1 John 1:1-2:2

Sometimes you have to get back to the basics. Ask any coach and they will tell you that no matter how advanced a team or an athlete is you still have to focus on the fundamentals. A team can know all about the strategies of the game and the intricacies of the rules and the statistics, but if they can't run and throw they will loose. So a good coach spends time going over the fundamentals, the basics. They drill their team on passing and shooting and hitting and other basic parts of the game.

In the Christian life it is the same way. It doesn't matter how advanced we get in the faith we need to remind ourselves of the basics. We need to review the fundamentals of the faith. I have two masters' degrees in theology from Duke Divinity School. But if I forget that "Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so" then they are just useless pieces of paper.

This I think is what is happening the 1 John. John is reminding the early church of the basics. He says, "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life." He is reminding Christians of what is at the foundation of our beliefs.

So what are these basics? The first is eternal life. That's pretty basic. When we die we go to heaven and live forever. As in whosoever believes in him shall have eternal life.

But eternal life is more than just eternal length of life. It's also eternal depth and meaning of life. Notice what it says, "this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us" John says he has seen eternal life and he is bearing witness to what he has seen. He can't be bearing witness to having seen everlasting life after death if he is still alive. He must mean that he has experienced an eternal quality of life.

Look what else it says. "We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete." He is telling the Christians about eternal life that comes from knowing God in Christ, so that they may have joy. So this eternal life is Joy. Because we know God through Jesus we can know joy not just when we all get to heaven but in the here and now. That is eternal life in the here and now.

The second fundamental is that God is light. We live in a dark world. Just look around you. People are living in darkness. They are doing dark deeds without any real purpose. People killing themselves and others. And if not that then just surviving and not really living.

But God is light. He brings light into the darkness of this world. God's light and love push back the darkness. If we want to know the joy of eternal life we need to walk in the light not the darkness.

John says "If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true." So we have to walk in the light. To dispel the darkness of our world and live in light we must avoid the darkness of sin and evil. We need to "walk in the light as he himself is in the light." But that is hard if not impossible to do all the time. I mean we all sin from time to time. That's where the third fundamental comes in.

The third fundamental is that through Jesus we are forgiven. It says "If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness." I love that verse. I know its no John 3:16 or 23rd psalm but I have always loved that verse. It is a clear cut promise.

If we admit and confess our sin, we are forgiven. Not we might be forgiven or we could be forgiven. Not if we sound sincere enough we will be forgiven. Just if we confess.

Of course the opposite is also true. "If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." So let's be honest and confess. I have sinned. You have sinned. But God's word promises us that Jesus is faithful and just and will forgive our sins no "if," "ands" or "buts."

I know all that is pretty basic, my little children. Don't think I am talking down to you by explaining these things that you already know. You might say "O I learned all that when I was a kid." Good, I am glad to hear it. Later on you can deal with weightier matters life sanctification, prophesy and the imminent parousia. But right now we are talking about the basics.

And what are the basics? 1. We have eternal life from God. 2. God is light and to know God we must walk in the light. 3. If you accidentally wander into some shadows, morally speaking, Jesus will forgive you.

I am not telling you this again because I think you are ignorant. I don't think John was belittling or talking down to the early church either. I am telling you these things because I want you to know the joy of eternal life. Not just everlasting length in heaven. I want you to know the joy and peace of eternal life in the here and now.

John 20:19-29

Sometimes I think Thomas gets a bum rap. Everyone calls him "Doubting Thomas." But he only doubted for a week. I mean the man had a full life and yet he gets pegged for his behavior during one week. Sure, he started off doubting, but in the end he believed. When he saw Jesus he said, "My Lord and My God!" and he believed. So why don't we call him "Believing Thomas?" He certainly seems to have done more believing than he ever did doubting.

And why is he the only disciple that is chosen as the poster child for doubting? After all they all doubted. Do you remember last Sunday's Sermon? All the men disciples doubted the story of the women. They called it the idol talk of women. Apparently it took seeing Jesus, wounds and all, for them to be convinced! The women were a little better. But even so they had to either see Jesus or an angel to be convinced to believe.

So why does Thomas get the moniker "Doubting" and not the others. Because he was not in the right place at the right time. Because he missed the first appearance. He might have missed the train the first time, but when Jesus came around again he was there. He saw Jesus for himself. He touched the wounds, and he believed.

And what is wrong with doubt anyway. Doubt is useful. If we didn't doubt we would believe everything we see. I don't know about you but as I have grown older I have learned to doubt everything I hear: especially all the junk on the internet. If I get an email saying that such and such happened I check it out for myself because so often they are just hoaxes.

