Series: Facing the Road Ahead... Looking for Hope

May 24, 2015                                         
Heb 12:18-29, Matt. 12:9-21

It was Pentecost Sunday. As the congregation filed into church, the ushers handed each person a bright red carnation to symbolize the festive spirit of the day.

The people listened attentively to the reading of the Pentecost story from the book of Acts: about how the disciples had heard “what sounded like a powerful wind from heaven,” about how the Holy Spirit had appeared: “like tongues of fire.” Then came the sermon.

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon us,” the preacher began. 

“Like a powerful wind from heaven!” shouted a woman sitting in the first pew. Then she threw one of the red carnations toward the altar.

The preacher began again. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon us.” The same woman’s voice rang out: “Like the tongues of fire, like the tongues of fire!” And she threw a red carnation toward the altar. 

The preacher looked straight at her and said, “Now throw your pocketbook.”

To which the woman replied with conviction: “Preacher, you just done calmed the wind and put out the fire.”
-Submitted by Wesley Taylor, Tualatin United Methodist Church, Tualatin, Oregon.

Prayer

Pentecost is is often thought of as a time when the church broke free from its Jewish roots and was gathered up by the Holy Spirit and thrown into the world. We know the story well… Peter gives a powerful sermon… People turn back to God and 3,000 are baptized… and the birth of what we know as the church is born.

Yah… Hoo… let’s celebrate!!!

The Pentecost story tells us how and why the church came about and that somehow we are to replicate this today. As I look around our church today… I do not see this kind of excitement. In fact… the many places I’ve been I don’t see much hope. So… this Pentecost… our bible story today is much more appropriate… because Pentecost should be about… Looking For Hope!

 

As we conclude our series, “Facing the Road Ahead” today. And after our 1^st Transition Event last Sunday… we need to hear about some hope. We know transitions can be difficult, challenging, and uncertain, but God is with us… in fact… God has always been with us. Over the past few weeks we’ve learned the Road Ahead will be challenging, but we should Never Give Up, nor should we be Fearful. Last week… we learned that we Need a Purpose to open us to God’s Vision & Mission. And today… our focus is Looking for Hope.

We’ve all faced difficulties & uncertainties. All of us are looking for some hope in the midst of the challenges of life. We’re all looking for something to grab hold amongst the difficulties. Theologian Peter Gomes says of hope…. “Hope does not deny the circumstances of the present and hope doesn’t help us get out of our difficulties. Hope does help us get through.”

At our event last Sunday I noticed some long faces. I sensed you were feeling lost & dismayed at what you perceive as a loss.

The loss of a beloved pastor…

The Loss of families…

A loss of what once was…

The church is in decline… we all know it… I don’t like it any more than you do. However…it does no one any good to focus on what was… My friends… I have hope… Because the church of Jesus will never go completely away.

What you’re experiencing is a normal reaction of every congregation I’ve been in after the first event. You often can’t see what tomorrow looks like. Yet… in all of this I see a renewing spirit here at Good Shepherd. And yet… there is some apprehension…

Similar to the 2 encounters Jesus has in our story today.

Jesus encounters a man with a deformed hand and Jesus encounters Pharisees… Religious Leaders. The man with the deformed hand is seeking some solace in the Jewish Meeting… i.e. the church. The man is sitting in the back minding his own business and he’s just looking for some hope and peace. Because of his deformity… he likely is ridiculed, shunned, and shamed. Likely… the religious leaders are appalled that he’s in the church in the first place.  So… the church people see a way to trap Jesus and confront him with a question… “Is it right to heal someone on the Sabbath?” There are rules about not doing anything on the Sabbath… Jesus, sensing what their really up to… responds by saying…

“If you had a sheep that fell into a ditch on the Sabbath, wouldn’t you lift it out? People are worth much more than sheep, and so it is right to do good on the Sabbath.”

Jesus says, not only is it right to heal… it’s good to heal on Sunday… and he heals the man right in front of the religious leaders. Jesus implies…. What better time to heal someone than on Sunday!! Can you imagine!!! Of course we in the church would never object to something as disruptive as this… would we? All this guy was looking for was a little bit of Hope. All he was looking for was someone to love him despite his deformity.

Reminds me of little Eric… who at the time was 4 years old and wanted to receive communion with his family. So we set up a time to have a 1^st communion class. Eric was one of 14 kids who went through the class. Half the kids received their 1^st communion on one week and the others on the following week. Eric was to receive his on the 2^nd week. After the first week it became known that there was a rule about who could receive communion. It seems a person had to be in 8^th grade as it was stated in the churches constitution. We postponed the 2^nd class… that following week after the 1^st group… Eric came up for communion with his family, with an ear to ear grin. His parents knew of the decision to wait, but as we looked at each other Eric put out his cupped hands saying with sad eyes, “I want Jesus to love me too.” Eric received his 1^st communion.

In that moment Eric experienced hope. In the moment of Jesus healing the man hope was given.

When we bow to church rules we lose sight of the spirit of hope.

When we lose sight of that spirit… we’ve held back hope.

God’s promise of hope is found in Jesus… as Jesus says when he quotes Isa… “He is my chosen servant! I love him… All people will place their hope in him.” When we love… we bring hope to some one’s life.

In our Hebrew reading the people of God are disappointed with themselves for not following God and they have lost hope. They believe they have failed God on Mt Siani and that God is going to punish them. But God doesn’t do that… instead God tells them that they’ve come to Mt Zion… it might not be Mt Siani where they first encountered God with Moses, yet God says, Vs 23… “Here you will find all of God’s children, whose names are written in heaven. And you will find God himself. Who judges everyone. Also here are the Spirits of those good people, who have been made perfect. Even Jesus is here!!!”

I was part of a small group and a person in the group knew I was struggling gave me a newspaper article titled

“Feel Incapable? Looking for Hope.” Roger Campbell says,

-        Einstein couldn’t speak until he was 4 yrs old and didn’t read until 7.

-        Beethoven’s music teacher said of him, “As a composer he’s hopeless.”

-       Thomas Edison’s teacher said he was unable to learn.

-       Walt Disney was once fired by a newspaper editor because he was thought to be without ideas.

-       Caruso was told by a music teacher: “You can’t sing. You have no voice.”

-       Dwight Moody, now considered one of the most effective evangelists, had a 5^th  grade education and once wept before an audience, saying “God forgive a man who cannot speak properly.”

-       Jesus’ disciples were without impressive credentials, being called ignorant and unlearned, but their contemporaries found it impossible to ignore them because their lives demonstrated they had found something others needed. Their dedication, courage and faith made them world changers.

God seems to enjoy using weak but willing people to do great things to the amazement of those who are thought to be better qualified. The following title of a book I noticed in a pastor’s library caught my attention and lingers in my mind… “Why God Uses Nobodies.” Though I’ve never read the book, its challenging title keeps encouraging me to attempt things I might have thought too difficult to do.

My friends… we have HOPE here… because we will Never Give Up… We will Not Fear the Future… We will discover our Purpose… because We Have Hope.

This Pentecost season God is providing HOPE through our connection with Jesus so that we will be able to Face the Road Ahead together.