Sermon – Acts 3:12-19 - Repent and Turn to God

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Acts 3:12-19 - Repent and Turn to God

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Third Sunday of Easter

April 22, 2012

We have been looking at how God planted the first church. Churches get planted just like potatoes and corn and gardens. I have been planting azaleas and flowers in the gardens around the Dickinson Memorial Manse. These plants need good soil, water, sunshine, and fertilizer all of which God provides. So we should not be surprised when God uses preaching, the Holy Spirit and miracles to plant a church. We will see how this works this morning, 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)

Last week we heard how God got the first church started. He sent his Holy Spirit into the hearts of the Apostles giving them the ability to preach the good news that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead with the promise for all who believe of eternal life. The Holy Spirit then used this proclamation to work in the hearts of the people who heard it to bring them them to faith. Those who then believed were baptized into faith in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit which sealed upon them the promise of eternal life. This led to the formation of a church that was unified with one heart and one mind.

But how did God get people into the church so that they would hear the proclamation and be transformed by the Holy Spirit? According the Book of Acts God used a miracle to make this happen. You might think that the miracle God used was the resurrection, and that certainly was a miracle. But only a few people saw it, just some women and the disciples. Everyone else heard about the resurrected from the preaching of the Apostles. But God used a different miracle, one that everyone in Jerusalem would instantly recognize as a miracle to bring people into the church. It worked this way. One afternoon two of the apostles were going to pray at the Temple. (Prayer, by the way is essential for a church to grow.) As they entered the temple gate they noticed a beggar who had been lame from birth being placed on the ground next to the gate. This person had no other way to make a living and had to depend on the generosity of those going to prayer. He had been doing this his entire life for decades. When Peter and John saw him they wanted to help. But what could they do? They didn't have any money to give him. But there was one thing they could do. They could pray for him. They could pray that Jesus would heal him. They had seen Jesus heal many people while on Earth, but would the resurrected and ascended Jesus continue to heal? They must have asked this question, but they were filled with faith so they boldly told the man in the name of Jesus Christ to walk, and he did.

Everyone in Jerusalem knew this man. They had seen him sitting at that gate for years. Many had tried to help him. But when the word went around town that he had been healed and was walking they were amazed. We know how fast news spreads around Pocomoke when something happens. Just imagine how fast this news spread around Jerusalem. It didn't take long for the news to reach nearly everyone and a large crowd assembled at the temple gate to see for themselves whether or not the story was true. And when they arrived at the gate they saw something that had to make their jaws drop. A man, disabled from birth, unable to walk, was dancing in front of the gate. As they stared in amazement Peter said to them.

Acts 3:12-19 12 …. "Men of Israel, why does this surprise you? Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? 13 The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14 You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15 You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16 By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see. 17 "Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

The astonished people who came to the temple gate that day did not understand what was going on. So Peter, in his sermon, had to make sense of it for them so that they would come to belief. The first thing he told them was that they were mistaken about the source of the miracle they had witnessed. The people had supposed that Peter and John somehow had extraordinary healing powers. Even today we idolize people who have somehow tapped into the universe's power to heal. They are the faith healer we find at revivals or the self improvement counselors we watch on TV. We read their books and buy their DVDs. We want to learn their secrets and use them for ourselves. We search for the right words, technique, formula or product that will give us exactly what we think we need to make our lives right. But Peter says that we have got it all wrong. It was not Peter's power, Peter's knowledge, Peter's technique or formula. It was about God, the Father of Jesus Christ, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, this God was the healer. God is the source of our healing and restoration.

The second mistake the people made was to assume that brokenness was to be expected, while healing was extraordinary. We see this today. There is a general belief that God either doesn't exist or at least doesn't interfere in the the normal course of things. We are genuinely surprised when a miracle like healing occurs. The crowds that day in Jerusalem were drawn to the gate because the healing was so unexpected. But Peter tells us that in a world after Easter healing and restoration are what we should expect because they are as common and sunshine and rain.

And the third mistake the crowd made that day was their reaction to this event, astonishment. Whenever we see God at work in the world, bringing a cancer to remission, restoring a broken relationship, ending wars, feeding hungry children we too are filled with wonder and joy. We are amazed. But Peter tells us that this reaction is not enough. Whenever we see God's handiwork we must go beyond astonishment all the way to repentance. You see it is not enough just to be pleasantly surprised when God blesses us in extraordinary ways. We need to repent, change directions, and follow God as citizens of God's kingdom.

So how did God get the first church started? He equipped it with the Holy Spirit and preachers who could proclaim the resurrection from the dead and the promise of eternal life. When everything was ready God performed a miracle. This attracted a large crowd who were told that God is the source of their blessings and for all who believe in the resurrection heavenly blessing are no longer extraordinary, rather they were expected given the resurrection of the one who was able to perform miracles, Jesus Christ. The crowd was called to repent, to give up their old ways not of anticipating God's blessings, and join with a community that celebrated God's blessings every day. This was really good news. And that church grew rapidly.