There is one famous example. I first encountered it back in the 90's. A church member came to me with a petition to sign. The petition claimed that Madelyn Murray O'Hare was trying to get a bill passed in congress to make reading the Bible on the TV or radio a crime. So it urged Christians to sign it and to make copies to get other people to sign and to write their representatives in congress. Sounds like a worthy cause not just for Christians but people from other religions too. Only it wasn't true. There was no such bill before congress and never had there been. It was all a lie!

So doubt is useful. In fact it is necessary for survival. It helps protect us from believing things that are not true. It helps keep us from trusting people we don't know who could be dangerous.

But doubt has a dark side. While it can keep us from believing things that are false, it can also keep us from believing that which is true. Doubt can keep people from believe in the power of God and the grace of God. Doubt can keep them from trusting in God's saving grace. Doubt kept Thomas from believing in the resurrection. And it still keeps people today from believing.

Sometimes I think the Disciples had an unfair advantage. I mean after all they had the physical bodily presence of the Lord to prove to them that the resurrection was true. Thomas said he would not believe until he had seen it for himself. A rather good idea when confronted with a story as amazing as a man rising form the dead. But he did see Jesus. He had the opportunity to see the living breathing body of the lord. He had the opportunity to examine the physical evidence and to verify that indeed Jesus did have a pulse!

All the other disciples had that opportunity too. The Bible tells us that for 40 days Jesus appeared to them. Again and again they saw him. And it wasn't his ghost! He was living and breathing and could be touched and even ate and fixed them breakfast on at least one occasion.

But we don't have that advantage. All we have is the word of the church and the Bible and other believers. That was all Thomas had to begin with and he doubted. It is no wonder that so many people doubt the living presence of Jesus today. There are so many incredible stories floating around out there. There are alien abductions and UFO's and big foot and the Lock Ness monster and �. Why believe this amazing story over the others; most of them at least have some blurry video footage to go on.

And how do we, who do believe, convince others to believe? It was easy for the disciples to convince Thomas. They just waited around until Jesus showed up again. I can just imagine Peter pointing to Jesus and saying, "See Thomas, I told ya so." But what physical evidence do we have to point toward, to prove that Jesus is alive.

I think Jesus was aware of our dilemma. He said "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."(John 20:29) First of all, we may not have the living breathing body of Jesus to point to, but there is still evidence. One evidence of the truth of the resurrection is the living presence of Christ in us. Like the old hymn says, "You ask me how I know he lives; He lives with in my heart." We can't see, hear or touch the risen Christ but we can experience his life in our lives. We can feel his living presence. Wherever two or more are gathered in his name he is there. Just as Jesus was with the disciples in the upper room on that Sunday so long ago so he is with us here in this room by the presence of His Holy Spirit!

We also have the evidence of what he has done in the world. The changed lives of people show the presence of the risen Christ. If it were not true could the early church have had the power to withstand and even flourish in the midst of Roman oppression? Without the living presence of Jesus could St. Frances of Assisi have given all his wealth to the poor and devoted his life to Christ. Without the living presence of Christ could Mother Theresa have taken on the burden of ministering to the least of the least in India and leading a movement to do the same world wide? Without the living presence of Christ could Martin Luther King, Jr. Bishop Desmond Tutu and countless others have stood up to oppression without violence?

We have not seen with our eyes. But we have seen with our hearts. We have seen the risen Christ in the changes in our lives and the lives of others. We have seen the Lord! We are blessed!

What you doubt what I say? Are you a Doubting Thomas? Well, how can I prove it to you? Look around you. We are the living breathing body of Christ, wounds and all, and we are most definitely alive! "See Thomas, I told ya so."

John 20:19-31

Doubt. It's part of life. It is taught to us from an early age. At some point an older child tells us a lie, perhaps for good reason. But once we discovered that we had been told an untruth the seeds of doubt were planted. And the seeds of doubt grow fast and choke all in their path. The next time they told us something we questioned whether it was true: we doubted.

Doubt is necessary for survival in this world. If we believed everything we were told, we would soon be in trouble. So if someone tells us their product is better than another we question their word. It a government tells us to do something, we question their motives. We have all been lied to, so out of self-defense we distrust; we doubt.

Doubt may be necessary in this world, but it is also dangerous. Doubt may save us from believing a lie, but it can also keep us from believing the truth. How many times has a person in a bad situation been told, "Take my hand; I can lead you out. Trust me." And because they doubted, they perished. But worst of all doubt about ultimate things creates spiritual turmoil and pain. A person who doesn't know what to believe about God and the meaning of life is like one who is alone and lost. Doubt can be like a whirlpool that threatens to pull a person under.

