Where else will you go to be reminded that you are not just a bundle of desires, that you are more than a worker for some companys profit margin, that you have a spiritual side? Fairly often, I talk with someone giving up on God because I just dont feel what I think I am supposed to feel. I guess I feel sad that feelings have become the litmus test of whether the Spirit is a reality. The only question in your life that matters is whether this story is true, and there have been scoffers from day one. John Shelby Spong is a f amous (notorious to many) writer who does not ascribe to Marys virginity partly because he thinks that views of Mary (and all those medieval notions about women being temptresses and conveyors of evil) foster psychological and societal troubles, which we certainly need to deal with. Our destiny is with God, in heaven, and that heaven will make even the glorious wonders of this world pale by comparison. From the very first generation of Christians, Jesus was called Christ which is not Jesus last n ame! I need the assistance of my neighbor to grow into my convictions. The Holy Spirit may (and will!) God c ame down here: as the Nicene Creed puts it, We believe in one Lord who for us and for our salvation c ame down from heaven. No other religion harbors such a crazed, scandalous idea: that God took on flesh and was embodied in a real person. It is interesting to notice that paganism, and other religions that were popular during the early years of the Church, had no creeds at all. What a demonstration of trust! or not? Where else will you hear any word even subtly challenging our culture? 
God is the actor, the protagonist, the initiator in this dr ama in which we get a direct glimpse into the heart of God through the life, words, actions, death and resurrection of Marys son 2000 years ago. We need each other to think clearly about God. Because we live in an age where authority is a dirty word, the idea that Christians should assent to any set of beliefs about God* is a scandal (dare I say a heresy?). A man loved his son more than his own life, but the son preferred to be self-made, to indulge in pleasures far from home. United Methodists share a common heritage with all Christians. Instead, we find a commission within the present world: Jesus is risen, therefore you have work ahead of you. The stories are about the vindication of Jesus, the validation of his claims, and the commissioning of his followers to act as his heralds, announcing to the world its rightful lord (N.T. This giving until it hurts this sacrifice is what I call love in action.. It promises that life and love, mind, heart, and all my actions, are set henceforward steadfastly on God, and God alone. If I am asked Do you believe in God? the stakes are the s ame as when I was asked, Do you take Lisa to be your wife?. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote, In Gods hand were the ends of the world: when his hand was opened by the key of love, creatures c ame forth. Dante spoke of the love that moves the stars. J ames Weldon Johnson thought of God as lonely, toiling over a lump of clay, like a m ammy bending over her baby. The Almighty God who is all love expressed that love by creating the universe, the earth, me sitting here typing, you sitting there reading. You need the Spirit of God; you need somebody outside yourself. According to our foundational statement of beliefs in the United Methodist Book of Discipline, we share the following basic affirmations, common in Christian communities, as recorded in Church history. But God can bring healing, and peace. What is to happen to the people who have certainly heard the message of Christ but who perhaps through the fault of those very Christians who have been charged with its procl amation have never come face to face with its truth? But then we look up and the bar is even higher than wed thought it was before so we strain higher, we fall short, we ask forgiveness and empowerment, the bar inches higher God wired the Christian life in this way so we would be more closely attached to God, so we would grow, so we would become the people we are meant to be, so we would never, ever become self-righteous or judgmental. Theologians have debated the inner meaning of the crucifixion, and we may reflect on three ways of understanding its hidden truth. This is the God who is so Almighty he bends down to us and whispers in our ear, Please, call me Abba. Because we enjoy our place in the Communion of Gods saints through space and time, we will settle for no less in our lives. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19). When Jesus told the disciples he would be killed, did he say Enjoy your life once Im gone? We call God Father for one reason only: when Jesus spoke to God, he called God Abba, an Ar amaic word that little children would use when curled up on their fathers lap. Judgment is creative for those who get it.. In the Bible, the Holy Spirit certainly works one on one with individuals, but the Spirits all-enveloping desire is to bring each person into relationship with others, almost like the square dance caller urging people off the sidelines into the circle, moving, listening to the next direction, joining hands, circling, smiling, delighting in the dance and that space in the middle of the circle around which we move together is Christ, whose presence is palpable in the actions of the dancers. He knew now that at the end there was only one thing that mattered to be a saint.. Rather, the Creed tells a story, in chronological order: God is first, then God creates, then God sends Jesus, who is born, dies, is raised, and then the Holy Spirit dawns on the Church and its life. An alleyway separates us from the Presbyterians, and we sneak in and use up each others parking spaces. In those days, new converts were instructed in the faith for months, during which time they fasted, abstained from entertainment and sex, and were prayed over diligently by the Church elders. Faith is how I view the universe; just as Copernicus yanked our perspective so we see the world isnt flat, and the earth isnt in the center of things, so the Creed suggests there is a deeper dimension than the stage we normally stroll upon, and we arent in the middle of things. How typical of us to respond to Mel Gibsons film by asking: who was to bl ame for Jesus death? Deep inside, dont you crave mercy? So how do we make any sense of He ascended into heaven? Church? Amen. So inspiration isnt some radioactive property emanating from this book. When you pray, say Our Father' (Matthew 6:9). Then your gift becomes a sacrifice, which will have value before God. We fall woefully short and so we ask for forgiveness before the bench, we ask for empowerment to be more holy and we do better. Forgiveness is the hardest work. My life is no longer self-indulgent, but I enjoy the privilege of serving the Maker of it all. These handkerchiefs are called saints (Frederick Buechner). Martin Luther King said that there is so much frustration because we have relied on gods rather than God. We hold old hurts close to our heart, and they are corrosive, they poison; but by the grace of God we can let them go, just as God has let ours go. What I like best about being a Methodist is that you can believe anything you want., Creeds are a point of contention among Christians. **"universal" These translations are the versions in the current United Methodist Hymnal. Christianity is an educational project, in we may learn, however slowly some freedom from the destructive bondage which the worship of any creature, however large or powerful, beautiful or terrifying, interesting or important, brings (Nicholas Lash). And just as he is about to die, Jesus encourages the forlorn disciples by promising to send the Spirit once he has gone (John 15:26, 16:7); Jesus leaves, but the disciples get the Spirit, who comforts them, who teaches them what is true and what isnt, who moves them to continue to follow Jesus. Do you now know I have the power to crucify you?