Peter then invited them to join with him and the other apostles as they studied the Hebrew scriptures and reinterpreted them in light of the life and ministry of Jesus. They started getting together on Sunday mornings, before work, to find in the Hebrew scriptures, our Old Testament, a better understanding of who Jesus was and what he did. And we are still doing it today. We still, 2000 years later, gather each Sunday morning to examine the scripture and talk about Jesus. Why do we do this? I think we are still here because we still experience God's miraculous blessings in our lives every day. We experience joy everyday and we have come to expect it. And we hunger for meaning to understand what we are experiencing. So we come to church, to hear the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead with the promise of eternal life. The Holy Spirit fills us with faith. And we leave here expecting see God at work in the world and to align ourselves with God's mission to that world.

The reality that God is blessing the world is the key to evangelism. Most of the people we meet are unable to see God at work in their world. They believe that miracles are a thing of the past. Occasionally they witness something extraordinary, but they have no way of understanding what is happening. The reaction is astonishment. They are momentarily amazed but they quickly return to their dreary lives. You have the ability to help them break free from this prison. You can help them to see God's continuing blessings and miracles. You can help them understand what is going on. You can invite them to church for Bible study, prayer and worship where they too will learn to recognize God's blessings when they occur and understand what they are all about. This is a great gift that you can give to others in this community. Let's pray.

Lord God, we thank you for blessing us so richly. We know that all of this was part of your plan as spoken to the prophets and revealed in Jesus Christ. We pledge our repentance and our promise to align ourselves with what you are doing in our community. Help us to help other recognize your blessings when they occur. Help us to explain to others what these mean. And help us to help others come to repentance where they too can recognize all you are doing for them. This way pray in the name of the one who made all of this possible, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Sermon – Acts 4:32 - 37 - Of One Heart and Mind

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Acts 4:32 - 37 - Of One Heart and Mind

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Second Sunday of Easter

April 15, 2012

Last week we celebrated Easter Sunday. We decorated the church in white and sang the familiar hymns. We wore our Sunday best and many of our families joined us in church. It was a glorious time. And it was the time for me, as your pastor, to proclaimed the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the promise to all who believe of eternal life. Today we will see what happens when this good news is proclaimed and the Holy Spirit begins its work. Something amazing happens. We will look at all of 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)

Acts 4:32-37 ³² All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. ³³ With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. ³⁴ There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵ and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need. ³⁶ Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), ³⁷ sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles' feet.

Luke, the author of the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts tells us that all the believers, all who believed in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead “were one in heart and mind”. This is truly amazing. We know that this first church was very diverse. Around five thousand people had become believers. Their sins were symbolically washed away in baptism and they professed their belief in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But they came from many different countries, spoke different languages, possessed various amounts of wealth, and even though they were all Jews some held onto their ancient Hebrew culture while others had become, culturally, more like the Greeks. This was not a recipe for unity and accord. A diverse group will have many different opinions. And since the church was just being formed they would have had many opinions about how the church should be structured. You would expect a church like this to experience many divisions.

You can see what I am talking about in Grace's new church in Princess Anne. Crossroads International Fellowship has been meeting for over a year and have developed into a very diverse group. There are rich and poor, young and old, blacks and whites and Asians and Africans attending worship services. And these often differ on the path the church should take as it grows. Grace has worked hard maneuvering through various minefields as she has put this group together. Not everyone is happy with the decisions made and some leave. All this is to be expected with a diverse group. But Grace is continuing to proclaim the resurrection of the Jesus from the dead and the promise of eternal life, and her church continues to grow.

Luke tells us that this happened in the first church. The first church was united by the proclamation of the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of eternal life. As long as this is the proclamation of the church the church will be unified. But if something else comes from the pulpit then our unity dissipates and we have conflict. Take a look at the Presbyterian Church USA. We are divided. Churches are leaving the denomination. A new denomination has been formed to receive the more conservative congregations. The problem is that we have focused for too long on controversial issues that divide us. The more we argue the more a great the chasm comes between us. It doesn't matter which side you are on, we are all at fault. We have forgotten that what unites us is the clear proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and the promise of eternal life. Were this to be our focus our divisions would be healed, and we would become of one mind and spirit.

The first church was focused like a laser beam on the truth of the resurrection and the assurance of eternal life. This united them and gave them a common mind. And it motivated them to do the next thing we will look at. Luke tells us that “they shared everything they had”. This does not mean that they sold all their possessions and depended on one another as some have thought. Rather what Luke is describing is a situation where the believers in the church were very generous in working out Jesus' command to love one another. They were generous in their giving to the church. They gave their gifts to the Apostles who were tasked with giving the proceeds to those who needed it most. This system ensured that everyone, even the poorest among them, had their basic needs met.