The prime example of doubt in the Bible is Thomas. We often call him "Doubting Thomas," but he is no different from us. We all doubt as he did. Under the same circumstances, we would doubt too. He had been gone when Jesus appeared, and he did not see him the first time. So when he came back everyone was excited and were saying that Jesus was alive.

Consider this from Thomas' point of view. He had seen Jesus crucified. The Romans had nailed him to a cross. And when the Romans set out to kill someone they finish the job. First the women and then the rest were saying that Jesus was alive. The physical evidence was clear. Jesus had died. He was pronounced dead and the certificate had been signed. It was obvious that the disciples were the victims of some kind of group hysteria. Their grief had driven first the women and then the men into the delusion that Jesus was still alive.

We can't blame Thomas for doubting the resurrection. The other disciples had doubted before they saw Jesus. Under the same circumstances we would doubt. It would be natural. When someone tells us something unbelievable, not matter how much we normally trust that person, we doubt. We should not blame Thomas for doubting. Instead we should acknowledge that we are more like him than we like to admit. Then we should try to learn from him.

I have a special kinship with "Doubting Thomas." Just call me "Doubting Alex." When I was in college I went through a period of serious doubt. I left for college knowing of my call to the ministry. I was going to study Religion and Psychology and then go to seminary. Then I met people and read books that made me doubt.

It was my first semester at U.S.C. I was taking the introduction to Religion course in the Bible. At the same time I had gotten involved with a Bible study group in the dorm next to mine. Soon my faith was under attack from both sides. In my religious studies course we read books that made me question whether I understood the Bible at all. Then in the Bible Study they told me I was not saved. I had not been baptized in the right way at the right time they said. They said my church, which had loved me, was not obedient to God's Word because it ordained women and baptized children. And I began to doubt my salvation.

The seeds of doubt were sown. And they grew fast and furious. Someone was wrong and I didn't know whom. Either my Sunday School teachers in the United Methodist church I grew up in were wrong. Or the United Methodist minister who was teaching my class was. Either I was saved by grace through faith, or I was damned because I had not been immersed. I even began to wonder if maybe they were all wrong and there was no God or Jesus or anything. That Semester I experienced the spiritual turmoil that comes with not being sure of anything. I doubted just as Thomas did.

We call him "Doubting Thomas," but doubt is only half of his story. The other half of the story is that Thomas came to believe. A week after Jesus appeared to the other Apostles he appeared to Thomas. Jesus obviously came just for Thomas' benefit. He came to give Thomas the proof he thought he needed to believe. And in the end Thomas said, "My Lord and My God." Doubting Thomas had doubted that Jesus was even alive. But Jesus came and changed Thomas In the end "Believing Thomas" confessed that Jesus was God. God took the prime example of doubt and turned him into an example of belief.

So what happened to "Doubting Alex" in College? One Day when I was doubting the most, I was sitting reading my Bible. I was frantically searching for some evidence that someone was telling the truth. I was looking for something that I could believe without doubting. And as I was reading I was doubting my understanding of what I read.

Finally out of desperation I turned to God and prayed and asked God to show me the truth. At that moment the turmoil in my heart was taken away. It was as if Jesus appeared in that dorm room and said, "Peace be with you" just as he had to Thomas. Oh I still doubted some things. I questioned the things I had assumed about the Bible. I questioned my understanding of God's Word. But I no longer doubted the important things. I knew that God was loving and just. And I trusted God to lead me. To show me what I should believe, and to forgive me when I failed to follow. I no longer had to rely on ministers and professors to tell me what God's will was. I still listened to them, because they could help me find God's will. God was the one I trusted to reveal his will to me.

We are all doubting Thomases. We all doubt, especially concerning religious matters. Perhaps we doubt that we are saved. "Do I trust enough? Was I baptized the right way? Is my faith enough or is there something I need to do?" Perhaps we doubt the Bible or the way people interpret it. And we think, "Maybe God really isn't loving. Maybe someone made it all up. Maybe there is no God." Or maybe like Thomas we doubt the resurrection. "Maybe Jesus didn't raise from the dead. Maybe he was just a good man who is dead." And sometimes the things preachers say make our doubts worse.

We learn two very important things about doubt from "Doubting Thomas" and "Believing Thomas." First of all, doubt is part of the human condition. Don't blame Thomas or yourself for doubting. We all doubt and at times that doubt is even necessary. Even Jesus didn't condemn Thomas for doubting. Second, God can turn doubt into belief. God took Thomas, the prime example of doubt, and turned him into a prime example of belief.

