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“The Living and the Dead” A Message on Luke 24:1-12 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church Easter Sunday, April 21, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] Luke 24:1-12 (NRSV) But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in, they did not find the body. 4 While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. 5 The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. 6 Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” 8 Then they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> This past Wednesday we loaded up the confirmation students in one of the church vans and drove them over to the cemetery behind the funeral home next door. Now this may seem like a strange thing to do, but the topic we were studying that day was death and resurrection. So I figured what better place to talk about those things than at a cemetery. And what better time to talk about those subjects than Holy Week! Death is not something we talk about much in our culture. I grew up on a farm which gave me an advantage in learning about death, in my opinion, because animals sometimes die on farms. Sometimes it’s due to old age, but other times it is due to other factors. We had some cows get struck by lightning. We had a bull get out on the highway and get hit by a car. We had a horse founder and die. And we also raised and processed our own beef, which means… well, you know. But the first time I experienced the death of someone I knew was when my grandfather died. I think I was 12 years old. It was all so foreign to me. His funeral was at a church but it wasn’t like any church service I had been to before. I didn't understand it very much and I remember being confused. I had a lot of questions. The confirmands had a lot of questions Wednesday evening as well. “When someone dies do they instantly go to heaven, or do they have to wait until Jesus comes back?” “It is okay to be cremated?” “If someone is cremated how will their body be raised from the dead?” “What will the resurrection be like?” Good questions from young minds.We answered and talked about those questions. In the scripture we read today from Luke’s gospel we find questions about death as well. The women go to the tomb where Jesus was laid only to find it empty. The “two men in dazzling clothes,” or angels, appear. The men ask the women, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” Being familiar with the Easter story we tend to scan over that bit of scripture and thus miss just how much of an unexpected shock it must have been to the women. The women had gotten up early in the morning and had gone to the ancient equivalent of a cemetery with the intent of putting spices and oil on Jesus’ lifeless body. It wasn’t something they could have been looking forward to doing. Just two days before Jesus had been brutally beaten and killed. Nails had pierced his hands and feet. A spear had been thrust in his side. Because he died just before the Sabbath began at sundown on Friday, his body could not be properly prepared for burial in the tomb. It had been a rush job, but the women were thankful to Joseph of Arimathea who had gone to Pilate Friday afternoon and asked him for Jesus body. Joseph did the best he could and put Jesus in a tomb that Joseph had created for himself. Now the women walked to the tomb to finish preparing Jesus’ body. They were planning on unwrapping the linen cloth that Joseph had put around Jesus’ body, place the ointments and spices on the body, and wrap it back up with the linen cloth. Now this was significant for many reasons, not the least of which was the fact that by doing this they would be “unclean.” In Numbers 19 the Jewish law said that touching a dead body meant a person was unclean for seven days. They would have to go through certain purification rites and have the water of cleansing sprinkled on them on the third day and the seventh day before they once again would be clean. And if they didn’t do this they would be cut off from the people. Pretty drastic, huh? The women were willing to pay the cost, thought. The were in for a surprise, tough. They went to the grave expecting to see the dead, and instead they encounter the living. They discovered that Jesus had risen from the dead. They were the first humans to hear the Easter message. As Christians, as followers and disciples of Jesus Christ, we are a resurrection people. We are not a people looking for the living among the dead. We are a people of new life, an Easter people. The problem is that sometimes we don’t act like it. We act like people of the world, not people of Jesus. Even with our best intentions our focus can drift from heavenly things to the things of our world. Our problems seem to grasp our attention and refuse to let it go. The bills pile up and financial challenges seem like they will overwhelm us. Our health or the health of loved ones become medical problems resulting in test after test, procedure after procedure, prescription after prescription of expensive medicines that may not seem to help. Or maybe our worldly focus is on relationships that are strained or even broken. Maybe we have been betrayed and our hearts are broken. Maybe the memories of something we’ve done in the past create guilt and continue to affect our present and the future. Maybe our focus is on money and power and climbing to the top. Maybe our focus is on our work or our careers, taking away time and energy from our families and loved ones. You get the idea. The problem is that all those things are temporary. All those things are spiritually dead. We look for life, for significance, for meaning, for purpose, where those things cannot be found. We look for the living among the dead. In 1 John 2:15-17 we read, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. The love of the Father is not in those who love the world; for all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, the pride in riches—comes not from the Father but from the world. And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.” The worldly things are passing away. Jesus does not. Matthew 6:19-20 reads, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust[a] consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Jesus is not dead. He is alive. That is the very foundation of the Christian religion. We are a resurrection people. We are an Easter people. Each Sunday, when we gather as followers of Jesus Christ to worship God, we celebrate Easter. Even during the season of Lent, which just ended, a season of repentance and preparation, Sundays are not counted in the 40 days of Lent, because each Sunday is a “little-Easter.” If one is fasting or has “given up” something for Lent, those don’t have to be observed on the Sundays during Lent. (How many of you who gave something up for Lent are thinking to yourselves, “NOW he tells us!”) The resurrection is such a big deal to us Christians that we even changed the day we observe the Sabbath. We observe the Sabbath on Sunday because that is the day of Jesus’ resurrection. We are a resurrection people. We are an Easter people. So my challenge to you this Easter Sunday is to remember that as Christians, as disciples of Jesus Christ, we aren’t just Easter people on Easter Sunday, but every day of the year. Death has been overcome by the love of God the Father, Jesus his only son, and the power of the Holy Spirit. And this is available to every person who calls Jesus Lord. Let us not look for the living among the dead. The tomb is empty. Death does not live. Jesus is alive. Let us live each day remembering that we are Easter people. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

“Spreading Cloaks” A Message on Luke 19:28-40 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church April 14, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] Luke 19:28-40 (NRSV) After he had said this, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem. When he had come near Bethphage and Bethany, at the place called the Mount of Olives, he sent two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village ahead of you, and as you enter it you will find tied there a colt that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ just say this, ‘The Lord needs it.’” 32 So those who were sent departed and found it as he had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners asked them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 They said, “The Lord needs it.” 35 Then they brought it to Jesus; and after throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 As he rode along, people kept spreading their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was now approaching the path down from the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to praise God joyfully with a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, 38 saying, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” 39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, order your disciples to stop.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the stones would shout out.” ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> I want to start out this Sunday, Palm Sunday, by looking at something that has become somewhat of a cultural phenomena: the red carpet. Now when we hear someone say that they are “rolling out the red carpet” it means that extreme hospitality is being shown to someone important or famous. If you’re like me your think of Hollywood and the Academy Awards or some other awards show where celebrities pull up in big, fancy cars, get out to the flashes of the paparazzi’ cameras, say a few comments (usually politically oriented or something about how environmentally conscious they are), and then walk into the building… all on a big red carpet. I did a little digging to find out the origin of the red carpet. It turns out that the first mention of a red carpet comes to us from the ancient playwright Aeschylus in his play, “Agamemnon,” written somewhere around 458 BC. In this play the title character, Agamemnon returns from Troy. His wife, Clytemnestra, as part of welcoming him back, offers him a red path to walk on. She says, “Now my beloved, step down from your chariot, and let not your foot, my lord, touch the Earth. Servants, let there be spread before the house he never expected to see, where Justice leads him in, a crimson path.” But Agamemnon isn’t too sure about it. Knowing that only gods have something that nice to walk on, he expresses a reluctance to walk on it. He says, “I am a mortal, a man; I cannot trample upon these tinted splendors without fear thrown in my path.” Ironically, the woman who creates the use of the red carpet ends up murdering Agamemnon in the play. Bummer. So we see the “red carpet” goes back a long ways. (Ironically it wasn’t used for the Academy Awards until 1961.) Nowadays the red carpet is used for someone special and even then for a special event. In the scripture we read today from Luke’s Gospel we find people using an ancient equivalent of the red carpet for someone special and for a special event. The people laid their cloaks down on the road ahead of Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. Now what exactly is a cloak? When I was in 5th grade at Cooper Elementary School my teacher was Mrs. Pat Waters. She was a great teacher. I can still remember in the winter time her telling us to go to the back of the room and get our “cloaks” as we were preparing for the end of school. I had never heard that word before but figured out pretty quickly that our “cloaks” were our jackets, coats, and sweaters, but I had never heard the term “cloaks” before. In