Recently I spoke with our church historian, Emily, who I believe is the oldest and longest serving member of our church. She remembers Pocomoke with dirt roads and Pastor Lytle riding in a horse drawn carriage from Pitts Creek to Beaver Dam each Sunday. She told me that during the Great Depression the churches of Pocomoke took on responsibility of seeing that everyone had enough to eat. Each church took turns providing a free soup lunch to anyone who was hungry. We cared for the people in our community. We were generous in working out Jesus' command to love our neighbors.

This continues today. We have groups in the church who raise funds and give them to families in need. We have given to mothers of sick children and to families whose homes have burned to the ground. We have helped people in jail get a fresh start in life. We have delivered boxes of food to needy families to help them celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are countless things we have done that I am not even aware of. Each one of us in our own way is trying to love others as much as God loves us.

So where does all of this come from, all this unity and generosity. Luke tells us that it is work of the Holy Spirit moving through the proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the promise of eternal life. Wherever this gospel preached the Holy Spirit is unleashed into the hearts of those who believe the good news and unity and generosity will be the result. When this happened in the first century they had to call it something. Luke tells us they called it “church”. So a church is a place where the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is proclaimed, the promise of eternal life is made and the Holy Spirit encourages unity of mind and generosity.

Luke tells us the story of one young man who came to belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His name was Joseph Barnabas, which means the Son of Encouragement. Barnabas was from Cyprus. So he probably spoke, dressed and lived like a Greek. This would have made him very different from the ethnic Jews of Jerusalem and Galilee. He had probably heard Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost and was attracted to the good news that Peter had proclaimed that Jesus Christ had been resurrected from the dead assuring all who believe the promise of eternal life. But would he, as a Hellenistic Jew, one who was culturally Greek, be accepted into a more traditional group of Jews? He discovered that he was accepted. His dress and way of speaking didn't matter. The only thing that did matter was Barnabas' belief in Jesus Christ. And he was accepted into the church.

Barnabas was a descendant of Jacob’s son Levi. The tribe of Levi, according to the Old Testament, was not given a share in the promised land. Rather than being farmers who cared for the land, the Levites would care for the church. Even though Barnabas was from the tribe of Levi he owned a field. But he heard from God a call to be a Levite and serve the church of Jesus Christ. So he sold his field, gave it to the church and became a dedicated worker for the church. Barnabas became one of the most effective evangelist for other Hellenistic Jews and Gentiles. He was the one who recruited Paul and brought him to the apostles attention. And Barnabas was sent from Jerusalem to visit the new church that had started in Antioch. From there he went to Tarsus and brought Paul back to the church. And he accompanied Paul in his first missionary journey. Barnabas, the son of encouragement, encouraged the first church to grow and form other churches. For this he will always be remembered.

For us here at Beaver Dam the same thing is possible. We can grow to the point where this sanctuary is too small. We can sponsor new churches. We can bring new people to belief. What we need to do this is to hear the proclamation of the good news of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and be filled with the Holy Spirit. With these two things nothing can stop us. We will be united in our mission and generous in our giving and nothing can stop the growing of the church.

Lord God, we have proclaimed the gospel of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and your promise of eternal life. We believe what we have heard. Fill us now with your Holy Spirit so that we may be evangelists in your world. Unite us in this mission and give us generous hearts. Use this to grow our church and plant seeds of your kingdom. This we pray in you Son's glorious name.

Sermon – John 20: 1-18 Coming to Belief

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – John 20: 1-18 Coming to Belief

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Easter Sunday

April 8, 2012

Just as the farmers of old we look to the heaven for clues about when to plant the potatoes and corn. We wait for the sun to give us equal days and nights. Then we wait for the full moon to light the evening for planting. Both have now occurred. So we have reached the time to plant your crops. Also on this first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox we are ready to plant seeds of faith. It is Easter morning and we join with Christians around the world and of all time to boldly proclaim what we believe: Jesus Christ has been resurrected from the dead. Let us 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)

The Gospel of John is about belief. The key text in this important book come from the third chapter and the sixteenth verse “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” The promise of Easter is that you will have eternal life. You will live forever in the presence of God. But before we receive this promise we must first do something. We must believe. But believe in what? What are we suppose to believe to receive this wonderful gift of eternal life? The content of our belief is what we celebrate on Easter. We believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. But how does someone come to this belief? What is the process of conversion from unbelief to belief. The twentieth chapter of John gives us two examples of people coming out of the darkness of unbelief into the light of faith.

You heard in the first reading of scripture read earlier these words. “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark”. On that Easter morning the world was shrouded in darkness; belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ had not yet started. Then after a missing stone and a foot race the disciple that Jesus loved looked into an empty tomb. This disciple became the first person to believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He came to belief because of what he saw, or in his case what he didn't see.

