Saturday, December 21, 2013
GRACE APPEARED
I think it is
possible that Christmas raises more questions that it answers. Questions like:
What are we going to do about
Christmas? Now that God has come, how will we live from this day for the rest
of our lives? When the excitement, and maybe even the anxiety of Christmas is
over, what are we left holding in our hands and in our heart?
I believe Christmas is all about love,
and the grace that love creates. God brought us the gift of grace, undeserving
forgiveness, and the opportunity for each of us to live a holy life. So we
celebrate God appearing with grace, and that great gift requires a response
from each of us, answers to questions. God
could have sat on his throne in his glory while we struggled, but he gave up
his glory and came to visit us. God could have been only almighty and powerful,
but he decided to be also all-loving and available, stooping to address our
needs and our humanity. God could have judged and condemned us for our sin
without mercy, but he forgave us and made possible a holy life. God could have
turned away from us, for we as sinners deserved it, but instead he turned
toward us because we could not come to him. God’s grace made all this possible.
Paul makes it very clear in Titus 2:11-14 that because God has appeared
among us in the person of Jesus, that he brings with him grace, forgiveness,
and mercy. The announcement that Jesus has come never
grows old because it is the “good news” that has changed the course of history,
tilted the world on its spiritual axis, and transformed the hearts of those who
believe. And because of the power of the story of Jesus’ birth, we are required
to respond. Even though we do not really understand what happen that night, we
must answer the question, “What difference does Christmas really make in my
life?”
We must realize that God did not send his
grace into a “Christmas card” perfect world. Jesus
came into an ugly world, filled with chaos, sin, and needy people. He came with
his grace to fix the problem of sin. And so, we continue to celebrate Christmas
because the chaos and darkness still exists in the lives of so many of us. But
God has filled this world with his grace, therefore, we need to hear the
Christmas story once again, the story of hope, the story of transformation.
I think the coming of Jesus presents a
great challenge to anyone determined to live a Christian life. The great
challenge is to never separate the gift of grace, forgiveness, and salvation
from the call of discipleship. God not only rescues us from a sinful life, but
then calls us to live differently, and to actively pursue a holy life.
Salvation does not end with receiving forgiveness, that is only the beginning.
So we are back to the same questions.
What does Christmas really mean to me? Should it mean something different than
it does? Am I any different because Jesus came?
Howard Thurman wrote
a poem entitled “The Work of Christmas.”
"When the song of the angels is stilled, When the star
in the sky is gone,
When the kings and princes are home, When the shepherds are
back with their flock,
the work of Christmas begins: To find the lost, To heal the
broken, To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner, To rebuild the nations, To bring
peace among brothers and sisters,
To make music in the heart."
Christmas is for the needy; those who have
realized the need for grace, forgiveness, and change in the way life is lived.
Christmas is for those who need someone besides themselves; that someone is
Jesus and he brings salvation and holy living. Grace has indeed appeared!
Rev Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC ,
December 22, 2013
LET THERE BE JOY
If you have been
lighting the candles of the Advent wreath, you will soon come to the pink
candle, sometimes called the candle of joy. Just
as the pink candle stands out from the solemnness and demands of purple, joy
bursts out from the dark colors of hopelessness and lostness. So we light the
pink candle. The candle of joy!
In the letter
that Paul wrote to the church in Philippi , we find words
that just seem to pick us up and put a different spirit in our hearts. Yet at
the same time we may find ourselves doubting whether we can really carry out
this mandate. In the fourth chapter of Philippians, the verses 4-7, we find the
challenging call to, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!” Did
Paul really mean that we should be joyful all the time? I believe he did. You
see, Paul wrote from the darkness of a Roman prison cell.
Jesus also thought it was extremely
important for us to have joy in our lives. In the last conversation Jesus had
with his disciples, he stressed the necessity of having joy. Jesus, even as he
faced the torture of the cross, had the joy of obedience, knowing that he was
following his Father’s will. Jesus said, “One of the last gifts that I would
like to give to you is this same kind of joy that I have. The kind that exists
even in the darkest of situations. I want all my disciples to have this kind of
joy that only I can give.”
One
of the keys of joy is knowing without a doubt that we are loved; by God and
also by others. God tells us of his love over and over in so many ways. We find
that Advent proves that love.
