Who Do You Think You Are? : The "S" Words
It’s been a great week. I got the chance to go to our Annual Conference for
Western North Carolina Conference in Lake Junaluska, NC. It was a week
with lots of voting (not necessarily my favorite part), good food (always a good part) and fellowship amongst many of our Christian
leaders in the NC area (my personal favorite part). I was especially thankful, since my father is also a
pastor in the WNCC and Logan and I were invited to lodge with him and my
stepmother for the week. It was a wonderful way to spend Father’s Day. Speaking of Father's Day, I’d like
to begin this morning with a little Father’s Day story.
There were four expectant fathers who were in a Minneapolis
hospital waiting room, while their wives were in labor.
The nurse tells the first man, "Congratulations! You're
the father of twins!"
"What a coincidence!" The man said, "I work for the Minnesota Twins
baseball team!"
"Wow, what a coincidence! I work for 3M
Corporation!"
The nurse then tells the third man that his wife has given
birth to quadruplets.
"Another coincidence! I work for the Four Seasons
Hotel!"
At this point, the fourth guy faints. When he comes to, the
others ask what's wrong.
"What's wrong?! I work for Seven-Up!"
We started last week with a
new series on what exactly those words after the word Pelham mean in our
church’s name. We talked last week about grace according to the United
Methodists. We talked about the prevenient grace that is given to us before we
realize God’s impact into our lives, justifying grace that we receive when we
realize what Jesus did for us, sanctifying grace that we receive through the
good works of our lives, and the perfecting grace that can only be given by a
perfect God. If you’re interested in reading the transcript for that sermon, or
any previous or future sermons, I am posting those on my website:
makingwaves.cc. I invite you to check that out if you want to deepen your study
or share the message with a friend. Now, let’s dive into the Word, with a parable of Jesus in the book of Luke.
"11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12
The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’
So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he
had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild
living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that
whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out
to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He
longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one
gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my
father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18
I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned
against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son;
make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his
father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him
and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms
around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against
heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the
best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24
For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So
they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near
the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and
asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your
father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So
his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look!
All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet
you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30
But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes
comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and
everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because
this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”"
-Luke
15:11-32 (NIV)
Will you pray with me? Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that the
words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts together be forever
glorified in Your presence. Amen.
This week, we are talking about the scary “S” words of Christianity: sin and salvation. These two words are the words that divide us into factions more often than many other topics. We all seem to have a slightly different idea of where sin came from, how it effects us and how we get rid of it (or IF we can even get rid of it).
The first thing we admit about sin in the Methodist church
is that YES, we ARE sinners. Last week, we talked briefly about the founder of
the United Methodist tradition, John Wesley. He stated that there were three
core beliefs of the Methodist faith: a belief in original sin, justification by
faith alone, and holiness of heart and life. When we look back through the Old Testament,
you can read from Genesis to Malachi and read the same central message: God
gives us the gift of law, to maintain order, love, to know we are a part of
God’s holy love, and the prophets to deliver His message. But countless times,
we disobey the laws, abuse His love and scorn His prophets. We can’t read the
stories of the Old Testament without seeing that we have broken our contract,
or our covenant countless times and become estranged from God.
The great Catholic author GK Chesterton recalls being in school
and having a teacher assign him the prompt that stated, “What is wrong with the
modern world?” He turned in the paper with two sentences, “What’s wrong with
the world? Me.”
We are definitely sinful, messed up people. We deserve
something awful. But, here’s where the New Testament comes in: God doesn’t give
us what we deserve. No, instead, like a Holy Father, he continues to accept his
prodigal son and makes a new covenant. Only, this time He doesn’t give us the
option to break the covenant. This time, as Paul says in Roman 11, verse 29,
God’s gifts and call are irrevocable. He pays for this covenant with a new kind
of sacrifice: Jesus.
You can’t really talk about the two “S” words without
talking about the bridge that covers the gap between them, which is Jesus. So,
who was Jesus? Well, the better question is: who IS Jesus? In Galatians 2:20,
Paul says that it is no longer he that lives, but instead Christ that lives in
him. Christ is very much still alive and present tense in our lives. The
Methodist faith sums up Jesus in three major roles: Jesus is a prophet, he is
the royal son of God, and he is the greatest priest. So what do all of these
mean?
First, Jesus is a prophet, just as the prophets of the Old
Testament were. Sometimes we get confused with what a prophet is. We think of a
prophet as someone who can tell the future, but instead a prophet is actually
one who forthtells the truth.
Jesus came to proclaim the true nature of God and of Heaven to the people.
Think of John 1:1. Jesus is the Word incarnate. He delivered, and continues to
deliver, the true words of God in human form.
Then, Jesus is the royal son of God. We don’t believe that
Jesus was just human. We don’t believe he was some incredible prophet. We also
don’t believe that he was NOT human. Jesus is completely, totally human. He is
ALSO completely, totally divine. Not one or the other, but 100% both.
Third, Jesus is the great priest. Just as the priest of the
old days would offer up sacrifices to God to appease him, Jesus came as a
priest and interceded on our behalf, offering himself as the greatest
sacrifice, atoning for our sins.
Whoa. There was one of those Christian-ese words again.
Jesus atoned our sins. Conveniently,
that leads into the last subject today regarding salvation. In the Methodist
faith, we DO believe in atonement. So what is it? The easiest way to explain
atonement is just like understanding a classic automobile: break it down and
look at it’s parts. Atonement can be broken apart to look like “At – One –
Ment” This helps me to remember that atonement was what happened that made us,
as His children, at one with Him again. Atonement is the action that had to
happen in order for us to come back to our right place with God. Like I
mentioned at the beginning of this, we are seriously messed up people. But
remember that good news I mentioned too? The good news is Jesus’ atoning
sacrifice. Now, when it comes to atonement, one can research deep into several
different theologies and theories. In some of these scenarios, we change
because of Jesus’ sacrifice (moral exemplar), in others, God changes
(satisfaction), and even others, Satan changes (cristus victor). However,
regardless of these differing theories, we all maintain a common flow of
atonement. Through the cross, Jesus came and he redeemed us, making us no
longer a slave to sin and death. He atoned us, bridging the gap between God and
ourselves. He judged us, and knew that atonement was the only way to absolve us
of our sins. And, praise God, he pardoned us, writing off our dirty debts to
God. It is far more important to a United Methodist to EXPERIENCE this, rather
than try to explain it.
Now some of you out there may be thinking: “Hang on just a second, preacher. Last week you
said that God calls us to a lifetime of service, but it sounds to me like
atonement is the one-time fix I need. Sounds a little hypocritical there,
pastor.” Well, I see how it may sound that way. But, I would call back to the
idea I presented earlier. Jesus is not past tense. Well, neither is atonement.
In the faith practice of deism, believers claim that God exists, but that He is
distant and doesn’t intervene in our lives. Us Methodists couldn’t disagree
more, we believe in a God who is extremely active in our lives and a savior who
is constantly, mysteriously atoning us for our sins against God.
Calvary was not the end of the story, folks. Jesus’
sacrifice was not a one-and-done situation that perfects us for the rest of our
lives. Jesus didn’t raise from the dead and keep going right on up to Heaven.
He came back to US (of all people) and called us to not keep on living as we
once did, but instead to live as HE has lived on Earth. What an incredible,
frightening, awesome calling that is, I invite all of us here to strive to
achieve it.
Please feel free to post any comments for discussion, I will try my best to respond. As always, if you have any private needs or prayers concerns, feel free to contact me personally at nathan@makingwaves.cc.
Blessings!
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