Sermons in Glass 6. Love

Sermons in Glass: 6. Love

Church of the Wayfarer

Dr. Norm Mowery, Pastor

October 13, 2013

Mark 8:22-26 and I Corinthians 13 (Reaffirmation of Marriage Sunday)

                Jesus used several methods of healing, one of which is depicted in the Sixth Lancet of our windows. The top picture in this lancet shows Jesus touching the eyes of a blind man.

          This is the sixth message based on the stories in our stained glass windows. The top pictures in each lancet tell about the life of Jesus. Over the past weeks we have relived —

                   The manger scene

                   Jesus in the temple

                   Jesus being baptized

                   Jesus tempted in the wilderness

                   Jesus teaching the Sermon on the Mount

          Today we see Jesus offering the healing touch to a blind man.

          I believe that Jesus still offers the healing touch.

                    Some of us need physical healing.

                   Some of us need healing of memories.

                   Some of us need healing in our relationships.

         

          The story depicted here is fascinating.

          I find it interesting that they brought the man to Jesus not for Jesus to heal him…… but for Jesus to touch him.

          They begged Jesus to touch him.

          Here we see the touch of Jesus.

          Jesus took the man by the hand. Can you picture it?

          Can you visualize Jesus walking hand in hand out of the village with a blind man?  I’ll bet that everyone in the village was staring?

          When Jesus touched the man the one who was blind started to see but it was as though he had cataracts.

          So, Jesus touched him again.

          This time he saw everything clearly.

          Three times Jesus touched him!

          If healing is to happen in our lives, in our marriages, in our relationships, in our families…. we must reach out and touch.

          Saint Paul, the greatest apostle, whose writings forever shaped Christianity and whose missionary journeys spread the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire is pictured in the large center window. Here he is caught in a storm.

          Four orange sea anchors trail behind the ship. In the corner sits a Roman centurion.

          Paul is a prisoner on the ship headed for Rome to face the Emperor.

          A storm comes up.

          It is because of Paul’s vision and leadership that the sailors, soldiers and prisoners are all saved on the island of Malta. The Bible goes into great detail—276 men are on board.

          I find it interesting that the committee chose this rather unfamiliar story to be in our windows. I don’t think that I have ever preached a sermon about this event.

          The significance of this story is that it was important in God’s plan that Paul, a prisoner, meets the emperor. It is because of that appearance that the Gospel was taken to the Roman world. 

          St. Paul certainly shaped the early Christian Church. Fourteen of the twenty-seven books in the New Testament have been attributed to Paul.

          When you think of the Apostle Paul you probably think of either the love chapter of the Bible, First Corinthians 13, or the fact that Paul told women to be quiet in worship.

          If it is okay with all of you I will focus on the Love Chapter rather than women being quiet.  I believe that this passage sums up why Paul’s message was important to spread to the whole world.

          I Corinthians 13 is the heart of Paul’s message.

          It is the heart of the Gospel message.

          It is the heart of the Bible.

          Here he declares that a person may have outstanding spiritual gifts but if they are unaccompanied by love they are useless.

          Here we have good practical advice for all of us who live our lives in relationship with others. Notice how down to earth these words are:

                   Love is patient

                   Love is kind

                   Love is not jealous or conceited or proud

                   Love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable (ouch that hits me!)

                   Love does not keep a record of wrongs

                   Love is not happy with evil but is happy with the truth

                   Love never gives up

                   Loves faith, hope and patience never fail

                   Love is eternal

          This is the message I need this morning.

          This is the message our leaders in Washington need.

          This is the message that our world needs.

          This is the eternal message of the Gospel.

          I am glad for this picture in our windows because it reminds us that God was with the Apostle Paul as he was a prisoner on his way to be tried in Rome.

          Paul lived the message of love as he traveled.

          He saved the lives of 276 people when he could have fled to freedom.

          He faithfully traveled to Rome so that the message of love could be taken to the whole world.

          Paul’s message is “U before I.”

          The Greek word Paul used for love in this passage is agape, which was not the common Greek word for love. The reason that Paul used agape for love is to point out that it refers more to an act of the will than a feeling of the heart.

          That means that even if our inward response is “What’s in it for me?” our outward response needs to be “What’s best for you?”

          There is an old Quaker saying,

“I expect to pass through this world but once.

Therefore any good work, kindness or service

I can render to any person or animal,

let me do it now.

Let me not neglect or delay to do it,

for I will not pass this way again.

