Sermon – Luke 2:1-20 – Ordinary and Extraordinary

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Church

Sermon –  Luke 2:1-20 – Ordinary and Extraordinary

Christmas Eve 10:00 am

December 24, 2017

This is the eve of Christmas.   This is the day each year when we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   This is the day we remember that God came into the world to be with us.   
We know that God arrived because of a proclamation of the angels to a group of ordinary shepherds saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."  We will get to this extraordinary event on an ordinary day to ordinary people, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Luke 2:1-20  NIV Luke 2:1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.  2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.)  3 And everyone went to his own town to register.  4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.  5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.  6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,  7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."  13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,  14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."  15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."  16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.  19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.  20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

In our Christmas story, we have some shepherds.   They were doing very ordinary things.   They were doing what shepherds do, “living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.”  Shepherds have done this for thousands of years since we began raising animals.   A young David had lived in this field a thousand years before Jesus was born.   For the shepherds, it was just another ordinary day.

Also in our Christmas story, we have a young couple with a newly born baby.  They too were doing very ordinary things.  The mother “gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.”   There were no maternity hospitals two thousand years ago.   Women had babies wherever they happened to be.  They might have a baby out in the field, or maybe in a barn with animals.   They might even use a feeding trough or manger as a makeshift cradle for the baby.    Giving birth this way was very ordinary, nothing special.  

We all know what it is like to live an ordinary day.  Every day I wake up around 6:30.   I shower and have breakfast.  At 7:30 Grace and I read the Bible together.   Then I come to the church to read and write, I visit people and go to meetings.   Along the way, I eat lunch.   I usually go home for dinner, and then either rest or come back to the church for a meeting or Bible study.   I live many ordinary days just like this.  

But some days are extraordinary.    We remember days when we got married or when a child was born.   We remember graduations and first jobs.   And we celebrate the anniversary of our birthday every year.   We have many ordinary days and a few extraordinary days now and them.

One character in our Christmas story had an extraordinary day.   This was Caesar Augustus.  Caesar was the most powerful man on earth, leading the Roman Empire.  He wanted to demonstrate his great power to the world by forcing immigrants, living all over his empire, to return home and be counted.  Though this extraordinary event Caesar hoped to demonstrate his power to the world.  His motivation was to be glorified.   He wanted to receive the glory that comes with a display of supreme power.  Caesar wanted fame, recognition, honor, and prestige.

We would expect that God would also glorify himself with an extraordinary display of power.   Maybe a savior would come leading an army of angel warriors to bring the Kingdom of God from heaven to earth.  An extraordinary event like that would certainly bring great glory to God.  God too would receive fame, recognition, honor, and prestige. But that is not what God did.  Rather than sending a mighty warrior leading the angelic hosts God sent a newborn baby and an angel choir singing, "Glory to God in the highest.”

The Glory of God came not to extraordinary Caesar leading the Roman Armies.    Rather it came to some ordinary shepherds in a field and a young couple who had just given birth.  They saw the Glory of God shining in its magnificent radiant splendor.  The Glory of God comes not to the extraordinary but to the ordinary.

This is good news for us.   We will experience the Glory of God during the ordinary moments in our lives.   God will come to us in our ordinary daily prayers.   God will come to us in our ordinary Sunday worship.   God will enter into our ordinary lives with an extraordinary gift.   The Christmas gift we receive from God is nothing less than, “peace to men on whom his favor rests."   Caesar forces us to obey his will.   But God comes into our lives with the message of peace on earth.

When the Glory of God entered into the ordinary lives of common shepherds they felt a call to leave their fields and go into town to find this savior the angels were talking about.   I have experienced that same thing.   As God came into my life I found myself desiring to know more and more about him.   I took as many classes at church as I could including the Bethel Bible Series.  Then I went to seminary.   And now I spend as much time as I can getting to know this savior who came at Christmas.   My prayer for you is that you too will experience the Glory of God coming into your lives this Christmas.   And as you experience God’s glory for yourselves I pray that through my preaching and teaching your desire to know more about God will be filled.

After encountering Jesus, the Shepherds experienced another call.   They felt God calling them to tell others what happened.   My guess is that they went back to the field and woke us the other shepherds with an extraordinary story of God’s Glory coming into our ordinary world.  As they shared their testimony other shepherds began experiencing God’s glory for themselves filling them with a desire to know more and more about God.  My prayer is that all of us will leave here today with a desire to tell people about Jesus to fill them with God’s glory in their ordinary lives.

The Glory of God also came to an ordinary person named Joseph. Joseph just obeyed the rules.   He did what he was supposed to do.   He went to Bethlehem as the government instructed.   He took care of his wife to be as he was morally obligated.    He did what he was supposed to do and the Glory of God entered his life.   We can expect this too.   As we do what we have to do day by day expect the extraordinary as God comes to interrupt our lives.   

