Done Deal

 

Salvation is the deal. 

As we head toward Easter it will be what we are focusing on as we cover our United Methodist beliefs. This should an especially important topic to us as we think about confirmation in this time of the year. Our confirmation class is on its 4th week today. We are following a study by a Nazarene pastor and theologian, Charles "Chic" Shaver, who put together a series of Basic Bible Studies (now known as "The Journey"). Our confirmation group are asked to fill in the blanks with this study as they answer questions while looking up scripture references that correlate to the numbered format. 

One of the scripture we have touched on comes from Hebrews 10. In the midst of our Lenten season and here in the middle of our confirmation time, we are looking at the matter of our salvation as a done deal. It has been covered, taken care of, forever, in the hands of Jesus Christ. Lets look at what the writer of Hebrews has to say on the subject. 

Maybe we can work with that "fill in the blank" format as we look at the scriptures this morning. If you are following along at home, then it should be easy to see where your answers come from and should go. I'll make it as simple as possible. We are going to have a nice three-point message today. 

Sacrifices

For the entirety of the Old Testament, minus some moments when the Israelites did not have their Temple to worship in, the need for a sacrifice was all important to their religious experience. Every year, a lamb was to be brought to the Temple and offered to the priest who cut it open and give it to the altar and the fire. The smoke of that sacrifice would go up, as symbol of our prayers going up to God. The blood from the lamb would be sprinkled over the altar, a sign of the blood covering and marking us. What the writer of Hebrews notes for us is that law was simply a shadow of what was to come. We need to see the illustration in the moment of sacrifice and put the necessary correlation into the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus was to be the sacrifice for our sins. Refereed to as "The Lamb of God", our Savior took our sins on his shoulders just as the blood from the lamb was supposed to cover a families sins for the coming year. Jesus takes our sins and covered them in such a way that the old system is no longer necessary. There is no need to keep repeating that old system over and over again. It means nothing now. It was simply a sign of what was to come. And, now it has. And, Salvation is open to everyone. 

In verses 2 and 10 from Hebrews chap 10, it has a particular three word phrases that need to stick with us. It is the "meat and potatoes" of this passage. 

² Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed _________________, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ __________________.

What Christ does for us is done for all time. It need not be repeated annually. It is over and done. The Lamb was sacrificed for our sins and the matter is closed. 

Priest

 Because of what Jesus has done for us, power and control has been established and founded in His name for all time. When a sacrifice was brought to the Temple it was given to the priest. This is one of the moments where we see Jesus being our All in All. He takes on many roles in our lives and sometimes he wears different hats. I could bring to the surface an illustration of multi-tasking. Anybody here actually good at doing multiple things at the same time. We aren't supposed to text and drive, but some people do it amazingly well. Some folks can't handle chewing gum and walking at the same time. It's even harder to carry on a conversation and watch your favorite television program. We are finite beings and we cannot fathom the ability to handle more than one thing at time. Maybe two or three things can be rolling around in our noggins. How does God do all that he does for us? In the matter of our salvation, he is the sacrifice and he is the priest - at the same time. Lets look closer at verses 11 thru 13. 

¹¹ Day after day every ______ stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. ¹² But when this ______ had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the _____________, ¹³ and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.

Covenant

It is important to bring to light what we are doing with God. We are in a relationship with him. We are in a covenant with him. That's a word we aren't very familiar with in our lexicon. We've heard references to marriage vows. We are used to thinking about friendships and close personal relationships with others. What exactly does a covenant mean for us in this religious context?

 

The noun really is what you expect with some legal jargon in just the right places. "a usual formal, solemn agreement." Sometimes written, Sometimes simply verbal between parties. A handshake might ensue. Prayers might be given. 

The verb side does give us some interesting things to think about.
It's one of those words that can go both transitive and intransitive at the same time. Makes me think about how God can be all things to us. If two or parties are involved in this covenant matter, then we can "pledge" to be there for each other. We can lean on each other and find the help we need in the moment we need it. It always go the other way. When we "enter into" it might feel like we are being handed a contract. The contract states that we have certain criteria that we are to uphold. There might be specific things that we have to do in order the covenant to be in effect. If anything get broken or does not get done by us, then we owe something in return. When was the last time you stayed at a hotel? There is usually a contract of some kind hanging on the door inside your room stating what you will charged if anything get broken. If you don't leave the premises by check out time, then you will get billed for another day for the time you spent there. 

The nice thing about our contract is that Jesus paid it all.

¹⁴ For by one sacrifice he has ___________________ those who are being made holy.