          The place that love experiences the greatest test, for me, is in my family life—in marriage. You never take a marriage for granted.

          Before there was such a thing as marriage licenses, there were marriage banns. "B-a-n-n" is a Middle English word for "proclamation."

          Before the invention of marriage licenses, the minister or priest would make an announcement in the parish church, noting the names of the two parties to an upcoming marriage.

          The priest would continue with the following question: "If any of you know cause or just impediment why these two persons should not be joined together in Holy Matrimony, ye are to declare it."

          That presents a nearly irresistible dramatic opportunity to throw a wedding ceremony off the rails.

          In the years before government-issued marriage licenses, when the only marriage records were parish registers, marriage banns were the best defense against bigamy. We no longer ask that question!

          The institution of marriage is changing in dramatic ways in today’s world.

                   Anyone can perform a wedding today.

                   The wedding business is changing and churches are being sidelined.

                   More and more couples come to interview me to see if they want me        to perform their wedding.

          This morning I know that—

          There are persons here that are glad they are not married.

          There are loving, committed couples who live by Paul’s words here this morning that have chosen not to get married.

          There are persons here this morning that would like to be married but are not and other loving couples that cannot legally get married even though they want to.

          There are persons here this morning that no longer have the spouse that they were with for many years.

          My message is….

                   I do not judge loving relationships.

                   I try my best to love people and I let God do the judging.

                   I believe that those who enter into marriage have a sacred trust.

          I tell couples that I marry that I don’t care what they promise each other. There is nothing sacred about the marriage vows. But, I do care that they keep the vows that they take!

          In just a moment I will give the opportunity for couples who would like to reaffirm their marriage vows to come forward as we sing a stanza of a hymn written by Charles Wesley who is in our third picture.

          Charles Wesley (1707 – 1788) was the hymn writer of Methodism, producing about 6500 lyrics. Charles, brother of John, is considered by many to be the greatest hymn writer of all ages. Seventy-seven of his hymns are in our hymnal.

          Charles Wesley was the son of Susanna Wesley and Samuel Wesley. He was born in Epworth, Lincolnshire, England, where his father was rector. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.

          In 1735, Charles and his brother John sailed for Savannah, Georgia, at the request of the governor, James Oglethorpe. However, matters did not turn out well, and he was largely rejected by the settlers.

          Charles Wesley experienced a "conversion" in 1738 – John Wesley had a similar experience in a Moravian Church on Aldersgate Street just three days later.

          Wesley felt renewed strength to spread the Gospel to ordinary people and it was at that time he began to write the poetic hymns for which he would become known.

          Charles communicates several doctrines through his hymns;

                   we have the personal indwelling of the Holy Spirit,

                   the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit,

                   the depravity of mankind,

                   and our personal accountability to God.

          In the course of his career, Charles Wesley published the words of over six thousand hymns, many of which are still popular. These include:

                   "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today"

                   "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus"

                   "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing"

                   "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing"

                   "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling"

          Even as Jesus touched the blind man, the Apostle Paul and Charles Wesley have touched us with the message of love.

          The love we proclaim and live is the love of Jesus Christ which Charles Wesley describes on page 384 or our Hymnals:

Love Divine, all loves excelling,

Joy of heaven, to earth come down;

Fix in us thy humble dwelling;

All thy faithful mercies crown!

Jesus thou art all compassion,

Pure, unbounded love thou art;

Visit us with thy salvation;

Enter every trembling heart.

          The reaffirmation of marriage can be a way of reaching out to a person we love with a healing, forgiving, renewing touch. Let’s sing ‘Love Divine’ as those would like to reaffirm their marriage vows come forward.

          Will you continue to live as husband and wife in holy marriage?

          Will you love each other, comfort each other, honor each other and keep each other in sickness and in health and forsaking all others, be faithful to each other as long as you both shall life? I do.

          I would like for you to repeat after me….You will have to fill in the blanks!

In the name of God,

I_____, take you _____, to be my husband/wife,

To have and to hold, from this day forward

For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer,

In sickness and in health,

To love and to cherish, for now and forever.

This is my solemn vow.

Prayer

          We gather in the midst of a broken world, O God, and we strive to build ways of love.

          Open our eyes sharpen our hearing and quicken our hearts to respond to the cry of your children.

          Help us to be the light in someone else's dark world.

          Help us to provide hope for those who feel hopeless.

          Help us to be a friend to the lonely.

          And help us to avoid making excuses...

                   Like someone else can do it better ...

                   I am just too busy...

