Sermon – John 12:20-26 The Hour Has Come

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon – John 12:20-26 The Hour Has Come

March 22, 2015

We have arrived at the fifth Sunday in the season of Lent, one more Sunday and then our Easter celebration. We have been guided in this journey by the tearing of the boundary between heaven and earth at Jesus' baptism. Now that God is with us, our own behavior changes. We begin to worship our triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit rather than gods we construct in our own image. We open up our church to reflect the great diversity of God's creation. And we live our lives with the confidence of eternal life. Today we will see that with the barrier between heaven and earth gone, God becomes a farmer, planting seeds. Let's get started with prayer.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our rock and redeemer.

Let's start with a story about seeds.

“Once there was an emperor in the Far East who was growing old and knew it was coming time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or one of his own children, he decided to do something different.

He called all the young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It has come time for me to step down and to choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today. One seed. It is a very special seed. I want you to go home, plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring to me, and the one I choose will be the next emperor of the kingdom!"

There was one boy named Ling who was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the whole story. She helped him get a pot and some planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown.

After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept going home and checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by. Still nothing.

By now others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by, still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends, however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she encouraged him to go, and to take his pot, and to be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his mother was right. He took his empty pot to the palace.

When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by all the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kids laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!" ¹

Jesus also told us a story about seeds. Let's listen from the gospel of John.

John 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

We are worshiping at the time of the vernal equinox. This is when, each year, the amount of daytime and the amount of nighttime are the same. Spring is here. And farmers are beginning to plants seeds.

All seeds are made by God with an embryo fully capable of becoming a plant. This embryo is encased in a shell by God which protects it from oxygen in the atmosphere which would kill it. And God has designed in all seeds an on/off switch. For example, some seeds if planted in ground at 20 degrees Fahrenheit will just sit there turned off and eventually die. But if the ground temperature rises to 40 degrees for a certain number of days then seed is turned on and a miracle happens. It begin to shoot out roots into the ground and stalks towards the sun. As a result of all this God blesses us with the food we need and produces enough seeds to do this again next year. In this way God continues to bless us with manna from heaven year after year.

Jesus used the seed as a metaphor to explain his death, resurrection and ascension and the mission God has given us today. Let me explain.

Jesus had been waiting for a sign from God that would tell him that the time had arrived for him to end his ministry here on earth and return to heaven. Finally this sign arrived. When this happened Jesus announced that the hour had come for him to end his public ministry and prepare himself and his disciples for crucifixion. What was this sign from God? Let's go back to John chapter 12 where we read:

John 12:20 Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

So what happened? A group of gentiles, non-Jews came to see Jesus. Jesus had come to earth to draw all people, Jews and Gentiles, to himself. And when he saw gentiles coming to him, Jesus knew that he had accomplished his mission on earth and was ready to return to the Father. A few weeks ago we saw how angry Jesus got when gentile believers in God were barred from entering the temple. He quoted Isaiah by saying that temple was to be “a house of prayer for all people.” Gentiles were not to be excluded. And now when he sees non-Jews coming to him he knows that finally his work in finished. Now Jesus must begin to prepare his disciples for his crucifixion, and here is what he said.

24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.

Jesus has told us why he must die. By dying on the cross, he will bring others, many others, to faith. He is like a seed. During his ministry it was dormant in the ground. But when gentiles started coming to Jesus he knew that it was time for him to die so that many, many, many more would come to faith in him. By staying alive he could have evangelized a few gentiles here and there. But by dying and rising from the dead Jesus knew that he would be evangelizing the entire Roman Empire and eventually the world.

For this to happen Jesus needed a church. We are the seeds he left behind. If we are planted in the good soil of faith and if the conditions are right each one us will bring many, many, many, people to faith. And the church will be filled in the abundance that grows from us.

Let me tell you a story about a seed planted in the ground that is now growing. A young woman came to see the pastor. He was expecting this visit because he had spoken at her mother's funeral a few days before. The two of them talked briefly about her mother and her new job. But then the young woman told the pastor a story.

Last week she held her mother's hand as she died. This could not have happen but for the saving grace of God. You see this young woman was an alcoholic. Her drinking had strained the relationship with her mother so much that they barely talked with each other. But then she got involved with AA. Her drinking stopped. After a while she called her mother requesting forgiveness. They met. They cried. And their relationship was restored. Shortly thereafter the mother was diagnosed with incurable cancer. Throughout her illness her, now sober, daughter cared for her. And so last week this young woman had the great privileged of holding her mother's hand as she took her last breaths.

