Revival 2016 Megapost

Watch the videos for the Pelham United Methodist Church Revival 2016 by using the links below!

Night 1: Rev. Sue Anne Morris
Night 2: Rev. Brad Thie
Night 3: Rev. Clark Chilton
Night 4: Rev. Nathan Webb (this sermon transcript is also found below)

Good evening! It’s so wonderful to see you all here for our final night of Revival here at Pelham UMC. What an incredible week we’ve had. So, many wonderful speakers, great worship and praise, and a good, good Father overseeing the whole event.

I can honestly stand here and tell you that I have never preached at a Revival prior to this moment, and, in fact, I only discovered earlier this year that the Methodists even have a history of Revival at all. It’s been fascinating to learn more about what this means. What a Revival is, what it can be, what it can do, how it can change people. I’ve fallen in love with this idea of Revival and I hope that, after these past several days, you have also fallen in love with God in a whole new way.

Now, tonight, I want to share some scripture that God has laid on my heart for the past several years. It’s become an incredibly important passage that I had initially skipped over in my youth. You see, I’m not really one to stay for the credits at the movies, I’m not the kind of person that waits around after things end. In the same way, when I read the story of the gospel, I would stop after the resurrection. Jesus came, died and rose again. That’s what we read in our creed. But then there’s this next part that is easy to gloss over in our reading: He ascended into Heaven. Now, that feels (to me, at least) like a post-script, or a credits roll. But, in fact, Jesus delivers some huge instructions after He comes back to Earth from death. That’s where we pick up today, Jesus has come back to the disciples, and He is having a meeting where He is praying for them. He delivers this incredibly powerful prayer that I want us to hear tonight. Hear now these words, from the gospel of John, chapter 17, verses 6 through 21.

6 “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. 7 Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. 8 For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 9 I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. 10 All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. 11 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. 12 While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.

13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Will you pray with me?

Dear Heavenly Father, I ask that the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts together be wholly acceptable in Your presence here tonight, God. For You, and You alone, are our Rock and Redeemer. Amen.

There was once this small town out in the middle of nowhere, I’m sure you know of someplace like it. It was very similar to Pelham, only even smaller and closer together. Everyone knew everyone and had known everyone for a long time. This led to some of the closest and most loving friendships ever seen, but it also led to some major disagreements. Two gentlemen in partcular were well known for always having something to argue about. One day, it became too much for these gentlemen’s wives to handle, and they said that the two would work it out… or else.

So, finally, the two men angrily marched to the local sage, or wise man, to seek his wisdom and get his answer to who was correct on their disagreements. The old wise man saw each man individually. So, the first man came in and vented and let off some steam and, after he had finished his rant, the old man looked at him and said, quite genuinely, “You’re absolutely right.”

Some time later, the second man came in and began to rattle off his grievances about his rival. He rambled on for several minutes and, when he had finished, the old wise man said once again, “You’re absolutely right.” Both men walked back home and each felt that the present argument was settled, blissfully unaware of the situation.

The sage’s wife over-heard the conversation and fussed at her husband for his recklessness. She told him that there was no way that telling them both that they were “absolutely right” would hold back their anger forever. The old man looks at her and says, “You’re absolutely right.”

We do so love to be right, don’t we? It feels wonderful to be correct, no matter the cost of what it took to get us there. Whenever I was child, my parents will tell you that my favorite word in the world was ‘actually,’ because I loved to correct people and argue with others. I haven’t changed much, I get frustrated if I get proven wrong on something. Some people call it being stubborn, but I call it being a winner. I think it’s our human nature to argue and to disagree. Not only that, I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong to disagree on things. Especially not within the context of the Methodist church. I mean, for pete’s sake, we are a branch of the PROTESTant tradition. Arguing is how we got our start. But I think arguing is a dangerously slippery slope and it has a line that can very easily be crossed.

I’ve seen a lot of arguing for the past couple years. During any kind of election season, this is perfectly natural. We have a bypartisan government, and so, naturally, we are going to have differences between the two major parts of the system. This is the first presidential election where I have really been involved and aware of the situation at hand, and I can say wholeheartedly that it has been an interesting one. I wasn’t surprised by the arguments. The disagreements, as I said earlier, were completely understandable and natural. What I wasn’t expecting from this season, was the intense level of division caused amongst people.

