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This is the fourth
and final sermon in our series on "Going Deep" in
our discipleship. We began by realizing that many of us have
been worshiping a god of the tide pools, when the truth is
that God is more like the ocean, just beyond our tide pools of
shallow discipleship. It’s no wonder we get bored with
church. Just beyond us is the beginning of the depths,
inviting us to come, explore, and dive in deep. The ocean of
God’s love is beckoning you and me to plunge into the very
depths of that love. God desires more for your life than
splashing around on the shore. God created us for more than we
are right now. How do we get there from here? We respond to
God—specifically, by acts of worship and acts of service.
Our very lives, made up of nothing more than our thoughts,
words and deeds, become the portrait we paint of our response
to God.
We have looked at
how God desires our worship with other believers, not because
He’s insecure or greedy, but because He wants us to
be complete. Simply by praising, we begin our descent into the
depths of God.
We have looked at
how God desires private devotion. Your character is who you
are when no one is looking. Is your character devoted to God?
God has given us the scriptures, prayer, and the sacraments,
so we may love Him with our whole heart, soul, mind and
strength. We begin to build a relationship with God through
Jesus Christ.
We have looked at
how true faith calls us to go deeper in our relationships with
others, as good works naturally begin to overflow out of our
Christian experience.
But today we are
looking at "corporate acts of service," what John
Wesley (our founder) called acts of justice. But how? How can
you and I accomplish our service in such a way that we can
literally serve groups of people? How can we impact lives in
such a way that it brings transformation to our society and
culture?
How do we do it?
We form a bucket brigade. We stop splashing in our little tide
pool and start running for the ocean. We jump in with both
feet. We dive in, and we begin to go deep and realize the
power there. We become a part of something much bigger and
greater than anything we have yet imagined. We worship. We
surrender. We begin to make changes. We start swimming with
others who are leaving their tide pools and diving down deep.
We learn how to swim. We explore the depths. And then,
somewhere along the journey, we remember the shore. We
remember the people who are still there, splashing in a little
tide pool. We remember those who have yet to even find the
beach. We remember those who thirst, those who are dry, and
those who are dried up.
And somewhere
along the way we get our bucket. And before we realize it, we
begin swimming, splashing, and running back to the beach,
bucket in tow.
Are you there?
Have you made it to the deeper water? Are you heading back to
the beach? (The ones who have the God-given gift of
"cool" may even surf back to shore.)
So many people are
starving. So many hungry. So many lonely. So many sick. So
many dying. So many in prison. So many without clothes. So
many without friends. So many without hope. So many without
the means to find the water.
And we ask God.
And we plead with
them. And we tell them what it’s like to go under the water.
What it’s like to feel free, and almost weightless. What it’s
like to be washed clean. What it’s like to be forgiven. What
it’s like to be a part of something much bigger than any of
us and all of us together. What it’s like to leave the shore
behind. What it’s like to know life after death; that life
is the answer to death. What it’s like to know joy. What it’s
like to know joy in such a way that we have to share it or
bust.
And how do we do
it?
First, we must
realize that it’s too big for us to do alone. We can’t do
it without God and we can’t do it without one another. You
can’t be a Lone Ranger Christian. You have to be a part of
the "brigade."
Second, we’ve
got to offer more than just the tide pool. Church, we’ve
been splashing around long enough. There’s not enough water
in the tide pool to offer much more than a splash, which would
only get soaked up by the sand. We have to go deep so we can
offer people what they really need. We can’t just invite
someone over to our tide pool. What will we say? "Come,
have a deep, meaningful, life-changing, eye-opening experience
with me. (Splash, splash) I think there are even two fish in
my little pool. (Splash, splash) And a little shell…."
How absurd to ask someone to give their life for that! What do
we do when someone comes running, even thirsting, for God, and
we stop them short, never showing them the Living Water that
we are on the brink of experiencing?
And people are
hungry and thirsty for life, for more adventure. If we don’t
get them out to the ocean of God’s love and a new depth of
experience, they will continue to look for adventure in
meaningless pursuits. Did you hear about Reg Mellor? At age
72, Reg is the reigning world champion of "ferret
legging." It is a contest involving tying a competitor’s
trousers at the ankles and subsequent insertion into those
trousers of a couple of ferrets. The brave contestant’s belt
is then pulled tight, and he proceeds to stand in front of the
judges as long as he can, while the animals claw and teeth
their way out. Reg’s world record is five hours, twenty-six
minutes.
In the wake of
September 11th, we Americans have been shocked into
remembering what’s important. But let’s not forget our
bucket brigade, bringing people the Living Water of God.
Jesus called his
followers to be the "salt of the earth." In
Palestine, flakes of salt form on the rock shores of the Dead
Sea at night. In the morning, the sun rises. Under its heat,
the salt loses its saltiness. It blends in with the shore and
loses its distinctiveness. Church, isn’t that us, sometimes?
