pastor about it.  He communicated to me that even though there might be noises in the sanctuary on any given Sunday, the benefits have been immense.   Parents are able to stay engaged in the service while their kids learn, explore, and participate at their own level. Children feel more at ease, less restless, and more connected to the rhythms of prayer, song, and Scripture. And as a congregation, Epworth is living into its vision of being an intergenerational community that nurtures faith at every stage of life. The Kid Zone has become a visible sign of the church’s commitment to pass on the faith to the next generation, right in the heart of our worshiping space.

 Please hear me, I am not saying we have to get rid of your pew.  I am not saying that.  However, I think the story of Epworth shows us that prioritizing young people might mean doing things differently than we have in the past.   It is worth doing though, because as this morning’s scripture points out, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ prioritized children.  We should too.  So may we take the words of Jesus to heart, may we welcome young people in the name of Jesus, because in doing so we are welcoming him.  May we not have an attitude of scarcity but an attitude of abundance.  May we be willing to prioritize young people everywhere and in doing so may we let the children come.  

Scripture: Romans 12:3-16

It was 2006 and the house we were living in had a small back porch.   As spring turned into summer, we found a small bench that we bought to put back there.  It came from Wal-Mart, so it was a piece of flat box furniture, which means it comes in a flat box and some assembly is required.   For whatever reason we did not get to unpacking it and putting it together right away.  A couple of weeks later the church I was serving at as youth minister had vacation bible school coming up and the VBS director mentioned they needed a bench for the sanctuary decorations.  I volunteered our new one, but mentioned we had to assemble it still.  Someone else cheerfully volunteered that if I brought it in, she and her husband would assemble it. 

On the first day of VBS, I saw the husband and thanked him for assembling our bench.  He glared at me for several long seconds, before he asked, “How long have you been married?”   At the time it had been three years, so I told him.  He gave a defeated sigh and said “You are welcome, because your marriage would not have survived putting that together.” 

 It sounds like that bench was especially frustrating, and it probably was. I do not know how much experience you have assembling flat box furniture, but it can be an aggravating experience.  It seems that the pre-drilled holes are never quite deep enough, there is never enough space to turn an Allen wrench like it is supposed to, the pieces that are supposed to line up just don’t quite seem together, or to hold everything in place to tighten it down requires like seven hands at once.  I have always found trying to assemble flat box furniture to be a harder task than it feels like it should be.  I know I am not the only one to feel this way.  For instance, Ikea furniture especially has earned a reputation for how maddening it is to try and assemble.  One of the things that makes it so frustrating is it all comes with instructions.  They are step by step.  Looking at the instructions it always feels like it should be a lot easier to assemble than it is.  The idea of something being harder than it looks like it should be makes me think of this morning’s scripture.

This morning’s scripture gives a good description of what the church is supposed to be like.  It is full of sensible instructions about how as followers of Christ should live in community together.  Like flat box furniture, on paper the instructions in this morning’s scripture sound easy enough but prove to be a little bit more difficult in practice.  However, seeking to build the kind of community that this morning’s scripture describes is worth it because we find belonging when, as the scripture states, we belong to one another.   This belonging is one of the most effective tools we can have to fulfill our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ. 

This morning’s scripture comes from the end of the book of Romans, which is the letter Paul wrote to the Christian community in Rome.  Starting in chapter 12 the focus of Romans shifts to more practical matters about how the Romans should live as followers of Jesus in their culture and in community together.  This morning’s scripture is specifically about how they should live in community together.  This was a common theme for Paul in his writings.  In fact, part of this morning’s scripture might have sounded familiar to some of you.  In this morning’s scripture Paul wrote, “For just as each of us has one body with many members and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many form one body.”   What we find here in Romans is a paraphrase of what Paul went into much greater detail about in 1 Corinthians. 

So in Romans Paul reiterates that the church, the community of faith, should be like a body where each member belongs to the others.   Just like he did in 1 Corinthians, Paul then points out that everyone has different gifts and it is everyone’s unique contribution that make the community whole.  Yet, in his writing to the Romans Paul adds several other practical instructions for how to live in community together.  Paul instructs the Romans, and by extension us that we should not think more highly of ourselves than we should, we should honor one another above ourselves, we should share with one another when someone is in need, we rejoice with one another, and we mourn with one another.  Paul also instructed that we should not be proud but be willing to associate with one another no matter what someone’s reputation might be, we should live in harmony with another, and the love we hold for another must be sincere.

Again, these instructions sound practical.  They describe the kind of warm community many of us likely want to be part of, so it sounds like common sense.  However, much like the instructions of flat box furniture, history has shown that following these instructions are harder than it looks on paper.  Our love for one another must be sincere, but Christians who are supposed to love one another can bicker, fight, and argue over the stupidest things. 

