Psalm 130

"Out of the Depths I cry to thee." Have you ever cried out of the depths? Have you ever been in a pit? Being in the pits is a universal human experience. We have all been in despair - a pit emotionally, physically, financial, interpersonally. Often times all of the above at once.

In fact one could argue that the whole human race is in a pit. We are in a pit of sin. We have fallen here and we can't get ourselves out. If you don't believe me just read the papers. People are killing each other and stealing from each other right and left.

None of us can truthfully say that we are innocent. Jesus made that clear. He taught that if you hate someone you have killed them in your heart. If you covet something you have already stolen it in your heart. We are all guilty. The whole human race is in the pit

Psalmist cries out of that pit to the Lord. He realizes that his only hope is with the Lord. It says, "If you should mark iniquity Lord who could stand?" Who could? Can you imagine? God knows your every thought and actions? Nothing his hidden from God!

What if God were to publish every imperfect thought and action from your whole life. Even the best of us would have a record rivaling the encyclopedia in size. What if every time we were selfish or inconsiderate or rude or hateful was recoded. Can you imagine how much space that would take up? And I am not even talking about the times we thought or wanted to be selfish or hateful, but did not act on it.

You know the newest trend in justice is actually an old idea. It's called restitution. It is where the criminal does something to pay back the victim or community. Most of the time it takes the form of community service. In the Old Testament if someone stole they were supposed to pay the victim back fourfold what they had taken. What if you had to pay back everyone you have ever wronged, even in your thoughts. We could never do it!

But God forgives our sin. The psalmist has cried to God out of the pit of sin and then declares, "But there is forgiveness with you." God has every right to leave us in our pit. We ended up here on our own actions. We have no claim on God to cause him to lift us out and forgive us.

But God forgives. God is gracious. God heard the psalmist and others crying out of the depths of sin. And God responded. God sent his son to die for our sins.

That is the grace of God. Like the old hymn says "Amazing Grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me." We have cried out and God has heard our cry and sent his Son to pay for our sin.

The psalmist says that God did this so that God "may be revered." In some translations the word here is "feared." "Fear of the Lord" here is not being afraid like people are afraid of spiders or terrorism. The idea here is awe and wonder. Our God is an awesome God! God forgave us and lifted us out of the pit so that we can know how awesome He is!

That is why the psalmist is praising God. He cried out of the pit of sin. And instead of marking his iniquities, God has erased them. How good is God to do that! So the psalmist sings of the forgiveness and greatness of God.

Has God forgiven your sins? Have you ever cried out of the pit and been lifted up? Then we need to revere the Lord. We need to hold God in awe and wonder at His amazing grace and awesome love. We need to sing of God's praises.

The psalmist says "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I hope." The psalmist goes on, "my soul waits for the Lord, more than those who watch for the morning, more than those who watch for the morning." The image of someone waiting for the morning is repeated here. Have you ever waited for the morning. I have had to a few time in my life. It has usually included extreme illness of death.

I remember one time I had a tooth abscess. I though I could tough it out until the next day to see the dentist, so I took all the non prescription pain relievers I could and tried to sleep. About 2 am I couldn't take it any more so I went to the emergency room. They gave me a prescription which I could not fill until 9 am when the pharmacy opened.

Have you ever had to wait through the darkness for the morning to break. Maybe not literally, but figuratively. Have you ever been in a situation and sat waiting for a glimpse of light on the horizon? That is what the psalmist is doing. He is waiting on the Lord because he knows that only the Lord can lift him up. God is his only hope for "It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities."

You are in a pit today! know you are in a pit, because you are a human being. We have all sinned a fallen short of the glory of God. Only God can get you out. God is your only hope.

Ask for forgiveness. If you have never cried out to the Lord for forgiveness then do it today. Admit your sinfulness and your helplessness to do anything about it. If you do, I promise you that God will forgive you! God will take away your sin and lift you out of the pit. The morning of God's forgiveness with dawn on the darkness of your life.

When the Lord does lift you from the pit revere and worship God. "Fear" God as an awesome God. Praise God for God's amazing grace. Proclaim to the world that your God is so big that God can forgive all your sins.

