the message

From my sermon on 8/14/11 from Romans 10:5-15

When I was growing up and going to worship, there was a time when the pastor stood up and gave a speech. We called it ….the sermon. In fact, for most of my years of preaching this Sunday speech has been called …the sermon. In the last few years though, it has come to be called by a different name…..the Message. How did that happen? I think that it may have something to do with our desire to connect with people, to make the Word of God come near where people live.

I have doing this for more than 33 years now, and I have always tried to make this speech relevant. You may wonder where I get these speeches each week. I know I wonder! One of the things I have learned to do is to pray as I prepare. Yes, I do the work of translating the passage of scripture, I read the commentaries, I interpret what is going on in the culture, but the most important thing I do is to pray, “God, what do you want your people hear today?”

So here’s the message that most often comes to me from God: Tell the people that I love them. That’s what the cross and resurrection of Christ are about. I have come near my people in Jesus. I know what they are going through. Jesus is broken for them and with them. I have raised Jesus from the dead to offer hope.

There is a new translation of the Bible, called the Message, really a paraphrase by Eugene Peterson. Part of this Romans passage he interprets this way:

It's the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—"Jesus is my Master"—embracing, body and soul, God's work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That's it. You're not "doing" anything; you're simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That's salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: "God has set everything right between him and me!"

I am going to ask you to do an in class assignment that will continue as a homework assignment. I want you to write down the message God has for you. What is the good news you have to share? Who is Jesus to you and the world? Writing this down is a teaching tool: it is a way to reinforce this lesson.

I know you may be intimidated by doing this. But consider this true story. One of the world’s greatest theologians was Karl Barth. He wrote a 13 volume series called Church Dogmatics, one of the most thorough explanations of the Christian faith. He was Swiss, but wrote a confession of faith that was used by the confessing church in Germany to stand against Hitler. He made only one trip the USA in 1962. After one of his lectures, he was asked, “Dr. Barth, can you summarize what you believe?” He answered, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” You don’t have to write 13 volumes. All I am asking you to do is to take this sticky note and write what you believe about Jesus. What is the message?
You may want to hang it on one of the bright ribbons in the narthex. You may want to put it on your refrigerator door or your bathroom mirror. Most importantly, you may want to share with God’s people out in the world.

Still I know you are hesitant and insecure about doing this. You want to quote St. Francis of Assisi to me, “Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.” I want to praise you as a congregation. You are terrific at proclaiming the gospel through your actions. Your witness is clear through your good works. Two weeks ago, 11 of you went out on a Sunday Morning to the Church Under the Bridge. Earlier in the summer, we had taken a collection of clothing for our neighbors who live on the streets. Two weeks ago, we gave away more than 180 pairs of shoes, 5 tables full of pants and shirts and socks and women’s underwear, the very things our brothers and sisters had asked for. What a message!

But sometimes we need words. Yesterday, I went to the Austin District United Methodist Men’s breakfast. About 24 guys were there. When I first came in, I was greeted with the question, “Lynn, what’s with your Aggies going to the SEC?” You are not going to believe this, but nobody consulted me. The president didn’t call, and the AD didn’t ask my opinion. Here’s the thing about words: sometimes you have to start with small talk before you get to the big talk. Sometimes with guys you need to talk about football before you talk about his affair. Sometimes you need to talk about the horrible heat outside before you talk about heaven and hell. Our little talk can lead to the big talk.

As part of the program the United Methodist Men talked about the clothes closet they run for homeless men that is downtown and part of the ARCH, the community outreach to the homeless. I didn’t even know they did this ministry. After the program, I was visiting with one of the men who works in this clothing ministry 3 Mondays a month. He said, “We try to form relationships with these men. We call them by name. We look them in the eye. We shake their hands. Last Monday, I shook the guy’s hand. I was trying to let go, but he continued to hold onto my hand. He said, ‘Pray for me.’ So I took him out of the way. I kept holding his hand. I put my other hand on his shoulder. Then I listened…to God…to what was going on in this man. All I felt about him was anger. I prayed, ‘Dear God, you know your child, you know how angry he is, you know what is behind this…’ The guy was crying. I prayed for his healing. At the end of the prayer, I took him to the pastor because I knew he needed even more talk and healing.

We establish relationship. We listen…to God and to the person. We pray. We take the message out of this 2 dimensions into the God dimension. People need to hear a word from God. We have that good news.

Sometimes, people have gotten an MRI or an EKG, but they want to hear from JC. Sometimes, people measure themselves by the size of their stock portfolio. This past week they went up and down like a yo-yo. They need to hear the message of their worth as a child of God.

Who needs to hear the message that God has placed upon your heart? Who is in your sphere of influence? Is there a co-worker, a neighbor, a family member who need needs good news? You might write their name on that sticky note. You have a message and an address now.

Paul certainly did this. He met people where they were with the message of God’s love in Jesus Christ. In chapters 9-11 here in Romans, he is arguing that this love is for everyone. He did by going to synagogues and to marketplaces. He would witness when he was brought to trial in the courtroom. He walked and took boats to take the gospel to new places. He wrote letters to encourage the spread of the good news.

In this passage are so many words about the message: lips, proclaim, preach, confess, good news. Now it is our turn to share the message. That is the good news I have to share with you today.