There is another person in the Christmas story.  Her name is Mary.   Mary was an ordinary young woman who had just given birth.   But she was also the extraordinary young woman chosen by God to bear his Son.  After nine months of angelic visits, consultation with family, travel to Bethlehem and giving birth she lay exhausted in a bed of hay.   She was in no condition to go and tell anyone anything.    All she could do was to “treasure (d) up all these things and ponder (ed) them in her heart.”  She kept all that had happened to her in her memory.

And this is my hope for you this day:  That the Glory of God would come into your ordinary lives and you will remember and ponder what happens.   Christmas is not an ordinary day.  Christmas is an extraordinary day when God himself decided to come here to be with us.   

So the Glory of God came on an ordinary day to ordinary shepherds, an ordinary man just doing what he was supposed to do, and an ordinary mother giving birth.   Everything seems pretty ordinary in this story.   But there is one more extraordinary character in the Christmas story.  His name was Jesus.  According to the Angel messengers who said, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.  

This extraordinary baby came to bring the Glory of God to all people on earth.   He has come to save us from the evil one, forgive our sin, and promise us eternal life.    This baby is the anointed one, the descendant of King David who the prophets had foretold.  And he was the son of the living God.   The Glory of God came as an extraordinary baby into an ordinary world.     

Angels announced his birth.  Shepherds spread the good news.   Joseph did what he was supposed to do.   Mary pondered all this in her heart.   And Jesus, the Glory of God, was born.   Let’s pray.

Father in heaven prepare our hearts for the coming of a savior this Christmas.    Let your Glory come into our ordinary lives.   And lead us to proclaim the extraordinarily good news of your coming to an ordinary world.   This we pray in the name of your newborn son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Sermon - 1 Thessalonians 5 16-24 The Gift of Holiness

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon - 1 Thessalonians 5 16-24 The Gift of Holiness

December 17, 2017

Here we are at the third Sunday of Advent.   Just one more week and we arrive at Jesus’ birthday.   We have already started opening our presents.  Remember the first one?   The gift of God’s Grace in Jesus Christ.   With this gift, we receive knowledge about God through Jesus Christ, the ability to share our testimony of what Jesus is doing in our lives, and the spiritual power to do what God wants us to do.   The second present we opened was The Gift of a New Heaven and a New Earth.  We learned the Jesus is waiting for us to act before he returns.   He wants everyone to come to faith.   And so we are distributing pamphlets to people we meet inviting them to come here on Christmas Eve.  And we a contributing to the Presbyterian Joy Offering to provide racial/ethnic pastors for immigrant congregations and missionary service around the world.

Today we open our third gift.   And this is the Gift of Holiness.   The Apostle Paul put it this way, (1 Thessalonians 5:23) “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Since we don’t know when Jesus will return, shouldn’t we live our lives as if Jesus is already here?   We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

What do you want for Christmas?  This is a common question during the holiday season.  Friends and relatives, who know that you already have everything you need, ask you for hints about what to get you this year.   So we make a Christmas lists of things we want.   This is easy to do because we have been practicing making Christmas lists since we started writing lists for Santa.   The Christmas list is as common as the trip to the Mall or shopping on Amazon.

Let’s start by looking a Santa’s Christmas list.  Santa Claus has a list and he checks it twice.  He’s going to find out if you are naughty or nice.  You better watch out.  You better not cry.  You better not pout. I am telling you why: Santa Claus is coming to town.   He carries a whole bag of gifts but if you are not a good little girl or boy you might receive a just lump of coal in your stocking.  Everything depends on your behavior so “be good for goodness sake.”  That’s Santa’s Christmas list.   Now let’s turn to God’s Christmas list.

 

God wrote a Christmas list so that we will know what he wants this Christmas season.   God has given us so much in our lives.   It is good for us to give God a Christmas present.    So here is God’s Christmas list.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances;

So God wants us to be joyful, pray and give thanks.   That seems easy enough.  We should have no problem satisfying this request.   But, did you notice the adverbs?

  

We are to be joyful - always.  Always?   How could we always be joyful?   Sometimes life circumstances bring sadness into our lives.   In the last six weeks, I have attended four memorial services for church members or their families.  We have several people in the church looking for new jobs.   We have people leaving church and friends to enter retirement facilities.  How could we be joyful in difficult times like these?  It just doesn’t seem possible.

The second item on God’s Christmas list is that we should pray.   No problem there.   We pray at church and during Bible studies.   We pray before meals, in the morning and before going to bed.   All of this is good.   But God is asking for more.   God wants us to pray continually.  Continually?   How can we do that?   We are very busy people.  We have things to do and places to go.   We can spare a few minutes every day to come to God in prayer.   But there is no way we can pray continually.  This too seems impossible.

 

So God’s Christmas list seems pretty demanding so far.   Let’s look at the third item on the list to see if it is any easier.   We are to give thanks.  And we do.   We are so thankful for everything God does for us.   We thank God for the world we live in.   We thank God for family, friends, and church.  We thank God for our health and the health of loved one.   Thanksgiving is our favorite thing to do.  But God wants us to be thankful in all circumstances.  All circumstances?   We certainly can’t do that.   We can be thankful for everything.    How could we be thankful when a spouse or a child dies?  How could we be thankful when we lose a job or lose a house?   How could we be thankful when the doctor gives us bad news.   We just can’t be thankful in all circumstances.