God had put a seed inside this young woman. It lay dormant throughout her years of drinking. But when the drinking stopped the seed grew into abundant love. This love allowed her to care for her mother. This is the experience she shared with her pastor.

God has planted a seed inside each of you as well. For some of you it is growing in abundant love. For others it remains dormant. I urge you to nurture this seed. To do this you need to pray and meditate on scripture every day. You must attend worship every Sunday and learn as much as you can in Bible Studies. And you must support the work of God generously. Do these things and the seed of God's love will grow in your heart into abundance. And when you are filled with God's love you will overflow with love for others. This is the harvest we can expect as Christians. Let's pray.

Father in heaven. We thank you for the seeds of faith you have planted in us. We ask that you let these seed grow. Fill us with you love, and let your love overflow to others. This we pray in your Son's name who was filled with so much love for us it overflowed on the cross. Amen.

1http://jadelbg.blogspot.com/2008/10/inspirational-story-emperors-seed.html

Sermon – John 3:14–21 Come to the Light

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon – John 3:14–21 Come to the Light

March 15, 2015

This is the fourth Sunday in the season of Lent. We have been looking at the implications of the boundary between heaven and earth being ripped apart in Jesus' baptism. Our own behavior changes because God is not far off but with us. We begin to worship the true God who died on the cross for us rather than one we construct in our own minds. We realize that the church is called to be a house of prayer for all people where no one should be excluded. Today we will see another significance in the barrier between us and God being torn in two. We have a pathway to eternal life. Let's pray.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our rock and redeemer.

Jesus was having a discussion with an important religious leader named Nicodemus. Nicodemus does not believe in Jesus, not yet. But he has come to Jesus to determine for himself who Jesus is. He has seen the signs and miracles. And now wants to know what is going on.

Nicodemus was a member of the ruling Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, a very powerful man. He was a Pharisee, a member of a major conservative political party. And he was a scribe, a very knowledgeable man in the Hebrew law, prophets and psalms. He came to Jesus at night, probably to hide his meeting from others who might question why he was meeting Jesus. He was curious about Jesus, but he had not yet come to belief.

Jesus already told him that the only way he will ever understand what is going on is if he is “born again”, not reborn in a physical sense, but reborn spiritually. With the gift of the Holy Spirit, Nicodemus will be able to understand that the scripture, our Old Testament, points to Jesus Christ. So Jesus explained who he is by reminding Nicodemus of a familiar Old Testament story.

In Moses' day the people of God wandered in the wilderness for a generation. God provided them with everything they needed. But from time to time they grew dissatisfied and complained. In 

Numbers 21:5 here is what they said. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 

 So there is nothing to eat, nothing to drink and we hate the food you have given us! This is an irrational complaint. God has provided them with everything they need, but they complain that they have nothing. What should God do when people have no reason to complain, but complain anyway? Well, the Bible tells us that God sent poisonous snakes.  Now they have something to worry about. Rattlesnakes have infested the camp and people are dying. So Moses began to pray, and God sent a solution. Moses made a bronze snake, put it on a pole, and lifted it up. All the complainers, who looked down never seeing anything that God was doing, would die. But anyone who looked up, and saw what God had done would be saved. Jesus said that this story was about himself. Let's listen to what he said.

John 3:14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19 This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

So according Jesus just as Moses lifted up the bronze snake so too will he be lifted up on a cross, so too will he be lifted up from a tomb, so too will he be lifted up to heaven. And just as the people who looked up at the bronze snake lived, so too will the people who look up to the crucified, risen and ascended Jesus receive eternal life.

This is the argument that Jesus made to Nicodemus and to us. We are perishing in sin. And our sinfulness will lead to death. But if we lift our eyes to Jesus we will live with him forever. This act of lifting our eyes to Jesus is called believing. We believe by lifting our eyes to our savior who died for us, was raised from the dead for us, and now lives in heaven with us.

The Gospel of John never uses the noun “faith”. Rather John always uses the verb “to believe”. Believing is not something we doing passively. It is an action we perform.