Another
key of joy is the realization that God holds us physically and spiritually in
his control. The psalmist tells us, “…his hand will lead us, and his right hand
will hold us fast.” It should give us joy knowing that our hand is in the hand
of God.
A third key to joy is the absence of
fear. The 121st psalm tells us that God will keep us from all evil,
keep us in his care no matter the circumstances. We serve a God who does not
sleep, so why should we fear?
Someone has suggested these rules for joyful
living;
Give something away- no strings attached
Do an act of
kindness- and forget it
Spend a few minutes
with an elderly person- their
experience is priceless
Look intently into
the face of a baby- and marvel
Laugh often- it is the oil that lubricates the wheels of
life
Give thanks- a thousand times a day is not enough
Pray- or you will lose the way
Find God’s will for
you- and work at it
Plan as though you
will live forever- because you will
Live as though you
will die tomorrow
If you have that
unspeakable joy of salvation in your heart and life this morning, hold on to it
with all your determination. Hold on by faithful prayer, searching his Word, and
complete surrender to God. Resist fear, discouragement, and worry, because you
are not alone. You are loved, cared for, and protected by a God who never gets
tired. Even if you have lost the joy of salvation, it can be found again by
pausing and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit as he calls your name.
Let us claim our salvation
and our joy, and then let us go out proclaiming joy to the world.
Rev Tim McConnell.
Long’s Chapel UMC , December 15, 2013
THE INTRODUCTION
A good introduction, whether it is for a
movie, book, or a speaker, has the difficult job of getting the attention of an
audience and creating excitement and anticipation. The introduction of a
speaker should be done so that attention is focused toward the speaker to come,
and not on the one making the introduction.
As we continue our Advent journey, we
find in Luke 3, John the Baptist’s introduction of Jesus. One preacher
introducing another. Advent, the beginning of the Christian year, always begins
with John, who gets us ready to meet Jesus. You see, we cannot get to
Christmas, we cannot get to Jesus, without first hearing John’s introduction of
Jesus. It may be that we do not really want to hear John’s introduction. We had
rather hear Jesus. Yet we must realize that the introduction comes along with
the headline speaker. So John says, “I’m not the main event. I am just
preparing the way. I am just introducing the Son of God.”
“First of all, you need to repent,” John
tells his audience. “You’re going in the wrong direction and you need to turn
around. Repent, ask for forgiveness of your sins, and be baptized. You are not
who you think you are in the eyes of God.” Now this is bad news to many people.
This is not the good news that, “You’re OK and I’m OK. We are just human and we
just cannot help wallowing around in our self-pity and sins. So we will just do
the best we can. God will understand.” It was not that kind of news.
And if we keep reading it seems that some
of the people may have been looking for the exits. Because John continues,
“Some of you think because your Daddy was Abraham and he gave the land for the
church, you put your offering in the plate each Sunday, and you show up
regularly; that you don’t need improvement. You better turn around, get washed
and cleaned, get into a right relationship with God and other people. You’re
not as good as you think.”
What in the world was John thinking? Why
would anybody have listened to him, much less stayed for the sermon? I think I
know! There is something inside each of us that knows, this is the kind of
message we need to hear at the appropriate time. When we are really honest with
our selves, we know that we are not right, our world is out of balance. A preacher
with a message like John the Baptist’s tells the truth. So he intruded, stood
up, and told that contented, self-satisfied religious congregation that they,
especially they, needed to change. That their religious pedigree was no
guarantee to escape the judging eye of God. In addition to all that, John told
them they could change.
John said “I offer you the chance to
repent, ask God for forgiveness, and be baptized in the river. That is a start!
But Jesus is the one who can finish the job with a cleansing and baptism with
the Holy Spirit. That is what will transform you into who God wants you to be.
I’m just the introduction, but Jesus is the three-year long sermon!”
In verses 4-6 in our reading today, John
quotes the prophet Isaiah. Through Jesus, God prepares the way for us and
others to get back to him by “making paths straight, filling up the valleys,
cutting down the mountains and hills; straightening the crooked ways, and
smoothing out the rough ways.” Mountains
of pride and selfishness need to be leveled. Valleys of the denial of one’s
need to be forgiven are to be filled. Crooked, immoral, and ungodly paths and
ways need to be straightened. Rough places where we are guilty of judging and
criticizing others must be made smooth.