Doubt is necessary: without it we would believe every lie people tell us. But we don't have to let doubt rob us of the joy God is offering us. Jesus appeared to Thomas to take his doubt away. And he ministered to me to give me faith and peace when I needed it. When you doubt, acknowledge that doubt, and give it to God. God can take the turmoil of doubt and transform it into the peace of faith. God took "Doubting Thomas" and transformed him into "Believing Thomas," and God can do the same for all of us.

top of this page

John 20:19-30

Let me tell you a story called "The Rainmaker."

The preacher prayed for rain again that morning. As I remember, it was the thirteenth Sunday in a row he'd prayed for it. Folks was startin' to get upset with his always prayin' for rain and none comin'. They'd just as soon he not pray for it as to have him remind them that there hadn't been no rain and everything was wiltin' dry and dead an' stuff. You could almost hear folks groanin' when he started praying for the "farmer's wealthfair." Not that he was a bad preacher mind ya. When it came to blessin' barns and preachin' about the Bible he was good. I'd never onced seen one of the barns he'd blessed burn down. It's just that he kept prayin' for rain and none ever came.

I guess just about everyone was ready for somethin' ta happen. But no one expected what happened next. About the time church got out there came a bright red wagon with blue wheels. No one had seen the likes of it since the carnival had come through on the way to the city a few years back. It came right down the street and stopped at the edge of town with the back facing the folk comin' out of preachin'. The sight of this wagon gathered a crowd all by itself. If it hadn't, what happened next would have. There was a rustlin' and a clangin' from the back then a tall man came out. He was wearin' the most torn up clothes I ever seen. And if that wasn't enough, he was wet all over; drenched from head ta foot like he had falled in the creek or somethin', but that couldn't be, 'cause the creek was so dried up it was only knee deep on a grasshopper. Just yesterday Old Tom said it was good we weren't Baptists 'cause if we were the preacher couldn't baptize no one until the rains come.

The tall man started talkin' real loud as soon as he come out of the wagon. His voice was so comandin' that everyone listened. Even if someone had tried to say somethin' they couldn't have 'cause he was makin' so much noise bangin' on that washtub. It sounded like God himself was thunderin' in heaven. No one remembers much about what he said except that he was a rainmaker, that he went around makin' rain where there wasn't none. What people remember best wasn't what he said, but the way he said it. He talked with a voice that thundered like the heavens themselves, and his words flowed over us like a river of salvation and no one could stop listening to him. The strangest thing was that the whole time he didn't dry up. It musta been 100 in the shade and he didn't dry up. He was drippin' with water. Then he said somethin' strange. He said ta heal the land he had ta heal the people on it, and that each of the farmers and storekeepers had ta come up so as he could lay his hands on them and pray over them.

First he grabbed hold of Mr. Greely. Mrs. Greely was right there with him 'casue she didn't have no younguns ta look after. The rain maker put one hand on Mr. Greely and the other on Mrs. Greely and pushed them both to their knees. Then he started prayin' for Mr. Greely's store and his chickens and his wife. He seemed to spend a lot of time on his wife. Then he did the strangest thing. He told Mr. Greely that from now on his name would be Ike. Everybody knew that Mr. Greely's name was Ichobod Greely, and now we was supposed to call him Ike. When he was finished prayin' Mrs. Greely was so happy that she threw her arms around the rainmaker and go the wettest of them all.

Next came Alen Wally. It took Alen a while to make it to the front of the crowd. For a long time after his wife and son died he wasn't as fast as he usta be. Folks say he usta be the strongest man around these parts. When the rainmaker reached out to put his hands on Alen's head, Alen fell to the ground without him pushin' down at all. Alen just fell like a dry reed breakin' in the wind. Then the Rainmaker put his large wet hands on Alen's dry hair that was blowin' in the wind and started prayin' again. The strength of the Rainmaker's voice was stronger than before. He seemed to be tryin' to wake the dead with his deep voice. The power of his prayin' seemed even more overwhelming than before. The whole thing got even hairier when Alen, that large man, started cryin' like he was a baby cryin' for his daddy. The lump in my throat was bigger than a seed melon. I have been ta camp meetin's and heard mighty prayin' before, but he was prayin' with the voice of the Almighty hisself. Then, when the Rainmaker was finished prayin, he bend down and whispered gently, as gently as a mother to her baby while singing a lullaby, in Alen's ear. I don't know what he told Alen, but Alen's face suddenly took on the look of a strong man, and the Rainmaker lifted Alen ta his feet and I never seen him look bigger of stronger in all my life. Like he had a new chance on life again.