Several years ago, Thom Rainer, CEO of Lifeway Christian resources, did an informal survey and asked people to share times they have experienced conflict in the church.  Many of the answers submitted are what you might expect such as disagreements over music, people getting upset over changing the worship time, and of course arguing over what color of carpet to get.  However, he highlighted some of the more eyebrow raising answers.   One person remembered a time there was a large dispute because the church budget was off by ten cents.  The argument ended when someone went to their car and got a dime to balance the budget.   A board meeting spent a lot of time discussing the appropriate length for the worship leader’s beard.   Another person reported a board meeting with a 45-minute heated argument over the type of filing cabinet to purchase: black or brown; 2, 3, or 4 drawers.  Finally, one person tragically reported a meeting that was the most contentious meeting in the church’s history.  The church decided to switch to a stronger brand of coffee and in response several people left the church for good.  

This morning’s scripture describes what a Christian community should be like.  There are a lot of good instructions, but if there is one verse that summarizes it the best it would be verse 10: “Be devoted to one another in love.  Honor one another above yourselves.” Following this instruction would create the kind of Christian community where we feel like we belong and the kind of warm and inviting community that others will want to be part of.  It sounds so simple, but as those stories show it is anything but.  When we are assembling flat box furniture and the instructions turn out not to be as simple as they look we are faced with three options, and these options are similar to the ones we are faced with living out this morning’s scripture.   

The first option is to just give up and leave it unfinished.  This certainly happens with church.  Some people give up by walking away, but other people give up by declaring “it is my way or the highway” and they then drive people away.  The second option is that we give up on the instructions and try to finish the project ourselves.  While this can work, the finished result ends up being a little wonky.  Maybe the shelf is not quite level, the structure is a bit wobbly, and a few pieces that should have been used do not get used.   When we pursue this option in the church it often leads to dysfunctional communities of faith, that do not honor one another or love with sincerity.   Going this route creates churches that implode over something as trivial as switching coffee brands. 

When assembling flat box furniture with hard to follow instructions, the final option we have is to follow the instructions anyway.  Despite them sometimes being confusing, despite them sometimes being hard, despite the fact we sometimes misunderstood or got it wrong.   The final option is we make the choice to follow the instructions because it is the best way to create something worthwhile.   The same is true for the church.   A loving community does not happen by accident.  It happens by choice.   It happens because we choose to be devoted to one another in love.  We must choose to value one another above our personal preferences or comforts.   It is not possible to love each sincerely passively.  For love to be sincere, it is something we actively choose to do and it is a choice that we actively live out.   We do this by rejoicing with one another, mourning with one another, worshipping with one another, and serving side by side to make a difference.   This is how we be the church, and this is how we make a warm community.  

 Providing a warm community where people can feel like they belong, and they feel like they are connected to other people is one of the ways that the church can meet the needs of the world today.  In our culture, there is a real and dangerous loneliness epidemic.  Studies have found that sustained feelings of loneliness can have the same health impact on an individual as smoking fifteen cigarettes a day.   While this is a problem across all demographics, several studies have found that loneliness is impacting more young people, ages 16-24 than any other demographic.  The Fuller Youth Institute researchers asked young people who found and stayed involved with a church what kept them at their church, and the most given answer was personal relationships formed.  Often these relationships cut across generational lines.  These young people were embraced by a warm community, and they found one of their deep needs met. 

As this morning’s scripture puts forth, all churches should be a warm community.   All churches have the potential to be a church where love is sincere and young people experience community I know of a story from a clergy colleague that illustrates this.  This person served at a couple of different churches, with one of them being much smaller.  On a good Sunday the smaller church had 15 people, and the youngest members were in their 60s.  The smaller church was 20 minutes away and had an early worship time.  This pastor’s kids were more involved in the bigger church, so they made a family decision that they would not make the kids go regularly to the smaller, older church with the earlier worship time.  However, one of this pastor’s kids would voluntarily go to this church regularly, and that was in large part because that smaller, older church had Bob.  Every Sunday Bob would talk to the pastor’s son.  He would remember what he said from week to week and ask questions that were deeper than “how are you.”   When Bob did not really have anything else to say then he would him “I sure am glad to see you today.”   So one morning after getting up early, and while in the car driving to this church the pastor asked their son, “Why do you do this?  Why do you get up and come with me?”   He replied, “Because I know they want me.” 

 This is what it means for love to be sincere.  This is what it means to live in harmony with one another and for the church to be like body where each part belongs to the others.   There is a real need for people to have a place to belong and not feel lonely, and I believe it is God’s design that the church meets this need in the world.  This is why one of the essential strategies for a church to grow young is to fuel a warm community.