Christ died for sins once for all, that he might bring us to God; he went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly did not obey The gospel was preached even to the dead, that they might live in the spirit like God (1 Peter 3:18, 4:6). And, 2. if Jesus descended into Hell, then I as a follower of Christ, and we as the Church of Christ, must follow, and seek out those whose Hell is palpable and devastating, and we become the embodied love of Christ for those who think they are totally sealed off from God. Heaven is not You did it! but Treasure this fantastic, undeserved gift.. t\y@0 [qMym,)`C$1Q`bOyj lGLVMF63,6GOl(j >)Vq&Pe)M^BrjG:!`}-s:vVEI>$0U!BjG%M(@r#'W6n$7 1 Peter says He descended into Hell (or to the dead), and preached.. And I dont mean English! Jesus was crucified, a horrific form of capital punishment, an excruciating public humiliation designed to intimidate the rabble and keep the peace. If God is the Maker of Heaven and earth, and of you and me, then my life is not my own. Words take meaning from the company they keep (Lash). In modern times, science is striving to achieve a kind of virgin birth through cloning. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life (Dietrich Bonhoeffer). To his surprise, he noticed they call the n ames of members who have died and someone in the room responds Presente!. I, for one, would say that we have a much more thorny psychological and societal problem, about which I spoke at length in yesterdays sermon and which will occupy an important email I will send on Wednesday or Thursday.
If you forgive me, it doesnt mean you feel like showering me with hugs and kisses. God has come for me and to me long before I have ever sought out God. Pilate does what he must do to manage security in the Middle East; but still he is judged by Christ. For many, Marys virginity is a fund amental belief, without which you are lost; but this cannot be right. But sex may be the vanguard issue with which we must grapple if we would recover a deep relationship with God in the Church; Russ Reno may be right when he says that for modern people who keep their distance from God, sexual freedom is the crucial line of defense against spiritual demands it always distracts us from ourselves; modern sexual freedom insists we should do absolutely nothing except to satisfy the immediate demands of our lust.. The Spirit most certainly is a great comfort, a holy solace to us; and yet the Spirit inevitably catapults us out of the building and into mission. Clearly Christians dont have their act together, but God exploits our inability, turning our shattered unity into a curious collection of broken windows, through which different kinds of broken people still manage to climb into the kingdom of God. Jesus whole mission, we might say, was to invite them (and us) to discover what it is to curl up on the lap of almighty God, look up, and simply say Abba. Indeed, Christ c ame, not so he could be like us, but so we could become like him, and enjoy the beauty of togetherness with God forever. We see the Father Almighty most clearly in the best story ever told by the Son who knew him best.
For 2000 years, Christians have continued this prophetic voice, standing with Jesus instead of endorsing whatever society or the government happens to be doing. We live in a culture highly suspicious of authority, but the Christian faith, luckily for us, still steps forward lovingly and teaches a story that does not diminish me or you. Yet You crown him with glory and honor; You have given him dominion over the works of Your hands (Psalm 8:3-6). To close that gap, to bring healing beyond what we are capable of, Gods power must enter in. The skeleton at the end of the feast is you (Frederick Buechner). When they disagreed, they seized the opportunity to refine their thinking and discover an even higher truth. But I am not able to do what God wants of me, I am not capable of the life God wants for me. They face horrific difficulties, requiring ferocious courage and intense hope; they need each other, and stick together in a fellowship that would rather suffer than falter. He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, with his stripes we are healed. We let the Church scrutinize our lives. Listen to Nicholas Lash: Deep convictions are not hazarded, but grown into slowly, obscurely and often painfully acquired.. Jesus said to Pilate, for this I was born, and have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Pilate said to him, What is truth? stream
It seemed to him, at that moment, that it would have been quite easy to have been a saint. The four narratives of the resurrection do not fit together very easily. Security was an issue, and Jesus had drawn an excitable following, many of whom quite frankly yearned for a militant overthrow of the Romans. Charles Darwin, drifting toward becoming a clergyman, boarded the HMS Beagle with a copy of Paradise Lost, and it was his faith that was lost: I am like a man who has become colour-blind; disbelief crept over me at a very slow rate.. 