The Rainmaker kept prayin' and prayin' until about all the folks in town had been prayer over. Everyone had water drippin' from their heads. The Rainmaker left town without anyone really noticing. We was all dazed by it all. It was like he had disappeared into heaven or somethin'. But even with all that prayin' it didn't rain fer another four weeks. The whole season was a flop. We was all real poor folk that winter. Yet people didn't seem ta mind. They had other things on their mind. For one, Ike Greely was happy because his wife had a baby. Twins in fact. So Ike was twice as proud as a regular father. After that, Alen started goin' round town and helpin' people with their hard work. There wasn't any barn rasin's that year, but since then he's been at ev'ry one. That's on top of all his work at the blacksmith shop. We had just enough ta eat that year and no more, but no one seemed ta mind.

No one ever saw that crazy Rainmaker again. None of the towns around saw him neither. He just rode off ta Lord only knows where. Sometimes I wonder where he is. He prayed mighty pow'rful, but no rains come. All those good things happened; all those blessings, but no rain. I just wonder who that Rainmaker thought he was.

I told this story because it relates in a special way to the disciples in the Upper Room in John's Gospel. In our Scripture lesson the disciples are gathered in the upper room. They were hiding from the people who had killed Jesus. They didn't realize the power that was already their's to stand up against that evil. Instead of believing that Jesus was alive and that they had the victory, they hid like they had been defeated.

It was then that Jesus appeared to them. When he appeared he breathed on them giving them the Holy Spirit. He gave them the power of God to overcome all that would defeat them. They were no longer the defeated, they were victors in Christ because he was alive.

But not everyone believed. Thomas doubted that Jesus was alive. He said, "I won't believe 'til I see it for myself." It wasn't just the historical fact of the resurrection that he doubted. It was the present reality of the spirit's power.

In "The Rainmaker" the person telling the story failed to notice that the power of God to give new life was in his midst. In the Story, the character of the Rainmaker represents Christ. And he was present blessing those who were barren and distraught. But people failed to notice the blessing. They were too busy looking at their problems.

Their prayers for rain were being answered by showers of blessings right before their eyes and they couldn't see. People and families were being made whole by living water from God's only Son. God in the flesh was blessing them and healing them where they needed it the most.

Like the people in the story we often fail to notice or believe that Christ is with us. When the preacher prints, "The risen Christ is with us" in the bulletin, we say it. But too often we don't believe it. We may not doubt the historical fact of the resurrection as Thomas did, but like him we doubt the present power of the resurrected Christ.

Jesus is alive and he comes to us in our need so that he can heal us. He comes to us when we are afraid like the disciples. He comes in answer to our prayers for rain, for healing, for strength. He comes to us in times of fellowship as well as fear. He comes to us when we are hurt or when our land is spiritually dry.

When the disciples were weak and afraid, Christ came to them. He came to breath on them the breath of life. He came to give them the same power that lifted him from the dead.

What? Do you doubt what I say? Must I show you his hands and feet before you will believe. Look around you. Here are his hands and feet. We are his living witness. Christ is risen and his power lives and makes the dead alive long after Easter is over.

top of this page

John 20:19-31

I want us to imagine for a moment that we are not here. You may say, "Well, preacher that is usually what I do during the sermon on Sunday morning." I don't want you to imagine that you are on the lake, or sitting in your easy chair. Instead I want us to imagine we are in the room that I just read about in John. That each of us is one of those Disciples.

First of all, forget that you are in a well lit room. The room that the disciples were in was dark. The sun was shining outside, it was probably a beautiful spring day, but the doors and shutters are shut tight. You see today is the first day of the week, only three days ago Jesus was crucified. And you were there. We were all watching as they hammered the nail into Jesus' hands and feet. After what they did to the teacher, Lord only knows what they will do to us his disciples. They may arrest us and scourge us like they did him. They may even crucify us like they did him.

We had seen Jesus die but the trouble he started was still going on. Some people just want to stir up trouble you know. First they killed Jesus now it appears that someone has stolen his body. On top of all this fear we are still trying to deal with the grief. Poor Mary who discovered this morning that Jesus was stolen has been doing nothing but babbling on about seeing him alive and thinking he was the gardener. And Peter and John haven't said a thing since they got back from the tomb.

So the disciples were hiding in the upper room for fear of what the Romans would do to them. Then all of a sudden they were not alone. Jesus appeared in the midst of them. They probably thought they were seeing things. But everybody was staring at him so they must see him too. Then they began to wonder if this was Jesus' ghost come back to haunt them.