Jesus’ time people wore two major articles of clothing: a tunic, which was worn as an undergarment, and a much costlier cloak worn as an outer garment. The cloak was the much more important of the two. It not only provided protection from the weather, especially in the winter time, but it was used as a kind of tent to sleep under outside. [Source: https://www.bibletools.org/index.cfm/fuseaction/Topical.show/RTD/cgg/ID/11586/Tunic-Cloak.htm] The cloak was so important that in there were laws about that Moses gave the people. In Exodus 22:26-27 we read, “If you take your neighbor’s cloak in pawn, you shall restore it before the sun goes down; for it may be your neighbor’s only clothing to use as cover; in what else shall that person sleep? And if your neighbor cries out to me, I will listen, for I am compassionate.” We also find a similar law in Deuteronomy 24:12-13: “If the person is poor, you shall not sleep in the garment given you as the pledge. You shall give the pledge back by sunset, so that your neighbor may sleep in the cloak and bless you; and it will be to your credit before the Lord your God.” Cloaks were important. Very important. In the 10th chapter of Mark we are introduced to Blind Bartimaeus. He is a beggar on the side of the road who calls out to Jesus as he hears him walking by. For a beggar, the cloak was spread out in front of them as they sat on the ground. People would toss coins to them that would land on the cloak making it easy to gather the coins together. Plus, being poor, they often didn’t have a house to live in. The cloak was their home. That’s what makes it even more impressive when Mark’s gospel tells us that Bartimaeus throws off his cloak and goes to Jesus when called. Being healed of his blindness, Bartimaeus will be able to work and make a living. He will no longer beg. He discards his cloak, his most valuable possession, to follow Jesus. On Palm Sunday people took their cloaks, those valuable pieces of clothing, and placed them on the ground to make path of royalty and dignity for Jesus. Now there are a couple of things I want us to understand about this. First is the fact that the road was probably not nice and smooth. Today when we hear the term “road” we think of a nicely paved concrete or asphalt surface. They didn’t have those kinds of roads back then. No the occupying Roman forces did construct roads with bricks or cobblestones but they were not like our concrete or asphalt. Most of the roads were dirt or gravel, and they certainly were not like roads today. Another point about roads back then was that they were not clean. They were traveled by humans and animals, and when you have animals you have… well… what animals leave behind, if you know what I mean. So, that is something you don’t want to lay your cloak down on. Not only that, but Jesus is riding a donkey. Now our scripture today from Luke says colt, but the other gospels have him on a donkey, so I’m going to go with that. Plus, a young male donkey is a called a colt anyway. Regardless of the equine species, you sure don’t want a donkey to… how should I say this… you know… on your cloak. My brother Dalen and his wife attend a huge United Methodist church in the Metroplex. I don’t know if that church still does it, but he told me that in the past on Palm Sunday they would actually have a live donkey in the service. Someone would portray Jesus and would ride right down the center isle on a live, honest-to-goodness donkey. Being an old farm boy and knowing a few things about livestock, including donkeys, I asked him, “Well, what do they do if the donkey… you know.” He replied, “It’s not a problem. The donkey wears a diaper.” “A diaper? As in, well, a diaper?” “Yep. They put a big ol’ diaper on that donkey.” Now the scriptures don’t tell us but I think I’m pretty safe in saying that when Jesus rode a donkey into Jerusalem, the donkey did NOT have on a diaper. Which makes it even more incredible to me that people would lay their cloaks down before Jesus and the donkey as they entered Jerusalem. So why would they do this? Why would they do such a dramatic thing? I think in order to understand it we need to have the mindset of the Jewish people in that area at that time. The messiah was promised to be coming. The prophets had written about it and their words were in the ancient scriptures. The area was under the political control of the Romans, a foreign power who used military control to keep the Jewish people in line. I could see how they would think that the time was ripe for the messiah to come. And this Jesus comes on the scene and does things that no ordinary human could do. He heals the sick, gives sight to the blind (just ask Bartimaeus), the lame walk, the deaf hear, people who can’t talk can talk. He knows the scriptures and stumps the leading religious leaders of the day. They knew the messiah would go to Jerusalem, the nucleus of Jewish life at the time, and establish a reign that would last forever. This was it! This was the time! Jesus was the messiah! He’s going to drive the Romans out--hopefully by force!--and bring the Kingdom of God to earth! So the Jewish people, who were gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the passover, were very excited about Jesus entering Jerusalem! This was history in the making, and they were going to get to witness it! So they lay down their cloaks in Jesus path, and they pulled branches off of palm trees (another sign of royalty), and shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in the highest heaven!” In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and John the people shout “Hosanna, Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!” So it’s a big celebration. Now they probably thought it a little unusual that Jesus was riding on a donkey instead of a mighty war steed. After all, a donkey was a beast of burden, a animal of peace. A large horse was an animal of war. So yeah, that might have been a little unusual. And with us having the advantage of hindsight we know why Jesus chose a donkey. We can see and understand all the ironies of Holy Week, how God chose to save the world in a way much different than humans would have done it. what can we learn from this? What can the Holy Spirit teach us that is applicable for our lives? After all, we don’t wear cloaks much in Texas. I think one of the things it teaches us is to be faithful to God in both good times and bad. We don’t want to be like the Jewish people who laid down their cloaks for Jesus’ donkey to walk on one day and then be yelling “Crucify him!” just a few days later. God is still God, even when he does things different than we might be expecting. Being human we can’t see the whole picture, but God can. Let’s give Jesus the red carpet treatment not just when things are good, but during the tough times as well. Another thing I think it teaches us is to be a people of peace, not war. Now I’m not a pacifist. I want to be, but I’m not. I believe there are times when war must be fought. But in our everyday lives we should strive to be people of peace, not conflict. Forgive the person that cuts you off in traffic. Don’t strike back at the person that embarrasses you on social media, even though you want to. When someone breaks your heart don’t let it become a breeding ground for bitterness and anger and resentment. Let it go. Replace it with love, and let love flourish. Jesus didn’t come to change the world by force, but by love. That’s why he didn’t ride into Jerusalem on a mighty stallion, choosing instead a lowly donkey. He changed the world not by might, but with a servant’s heart that led him to the cross. So my challenge to you this week is to ask yourself what you are willing to lay down in front of Jesus? Or maybe another way of saying it is this: what are you NOT willing to lay down in front of Jesus? What is your metaphorical cloak, the something in your life that you prize, that you view as so valuable to you that you don’t want to let go of it, much less lay it on the ground before Jesus and let his donkey walk on it. If we are willing to roll out the red carpet for celebrities, who are just humans, what are we willing to do for the King of Glory, Jesus Christ? Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus triumphant entry into Jerusalem leads to the cross, the one he bore for us out of his love for us. Let us follow his example and let love lead. And if you ever come across a donkey wearing a diaper, let me know. I want to see that. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen.

Wesley’s Questions: “Is Christ Real to Me?” A Message on Colossians 1:24-29 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church April 7, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] Colossians 1:24-29 (NRSV) I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil and struggle with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> Today we conclude our sermon series “Wesley’s Questions,” based on the 22 questions John Wesley and his “Holy Club” of students at Oxford University asked each other daily. Today’s question that we will explore is: “Is Christ real to me?” Now at first glance it may seem to be kind of an unnecessary question. After all, Christ should be real to Christians, right? But I think the reason Wesley uses this question for daily reflection is because it is easy as humans to make Christ just sorta-real to us. I think Wesley wants to know, “Is Christ real to me. Really real?” There are a lot of people in the world who call themselves Christian who believe in a sorta-real Jesus. I’m embarrassed to say that some of these are United Methodists. Back in 2002 a United Methodist Bishop in the Chicago area, Bishop C. Joseph Sprague, gave a lecture at a United Methodist seminary in Colorado. In that lecture he said that the virgin birth of Jesus was a myth and not historically accurate. He also espoused that Jesus didn’t really have a bodily resurrection. In my opinion it sure sounds like that Jesus is sorta-real to Bishop Sprague. Just a nice guy, not different than anyone else, and not divine. Not really real, but just sorta-real. I don’t believe that was the case with the Apostle Paul, who wrote the epistle (letter) we call Colossians. Here’s The Message paraphrase of the scripture we read today from the first chapter. As I read it listen for ways that Paul believes Jesus is really real: “I want you to know how glad I am that it’s me sitting here in this jail and not you. There’s a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world—the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church’s part of that suffering. When I became a servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God’s way of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth. This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it’s out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God’s glory. It’s that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That’s what I’m working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me.” In our worship services we say creeds. We don’t do this “because we have always done it.” We recite the creeds to remind us that Jesus is really real. These creeds state what we believe as Christians. The Apostle’s Creed, one of the oldest writings we have about Jesus, starts with “I believe…” The Apostle’s Creed says this about Jesus: And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. The Apostle’s Creed reminds us that Jesus is real. Really real. And that’s why we say it. Now another aspect of the question “Is Christ real to me?” I think can be perceived by changing just one two-letter word in that question with another two letter word: “Is Christ real in me?” This goes beyond a belief in the historical Jesus of Nazareth. It goes beyond believing that he crucified for our sins and on the third day rose again. This question gets to where we have faith in a living Christ, alive and present within us at this moment. If Jesus Christ lives in us, by the power of the Holy Spirit, then the fruit of that presence will be evident in the words we say and how we act. We know that the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. If the really real Jesus lives in us, then that is the kind of fruit we will bear. In the scripture we read today from Colossians Paul says, “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” In John 15 we read Jesus saying, “Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.” -- John 15:4-5 If Jesus is real to you, and real in you, then you will bear fruit. Another way that we remember that Jesus is real to us is through participating in the Lord’s Supper. When we come and kneel at the altar we are given real bread, which reminds us of the real, bodily sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross. And we are given real wine (well, real grape juice) which reminds us of the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. Real blood, his own blood, shed through tremendous amounts of pain. (Note: Do you know what blood type Jesus was? “B Saved.”) So my challenge to you this week is to ask yourself every day, “Is Jesus real to/in me?” Practice those spiritual disciplines like Bible study and reading, prayer, works of mercy, and acts of kindness. Make sure Christ is not just sorta real, but really real. