Sermons: September 30, 2007 - October 06, 2007 Archives

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September 30, 2007

Living the Question

Sermon: Living the Question…
Esther 4:6-17, Matthew 28:16-20

Final week of our sermon series on Radical Christianity. Today’s focus is on Evangelism—introducing a person to Jesus. In this morning’s gospel reading, known as The Great Commission, Jesus asks his disciples to share what he taught them with people to the ends of the earth. And one of the lessons we learn from Jesus is not to rush through life. Be present to the people you meet today—whether those people are family members you see every day, a friend, a co-worker or an encounter with a stranger.

Joanne was a waitress at a better-than-average restaurant close to a famous hospital in her city. Her usual station was a small room at the back of the restaurant the farthest from the kitchen. The room held two large tables and several tiny ones by the windows. As a rule, most of the customers exiled to the back room were either single women dining alone or large groups who could be demanding. Any waitress knows that you can make a lot more money on the larger tables but Joanne was careful to give her single customers the same good service that the larger tables received.

It was a typical lunchtime crowd, and Joanne had a full section. The two large tables were filled to overflowing. The place was packed. She was barely keeping up. She was exhausted, and it was only 12:30. As she stopped to assess situation, she saw that a new person had come it and was sitting at a table with dirty dishes. She appeared to be about 70 years old, with white hair, a deeply lined face, and hands that testified to a lifetime of hard work. She wore an old-fashioned navy straw hat, and a cotton housedress under a shabby brown coat that appeared inadequate for the weather. She sat quietly, with an air of dejection, oblivious to the dirty dishes in front of her.

Joanne came over and apologized that the busboy had not cleared the dishes yet. She smiled half-hearted smile, as if to say, it’s not important, and ordered a cup of tea. Joanne checked on her a couple times, making sure her water was hot and asking if she needed anything else. The next time she looked in her direction, the woman was gone. A sadness briefly crossed over Joanne’s mind as she allowed herself a few seconds in her busy day to wonder what had been bothering her single customer.

As she was doing this, the woman appeared and somewhat embarrassed gave Joanne a dime for her troubles. “I know it isn’t much, but you went out of your way to be kind to me. I just wanted you to know that I appreciated it.” Joanne felt as if a simple “thank you” would be inadequate, so she added, “and God bless you.” The woman’s response was sudden and unexpected. She grabbed Joanne’s hand and started to cry. Joanne lead the woman to a chair, “Tell me what’s wrong, and if there is any way I can help.”

The women shook her head. Her husband was brought to the hospital because of their expertise in cancer treatment. Her husband was just informed that he needed an operation and they don’t know if he’ll survive it. They had been married for over 50 years and she didn’t know anyone in this city. She has been trying to pray but couldn’t seem to find any connection to God. She almost didn’t come into the restaurant because it looked too expensive, but she had to get out of the hospital for a time. While sitting back at the table, sipping her tea, she has asked God to show her that she wasn’t alone.

Joanne asked the woman her name and her husband’s name so she could pray for them. With that, the woman stood up and left. Joanne went back to work with renewed energy. Her tiredness had left her. And for some reason, none of her customers complained about the delay. God has used her. And someone was strengthened because she was willing to stop in the middle of her busy day to reach out to someone in need.
(This story is taken from Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul ©1997, published by Health Communications Inc.)

To be a radical Christian is to be willing to talk about what guides your life—a relationship with God. But it requires more than talk. Just as Joanne did, we need to put ourselves out there and be vulnerable. Notice it was not only Joanne’s words that got the woman attention. Before Joanne was able to say, “God bless you” she had demonstrated some kind of love toward the woman.

Only if we love our fellow man will our witness be heard. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder than words. People need to experience the love of God more than they need to hear about it. People need to know that just as they are, they are loved. They don’t have to be successful, pretty, thin, American. Christian Schwartz has designed a model for church growth entitled, Natural Church Development (NCD).
Some of you are familiar with this model. In his book on The Three Colors of Love, he suggests that love manifests itself in 8 different fruits of the Spirit. Pull out your bulletin insert and write these down:

Patience—enduring love. A perseverance that combines mercy with determination.
Joy—rejoicing love. Independent of the situation you happen to be in.
Peace—reconciling love. Aims at the well-being of an individual or community in all aspects of life.
Faithfulness—reliable love. Trust is given and thus received.
Goodness—correcting love. Striving for God’s standards.
Kindness—amiable love. Radiating a grace-filled atmosphere.
Self-Control—disciplined love. Sobriety and moderation in all areas of life.
Gentleness—humble love. The opposite of self-righteous stubbornness.

All of these fruits of the Spirit are a reflection of God love for us and God’s love manifest in us. In order for us to share the love of God with others we have to have experienced it ourselves. Which of these types of love have you received from God. Put a little x beside it.

In the restless routine of our lives, we often forget how much God loves us. Just reminding ourselves of this fact can work wonders. One exercise to try is called “Love Stumbling Stones.” Hide pieces of paper on which you have written “You are loved!” all over your house where you will stumble over them unexpectedly. Set your watch to bleep every hour. Each time your watch bleeps or when you find one of the notes, pause for 5 seconds, take a deep breath, and say to yourself, “Now I’ll breathe out all restlessness and breathe in God’s love. You will notice that this simple exercise can have a very beneficial effect. In the hectic, hurried routine of our lives, we often forget how much God love us. Just reminding ourselves of this fact can work wonders.

As Christians, we know that to remind ourselves and receive God’s love is just the beginning. Our gratitude in receiving God’s love empowers and encourages us to act on behalf of the welfare of others.