See, this is the problem with disagreeing. It can be healthy, it’s certainly natural, and honestly it keeps us sane. But there is this other side to disagreeing: division.

It’s been a monumental past 24 hours, I don’t think anyone can disgree with that. This election and it’s results have turned the world upside down. And that’s fine, too. Change and surprise can be incredibly healthy, and again, necessary.

What hasn’t been fine, or healthy, or good, or natural, is the activism of fear mongering, hate speech, violent protest and general viscosity of this election. We have become a nation that is divided. And what we do next will totally and completely re-define the next movement of Christ.

Let me tell you now about another time when this happened. There was this generation of people who had everything they could have ever wanted. But they messed up countless times. They chose to worship the kings and presidents and government. They chose to focus their eyes on the gold of the earth, instead of the glory of God. Why would they do this?

Because they disagreed. They got confused about what rules were which. They started to debate which people were worth more than other people. They began to believe that God put some of the land above others. They divided by race, they massacred entire nations over words. They murdered women, children, anyone in their path. At one point, they got so obsessed over the worth of humanity that they went and viciously murdered every single infant male under the age of two.

These people could not have been further from God. They were surely on a path towards absolute misery. Not a single one among them was worthy of grace or forgiveness. They had become a nation divided. And what they would do next would totally and completely re-define the rest of eternity. They were faced with a choice. And it looked like the wrong choice.

But then comes the good news. God so loved the world that He sends his only Son to take up a cross of love and die for those people’s sins, so that they could die to their awful, divided world. Christ came for these people and these walls that people had built up, this anger and rage inside them, this hate for others, this obsession with money and power and sex, Christ came and tore down those walls of hatred. He came to re-unite the people out of love and grace.

And now, here we are again. We are broken people. We are faced with a choice. Only this time, Jesus has already come to us and has shown us exactly what we have to do. Lined in the pages from Genesis to Revelation is the powerful message of love that Christ has for us as a nation.

One of the most powerful things that I have seen over this voting season has been this uprising of people sharing this image on Facebook, maybe you’ve seen it. It says, “I’m not worried, because Jesus is still King.” And that’s really powerful, right? Isn’t that awesome stuff? Isn’t that a powerful message? But I have this fear that people are posting it and not realizing what they are saying. I’ll see someone post this image and then post an image that talks about the lazy millenials or the good-for-nothing people of this nation. I’ll see someone post it and then the next thing I see they are lashing out in name-calling and violent language towards someone who voted differently than them.

Don’t you get it?

If Jesus is King (which He is), and you say that this is true, then you are calling yourself a subject to this Holy King Christ. That means that you are accepting this higher calling of LOVE unlike any other on Earth. We all know the passage from 1 Corinthians that we hear at weddings, “Love is patient, Love is kind,” well, it keeps on going and never ends, because LOVE is neverending. Love is not racist, love is not sexist, love is not degrading, love doesn’t call other people insults, love does not judge, love can not and will not and does not and should not and could not and would not EVER have anything to do with hate.

Friends, it’s been a violent year. It’s been an ugly year. It’s been a hateful year. Last night, I witnessed people calling out for help and acceptance and being shut down or pinned by their words. You have a choice. We are called to be one. Jesus wants to see us be one. We are one body, one spirit. Let us be known, friends, not by our hatred or by our walls that we build, but instead let us be known by our love. I’m not telling you what to think or feel about this election. I’m not talking about literal walls or taking sides here. Neither left nor right. I am stating that regardless of our political persuasion, please please please choose love. Love ALL of creation, ALL of humanity, ALL means ALL.

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord,

And we pray that all unity may one day be restored

And they’ll know we are Christian by our Love, by our Love

Yes, they’ll know that we are Christian by our Love, by our Love

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand

And together we’ll spread the news, that God is in our Land

And they’ll know we are Christian by our Love, by our Love

Yes, they’ll know that we are Christian by our Love, by our Love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side

We will work with each other, we will work side by side

And we’ll guard each one’s dignity, and save each other’s pride

And they’ll know we are Christian by our Love, by our Love

Yes, they’ll know that we are Christian by our Love, by our Love

All praise to the Father, from whom all things come,

And all praise to Christ Jesus, His only Son

All praise to the Spirit, who makes us one

And they’ll know we are Christian by our Love, by our Love

Yes, they’ll know that we are Christian by our Love, by our Love

And the greatest of these is love.