Sunday, August 19, 2007
Luke 8:19-21
Senior Pastor
“Why are we not more holy?” Why are we not more holy? That is the question John Wesley used to ask of his leaders in the early days of the Methodist movement. We have minutes from those early conferences when Wesley would ask this question. Summarized, the answer was because people want the end without using the means.
In the book we are reading about Wesley, Lovett Weems shares the story of a seminary class discussing some of their reading in which the author was suggesting ways to make a church more vital. One suggestion was to be more responsive to the needs of people. The author was describing the implications of this and wrote that during the social time at church, the church should provide at least four different kinds of coffee.
There was a student from Nigeria in the class. He said this sounded absurd to him. Why all the fuss about coffee? He went on to say that in his country, people will have often walked up to twenty miles just to get to church. “When they finally arrive,” he said, “they are looking for something much more life-changing than that.” (Leadership In the Wesleyan Spirit, p. 120)
Wesley asked: Why are we not more holy? He could have asked: Why do we lack spiritual power? Or he could have asked: Why we lack vital discipleship? The student from Nigeria is a striking reminder for those of us who live in a place of great prosperity, with as many choices as we have, that it is easy to lose our spiritual focus. Don’t you find that to be true?
Our text quotes Jesus as saying: My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. (v. 21) Hear it and do it. Perhaps we hear the word, but fail to do it. Perhaps we see the vision but fail to take the steps to move into that vision. Wesley talked about the means and the end. If the end is holiness or great spiritual vigor, what are the means? How do we hear and do the word of God?
Wesley identified several “means of grace,” as he called them. You would guess many of them if I asked you how to grow spiritually or how to grow closer to God. You would say prayer. Someone would say worship. Someone else would say Bible reading or Bible study. All those would be right. They all fall into the means of grace.
But our two sacraments are also means of grace, i.e., Baptism and Holy Communion. Wesley would also be more specific on some of these. For example he would counsel us to practice not only private prayer, but also family prayer and prayer with other Christians in small groups. He would also counsel us that it is important to have a means of accountability, spiritual accountability. He found that Christians grow in their discipleship better if they are participating in a group focused on just that.
Wesley and most of the giants in the Christian tradition would agree that these means or practices are of central importance if one truly desires to grow as a Christian. It is of critical importance that we do these, not simply because someone else suggested we try it. It is of critical importance because it plugs us into the power source of our faith. It connects us to the source of all life, the one true God.
Listen to Wesley: “The wise person’s soul is athirst for nothing on earth, but only for God, the living God. Or this from one of his earliest sermons: “Have no end, no ultimate end, but God. Desire not… but to praise [God’s] name: let all your thoughts, words, and works tend to [God’s] glory. Set your heart firm on [God], and on other things only as they are in and from [God].” (Weems, p. 115 and 116)
Now if we were to so set our sights that firmly on God, this church we be on fire for God. We would be living a revival for sure. But most of say that sounds good, but we don’t really change our lifestyle to reflect such a focus.
As Weems analyzes the lack of zeal within Methodist churches and in fact the decline of many churches today, he makes this indictment. See if you think he is right. He writes, “We need a change in the way we think. We need the renewal of our minds of which Paul speaks [in Romans]. We need reconnection with the power of God. Without such a connection, there will not be ‘leadership in the Wesleyan spirit.’ Without such spiritual power, there is nothing we have to offer to a world searching for hope amidst despair.” (p.118)
That is haunting and yet illuminating to me, especially the
last sentence I quoted: Without such
spiritual power, there is nothing we have to offer to a world searching for
hope amidst despair. That is a very
strong statement. Without spiritual
power we have nothing to offer.
But his analysis strikes a cord with me. We end up focusing on what kind of coffee or what color scheme or what kind of music and miss the more critical piece of Christian life in regard to making sure we are connected to the power source. How well is our congregation connected? How well are you connected?
As I contemplate my own answer, it motivates me to do better in my Christian practices of Bible reading and prayer and being in an accountability group. I want to know the energy and vitality that come from being continuously fueled by the power of God. I want not only the energy, but the fierce love and boundless joy, the perfect peace of the committed Christian life. I want to be a living witness to others.
The Good News promises that this is all available to any one of us and in fact to each and everyone of us who is ready to follow Jesus. It is truly a blessing to hear the word of God and we are all here, so on that part we are doing well. I believe we are hearing the word of God in song and prayer, scripture and preaching.
This came clamoring home to me just a few weeks ago. It was the week I was preparing to announce Lorenzo’s resignation and it was heavy on my heart. Plus I was a little short on sleep that week and so coming into Sunday morning I was moving like I had a bag of bricks hanging over my shoulder. But then I came into worship and many of you greeted me warmly. Marilyn played a beautiful prelude and you raised your voices as we sang some of the great hymns of the church with the help of Thom and Lorenzo. I began to feel better.
Susan led us in a powerful time of prayer. Then Marilyn began to play Precious Lord, Take My Hand and Thom stood up and sang his heart out for us on that number. By the time I stood to read the Scripture I was energized, I was joyful, I was feeling the spirit of God moving among us. By the time worship concluded, I was refreshed and so pleased to be here among you. It is a blessing to worship with brothers and sisters in Christ. It is a blessing to hear and feel the word of God at work in our midst.
Jesus says, My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God… and do it. (v. 21) Let’s be those people. Let’s be those folks who are hearing and doing the word of God. Let’s practice the presence of God in our devotional life and in our active life.
Do you remember the name Ruby Bridges? Dr. Weems reminds us that she was the black child that was first to racially integrate the public schools of New Orleans. In 1960 Ruby Bridges was a six-year-old child, the daughter of impoverished, illiterate parents. Twice a day she threaded her way through the jeering of hateful mobs of white people to go to school. She had to be escorted by federal marshals just to make sure she got to school safely.
Dr. Robert Coles was a young child psychiatrist and Harvard professor. He wanted to talk with Ruby to analyze why she would undertake such a monumental task. He expected to find a certain psychological condition to explain her actions. After getting to know Ruby Bridges he found no complex psychological profile. He said his presumptions could not have been more wrong. Instead he wrote that what he discovered was “a six-year-old’s commitment to live what she had learned in the Bible.”
(p. 119)
Oh, to be so clear on our faith -- to be so bold in our living!
Let us turn resolutely to God and make sure we are connected to the one and only living and true God. Let us make sure our personal practices keep us connected. Let us be those who hear and do the word of God.
“Why are we not more ________?”
“…walked up to _____ miles just to get to church. …looking
for something much more ________-changing than that.”
the word of God and do it. (v. 21)
You would say ____________.
Someone would say worship.
Someone else would say Bible reading or Bible study.
Christians grow in their discipleship better if they are
participating in a __________…
“Have no end, no ultimate end, but God.”
Without spiritual power we have ______________ to
offer.
I want not only the energy, but the fierce love and boundless
______, the perfect peace, of the committed Christian life.
By the time ______________ concluded, I was refreshed and
so pleased to be here among you.
Do you remember the name ________ Bridges?
“a six-year-old’s commitment to live what she had learned
in the __________.”
Kid’s Question: Jesus
said it is important that we ________
and _____ the word of
God. (fill in the blanks)