Look at Esther… To be radical is to pray for guidance and to act even in the face of fear. Esther finds herself in a situation that she’d rather not be in. She tries to deflect her responsibility, but she is convinced by her uncle Mordecai that she has been prepared by God for such a time as this. Esther asks for prayers from other Jews and sets about doing what she needs to do.

The radical church does not live for itself. Our primary motivation cannot be self-preservation or church growth. Our primary purpose must be more than introducing people to Jesus. We must have things in place, opportunities for people to live out their faith. And these opportunities are focused on others beyond the walls of the church. Churches that are thriving are reaching out in mission. These churches are reacquainting themselves with the missional focus of the early churches in the book of Acts. And they are following the mission of Jesus himself.

God sent Jesus into the world. As followers of Jesus, we go into the world to make it a better place for all God’s people. There’s plenty to do, we just need to have the will to do it. I don’t spend as much time as I could serving others, making connections with others who we could serve. I tell myself that I’m busy getting to know all of you, getting us going in the same direction. I’m busy doing church work, attending meetings. And all that is true. But I also need to be intentional about spending some of my time learning what the needs are for people in our community.

We just did our schedule for the fall. It’s hanging on the bulletin board. How much of it is focused beyond the walls of the church, on people who aren’t here yet? None of it. A church in the Northeast reported starting two neighborhood groups. The one that advertised fun for kids, games, and free food got a mediocre response. The other group invited people in the community to work alongside churchgoers in addressing community issues, from providing sandwiches for the soup kitchen to baby clothes for a shelter. The service group attracted more involvement from both the church and the community.

A radical church is concerned with the people beyond the walls of their church. A radical church asks the touch questions and then seeks to live out the answers. The United Methodist Church cares about our natural world, our personal relationships, the rights of individuals, the economy and how it impacts individuals and families, politics, war and peace, national power and responsibility. These subjects and more are includes in what we call our Social Principles. These social principles guide and direct our efforts to serve others in the name of Jesus Christ.

Our social principles are a prayerful and thoughtful effort on the part of our church to speak to the human issues in our world from both a biblical and theological foundation. And in the Book of Discipline that spells out these social principles, there is a preamble that ends with the following:

Grateful for God’s forgiving love, in which we live and by which we are judged, and affirming our belief in the inestimable worth of each individual, we renew our commitment to become faithful witnesses to the gospel, not alone to the ends of earth, but also to the depths of our common life and work.

As United Methodists, we seek to do two aspects of service: mercy work (helping people deal with the reality of their life) and justice ministries (working to change the systems that are corrupt or self-serving).

Right now there is a large controversy in our community about a health clinic that is going in at Addison and Pulaski. How many of you have heard about it? The clinic is in a business section of town so they don’t need approval to open, but the uproar from the community was so large that the Alderman Ariel Reboyras, from the 30th Ward, decided it would be helpful to give people an opportunity to voice their opinion. Here’s what we know:

Charles Martinez, a retired physician from Old Irving Park will run the clinic. The large majority of his patients will be working people from the neighborhood who can't afford health insurance. Martinez cited numbers from the 2000 Census and a 2003 study conducted by the Cook County Department of Public Health, which said nearly 23,000 of the 74,000 people
living in the 60641 zip code had no health insurance. "Eighty percent of those people are employed," he said. Martinez also stressed that the clinic would be by appointment only and
would not allow people to simply line up outside and wait to be seen. Anyone loitering would be told to leave, he said.

This is not a methadone clinic. The clinic will not be treating people with substance abuse or mental illness. We will be doing assessments, we will be doing evaluations, but under no circumstances will they be treating people.

Here are some of the opinions that were voiced—
One resident said there was no reason the clinic should be in the upscale neighborhood of Old Irving Park. "Why are we putting a clinic right next to $500,000 houses?" she said. "It should be where it needs to be helping people. There are not homeless people right here."

Another resident argued there was no need for the clinic in Old Irving Park, and told Dr. Martinez that Illinois Masonic Medical Center was always looking for volunteers. "If he wants to volunteer, let him go there."

One resident, a former marketing professional who attended the meeting, stood in front of the crowd and said she was diagnosed with clinical depression several years ago. She lost her job and became an alcoholic, she said. The only job she could find now was bagging groceries part-time. She said she has no health insurance and her psychiatrist is unable to get her generic samples of anti-depressants. If Olson goes to the clinic, doctors will be able to provide her with references to places where she can receive free prescription drugs. "If I don't get my medicine, I might cry a lot but I won't be violent," she said. "What are you so afraid of?" We live in 60641. We’re not criminals.”
(The opinions voiced were taken from an article written by Tony Bertuca, Staff Writer for the Pioneer Press, Portage Park Times)

I don’t know where you are on this issue, but I would ask have you taken the time to see all sides, to talk to the people opening the clinic and would you be willing to volunteer there to get a first-hand view of who is being helped?

To accept the role of radical disciple is to see the world with new vision. Put your glasses on…
The world is not black and white, there are no easy answers. But as disciples of Jesus, we are called to be people who ask the difficult questions and are willing to faithfully live into the answers.

You are here this morning because somewhere inside of you God is calling you. God is calling you to be his ambassador in your corner of the world. Will you accept the role of radical disciple? Will you love your neighbor as yourself—

In Jesus’ great commission he sends his disciples out into the world to testify about Jesus. It must have been a staggering thing for the eleven disciples sent forth into the world. Even as they heard it, as you’ve heard me encourage you to share your faith with others, they were probably uncertain and maybe even afraid. But remember that Jesus’ last words to them are also to us—words that we remember during communion, “I am with you always until the end of time.” Without Jesus, we won’t make it, but with him, we can make a difference. Let your life speak and may it be one of radical inclusiveness!

Posted by vickie at 10:00 AM