The subject here should translate to the matter of us following Christ and not doing anything that would run the bill up higher. Not only is Christ putting our sins behind us, he wants us to have a complete change of heart as to how we approach life.  We need to walk with him and be amazed at what has done for us and continues to do for us. The hymn writer, Charles Wesley, put it in his own words.

"And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Savior's blood!
Died he for me? who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?"

Be Amazed. Walk with Jesus and know what he has done for you. 

Dynamic Duo

 

as we continue with

Grace & Faith

In February, We got some help from our lay speakers, Ray Higdon and Mike Porter as we covered the topics of Faith and Grace. Today, I want to look at them together and see the inter-connectedness of these major tenets of the faith. We find ourselves looking at Ephesians chapter 2 in a very well known passage where the Apostle Paul speaks to our salvation and bring these two word into the center.

 

Paul says it twice in the course of this passage. "it is by grace you have been saved" I'm not sure I fully grasped the intensity with which those words are meant to be delivered with, and so, I wanted to understand what grace really is for us. It's one thing to see the definition of a word. It's something else to see it with our own eyes.  

There's a woman who frequents the pantry at Hopewell. She and her sister are a couple of characters who make the trek out to the church every month with either the help of a transit bus or with someone else's vehicle. It has been described that if the chance were given to them that they would clean out the pantry in one haul. Someone has to walk with them (which is standard procedure for anyone visiting the pantry) and keep an eye on what they are putting in their cart to make sure they don't clean us out of house and home. Sometimes both sisters come and many times just one of them does the shopping for both of the sister's families. I recall last year when i first began to be integrated into the system at the pantry that I was given the task of working with them as they sat on the bus waiting for their order to be filled. We had the task last year of doing the shopping for all of the pantry visitors. No one was allowed to come inside during the stretch of the pandemic. So, our helpers would go out to the waiting cars and trucks that had lined up with clip boards and papers to walk people through what was waiting downstairs and then we would bring the list inside and go through to get them their items. After bagging it all up, we would bring it out to their vehicle and send them on their way. I got the sisters who just happened to be on a Perry County transit bus that day and it was my first time walking anybody through the 4 pages of items that listed all the food in the pantry. I didn't understand what exactly we were supposed to offer them and I think the sisters knew that. With every section we went through in the paper work, they gladly accepted everything that was offered to them. I marked up the papers thoroughly and brought them down stairs to them team that was waiting to do their shopping for them. A few minutes later, our director spoke up and said I had done the list wrong and I needed to go back out and rework the papers with the sisters. We only offer a few items out of each section and not everything on every line of the paperwork. So, I had go back out and explain that to two grinning sisters in their 60's from rural Perry County that they couldn't have all these items. Grace goes both ways in this instance. From the ones taking advantage of the system and the one who didn't understand how to offer it properly.

God offers his hands and hearts to us even though we don't necessarily get what the proper procedure is for approaching him. And, in matters where it seems like our carnal nature wants to take it all fro granted, God still offers his love to us. We don't deserve it. We can earn it. He just does. The sisters have never been turned down or told to go away. The door is always open for them to return next month. And, there is always plenty of food to share with them. God wants us to draw close to him. His arms are always open for us to receive. What we need to learn is dependence on Him. In drawing close to God we learn that the ways we have been handling things can stop dominating our lives. We are used to taking matters into our own hands in order to get what we want the way we want it. God wants something different. His Grace is the way into a life that is drastically unlike what we know. His ways are not our ways. His Grace is not what we are used to. Maybe it's why change takes so long in our world and when it finally does come to a place where what we need can actually be, we fight it and squabble and holler about it instead of simply letting God lead the way. It's never easy to let God be God. Yet, his arms are still open to us; drawing us closer to where he is at the heart of love. 

Now what about faith?

This morning at church was an eventful day, but the thing that grabbed my attention was a competition that had ensued between some of our Sunday School kids. (My son was included in this.) The story of Moses lifting his arms up in the air in the battle with the Amalekites from Exodus 17. As long as Moses kept his arms up, the Israelites were prevailing. But, if his arms came down the Amalekites were winning. The challenege at church today became one of who could keep their arms up above their heads longer.

And, the battle kept up the entire service.