John knew that only Jesus could do all
that in a person’s life, so he pointed the way to the Savior of the world.
I believe the challenge is for each of us
to follow the example of John the Baptist-pointing others to Christ. But first,
let’s come into Christ’s presence asking him to fill us up, straighten us out,
cut us down, and smooth us out. Prepare us to introduce Jesus to those who are
waiting to hear.
Rev
Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC , December 8, 2013
GOD INTERRUPTS
As I read these verses from the prophet
Jeremiah in 33:14-16, I keep hearing the word promise. The prophets
Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, writers of the Psalms, and even Moses tell of a
promise; the promise of a deliverer. I am convinced that Advent is really all
about God’s fulfillment of a promise; a promise not only made to the Jewish
people, but you and me, and to all of his people wherever they are found.
And then, maybe
we can look at Advent in another way, as an interruption of the routines of
people’s lives. Have you ever wished for something to happen in your life, not
something bad, but just something to break the routine and the humdrum of daily
living? In Advent, the church celebrates a God who keeps promises, who cares
about his people, who wants to be with them, and puts into action his love. We
also celebrate a God who hears the cries of his people as he told Moses at the
burning bush. Moses’ routine life as a shepherd was interrupted by a God who
needed a messenger. So we celebrate a God who hears, intervenes, and
interrupts. That is our great hope. A God who searches us out, who loves us so
much that he cannot leave us alone; so he interrupts our lives, not only at
Bethlehem, but in many other times and places. Jesus Christ, whose advent we
celebrate in this season, is the great, loving, divine Interruption.
God, in his
incessant desire to be near us and to bring us to himself, from time to time
breaks into the life of the individual and into the life of the church. There
are times when the Holy Spirit is sent to disrupt our comfortable routines, to
give us new directions, convict us, and refresh our faith walk. This is called
revival. Revival starts within the hearts of people who see the need of
intervention and renewal. Revival starts with prayer. God can then come and
interrupt what we have been doing and how we have been thinking and replace it
with a new “Order of Worship.”
This is what
happened at the first Advent. Paul wrote in the letter to the Galatians in
chapter 4 that after 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, God
interrupted human hopelessness and
discouragement, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, born of
a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who are under the law, so
we might receive adoption as children.” When the fullness of time had come, God
intervened, and interrupted so that his people would have hope and
salvation.
So our lives,
which are closely regulated by the clock and the calendar, must realize that
here we are once again at the season of Advent. If you follow the church
calendar, you know that Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year. It is
the beginning because God in the fullness of time sent his Son, Jesus. God
stepped in and interrupted the flow of human history. God began, once again,
something new.
The Advent
season is proof that God is a God who loves us enough to interrupt our lives
and show us a better way-the only way. God interrupts in John 3:16, “For God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” Here we are plodding down
our comfortable way of life, creatures of habit, and getting by on our own just
fine, we think. And then, in a place we do not expect, in a way we do not
expect, in God’s own time, God comes. God is born among us, as one of us, in a
form we do not expect. It happened in Bethlehem
When God’s grace intervenes in our
life, we must be prepared to receive it. “Surely the days are here when the
Lord will fulfill his promise.” Let this be the Advent in which God’s
interruption changes our life.
Rev. Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC ,
December 1, 2013
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
GOD INTERRUPTS
As I read these verses from the prophet
Jeremiah in 33:14-16, I keep hearing the word promise. The prophets
Jeremiah, Isaiah, Micah, writers of the Psalms, and even Moses tell of a
promise; the promise of a deliverer. I am convinced that Advent is really all
about God’s fulfillment of a promise; a promise not only made to the Jewish
people, but you and me, and to all of his people wherever they are found.
And then, maybe
we can look at Advent in another way, as an interruption of the routines of
people’s lives. Have you ever wished for something to happen in your life, not
something bad, but just something to break the routine and the humdrum of daily
living? In Advent, the church celebrates a God who keeps promises, who cares
about his people, who wants to be with them, and puts into action his love. We
also celebrate a God who hears the cries of his people as he told Moses at the
burning bush. Moses’ routine life as a shepherd was interrupted by a God who
needed a messenger. So we celebrate a God who hears, intervenes, and
interrupts. That is our great hope. A God who searches us out, who loves us so
much that he cannot leave us alone; so he interrupts our lives, not only at
Bethlehem, but in many other times and places. Jesus Christ, whose advent we
celebrate in this season, is the great, loving, divine Interruption.