If they had been afraid before they were probably more afraid now. Jesus knew of their fear and so the first thing he said was "Peace be with you." Then he showed them his hands and side. It was not his Ghost, he was alive and he had blessed them! Then Jesus told them to go out into the world. Just as the Father had sent him, so he was sending them.

But who could blame Thomas for not believing. He hadn't been there to see Jesus. I know if I were Thomas I would have a hard time believing. The other disciples had not believed he was alive when Mary told them she had seen him. Why should he believe just because there were a few more people saying the same thing.

Things have not changed that much since then. In some places in the world Christians still hide from the authorities. Most of us can gather freely without fear of being killed. But we still live in a hostile world. A world that ridicules our values. A world that attacks us for our belief in chastity and marital fidelity. A world that degrades us because we try to help those who it says are not worth helping. A world that crucifies us because we tell it that it's lifestyles are sinful and that only Christ's blood can atone for it. A world that ignores us when we say that life comes out of death.

So many times we Christians cower in our churches and refuse to go out into the streets for fear that someone will recognize us and ridicule us for what we are. Like the disciples, we close the doors and shutters tight so that no one will discover us. But Jesus knows our fear just as he knew the disciples' fear. And so, just as he was in the presence of them in that upper room, he is with us here. And now just as then he says to us "Peace be with you." Do not fear the world outside for I am with you.

But that is not all, we are strengthened by Christ's presence. In our Gospel lesson there is a curious statement. It says that Jesus breathed on the disciples. I wondered what that meant and this is what I found out. The Greek word for spirit is pnewma and the Hebrew word is ruach. They both also mean wind or breath. In the Old Testament this word is used when God breathed the breath of life into the first human. So here Jesus is breathing the breath of new life into the disciples. In the same way Jesus is breathing on us the breath of new life and that enables us and empowers us.

Jesus is with us. We live in a hostile world. The people outside want to crucify us just like they did our Lord. But we are not alone. Jesus is present with all who worship in his name. And he is giving all of us new life.

The world outside will ridicule you if you try to live your Christianity outside these walls. They will call you names. And they will shun you.

But Christ sends us out into the world. To proclaim the good news of his resurrection. But we do not go alone. We go with the power of the one through whom all things were created. With the strength of the one who was raised from the dead and lives forever.

top of this page

Family Values: You are going to hear a lot about them this year. Especially with the elections coming up. All the candidates will be talking about how they are for family values. They will claim that their policies and proposals are best for the family.

And Family is important. The Family is the basic unit of society. The family is the primary place that values are taught. The stability and success of any society is based on the family. So family values are important because families are of such value.

But whose family values? Talking about family values is not simple matter. People have many different definitions of what a family is. For some people a family can be any group of people; even a gay couple. For others the term "family" only applies to a husband and wife and children. Different cultures have different models of family. In some cultures there are extended families that include three or four generations in one small dwelling and resemble a tribe in their size. In other societies families only include one generation and their dependents. And within these different definitions and models there are many sets of values. Some families value love and support and are nests where people are cared for and nurtured. Other families are dysfunctional and people are hurt and abused instead of loved and nurtured. Some families reach out with love to others and seek to include others. Some families take advantage of outsiders all in the name of preserving the family. With all these competing sets of family values we need to decided what set will be our family values. And as Christians we need to start with the question "What are God's family values?"

I could preach a whole series on this topic but I only have a few minuets today. I will scratch the surface but let's look at a few passages beginning with Psalm 133. Psalm 133 is one of a group of psalms called songs of ascent. They were sung by pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem to worship. The journey was one that was undertaken on foot and having a song to sing with your companions made the trek easier.

The song's opening line states its theme: "How good and pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to live together in unity." And it is good for brothers and sisters to live together in unity. I know when I was growing up my sister and I used to fight all the time. My parents I am sure longed for the day when we would live together in unity. But Psalm 133 is not so much sibling rivalry as it is the unity of Israel. You see, just like the children of Stevenson, the children of Israel did not always live together in unity. Along with little battles between tribes there was even as major civil war that divided the country between north and south. This division may be alluded to, or even prophesied, where it says the "dew of Hermon" falls on the "mountains of Zion." Hermon was in the north while Zion, or Jerusalem, was in the south. Perhaps this was meant to emphasize that God wanted the children of Israel, north and south, to live together in unity. But ahead of this is the precious oil running down the head and beard of Aaron and down his robes. The descendants of Aaron or course were the priests of Israel. And the oil was used to anoint the priests to serve God. It is significant that the robe is mentioned because just as preachers sometimes wear robes today the priests of God in Israel wore robes. So God not only wants them to live together in unity but to live together in devotion and worship.