So, sorry God.   We cannot give you what you have asked for at Christmas.   Maybe you would like a Barbie Doll instead?  We can’t be joyful always.   We can’t pray continually.  And we certainly can’t be thankful in all circumstances.

 

God’s knows that we can’t satisfy his Christmas wishes unless he helps us.   And the good news is that he does help us.   Let’s listen to the Apostle Paul.

18b for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

With the Spirit of Jesus in us, these things are possible.   

God has blessed us with joy.   We come to church at Christ to express our joy in worship.   But for some of us, grief crowds out our joy.   And so when we find ourselves unable to experience joy all the time, but in Christ, there is a remedy.  Our joy in Christ can overcome our grief and our sorrows.  When we experience the loss of joy all we have to do is turn to Jesus, remember his promises of life after death,  and his joy will replace our sense of loss.  The Holy Spirit allows us to be joyful always by comforting us in our grief and pain.  

One practical way of dealing with grief and sorrow is through prayer.    But how can we pray without ceasing?   We still have to go to work.   The vacuum cleaner needs to be run.  We need to visit a cousin.  We lead busy lives.   There is a lot to do.  We can’t spend all day in prayer. But we must set aside some time for prayer in our busy lives.  And as we go through the rest of the day we can be aware of God’s presence with us.  To pray continually means to be conscious of the fact the God is always with you in whatever you are doing.  We are always in fellowship with Jesus.  We are always filled with a sense of dependence on God.  And then, from time to time, we use specific thoughts and words that we recognize as prayer.

God wants us to be always joyful.   And he has blessed us with his presence so that we can continually pray whenever we experience pain and loss.   But God also wants us to be thankful in all things.   And there we must draw the line.   There is evil in the world, and we cannot be thankful for it because this would be contrary to God’s will.   So God cannot be telling us to be thankful for the terrorist who exploded a pipe bomb in New York City this week.   We must not be thankful for all the women who have been sexually abused by powerful men.   So how can we be thankful for all things?  If we believe that “God works all things together for good for those who love him….” (Romans 8:28) then we can be thankful for a God who uses evil for his own good purposes.   We can be thankful that even today God is working toward a New Heaven and New Earth when his good creation will be restored.   So even if we are unable to be thankful for everything today, we can be filled with hope that everything will turn out right when Jesus returns.

God wants us to be joyful all the time.    And when we are not joyful he gives us Jesus.   God wants us to pray all the time and has given us Jesus to be with us always.   And God wants us to be thankful that all things will ultimately be used for God’s good purposes.  Let’s go back to Paul.

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord  Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.

Santa expects us to be “good for goodness sake”.  If not, we receive a lump of coal in our Christmas stockings.   God knows what we are going through and by his great power allows us to rejoice always, pray continually, and give thanks for everything.   Which one will you worship this Christmas?

So God will fill his own Christmas list.   By the power of the Holy Spirit and the ongoing presence of Christ, we will always rejoice being filled with his spirit whenever joy seems far away.   We are enabled to pray all the time aware the Jesus is always with us.   And we can be thankful for everything because God will use everything for his good purposes.  Paul calls all of this holiness.   We are made holy, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.   And as Holy People, we always rejoice, continually pray and give thanks for everything.

Let us pray.  Holy God, we thank you for your Spirit that comforts us in our grief and sorrow so that we may always rejoice.   We thank you for your Son, Jesus, who is always with us so that we may pray continually.   We thank you for your transformative power that can use evil for good.   And so with joyful prayer, we thank you for the Christmas blessing we have received.

Sermon adapted from http://cep.calvinseminary.edu/sermon-starters/advent-3b/?type=lectionary_epistle

Sermon - 2 Peter 3:8-15 - Gift of a New Heaven and Earth

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon - 2 Peter 3:8-15 - Gift of a New Heaven and Earth
December 10, 2017

This is the second Sunday of the Season of Advent and we have already started opening or Christmas Gifts. Our first gift, which we opened last week, was the gift of God’s Grace in Jesus Christ. With this gift, we now have greater knowledge of God, the ability to tell others about God, through our testimony of what God has done for us, and we have received spiritual gifts to do what God wants us to do to advance his kingdom. This gift of grace comes to us from our merciful God who forgives our sin and promises us eternal life.

Today we turn two our second gift. This is the gift of a new heaven and a new earth. The Apostle Peter put it this way, “But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” (2 Peter 3:13) It sounds like a nice place to be. God will recreate both heaven and earth and bring them together. God will reign and we will all live together in righteousness. Sounds pretty good! Right? But, when will this all happen? We will get to this, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

When I was young, my family would drive over the Alleghany mountains to my grandparent house in Uniontown Pennsylvania. I loved visiting my grandparents. But I hated the 5-hour drive. I just didn’t like to wait. My brother, sister and I would sit in the back of the car with the constant question on our lips, “Are we there yet?”. Of course, this infuriated our parents and they resorted to numerous things to keep us occupied. I remember counting the cows we could see from the car. Eventually, our drive would be over and the visit with grandma and grandpa would begin.