                   I'll do it tomorrow...

                   What difference does it make?

          Let us not rely on excuses but do our best to present ourselves to God as one approved by him, a worker who has no need to be ashamed.

          Instill in us a sense of urgency in our task

                   so that at day's end

                   we can offer thanks for the opportunity to serve another

                   rather than ask forgiveness for failing to faithfully follow

                   in the footsteps of the greatest servant the world has ever known, Jesus the Christ, who taught us to say when we pray ....

Sermons in Glass 5: Teachers

Sermons in Glass: 5. Teachers

The Church of the Wayfarer

Dr. Norm Mowery, Pastor

October 6, 2013

Matthew 5:1-12

          Our stained glass windows are miraculous! I think that it must have taken a miracle to get a committee of people to agree on what is in each window.

          I don’t know about you but I am enjoying learning more about our windows as I prepare each message in this series. I have been here for ten years and I did not know that John Wesley and Father Junipero Serra were both depicted in the same lancet of our windows.

          In fact, both Wesley and Serra lived during the same time—the 18^th Century, both lived long lives and both preached the gospel…… but in two different worlds….Wesley in England and Serra here on the west coast of California.

          In this series of messages I am focusing on the life of Jesus as represented in the top windows. We have seen

                   The manger scene

                   Jesus in the temple

                   Jesus being baptized

                   Jesus tempted in the wilderness

          Today in this lancet we will learn four teachers—

                   Jesus teaching the Sermon on the Mount

                   Martin Luther

                   John Wesley

                   Father Junipero Serra

          All in about 15 minutes!

          1. Jesus teaching the Sermon on the Mount

          The Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew 5, 6, and 7.

          Your homework is to read the Sermon on the Mount this afternoon or evening before you go to bed.

          Our scripture this morning is what is called the Beatitudes.

          Beatitude people are the people of God—the Body of Christ.

                   They’re poor in spirit,

                             they are wounded and hurting,

                             they’re gentle and meek,

                             they’re hungry for what is just and fair,

                             they’re pure in heart,

                             they seek peace,

                             and they have a tolerance for being misunderstood by an                                    unknowing and unbelieving culture.

          The Beatitudes are not about us, and they are not about how we feel. Instead, they are all about what God has done for us.

          What is a church like that has a Beatitude attitude.

                   They bless and are blessed.

                   They heal and are healed.

                   They pray and are prayed for.

                   They mourn and are comforted.

                   They hunger and thirst and are filled.

                   They are gentle and inherit the earth.

                   They pursue peace and they are called children of God.

                   They are poor in spirit, but rich in eternal life.

                   They are merciful and receive mercy.

                   They are pure in heart, and they see God.

          A few months ago a homeless woman named Susan Beach died here in Carmel under a tree in a vacant lot.

          I had a little memorial service for her here in the church and about 100 people attended. It was one of the best things I ever did.

          Last week I got a phone call from a police officer here in Carmel. The officer said, “Pastor Norm, Susan Beach was cremated. Her cremains are at the Coroner’s Office in Salinas. If no one claims them they will be scattered in an open field. Wouldn’t you like to go get them and bring them back to Carmel?”

          “If you do,” he said, “I would like to be present when you scatter them!”

          Now, how could I say, ‘No’ to that?!

          Isn’t it amazing that a police officer would want to be present when a homeless woman is put to rest? I would say that there is something beautiful in this officer’s caring attitude. He is living the Beatitudes.

          Anyway, tomorrow I am going to Salinas to get Susan Beach’s cremains.

          In the Sermon on the Mount there are teachings about

                   Anger

                   Marriage

                   Love for enemies

                   How to pray and how not to pray

                   Possessions

                   How to give and how not to give

                   Judging others

                   The folly of worry

                   And the Lord’s Prayer

          I could preach a whole sermon on any of these.

          2. Martin Luther—(1483-1546) here we have the German reformer nailing his 95 theses of protest on the door of the chapel at the University of Wittenberg on the first of November, 1517. That’s 500 years ago! Luther and Calvin were contemporaries—Luther in Germany and Calvin in Switzerland.

          The academic debate which ensued from this action was the beginning of the Reformation.

          Martin Luther was a German monk, Catholic priest, professor of theology and seminal figure of a reform movement in 16th century Christianity known as the Protestant Reformation.

          He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money.

          He confronted indulgence selling with his Ninety-Five Theses.

          His refusal to retract all of his writings resulted in his excommunication by the Pope and condemnation as an outlaw by the Emperor.