The children of Israel were out in the wilderness. They had left Egypt in a hurry. They only had a little unleavened bread and that was about it. It wouldn't last them very long in this barren land. They needed to find food and find it fast. Or they would starve .

So God gave them bread. Bread from heaven - Mannah we call it. But they didn't know what it was. They say it and said "What is it." But Moses told them, "It is bread from heaven which God has given you to eat."

But God gave them more than just something to eat. God gave them a lesson in faith. God directed them to gather an ohmer of bread for each person. Some gathered more either out of greed or ignorance or both. But in the end God leveled it out.

The lesson was two fold. Lesson one was that God would provide. They would have enough if they would simply trust and put their faith in the one true God he would feed them in the wilderness. The second lesson was that God intended that things be leveled out. God did the leveling on this occasion, but in the future the people were supposed to do it. God's people were to share their resources, which God had supplied in plenty, for the good of the community. And these lessons would continue to apply even after they left the wilderness and entered the promised land. God would supply for their needs. And they were called to share their resources. And in the end they would learn to trust in God.

This lesson of trust was not lost on the children of Israel. God continues to supply in the land and even when they had been carried away from the land into captivity. And 1,400 years later God's people, the early Christian church, were continuing to learn and practice this lesson. The book of Acts (11:27-30) tells us that God revealed to the Christians that there would be a famine so the Christians in Antioch determined to send aid to Jerusalem to help the believers there. They knew that God had provided enough for them and that they should give to help others. Throughout his life Paul carried on this ministry of collecting offerings to help the church in Jerusalem.

That is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 8. He wrote "Now as you excel in everything -- in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in your love for us -- see that you excel in this gracious work also." The gracious work he is speaking of is the offering for the saints in Jerusalem. Like the Christians in Antioch and elsewhere God had given more than enough to the Corinthians and now they should give to help others. And in giving they would learn faith - trust in God.

This is the first reported case of a relief mission. This is the birth of the kind of relief ministry that is carried on today by our United Methodist Committee on Relief or UMCOR. Apparently the church in Corinth had pledged to help out in this relief effort. Paul wrote, "And in this matter I give my advice: it is best for you now to complete what a year ago you began not only to do but to desire, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have." (10-11) Paul was simply urging them to follow through on the obligation they had made to him and to God.

But what is really important in this passage is not the fact that Paul is not ashamed to tell the Corinthians to pay up. That is significant because many pastors are afraid to speak so boldly to their congregations. But what is most significant is the reason he gives them. He said, "I say this not as a command," So he is not ordering them around. He says they should do it "to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine." He continues "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."

Paul is pointing to the example of Christ. Jesus was rich in all things. He was a part of the creation of all the gold and jewels of the world. He was there at the creation of all the bounty of the land and sea. And all those things were his and at his command along with all the angels of heaven.

And he gave all that away. Why? To save a wretch like me. He lived in heavenly palaces but he became a poor homeless refugee for our salvation. He had heavenly robes of gold and scarlet and white, but he allowed himself to be stripped bare and hung naked on a cross. Jesus had command of heavenly armies and all the forces of nature yet he allowed himself to be bound and beaten and killed for me and you. If Jesus could part with all that for the Corinthians' salvation certainly the Corinthians could part with a few gold coins for the needy saints in Jerusalem.

2,000 years later the lesson still applies. And it is a lesson of grace for Grace. God will provide! This is something that takes a lot of trust. Too often we look at our checkbooks and our wallets and we wonder if we have enough. God provided for the Children of Israel in the wilderness, God provided for the saints in Jerusalem and Corinth and Antioch and God will provide for you.

The second part of the lesson is that God calls us to give for the common good. Like Corinth we too have made a commitment to Christ. Every Sunday we repeat that commitment. We say our mission is to know Jesus and to make him known to others. How has this congregation helped you to know Jesus? Think of all the ways that we help in making him known in our community and the world. We have made a commitment to God and to ourselves to continue those efforts.

The question is will you trust him. That is where tithing or percentage giving comes in. It is a lesson and exercise that teaches us grace and trust - to help us grow in faith. The Bible lifts up the tithe as a standard of giving for God's people. By tithing or by growing toward or beyond a tithe we exercise and grow in faith. Its all about a lesson in grace and faith.