God, in his
incessant desire to be near us and to bring us to himself, from time to time
breaks into the life of the individual and into the life of the church. There
are times when the Holy Spirit is sent to disrupt our comfortable routines, to
give us new directions, convict us, and refresh our faith walk. This is called
revival. Revival starts within the hearts of people who see the need of
intervention and renewal. Revival starts with prayer. God can then come and
interrupt what we have been doing and how we have been thinking and replace it
with a new “Order of Worship.”
This is what
happened at the first Advent. Paul wrote in the letter to the Galatians in
chapter 4 that after 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, God
interrupted human hopelessness and
discouragement, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent his son, born of
a woman, born under the law, in order to redeem those who are under the law, so
we might receive adoption as children.” When the fullness of time had come, God
intervened, and interrupted so that his people would have hope and
salvation.
So our lives,
which are closely regulated by the clock and the calendar, must realize that
here we are once again at the season of Advent. If you follow the church
calendar, you know that Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year. It is
the beginning because God in the fullness of time sent his Son, Jesus. God
stepped in and interrupted the flow of human history. God began, once again,
something new.
The Advent
season is proof that God is a God who loves us enough to interrupt our lives
and show us a better way-the only way. God interrupts in John 3:16, “For God so
loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.” Here we are plodding down
our comfortable way of life, creatures of habit, and getting by on our own just
fine, we think. And then, in a place we do not expect, in a way we do not
expect, in God’s own time, God comes. God is born among us, as one of us, in a
form we do not expect. It happened in Bethlehem
When God’s grace intervenes in our
life, we must be prepared to receive it. “Surely the days are here when the
Lord will fulfill his promise.” Let this be the Advent in which God’s
interruption changes our life.
Rev. Tim McConnell, Long’s Chapel UMC ,
December 1, 2013
THE HOUSE CLEANING
In “The Principles of a Methodist Further
Explained,” John Wesley said, “Our main doctrines, which include all the rest,
are three—that of repentance, of faith, and of holiness. The first of these we
account as it were, the porch of religion; the next, the door; the third,
religion itself.” (The Works of John Wesley, Volume VIII, Zondervan Publishing
House, 1959; page 472)
Since Wesley and Methodism is all about
the grace found throughout scripture and strongly expressed by Jesus, the imagery
of the “house of salvation” makes sense through the eyes of grace. Prevenient
grace, grace that makes it possible for us to see our need for God, brings us
to conviction and the porch of the house. Justifying grace, grace that allows
us to ask for forgiveness and to say yes to God, opens the door, invites us in,
and makes us a member of God’s family. Sanctifying grace, grace that reminds us
that God wants every room of our house to be cleaned out and under his control,
makes it possible for us to live a life that is holy and acceptable to God.
Soon after we become believers, we begin
to see things in our words, thoughts, and actions that are not Christ-like. We
need a spiritual “house cleaning” if we are to imitate Christ.
Joanna Weaver, in her book, “Having a
Mary Spirit,” provides a list of undesirable “clutter” and sins, which we must
ask God to cleanse from the “rooms” of our heart.
Jealousy (You are all you get to be—enjoy it!)
Regrets (You cannot undo mistakes, so learn from
them.)
Shame (If you have asked God to forgive you, accept
that forgiveness)
Blame (Stop pointing the finger at
everyone else)
Gossip (If it cannot be said in front of the
person, do not say it)
Fear (Stop and pray before fear takes hold)
Envy (Learn to want what you have)
Lies (Disregard the habit of half-truths,
exaggerations, full-fledged
deception)
Complaining (Do not nurse
it or rehearse it…disperse it)
Ingratitude (Look for things to be thankful for---tell
someone about it!)
Careless words (Ask, “Does this really need to be said?”)
Laziness (Do one thing today that you really do not
want to do.)
Greed (Give something you love away.)
Self-Pity (Cry for five minutes if you must, then blow
you nose and
Move on.)
Lust
(Eliminate the I-must-have-it-now desire for people and things.)
Paul writes in 2Corinthians, “Let us cleanse
ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work
toward complete purity because we fear God.”
Rev. Tim McConnell Long’s
Chapel UMC , November 24, 2013
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