The message on the lips of Christians at the end of the first century was, “Are we there yet?” Jesus had told them, “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. (Matthew 24:34-35). But by the end of the first century, that generation was passing away and the new heaven and new earth had not yet come. “Are we there yet?” must have been a constant refrain for Christians living a generation after Jesus. “When are the new heaven and new earth coming?” is what we want to know and we have been waiting for 2000 years.

An aging Apostle Peter worried that people might fall away from the faith if they had to wait too long. He had to tell them something that would encourage Christians to wait patiently until Christ returns. And so he wrote a letter.

2 Peter1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Peter wanted Christians to root their faith in the stories of Jesus Christ spoken by the apostles and in the Hebrew scriptures. Here is what he said.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

And later he said this:
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

According to Peter, the two things we have that will sustain us until Jesus comes again are the apostolic eyewitness stories of Jesus, in our New Testament, and the inspired prophets in our Old Testament. The Bible is what sustains us while we wait for Jesus to return.

So what does the Bible say about all this time that has passed since Jesus? Why have we been waiting so long? According to Moses in Psalm 90:

Psalm 90:1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. 3 You turn people back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.” 4 A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

The 2000 years we have been waiting for Jesus to return is like just a couple of days in heaven. Time is different with God. Let’s hear from Peter.

2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

Time, with God, is quite different from our time. That means we need to be patient. Jesus will return with a new heaven and a new earth, but we don’t know when. So we wait. And in our waiting, we are sustained by scripture. The church was established to maintain the scripture faithfully and proclaim it generation after generation until Christ returns.

But why is God waiting so long? There must be some explanation. Let’s go back to Peter.

9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

The Lord is patient with us? I thought we were being patient with God who was taking so long. But Peter said that God is waiting for us. What does God want us to do? Well, according to Peter, God’s wants everyone to come to repentance before Jesus returns because our loving God wants no one to perish. God wants everyone to receive the promise of eternal life. And that means everyone has to repent, everyone has to turn away from sin and turn toward faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, God is waiting for us to bring everyone into the world to faith. That is our mission.

According to the Apostle, when the new heaven and new earth come, all sin will be purged away in a refiner’s fire.

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.

No one will be able to hide their sin anymore. Sin will be exposed for all to see. All sin will be burned off, purged in the coming recreation of heaven and earth. And anyone still clutching their sin will go with it. This is not what God wants at all. God wants no one to perish when heaven and earth are recreated. God wants everyone to repent and live in righteousness.

So what do we have to do? We have to bring the good news of the grace of God in Jesus Christ to everyone in the world. Once we have finished our work and everyone has had an opportunity to turn from sin and turn to Jesus Christ, then Jesus will return and we will be blessed with a new heaven and a new earth. Bringing everyone to repentance seems like a pretty big job. We can’t do it alone. But we can do it together.

On the back counter, you will find these. This pamphlet is called “The Star, Journey to the Unexpected.” It is an invitation for people to experience Christmas as we do. On the back is our addresses and an invitation to our Christmas Eve Candlelight Service and Christmas Pageant on December 24 at 6 pm. All you have to do is to pick up a few of these and give them away. Maybe you know people who are not involved in a church. Give them one. Or give one to the next waitress who serves you or the next cashier you meet in the grocery store. Just pick up a few and give them away. And you will be doing your part to bring everyone to repentance.

That is what we can do right here in Middletown. But what about communities around the world? How do we bring the good news to them? What if we supported a whole new generation of church leaders who could bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to communities around the world? We would need to educate students who come from a wide variety of racial and ethnic backgrounds. We could then send them to immigrant communities here in America and to communities around the world. If we could support this new generation of evangelists I think we would be fulfilling our responsibility to bring the gift of God’s grace to everyone in the world hastening the time when we all receive the gift of a new heaven and a new earth.

Another thing we could do would be to support pastors and missionaries who have sacrificed so much to bring the gospel to everyone. Many of these pastors and missionaries struggle financially in retirement. What if we could somehow say “thanks” to these folks who have already brought us closer to the day when Jesus returns.

So, how would we support a new generation of racial ethnic church leaders? And how could be help retired church workers? One way would be to support the Christmas Joy Offering of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). Half of the Christmas Joy Offering supports racial/ethnic education at Presbyterian colleges and seminaries. Half of it supports retired missionaries and pastors. All of it comes from the generous contributions of Presbyterians at Christmas.

Last year New Covenant Church was very generous. You gave almost $1400 to the Christmas Joy Offering. And this helped the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to raise over $3 Million to raise up new racial/ethnic church leaders and support retired pastors and missionaries. Thank you.

Next week you will have the opportunity to give the 2017 Christmas Joy Offering. Once again you have the opportunity to advance the kingdom of God bringing closer the glorious day when Jesus returns and we all enjoy the gift of a new heaven and a new earth. Let’s pray.