I do not command you to do these things. That would be too heavy handed. But I urge you by the example of Christ who gave himself for your salvation. I urge you to follow through on your commitments to know Jesus and make him known to others. God has given you all you need and more. Give where it can be used to serve God and your neighbor.

Mark 5:21-43

I want to tell you three stories today. The first is about a woman who suffered from hemorrhages for twelve years. She had been to doctor after doctor and none of them could do a thing for her. In fact as time went on she grew worse. Now you or I would automatically think of the physical consequences of such an ailment. The chronic fatigue from loss of blood and low iron. The constant threat of infections due to diminished circulation. But there were spiritual and social consequences of her particular ailment.

As a Jew she was considered unclean because of her bleeding. She was segregated from all that was holy in order to keep her from defiling it with her uncleanness. No man would have her for a wife because she was unclean. As long as the bleeding continued she was socially isolated. As long as she was unclean she was told by the religious authorities that she was unfit to worship God.

Then after twelve long years Jesus came by and she was healed. Why did it take Jesus 12 years to show up and heal her? For twelve years she suffered the indignity and isolation not to mention the physical discomfort of her condition! Why did God let her suffer for so long? You would think that the Son of God would have better timing than that! It would have been better if Jesus had arrived 11 years, 11 months and 3 weeks earlier and saved her years of pain and anguish. Wasn't Jesus just a little late?

No! The Bible tells us that this woman had heard of Jesus and that she took it upon herself to touch his cloak so that she could be healed. This was a bold act. She was unclean. What would people say? What would they do if she touched the Holy Rabbi? He might rebuke her. The crowd might stone her.

But she reached out to Jesus anyway. This was a desperate act of faith by a desperate woman. Jesus was not late. He was right on time. If Jesus had come any earlier she would not have been ready to take the chance she took. She would not have been ready to make that leap of faith. To take a chance on further ridicule and death on the belief that Jesus could heal her.

When Jesus found her he said, "Your faith has made you well." Because Jesus came when he did and not a day sooner this woman was able to step out in faith. And because she stepped out in faith she was healed.

The second story is about a man named Jairus and his daughter. I am sure that sons are wonderful but I know what a joy daughters can be. And I know how a father's heart aches when his daughter is sick. And Jairus Daughter was sick, even to the point of dying. Jairus had heard of this new teacher named Jesus who healed the sick. So as fast as he could he ran to find this Jesus. Even though leaders of the Synagogue were not supposed to believe in charismatic prophets like Jesus; even though it would look bad on his social resume to be seen with Jesus, he went.

When he found Jesus he pleaded for Jesus to come quickly or his daughter would die. Jesus agreed to see her but when Jairus looked back Jesus was just standing there with the crowd. What was with this Jesus? He says someone touched him! Of course someone touched him there must be a hundred people here. I don't care who touched him my daughter is dying. I imagine Jairus grabbed one of the disciples by the collar and said, "You light a fire under that teacher of yours and get him moving or my daughter is going to die!" But before they could get Jesus moving Jairus' friends arrived. "Your daughter is dead. Don't bother with this rabbi any more. It's too late."

I can imagine the rage that welled up in Jairus. "I am a leader in the synagogue and this would-be rabbi wastes his time on some unclean woman. If he had just come when I told him to, she wouldn't be dead now!" But before Jairus could put his rage into words Jesus reached out to him and said, "Do not fear, only believe." The mourners must have thought, "Why is Jesus coming? He is too late to heal the girl." But Jesus took the girl's hand and said, "Little girl, get up!" And she stood up and began to walk and they were all amazed.

The third story is about me and Mary who is now 15. Mary was about 13 months old when she became ill. She had what appeared to be a common flu bug. But she became dehydrated. Then something went wrong, seriously wrong. Her eyes crossed. Not just a little bit. They literally rolled in and the doctors knew something of a neurological nature had occurred.

We rushed her to the local hospital. One of her doctors was there he immediately arranged for an ambulance to rush her to Greenwood. At Greenwood they did a cat scan and everything else they could do and decided to send her on the Richland Memorial. At about midnight the helicopter took off from the front lawn of Self Memorial in Greenwood rushing my daughter to Columbia.