Even after the service, we began refreshment time downstairs in the fellowship hall. The kids still had their arms above their heads. In Moses' story, it took the combined efforts of his brother Aaron and another man named Hur to hold up Moses' arms when they got tired. They also provided a place for Moses to sit down. There is so much grace and faith in the passage that it boggles the mind. Take a moment to read it and see just what we are talking about. Chapter 17 begins with a bunch of grumbling by the Israelites about having water to drink and whether the Lord is actually taking care of them at all. God still does take care of them and go before them into battle. He rescues them, provides for them, and makes a way even though the probably don't deserve any of it. God drawing close to us even though we do not appreciate or understand what He is doing is much of what Grace is all about. Faith is what we need to draw close to God and many time we lack the required need. Still, God is there. And, if that is what is needed for salvation, then how do we make that happens.

We do not. God does. 

And, that's why Grace and faith are so important.
Draw close to God and he will draw close to you.
Have Faith in God, and you will begin to see exactly what it's about.

Ash Wednesday 2020

 

 

It's time for Lent to begin and the question I usually pose to all my congregants is, "What will you give up for Lent?"

It is a tradition long seeded in Christendom. As a Lutheran scholar has noted, Lent is "...a time we set aside each year to remember the love of God that is poured out through Christ Jesus on the cross in His death; and His defeat of death, sin and Satan in Christ's death and resurrection that brings Eternal Life to you." There are many way we could approach Ash Wednesday. If we are speaking about being over-comers of sin, we could certainly speak to the Armor of God and create a M.O.S.H. pit. (March On Satan's Head) I think the intention of Lent, however, is one of remorse and introspection. It is not a time of getting ourselves pumped up for a battle. God will take care of the battle for us. He has already with the death and resurrection of his Son. Lent has with it some connotations of repentance and sorrow. This should be our first means of approach as we draw near to God. Our religious experience is not one where we try to put the emotional side on a mountain top so we feel good about ourselves. The scriptures make it plain to us that if we are to come close to the Almighty we should do so with "sackcloth and ashes". There needs to be some way of stating for our hearts that we know that we do not measure up to the way God intends for humans to be. Maybe we should approach with an "I'm sorry". Maybe we come near with nothing to say at all. We simply come. "Be still and know..." 

God draws close to us as well. God does not come with grand gestures or loud announcements. He simply comes. With our Lenten season comes a time of fasting and praying that many of us seem to misunderstand. Isaiah 58 is one place where God makes an impassioned plea for his people to have a correct mindset on what it is he wanting. It's not about giving up things that have no consequence or meaning in the big picture of life. It is about going with out so that other might have a chance to feel love and acceptance. If we are giving up some kind of food, might we take the time to go see that someone else has food for their family during this time? We seek creature comforts that would make our lives easier yet leave weights and yokes on others that would hold them down and make life harder for them. How could we give shelter to those who need to get in out of the storm of life? This time is not for petty things like giving up chocolate and soda pop. It is for setting our own wants and cares aside and giving ourselves to the life that God intends for us to live. A life that meets the needs of other people and forgets about our selfish wants and desires. 

Jesus went without for 40 days. NO food. NO water. NO bread. We often seek for ways that we can follow in the footsteps of our Savior and be like him. That is why these 40 days are important to our journey. Often, Christians will use this time between Ash Wednesday and Easter as a way to re-focus ourselves. Revival meetings are meant to be just that. A way to bring to life something that was dying inside of us. What can you do during this next 6 weeks that would bring you closer to God? If fasting is the way you intend to spend this season, remember the suggestion of John Wesley who would say, "do not get so caught up in the means of fasting that you forget why you were fasting in the first place." Jesus did so in order to put his flesh in line with what the Father wanted of Him spiritually. For many, and I would cast an eye into the arena of our Catholic friends; to suggest that this becomes another means of control. But, so many in our Protestant world have no idea why they are fasting either. Even if the direction from a congregant is to give up something like chocolate or listening to music on the way to work, to often they truly can't give you a good reason as to why they are doing this. We lose sight of where we are headed before we even take off on the journey because we don't understand where we are headed in the first place. 

About 10 years ago, out of the United Kingdom, came a group calling itself Stewardship. There emphasis was to help people into the means of giving what they have in philanthropic ways to meet the needs of others. What they developed has come to be known as the 40acts Challenge. Throughout the UK and into the world, this interesting group has found ways to contribute and help others who might need some financial means or food or any kind of assistance. I spent this afternoon working it up and came tonight with a 40 day challenge of our own here in this area. Take it as seriously as you want. Edit it in any for or fashion that you want. My hope is that we can look beyond ourselves into our world make it a better place to be. 

With the disposition of Ashes, we are reminded that we are only here on the earth for a short while. Let us give our hearts to Jesus and make the best of the world we have around us.