Jesus is in heaven with God, but the barrier between heaven and earth has been torn in pieces at Jesus' baptism. Therefore there is nothing separating us from him. The way the Gospel of John describes this is by saying that Jesus is the light of the world that shines upon us. And if this light is shining on us, what will we do. One option when we see the light is to scurry away like cockroaches from it. The other option is to come toward the light the way a moth approaches a flame. According to Jesus evil likes the darkness and will avoid the light. But good is attracted to the light. And therein lies our choice. We can flee from the light like a robber trying to get away from it. Or we can come to the light through obedience to Christ. According to John, coming to the light is called “believing” Therefore we believe by coming into the light of Christ through obedience.

In 2010, 33 men were trapped for two months in mine collapse in Chile. They descended into darkness. But inside that mine the light of Christ burned brightly. Jose Hernandez saw the light of Christ in that mine and brought others to it. Jose had worked in that mine for 33 years. And he had been married to his wife, Hetiz, for the same 33 years. 33 men, 33 years as a miner, 33 years as a faithful husband, a coincidence? No way! Christ has an important purpose for Jose.

During the months trapped far beneath the earth, Jose led the other miners in devotions twice a day. He drew deeply on his faith because he had no Bible with him. He told the Bible stories from memory and led the men in prayer. They cried out to God for a savior who would rescue them from the mine. On the Sunday before they were rescued Jose asked for a “real” pastor to come because Jose was not ordained. A pastor came and prayed for salvation. 20 of the miners came into the light of Jesus Christ that day and started to believe. After their rescue, Jose was the first miner to go back into the mine. He descended back into the darkness to thank God for their salvation. ¹

What Jose had done was to have the other miners lift their eyes up from their deadly problems and look at their savior lifted up on a cross. By doing so they were saved and lived. This is the promise for us as well. If we believe, if we lift up our eyes to the risen Christ we will live forever.

I urge you to examine your faith. Do you believe that Jesus came from God? Do you believe he died for our sins? Do you believe he was resurrected to new life? If you do then you have come into Light of Christ and you are assured of eternal life. If not, then you must fast, give to poor, and pray that God will fill you with the Holy Spirit, and give you transformation of life, and belief in Jesus Christ. Let's listen again to the promise that Jesus made for all who believe in him.

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

And so the promise of scripture is that if you believe, if you live in the Light of Christ, a life of obedience, then you are promised eternal life. It sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

John Buchanan was a Presbyterian pastor for nearly half a century. He recalls a baptism of a two-year-old boy in his congregation. After the child was baptized with water, Rev. Buchanan put his hand on the boy's forehead and said, “You are a child of God, sealed by the Spirit in your baptism, and you belong to Jesus Christ forever." Unexpectedly, the little boy looked up and responded, "Uh-oh." According to Rev. Buchanan this was the correct response. When you come into the light of Christ everything changes. You become a new person. You belong to God. Your life radically changes. You believe in Jesus Christ and are assured of eternal life. And now you are called to love your neighbor as much as God loves you. Uh-oh, your life will never be the same.²

I think Nicodemus did finally come to belief in Jesus Christ. At Jesus' trial he risked his own life intervening on Jesus' behalf. And after the crucifixion he helped Joseph of Arimathea take Jesus' body to the tomb. Church tradition tells us that Nicodemus was martyred for his faith. He came into the light of Christ, and so we can expect that he, being loved by God, now enjoys eternal life.

I urge all of you to stop looking down at all the problem you have. This is exactly what the devil wants to do. Rather, look up to our crucified, risen and ascended Lord, come into the Light of Christ, love God and love your neighbor, and receive the blessing of eternal life. Let's pray.

Father in heaven we are so often tempted to look down into our own problems. We have trouble seeing the blessings you give us. Help us to look up into the light of you son. We pray this in his name. Amen.

1http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2010/October/From-Darkness-to-Light-A-Miners-Story/

2Adapted from Thomas G. Long, http://day1.org/3823-the_start_of_the_trail

Sermon - Mark 11:15-17 A Church For All People

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon - Mark 11:15-17 A Church For All People

March 8, 2015

Our image this Lent is the sound of a cloth being ripped in two. This was the sound as the barrier between heaven and earth was erased in Jesus' baptism. Now, there is nothing separating us from God. As we saw two weeks ago this new reality has important implications for our ethical behavior, because God is watching. And last week we saw that this new reality has implications for our faith because the God we worship is not a construct of our minds, but rather the living, breathing God who died on a cross because he loves us and calls us to sacrificial love for others. Today we will see that the elimination of the barrier between heaven and earth has important implications not only for us but for the church as well. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our rock and redeemer.

