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Romans 6:15-23; Luke 13:10-17
February 27, 2011 • Portage First UMC
Several years ago, I was visiting a member of this congregation in the hospital shortly before she was to be taken to a rehab facility. In fact, as we were chatting, the transport arrived and said it was time to go, so I told her I would walk out with her. As we left, she introduced me to the people who were her transport, and when the EMT found out I was a pastor at a Methodist church, the EMT asked, “So, tell me, what makes Methodists different from everyone else?” Now, at that moment, I guessed I had about five minutes from that point to the door, from the time the question was asked until the patient was loaded into the ambulance. I had five minutes to explain to her what being part of this church was all about. My mind started racing and to this day I don’t know how good a job I did, but I tried to say, as best I could, that Methodists are people who live in the middle.
Today we’re concluding this short series of sermons on “Three Questions We Must Answer.” We’ve been focusing on three questions that Pastor Adam Hamilton suggests we need to answer if we’re going to be able to fully embrace God’s vision for us. The first question was why do people need Jesus, and we talked about how he’s the way to salvation, the way we find healing and hope in this broken and weary world. Then last Sunday, Pastor Deb asked the question why do people need the church, and she reminded us that there are at least ten reasons to be part of the church, including community, accountability and gratitude to God. This morning, then, we narrow the focus even more to answer the third question: Why do people need this church? I mean, if no one needs this church, if there’s no reason for us to exist, we might as well close up and go home. There are 47 other churches just within the city limits of Portage; that doesn’t count churches in the surrounding communities. Forty-eight options for people to attend weekend worship. Forty-eight distinct communities of faith seeking to serve Jesus in Portage. So why do people need this church? Is there anything we have to offer that makes Portage First United Methodist Church worth being a part of? Because if the answer’s no, we’re wasting our time here.
So what is it we have to offer? Well, we offer worship services. We offer three different styles of worship services. Recently, we did an online survey about our worship here at Portage First, and one of the things you value is the ability to worship in different ways, different styles. Some of you listed the diversity of worship as something we must not give up. And while I think we do worship here very well, forty-seven other churches also offer worship in a variety of styles. We have Bible studies, several very good small group studies, where people can encounter the Biblical text and learn and grow and become mature Christians; but I bet you won’t find a church in Portage that doesn’t offer a Bible study at least sometime during the week. We have Sunday School; so do they. We have committee meetings; I don’t know a church that doesn’t, though most seem to wish they didn’t. So what’s unique about the Methodists? So why do people need this church? What is it we have to offer this community and our world?
As with many things, I believe the key to our future is found in our past. No, I’m talking about some time travel thing, though that would be really cool. I’m talking about our heritage. This church, last October, celebrated 175 years of ministry here on McCool Road, but you may remember that Bishop Coyner reminded us that day that it’s not about our age; it’s about our attitude. We’re not old; we’re “new.” The Methodist movement goes back farther than that. Some trace its roots to 1784, when the Methodist Church in America was officially established, and others trace our roots back to 1738 when a man named John Wesley felt his heart strangely warmed. Wesley had been a preacher in the Church of England, but had struggled with whether or not he really had faith in anything. He was a lot like some people today, who want to believe but have trouble actually doing so. Wesley had a lot of different experiences, including a failed trip to America as a missionary. So on May 24, 1738, he says he went “quite unwillingly” to a small group meeting. And in that meeting, about a quarter till nine (I love that he knows the exact time), something happened to him that he described as having his heart strangely warmed. In that moment, Wesley knew Jesus loved him. He knew he was saved, and though he still doubted from time to time after that, he never looked back. From that moment on, Wesley was a different man, and his entire life became focused on two singular passions: personal holiness and social holiness. Those are the two great themes of the Bible, and they are the passion of the people called Methodist. Wesley believed that’s why God raised up the Methodists. I believe the unique combination is what we most have to offer the Christian faith and the Portage community.
So first, let’s define each of those themes, and then we’ll consider how we hold them together in this church. First of all: personal holiness. Now, the word “holiness” tends to have overtones of “holier than thou,” or someone who looks down on you because you’re not good enough, but that’s not a Biblical definition. In the passage we read this morning from Romans, Paul talks about holiness (or he uses the word “righteousness”) as being a difference in our way of life. Paul talks about it in terms of slavery, which would have been a common image in his day. He tells the Romans they really only have two choices—they are either slaves to the world and its sin or they are slaves to Christ and his righteousness. Whoever you are connected with, that determines the way you live. To live Jesus’ way is to live a holy life; it’s to live life the way it was designed to be lived. Paul describes it this way: “You have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance” (6:17). In other words, our lives show to whom we are really devoted. To live a holy life means we are living the way God called us to live.