Name Above All Names

 

Jesus
Name Above All Names
Beautiful Savior
Glorious Lord

 

from the father-son duo Aaron~Jeffrey

 

In Genesis, He's the breath of life
In Exodus, the Passover Lamb
In Leviticus, He's our High Priest
Numbers, The fire by night
Deuteronomy, He's Moses' voice
In Joshua, He is salvation's choice
Judges, law giver
In Ruth, the kinsmen-redeemer
First and second Samuel, our trusted prophet
In Kings and Chronicles, He's sovereign

Ezra, true and faithful scribe
Nehemiah, He's the rebuilder of broken walls and lives
In Esther, He's Mordecai's courage
In Job, the timeless redeemer
In Psalms, He is our morning song

In Proverbs, wisdom's cry
Ecclesiastes, the time and season
In the Song of Solomon, He is the lover's dream

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Isaiah, He's Prince of Peace
Jeremiah, the weeping prophet
In Lamentations, the cry for Israel
Ezekiel, He's the call from sin
In Daniel, the stranger in the fire

In Hosea, He is forever faithful
In Joel, He's the Spirits power
In Amos, the arms that carry us
In Obadiah, He's the Lord our Savior
In Jonah, He's the great missionary

In Micah, the promise of peace
In Nahum, He is our strength and our shield
In Habakkuk and Zephaniah, He's pleading for revival
In Haggai, He restores a lost heritage
In Zechariah, our fountain

In Malachi, He is the son of righteousness rising with healing in His wings

He is, He is, HE IS!

In Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, He is God, Man, Messiah
In the book of Acts, He is fire from heaven
In Romans, He's the grace of God
In Corinthians, the power of love
In Galatians, He is freedom from the curse of sin

Ephesians, our glorious treasure
Philippians, the servants heart
In Colossians, He's the Godhead Trinity
Thessalonians, our coming King
In Timothy, Titus, Philemon He's our mediator and our faithful Pastor

In Hebrews, the everlasting covenant
In James, the one who heals the sick.
In First and Second Peter, he is our Shepherd
In John and in Jude, He is the lover coming for His bride
In the Revelation, He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords

He is, He is, HE IS!

The prince of peace
The Son of man
The Lamb of God
The great I AM

He's the alpha and omega
Our God and our Savior
He is Jesus Christ the Lord
And when time is no more
He is, HE IS!

What more can I say beyond what these incredible singers have offered to us this morning?
Jesus is what the story is all about. Jesus is the central focus of the whole flow of time and history. Without Jesus there is nothing to put our faith into that matters. Following up our message last week on faith and moving into the subject of the name of Jesus today directs us into a very specific direction. Jesus is the only way for salvation. Jesus is the only way to make it into eternal life, spending all eternity with God. I contemplated trying to use all the name we could ascribe to Jesus in the course of today's message, but there just was no way to bring that about. We used to kid back in school about young preachers, like we were, trying to cover the whole bible from Genesis to Revelation in one message. There is just so much to share and so much to say and we want everyone to hear all of it at once and not miss a thing. 

There are a few names or notions about Jesus that we should focus on especially if we are thinking about faith as a current topic of thought. How do you put your faith and trust in Jesus? What areas of life do you find yourself connecting with Jesus? Does your health bring you to your knees and crying out for help? Is it the state of our country and nation and world that makes you want to draw close to him? Is it your family? Do your kids and relatives help you to understand that God is a parent to us and we are his children? There is so much ground to cover here and only a short amount of time to think about it. So, what could we center ourselves on before we head back into our world? What could we take with us that would support us on our journey?

A few phrases and words from Aaron~Jeffrey's song could be helpful as we think about who God is through the person of Jesus Christ to us.

The Breath of Life - Do we get up each morning thinking about how God has created this day for us to enjoy? We have life and breath in our bodies because God deems it so. We have today to be His children and part of his family. He has given us other people to enjoy and interact with so we don't have to be alone. There might be time where we wish we were alone after dealing with the people in our world. There might be moments when we need to get away and be alone, with God, and fill our hearts and lungs and body with new breath and fresh spirit. God is here to refresh us and breath new life into us. 

The Lamb and The Priest - When we refer to God as our ALL in ALL, do we truly get that he has taken all of this on his shoulders? We need a way to make up for our sin/sins. We need something to atone for the atrocity. Sin should not be in our lives and there seems to be nothing we can do about it. Jesus takes the sin of the world on his shoulders, on our behalf, and does that for us. In the same instance, we need a priest who can intercede for us. many of us understand the need for and the role that a priest and pastor plays in our religious experience. Jesus takes that role on at the same time he is also being the sacrifice for our sin. And, there is more he does on our behalf and for our well-being. 