We have already hear this morning about Jesus’ action in the Jerusalem from the book of John. Let’s look at the same story from the perspective of Mark,

Mark 11: 15-17 15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

In the first century the people of God would come to the Jerusalem temple for the sacrament of sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. A small bird or some grain would be burnt on an altar. The smoke would symbolize prayer going up to God. And the priest would declare to them God's forgiveness. But for some people, who traveled a long distance, it would be easier to bring cash rather than objects to be sacrificed. So a vendor was needed to be near the temple selling birds and grain for the offering. Also people would bring their tithes for the temple. The currency of the day was the Roman Denarius. This coin had a picture of Caesar engraved on one side. Since Caesar considered himself a God this coin was an idol. It was forbidden to bring an idol into the temple. Money changers were needed to swap Roman coins for something more acceptable. Thus vendor and money changes were needed to facilitate the sacrifices in the Temple. They set up in the court of the Gentiles.

When Jesus arrived at the temple and saw the merchants and money changers he became extremely angry and violent. Why? Why did Jesus act in a way that seems most inappropriate? Why was he so angry? Why did his anger escalate to violence? Here is what he told us, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” When Jesus said this, he was quoting his favorite book, the Book of Isaiah. Here is what it says.

Isaiah 56:1-8 This is what the LORD says: "Maintain justice and do what is right, for my salvation is close at hand and my righteousness will soon be revealed. ² Blessed is the man who does this, the man who holds it fast, who keeps the Sabbath without desecrating it, and keeps his hand from doing any evil." ³ Let no foreigner who has bound himself to the LORD say, "The LORD will surely exclude me from his people." And let not any eunuch complain, "I am only a dry tree." ⁴ For this is what the LORD says: "To the eunuchs who keep my Sabbaths, who choose what pleases me and hold fast to my covenant-- ⁵ to them I will give within my temple and its walls a memorial and a name better than sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that will not be cut off. ⁶ And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to serve him, to love the name of the LORD, and to worship him, all who keep the Sabbath without desecrating it and who hold fast to my covenant-- ⁷ these I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be accepted on my altar; for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations." ⁸ The Sovereign LORD declares-- he who gathers the exiles of Israel: "I will gather still others to them besides those already gathered."

In the 6^th century before Christ the people of God returned from exile in Babylon and rebuilt their temple. They then had a decision to make. Who could enter the temple? Who could worship there? And, who must be kept out? During the years of exile many foreigners had relocated to Jerusalem and the surrounding area. They joined a remnant of people who had stayed behind. Many of the foreigners converted and worshiped the LORD, God of Israel. Should these people be allowed in the temple?

The returning exiles decided that only the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob should be permitted to worship. A line was drawn that separated people along ethnic lines. Foreigners were judged unworthy to enter the temple and were excluded.

But God spoke through a prophet. This prophet was devoted to the writings of the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years earlier. We don't know his name, but his work, from the time of the restoration of the temple is included in the last eleven chapters of the Book of Isaiah. This prophet told the people not to draw lines. The temple was to be house of prayer for all people. The people of God were not to choose who goes in and who stays out. The only person capable of making a judgment like this was God.

The prophet told them that aliens, the gentile who were not ethnic Jews were to be permitted into the temple for worship provided that they had converted and worshiped Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel. And he told them that eunuchs must also be permitted entrance. These people were sexually mutilated into order to enter into service for the Persian king. The temple authorities were excluding ethnic minorities and the sexually impure because these people did not measure up to their standard of holiness. But the prophet told them that holiness was not standard to be used when admitting people to worship. The only thing that mattered was their faith in God.

Jesus too was reacting to exclusions in the Jerusalem temple. The temple was supposed to be open for everyone who believed in God. God-fearers, non-Jews who believe should be welcome. No one should be turned away because of their ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, income or anything else but belief in God. And this is why Jesus was so angry. He saw people being excluded from the temple. Barriers had been set up to prevent certain people from coming to God. Jesus was about removing these barriers so that all people could get to their God.

So what about us today? God does not want us to draw lines excluding people from church. He wants the church to be inclusive and welcome everyone into its doors. But we fail to obey this command of God. We are judgmental, drawing lines and choosing for ourselves who is in and who is out. We want to be the judge of who is evil and who is good, and excluded those we don't like. This is sin. We are not to judge. Is there is evil in the world? Yes! Will it judged? Yes! Who is the judge? Certainly not us, God alone is the judge.

