God Gave You a Gift, October 6, 2019

God Gave You a Gift
Rev. Linda Meyer, October 6, 2019
Community United Methodist Church, Keenesburg, CO

Today is World Communion Sunday. We celebrate it every year on the first Sunday in October. It began as World-Wide Communion Sunday at Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1933. This was between the two World Wars, during the Great Depression. It was not an easy time to be living anywhere in the world.
The Rev. Hugh Thompson Kerr and his congregation wanted to demonstrate the interconnectedness of Christian churches, regardless of denomination. In 1940, the Federal Council of Churches of Christ in America, which included all of the predecessor denominations of The United Methodist Church, adopted World-Wide Communion Sunday. Today, The United Methodist Church celebrates World Communion Sunday with congregations all over the globe. Christians all around the world gather in large churches and small, on farms and in cities, in brick and stone buildings and under tents, and together they receive the bread and cup of Holy Communion.
The Conference sent out an email this week, written by Michael Smith, our Superintendent of Congregational and Community Vitality. He included this story:
“On this Sunday, we take communion together; all at the same time. It is an important part of telling our story. This year, I think we should serve Big Macs for communion. Hold on – don’t call the liturgy police on me just yet.
“A few days ago, I read an article about a Burger King in Argentina. You might be thinking, “Wait – Burger King is home of the Whopper not the Big Mac!” Correct. Burger King encouraged all of their customers to purchase their competitor's burger instead. In fact – they didn’t even sell Whoppers that day in order to make sure that Big Macs across the country would be consumed. Why? Because for every Big Mac ordered, money was donated to fight cancer.
“With this move, Burger King helped to ensure that an extra 73,437 Big Macs were sold that day compared to the previous years. It was a record-setting day. This gesture speaks about something much bigger that unites us and it isn’t about the two all-beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, and onions on a sesame seed bun. I believe that if Burger King and McDonald's can do it, then the church has to figure out how to do it, too.
“There is much that is pulling us apart these days. How will you join hands with one another (even if they don't agree with you) for the sake of that which is so much bigger than just a local church, a conference, a denomination? Will you have the courage to let go of your way to lift up another’s voice? My hope for your church this Sunday is that you can speak to what brings us together. Let this World Communion Sunday be different.
“Grace meets us at the table. Don’t forget the fries.”
World Communion Sunday really does remind us we are all one in Christ. We may be very different, but we are one.
At first glance, the scripture readings for today and the celebration of World Communion don’t quite go together. But just as World Communion Sunday began during a time of war, our Old Testament scripture from Lamentations remembers a time of war and devastation for the people of Judah. After a series of tribute payments, conflicts, and uprisings between the Jewish people and their overlords in Babylon, an invading army under King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, devasted its great Temple built by Solomon, and took captives into exile.
Our readings from the New Testament were written during the time the Romans ruled over the Jews. Jesus’ disciples ask how they can increase their faith. It’s a hard scripture to understand, but essentially Jesus is telling them to continue being faithful, and their faith will increase.
In our scripture reading from 2 Timothy, Paul is trying to encourage Timothy. Apparently Timothy was struggling with the work of the early church, and Paul is trying to remind him of his faith, and that he is not alone in his work. And that is something we do need to remember ourselves: we are not alone in our work for God. We are one in Christ. We have each other to lean on when life gets difficult, and we have each other to celebrate with when life is full of joy!
Some Bible scholars question if Paul actually wrote the two letters to Timothy and the letter to Titus. The letters were written late in Paul’s life, or possibly after his death. Different scholars have different opinions, but whoever wrote these letters was certainly associated with Paul and knew all about the struggles of the church. We can certainly take these words to heart. Today we also struggle with the work of the church. It’s always a good reminder to us that no matter how hard things were after Jesus’ death, the church continued to grow and spread throughout the world. No matter how bleak our own future may seem at times, we can still be Jesus’ hands and feet in the world: feeding the hungry and helping people around us.
What Paul never really says in the letter, is what gifts God gave Timothy. Was it faith? Power? Leading others? Maybe it’s a good thing Paul didn’t specifically say what that gift is. It allows us to substitute in our own gifts. The gifts of leadership, being computer literate, managing money, teaching, self-discipline, cooking.
Each of us has a least one specific gift that comes in really handy from time to time – no matter what you do every day. What can be hard is remembering we have these gifts. We use them every day without even thinking about it. God gives some people gifts to be used for the benefit of all, including the power to make things happen within the life of the church. This can 3
be a very mysterious power. It isn’t just the ability to hold a position of leadership, or having a strong personality, or having a strong faith.
It is a matter of having the ability to say and do things that can change a situation. To lead in a way that makes others want to follow. To speak words of wisdom that can help someone through a rough time. To bring healing and hope wherever it is needed.
In 2 Timothy, Paul writes, “for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.” Most likely, Timothy had these gifts of power and love and self-discipline, but it was hard for him to use them. He may have been shy, or afraid he might make someone angry or upset. Paul is trying to encourage him how to use his gifts.
When someone has power, they need to be seen as someone has generous love for others, and then people may be more inclined to follow them.
To listen to what they have to say.
To follow where they lead.
The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes from the fact that God gave God’s own son to save us. Because of God’s unbelievably enormous love for us to sacrifice God’s son, we give our love and loyalty back to God.
Paul also reminds Timothy of his faith, faith that was already there before Paul met Timothy. He reminds Timothy of the faith of his mother and grandmother. Each of you are here today because of your faith. We all probably got our faith from someone in our life – a parent, a grandparent, a brother or sister, or maybe even a neighbor or a friend. That faith gets us through the good times, and through the hard times.
We commit ourselves to God, and God commits something to us:
God’s love.
That may include our gifts, perhaps a calling, some responsibilities.
God’s love is so strong that it goes onward through death, and comes out the other side – even stronger. The love and goodness of God, given to us. That is truly good news!
Celebrating World Communion Sunday itself offers good news. Our world seems always to be filled with rumors of war, and some days our lives are full of devastation and sadness. Both our world and our ordinary lives often call us to lament. We may even feel a similar anger to that of the Judeans imprisoned in Babylon. We fear we have lost faith, that God has turned away, and that hope isn’t possible.
The gift of World Communion Sunday is that even in the midst of brokenness and despair, God’s vision calls us forward. God’s love calls us forward. With Jesus, table fellowship must have been amazing. He ate with diverse groups of people, including some who were not welcomed by others. Gathering around the table for a meal was a way of representing the vision of Isaiah,
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines, of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear. And he will destroy on this mountain the shroud that is cast over all peoples, the sheet that is spread over all nations; he will swallow up death forever. Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces, and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the Lord has spoken.” (Isaiah 25:6-8).
Through table fellowship, Jesus called his followers to feed one another and build community.
Today as we eat the bread and share the cup, we remember God’s gifts of a good creation, and God’s continuing creation. We remember the gift of Jesus and the way he taught us to live. We remember the continuing presence of the Holy Spirit among us. The message of World Communion Sunday is not simply hope instead of despair or endurance instead of tears. It calls for work, too!
The vision of God’s banquet calls us to join with others. It calls us to reach out across barriers, just like we work with other churches to support Loaves and Fishes food bank. It asks us to work with others to make the heavenly banquet a reality. In Luke, the apostles’ question about “increase our faith”, becomes a little clearer. The gift of the vision of God’s table calls us to do more than the ordinary. We are called to live the table – to join with those who are different from us, to work for healing and build community together. We need to be faithful and responsible before God.
Paul writes Timothy to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
May we do the same, today and every day.
Amen.