Our Great Physician - It's maybe the most poignant phrase to our current world situation and quite the most referred to in our everyday life. We read over and over again how people came to Jesus in need of healing. The lame, their legs and arms not working properly. The blind, unable to see the world around them. The leper, with skin conditions that the world has deemed unclean, making them enable to have human contact with others. But, the healing doesn't stop on just a surface level with what we can see or hear. We need healing in our souls from the harm that sin has done to us. We need the two edged sword from the world to cut us free from bondage we experience. There is a healing in that as well. And, if the healing we seek in this world cannot be found, there is an ultimate healing when we go to meet him. We leave this tragic existence behind and find peace in Glory with Him. Our Lord knows our bodies inside and out. He knows what we need. 

If we spend a few moments in John chapter 3, we see many other words we could use to describe who Jesus is. Do we really understand the awkwardness of someone like Israel's teacher coming to this unknown man and calling him "Rabbi"? But, Nicodemus believed. He was putting his trust and faith in Jesus in that moment. Yes, he comes at night when no one else would see and hear. But, he comes. Later, his faith would be front and center when he is the one who comes for the body of Jesus to bury him, placing the Savior in the tomb. Do you have faith? Do you know where to put it and how to use it? Do you know who to give that faith to as you journey through this life? 

The Beginning and the End. The Alpha and the Omega.
The One who above all and in all. Drawing us closer to God, making a way for us to approach.

Jesus. Name Above All Names. 

Never Enough

 

Mike & Tiffany Porter

Today, I will be hanging around the Hopewell church after the service with their congregation for a Valentines brunch meal. Mike Porter from the Thornville congregation will be filling in for me at their pulpit. I challenged Mike to carry on with our theme of United Methodist beliefs and step into the subject of Faith. I will be sharing on the same subject at Hopewell. (Feel free to compare notes afterwards.) Faith about a broad of a subject in Christendom as you can find. There are so many ways to present this essential element of our lives as we follow Christ. It should be interesting to hear what Mike has to say. I'm already wondering if we will wind up saying similar things in our messages or if we will wander in totally different directions. Someone from the Thornville congregation should have their phone camera handy to broadcast some LIVE Feed out on Facebook.

 

Faith is a wide and deep matter to step into.  Where do we even begin to start talking about such a subject as this? If we approach this as a biblical event, then we actually have to go deep into the book - yes, the entirety of the Bible itself, before we come to a good line that could serve as a definition on the subject. 

John Wesley would have put it like this, "Saving faith is a sure trust and confidence which a man has in God, that by the merits of Christ his sins are forgiven, and he is reconciled to the favour of God." If salvation is the center of our dealings with faith and we are trying to apply the verse from Hebrews in that direction, then we might see our saving and redemption as something unattainable. Faith would put the matter into the hands of the Almighty and show us that it is possible. The Apostle Paul would put it directly into that arena and out of the hands of man. 

Ray Higdon will take the subject of Grace as he fills in for me on the last Sunday of the month. I think Ray will do a great job of explaining what Grace is from his point of view with all that he has experienced in his life and family. Grace and Faith are, most certainly, gifts of God. Grace has to do with God drawing us to himself. Faith has to do with us reaching out. Many have felt the need to stop and ask God for faith in the midst of a difficult time. You may feel that you do not have faith. I would plead the case that if you just asked God for faith, then you know what it is and your most assuredly have it. it is impossible to reach out to God unless you believe he is there. Faith opens the locked door and allows us to make the plea. 

Bubba Watson is a golf pro and two time Masters champion. In the February-March edition of Guideposts, he shares what faith means to him and how he keeps his focus on what truly matters. We are going to see this short video in church this morning as Bubba shares what his parents taught him.

Reading through Hebrews 11, we are dropped into a history lesson. We are shown these giants of life and lore with what they have gone through. If you are a sports person, there are a plethora of people we can look to that will inspire and shock our senses with their abilities. Faith can seem like such a mountain to climb. They misguided idea is that only certain people get to make the trek to true faith. That would be a misread of Hebrews 11. What we need to see here is that all of these people mentioned here are just common, everyday folks. The reason they get a mention is because they chose to trust God and put faith before their issues. Whether your hero is Bubba Watson or Michael Jordan or Jesus Christ, what have they put in front of us that inspires us to go forth with faith? A deeper look at the word might help us with that answer.