I prayed a lot that night, and at some point I knew she would be fine. She was in intensive care for 4 days and in the hospital for another six. At first when she came home she could no longer hold her head up and took another two months for her to start walking again. The final diagnosis was Parainfectious Encephalopathy. That's more a descriptive term than a diagnosis. Yet today you would never know that she had ever been sick. I truly believe that Jesus was there when he was needed, right on time.

Now you may say, "Wasn't it the doctors who healed her. Maybe it was the I.V. they started in Abbeville. Maybe it was the medicine they gave her in Greenwood for a rare form of Encephalitis. Maybe it was the well mapped out network of regional medical centers and the use of helicopter ambulances." All these things contributed to it, but I believe it was Jesus who was there at the right time to use these things for his will.

Jesus is never late! I don't know what is happening in your life. I hope to learn as I get to know you, but there are often pains too deep to share with even a pastor. You may have been bleeding spiritually and emotionally for years. You may have suffered a tremendous loss. You may be facing the illness or death of a loved one.

I don't know, but this I do know that Jesus is never late. We may think he should have healed our hemorrhage years ago. Or we may think he should have healed the sickness before the patient died. Or we may think he should have prevented the illness all together.

But Jesus knows when the time is right. Just trust in him. Give him your pains and your troubles. And have faith that when the time is right he will be there with power to heal and to give new life.

Exodus 16:14-18

2 Corinthians 8:7-15

It never ceases to amaze me how relevant the Bible can be. That words written almost two thousand years ago can apply so aptly to today's world. Of course the Bible was inspired by God to speak to all ages. But sometimes the similarity between what people faced in Bible times and what we face now is uncanny. In many ways it seems almost as if Paul were writing this portion of 2 Corinthians to us, Latimer Memorial United Methodist Church. His words seem so aptly suited to where the church is today; to where this church is. Let me begin to explain by taking a quick look at the circumstances surrounding Paul's letter to the Corinthians.

The book of Acts (11:27-30) tells us that God revealed to the Christians that there would be a famine so the Christians in Antioch determined to send aid to Jerusalem to help the believers there. Throughout his life Paul carried on this ministry of collecting offerings to help the church in Jerusalem. That is what he is talking about in 2 Corinthians 8. Paul wrote "Now as you excel in everything -- in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in your love for us -- see that you excel in this gracious work also." The gracious work he is speaking of is the offering for the saints in Jerusalem.

This is the first reported case of a relief mission. This is the birth of the kind of relief ministry that is carries on today by our United Methodist Committee on Relief or UMCOR. Apparently the church in Corinth had pledged to help out in this relief effort. Paul wrote, "And in this matter I give my advice: it is best for you now to complete what a year ago you began not only to do but to desire, so that your readiness in desiring it may be matched by your completing it out of what you have." (10-11) Paul was simply urging them to follow through on the obligation they had made to him and to God.

But what is really important in this passage is not the fact that Paul is not ashamed to tell the Corinthians to pay up. That is significant because many pastors are afraid to speak so boldly to their congregations. But what is most significant is the reason he gives them. He said, "I say this not as a command," So he is not ordering them around He says they should do it "to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine." He continues "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich."

Paul is pointing to the example of Christ. Jesus was rich in all things. He was a part of the creation of all the gold and jewels of the world. He was the there in the creation of all the bounty of the land and sea. And all those things were his and at his command along with all the angels of heaven.

And he gave all that away. Why? To save a wretch like me. He lived in heavenly palaces but he became a poor homeless refugee for our salvation. He had heavenly robes of gold and scarlet and white, but he allowed himself to be stripped bare and hung naked on a cross. Jesus had command of heavenly armies and all the forces of nature yet he allowed himself to be bound and beaten and killed for me and you. If Jesus could part with all that for the Corinthians' salvation certainly the Corinthians could part with a few gold coins for the needy saints in Jerusalem.

But Paul didn't end there! Like any good preacher he backed up what he had to say with scripture. He quoted Exodus 16:18 - "He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack." Perhaps the reference is lost on most of us, but I am sure is was significant to all those who knew their Old Testament. Right after the Children of Israel left the Egypt God provided manna from heaven. The Israelites were instructed to gather just an ohmer for each person. Some gathered more and some less, but when it came time to measure they all had the same.