“Empowering God, we give thanks for young people who strive to fulfill the potential you have given them. May our church nurture them, encourage them, and listen to them. Bless them and bless our future. Amen.” 

(file:///home/chronos/u-0c25c1b56fcb280f64d92af3ceee2a2489afdee2/Downloads/CJO17-Menaul-School-M4M.pdf)

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 - “Gift of God’s Grace”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
New Covenant Presbyterian Church
Sermon – 1 Corinthians 1:3-9 - “Gift of God’s Grace”
December 3, 2017

This morning we begin the season of Advent. As we have already heard Advent means coming. We remember the coming of Jesus to Mary and Joseph in a stable in Bethlehem. We anticipate Jesus’ return to earth as our glorious king. And today we invite Jesus into our lives. Jesus has come. Jesus is here with us. Jesus will come again.

This advent season we are looking at the Christmas gifts we receive from God. Today we start by looking at the gift of grace. Paul put it this way: “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.” We will be looking at what it means to have God’s grace given to us in Jesus Christ. But first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy Heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

Corinth was a Roman city first established as a colony in 44 BC. It was built on the ruins of an old Greek city which had been destroyed by the Roman legions a century before. The new city had grown spectacularly in the years that followed, and a great temple to the pagan goddess Aphrodite had been constructed. Corinth was an important trading center and generated great wealth for the Roman empire.

The Apostle Paul arrived in Corinth the year 52 AD. He found work in the leather industry where he met two Christians who had been expelled from Rome with all the Jews and Jewish Christians the year before, Priscilla and Acquilla. As was his usual custom the Apostle Paul began to teach in the synagogue. There he would reinterpret the Hebrew scriptures in light of the coming of Jesus, the Messiah or Christ. A conflict developed in the synagogue over Paul's teaching and he was forced to leave. He then established his own group in the nearby home of a Gentile convert. But the conflict with people in the synagogue continued and ended up in the civil courts. Eventually, the conflict turned violent when the leader of the synagogue, Sosthenes, was assaulted by the opponents of Paul. When this happened Paul decided to leave.

Three years later, in 57 AD, Paul was in Ephesus and received a letter from the churches in Corinth about problems they were experiencing. This concerned Paul very much because he had established the church there and loved the people. So Paul wrote a letter in response.

1 Corinthians 1:1-9 NIV 1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ-- their Lord and ours:

3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. 5 For in him you have been enriched in every way-- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge-- 6 because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. 7 Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. 8 He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.

This is December, the time of year when you are thinking about gifts. Some of you will leave church today and head to the mall for some Christmas shopping. Some of you may be planning some online purchases. And some of you have already finished your Christmas shopping. You will probably be getting together with family and friends during the Christmas season and can’t go empty-handed.

As Christians, we know the reason for Christmas is the coming of Jesus. We would like for everyone to experience this joy, of Jesus coming into our lives, because this fills us with great hope in our own transformation and eternal life. But sadly many people in our culture have very little concern for Jesus. They don’t want transformation. They don’t seem to care about eternal life. And so they can’t understand what Christmas is really all about. The same was true for Romans in the first century.

The reason the Romans established a colony at Corinth was to get rich because Corinth was the perfect location for trade. It was located on a narrow isthmus. Anyone traveling from northern Greece to southern Greece had to pass nearby. Just to the east was a major port the led to trade with Asia. And just to the north was a port that led to the Adriatic and Rome. Add to this the rich agricultural land surrounding the city and you have the potential to make lots of money from international trade. So many merchants from Rome and all over the world went to Corinth with the hope of making a fortune which many did. Money was the foundation upon which the Roman city of Corinth was erected.

But there must have been something wrong in Corinth. They had all the money they needed, but still, something was still missing. Money wasn't enough. They needed something more. They needed to be rich in another way. Despite their unease, Paul knew that the Corinthians were rich in the truest sense of that word. So Paul wrote a prayer, thanking God for all the rich gifts the Corinthians had received. Through this prayer, Paul taught the Corinthians that in Jesus Christ they were enriched in every way. Paul was telling them that wealth was not the savior they needed. The gift they really needed was Jesus Christ, given to them by a gracious God.

So how are we enriched by this gift from God? How are we enriched by having Jesus in us? Paul says that we are enriched in three ways. First, Paul tells us that the gift of Jesus Christ enriches us in knowledge. This is knowledge about God as revealed to us in scripture and through the person of Jesus Christ. We see in Christ an example of how we should lead our lives. In Christ, we know that we are to love God with all our hearts, souls and minds. And we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. In Jesus Christ, we are enriched with the knowledge that God loves us and we are called to respond to that love by loving God and all of God's creation. Wealth is measured in terms of love which we receive as a gift and multiply it by giving away it to others. And if we measure wealth in this way then all of us as Christians are truly wealthy.

The gift of knowledge about God can be found in our study of the Bible here at church. On Sunday mornings and other times during the week, you have an opportunity to grow in the knowledge of God. I urged you, if you have not yet, to go to one of the adult Bible studies we have at the church. There you will find the knowledge of God that will enrich your life.