I think that Jesus would be very angry with the church today. He would see us divided into churches of different races: white churches that do not welcome blacks, black churches that do not welcome whites. He would see us divided by ethnic groups and sexual orientations. He would see different churches for different generations. Jesus would insist that the barriers that separate us be broken down.

When I was in seminary I served as the Intern for Multicultural Ministries at Pasadena Presbyterian Church. This church has a rich history, but began to see membership declines year after year. They took a realistic look at their community and saw the problem. Pasadena California was becoming more and more Hispanic and Korean. The church sensed God's call to become multicultural. So they hired pastors to begin ministries for Spanish and Korean speaking Christians. By the time I arrived the church had three congregations meeting every Sunday morning with services in English, Korean and Spanish. One of my jobs as an intern was to develop a Lenten Bible Study that would bring people from each language group into diverse small groups. We used a technique called, “Mutual Invitation”, to help people with limited English ability to participate in the discussions. Also, while I was the intern, we had a very diverse and multicultural wedding, when Grace and I got married. This is what Jesus wants. A church that is diverse and inclusive. This is what it will look like one day.

Revelation 7:9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

I hope that all of us will graciously accept into fellowship all who desire to worship God. I pray that we will be diverse and inclusive. I pray that people of all ages, economic levels, races and sexual orientations will be welcome here at First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City. I know that one day God will judge evil. But I also know that we are not to judge others. Let us be a house of prayer for everyone.

Already we host the Worcester County School’s ESL program. People from different countries with limited English ability come to our doors every Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30 – 11:00 am. What if some of us volunteer to just talk with them? They would love to have American conversation partners. And they might even come to church with you once they got to know you. I found a wife that way.

When I was in school Grace introduced me to a young student from Korea. He had a wife and family and had come to Fuller Seminary to study advanced theology. His English was terrible, but we developed a relationship. He invited us to visit his school in Daejeong South Korea. I have been in South Korea three times and have been warmly greeted each time by professors at that school. One of the professors sent his son to study at Salisbury University. He even came to Pocomoke and preached at my church. Last summer I had the privilege of preaching at his church, a 3000 member church, in Chungju South Korea. Amazing things happen when you spent some time helping people learn English. As we welcome people who are different from us into our doors we will hear the boundary separating heaven and earth being torn in two, and Jesus will be pleased with us. Let’s pray.

Lord God of heaven, listen our prayers. We ask that you form us into a gracious church where all people feel welcome. Help us to not draw lines which exclude people from our fellowship. Help us to not be judgmental because you alone judge. Let us be a house of prayer for all people. This we pray in your son's name who told us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Amen.

Sermon Mark 8:31-38 Take Up Your Cross

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon Mark 8:31-38 Take Up Your Cross

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

March 1, 2015

The image I want you to remember this Lent is the sound of a piece of cloth being ripped into two pieces. You all know what this sounds and looks like. This is the image Mark gives us at Jesus' baptism. The boundary between heaven and earth is being ripped in two. Matthew uses the same image at the death of Jesus when the curtain in the Jerusalem temple is ripped top to bottom. Both of these are symbols of the reality that in Jesus Christ heaven and earth have come together. Nothing separates them.

As we saw last week this begins a new way of thinking. We think not of ourselves and what we want but of God and what God wants. This is a paradigm shift. And this new way of thinking has enormous implications for how we think and how we live our lives. We will see today that Peter has problems shifting his way of thinking to accommodate this new reality. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our rock and redeemer. Amen.

Mark 8:31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

According to Jesus there are two ways to follow him. One way is the way Peter was doing it. His got behind Jesus and followed as Satan would. The other way is to follow Jesus carrying your cross. Those are your choices. You can follow Jesus as Satan or with your cross.

What does this mean? The protestant reformer, Martin Luther, thought extensively about this question. He wondered what it meant to follow Jesus with your own cross.

In 1518 Martin Luther was summoned to Heidelberg to defend his ideas on salvation and the practice of indulgence. Luther was an Augustinian monk, and the head of the Augustinian Order in Germany, Johannes Staupitz, hoped to silence him and his protestant ideas. This meeting became known as the Heidelberg Disputation. When Luther arrived he presented his ideas which he called the theology of the cross.