Hoping for a Miracle

Sermon given at Evans United Methodist Church
September 9, 2018

Hoping for a Miracle

Mark 7:24-37
24 Then Jesus left and went away to the territory near the city of Tyre. He went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not stay hidden. 25 A woman, whose daughter had an evil spirit in her, heard about Jesus and came to him at once and fell at his feet. 26 The woman was a Gentile, born in the region of Phoenicia in Syria. She begged Jesus to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 But Jesus answered, “Let us first feed the children. It isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs.”

28 “Sir,” she answered, “even the dogs under the table eat the children's leftovers!”

 

29 So Jesus said to her, “Because of that answer, go back home, where you will find that the demon has gone out of your daughter!”

 

30 She went home and found her child lying on the bed; the demon had indeed gone out of her.

31 Jesus then left the neighborhood of Tyre and went on through Sidon to Lake Galilee, going by way of the territory of the Ten Towns. 32 Some people brought him a man who was deaf and could hardly speak, and they begged Jesus to place his hands on him. 33 So Jesus took him off alone, away from the crowd, put his fingers in the man's ears, spat, and touched the man's tongue. 34 Then Jesus looked up to heaven, gave a deep groan, and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which means, “Open up!”

 

35 At once the man was able to hear, his speech impediment was removed, and he began to talk without any trouble. 36 Then Jesus ordered the people not to speak of it to anyone; but the more he ordered them not to, the more they told it. 37 And all who heard were completely amazed. “How well he does everything!” they exclaimed. “He even causes the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak!”