Second, Paul tells us that the gift of Jesus Christ enriches us in testimony. Testimony is when we tell others about Jesus Christ and what Jesus has done for us. Testimony is how others see Christ working in us. This is how we are to love one another. We show how God's love has affected our lives and invite others to share in that love. We are enriched when we share love through our testimony because love is something that grows whenever it is first given away. So our wealth is, paradoxically, maximized by giving our love away through our testimony to others. So every time you tell someone else about what God is doing in your life you are creating love and making deposits in a heavenly account making you very rich.

And third, Paul said that we are enriched in Jesus Christ by the grace of God with spiritual gifts. Each of us has received different gifts, but they all come from the same Holy Spirit and they are given us for building up the common good. Some of us are rich in wisdom and have the ability from the Holy Spirit to advise others. Some of us are rich in knowledge and have the Spirit given ability to teach others about God and Jesus. Others of us are rich in faith and are able to comfort others when their health fails or a loved one dies and their faith is a little shaky and they need some of your faith to get through their difficulties. Some of us have the gift of healing and are blessed with the power of the Holy Spirit to bring someone to health. This is a gift of prayer being able to pray unceasingly for those in need and to help others rely on God's grace in difficult times. Some of us are blessed with miraculous gifts that allow us to prophesy, distinguish between evil and good spirits, and speak in tongues. In extraordinary times when our faith is shaken to the core, we need people with these gifts to lead us forward. And the church is enriched by having people to whom the Holy Spirit has provided all of these gifts.

We need to remember, with the churches at Corinth, that we are rich, enriched by God's Holy Spirit with the gift of Jesus Christ. We have been enriched with the gift of knowledge of God in Jesus Christ. We have been enriched by the gift of the ability to love others through our testimony about God, we have been enriched with a variety of spiritual gifts for our collective good.

But, why had God given us these wonderful gifts? What does God want to accomplish by blessing us so much? The answer Paul gives is that we have been enriched to prepare us for the coming of Jesus Christ. We don't know when Jesus will return. But God wants us to be strong while we wait. So God gives us knowledge, testimony for others and spiritual gifts so that we will be strong until Christ returns. And this strength preserves our faith and allows us to live lives pleasing to God as we wait for Christ's return. We see in all of this in God's great faithfulness to us. God has enriched us and strengthened us to prepare us for the day when Jesus comes again.

So as we go through Advent, waiting for Jesus to come, remember all the other riches you have received. These don't have to go on your tax return. But do ponder them in your heart. Consider all the ways God has blessed you this year: how you have been enriched by the knowledge of God you have received in this church, how you have been enriched by the testimonies you have given and heard, how you have been blessed with spiritual gifts which have strengthened you to remain holy until Jesus returns. And once you have considered all of this in your heart you will realize that you are truly rich indeed. Let’s pray.

We thank you, Dear Father, for all the gifts you have graciously given us. We thank you for the loved you showed us by sending your son. We asked Lord for help in sharing these spiritual gifts with others so that they too will experience hope at Christmas. We pray in our coming savior’s name. Amen.

Sermon Matthew 25:31-46 Secret Shopper

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon Matthew 25:31-46 Secret Shopper

November 26, 2017

We have just entered into the secular festival called “shopping days before Christmas.”   This celebration starts on the day after Thanksgiving with a holiday called “Black Friday”.   On this day you are to spend as much money as you can so that retailers will be in the black, and profitable for the year.   Tomorrow is “Cyber Monday” when you are supposed to spend as much money as you can online.   Then you must spend as much money as you can on Christmas gifts before Christmas Eve.  If you can’t afford all this shopping then you must go into credit card debt.   In our culture, it is most important that you participate in the annual ritual of “shopping days before Christmas” so that you can give unwanted gifts to people who already have everything.

Don’t tell anyone, but this Tuesday at 9:30 am a group of us will enter into a conspiracy to restore original meanings to Advent and Christmas.  We will gather in my office to come up with a plan.   We believe that Christmas can still change the world. But first, we must Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More and Love All.   Come join us for the Advent Conspiracy beginning this Tuesday at 9:30 am.  Let’s pray.

Almighty God, reveal to me the greatness of your power, that I may see your presence among the lowly and the lost and know the authority and sovereignty of your love in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who is also our humble brother. Amen.”

In the 1980s I owned three retail stores in Virginia, Washington DC and Bethany Beach.  When you own more than one store it is impossible to watch what is happening in the all the stores.  You can only be in one place at one time.  So what you must do is find a way to see what is happening in the stores while you are away.  You do this by getting a “secret shopper”.  A secret shopper will go into a store in disguise.  They pretend to be an ordinary shopper.  But they are not.  They look around and see how the store looks and what the employees are doing.  They buy something and observe how the employees treat customers.  Then they report all of this to the owner who then takes whatever corrective measures are needed.   

According to Jesus, he plans to return to earth as a secret shopper.  He will be wearing disguises. Let’s turn to the gospel of Matthew and hear what Jesus is going to do.

Matthew 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

According to Jesus, when he returns, he will be wearing four different disguises.  Let’s look at these.  The first disguise Jesus will be wearing is a superhero.  Like Superman, Jesus will fly through the air as he comes from heaven to earth.   In doing so, he will be fulfilling this vision from the book of Daniel.

Daniel 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man,[a] coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

We will see Jesus as the superhero, the Son of Man, riding the clouds from heaven to earth.  When this happens all believers will assemble, including those who have died who will be resurrected from the dead.  It will be a glorious day for all who believe in Jesus Christ.  We will live together in our resurrected bodies forever.   And we will always be at peace in the presence of Jesus Christ.   For believers, there could be no better vision.

Jesus will come disguised as the superhero, the Son of Man, but then he will also wear a second disguise.  He will become a shepherd.   A shepherd, in the first century, would allow his goats and sheep to graze in the field together during the day.  But at night the shepherd would gather the goats into his cave because they could not tolerate the cold as well as the sheep.   The shepherd did this because he loves both the sheep and the goats.  And so too with us.   Jesus loves us and will shepherd us, both goats and sheep, all believers, into the warmth of his presence.   And we will sing with the psalmist:

Psalm 23  1 The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley,[a] I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

So Jesus will come disguised as a superhero and as a shepherd.  But that’s not all.  Jesus will also come disguised as a person living in a homeless shelter.  He is hungry.  He is thirsty.  He is looking for a job.  He is trying to learn English.  He is trying to support his family.   When we meet this person we won't know that it is Jesus.  Jesus is coming like a secret shopper to see how we respond.  Will we give him something to eat and drink? Will we help him find a place to stay?  Will we help him find a job?  Will we invite him to our church?  Will we obey God's command:

Leviticus 19:10  Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God.

So we have seen that Jesus will come disguised as a superhero, and as a shepherd and as a homeless person.  But there is one more disguise he will wear.  He will look like a king.  And as king he will assemble the believers together and separate them into the sheep and goats.  The sheep are those who will be useful in the Kingdom of God because they care for the widow and orphan and poor and the alien, and the old, and the sick, and injured.  The goats are those who choose not to care for others and therefore are useless in God's kingdom.  The goats will be cast out into darkness.  But for all who obey God's commands to love God and love your neighbor as yourself, you will inherit the kingdom.  

Of course, Jesus won’t be wearing disguises.   But what we need to remember is that all people, all men and women, were created in the image of God.  And so we should treat all people as if they were Jesus.   Image what would happen to your family if you treated everyone as if they were really Jesus in disguise.  If all Christians treated everyone as if they were a disguised Jesus a revolution of love would sweep the world.   Some would call this the kingdom of God.

We don't know when Jesus will return.  He might be here already.  Jesus might even be living in Middletown.  Jesus might be a single mother trying to support her family on minimum wage and needs food from Neighborhood House.  Jesus might be eating lunch at Our Daily Bread this Friday.  Jesus might be a homeless veteran at Victory Village.   Jesus might be an immigrant facing deportation.   Jesus might be a lonely person hoping that someone would invite them to the fellowship of a church.  We don't know what disguise Jesus might be wearing right now.  But he is coming as a secret shopping to see how we will react.  So let's be thankful that Jesus is returning to establish the kingdom of God.  And let's be church, caring for those who need our help while we wait for Jesus to return.  Let's pray.

Lord Jesus, we thank you for blessing us with life and health and families and homes and church.  Help us to remember to share our blessings with those less fortunate.  Soften our hearts so that we may love the poor as much as you do.  This we pray.  Amen.

Sermon 2 Corinthians 8:1-11 “Giving According to Your Means”

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

New Covenant Presbyterian Church

Sermon 2 Corinthians 8:1-11 “Giving According to Your Means”

November 19, 2017

Today is Stewardship Sunday.   We remember today of all of God’s blessings.  We have received many.   The reason God blesses us is to use us to carry out His plan for our world.   So we receive abundantly from God and give out of that abundance.  We give out of our time and money.   We will look at what the Bible says about giving, but first, let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

We begin looking at a portion of a letter sent from Paul to the church at Corinth.   Paul wants them to imitate other churches in the practice of giving.

2 Corinthians 8:1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.

The churches Paul lifts up as examples for us to follow were poor churches suffering from persecution.  You would expect that given their poverty and problems giving would be very low.  You can’t squeeze blood out of a turnip.  But that was not the case.  In fact, the members of the church were quite generous given their means.  Why would this be?   Why would they give generously to the mission of God through the church given their unfortunate circumstances?  Well, we are told that it was because of their extreme joy.   They had received forgiveness of sin from their gracious God.  They had received the promise of eternal life in the resurrection from the dead.   They had received fellowship in the church.   They had received the gift of answered prayer.    They were grateful for all these gifts. They were filled with joy.  And so they gave to God’s mission through the church.   Let’s get back to Paul’s letter.

3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people. 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

Wow!  Even though they experienced great poverty and suffering they responded to God’s grace overwhelmingly.   They opened their checkbooks and gave because of the abundant grace they had received from God.   What if we counted our blessing?  How much have we received from God?   Has God blessed us with health?  Has God blessed us with family?  Has God blessed us with homes and ability to travel?  Has God blessed us with church?   Even if you are suffering financially I think you have to conclude that you have richly received abundant blessings from God.