There are some immediate trigger words that should jump off the page at us when thinking about the definition of faith. How exactly do you define it for yourself? Many of have been taught that its a sin to question God. We should take everything we hear on faith and trust that it is right. However, if we are listening to the last line of the definition, then we see words about having strong convictions. We don't arrive at a place with that resolution unless we take the time to ask questions and seek answers. I especially like the line that speaks to having good intentions. "acted on good faith" What about having faith when everything looks lost and hopeless? "firm belief for something in which there is no proof" The Apostle Paul would say "No one has ever seen God". How do we hang on to a faith in something for which we have never seen before? Have you seen God before? How do you know he is there? Faith is that one essential quality we all need. At the beginning. At the end of it all. Hold on to what is true. Hold on to your faith. And, don't let go.

Enough For All

 

This morning we are going to partake in communion with a bit of a twist.

I mentioned two weeks ago, when we were covering the bread as part of this sacrament, that I had been a part of a bread sharing service back in my Nazarene days. We are going to do something similar. I had said that we really didn't do anything with the juice that day. We simply broke big chunks off the loaf that was up front and went and found someone to share that chunk. I'm going to encourage you to do that today. There is also juice here on the table in the Chalice for those who would like to dip their bread through Intinction. There is also a tray with some individual cups here for those who find it easier to share in communion that way. There are some serving gloves here if you think that you should put something on your hands before you touch the bread. The bread is already cut up into some large chunks so that you don't have to do the work of pulling it apart. 😊

One of my colleagues, Richard Purvis, through means of the Emmaus Walk program, would encourage people to take a BIG chunk. "Get a big ol' chunk of God's Grace!" It's always important to have plenty of bread when you do Communion at an Emmaus retreat. And, if you take as much bread as Richard would suggest, you have to turn around and get that next loaf after 10 or so people come through. There is plenty of bread here today! If you are watching at home and you have no bread, feel free to pause the video, drive down to Kroger and get yourself some bread. The service will be here when you get back.Or, be like Paul, that guy from our group when we studied the United Methodists sacrament book, who only had dried up carrots and apple juice. Let us focus on why we are here today and not on how exactly we are doing this and what exactly we have been told we are to use. Worship from your heart. Worship in the freedom of the Spirit. Worship like Jesus is sitting there with you. If you think of Jesus as a friend, that should not be hard to do. Lets take a look at the scripture for today.

 

I noted last week that the Gospel writers seem to have different accounts of the Last Supper meal. However, this one is very different. I find it strange that John is the only one who seems to recall the moment. Matthew would have been right there at the table with him. His Gospel seems to focus more on Old Testament Law & Prophecy. So, the historical perspective of the Passover and the connection to the Israelite's history seems appropriate for the style of his writing. Luke is said to have drawn much of his knowledge from Peter and others who would have been descendants of the the times and people surrounding the events of Jesus' life. Still no one brought this moment up. John is said to be "the disciple whom Jesus loved". One of the inner three. Sitting right next to Jesus at the meal. Sometimes its where we are in the moment that causes us to remember what we saw and heard. 

Do you remember your first communion? Do you recall where you were? What church you were in? How old you were when the elements were offered? For me it was nothing spectacular. I was 14. It was back in that Disciples of Christ church in my hometown. After years of watching those trays go past my eyeballs, having to pass them on to the next person, I could finally partake in that crusty wafer and a little cup of juice. I had mentioned a couple weeks back that we would cover the subject of the Open Table here in the United Methodist Church. I grew up with a closed table mentality toward sharing the bread and juice with others. Our cluster group of UM pastors and lay speakers covered this matter in depth through Gayle C. Felton's book in the fall of 2021. Felton would state that since we have this "open table" that it means "there are few, if any, requirements that a person must meet in order to receive" communion when worshiping with a group of United Methodist people. There are literally numerous occasions in the Gospels where we would see Jesus eating a meal and sharing in fellowship with people that society would have deemed them unworthy of such access to God. Felton would also say that it seemed Jesus went out of his way to find and reach out to such people. We have grown up in a world that like to nicely segregate everyone into their own personal area. Many of us have grown up with such walls dividing us into a certain arena where we are told we fit in and belong. This matter of communion has long been used in church surrounding as a way to tell people whether they can actually be with Christina people or not. Joseph Serwach in his blog "The Catholic Way Home" would share just how detrimental that outlook has been for people who question church rule and authority down through the centuries. Communion has been a means of controlling people. If we want access to God, we have to go through those in charge of such treasure. And, if we don't meet their requirements, then we get left out. There is good and bad to this way of dealing with the public. We want unity - around what we believe, around our body of believers, focusing on what matters about God and not simply believing whatever we want. We also want everyone to find their way to God. The old adage that "you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink" could fit in here with a slight adaptation. In some cases it's not that the horse doesn't want to drink, but that he isn't allowed to do so unless the horse is doing exactly what the church says he or she can do. It's a dicey bit of ecclesiastical drama.  And, it's necessary. We need to bring people to a right relationship with God on God's terms and not our own. It's God's door we are rapping our fist on. It is God who knocks on the door of our own hearts. We need to keep proper perspective on who we are dealing with as we seek to come closer. That is why so many of our church denominations would have that closed table; in order to ensure that a person is understanding that they need to accept Christ as their Savior before they simply pop some bread and juice in their mouth is essential to our Christian faith. 