Sometimes we come to belief in Jesus by seeing God in the world around us. We see God in the beauty of our forests and streams and rivers and coastlines. We see God in the faces of believers as they volunteer in church, or in other non-profits. We see God in the stories shared by seniors in nursing homes. We see God in the children as they learn Bible stories. We see God as we share bread and wine in the Lord's Supper. God has blessed us with eyes with which we can see him in the world he created. The disciple Jesus loved saw an empty tomb, he remembered Jesus' teachings and he knew that Jesus had been resurrected from the dead. He believed in Jesus Christ and was promised eternal life.

So I urge you this Easter to look for Jesus in the world around you. Look for Jesus when the children enjoy their chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. Look for Jesus when your family sits down for a meal. Look for Jesus in the loving eyes of those caring for children or for aging parents. Use your eyes to look for Jesus in the world and you will be blessed with belief that he was truly resurrected from the dead with the promise for you of eternal life.

But seeing with our eyes is only one of the two ways we have of coming to belief. The other is contained in the twentieth chapter of John, verses 11-18.

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her,“Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her,

“Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary Magdalene saw Jesus with her own eyes, but even though she saw she still did not believe. For some of us we need more than just seeing God at work in the world around us for us to come to belief. Sometime we just don't believe what we see. Like Mary we need something more. Mary turn away from Jesus and was not looking at him when the following happened. Jesus spoke to her. Mary Magdalene came to belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ not with her eyes but with her ears. She believed in Jesus Christ when she heard Jesus say her name, and she received the promise of eternal life.

Sometimes we come to belief when God speaks to us. I remember a Sunday morning many years ago. As I drove to church I prayed to God, expressing all my anger and dissatisfaction with my life. I gave God a piece of my mind. I arrived in church and was surrounded by the faithful, but my prayers continued when suddenly I heard a voice. It was as clear as if someone behind was speaking. But it wasn't someone behind me and no one else heard it. I'm certain that it was God's voice. I heard it and remember exactly what it said, “It's in the book.” Suddenly I had a need to find out what was in that book. I reached down and picked up a pew Bible and began to read. The next Sunday I started attending a Sunday School class for the first time since I was a kid. The next Wednesday I enrolled in a two year Bible overview called the Bethel Bible Series. One thing led to another and I became and Bethel teacher at the church and eventually went to seminary. Today I am responding to God's voice by studying God's book every day, and telling you what I find.

We can hear God's voice calling us through the scripture we read and hear proclaimed. We come to belief in Jesus Christ by allowing God's voice to speak to us through the Bible. That's why it is so important to start every day with God's word and prayer. That's why it is so important to study God's word on Sunday mornings and Wednesday afternoons or evenings. That's why it is so important to hear God's voice through the proclamation of Gospel each Sunday morning. Through all of these things we can hear God call our names and like Mary Magdalene come to belief with the promise of eternal life.

Once Mary Magdalene heard Jesus call her name her eyes were opened and she could see him in the world. This is what happens to us. After we hear God voice in our meditations, study and worship we then begin to see God in the world around us. The Bible was written by people who had heard God's voice and saw God doing things. They wrote these things down and the church has preserved them for us. So as we are immersed in the Scripture we are better able to see God in our world. Our study of the word of God helps us to see God in the world. So our eyes and our ears work together to bring us to belief in Jesus Christ. With our ears we hear God speak to us in church through the pages of the Bible. The helps to recognize God in the world we see with our eyes. Though hearing and seeing we come to belief.

Later that night the disciples gathered back in the upper room. They heard Mary Magdalene's report of her encounter with the risen Jesus. Then they saw Jesus in the room with them. The heard with their ears and saw with their eyes and came to belief. Like these disciples we are a people who have heard God speaking to us through the scripture. We are also a people who can see God at work in the world around us. So we are a people who believe. And on this Easter Sunday we believe with the disciple that Jesus loved and with Mary Magdalene and with the other disciples that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. This belief comes with a promise. Because we believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has promised us eternal life. This is what we celebrate at Easter.

And like Mary Magdalene and the disciples we just can't wait to proclaim to the world what we have heard and seen. “I have seen the Lord”, said Mary to the disciples. What will you say to the people you meet about what you have seen and heard? I urge to go and tell everyone the good news that Jesus Christ has been resurrected from dead. All who believe this receive the gift of eternal life. This may sound like something too good to be true. But it is true, we have heard and seen it. So proclaim it as the truth to everyone you meet so they will hear it too and come to belief.

The Easter story in John begins with the darkness of unbelief. But then through hearing and seeing belief comes into the world. This belief is that Jesus Christ, the light of the world, has been resurrected from the dead. He lives! Believe in your heart what others have heard and seen that Jesus conquered death. As believers you will now receive the gift of eternal life.

Lord Jesus we thank you for the gift of faith. Through you voice in scripture and through your work in the world we have heard you and seen you. So we believe in your resurrection from the dead and anticipate our own resurrections when we will live forever with you, God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Help us to proclaim this good news to everyone we know. This we pray in your holy name. Amen.