Starting Over

Sermon given at Evans United Methodist Church
September 2, 2018

Starting Over

Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23
1 Some Pharisees and teachers of the Law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus. 2 They noticed that some of his disciples were eating their food with hands that were ritually unclean—that is, they had not washed them in the way the Pharisees said people should.

(3 For the Pharisees, as well as the rest of the Jews, follow the teaching they received from their ancestors: they do not eat unless they wash their hands in the proper way; 4 nor do they eat anything that comes from the market unless they wash it first. And they follow many other rules which they have received, such as the proper way to wash cups, pots, copper bowls, and beds.)

 

5 So the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law asked Jesus, “Why is it that your disciples do not follow the teaching handed down by our ancestors, but instead eat with ritually unclean hands?”

 

6 Jesus answered them, “How right Isaiah was when he prophesied about you! You are hypocrites, just as he wrote:

‘These people, says God, honor me with their words,

but their heart is really far away from me.

7 It is no use for them to worship me,

because they teach human rules

as though they were my laws!’

8 “You put aside God's command and obey human teachings.”

 

14 Then Jesus called the crowd to him once more and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. 15 There is nothing that goes into you from the outside which can make you ritually unclean. Rather, it is what comes out of you that makes you unclean.”

 

21 For from the inside, from your heart, come the evil ideas which lead you to do immoral things, to rob, kill, 22 commit adultery, be greedy, and do all sorts of evil things; deceit, indecency, jealousy, slander, pride, and folly— 23 all these evil things come from inside you and make you unclean.”

Learning and Growing in Christ

Sermon given at Evans United Methodist Church
August 26, 2018

Learning and Growing in Christ

John 6:56-69
56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.”

59 Jesus said this as he taught in the synagogue in Capernaum.

60 Many of his followers heard this and said, “This teaching is too hard. Who can listen to it?”

 

61 Without being told, Jesus knew that they were grumbling about this, so he said to them, “Does this make you want to give up? 62 Suppose, then, that you should see the Son of Man go back up to the place where he was before? 63 What gives life is God's Spirit; human power is of no use at all. The words I have spoken to you bring God's life-giving Spirit. 64 Yet some of you do not believe.” (Jesus knew from the very beginning who were the ones that would not believe and which one would betray him.) 65 And he added, “This is the very reason I told you that no people can come to me unless the Father makes it possible for them to do so.”

 

66 Because of this, many of Jesus' followers turned back and would not go with him any more. 67 So he asked the twelve disciples, “And you—would you also like to leave?”

 

68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 And now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God.”

That Came Down From Heaven

Sermon given at Evans United Methodist Church
August 19, 2018

That Came Down From Heaven

John 6:51-58
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If you eat this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live.”

52 This started an angry argument among them. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.

 

53 Jesus said to them, “I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. 55 For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.”

Sacramental Thinking

Sermon given at Evans United Methodist Church
August 12, 2018

Sacramental Thinking

John 6:35, 41-51
35“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty.

41 The people started grumbling about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 So they said, “This man is Jesus son of Joseph, isn't he? We know his father and mother. How, then, does he now say he came down from heaven?”

43 Jesus answered, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44 People cannot come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me; and I will raise them to life on the last day. 45 The prophets wrote, ‘Everyone will be taught by God.’ Anyone who hears the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 This does not mean that anyone has seen the Father; he who is from God is the only one who has seen the Father. 47 I am telling you the truth: he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died. 50 But the bread that comes down from heaven is of such a kind that whoever eats it will not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If you eat this bread, you will live forever. The bread that I will give you is my flesh, which I give so that the world may live.”

Is That All There Is?

Sermon given at Evans United Methodist Church
August 5, 2018

Is That All There Is?

John 6:24-35
24 When the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they got into those boats and went to Capernaum, looking for him.

25 When the people found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they said to him, “Teacher, when did you get here?”

 

26 Jesus answered, “I am telling you the truth: you are looking for me because you ate the bread and had all you wanted, not because you understood my miracles. 27 Do not work for food that spoils; instead, work for the food that lasts for eternal life. This is the food which the Son of Man will give you, because God, the Father, has put his mark of approval on him.”

 

28 So they asked him, “What can we do in order to do what God wants us to do?”

 

29 Jesus answered, “What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent.”

 

30 They replied, “What miracle will you perform so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, just as the scripture says, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

 

3 2“I am telling you the truth,” Jesus said. “What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven. 33For the bread that God gives is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 

34 “Sir,” they asked him, “give us this bread always.”

 

35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty.