Sunday, November 11, 2007
Mark 9:38-40
Senior Pastor
Have you heard the story of the fellow that got to go to Rome? Before he left he was in getting his pre-trip haircut. He was so excited about going he started telling the barber all about it. But the barber was one of those guys who seldom had anything good to say.
So when the man mentioned which airline he was taking the barber said, “Oh no, you don’t want to fly with them. They are always late. I mean they never leave on time. You will probably miss your connecting flights.”
The man said, “Oh, but we are staying in this certain hotel. I understand it overlooks the Vatican and has beautiful rooms. The barber said, “Oh no, you have got to be kidding – I have heard of that place. You will be lucky to get a clean towel there.”
Finally the man said, “Well guess what, we are scheduled to have an audience with the Pope. “No way,” the barber said. “I bet that will never happen.”
Well, the man did go on the trip and about a month later came back to see the barber. Sure enough the barber wanted to know all about the trip. “So, how did your trip to Rome go?” The man said, “I have got to tell you it was the best trip I have ever taken. The airlines had new planes with beautiful interiors and fabulous food and would you believe we took off and landed right on schedule.”
“Then we got to Rome and the hotel was even more outstanding than we had been told. Would you believe they even met us at the door with fresh clean towels?”
“Did you get to see the Pope?” the barber asked. “Yes, we did. It was spectacular. They led us through these winding halls, covered with the most exquisite paintings I have ever seen in my life. We entered the room and there was the Pope waiting at the far end of the room. There was this stunning red runner leading from the gallery where we were seated over to the Pope. We got to go over one at a time and kneel next to the Pope. My turn came and I stepped out on the red runner and walked toward the Pope, it was all but overwhelming. The closer I got, the more angelic he seemed. I mean, you could literally feel the love exuding from the man. Finally I am standing right in front of him. I knelt and he laid his hands on me and gave me a blessing.”
“What did he say to you?” the barber asked. He said, “Bless you my son.” Then he added, “Where did you get such a horrible haircut?”
That’s a fun story, but it reminds us that not everyone is open. Some people have already decided that they know what is going to happen and it’s going to be bad. They are closed in their thinking and they often also have closed their hearts. They are not open to the new. They are not open to the needs around them. Many have lost their sensitive to God’s spirit at work for good in our midst. Often they are the first to oppose those who are different or disagree with them.
That is the situation that our brief Bible passage addresses today. It is a situation in which the disciples are the closed ones. They have been out doing ministry, which is a good thing. But, they come back with this story about another fellow who is doing ministry in the name of Jesus and how they opposed him. Their reason was because he was not in their group. Apparently because he is doing it differently than they were doing it, they opposed him.
Jesus gives them this directive: Do not stop him. He goes on to explain that if he is working in the name of Jesus, then he is not working against them but is for them. That has been the stance of the United Methodist Church since its beginnings. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement, worked with people on many different sides of any number of issues.
He had a couple of dictums that speak to this. At one point he wrote, “If your heart is as my heart, then give me your hand.” That is, even if we disagree on matters of theology or politics or the like, but each have love in our hearts, then let’s work together. Another guiding principle that is still instructive today is this: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty; and in all things charity.” I believe those are guiding principles, which serve us very well and are certainly in concert with this teaching from Jesus that we read today.
So as United Methodists we work with lots of different kinds of people. We are involved in ecumenical work, which means we work with other Christian denominations. Some of that work focuses on unifying the body of Christ. Other parts of that work are partnerships to achieve things for the common good that are done more effectively with other Christian groups, rather than on our own. One local example would be the efforts of several of the churches in town trying to establish an effective ministry with the homeless folks in our community. Another example would be joint community worship services like the upcoming community-wide Thanksgiving service later this month. Sure we have differences with these groups, but if they are not against us, then take a positive road of working together.
United Methodists believe that God is still at work in the world. We believe that God is at work in our lives, in our denominations and in the lives of others and in their denominations. We believe God is at work in diverse ways and we want to be a part of that work. You received a three-panel color brochure with your bulletin this morning entitled, The People of the United Methodist Church – Who we are. One of the lines in there says, “We are a covenant community, concerned about God’s children everywhere. In life’s clouds of doubt and division, we see the sunlight of God’s purpose bringing healing, harmony and hope.” Isn’t that well said?
I love the phrase that uses the image of seeing the sunlight of God’s purpose shining through the clouds of doubt and division. I am proud to be a Methodist because we encourage everybody to open their hearts and their minds to see the sunlight of God’s purpose shining through. There are some who would emphasize the heart to the neglect of the mind. There are others that go the other way and so emphasize the mind that they lose sight of the importance of the heart.
We are a church that believes that hearts heat up when we turn toward God. We know God moves in the inner experiences of people and so we continually invite people to respond to that feeling of God’s coming close and commit to pursuing that as a follower of Christ. We want to have more of that and so we encourage people to become learners. The root meaning of the word disciple is learner. So we encourage people to use their minds, to study and read. There is much we can learn that will inform and deepen our faith.
Since we believe that God is still at work leading us as individuals and as a church, we want to stay attentive. I find using my head and my heart keeps me most attentive. I need study and prayer. I need fresh ideas and fresh worship experiences. They both contribute to my growth as a deeply devoted disciple.
The challenge for each of us is to identify our areas of focus, our frontiers for growth. Recently I was with one of our Disciple I Bible Study groups. They are just finishing up their 34-week study. As part of that study they work together to identify areas for service and growth. As they shared some of those in the group it was quite apparent how diverse God’s work within us is. Some are ready to teach others, some are ready to visit the sick and homebound, some are ready to work on the Habitat House, some are ready to work on reaching more people for Christ and bringing them into the church. See the diversity. We celebrate diversity within Methodism.
It would be a mistake to try to have all of them serve in the same way. The challenge is not to make sure everybody follows Jesus just the way I do. We do better to keep our hearts and minds open and focus on how God is leading us and then using all of our energy to follow that lead.
Ten
Reasons to be a Proud Methodist
Reason
#10: Open Hearts & Open Minds
Mark
9:38-40 11/11/07
…heard the story of the fellow that got to go to ________?
The man said, “I have got to tell you it was the best
________
I have ever taken.
…the disciples are the ____________ ones.
Jesus gives them this __________________: Do not stop him.
“If your heart is as my heart, then give me your ________.”
“In essentials
unity, in non-essentials liberty;
and in all things ______________.”
So as United Methodists we work with lots of different
kinds of ____________.
United Methodists believe that God is still at ________
in the world.
I am proud to be a Methodist because we encourage
everybody to open their hearts and their minds to ______
the sunlight of God’s purpose shining through.
The root meaning of the word disciple is ______________.
I find using my ________ and my __________ keeps me
most attentive.
The challenge for each of us is to identify our areas of
focus,
our frontiers for ____________.
Kid’s Question: What is the root meaning of the word
disciple?