In this morning’s scripture, Paul gives us instructions that lift up what a church should be like.  Historically, Christians have struggled to meet this mark, but that does not mean we should stop striving to reach it.  This morning’s scripture is especially relevant today, as there are so many people struggling with loneliness.  Being a warm community does meet a real need in the world.   All people, especially young people, want a place where they can be their authentic self.  They want place where they belong and where they know they are wanted.   By the grace of God, may we be that place.  

Scripture:  Hebrews 10:19-25

I remember way back when getting ready to be a parent for the first time, we bought and read all the books about being a new parent.  I read a lot and the biggest lesson I learned is that there is a LOT those books left out.  One of the small things I was not prepared for, is just how many times I would end up watching the same movie over, and over, and over again.  For instance, even though my kids are both older now I am fairly sure the lyrics to Let it Go from the Disney movie Frozen will probably be stuck in my memory forever.  While most families with young children end up watching what is popular at the time, I think a lot of young kids also latch onto something more obscure.  A lot of parents end up watching a single episode of an obscure kid’s show or a little-known movie many, many times.  For us one of those movies was Leap.
 
I do not expect you to be familiar with this one.  It was released in 2017 and went really under the radar.  It is an animated kid’s movie about a poor, orphan girl who wants to be a ballerina.  She conned her way into the most prestigious dance school in Paris and then eventually earn her spot.   By and large the plot progresses about like you would expect it to, but there is small detail of the movie that has stuck with me.   The head of the dance school, did not just demand perfection in form, but the most important question he would ask the students is “why do you dance?”   The movie establishes that this teacher is a perfectionist who demands absolute precision from the students, but this question lifts up why they dance is just as important, if not more important, to how they dance.  The importance of the “why” stuck with me from this movie, because I think the similar question can be applied to our faith.  The teacher wanted his students to know their answer for “why do you dance?” and I think we should know the answer to the question, “Why are you a Christian?”  

There are a lot of possible secondary answers to this question.   Perhaps your parents were faithful in bringing you to church and you have never known life where faith was not part of it.  Or perhaps it was not a parent but a grand parent with a faith of deep conviction that made a lifelong impression on you.   Perhaps, someone invited you to church once and you found a community where you felt like you belonged.  Perhaps through Christianity you found a way to serve, to make a difference, and this fueled a greater sense of purpose.  There are all kinds of secondary reasons why we might be a Christian, but for each and everyone of us there should be only one primary reason:  Jesus Christ.     

This morning’s scripture from Hebrews is a reminder of who Jesus truly is.  This morning’s scripture is a reminder that it is because of Jesus that we gather together in the first place.    An obscure children’s movie that I have seen far too many times, elevates the importance of knowing our why, and it comes to being a Christian we should know our why.  We should know why we are a Christian, and we should take the message of Jesus seriously.

Hebrews is one of the harder books of the bible to study.  In part this is because there is quite a bit unknown about it.  The author is not known, the exact time it was written is not known, and the intended audience is not known.  From very early on biblical scholars have done their best to try and fill in these holes and there are a lot of good, educated guesses.  What is known is that both the author of Hebrews as well as the intended audience are from a Jewish background.   Hebrews is also a bit more challenging because it is different than the other books of the New Testament.  Most of the New Testament contains epistles or letters, but Hebrews is not that.  Hebrews is more akin to a 1st century sermon.  It is a sermon that draws deeply from the Old Testament and Jewish tradition to make the argument that Jesus is supreme over everything.  

Hebrews has what theologians and biblical scholars call a “high Christology.” This means it takes Jesus seriously.  This means there is a strong emphasis on the divinity and holy nature of Jesus.  We see that reflected in this morning’s scripture, because this morning’s scripture summarizes a couple of the major points that had been made in Hebrews up to this point.   The author of Hebrews spends a lot of the book making the case that Jesus is the superior and ultimate high priest.  In ancient worship a priest was the mediator between the divine and the people.  It was a priest who was set apart to make sacrifices on the behalf of others, the main connection that people had to the divine was through the priest.    The author of Hebrews puts forth that because Jesus is fully in the complete presence of God the Father forever, there is no one better to be our connection to God than Christ.  This means it is Jesus who gives us the gift of eternal life and lets us draw near to God.