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Wesley’s Questions: “When Did I Last Share My Faith?” A Message on Mark 1:16-20 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church March 31, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] Mark 1:16-20 (NRSV) As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> There’s a story about a doctor who loved to fish. Anytime he had any spare time he went fishing. He became well known in the area for the huge fish he would catch. Well one day he was out on the lake fishing when his cell phone rang. It was his office, telling him that a woman on a farm real close to the lake had gone into labor and things were progressing so fast that she didn’t have time to get to the hospital. He paddled to shore (in my story I make him a kayak fisherman), loaded up his kayak and equipment, got in his truck, and drove to the farm where, indeed, the woman was very close to delivering the child. The doctor’s training kicked in and he helped the woman deliver a healthy baby boy. After it was born the doctor asked the farmer if he had any scales to weigh the baby, only to find out that he didn’t. The doctor said, “Hey, I have a digital scale that I use to weigh fish that I catch. It’s out in the truck, let me go get it.” So he goes and gets the scales, comes back inside, wraps the baby up securely in a blanket, and weighs the baby. And would you believe it? That baby weighed 28 pounds! [source: http://www.jokes4us.com/sportsjokes/fishingjokes.html] When it comes to fishing there is kind of a common myth that fishermen tend to exaggerate the quantity and quality of their catches. It has made its way in to many jokes about fishing and fishermen. But then it comes to following Jesus command for his followers to make “fishers of people” there is no joke. The scripture we read today from the Gospel of Mark shows Jesus calling four fishermen, Simon Peter, Andrew, James, and John, to quit fishing for fish and to follow him and fish for people. We find this calling of the fishermen in all three of the synoptic gospels: Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20, and Luke 5:1-11. In Mark’s gospel we find the calling of the fishermen to be one of the first things Jesus does. Mark’s gospel begins with John the Baptist, then proceeds quickly with Jesus’ baptism, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, and then comes Jesus calling the fishermen to become disciples. I have said before how significant it is that Jesus called fishermen to be disciples. There are 12 disciples, right? Of those 12 disciples, four of them, one-third of them, had the same occupation. That is substantially more than any other occupation the rest of the disciples might have had. And I think it is important to remember that Judas, the disciple that betrays Jesus, is NOT a fisherman. Hmmmmmmmm... So why fishermen? Why not tentmakers, or farmers, or shepherds, or even Jewish religious leaders? Here’s my theory: Fishing is about faith and hope. Fishermen are hard working people that know how to deal with disappointment. And yet they still have hope. They may fish all day and/or all night and not catch anything. Yet they keep fishing, they keep trying, having faith and hope that they will catch fish even during those times when they don’t. There is a drive, and optimism, that translates well into making fishers of people. Now most of you know I love to fish. I tell people that I try to only fish on days that end in “y.” I’m not sure why I love fishing so much. I have liked it since I was a small child and my dad took me fishing for the first time. And I find many parallels between fishing and evangelism. As a matter of fact I have an entire presentation titled something like “Ratt-L-Traps and Weenie Worms: Bass Fishing Techniques for use in Evangelism.” Here’s one of those tips: “Bump-a-stump.” When fishing you have to throw your lure to where the fish actually are, not where you want them to be. Very rarely are they right at your boat (or in my case, kayak). Fish love cover such as underwater limbs, stumps, and even grass. It is more difficult to get your lure in those places, but that’s where the fish are and so that’s where your lure needs to be. Often times I have been fishing an underwater tree or stump and won’t get a bite until I “bump it,” actually hit it with my lure. Likewise in evangelism we are called to go where the people are who don’t know about Jesus Christ. We can just sit here in our “boat,” this church building, and some people will come and visit, but to be truly effective we need to go where the people are. We need to “fish for people” in places that are difficult. That’s what Jesus means when he says, “Go and make disciples.” See? Get the idea? I had the honor of attending an Evangelism workshop two weeks ago over at Lakeview. The young man leading the workshop was Ryan Alberson, who just happens to be the son-in-law of our district superintendent, Marlin Fenn. Ryan, his wife, and their children have served as a church planter in India the past couple of years. He had a goal of starting 200 new house churches (defined as 10 to 20 people who meet weekly in homes) within a period of three years. They exceeded that goal by more than double, creating more than 500 new house churches. His workshop at Lakeview taught us the techniques they used in India. It is simple and easily duplicated. And very, very effective. He and his friends taught it to us at the workshop, but now I’m going to teach it to you! First, start a conversation with someone. It’s not as hard as you think. It can be about anything: the weather, sports teams, etc. Just begin a conversation. (Note: I find it ironic that people find it easier to begin conversations in a bar than in church. Maybe that’s why people would rather go to bars than to church?) Start these conversations first with people that are within your sphere of influence: co-workers, neighbors, people whose kids are on the same sports team as yours, etc. Usually sometime during that conversation that person will talk about something they are having difficulty with. Don’t interrupt to tell them how much worse you have it than them (we all know people like that, don’t we?) but just listen. This isn’t a contest about who has it worse. Just listen. When the time is right, tell them something like, “Can I tell you a story that gave me a lot of hope?” Get a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Make two circles. Draw this (draw two circles.) Tell them of a situation that caused you stress and trouble, something that caused brokenness in your life. And no matter how hard you tried to get through this on your own, these worldly thing of brokenness kept pulling you back down like a bungee cord. Tell of what your life was like before your relationship with Jesus. (Draw this on the first circle.) Then tell them of the difference Jesus made in your life. (Now you have to be truthful here. If having Jesus in your life has NOT made a difference in your life, then we need to talk. Seriously. Call me.) Tell them how by turning to God and believing in Jesus Christ things became better, not necessarily that the situation itself got better but that your attitude and view of the situation changed. Tell them how your relationship with Jesus gave you peace, comfort, and courage. (Draw this on the second circle.) Tell them how it’s only through Jesus that we can overcome this brokenness. It’s only through a relationship with Jesus Christ can those bungee cords be cut so that they don’t continue to pull you back down into brokenness. (Show them this on the second circle.) Then ask them “Do you have a story like that?” That’s it. Really! Using the paper and drawing circles helps with those who are visual learners, and telling your story make it personal, something they can relate to. One of the keys for sharing your faith is to be able to tell your story simply and in a short amount of time. At the workshop they called it the “15 second speech.” Some people use language from the business world and call it an “elevator speech.” They call it this because you should be able to tell the story of the difference Jesus made in your life in 15 seconds, or during the time it takes to take an elevator to go from one floor to another. (I like the term “elevator speech” better because of the imagery it creates in my mind that what you say in that brief period of time may determine if the person you are speaking to “goes up,” or “goes down,” if you know what I mean.) Now the temptation is to tell your story with lots of details, with specific dates and experiences. But don’t. Keep it simple, keep it short, and keep it focused on the main point: the difference Jesus made in your life. During the workshop we even practiced telling each other our “elevator speech.” It wasn’t that hard, and the more you do it the easier it becomes. And again, make sure it’s short and to the point. So, why should we do this, anyway. Why tell someone our story to help lead them to Christ? Why “evangelize,” especially when the word “evangelical” gets so much negative press today? The word “evangelize” actually means to proclaim the good news. That’s it. Unfortunately the word has become political, especially the word “evangelical.” But as Christians we are called to share the good news. We are called to evangelize. We are evangelical (in the true sense of the word, not the political one). Jesus called the disciples and taught them how to fish for people, to introduce them to the “good news” of Jesus Christ. Here are some of the things Jesus had to say about evangelism: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” -- Acts 1:8 Here’s another: “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation.’” -- Mark 16:15 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” -- Matthew 28:19-20 “Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” -- Matthew 9:37-38 So you see, if we are going to be followers of Jesus Christ, if we are to be disciples of Jesus Christ, then we must share