          Luther taught that salvation and subsequently eternity in heaven is not earned by good deeds but is received only as a free gift of God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

          His theology challenged the authority of the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church by teaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely revealed knowledge from God.

·        He considered all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood.

·        His translation of the Bible into German had a tremendous impact on the church and on German culture.

·        His marriage to Katharina von Bora set a model for the practice of Protestant ministers to marry.

·        On a negative side in his later years Luther became increasingly critical of Jews writing that Jewish synagogues and homes should be destroyed, their money confiscated, and liberty curtailed.

·        His hymns influenced the development of singing in churches.  There are nine hymns in our hymnal that we still sing today—500 years later.

         

          One of his great hymns we sing represents him well. It is ‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.’ Stanza 3 says:

And though the world, with devils filled,

should threaten to undo us,

We will not fear, for God hath willed

his truth to triumph through us.

The Prince of Darkness grim, we tremble not for him;

his rage we can endure, for lo, his doom is sure;

one little word shall fell him.

          The California poppy decorates the upper corners. I believe that they represent God’s grace.

          3. John Wesley—(1702—1791) founded the Methodist Church whose beginnings date from Wesley’s first meetings in 1736. His mother, Susanna, who profoundly influenced him, stands in the background.

          It is quiz time. Who was the founder of the United Methodist Church? Many of you say John Wesley but I remind you that Jesus was our founder.

          John Wesley was an Anglican cleric and Christian theologian. John Wesley along with his brother Charles Wesley, started a movement which began when they took to open-air preaching to coal miners and dock workers in London.

          Here at the bottom of the picture you can see some of these people.

          Wesley came to Savannah, Georgia, and had a difficult time. His mission to Georgia contributed to a lifelong struggle with self-doubt.

          He returned to England depressed and beaten. It was at this point that he turned to the Moravians. That led to John's famous " Aldersgate experience"  at a Moravian meeting in Aldersgate Street, London, in which he heard a reading of Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, and penned the now famous lines "I felt my heart strangely warmed.”

          Methodism became a highly successful evangelical movement in Britain and later in the United States. His work also helped lead to the development of the Holiness movement and Pentecostalism.

          Wesley helped to organize and form societies of Christians throughout Great Britain, North America and Ireland as small groups that developed intensive, personal accountability, discipleship and religious instruction among members.

          His great contribution was to appoint itinerant, non-ordained preachers who travelled widely to evangelize and care for people in the societies.

          Under Wesley's direction, Methodists became leaders in many social issues of the day, including the prison reform and the abolitionism movement.

          He had two primary messages:

          1. A personal experience with Jesus Christ.

          2. Social action and involvement.

          Even though during much of his life he was at odds with the Church of England toward the end of his life he was widely respected and referred to as "the best loved man in England."

          4. Father Junipero Serra—(1713-1784) established missions a day’s journey apart throughout the length of California. Here he stands in front of his beloved Carmel Mission where he is buried.

          Junípero Serra was a Spanish Franciscan friar who founded the first nine of 21 Spanish missions in California from San Diego to San Francisco, which at the time were in the Alta California Province of  New Spain.

          He was bitten by a snake at an early age and suffered from it throughout his life, though he continued to make his journeys on foot whenever necessary.

He suffered intensely from his crippled leg.

          He established his headquarters in Monterey, California.

          The missions were primarily designed to convert the Indians, and develop self-sufficient land enterprises. He confirmed 5,309 persons who were Indians.

          Serra not only dealt with church officials, but also with Spanish officials in Mexico City, to deal with his frequent controversies with the military officers who commanded the nearby garrisons.

          He brought to California the European products that eventually became central to the state's agriculture empire: oranges, lemons, olives, figs, grapes, and vegetables, as well as cattle, sheep, goats, and horses.

          The treatment of the Indians at the missions has been controversial, for they were under tight controls, were given corporal punishment (beatings), and were not allowed to leave.

          At the age of 70, Father Junípero Serra died at Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo. He is buried there under the sanctuary floor.

          Franciscans saw the Indians as children of God who deserved the opportunity for salvation, and would make good Christians but Franciscans considered Indians to be childlike and in need of protection.

           

          The California grey whale decorates the upper corners of this window.

          This morning we have remembered four teachers Jesus, Luther, Wesley, Serra.

          Each one had a message.

          Each one had flaws.

          Each one made a difference.

          We are all teachers.

          May God help us to have wisdom and grace as we live and proclaim the Gospel message.