Sunday, February 3, 2008
Matthew 17:1-6
Senior Pastor
One of you sent me a list of excuses of why people don’t go to church, but applied them to a sporting event. It illuminates the power or lack thereof in these excuses.
I don’t go to games anymore because:
My parents took me too many times as a child.
Every time I went they asked for money.
Last time I went someone was sitting in my favorite seat.
The coach called for plays I thought were flat wrong.
The band played songs I had never heard before.
Or how about this:
The games are scheduled on my only day off.
Some games went into overtime and lasted way too long.
I don’t want to bring my kids because I want them to
decide for themselves which sports they want to follow.
I used to go to games, but missed a few and just got out of the habit.
It is easy to find an excuse if we don’t really want to do something, isn’t it?
This week we are in the last segment of a series of sermons I have been calling, “I’m All In!” Using the image of a poker game and that moment when one player pushes all of their chips to the center and declares, “I’m all in!” we have been investigating going all in as disciples of Jesus Christ. But it is easier to choose to do nothing. It is easier to choose not to go “all in.” Or even if we have chosen to go “all in” at one time or another, I find it is relatively easy to get lost or distracted or for our commitment to wane. I have found that to be true in my lifetime.
So what is the remedy to this problem? If we want to be all in but have experienced the waning commitment or the feeling of being lost or of having strayed, what shall we do? What shall we do if we find we are coming up with more excuses rather than reasons to take the next step?
Once again I turn to John Wesley who helped so many over his lifetime with this very kind of issue. I have mentioned that he came up with these three General Rules for the people who became Methodists is those early days. The first said, “Do No Harm.” The second we looked at last week reminded us to “Do Good.”
His third General Rule for the serious Christian who wanted
to grow in their devotion and their commitment to Christ was to “attend to the
ordinances of God.” It reads like
this: It is expected of all who desire
to continue in these societies that they should continue to evidence their
desire of salvation, thirdly: By
attending upon all the ordinances of God; such are: The public worship of
God. The ministry of the Word either
read or expounded. The supper of the
Lord. Family and private prayer. Searching the Scriptures. Fasting or abstinence.” (The
Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church, 2004, p. 74)
So Wesley
recommended public worship; you are here; so far so good. Then public Bible study; okay check that one
off also. Then Holy Communion and we
will celebrate that later this morning; so we are three for three. Then he moves onto family and private
prayer, personal Bible study and fasting.
Six practices which he calls the ordinances of God that he
recommends. You can use it as a
checklist or a guide to your Christian walk.
But these are not
random suggestions. He goes on to say,
“These are the General Rules of our societies; all of which we are taught of
God to observe, even in his written Word, which is the only rule, and the
sufficient rule, both of our faith and practice.” (The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church,
2004, p. 74) These come to us from
God’s revelation in Scripture and therefore are offered to us as those things
which will keep us closer to God when practiced.
One contemporary
author writing about these rules rephrases number three to read: Staying in Love With God. (Rueben Job in Three Simple Rules.) I like that, staying in love with God. This list of six practices helps us stay
connected and therefore able to nurture this love relationship between
ourselves and God.
In our text today
Matthew tells us that Jesus took his inner circle, Peter, James and John, up on
a mountain and there something very strange happened. Matthew reports that they saw Jesus begin to shine like the sun
and his clothes became bedazzled with light.
Suddenly they realized the two great prophets of the Hebrew people were
there also. Then, if that is not
strange enough, they are encircled by a cloud and they hear a voice say, This
is my son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him. (v. 5)
Now, if you were
here a couple of weeks ago, we read Matthew’s story about Jesus being baptized
and how a voice from heaven said this very same thing. Except this time there is an additional
phrase – listen to him. Listen to
him. Having this other worldly
experience with Jesus is important for the disciples, but it is not enough by
itself. If all these guys do is have
one sensational, moving powerful experience where they realize who Jesus is,
that is good. But that is not enough. It is not enough for them and it is not
enough for us. We also need to listen
to him; to attend to his teaching. Or,
as Wesley put it, to attend to the ordinances of God.
It is important to
know that God has come to us in Christ, but to experience all God has in mind
for us, we have to listen and obey. We
have to listen and follow.
Devon Krause has
been our youth minister now for about five months. He has done good work for us with our youth. But he is also dealing with discerning God’s
call on his life and how to live that out.
He knows God loves him and is calling him and he is now listening to
figure out where God is leading him.
I have asked him to
come this morning and share a little of his journey with us.
Devon Krause:
Well, I’ve accept my call and I want to go into the ministry full-time
and be in the church and in the community, and when I go home or meet someone
in Enid and explain what I’m doing nowadays, I feel like they begin to see
something that’s not really there. All
of a sudden, I’m this perfect, godly figure and they have to censor themselves
around me because I’m so perfect and godly.
But that’s not what it feels like on the inside for me. I know I’m not perfect, and I know I have a
long ways to go to be “godly.”
For instance, the songs that I write are all about the struggles that I
face everyday with God. Although most
of my songs are about realizing those struggles and giving them up to God and
being joyful about it, there truly is a struggle there. I’m just like everyone else, but I might be
striving for something different.
Several weeks ago I went with a group to Extreme Winter
Conference. There were great bands like
Chris Tomlin, Sanctus Real, and Skillet - but the part that stuck out the most
to me was a speaker who asked the question:
“Are You Really Saved?” The
question got stuck in my mind. I
approached it as “Are you really in?”
I constantly feel like I’m betting everything. I tell God, “God, I’m going to put
everything forward for You,” but as soon as the chips start to move to the
center of the table, I begin to doubt.
I get nervous because of someone or something in my life asking: Can I really risk everything? Is this really going to be worth it in the
end?
I know I’ve been baptized, but I feel the need to be constantly
renewed. To be constantly reminded that
I want to stay “All In” and to remember that I’m not perfect and to be willing
to admit that.
And I want to take the opportunity to publicly show that I’m not afraid
to be humble. To let people know that
nothing I do, none of my gifts are me, but gifts from God.
Amen and thanks be to God.