our faith with others. It’s not optional. It’s the great commission and we are to all abide by it. John Wesley and his classmates of the “Holy Club” at Oxford University certainly thought it was important to tell others about their faith. They considered it so important that they included it in their list of 22 questions they and the club members asked themselves every day. As a matter of fact it’s number 10 on the list: “When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?” Now it’s important to remember that they didn’t ask these questions of themselves weekly or just when they met. No. Theses were questions they were to ask themselves every day! So my challenge to you this week is to be like Wesley’s Holy Club: ask yourself these 22 questions every day. Ann has created these bookmarks that you will find in your bulletin. Take them with you and place them somewhere you will see them daily. Take the time to go through and ask yourself these questions every day. And this week as you do that I want you to be especially mindful of #10: “When did I last speak to someone else about my faith?” Think of your sphere of influence and who you might be able to share your faith with. Remember to listen more than you talk and to have your “elevator speech” ready. Remember that we are called to make disciples of Jesus Christ, and the best way to do that is by sharing what knowing Jesus has done in our lives. I have some homework for you today. As you leave today find someone you don’t know (no, it can’t be your spouse or child) and share your “elevator story” with them. Seriously. Do this. It doesn’t take long and is good practice. So share your “elevator story” with someone today as you leave. Oh, and if you ever have a baby and the doctor wants to weigh that baby using fishing scales, don’t let the doctor do it. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Wesley’s Questions: “Do I Disobey God?” A Message on Titus 3:1-7 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church March 24, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] Titus 3:1-7 (NRSV) Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone. 3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. 4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> Today we continue our sermon series on the questions John and Charles Wesley’s “Holy Club” asked themselves everyday by examining the topic of obedience. The question the Holy Club used was this: “Do I disobey God in anything?” Let’s just start out by talking about the word, “obey.” There are a lot of negative connotations with that word today. It’s the kind of word that make people bristle up and get angry. There’s a story about a salesman that won an award that was a child’s toy. When he got home he gathered his three children and told them them that the one who had been most obedient would get the toy. The children seemed confused by this and one of them asked, “What does it mean to be obedient?” The dad replied, “Well, which one of you talks back to your mother the least.” The kids still seemed confused so the father asked, “Who does everything your mom tells you to do?” The kids looked at each other for a while. Finally the oldest one said, “Okay, dad. You get the toy.” I think part of the reason that joke is funny, and the reason the word “obey” leaves such a bad taste in our mouths, is because our society focuses so much on individuality that the word “obey” is perceived as a threat to that individuality. It is perceived as someone or something trying to utilize power over an individual, and that doesn’t go well. It is looked at as something we teach our dogs to do. But yet, we obey things every day. For example, if you are going to Tyler on 69 North you better set your cruise control on 55 mph until you get out to Love’s Lookout because if you don’t my neighbor, Dina Wilde, who is a City of Jacksonville police officer, WILL write you a ticket for not obeying the speed limit. (I think Dina would write her own mother a ticket.) There are laws, both state laws and federal laws, that we are called to obey. If we don’t obey those laws, and if we get caught, we will be punished and possibly imprisoned. Another example: this is tax season. If you don’t obey the tax laws and refuse to pay your income tax you will be punished. Not only can they give you monetary penalties, but if it’s bad enough you could go to prison. Today in society I see many examples of people to disagree with a law or a rule, and so they purposefully disobey those laws and rules. It really is nothing new. Back in the days of the apostle Paul we find people disobeying as well. In the scripture we read today we find Paul writing to Titus, a leader in the early church, about some difficulties that are happening with the early Christians. Paul offers words of advice and encouragement for the early Christians, not only with regards to their behavior but also as they confront false teachers. He tells Titus, “Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show every courtesy to everyone.” -- Titus 3:1-2 Just think how much better the world would be today if people did as Paul advises. “...be subject to rulers and authorities…” Now I don’t want to get into politics, but I think we all know people who have fits about this, don’t we? Both with the current administration and the previous administration, the rancor and bitterness and just plain nastiness of what people say and post on social media is embarrassing. It’s bad. And it’s not Christian. “...to be obedient…” Now Paul doesn’t say to what or whom to be obedient, but seeing as it comes right after the statement about rulers and authorities I and thinking it applies to them. I think it also applies to the scriptures as well, to be obedient to God and his Word. “... to be ready for every good work…” Here I think Paul is telling us not to delay doing good work when the opportunities present themselves. I think he is telling us to avoid “paralysis by analysis” by doing good works as soon as you see a need. “...to speak evil of no one…” Boy, would we use this rule on social media! As my mother used to remind us kids, “If you can’t say anything nice about someone, don’t say nothing at all.” “...to avoid quarreling…” Again social media comes to my mind. But it isn’t limited to that. I am convinced that there are some people on this earth who just enjoy quarreling. It’s like a hobby or pastime with them. “...to be gentle…” This is needed in today’s world as well. This doesn’t mean you let people walk all over you, but it is more about how we respond to other people and how we treat them. “...to show every courtesy to everyone.” I still see courtesy today, especially in East Texas. People still hold doors open for others, skip the close up parking places to leave them for people who might be elderly or have trouble walking, and things like that. Of course there are people who are not courteous, but surely those aren’t Christians, right? And none of them go to this church, right? Let me tell you about something that happened last week that I think incorporates all of these things that Paul writes about. My roommate from seminary, Tommy Earl Burton, is the senior pastor at Tapp United Methodist Church in New Boston, TX. New Boston is just down the road from DeKalb, TX, where I used to pastor, and it was the closest “big town.” There has been a ministry located in New Boston called “Manna Kitchen” that cooks and delivers food to about 80 people in the Bowie County area three times a week. This was a multi-denominational effort and people from the church I served in DeKalb would volunteer regularly to take meals to those who were homebound and/or unable to cook for themselves. Well something happened recently involving Manna Kitchen and local politics and so the pastor of the ministry which has housed Manna Kitchen said he was shutting it down. This meant that 80 people in the area were no longer going to get meals delivered to them. Tommy Earl and the members of his church got together and decided something needed to be done, so they did it. Starting this Wednesday meals will be prepared at Tapp United Methodist Church and then delivered by volunteers to the people in the area that need them. Tommy Earl and I talked about it on the phone this last week and he said it was amazing how the Holy Spirit moved through the people of his church and the volunteers in order to make this happen. Now listen to The Message paraphrase of that verse with respect to what Tapp UMC has done: “Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand. No insults, no fights. God’s people should be bighearted and courteous.” The people at Tapp are respecting the government, making sure their food preparations are in compliance with city codes and food safety regulations. They have shown they are willing to “lend a helping hand.” They have not, and will not, say bad things about the pastor or the ministry that made the decision to close, they won’t fight about it on social media or in the newspaper. Instead they are “bighearted and courteous.” Most of all they are obedient to God’s word. The great commandment is to love God and love others. They are being obedient and living out Jesus words in the 25th chapter of Matthew, “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.” Now I will admit that it is not easy to be obedient to God. The focus in our culture on individuality makes it difficult, because so many times God’s word tells us to put the interest and needs of others before ourselves. We live in a “me first” world, where it’s okay to do whatever is necessary to move on up the ladder of success. The world tells us to be as Paul describes: “... foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.” -- Titus 3:3 But that’s not the way Christians should live. Not at all. And Paul tells us why: “But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” -- Titus 3:4-7 When we accept Jesus as our savior we say goodbye to our former lives, to the ways we used to live. We put off the old self and put on the Holy Spirit self. That is replaced with a Holy Spirit led obedience. And ironically, it is that obedience that gives us freedom. In 2 John we read: “And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it.” -- 2 John 1:6 In his book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, Eugene Peterson quotes Karl Barth about obedience: “Each act of obedience by the Christian is a modest proof, unequivocal for all its imperfection, of the reality of what he attests.” Obedience is an important aspect of the Christian life. It is so important that the Wesleys thought it should be one of the 22 questions to reflect on daily. It is still critically important for us today. So my challenge to you this week is that you will be obedient to God. I know the world will try to convince you that you shouldn’t be obedient to anything but your own desires, but Biblically we are called to just the opposite of that. We are to be obedient to God, to his word, to the life that Jesus Christ showed us how to live. Obedience is a good thing, not a bad thing. Praise be to God. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Make sure to attend the Country Music Fundraiser at 6 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday, March 16) in Waller Hall at Jacksonville First United Methodist Church. Shown are choir members decorating and getting things prepared. You will enjoy a delicious meal of either BBQ brisket or roasted chicken and hear some great country tunes from the Dogwood Trails Jamboree Band while supporting our music program. Tickets are $20 each or $35 a couple (children under 12 are $5). Hope to see you there!