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – The Lord's Supper

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 – The Lord's Supper

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Palm Sunday

April 1, 2012

Today is the last Sunday of Lent and the beginning of Holy Week. It's Palm Sunday. This is the week each year when we look at the final days of Jesus' life. It all began with a triumphal entry into Jerusalem as palm branches lined the processional route. Later in the week Jesus will be arrested, tried and sentenced to death on a cross, a sentence that will be carried out by the Roman authorities. In between the triumphal entry and the crucifixion Jesus had one final meal with his disciples. At this meal he told them to break bread and share wine together in his memory. And he commanded them to love one another.  As we begin this most of holy of weeks, 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)

Several weeks ago we were talking about the divisions in the Corinthian church. The divisions were threatening to split the church apart. So Paul wrote a letter that will precede a visit and more letters to deal with these growing problems. One of the greatest problem concerned their practices during the Lord's Supper. So let's take a look at the religious practices of Christians in the first century.

It was the custom of the early church to meet in the early hours, on Sunday morning before work, to pray and share the stories of Jesus. Sunday was a work day until the 4^th century. Then, after work, they would again get together to give thanks to God, break bread and share wine as Jesus had commanded. In Corinth, we believe, that the first century Christians met in a house each Sunday morning and evening. This house was large enough for the entire church and therefore was large and probably owned by a wealthy individual. Large homes in that era would have an elaborately decorated dining room with a horseshoe shaped table. They would also have another large, less decorated, room called the atrium. We think that when the Corinthian church got together for dinner on Sunday evenings, the owner and his friends would use the dining room and share a feast while others in the church would be in the atrium eating the food that was left over from the dining room, or eating something they brought, or maybe eating nothing at all. Sometimes the people in the dining room would drink so much wine they would actually be drunk for the communion service. All of this created a class division in the Corinthian church. The rich had communion in a fancy room after eating a fabulous feast and getting drunk, while the poor had communion in the atrium. As you might imagine this created some bitterness and hard feelings in the church.

To deal with this problem the Apostle Paul quoted from the communion liturgy the Corinthian church used and talked about it. Here it is.

1 Corinthians 11:17 - 12:1 ¹⁷ In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. ¹⁸ In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹ No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. ²⁰ When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, ²¹ for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. ²² Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not! ²³ For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴ and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." ²⁵ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. ²⁷ Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸ A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. ²⁹ For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰ That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. ³¹ But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. ³² When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. ³³ So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. ³⁴ If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.

Paul cautioned them not to participate in the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner. What could he possibly mean by “unworthy manner”? Since the church was having dinner in two rooms, one for the wealthy and one for the poor, Paul told them that if they were hungry to eat at home first before coming to church. And then when they arrive at church wait for everyone to arrive. We know from later writings in the New Testament that churches stopped the practice of have a Sunday evening meal. They continued to have fellowship dinners. These were called Agape, or Love dinners. The Lord's Supper continued each Sunday evening, but without a meal.

But Paul went beyond this in his instructions to the Corinthians. He told them that whenever they come to the Lord's Supper they must recognize the body of the Lord. This command of Paul's that we must recognize the body of Jesus in the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper has caused much discussion in the church. Did he mean that the bread and wine physically become the body and blood of Jesus, as some have thought? Or did he mean that we are spiritually united with Christ through the bread and wine, as others have argued? Or did he mean that we recognize the body of the Lord by remembering his life and ministry as still others claim? It would take weeks for us to sort all this out.

I think, that to understand what Paul meant by recognizing the body of the Lord, we must first know what Paul meant when he used the phrase “body of Christ”. For Paul, the body of Christ is all of us. We, Christians who gather together in churches are the body of Christ. So to recognize the body of Christ during the Lord's Supper means that we recognize each other as part of the body. It is only us by being together in communion that we can perceive the body of Christ.

The problem in the Corinthian church was the the rich people were having communion in the dining room while others were out in the atrium. They couldn't see each other. So they couldn't recognize the body of Christ. Paul wanted them in the same room, rich and poor, so that both groups would be together and all would be able to recognize this as the body of Christ.

Whenever we celebrate the Lord's Supper here at Beaver Dam we always welcome around the table all who believe. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor, young or old, wise or foolish. Everyone who puts their faith in Jesus Christ is welcome. And as we gather around this table we recognize the body of Christ in the faces of our fellow worshipers.

Communion is a public event, never private. Even when we take communion to shut-ins I always go with an elder or deacon, representing the whole congregation, so that we can recognize the body of Christ as we eat the bread and drink the juice together.