So when you ask what God's family values are you have to look first at the big picture. God values the whole family of God. God wants all who worship to worship and live together in unity. In the last few years the ecumenical movement has taken a new turn. It used to try to merge denominations, but now it is trying to break down the barriers that keep us from worshipping together, from celebrating communion together. This family value of worshipping together in unity is one of the reasons that many churches, ours included, practice open communion. All of God's children, including the children, are welcome at the this table. These are expressions of God's Family value that we dwell together in unity.

The second passage that I want to look at is the story of the Canaanite woman. In this incident a Canaanite, or gentile, woman comes to Jesus wanting him to cast out a demon from her daughter. Jesus first response is, "No, I have come only for Jews." This seems out of character for Jesus, but to his disciples this is exactly what they expected. They had been taught from childhood that they were the chosen people and that God would send them a Messiah. It would make sense to them that the Messiah would refuse to help. I think Jesus said what they expected knowing that the woman had the faith to persist. And in the end it becomes apparent that The Messiah has come for everyone.

In short Jesus took the big picture of the family of God and made it even bigger. Up until Jesus the family of God only included the literal descendants of Israel. Suddenly Jesus made it worlds bigger. Even a Canaanite woman who had faith could receive the blessings of the Messiah. If the Son of Man had not come only for the children of Israel then he must have come for the whole world.

This is significant for us. Jesus disciples had counted that Canaanite out of the kingdom. Perhaps we need to be careful who we count out. Perhaps instead of seeing who they are or even what their behavior is we need to see them through the eyes of love. Realizing that God loves them and Jesus died for them and we are called to love them as well.

What are God's family values? I have just scratched the surface but I think we can see that God's definition of family is bigger than most of us are willing to imagine. While I was in seminary a spent a semester as a chaplain at Duke hospital. One day I walked into a room and there was a man and a woman both in robes sitting on the bed. As I talked to them I discovered that they were brother and sister and the sister was giving one of her kidneys to her brother. I walked into another room a few doors down and again there was a man and a woman and this time it was the brother who was donating his kidney to his sister. What a loving sacrifice to give a vital organ for another. True, a person can live fine with just one kidney but it was still a tremendous sacrifice. You know when one of our own is in need we will do almost anything for them. And we should. We will even give vital organs to save them. And that is love.

Perhaps if we can take that level of sacrificial love and turn it us a few notches. Maybe we can see the world a little differently, a little more the way God sees it. Maybe we can begin to think of our neighbors and even strangers as brothers and sisters in the family of God. Maybe we can see the poor and homeless and not think of them as a problem but think of them as family in need. Perhaps we can look at government reforms and instead of thinking of tax breaks for ourselves, we can be concerned for children in poverty. And we can look at the gay community and instead of seeing a bunch of sinners we can see prodigal sons and daughter and we can more effectively reach out to them in love.

You might say, "Preacher you're starting to sound like a bleeding heart." And I say, "Thank you" because my Jesus was a bleeding heart. His heart bled for every publican and prostitute every sinner and Sadducees he met. His heart bled even for a Canaanite woman who was not a descendant of Israel. His body was broken and his blood was shed for me, a sinner. Maybe if we really consider ourselves children of God we should let our hearts bleed a little too. Don't talk to me about "family values" unless you are willing to try God's family values on for size.

top of this page

One minuet Thomas refused to believe the resurrection and the next he declared "My Lord and my God!" Once the disciples were scattering to the four winds to save themselves, then a month later they are sharing everything in common and openly proclaiming the Gospel. What made the difference? I think it's a matter of the heart. It was not a change merely of ideas or of practices. Their hearts were fundamentally altered.

We all know the story of Thomas in fact we call him Doubting Thomas. The other disciples had seen Jesus alive but Thomas doubted. Can you blame him? He had seen Jesus killed after he and the others had fled. He wouldn't believe the resurrection until he saw with his own eyes. Then Jesus appeared again and Thomas believed.

But there was more involved in that transition from "I doubt" to "I believe" than just a change of opinion. If it were just his opinion about whether Jesus was alive or dead than he would not have responded so emotionally to Jesus' presence. He might have said, "Good to see you Rabbi." Instead he said, "My Lord and My God." It was his heart that was changed. Thomas was changed from the inside out by witnessing the resurrection.