Wesley’s Questions: “Am I A Hypocrite?” A Message on Matthew 7:1-5 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church March 10, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] Matthew 7:1-5 (NRSV) “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged. 2 For with the judgment you make you will be judged, and the measure you give will be the measure you get. 3 Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while the log is in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> Today we begin a new sermon series titled “Wesley’s Questions” based on the 22 questions that members of John Wesley’s “Holy Club” at Oxford University asked themselves every day. John Wesley never sought to create a denomination. He became a priest in the Church of England (what we know as the Anglican Church today) and became worried that the church wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do in terms of reaching those in the lower strata of society in England. While studying at Christ Church at the University of Oxford he and his brother, Charles, started meeting with other students not only as a way to practice spiritual disciplines but also to hold one another accountable to living a Christian life. They started this group in November 1729 with only four members, but it soon grew. They would spend three or four evenings each week for prayer, Bible study, theological discussion, and accountability. The group grew as time went on. Now it’s important to note that they were ridiculed by the other students at Oxford. They derided them with the term “Holy Club,” because of their pious devotion. They also called them “Methodists” because of their methodological approach to practicing spiritual disciplines. Both names stuck and actually were used by group members to describe themselves. One of the ways they were methodical was by having a list of 22 questions that they reflected on every day during their devotions. Yes, 22. I’ll put a link in my message that I post online where you can access all 22 of them. (https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/everyday-disciples-john-wesleys-22-questions) They would ask themselves these questions every day as part of their spiritual disciplines. They didn’t have to, they wanted to. And they did. The first one on the list is this: “Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I really am? In other words, am I a hypocrite?” That’s a good one to start with. And that is the one we are starting our sermon series with today. It’s interesting because even though the Holy Club members were asking this question of themselves back in the 1700s it is still a relevant and important question for us to ask ourselves today. As followers of Jesus Christ, do we intentionally or unintentionally create the impression that we are better than we really are? Are we hypocritical in what we say and what we do? First let’s talk about hypocrisy. The word basically means claiming we are living my moral standards or beliefs that our actions prove otherwise. It’s the opposite of honesty and sincerity. But spiritually it goes deeper than that. I think it applies to when we try to live our lives trying to impress others, when we live not for God, but trying to create an impression of something we are not. Facebook is a good example of this. And yes, I am guilty as well. If you notice on my Facebook page I’ll sometimes when I go fishing I’ll post photos of fish that I catch. I’m trying to impress on everyone looking at my page that I am a highly skilled fisherman, that I not only know how to catch fish, but that I can also do it as well. What I don’t post on Facebook is when my lure gets tangled in some brush or on an underwater log. I don’t post when I lose a lure. I don’t post when I get skunked and don’t catch any fish. I don’t post when I get a birdnest on my baitcasting reel that takes me 15 minutes to untangle. We only put the good stuff on Facebook, don’t we. Facebook presents how we want to be perceived, not how we really are. And with the new photo software built into the cameras of our phones the photos we take of ourselves and others are automatically “touched up” and don’t represent reality. Have you ever known someone who takes and posts a bunch of selfies on their page and then when you meet them in real life you kind of go “Yahhhha.” You see that the smooth, unblemished skin is neither smooth nor unblemished. The reality doesn’t match the perceived image. The trouble is when we view these posts that others make it can make us feel inferior, that we don’t have it going on like other people. I think that’s why it’s important to view social media posts with a grain of salt… and sometimes a pinch instead of a grain. What we don’t see on the posts of people we think have it all together are the sinks full of dirty dishes, piles of laundry everywhere, unmade beds, arguments with spouses or children, unpaid bills, and tears of sorrow and frustration. We are shown views of happy faces and happy people, not the frustrations, the sorrows, the betrayals, the struggles of everyday life. No one posts a photo of their kid with a certificate for making a “C” in algebra. I can still remember one of the first lessons I learned in hypocrisy, even though I didn’t even know the word at the time. I was in first grade and my teacher was Mrs. Ethridge. I know this is going to date me, but every morning we would say the Pledge of Allegiance and then Mrs. Ethridge would pray. Yes, prayer. In public school. Well one morning during the prayer I noticed that the boy sitting beside me, Terry Johnson, didn’t have his eyes closed all the way. That wasn’t right. You were supposed to have your eyes closed during the prayer, everybody knew that. So after the prayer I decided to correct this wrong. I raised my hand and Mrs. Etheridge called on me. I said, “Terry didn’t have his eyes closed during the prayer.” I thought I had done so good. Surely Mrs. Etheridge would get on to him and straighten him out, right? Instead Mrs Etheridge said, “Well, Mr. Wintermute, if you would have had your own eyes closed then you wouldn’t have noticed if Terry’s were closed or not.” Boom. We didn’t drop microphones back in the day, but if we did it would have been a mic drop moment. Mrs. Etheridge pointed out my hypocrisy. I had been so worried about Terry doing something wrong that it didn’t even dawn on me that I was doing the same thing. My actions were contrary to what I was claiming as a moral superiority over Terry. And it had a strong impact on me, so much so that I still remember it now decades and decades later. There are many scriptures in the Bible about hypocrisy. “Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.” -- 1 John 4:20 “For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves.” -- Galatians 6:3 “If any think they are religious, and do not bridle their tongues but deceive their hearts, their religion is worthless.” -- James 1:26 “You hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied rightly about you when he said: ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching human precepts as doctrines.’”-- Matthew 15:7-9 “They profess to know God, but they deny him by their actions. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.” --Titus 1:16 And then the scripture we read today from Matthew’s gospel about pointing out the speck in our neighbor’s eye while we have a log in our own. This scripture is part of what is known as the Sermon on the Mount. It starts off with the beatitudes and then goes on for a couple of chapters with moral instructions. And in the seventh chapter Jesus teaches about judging others, saying that it is hypocritical for us to be judging someone else for something when we may be doing the same thing--only worse--ourselves. It’s easy to do, isn’t it? “Why would you just look at ol’ so-and-so. Can you believe she did that? I swear she doesn’t have any morals, you know?” Or “ “I can’t believe he calls himself a Christian. He never comes to church yet I’m here every Sunday. I bet he doesn’t tithe, either.” Jesus points out to his audience (and us!) that we need to be aware of being hypocritical. He does it again in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in the 18th chapter of Luke’s Gospel. There we find a Pharisee, one of the religious leaders of the Jewish people, praying to God and thanking God that he is as holy as he is, unlike some of the other people in the room, including extortioners, unrighteous, adulterers, or even tax collectors. The Pharisee thinks he is much holier, and therefore better, than the other folks. He’s talking about the specks in other people’s eyes. He is so wrapped up in his self-righteousness that he fails to notice the log in his own eye. Jesus points out that the tax collector was praying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” which is a much better and authentic prayer than the so-called religious leader. Now I think it’s important to note here that we all, to some extent, are hypocrites. We strive to be like Jesus but we fall short, and that makes us hypocrites, unfortunately. That being said, some Christians don’t work very hard at not being a hypocrite. Some Christians can open a lumber yard with the size and quantity of the logs in their eyes. It reminds me of the story about a big, burly looking guy that goes to a small town preacher’s house and asks to speak with the minister’s wife. The wife was known to be very charitable and had a reputation for helping those down on their luck. The man starts telling the preacher’s wife about a family that was really in bad shape. The father was dead, the mother was too ill to work, and yet there were nine children she was responsible for feeding and taking care of. The man said, “They are about to be turned into the cold, empty streets unless someone pays their rent, which amounts to $400.” “That’s terrible,” the woman replied. “So, how do you know them? The man looked sadly at the woman, dabbed some tears from his eyes with his handkerchief, and said, “I’m the landlord.” [Source: https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/everyday-disciples-john-wesleys-22-questions) As Christians we shouldn’t be like the landlord in that story. We should be authentic, transparent, and humble. When we are not, when we are true hypocrites, not only are we not living into the life of a follower of Jesus Christ but we actually pushing away those who may not have a relationship with Christ. Not only are we not doing good, we’re doing harm. Years ago a guy named Brennan Manning, who himself had some controversy as a hypocrite, wrote something that the group DC Talk used at the beginning of one of their songs. The song starts with Brennan reading these words: “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians: who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, walk out the door, and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.” Jesus didn’t die on the cross for us to be hypocrites. God didn’t send his only son to die on the cross and give us everlasting life so that we can pretend to be one thing when deep down inside we are something else. Jesus didn’t suffer the beatings, the ridicule, being spit on and slapped and tortured so that we can say we follow him with our lips but then deny him with the way we live our lives, by our actions that so often speak louder than words. So my challenge to you this week is to NOT be a hypocrite. Let us all check our eyes for logs before we point out the speck in other’s eyes. Do all in your power through spiritual disciplines to be a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. God wants us to be authentic. Jesus wants us to truthful and humble. The Holy Spirit empowers us to be able to walk the talk, to truly be disciples of Christ. Then we will make disciples of Jesus Christ, instead of driving them away. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Short Book, Big Message: 3 John A Message on 3 John 9-12 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church March 3, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] 3 John 9-12 (NRSV) I have written something to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with those charges, he refuses to welcome the friends, and even prevents those who want to do so and expels them from the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God. Everyone has testified favorably about Demetrius, and so has the truth itself. We also testify for him, and you know that our testimony is true. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> I chose this sermon series many weeks ago. I had no intention of this being the scripture to preach on the Sunday after the called General Conference of the United Methodist Church in St. Louis. I really didn’t. But as the saying goes, “God works in mysterious ways.” (Or, as my roommate at seminary, Tommy Earl Burton, sometimes says “God works in mischievous ways,” which I think is sometimes true as well.) This scripture, which is from the shortest book in the Bible, 3 John, is timely in that it reminds us that even in the very early church there was disagreement between the followers of Christ. And it also gives instruction on how to disagree within the church. First let’s talk about the book of 3 John. As we talked about last week with 2 John there is a pretty good consensus that the author is John the Evangelist, the same person that wrote the Gospel of John. That person is not to be confused with the person named John who wrote Revelation, known as John of Patmos. It really is amazing, if you think about it, that it is included in the canon of the Bible, which was adopted in the 5th century. Part of this surprise is due to its short length (only 219 words in the original Greek) but also because it has another distinction: It is the only book in the New Testament that does not mention Jesus Christ by name. Now in the NRSV translation the word Christ is used: “...for they began their journey for the sake of Christ, accepting no support from non-believers.” But in the original Greek the word used is Onomatos, which means “the Name.” 3 John is an epistle, or letter. But instead of being written to a specific group of believers or church it is a personal letter, written to a person named Gaius. We don’t know much about Gaius but we do know that the name is Roman. It was a somewhat common Roman name with a few people named Gaius becoming very powerful. The best example of this is was someone named “Gaius Julius Caesar” who is better known just as Julius Caesar. (And for you young folks, no, he is not the person who Caesar salads are named after. “Etu, crouton?”) We need to understand the importance of “Gaius” being a Roman name. In the early church there was quite the debate if Gentiles, which means non-Jewish people, could become Christians. After all, Jesus was a Jew and the 12 disciples were all Jewish. And so the debate came up as to whether Gentiles could become Christians, and also if they had to become Jewish first in order to become Christian. (That’s why there are so many scriptures in the New Testament about circumcision.) When Paul, who was Jewish, became converted and became a Christian instead of persecuting the Christians, he referred himself as the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” Paul also had the unusual distinction of being not only Jewish but also a Roman citizen. In the scripture we read from 3 John today we find John the Evangelist writing to Gaius the Roman a personal letter. First he thanks Gaius for the followers of Christ in his area for “walking in the truth.” (We talked about this last week with 2 John.) But then John the Evangelist makes a turn and starts talking about a controversy in the church. That controversy is named Diotrephes, and apparently he is not “walking in the truth” and is “spreading false charges” against John and the believers. Here is The Message paraphrase of verses 9-10: “Earlier I wrote something along this line to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves being in charge, denigrates my counsel. If I come, you can be sure I’ll hold him to account for spreading vicious rumors about us.” As if that weren’t bad enough, he not only refuses hospitality to traveling Christians but tries to stop others from welcoming them. Worse yet, instead of inviting them in he throws them out. So we can see that even in the very, very early church there was controversy, there was disagreement. Serious disagreements. There was certainly disagreement in St. Louis this past week at the called General Conference of the United Methodist Church. The conference was scheduled back in 2016 at the General Conference and was supposed to decide one way or the other the issue of same-sex marriage in the UMC as well as sexuality issues relating to ordination. The conference was live streamed on the Internet. I tried watching it several times but honestly I was disgusted with what I saw and I had to turn it off. It actually made me nauseous. The results of that three-day, $3+ million conference is that we’re pretty much right where the church was before the conference began, except we took a public relations beating and now have a poorer image among the unchurched as news stories covered the airing of our denominational dirty laundry. What did happen was that the Traditional Plan was approved by a close margin but was not amended as supporters of it had hoped it would be in order to make it constitutional. The preliminary plan had parts of it already labeled unconstitutional by the Judicial Council so it is expected to have those same parts labeled unconstitutional again by the Judicial Council. Sigh. One pastor, speaking in support of one of the plans, got up and said that those who supported a different plan were like viruses that were infecting the church that would spread worldwide and eventually kill the church. Honest. Tell me how that is Christ-like? Tell me how that is speaking the truth in love? After the traditional plan passed the police were called in to keep demonstrators from storming the floor of the convention center to protest the vote. Yes, you heard that correctly. Police. At a United Methodist Convention! Lord have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have mercy. Friends, I am grieved beyond words. And if I am honest, it made me question if I can serve in ministry alongside people who say such mean, hate-filled, and unloving things. Yes, it was done on both sides, but the majority of the things I saw that appalled me were from one specific side. It’s one thing to disagree, but it’s another thing to be hateful and mean and... well... un-Christlike. This past week I have been tempted many times to write mean, snarky, responses to some of the things posted on social media. But I didn’t. I wanted to. Trust me, I really, really wanted to. The temptation was very real. But I didn’t. John’s words kept coming back to me: “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” Don’t sink to their level. Don’t imitate what is evil. Imitate what is good. Seek to be righteous before the Lord and others. Years ago George Bernard Shaw wrote, “I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.” As Christians, I believe we are called to stay out of the mud unless we are helping others get out of it. It’s hard to do, especially with social media today. Someone will post something that really gets to us. We get emotional and we want to strike back. We want revenge. We want to show them. And so we post things in the passion of the moment that are not loving, that are mean, that are not Christ-like. It often sounds like a couple of first-graders on the playground. “Oh yeah, well you are….” And back and forth it goes, wallowing in the mud. Sigh. Now someone might point out that Jesus got angry with the money changers and vendors in the temple and drove them out with a whip. That is true. Jesus did that. But that is righteous indignation. That is being angry but without sinning. It is okay for us to have righteous indignation as well, but it needs to be tempered with love. Everything we do needs to be tempered with love. Don’t let anger lead to sin. Paul, writing in Ephesians 4, quotes from Psalm 4:4 when he says, “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. -- Ephesians 4:25-27. It’s easy to say but hard to do. So hard to do. It is a human reaction to hit back--harder!. If we let emotions drive our theology (which is not a good thing, by the way) then we will hit back. But if we focus on God and the cross of Jesus Christ we can overcome those emotions. Back in my junior high days in Cooper, TX I played football in 8th grade. One of the things told to us (I don’t remember if it was our coaches or just an “urban legend” among us players) was that if you hit your opponent harder than they hit you then you won’t feel it and it won’t hurt. I was about 80 pounds soaking wet back then, and that is being gracious on the heavy side. One night we were playing Wolfe City for the district championship. I was short and small so I normally played wide receiver. (We never passed, so it was a relatively safe position for me to play.) Wolfe City had a big ol’ boy named Willy Woodberry who, in 8th grade, stood about 6’1” and weighed close to 275. He was making a mess of our offence and we were taking a beating. Our coaches called a timeout and told me to come in and play tight end instead of wide receiver and to block whoever was across from me. We broke the huddle and I did as I was told. I lined up as tight end on the right side and when I looked across to see who I was going to be blocking, guess who it was? That’s right, Willy Woodberry. It was going to be a battle of the Ws, Wintermute at 80 pounds vs. Woodberry at 275 pounds. I remembered the saying about hitting the other player harder than they hit you. That’s what I was going to do. I was going to hit Willy so hard that he would fall backward on the ground. I was going to hit him so hard he would think a train had hit him. We snapped the ball and I launched myself at Willy. I aimed for his thighs, thinking my impact would drive his legs out from under him and he would fall helplessly on the ground. Yeah. Tha’s the ticket. That didn’t happen. I bounced right off of him. I don’t even think I slowed him down as he plowed right over me. Not only that, but those seemingly size 18 cleats (I have no idea what shoe size he wore, but they seemed that big.) stepped on my hand as he drove into the backfield and tackled our quarterback for a loss. It was then that discovered that the saying about hitting others harder than they hit you was not true. It was a lie. A big lie. The laws of physics about displacement of kinetic energy being relative to mass times acceleration were the real truth, and he had a lot more mass than me. And it hurt. Really hurt. Bad. I lasted that one play before the coaches put in a bigger player with more mass to try and block Willy. He didn’t do much better. We still lost. I was just happy to survive. Seriously. Sometimes in our world we act like that “hitting the other person harder” is true. When something offends us (and God help us for being so offended by every little thing today) we think that if we can hit the other person back harder than they hit us then we will feel better about ourselves. But it isn’t true. Revenge is not sweet, but bitter. There is a saying that “An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.” Jesus himself said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; 41 and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.” -- Matthew 5:38-42 And he doesn’t stop there. He goes even further: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers and sisters,[a] what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” -- Matthew 5:43-48 Which brings us back to 3 John: “Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” So, my challenge to you this week is to be very conscious not to do evil. Love everyone, even those you disagree with, even your enemies. Consciously imitate what is good, not what is evil. Remember that Jesus loved even those who crucified him. Remember that Jesus loved us, every person, so much that he was willing to die for us. I do not know what will happen as a result of our General Conference last week. I am afraid we will witness the same thing this next year during our regular General Conference, but I just don’t know. And I’m okay with that. What I do know is that instead of worrying about that I should focus on living my life like Jesus Christ. I should focus on living out the great commandment of loving God and loving others with all that I have and all that I am. I should make sure that if I get angry it is in righteous indignation and not in a false “eye for an eye” motive. Daily I should focus on John’s words to “not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good.” And don’t try to hit others harder than they hit you. It didn’t work for me against Willie Woodberry, and it won’t work for you. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Another well-written article about General Conference 2019. This was written by Rev. Dr. Ted Campbell. https://www.facebook.com/notes/heartcore-methodist/general-conference-2019-in-perspective/812742752417192/

More information on the results of General Conference: https://www.umnews.org/en/news/gc2019-daily-feb-26

Dear First United Methodist Church Members, Today was the last day of the United Methodist Church Called General Conference in St. Louis. The conference was called to deal with issues of sexuality that the church has been debating for many years. Today delegates voted to approve the Traditional Plan with some amendments. The debate was heated at times and, what little I saw of the conference online, ugly. Very ugly. While the Traditional Plan was approved by the delegates by a margin of 438 for (53.28%) and 384 against (46.72%), it has been forwarded to the Judicial Council to rule on whether it is unconstitutional. There is still much that is unknown. We will know more in the next few days and I will try to make updates as they become known. In the meantime, let us focus on being in ministry in the Jacksonville area. Let us seek to love God with all that we have and love others as ourselves. And let us work diligently to make disciples of Jesus Christ. Doug Wintermute, Pastor

Jacksonville First United Methodist Church serving cookies at the Westside Elementary Family Night!