It has concerned me that Christians here in Pocomoke rarely worship together. There are very few opportunities for all the churches in Pocomoke to come together around this table. The Pocomoke Ministerial Association has not been able to organize a Thanksgiving or Good Friday service this year. Thankfully we will have a Pocomoke Prayer Breakfast in May. But I think we need to do more, much more, to worship and break bread together. And I would like for us to think about ways that we could do things with other churches. We will be joining with the Methodists next Sunday for an Easter Sunrise Service. Maybe we could do something with a Black or Hispanic church in our community. The more we do with other churches, the more we will be able to recognize the body of Christ.

We also need to recognize the body of Christ in the global church. And that is why it is so important to participate in the One Great Hour of Sharing. Through this offering we can assist farmers throughout the world to grow sufficient food to feed hungry people. Through this offering we can help poor people in the United States make a new start. Through this offering we can come to the aid of people whose farms and homes have been destroyed in floods and droughts, hurricanes and tsunamis, earthquakes and twisters. We join with other Christians in the Presbyterian Hunger Program, the Presbyterian Self Development of People Program, and the Presbyterian Disaster Relief Program where we and others will recognize the body of Christ in each other.  So as we gather around the communion table today, look into each others eyes. There you will recognize the body of Christ.

Lord Jesus we have assembled as your body around this table. Bless us with your spiritual presence. Renew us in the bread and wine. And help us to recognize you as we come together in communion. Amen.

Sermon – Hebrews 5:5-10 – Jesus Our High Priest

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – Hebrews 5:5-10 – Jesus Our High Priest

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Lent 5

March 25, 2012

Why did Jesus have to die such a humiliating death on a cross? This is a question we have as we approach Holy Week. It was also a question facing the early church which the evangelists had to answer. Peter told the churches that Christ had to enter into our suffering to find us and bring us to God. Paul told the church of Rome that Jesus died on the cross to justify us so that we fit together in a right relationship with God and with each other. And Paul told the Corinthian church that Jesus died a shameful death on the cross to demonstrate God's power to find us in our shame and redeem us. Today we will hear as the author of Hebrews tells Jewish Christians that Jesus died in order to serve as our High Priest. We will look at this further 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)

Hebrews 5:5-10 ⁵ So Christ also did not take upon himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father." ⁶ And he says in another place, "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." ⁷ During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸ Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹ and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ¹⁰ and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

The Jewish Christians faced a problem. They were no longer welcomed in the Jerusalem Temple. We know that persecution had started against the Christians. Paul had been arrested went he tried to enter the Temple. And the new Gentiles in the church were unable to go into the Temple at all. The importance of entering the Temple was related to the forgiving of sin. It was thought that the Temple was the earthly home of God. And so you were expected to make a pilgrimage to the temple, at least once in your life to present a sacrifice and receive forgiveness from God.

The process of forgiveness worked this way. Since God is holy and you are not you are unable to approach God yourself. Someone who is holy needs to be the intermediary. This person, or priest, would listen to your prayers, learn about your joys and concerns, and offer your prayers to God, asking God to bless you by forgiving your sins and giving you what you need for life. This priest was expected to remain holy in order to approach God with your prayers. And this priest was expected to know you and what was happening in your life in order to take your prayers to God.

This function of a priest is similar to what I do as a preacher, but there are some major differences. Like a priest, I need to know you. I need to know your joys and concerns. I need to know what's bothering you. I need to know the questions you have for God. I take all of this and hold it in my mind and heart while I study the scripture passage assigned for a Sunday. I try to see how the Bible passage answers your questions and deals with the problems you face. Then I put together a sermon which talks about the scripture and how it intersects with your life. And I pray that whatever I say in my sermon can be used by the Holy Spirit to do something for you. So as a preacher I take your joys and concerns, bounce them off the Bible and tell you about it. The Holy Spirit then takes whatever my mouth says and transforms it into whatever your ears hear. And you are transformed. So the difference between a preacher and a priest is that I do not deliver your prayers to God. Rather I take your prayers, pass them through scripture, and send them back to you.

But if I don't take your prayers to God who does? Who is your priest who knows you, and is holy enough to approach God on your behalf? This is a problem facing us as it was a problem facing the early church who found their path to the temple and the priests barred by their faith in Jesus Christ.

We don't know who the author of the Book of Hebrews was. We do know that he was a preacher, Hebrews is most likely a sermon, and he was speaking to a group of Jewish Christians. He told them that they did have a high priest, someone holy enough to come into God's presence and someone who knew their joys and concerns, heard their prayers and understood their experiences. This priest was none other than Jesus Christ, who had lived with them, experienced what they had experienced, including suffering and death, and had ascended to be with the Father. Jesus Christ is the high priest who hears our prayers and delivers them to God.

But it was difficult for the Jewish Christians to believe this. Yes, Jesus was the Christ, the anointed one. He was from the tribe of Judah, so he was anointed as King, a descendant of David. But everyone knew that the high priest must be from the tribe of Levy and a descendant of Aaron, Moses' brother. Jesus was not from the tribe of Levy and not descended from Aaron. So Jesus could not be the high priest. And the Jewish Christians worried about who would intercede for them with God as their priest.