So what are we to do about all this?   Let’s return to the letter.

6 So we urged Titus, just as he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7 But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.

The blessing of church is amazing.   Here we learn about God, who He is and what He does?  We learn about His coming to earth as a man named Jesus who loved us and cared for us like a shepherd cares for his sheep.   Jesus leads us to the Father and secures for us forgiveness of sins and eternal life.   And we learn about the Spirit, who transforms us as disciples and empowers us to do what God wants us to do.   We learn how to love God and love one another.   And our faith grows.  We learn all this knowledge and experience this reality right here in church.

But there is one more thing that we learn in church.   We learn the grace of giving.  We give in gratitude for all that God had given us.   And as we give we experience great joy because we are doing what our maker created us to do.

So we now know why we give, in gratitude for what God has already given us.  But even with this knowledge, sometimes, we just don’t give as we should.   And so sometimes we need a kick in the pants.  Let’s hear what Paul has to say to us.

8 I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others.

So Paul is trying to shame the Corinthian church.  Here they sit, a wealthy church.   They live in fine homes, travel to distant places, and eat the best food.   And yet their giving is not up to the standards set by much poorer churches.  And so Paul has sent Titus to Corinth to help the church realize how much they have been blessed by God and help them grow in both faith and generosity.

Let’s take a look at our church’s giving.   “On average Presbyterians give 1.5 percent of their annual income to the church–an average of about $580 annually, which results in a total amount of giving to our church of around $1.5 billion. If every Presbyterian tithed, together we would give $9.5 billion.”   ( https://www.presbyterianmission.org/what-we-believe/stewardship)   

According to statistics from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)  New Covenant has 168 members.   We had $118,411 in regular contributions last year.   That comes out to an average contribution of $705 per member, a little more than the average for all Presbyterian congregations.   According to the United States Census the median income for Middletown, zip code 19709, is $97000.   If we assume that the members of this church are typical of this community and earn around the median income, then the average member gives .7% of their income to the church.   Individuals and families may be giving more or less than this, but these are the averages.

(https://church-trends.pcusa.org/church/11365/financials)

(https://factfinder.census.gov/bkmk/cf/1.0/en/zip/19709/INCOME/MEDIAN_HH_INCOME)

Now, let's suppose that members of the church gave, on average, a tithe or 10% of their income to the church.   What would happen to our budget?    If 168 members gave 10%,  $9700 each, then annually we would have a budget of $1,600,000.   With this budget, we would provide wonderful worship and education facilities for the whole community.   We would never again have to have a special offering for the roof.  We would have a Senior Pastor and an Associate Pastor for Youth and Families.    We could better support Neighborhood House, Our Daily Bread, our Kenyan partners, and Compassion International.   And we would be starting new churches in growing areas of Delaware.  

But since our budget is just a fraction of that we limp along with a pastor making the minimum, and little money left over for anything else.   The $150,000 or so we have in total revenue each year doesn’t go very far.         

Our lack of giving is especially grievous given the sacrifice that Jesus made for all of us.   Let’s listen some more to the letter from Paul.

9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.

The Savior we worship is God with all the prerogatives of heaven.  He could have stayed there and enjoyed heaven.   But he didn’t.   He emptied himself of his divinity and came to earth to be with us.  Here he suffered as we do.  Here he died as we do.   But in his death, he defeated the evil one and secured for us forgiveness of sin and eternal life.   He did all of this because he loves us.   Do we love him?  Are we grateful for what Jesus did?  Are we willing to give a percentage of our income to advance God’s kingdom on earth?  A biblical tithe, 10%, would be for someone with the median income in Middletown around $800 per month, so little when compared to what Christ has done for us.

So what are we to do?   Paul does not beat around the bush.   Here is what he told the Corinthian church to do.  Listen carefully.

10 And here is my judgment about what is best for you in this matter. Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means.

Corinth is a rich church.  But in comparison to poor churches, they are just not carrying their weight.   They have generously given in the past, but now they have to do more.    And Paul wants them to give according to their means.   They are not to give just a token amount every Sunday.  They are not to give the same amount they have been giving for the last twenty years.   They are to give a percentage of their income, maybe the biblical tithe, 10%.

So what would the Apostle Paul tell us if he came here and saw the wealth of this community?   What would he say if he visited our homes and saw our lifestyles?   What would he say when he compared our homes to this church?   What would he say when he looked at the programs of this church given the needs of this community?   I think he would tell us the same thing he told the Corinthian church.  

2 Corinthians 9:6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Let’s pray.    Lord Jesus, you have blessed us richly with money and homes and families and travel and jobs and everything we value.   And for all of this, we are so grateful.   So now we offer a percentage of these gifts as our tithes and offerings.   We ask Lord for forgiveness for low levels of giving.  And we ask that you help us budget so that we can return to you an appropriate portion of what we have received.   This we pray in thanksgiving.  Amen.