John Wesley called this “holiness of heart” or “Christian perfection.” His understanding of the Bible’s message was that holiness is something we are all called to. In fact, the book of Hebrews says that “without holiness no one will see the Lord” (12:14). But when we hear that, it’s easy to despair, to give up, because we know our lives don’t yet reflect Jesus perfectly. Holiness sounds so unattainable. However, from Wesley’s study of the Scriptures, he came to understand holiness as striving after the things of God. It’s a “singleness of intention” (Harper, The Way to Heaven, pg. 84). Holiness is “not freedom from ignorance, mistakes, temptation, physical or mental infirmities…[it is] not perfection of knowledge, judgment or action…[Moreover,] perfection is by no means absolute. The perfect are never so perfect as to be free from the need for forgiveness” (Weems, John’s Wesley’s Message Today, pg. 57). It’s something we’re always working on; it’s a journey toward all God has for us. So Paul uses language like “coming to obey” and “offering yourselves”—that’s journey language. And he also describes the destination: eternal life. Just as turning away from a holy life has one end—being forever separated from God, which is what the Bible calls “hell”—so, too, turning toward a holy life has another end. Paul puts it this way: “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (6:23).
We tend to think of personal holiness as just staying away from sin, and so we make a list of sins that we don’t do and consider that a holy life. If I didn’t commit adultery this week, or get drunk, or kill anyone, or steal anything, then I’m doing good. I’m living a holy life, right? And yes, abstaining from sin is important. When God wanted to shape his people, he gave them a list of commandments, ten to be exact, that would help set the boundaries for their relationship. Many of you likely learned them at some point in your life, even if you didn’t grow up in the church. The ten commandments include things like having no other gods, honoring your parents, not killing, not stealing and so on (cf. Exodus 20). And then Jesus comes along and says that looking lustfully at a woman is the same as committing adultery, that calling someone a fool is the same as murder, that love for enemies is as important as love for neighbor (cf. Matthew 5). Suddenly, holiness is not quite as clear cut as we thought it was. Holiness is about the ways we treat other people. In business, we operate ethically and fairly. In our homes, we treat each other as loved children of God. Holiness affects what we say about others, even if they are not present. Holiness is about the way we think. To use the words of Bill Hybels, it is about “who you are when nobody’s looking.” And when we mess it up, we admit it, seek forgiveness and move ahead. As Methodists, we believe it’s not enough to simply believe the right things or the right doctrines; belief must filter down into our lives and the way we live. Personal holiness is one part of the Methodist way of living.
The other half is social holiness. Wesley once said, “There is no holiness but social holiness.” That means that our holiness also impacts the world and the people around us. We seek to live the way Jesus lived. This morning, we read just one instance out of many we could have read where Jesus upset the apple cart by caring for people more than regulations. It’s a Sabbath, which is a day of rest, and Jesus is in worship. In fact, he’s the teacher that day. We’re not told where he is, because that’s not really the main concern. This story shows up only in Luke (Card, Luke: The Gospel of Amazement, pg. 169), a gospel that’s very concerned about those in pain, those in need, those who are hurting—most likely because Luke was a doctor. This story is about a woman who is bent over. For eighteen years, she’s not been able to straighten out, and no one in that day can figure out why. There’s no medical reason for her condition. I like the way Bishop Tom Wright describes her: “Maybe somebody had persistently abused her, verbally or physically, when she was smaller, until her twisted-up emotions communicated themselves to her body, and she found she couldn’t get straight. Even after all the medical advances of the last few hundred years, we are very much aware that such things happen without any other apparent cause” (Luke for Everyone, pg. 166). So she shows up for worship, and Jesus interrupts whatever he was teaching (isn’t it interesting that Luke doesn’t tell us what he was teaching?) and he heals her. But the president of the synagogue has a fit: “There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath” (13:14). Healing was considered by the religious authorities to be work. Jesus considered healing a gift of God, as appropriate for the Sabbath as any other day. Jesus’ primary concern was for the welfare of the woman and the healing of her condition. Jesus’ primary concern was always for the least, the last and the lost. So is ours.