At the same time the author of Hebrews also makes the point that this is possible because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us.   Again, in ancient religious practice the primary role of a priest was to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people.  It was these sacrifices that both reconciled and connected the people to the god they worshipped.  On the cross Jesus made the ultimate and final sacrifice to reconcile and connect people to God. The author of Hebrews writes as much in Hebrews 10:10: “We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”.    So, Jesus is not just the one who gives the gift of eternal life, but through his death and resurrection Jesus is also the gift itself.   As John famously wrote in his gospel, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only sone, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

To have a high Christology is to believe that Jesus is both the gift and the giver.  Because of Jesus we are saved.  Because of Jesus we are forever changed.  Because of Jesus, as this morning’s scripture states, we can “draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience.”  If you consider yourself a Christian, then you know just how good of news this is.   You know that through Jesus, the love of God has been proven.   Christ died for us while we still sinners.   The love of God is so great that, we are worth dying for.    If you consider yourself a Christian, you know that the love of God does not fail and does not give up on us.   Because of Jesus we have been given a second chance, or a third chance, or fourth chance, or whatever chance you happen to be on.  God has loved us at worst.  The primary reason why we should be a Christian is because we believe Jesus loves us and we love Jesus.   Because we love Jesus, we should take the message of Jesus seriously.   

 The whole book of Hebrews is dedicated to communicating the premise that Jesus is the main thing.  The author of Hebrews elevates Jesus as the ultimate savior and puts Jesus first on all things.  If Jesus is the reason why we are Christians, then Jesus should be our main thing as well.  The way we talk about our faith, the way we express our faith, and the way we live our faith out should all point to Jesus.  As this morning’s scripture points out, Jesus is the very reason why we gather like this in the first place.  It is only in getting together with other people who love Jesus that we can best keep the main thing the main thing and take the message of Jesus seriously as we encourage one another and spur one another on to be more Christlike. 

This morning’s scripture and all the book of Hebrews holds Jesus in high regard.  It centers Jesus as the most important thing, and we should as well.  Unfortunately, the good news of Jesus Christ that saves us and transforms us, sometimes gets lost in translation by the church.  In 2022 the Episcopal Church conducted an extensive national study called Jesus in America, and the results should be convicting.   This study found that among non-Christians, only 2% report the Christians they know represent the values and teachings of Jesus.   To put it another way 98% of the people who do not follow Jesus, think that we are doing a terrible job at following Jesus.  When people outside of the church think of Christians, they do not think of Jesus.  Instead, this study found results that have been consistent for the past twenty years.  The characteristics that non-Christians are most likely to associate with Christians are hypocrisy, being judgmental, and self-righteousness.  None of that is of Jesus.  None of that is Christlike. 

Collectively, as American Christians we have not let the main thing be the main thing.  The discourse around Christianity has gotten lost in the weeds.  Too much of the rhetoric is caught up in pointless culture wars, too much of the focus is on an us vs. them narrative, and not enough of it is on Jesus.   When the world outsides our walls thinks of us, if they think of us at all, it is because of what they believe we are against and not what we are for.   Friends, this is not how it should be.   We must- we absolutely must- keep the main thing, the main thing.  We must take the message of Jesus seriously, so that it being like Christ guides us.  Jesus should be the reason why we exist as a church.  If Jesus is not our reason for why we are here, then we might as well turn the lights off and go home. 

This morning’s scripture keeps Jesus front and center.  It reminds us that because of Jesus we can have confidence, and we can draw near to God with the full assurance of faith.   We need to keep Jesus the main thing because it is too important not to.  There are too many people who need Jesus.  There are people who need to know that they are worthy of a second chance.   There are people who need to know that no matter what is in their past, they are still loveable.   There are people desperate to draw near to God and people who are desperate for an assurance and faith in something that will not fail them.  People need Jesus, and the only way we can help people find him is by taking his message seriously.  

 If we want to reach people outside our walls, especially younger people, then we must keep the main the main thing.  This is not just a theory I have, it is backed up by research.  In the book Growing Young the authors wrote, “According to our research, churches that communicate the gospel of Jesus as the centerpiece of God’s story are more likely to have young people with greater faith vibrancy and maturity.”   When we take the message of Jesus seriously, we do not focus on abstract beliefs, but we focus on how we are following Jesus in our daily lives.  We focus on sharing and celebrating how Jesus is transforming us.  We commit ourselves to loving others like Jesus loves, and we draw near to God with confidence and the assurance that faith can bring.   

This morning’s scripture from Hebrews centers Jesus and elevates Jesus.   May we do the same, may we not give up on meeting together but may we gather regularly so that we can encourage one another and push each other to keep Jesus the main thing.  May Jesus be the reason why you are a Christian.   May Jesus be the first thing that people associate with you, and may you take the message of Jesus Christ seriously. May your hope be found in Christ and may that hope draw others to Jesus.  In a world of shifting and sinking sand may Christ be the solid rock upon which your life is built.  May your words, your actions and your very life glorify Christ above all else.