So what happened? Apparently some either gathered more that they needed because they didn't have an ohmer measuring cup with them or they gathered more because they were greedy. While others either for lack of ability or initiative gathered less. But miraculously, by God's hand, the amounts were leveled out when it came time to measure.

Here is a lesson! God gives us all that is needed to do his work and live. The problem is that some gather more than they need and others are unable to gather enough. God intends us to level things out or he will level it out in the end. In other words, God had given the Corinthians more than enough now so they should share it with the church in Jerusalem who had not enough. He wrote "I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened, but that as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality."(vs. 13-14)

We have a lot! As Americans we have the freedom to worship and live as we please. We may gripe about politicians and taxes, but I challenge you to find a better government anywhere. We may complain about inflation but we are the richest nation in the world. We may be disgruntled by inconveniences of modern life but we have access to more technology than most people in the world. And just look at this church! Beautiful stain glass windows that depict the symbols of the faith and Jesus interceding for the church in inspiriting colored rays of light. Well equipped Sunday school rooms and nursery. A fellowship hall that will easily feed 100 people. A beautiful organ that aids us in lifting up praises to God. And that is not all. We have able and dedicated lay leaders. Each of our four adult Sunday school classes has more than one able teacher (we have five in the "Young Adult" class). What about the music program? I am not saying this just because I am a member of the choir, but Sarah does a wonderful job with all the talent that God has given us.

Why has God given us all this? Is it because we were such good people? No! It is because God intended for us to share it. We were able to gather more than an ohmer and there are others out there who were either unable or unwilling to gather enough. Why did we gather more than our fair share? Was it to share it with those in need, or to hoard it for ourselves. Don't misunderstand me! It is wonderful that some people have set aside endowments for the future of this ministry. But we need to be serving God in the here and now for there to be a future to this ministry.

Jesus had more than his fair share of the Spirit of God. He was the living presence of the Spirit of God in a world dying for God's Spirit. He had all the glories of earth and heaven at his disposal. And yet he gave it all away to purchase our freedom from sin and death. He willingly died on the cross, so that whoever would trust in him would have forgiveness and eternal life. If Jesus could sacrifice all that he had even his life, then we could stand to give up a little of what we have for him.

Like Corinth we too made a commitment about a year ago. On February 11, 1997 we as a congregation made a covenant with God and each other to strive toward certain goals. These were: Average worship attendance of 130. Average Sunday school attendance of 100. 25 professions of faith. Pay apportionments monthly. 2 people entering full time Christian service. Begin a seniors' ministry. Continue and expand children's and youth ministries. Assist any new United Methodist congregation in the area. Continue to support a missionary. 1Hire a part time Christian educator when feasible. 1Address social issues that arise on our community.

Like Paul I would urge us as a church to see these goals through. To strive as individuals and as a congregation to use what we have to reach out to the world. To share all these gifts of materials and talent to spread the Good News to a dying world. To serve Christ in the community. Like Corinth we need to pay up on our commitments to missions. That means paying our apportionments in a timely manner. That means sending the money we pledged to Belton Interfaith Ministries, to WEPC, and to Bill Lovelace our missionary in the Ukraine.

As individuals each of us, when we joined the Untied Methodist Church, made a commitment to support it with our prayers our presence, our gifts, and our service How are we doing? Are you praying for the church and its ministries? Are you regularly attending worship and Sunday school? Are you tithing? Yes, I said "tithing." A tithe, 10% of your income, is considered the minimum level of giving for a United Methodist. Most people think they are finished giving when they have given a tithe. Actually you don't start offering until after you finish tithing. Are you serving? When you are asked to do something do you earnestly try to work it out so that you can serve. We can always use more ushers and nursery workers and sound technicians. You can volunteer to help build the Habitat house or to deliver meals on wheels or to sit with the sick and dying through Hospice.

I do not command you to do these things. That would be too heavy handed. But I urge you by the example of Christ who gave himself for your salvation. I urge you to follow through on your commitments and do it quickly. God has given you all you need and more. Share your extra with those who are in need.

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