Here is an update of the Called General Conference in St. Louis. Today is the last day of the conference. Please continue to be in prayer. https://www.umnews.org/en/news/traditional-plan-advances-as-one-church-simple-plans-fail

Jacksonville FUMC people please remember that our church will be providing refreshments at West Side Elementary's Family Night tomorrow (Tuesday, Feb. 26) from 5:30-7 p.m. at Westside. Please bring some cookies and/or drinks and be willing to help serve them. Thanks!

Short Book, Big Message: 2 John A Message on 2 John 4-6 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church Feb. 24, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] 2 John 4-6 (NRSV) I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father. But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> Today we continue our sermon series “Short Book, Big Message,” which looks at the shortest books of the Bible, by examining the next-to-the-shortest book of the Bible: 2 John. Now there is some confusion over 2 John simply from the title. The Bible has the Gospel of John but then also three epistles, or letters, that are titled 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. It’s always a fun time in confirmation class when I have the students look up scriptures from one of the epistles of John. Often they will open to the Gospel of John and if the scripture is in say 2 John they will go to the second chapter of the Gospel of John. It can get confusing! When it comes to who wrote these epistles most scholars agree that it is the same person that wrote the Gospel of John. Sometimes called “John the Evangelist,” there is good scholarship that supports this theory. Ancient tradition has it that this same John wrote the book of Revelation but most scholars today believe it was another person named John. They base this primarily on the time Revelation was written and so call the author of Revelation “John of Patmos.” So, back to 2 John. Like I said it is the second shortest book in the Bible. It consists of only 245 words in the original Greek. Like the other shortest books of the Bible it consists of only one chapter. It is divided into only 13 verses. One of the interesting things about 2 John is that the letter is written to a woman. It beings with “The elder to the elect lady and her children.” Now we don’t know exactly who this lady is but we do know that it is unusual for any of the biblical epistles to be written to a woman. It proves that women had an active role in the early church not only as followers of Jesus Christ but also in leadership roles of the early church. The term “elect” does not mean she was a politician but was a phrase used by the early church to refer to the followers of Jesus Christ. While we know she is a follower of Jesus Christ don’t know her name, where she lives, or why he is writing her. There is a lot of speculation about her identity. One theory says that it is a metaphor for the Church. The “lady” is the church itself and her “children” are the Christians that make up that local congregation. Another theory is that the lady is Mary the mother of Jesus. If you remember when Jesus was on the cross he asked the “disciples whom he loved” to take care of his (Jesus’) mother. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.” -- John 19:26-27 Under this theory the “children” would be the other children that Mary had after Jesus. And yet even another theory posits that the letter was written to a woman named “Kyria.” This comes about from the Greek word that is translated at “lady.” Some scholars think that the use of “kyria” in the Greek is not a descriptive word but a proper noun, the name of the person John is addressing. In other words, a lady named Lady. I don’t ascribe to any of those theories. I believe that John purposefully does not include the woman’s name because of his concerns that if his letter was intercepted or fell into the wrong hands then the woman might be persecuted against. We have to remember that Christians at the time this was written weren’t well-liked by much of society. The Jews didn’t like them and the Romans didn’t like them. So John could have been cryptic in intentionally not using the woman’s name out of a sense of protection. Regardless of who was on the receiving end we do know that the letter survived and was accepted into the Cannon of Biblical texts and became part of our Bible. So why did John write this letter? Well, one of the reasons had to do with some heretical movements that some of the Christians at the time were following. One of these is called the Docetic heresy. This was the belief that God would never actually physically become human and walk around in the dirt on the earth because God is holy, right? And so Jesus could not have had an actual physical body but by some divine trick only made it look like he had a body. So Jesus only looked like he had a human body but really didn’t. It was an illusion. Now if this sounds like something that is wrong then you would be right. It is heresy, pretty plain and simple. Jesus was fully human and fully divine. And it’s not just me saying it’s a heresy but it was officially condemned at the Council of Nicea in 325 AD. But at the time John wrote the letter we are exploring today the heresy was beginning to gain some traction and people were leaving the true church to follow it. John writes in verses 7-9 (which follows right after what we read today): “Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh; any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist! Be on your guard, so that you do not lose what we have worked for, but may receive a full reward. Everyone who does not abide in the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God; whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.” -- 2 John 7-9 Knowing that we can come to a better understanding of the term “truth” that John uses in the scripture we read today: “I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth…” “Truth” is an interesting word. In today’s world it is becoming more and more common for people to have an attitude that there are no absolute truths. There is a belief that truth is relative, that what may be true for you may not be true for me. We hear about “relative truth” as opposed to “absolute truth.” Now I will confess that I am more in the “absolute truth” camp than in the relative truth mindset. I believe that there are absolute truths. Take gravity, for example. I believe it is a truth that on earth we have gravity. It is a force that pull things down (meaning toward the earth). I believe that even though there are minute fluctuations in gravitational forces relative to altitude that gravity is a constant and its force is relative to mass. (And here lately with the way I’ve been eating I’ve been gaining more mass and thus weigh more.) I think there are absolute truths in Christianity as well. Some of the best examples of these truths, I believe, are found in our creeds. That’s why we say a creed every Sunday. It proclaims what we as followers of Christ believe to be true. The Apostles’ Creed starts out with “I believe…” “I believe in God Almighty…” “I believe in Jesus Christ…” “I believe in the Holy Spirit…” The creeds express what I believe to be absolute truths. It proclaims the basis of our faith, the things that I believe a person must believe as truth if they are going to be a Christian, a follower of Jesus Christ. If you don’t believe what the creeds proclaim, then you might not be a Christian. For example, if you don’t believe Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried, and then on the third day he arose, then you might not be a Christian. I’m sorry, but that’s just the way it is. Truth is important. Jesus tells us in the 14th chapter of John that “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” Jesus is the truth. Another subject that John brings up in the scripture we read today from 2 John is love. Part of the difficulty of us having a clear understanding of love has to do with our language. When I say I love Buffalo wings I am using the word “love” differently than when I say I love my wife or love my children. Depending on who you believe there are 5 to 14 different types of love. The word has such different meanings that people can’t even agree on how many different types of love there are! When John wrote this letter he was pretty focused on what love meant. In another letter he wrote, which we know of as 1 John, we find him writing, “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.” -- 1 John 4:7-8 So God is love. That’s pretty heavy. But John doesn’t stop there. “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” Now that’s some seriously heavy stuff! Love is so powerful that God himself sent his Son, Jesus Christ, the only son he had, and allowed him to be crucified and killed as an atoning sacrifice for the sins that we, as humans, committed. Jesus didn’t sin (another of what I believe to be absolute truths) and yet was killed, not for something that he did, but because of the things we did and do. Love means that we don’t earn salvation. It’s not through our actions that we are saved. It is through the love of God, as expressed through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that saves us from our sins and gives us eternal life. Listen to the scripture we read today, but this time from The Message paraphrase: “I can’t tell you how happy I am to learn that many members of your congregation are diligent in living out the Truth, exactly as commanded by the Father. But permit me a reminder, friends, and this is not a new commandment but simply a repetition of our original and basic charter: that we love each other. Love means following his commandments, and his unifying commandment is that you conduct your lives in love. This is the first thing you heard, and nothing has changed.” -- 2 John 4-6. Love each other. Love one another. Pretty simple, huh? Years ago there was a song that was recorded by several people, including the Kingston Trio, Jefferson Airplane, and even David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fame. But the song didn’t achieve popularity until a group named the Youngbloods recorded it. Written by a young man named Chet Powers, the song talks about the importance and power of love. The lyrics go something like this: If you hear the song I sing You will understand, listen You hold the key to love and fear All in your trembling hand Just one key unlocks them both It's there at your command Come on, people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another right now I think John the Evangelist would be okay with that song. As Christians we are called to walk in the truth and to love one another… right now. So my challenge for you this week is to to walk in the truth and love one another. Remember John’s words that remind us to live out the great commandment to love God and love each other. And let us not only do this with our words but also with our actions as we walk through this life. May everything we do, everything we say, every action we take, be grounded and rooted in love. May love be the motivating force of all that we do, even when we disagree with others. [Sing] Come on, people now Smile on your brother Everybody get together Try to love one another right now In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Prayer Vigil for Called General Conference tomorrow February 23. You’re invited to come to the Sanctuary of First United Methodist Church between 9:00 and 3:30. Prayer guides and prayer stations will be available.