Where do you find yourself today? Do you know Jesus as Savior and Lord? Do you understand what we are doing as we approach the table? If you do, then come. It's a strange Sunday today as we seek to partake in the Lord's Supper in front of a TV or computer screen. Maybe you have bread. Maybe you just have some dried up carrots. Maybe you have juice. Maybe you have wine. Maybe you have nothing. Come. Draw close. Seek the One who wants to know you. Find solace in the One who can heal all wounds and sure up any broken heart. God wants everyone to come. There is enough for all here at this table. 

"Having loved his own who were in the world, He loved them to the end."

Share The Wine

 

taking a look at the

Like when you sit in front of a fire in winter — you are just there in front of the fire. You don't have to be smart or anything. The fire warms you.

Desmond Tutu

Last week we focused on the bread. This week we look at the wine. Next week we share together. 

If the bread symbolizes the Body of our Savior, the Wine is supposed to speak about his blood, shed for our sins. His body was broken, shown to us through the breaking of the bread as the officiant usually pulls the loaf apart into two pieces. Our communion process is rather simple as we only have some bread and a cup before us. The Jewish Sader meal is a much more complex partaking of lamb meat and oil and cracker bread until there is small bite put together that is then dipped into the cup. (If you ever get a chance to be a part of a Sader meal, I highly recommend.) The last part, however, is the cup. And, in our Protestant tradition, we focus on the two elements mentioned in the scripture as Jesus brings his hearers attention to them. I see much of the fellowship we need to have with one another in the communion elements, especially in the bread. What is so special about the wine, then? What kind of experience do we have together as we share in the cup that symbolizes his blood? 

The foodie in me came out as I was preparing the message this week. I'm sitting in Champs Pizza and Pub putting some thoughts into the blog post for this week's sermon. I have a Hawaiian Pizza coming to me in a matter of minutes. (I have added mushrooms and jalapenos to my pizza because... I'm a little crazy) And, it comes to me... this is where a great communion service could happen! There is a sharing in the bread and there is fellowship in the wine. What do people do when they are having a drink together? They are usually having a good time! I take to Google to see what I might find with a search of "communion experience wine". I'm hoping there might be some people who have shared their own stories surrounding a time of fellowship with other people in their own personal moment with the Lord's Supper. One of the first results I saw in my search was for the Communion Wine Company. They have a vineyard in Oregon and a Beer and Wine Tasting Bar in Arizona called the Divided Vine. I just felt like there was a story behind the name of the bar and I was intrigued by the concept I read on the opening page of their website. I had to know more about this place. 

Because I'm not all that shy, I immediately grabbed their email address and wrote to them. If you visit their site, you will quickly find out that the owners are Jeremy & Michelle Jernigan. They have 5 kids and live in Oregon. Jeremy is a second generation preacher with a passion for sharing and talking with people. The drive of the Communion Wine Company is to bring people together around wine to experience Jesus in new ways. Let me ask you, when was the last time you just sat down with someone and had a drink? When was the last time you experienced fellowship and peace with others around the table? Some might think it too fundamental to think of sharing in wine as we talk about Jesus. There are those in our world who would see something like the Lord's Supper and think, "They served wine. We should drink wine also." (I poked at our Lutheran friends on Facebook today as I prepared for this Sunday. I take no shame in doing so.) There are some who would open a bottle and pour a glass and sit and talk about their beliefs in front of others. This company is pressing it's inspiration into my heart further. After reaching out through email, I got a response from Jernigan. I wanted to know more about the Divided Vine's name and Jeremy responded with, "[It's] is a clever name as half the bar is wine and the other half is beer. They have the wine list on one wall and the beer list on the opposite wall. The idea is that there is normally a divide between beer and wine drinkers but they want to bring them both together. The owner isn’t a Christian but he has become an incredible ‘person of peace’ to partner with us and host our events." I thought the name had to come from some background about our divided nature over things in this country. There is always a chance to bring people together over a glass or a bottle and talk things out. What better place than here? 