I’m afraid we
have a mixed-up view of church. We think that all the worship,
Christian education, programs and fellowship here at our
church are ends in-and-of themselves. I’m afraid many of us
think that the mission of the church is to keep the
organization alive. If you think that, you’re wrong. When I
get caught up in that thinking, I’m wrong. We need to get
acquainted with the big, primary interests of God’s Kingdom.
We worship, we serve, and we work for justice.
Third, we have to
find our way back to the beaches and dry lands. Which beach is
Jesus calling you to? It might be a beach right here in
Birmingham, or it might be a beach across the ocean or it
might even be the beach at Ninevah. Jonah hated the Ninevites.
(If God is calling you there, don’t wait for the big fish,
just go!) Perhaps it is helping youth make it through the
tough time called adolescence. Perhaps it is helping in a
neighborhood soup kitchen or prison fellowship. Perhaps it is
getting involved in politics to make good and right changes to
help people. How can you bring justice there?
People are dying
right here in Birmingham. Dying from boredom. Dying from
loneliness. Dying from brokenness. Dying from lack of meaning,
from too much stuff, from lack of purpose, or from choosing
the wrong purpose. Isn’t it time we reach out to them?
People in our
neighboring communities are dying from lack of hope. >From lack
of basic necessities. From lack of opportunity. From economic
depression. Isn’t it time we step into the deeper water and
bring about God’s justice for them?
People around the
world are dying. Dying in their sin. Dying for hope. For food.
For shelter. For love. Church, I truly believe that God is
calling us in this moment to pick up our buckets, fill them up
from his ocean and run back to their shores, pouring out the
Lord’s justice.
The prophet Amos
gave us God’s message. We are to "let justice roll down
like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing
stream" (Amos 5:24). May we be the hands and feet that
carry the buckets of God’s Living Water, wherever we go.
John Wesley goes
so far as to say there is no holiness except social holiness.
The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is a political
statement. It is the heart of Jesus’ teachings for the
people. Our passage today is called "The
Beatitudes." In them is contained Christ’s call for
justice. The justice comes out of our action and response to
these passages.
The "poor in
spirit" know of their deep need for God. Those who
"mourn" do so over their sins and the tragedy sin
causes. "The meek" are not weak, they simply don’t
have to have their own way. The meek listen to what God wants,
rather than doing their own thing. Then Jesus says,
"Blessed are those who then hunger and thirst for
righteousness, seeking to please God."
"Blessed are
the merciful." Blessed means fully satisfied. Mercy is
love in action. Think of it this way, from 1 Corinthians
13:4-7: "Love is patient; love is kind; love is
not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not
insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it
does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things." Mercy is love expressed. Think what
your home, your workplace, the town or city in which you live
would be like if mercy were freely given and received.
To be "pure
in heart" means to see God in all things. Think Mother
Teresa. She saw Christ in the faces of the dying poor. Each
one was a representation of the Lord, and she cared for them
as she wanted to care for Christ. Now Mother Teresa was
obviously amazing, but she primarily relied on supernatural
power, the same that is available to you and me today. She
swam in the same ocean we are called to.
Notice Jesus said,
"Blessed are the peacemakers," not "Blessed are
the peacekeepers." Jesus’ teachings, his example during
his lifetime, and the pattern of most early believers make it
clear that the gospel and its implications are to find their
access to people’s hearts not by force of military power but
by the energy of God’s Spirit. Jesus could calmly tell Peter
to resheath his sword; he had so much power to spare—even at
that moment of extremity—that he could stop and restore the
ear that Peter had so aggressively sliced off.
Each Beatitude is
a guideline, taking us a little deeper into the attitude of
the Kingdom. Those who are merciful to others and see God in
others are busy about making peace. We are to be proactive,
even if it means facing the evil of the world head-on. Humans
are killers by choice, as an act of will. Violent aggression
wells up from the depths of human hearts. The cause may be
fear, lack of ego-strength, a pathology of being divinely
chosen to conquer, or whatever. The final cure is not the
power of greater military might, philosophy, renovation of
cities, or even education, as wonderful as these things might
be. The cure is a heart made free of the need to hurt; made
free by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Who offers that? The
Peacemaker.
You would think
that anyone reflecting these Beatitudes would be a hero.
People would be thankful for the cool water we bring.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. Blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness’ sake. The Wesleys and the
early Methodists had to bear the howl and scorn—and
sometimes violence—of the masses. They never pressed
charges. Jesus is telling us we need to be prepared for rough
waters in the midst of our journey.
In the General
Rules of the Methodist Societies, John Wesley summed up
Christian behavior. There were three headings: "Avoid All
the Evil You Can," "Do All the Good You Can,"
and "Attend the Means of Grace." Were he here today,
he would probably add a fourth: "Don’t Forget Your
Bucket."
We are to go deep,
in order that our own buckets may be continually filled. We
run to the water. We run to the shore. As the Salvation Army
quips, "We are saved to serve." We form a bucket
brigade and bring about God’s transforming justice to a
thirsty world. So let’s go!
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