Short Book, Big Message: Philemon A Message on Philemon 17-21 For Jacksonville First United Methodist Church Feb. 17, 2019 By Doug Wintermute [email protected] Philemon 17-21 (NRSV) So if you consider me your partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. 18 If he has wronged you in any way, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand: I will repay it. I say nothing about your owing me even your own self. 20 Yes, brother, let me have this benefit from you in the Lord! Refresh my heart in Christ. 21 Confident of your obedience, I am writing to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> ><> Today we continue our sermon series on the shortest books of the Bible by exploring the book of Philemon. Philemon is one of the epistles, which is a fancy word for letters, from the Apostle Paul. It’s at the very end of his letters not because chronologically it is the last one he wrote, but because it is the shortest. The ordering of Paul’s letters in the Bible are done according to length. That’s why Romans, which is probably the last of the epistles that Paul wrote, is listed first. It’s the longest. Philemon is the shortest. It only has 335 words in the original Greek language that it was written in. That’s short. In fact, that makes it the third shortest book of the Bible. Like Obadiah, we don’t hear much about Philemon. There is a reading from Philemon that is included in the Revised Common Lectionary, which is a selection of scriptures that, over a three year period, covers pretty much most of the Bible. But there’s only one and it only comes around once every three years. So here’s the background for this letter. Paul is in prison, which wasn’t all that unusual for Paul. He is in prison in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire at the time. While he is there, he writes letters, including what we know today as Philemon. The letter gets its name from the recipient. Philemon was a wealthy Christian who lived in the city of Colosse. (Paul’s letter to the church members there is known as Colossians, by the way.) It is believed that Philemon is one of the church leaders in Colosse. He may have even had the house church meet in his house. Paul knew Philemon and describes him as a “dear friend and co-worker.” The reason for the letter deals with another person, named Onesimus. Onesimus is a slave owned by Philemon. For some reason, and we don’t know why, Onesimus has run away from Philemon’s household. We don’t know why he ran away. Some scholars suggest that he had stolen some money and fled with it (based primarily on Paul’s promise that if Onesimus owes Philemon anything to put it on Paul’s account). The bottom line is we really don’t know. What we do know is that Onesimus makes his way to Rome and, either by divine fate or on purpose, he finds Paul in prison there. Paul and Onesimus visit and get to talking and Onesimus becomes a Christian. He helps Paul out by probably bringing him food and water, and perhaps clothing and blankets, which was common for outsiders to bring to prisoners in those day. But even though Onesimus is helpful to Paul, Paul makes the decision that Onesimus needs to return to Philemon’s household in Colosse. So he writes this letter for Onesimus to give to Philemon. The purpose for the letter is to persuade Philemon not to punish or be harsh with Onesimus. Indeed, Paul urges Philemon to no longer see Onesimus as a slave but as a fellow Christian, as a brother in Christ. It’s interesting the Paul does this. Back in Deuteronomy we find a law for the Hebrew people regarding slaves who have escaped. “Slaves who have escaped to you from their owners shall not be given back to them. 16 They shall reside with you, in your midst, in any place they choose in any one of your towns, wherever they please; you shall not oppress them.” -- Deuteronomy 23:15-16 Paul doesn’t do this, though. He sends Onesimus back but with this letter, urging Philemon not to punish him, but to celebrate him as a brother in Christ. Now let’s pause for a minute and talk about slavery at the time. Slavery is a sensitive subject but the fact is that it was not only practiced in the first century in the Middle East but it actually goes way back into the early days of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament there were basically two categories of slaves: Hebrew slaves and Gentile slaves. Hebrew slaves, as it’s title indicates, means that someone of the Jewish faith is a slave. Usually this happened due to poverty. If a Jewish person borrowed money but then couldn’t repay it they often became slaves of the person from whom they borrowed the money. Gentile slaves were people who were NOT Jewish that were slaves. These usually were the result of wars. When the Jewish people defeated another nation then the people of that nation were often taken as slaves. There is a differentiation between Hebrew and Gentile slaves because the rules were different. Hebrew slaves were to serve six years and then be freed on the seventh year, according to the Hebrew law. Here, listen to this from the 21st chapter of Exodus: “When you buy a male Hebrew slave, he shall serve six years, but in the seventh he shall go out a free person, without debt.” -- Exodus 21:1 Non-Hebrew slaves had no such laws releasing them, however. There were much fewer instances in which they could be free. Sometimes they could if they were “redeemed,” but usually they never had the financial resources to do so. We don’t know which kind of slave Onesimus was. Now I want to be clear on one thing. The Bible doesn’t say slavery is okay. It’s not. Unfortunately certain verses in the Bible were used to advocate for and justify slavery. After all, “it’s in the Bible.” Slavery is not okay. Today it still exists in certain parts of the world and it happens closer to us than we want to think about in the form of sexual trafficking. It is not okay. Slavery in any form is never okay. Okay, back to Philemon. Why is it in the Bible? How does is inform how we live our lives today? First I think it reminds us as Christians to focus more on what joins us than what divides us. We humans are good at dividing and placing people in specific categories. We love putting people in boxes and putting labels on them. Here are some examples: Politics (Republican or Democrat?) Skin color. What part of town we live in. What language we speak. What college teams we root for. You get the idea. Years ago Emo Phillips, a comedian, told a story about putting people in categories. It went something like this: Once I saw this guy on a bridge about to jump. I said, "Don't do it!" He said, "Nobody loves me." I said, "God loves you. Do you believe in God?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you a Christian or a Jew?" He said, "A Christian." I said, "Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?" He said, "Protestant." I said, "Me, too! What franchise?" He said, "Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Baptist or Southern Baptist?" He said, "Northern Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist." I said, "Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region." I said, "Me, too!" Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?" He said, "Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912." I said, "Die, heretic!" And I pushed him over. But the only label that should matter is “Christian.” “Follower of Jesus Christ.” The only classification of people that Jesus died for was sinners. And we all are that. Paul himself writes in his letter to the people in the Galatia area, “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” -- Galatians 3:28 Another thing I think we can learn from Paul’s letter to Philemon is that we are called to live in community. We are called to help people others who may find themselves in difficult situations. Paul goes out on a limb on behalf of Onesimus, a slave, a person who has very few legal rights. Listen to how The Message paraphrases the scripture we read today: “So if you still consider me a comrade-in-arms, welcome him back as you would me. If he damaged anything or owes you anything, chalk it up to my account. This is my personal signature—Paul—and I stand behind it. (I don’t need to remind you, do I, that you owe your very life to me?) Do me this big favor, friend. You’ll be doing it for Christ, but it will also do my heart good. I know you well enough to know you will. You’ll probably go far beyond what I’ve written.” Too often we look to Christianity to create protected and trouble-free lives for ourselves. We think that if we love Jesus we will have safe desk jobs far from the front lines of the war. The reality is that being a Christian is more like receiving training as medics and being willing to go into the front lines to seek out those needing help. Instead of giving them medical attention we give them spiritual first aid, seeking to take care of their soul “not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9b) The third thing I think we can learn from Paul’s letter to Philemon is to do the right thing. Paul mentions in the letter that Onesimus is very helpful to him. Being in prison Paul doesn’t have it easy. The self-centered thing to do is to have Onesimus stay around and help him out. And Paul can rationalize that decision by saying that it would probably be better for Onesimus as well. And it probably would. But Paul doesn’t do that. He goes to the trouble to write a very persuasive letter to Philemon asking him not only to take Onesimus back, but to change the relationship that Philemon has with Onesimus from one of master and slave to one of brothers in Christ. It’s not the easy thing to do, but it is the right thing to do. I’m currently reading a book about the life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a German minister and theologian at the time Hitler rose to power in Germany. When Dietrich saw how the Nazis were treating the Jews he and a small group of other pastors did what they could to thwart Hitler’s plans. Even though he was a Christian and a theologian, Bonhoeffer participated in a plot to kill Hitler with a bomb hidden in a briefcase. And it almost worked. But Hitler only received minor injuries. Bonhoeffer was arrested and put in prison and then, three weeks before the concentration camp he was in was liberated by the Americans, he was executed. Bonhoeffer knew the Bible said “Do not kill.” But after witnessing the deaths of millions of not only Jews but also civilians and learning about the atrocious medical experiments done on live prisoners he knew he had to do something. He wanted to do the right thing. And if the assassination attempt on Hitler had been successful thousands of lives might have been saved. As Christians the right thing to do is often not the easy thing to do. We are called to think of ourselves less and others more. We are called to become involved in some of life’s messiest moments, like lifeguards plunging into the waves of the ocean and swimming as fast as we can to those caught in the undertow of evil, rescuing their souls, and, if need be, breathing new life into them. Jesus did the right thing, not the easy thing. Jesus could have avoided the cross and smote down all those who slapped, beat, spit-on, mocked, and killed him. He had the power. He had the authority. That would have been the easy thing. But that’s not what he did. Jesus did the right thing. He not only went to the cross willingly out of love for you, but also out of love for the very people who were assaulting him. So my challenge to you this week is to remember Paul’s letter to Philemon. As Christians let us focus on what joins us more than what divides us. Let us remember that being a Christian means living in community with others, especially when it comes to helping those in need. And let us do the right thing, even when it’s the hard and painful thing to do. And if you see someone standing on a bridge, help them, don’t push them. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen!

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They are a roundy group of boys plus two quiet girls, but I'm thankful for them! Here's a sneak peak of what BOOMWHACKERS are.