I reached out again to ask about his own background and personal journey. How did they come up with this idea to do a ministry around a wine company? Jeremy came back to me with, " I was in full-time ministry for two decades and was Lead Pastor of a megachurch in Portland for three years. I ended up quitting when my eldership told me that I needed to stop talking about the things I was talking about. It made me realize that many of the conversations that need to happen may not be able to happen inside of our churches. We try and create space for people to feel safe to explore Jesus in ways that may not fall in line with their church experiences." He still speaks regularly in churches and has a "foot in both camps", so to speak, as he tries to present Jesus to as many people as possible. It makes me wonder what kinds of things Jernigan had been talking about that would have made his church leaders feel uncomfortable. There is plenty of ground to cover that would probably make others not so easy with the material that needs to be addressed as we try to bring others to Jesus. And, the subject of alcohol would tend to make some feel uneasy as they think about trying to separate their faith from any possibility of drunkenness. But, aren't the people we need to reach right their around some bar stools? I shouldn't need to remind a bunch of Methodist minded people that our founding fathers, some Wesley boys, are historically noted for crafting some hymns that would have followed some tunes that would have been heard from a piano in some places called "bars". "The world is my parish", are the world famously coined and attributed to John Wesley himself. That world would include those not so well thought of places where we might not want to find ourselves going. When was the last time you found yourself inside of a place like Champs Pizza and Pub, especially since it has been expanded and remodeled into the lovely bar it is today? You might find yourself in front of a conversation with an area Thornvillian or Glenfordite that you wouldn't normally see. 

One of my fellow colleagues is Zach Bechtold. He is one of the two guys who does a podcast and blog called Bearded Theologians. (You can guess why.) Yes, Zach is all his bearded glory is the pastor of Grace UMC in Cheyenne, WY. Zach has actively been involved in a bar room ministry with other men in the area who meet for a glass and have a small bible study at a nearby bar. It has been going on for several years and Zach finds it truly rewarding and fulfilling. It has opened him up to people he might not otherwise get to talk with or share. Certainly, the matter of alcohol brings to the surface the need to confront any issue getting drunk. It should be noted: if alcohol is a temptation that is not easily handled in your particular life, then you should avoid this sort of thing. Still, there are people here who need to be reached out to and it take other human beings with self control to work in this area. 

I am able to reference a time in my own life when I needed to do this. For the larger part of my time on this earth, I had not consumed alcohol. It wasn't until I was 40 and living in Thornville that I occasionally would have a beer socially. Prior to that, it never existed in my life. You would have had to go clear back to high school to find a time where I even tried some beer. When my wife and I were freshly married, I would take my car out to her cousin's house for a 6 month look at the brakes. Her cousin was a true blue beer drinker. In the time it took him to look my brakes over, he would probably have 5 or 6 bottles. He would offer me one. I would always turn him down. Then, on one visit, I decided I was going to have one. I had it in my mind that I could show him that you could simply drink one and stop. As he was taking the brake caliper off the driver side, I recall saying to him, "Todd, you know you can have just one and be done, don't you?" As he began to tear into the brake on the passenger side, his response was, "Yeah, I know", as he cracked the top on another beer. I finished my beer and he finished the brakes and that might have been the last time I went out to his house for a brake job. Sometimes, all we can do is be there and be the voice. We can't force change. All we can do is offer the bread and wine and be there for a shoulder, even if they don't want it. 

One of the most fulfilling things I have had the opportunity to do during my time in Thornville is to visit Weasel Boy Brewing in Zanesville. Nathan Zangmeister, bass player for the Wayfarers and one half of our favorite Sunday morning twosome Two by Two, playing guiatr along side pianist Carrie VanSickle, hosts an open mic night at Weasel Boy on the third Thursday of ever month. I have had the pleasure of singing there for several of those nights as the stage is open to local area talent. It has been a pleasure to sing about my faith and share some some songs that make you think. I have also had the joy of sitting and talking with people from all over. Musicians. Zanesville folks. Working people who just need a chance to unwind and relax. I have had conversations about church and God. I have shared music and prayer. Nathan and Carrie have done sets of old songs and classic hymns. You wouldn't think someone could do that in such a setting. But, you can. And, you should. There are people who need to here. There are souls longing for the contact. Ministry is about meeting people. People are everywhere. 

That is just where we are told to go.