The author of Hebrews, like any good preacher, took this concern to scripture to see what the Word of God had to say about it. He searched the Hebrew Bible and found this.

Genesis 14:18-20 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand." Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

Psalm 110:4 4 The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."

Melchizadek literally means, “king of righteousness”. He would be a king who would free the prisoners, clothe the naked, feed the hungry, and deliver people from grinding poverty. We are also told that he was also the king of Salem, or Shalom, which means “peace”. So he would be a king who delivers us from war and violence. And Melchizadek was a priest of God Most High. A priest? He was not of the tribe of Levi. Levi was still three generations away. He was not a descendant of Aaron, Aaron would not be born for centuries. But Melchizadek was a priest. And in fact he was a priest not just in Abraham's time but forever.

And so too is Jesus because Jesus just like Melchizadek, is the king of righteousness and peace, and just like Melchizadek Jesus came with gifts of bread and wine. Just like Melchizadek, and unlike all the descendants of Aaron, Jesus lives forever. The unmistakable conclusion is that just like Melchizadek was a priest of the God Most High, so too Jesus is our high priest. The reason Jesus suffered on the cross was to know us, to know our suffering, to know what it is like to die. Jesus knows who we are, what we think and feel, and our joys and concerns. So like a good preacher, or a good priest, he listens to our prayers and knows what they mean. Jesus is also holy. He is sinless and so as our high priest has the ability to be in the presence of God. Jesus has ascended to the right hand of God where he can whisper our prayers, our joys and our concerns, directly into the Father's ear. So Jesus takes our prayers and gives them to God as our eternal high priest.

As I have already said, I am not your priest, rather I am your preacher who takes your prayers, your joys, your concerns to scripture to see what it says and report back. But are there priest here in the church? Are there priests who experience what we experience and holy enough to talk with God on our behalf? In the protestant tradition the answer is yes. There are people who know us and what we are going through and are holy enough to bring this to God. Who are these people? They are all of us. All of us who profess our faith in Jesus Christ. By confessing our sin and repenting we are made holy so that we can pray for one another bringing each other's joys and concerns to God. This comes to us as a gift from our great High Priest, Jesus Christ.

So I urge you to talk with each other, and with your families, and with your friends and learn about their joys and concerns. Learn about what they are thinking and feeling. Be with them through times of joy and sorrow. And be their priests offering up prayers to God on their behalf. The world desperately needs priests of the Most High God to minister to our needs and intercede on our behalf with our Father in Heaven. You as the followers of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ, are the priests the world needs now. Priesthood is your calling as children of God.

Lord Jesus, we have assembled today as priests of the Most High God. We are forgiven sinners made holy by your blood. We are here today to offer our prayers and prayers of others to God. We ask that you hear our prayers as you always have. Since you were with us you know what we experience, our joys and our concerns, and we ask that you explain our prayers to the Father and ask Him to intercede on our behalf. We acknowledge you as our great High Priest who lives forever as King of righteousness and peace. Amen.

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 - Jesus was Crucified for our Salvation

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 1: 18-31 - Jesus was Crucified for our Salvation

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Lent 3

March 11, 2012

Here we are at the third Sunday of Lent. We have been with the early church trying to figure out what Jesus' suffering and death really meant. The early church had asked the question, “Why did Jesus have to suffer and die such a humiliating death on a cross?” Peter told persecuted churches that Jesus suffered to enter our suffering to bring us to God. Paul told the church of Rome that Jesus was lifted up on a cross to justify us, to straighten, plane and sand us smooth so that we can fit together with God and with each other. And today we will read as Paul tells the church in Corinth that Jesus died on the cross to empower the church. We will get to all 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)

It was the winter of 56 AD. Paul was in Ephesus, and he received some troubling news from Corinth. Paul knew the Corinthian church well. He had established it five years before and spent several years there helping it get started before leaving to resume his missionary travels. Paul had come to Corinthian in response to a dream he had of someone urging him to come to Macedonia. He had responded to this dream and arrived in Corinth around 50 AD where he met Priscilla and Aquila who were Christians from Rome working in the leather industry. He experienced numerous problems there and so probably wasn't surprised that divisions remained. So Paul sent Timothy to Corinth to find out what's happening and report back.

When Timothy returned he delivered a discouraging report to Paul. First, people were complaining about Paul's preaching. Paul was not a particularly good preacher. He wasn't very charismatic. Maybe it was his accent or clothes. But when compared to the philosophers and debaters in Corinth, Paul's style left a lot to be desired. There was a faction that wanted someone like Apollos, a great speaker, to come to Corinth for the church. But this wasn't the only problem. Another faction in the church questioned Paul's background. Paul just wasn't one of the twelve. Paul hadn't been a follower of Jesus before his death. And in fact Paul had been a persecutor of the early church. Paul didn't even know Jesus until that episode on the Damascus road when he encountered Jesus in a flash of light. Paul just didn't have the right credentials. And so a faction wanted someone like Peter to come to the church.