Our heritage is one in which our faith spills over into the world. We seek to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to give the thirsty something to drink, to visit the prisoners and the sick—all those things Jesus described his followers doing in Matthew 25(:31-46). We seek to impact society with our faith, to respond and challenge our leaders to seek justice, love mercy and walk with God (cf. Micah 6:8). So in our state, for instance, that’s led to a conviction that legalized gambling preys upon those who can least afford it with promises of instant wealth. The United Methodist Church has led the charge to curtail the expansion of gambling in Indiana. Our faith compels us to speak out on a variety of social issues: committing ourselves to the preservation of creation, affirming the sanctity of marriage, the rights of all to equal treatment, the ability of people to have work with dignity, and asking all to give themselves to the pursuit of peace in the world. There are nearly 70 pages in our Book of Discipline that are our attempt to speak through the lens of faith to the issues confronting our world, and at the end there is a Social Creed, which we’ve printed for you in the bulletin this morning. I’m not going to take time to read it entirely through (you can read yourselves, I trust), but I want you to especially hear this last part: “We believe in the present and final triumph of God’s Word in human affairs and gladly accept our commission to manifest the life of the gospel in the world.” We believe we are called to social holiness.
Personal holiness and social holiness. Over the centuries, the Christian church has had difficulty holding these two together. On the one end, typically in very conservative churches, the emphasis is on personal holiness. Accept Jesus as your savior, live right and when you die you will go to heaven. That’s true, wonderfully true. But in many places, that’s the only part of the story you hear. On the other end, typically in liberal churches, the emphasis is on the social gospel. Do good things, work hard, and your salvation will be found in what you do. And we are called to do good things. James said, “Faith without deeds is dead” (2:26). But doing good things is not enough. The genius of John Wesley and the Methodist tradition is holding these two in tension. We believe in the saving grace of Jesus Christ, the personal gospel. And we believe that salvation must be lived out in the world, we must make a difference in the world where we live, the social gospel. Personal holiness and social holiness—the two cannot be separated. Methodists have lived there in the middle throughout our history because, we believe, that’s where Jesus is. He’s concerned for the way we live our life and he’s passionate about the way we reach out to others.
But what does all that look like at Portage First United Methodist Church? Why do people need THIS specific church? To answer that, we asked a few of our own folks why this church has been so important to them. Let’s take a listen.
VIDEO: Church Vision (4:46)
In this church, we take seriously Jesus’ call to holiness—personally and socially. For developing personal holiness, we offer a wide variety of small groups and Bible studies and accountability groups in order that our own moral character can be shaped, molded and built. It has long been a goal of ours that every person who is connected with this church would find a home in a small group somewhere; that’s critically important as we continue to grow, to reach out. The way we learn, the way we really care for one another is going to come through small groups, more intimate settings where we can be face to face. Worship is wonderful, essential, but small groups are where “family” happens, where prayers can be shared, where holiness can be developed. We are passionate about personal holiness, and if you’re not in a small group, I can’t stress enough how important that is to the vitality of your soul. It shouldn’t be just “one more thing” we do but something we do because it is critical to the life of your soul.
This church also takes social holiness seriously. As God is shaping us, we seek to make an impact on the community around us. And so we try to engage the community in a wide variety of ways. The “Feed My Lambs” program is reaching kids over on the west side of town, providing food for children who otherwise wouldn’t have food all weekend. We’re hoping to expand that this next school year. In partnership with the Portage Township Food Pantry, we collect food and help stock the shelves for those in need all year long. At various points in the year, we collect mittens or coats or soap and make sure those in need get what they need. But our vision is even wider than our own neighborhoods. Jesus didn’t just say, “Go only into your neighborhoods.” Jesus said to be his witnesses “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Jesus said to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Sometimes I hear people question why we go to places like Sun Valley and Red Bird when there is so much need right here. The answer is two-fold. First of all, Jesus told us to. We go in response to his command. And second, yes, the need is great here, but how often do we take the time to directly meet needs right around us? When we take time away to do mission work, it makes a difference there and changes us so that we see the needs around us more clearly. And in it all, local and beyond, we seek to make a difference in the lives of people, because that’s what it’s all about.
So that EMT that I spoke to in the hospital? In just a few moments, I tried to describe this tension, this way of life that Methodists embrace that holds personal and social holiness together. I shared with her what made our church unique wasn’t so much what we believe—we share our belief in Jesus as savior with all other Christian churches—but in the way we seek to live out our faith in the world. That, I said, is why Methodists are still needed in this world—and I still believe that. Why do people need this church? Because it’s been our goal from the start to integrate faith and life, to spread holiness across the land, as Wesley said, not just in personal life but in our culture. And that’s a calling that can still shape and change our world.
After Jesus heals the woman who was bent over, Luke says this: “All his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing” (13:17). His opponents were humiliated because you simply can’t argue with kindness offered to those in need, those who are hurting. And the people were delighted because his action was changing their world for the better. What if the same thing were said of the church that follows Jesus? What if that could be said of our church? What if we lived a life that pleased God by practicing both personal holiness and social holiness? We might just change the world. I invite you to join me in this ongoing great adventure as we become a community where all people encounter Jesus Christ, as we love God, love others and offer Jesus to a world in need. Let’s pray.