According to Luther there is two ways of talking about God. He called these a theology of glory and a theology of the cross. Let's begin by asking what it's like to talk about God's glory. All of us live in an imperfect world. We see evil, suffering and death. But we can imagine in our minds a world made free of all these problems. Our minds can grasp the idea of a perfect world. Once we do this our minds begin to construct the idea of a god who comes in power to make the world the way we image it could be. So we talk about a god who will come in glory to make the world the way we think it should be.

This was Peter. He saw suffering in his world. And it all led back the Roman Occupation. He imagined a world free from Romans where people could govern themselves and would be free to worship god as they chose. So he, and just about everyone else at his time, constructed in their minds the idea of a god who in glory would come to defeat the Romans and make the world the way they wanted the world to be.

Most of us think this way too. We see a world of injustice and suffering. Just this week ISIS has kidnapped over 150 Christians living in Syria. In the 19^th century Christian were in the majority in the Jazeera area of Syria. Since then many Christian have left. Today, with constant warfare, many Christians are fleeing their farms and looking for refuge in the city of Hasaka. Civilians are being killed by shelling. Christian fighters have been joining up with Kurds.

We can all imagine a world free from war and bloodshed and suffering. And so we imagine a god who will come in glory to set all things right. We construct a god wearing a military uniform who will lead Christian armies to reclaim our land and let our people live in peace.

Jesus calls this way of thinking, the way of Satan. Satan see injustice and suffering in the world as we do. He can image a world more to his liking like us. And he can construct a god in his mind that will make the world the way he, Satan, wants it to be. This way of thinking is common but very wrong. We do not want to worship a god we construct in our own minds to do our will. We want to worship a God who is real and alive. We want a god not of our own making, but one who made us and reveals himself to us. So instead of following Christ as Satan let's follow Christ with our own crosses.

According to Luther, we should talk about the God the cross. The God of the cross is not a god of our own making. He is the creator God who has been revealed to us as a suffering God. We have a God who is so passionate for us, for sinners, for the poor, for the needy, for the widows, for the orphans, for the immigrants, that he would suffer and die for us. This is the God who is revealed to us in Jesus Christ.

When I first became a pastor I was called to a small church in Los Angeles. There were only about thirty people. Almost all were in their late 70s, 80s and 90s. They knew their church was about to close. The presbytery knew it too. But I had a different idea. I imagined a thriving, growing church with young people and families. I imagined a church with the resources to make a difference in that community. I imagined what could happen with that church and I constructed in my head a god who would make this happen.

I prayed to this god of glory every day asking for people who would come to this church. I worked hard. We started a website, put up banners and passed out fliers. We started a new worship service and gave away food. I was certain that the god I created in my mind would come in glory and turn my dreams into reality. I was dead wrong. Months went by and very little happened. I began to be discouraged. Then the true God, the God who sacrificed himself for the marginal in our society showed up. He delivered the poor and homeless in our community to our doors. Suddenly we were the church of the desperately poor. The God of the cross had acted. His will was done, not mine.

So all of us have a choice. We can see that the world around us is not as it should be. We know what it would take to fix it. We can imagine a world without all these problems. And we can construct a god of glory in our minds who would fix the world and make it what we want to be. Or can believe that the God of the cross, who suffered and died for all, has his own ideas of how the world should be. And we can follow this God. The choice is ours.

And this brings us back to following Jesus. What does it mean to follow Jesus with our crosses? The God of the Cross suffered and died for the sake of others. And he told us to love our neighbors. Therefore the primary concern in your life is not for yourself but for others. Following Jesus with your cross means to sacrifice for those in need just as he did.

There is a man in Salisbury, a good friend. He spends nearly every dollar he makes to support missionaries around the world. He organizes groups to go to the poorest areas of the world to assist missionaries to proclaim the good news of the cross of Jesus to people who desperately need to hear it. He sacrifices his time and treasure to love people the way Jesus did.

We too need to sacrificially care for the poor in our community and around the world. We need to think the way Jesus does and care for people. This is what it means to follow Jesus by carrying your cross. Let's pray.

 Father in heaven we pray to you because the boundary between us and you has been ripped apart by Jesus Christ. We ask that you help us to think as you do. Give us your concerns for the world. Lead us by your will. Give us the heart of Jesus to love and care for our neighbor. Show us what we are to do to love others as we love you. This pray in Jesus' name. Amen.