All of this had to be hard for Paul to hear. He had worked so hard to bring the church to Christ and still it was divided. But Timothy had even more bad news for Paul. People in Corinth were questioning Paul's primary teaching. They were concerned that Paul had put the cross at the center of their faith. Paul had insisted that the leader of the church was the resurrected Jesus Christ who had died on a cross. The Gentile Christians in Corinth thought that this belief in a crucified savior was foolish. You had to be mad to worship someone who died on a cross because crucifixion was the most shameful way to die. The Romans had picked up crucifixion from the Persians. It was a way to humiliate any political opponent. Crosses were setup just outside the city gate to that all your friends and family could see you suffer and thus be deterred from ever opposing the Emperor. The Son of God would never let something like this happen. He would never die a shameful death on a cross. So they questioned Paul's central teaching and their faith was tottering. The Jewish Christians in Corinth also had problems with Paul's teachings on the cross. It was inconceivable to them that the Messiah would die on a tree. The Hebrew scripture cleared stated that anyone who died on a tree was cursed. So anyone who died on a cross was also cursed. Why would God allow the Messiah to be cursed. It didn't make any sense. Paul's whole teaching on the cross was being questioned.

Differences plague the church today as well. We find ourselves arguing about theology and biblical interpretation. This week New Castle Presbytery debated an idea that we should split into two presbyteries one theat believed one way on certain issues and one that believed the other way. People were passionate on both sides believing the other to be foolish. The idea that we should be united in Christ ultimately prevailed, but our differences remain and we are left struggling to discern God will for us.

Paul knew that he had to respond to the Corinthian church before disagreements turned into divisions and the possible the death of the church. A letter was needed, maybe also a visit, maybe more that one. So he began writing what we know today as First Corinthians and here is part of what he said to the church.

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 ¹⁸ For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us 

who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate." ²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. ²² Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength. ²⁶ Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. ²⁷ But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. ²⁸ He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-- and the things that are not-- to nullify the things that are, ²⁹ so that no one may boast before him. ³⁰ It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God-- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. ³¹ Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

So, according Paul, God chose crucifixion as the manner of Jesus' death intentionally. He chose what was foolish, what was shameful, what was cursed to demonstrate his great power. God can take what is foolish, what is shameful, what is cursed and transform it into a blessing. And this is really good news for the Corinthians because many of them were foolish, many of them were filled with shame, many of them were cursed, but in Jesus Christ they were all transformed to new life. All of this is the great paradox of our faith. God uses the foolish, the shameful, and the cursed to transform the foolish, the shamed and cursed to new life in Jesus Christ.

Today as in the first century we value wisdom. Wisdom is the opposite of foolishness and we treasure it greatly. We spend a lot of time and money on education. We think that if we obtain enough knowledge we will become wise. And we depend on this wisdom to improve our lives. But no matter how much wisdom we have received we find that it is not enough. We try to wise, but over and over again we do foolish things. And when we act foolishly we find ourselves filled with shame and feeling cursed. I think this is one reason why people leave churches. They hope to find wisdom by coming to church. They hope that through this wisdom they will lead a better life. But then they do something foolish. Maybe they cheat on their spouse. Maybe their drinking has gotten out of control and relationships hurt. They feel foolish for what they have done, and experience shame coming to church. We love them and reach out to them, but they leave feeling cursed and we see them no more.

Jesus died a foolish, shameful and cursed death on a cross to find us in our foolishness, shame and curse. Wherever we are, whatever we have done, nothing is so foolish, nothing is so shameful, nothing is so cursed as to separate us from God's love in Jesus Christ. So if you have a disease, or if you have gone through a divorce, or if you have gone bankrupt, or if you have been addicted to drugs or alcohol or prescription drugs, if you have experience foolishness, shame and curse in any way Jesus died on a cross for you with the promise of God's power to transform you. So I invite you who are foolish, filled with shame, or experiencing a curse to experience the power of God through the death of Jesus Christ because Jesus has come into your foolishness, your shame, your cursed life to save you and bring you to new life.

So if someone says to you that you are a moron for believing that God died on a cross, or if someone tells you that it is stupid to believe that your God died a shameful death, or if someone argues that Jesus' death on a cross shows that he was not the messiah because he was cursed then you can respond by telling them that God is so powerful that he transforms the foolish, the shamed and cursed to shame the wise so that we realize that wisdom is not our ultimate goal. What we really want and really need is faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ which brings us to new life. Faith is far more important than wisdom.

Father in heaven, we thank you for using the foolish, the shameful and the cursed to bless us. Help us to grow our faith in Jesus Christ so that by your power we may received the promised new life in Christ. This we pray in his glorious name. Amen.