Most people are familiar with the story of Thomas but we are less familiar with the events recorded in our lesson from Acts. The state of affairs in the church recorded in Acts chapter 4 was probably within the first year of the church's existence. There were better than 3,000 believers because 3,000 believed on the day of Pentecost. And it says that the "whole group of those who believed were of one heart." I grew up in a church with over 2,000 people and there is no way I could say that the whole church was of one heart. Mind you that church had a lot of dedicated people and that core group worked together well, but frankly there were some of these 2,000+ who seemed to have joined the church to use the weight room.

Even the small churches I have served could not completely add up to the description of the early church here. It says that they were so much of one hearts that they forgot private ownership. I don't think that this communal property business was imposed by the Apostles. I believe it was the Holy Spirit that inspired the people to forget their ties to this world and care for one another with such depth.

This was more than some mere change of mind or attitude. The hearts of the believers were changed. It is hard to imagine more than a dozen people being of one heart with such depth. Can you imagine thousands of people truly being of one heart. In the Methodist church we try to emulate that depth of love through the way that churches share the burden of supporting missions, or the fact that we all hold church property in common, but none of it could add up to the depth of oneness of heart exhibited by the early church.

The reason I think these two examples are so important is because Methodism is all about people's hearts being changed. The story of John and Charles Wesley the founders of the Methodist movement circles around a change of heart. In their early life the Wesleys were convinced of their sinfulness and need for salvation. This was probably the product of being raised in a home where their father was a priest and their mother would have been a priest if she had been born three centuries later. In college they joined a group who called themselves the Holy Club. They woke every morning early to study the Bible and the prayed hourly and kept prayer journals. John even when to Georgia to preach to the Native Americans!

They worked hard at being Christians. They prayed and studied the Bible and counseled condemned prisoners and helped the poor and sick. They knew all the correct theology and practices, but then something changed. Within a matter of a few days in May 1738 both brothers were changed. On Sunday May 21, 1738, Charles was at home praying when he felt Jesus talking to him and he said he felt "a strange palpitation of heart." Just three days later on the 24th John was at society meeting with Moravians and he said he "felt his heart strangely warmed" and he finally knew that he was forgiven!

Afterwards John and Charles continued to serve God as they had before. The difference was in their hearts. God had changed them and their motivation for serving.

The Methodist Church and Methodist Movement is based upon the change of heart not upon a change of theology or of ritual. The Methodist Church was founded not because of a difference of opinion about theology or ritual or practice but because of the condition of people's hearts. John and Charles Wesley never disagreed with the basic theology or practice of the Anglican church. In fact when John Wesley started the Methodist Church in America he took the Articles of Religion and the Anglican Prayer Book and abbreviated them and sent them to America to be the doctrinal statement and book of Worship of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He didn't try to alter the basic practice or the church or its theology. He did believe that people's hearts had to be changed and that they needed an experience of salvation.

Think about it. Luther broke away from the Roman Catholic church because of theology and practice. The Presbyterians broke away from Luther because they thought his theology and practice reforms didn't go far enough. The Baptists broke away from the Presbyterians primarily over the issue of infant baptism. But John and Charles never left the Anglican Church. They tried to change it's heart from within and unwittingly started their own church.

That is still the way it is today. The Methodist church, as opposed to other Christian Churches, is not about a particular set of theological beliefs or practices as it is about the condition of a persons heart. John Wesley is supposed to have said, "If your heart is like mine, take my hand." Meaning if you are a believer in Christ with a new heart, then let's work together. Some of John's fellow workers criticized him for staying in the Anglican church while others criticized him for preaching in the fields outside the church. In the same way today the Methodist Church tries to emphasize the change of heart by the work of God over accepting certain doctrines or practices to make us unique from other Christians.

A change of heart: that is the basis of Methodism. It's about God coming into a person's life and changing them from the inside out. It's a doubter becoming a believer. It's a group of individuals being altered by love to become the family of God. It's about good people like the Wesley brothers discovering the joy of salvation.

Are you a Methodist? No, I don't mean are you on the rolls of a Methodist Church. I don't mean do you go to a church where they sprinkle babies, have communion at the altar railing, and allow women to preach. I mean is your heart changed by the love of God? Have you been transformed from the inside out by the Holy Spirit?

You may be on the roll of a Methodist church and even be on a few Conference boards and agencies and not be a true Methodist. A true Methodist is not someone who adheres to a certain theology or a certain set of rituals. A real Methodist is someone who has been touched and changed by God. A real Methodist is someone who has given their life to Christ and accepted Jesus into their hearts.

So I ask again on this Heritage Sunday, when we recall God working through God's people called Methodists, "Are you a Methodist?" Think about it?

top of this page