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“A
True Test of One’s Religion” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – June 3,
2018 Centenary United Methodist Church
Psalm 139: 1-6; Mark 2:23-3-6 All of us become aware during our early childhood that there are
certain unspoken laws by
which all of us are expected to live.
There are specific times when we eat our meals.
There are responsibilities where our follow-through is expected.
There are permissions that need
to be gotten before we venture forth with the family car. These are the
laws of our particular family
that may not be in place in other families. We also encounter
laws in our society.
These laws are universal for everyone because living in a
community requires compliance.
A stop sign does not
mean “drift.” A traffic
signal provides us with three colors that have significance attached to
each. These laws are often
violated until a person ignoring the
law is caught on camera.
With so many cell phones available to capture the deeds of
certain risk-takers, it is wise to remain obedient. There are also national
laws, many of which no one can escape. When we left for our vacation
on May 15, we did so knowing that we would be traveling with my expired
work permit. Since our
work-permit extension was in process, we assumed that we could re-enter A week before our flight, Lois recommended that I contact
Immigration officials to make sure that we were fine.
I discovered that we were not fine.
We had to secure a landing
permit that took five business days to process. We received the
approval at 11:30 a.m. on the Friday prior to our leaving. Had we landed
on May 30th without that permit, we would have been fined $500.00.
Finally, there are certain laws that various religious groups
assume were created by God for our well-being. In our lesson this
morning, the Pharisees were watching Jesus' disciples pluck and eat
grain as they walked through a wheat field.
They scolded Jesus by saying, "It is against
the
Law for your disciples to
gather and eat grain on the Sabbath!" Doing any task that
could even remotely be associated with working on the Sabbath was akin
to a major crime against God’s Law. God
created the Sabbath for resting. No
doubt their memory recalled a time, during the days of Moses, when
God ordered the execution of a man who was found picking up sticks
on the Sabbath. (Numbers 15:35f)
The next section of Mark's lesson reveals the character and
nature of those who were doing the scolding.
While Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, there was a man who
had a paralyzed arm. Jesus
asked everyone in attendance a key question that became central to
Jesus’ teaching. "What does
the Law allow us to do on the
Sabbath -- to help or to harm?"
No one dared to answer. Jesus asked the man
to stretch out his arm. As
the man did as he was told, his arm was healed.
Our lesson states, "So the Pharisees left the synagogue and met
at once with a group of Sadducees to develop a plan to kill Jesus."
(Mark 3:6) Today, we cannot imagine highly religious, spiritual people
punishing people with their death for healing on the Sabbath.
However, Church
history is filled with this reality. Since
many Biblical authors believed in a God that was well-known for
responding with harsh punishments, the Jewish leaders used God’s own
behavior to justify their hostile responses toward those who were
misbehaving. Once when a mule stumbled while carrying the Ark of the Covenant,
a man named Uzzah reach out to steady the There was another time when two men so displeased the Lord, that
God killed both of them. (Genesis 38: 7-10) God was pictured by the Jews
as needing servants who obeyed him.
Little mercy was shown to those who violated
God's rules. On another
occasion, God allegedly encouraged mass murder: The Lord God of Moses praised the
Levites for this act of obedience and said: Today, you have
consecrated yourselves as
priests in the service of the Lord by killing your sons and
brothers. The Lord has
given you his blessing. (Exodus 32:29) These and a number of other Biblical references are what
compelled Jesus to abandon
the war-god of the Hebrews. Instead,
Jesus began to present a new understanding of God whose nature was one
of infinite mercy and forgiveness for all men and women living on
various levels of awareness. God sends the rain and sunshine on
the just and
the unjust alike. (Matthew
5:45) What is difficult to understand is what happened during the early days of The Church’s development that caused its leadership to abandon Jesus’ new understanding of God’s nature. What Jesus correctly taught was incorrectly learned hundreds of times by the leadership of the Church. Church leaders were seduced by
thoughts and feelings that they had divinely inspired power and
authority and were appointed by God as representatives to make sure
people obeyed
Divine Law.
They became so self-absorbed with such authority that they were blind to
the attitudes and behavior that Jesus exhibited.
As we have noted on previous occasions, anyone who chose their
own bride or groom was punished by death.
Teaching anything that went against the doctrines of
The Church provided the
leadership with what they needed to condemn people to death by a public
execution. William Tyndale translated the Bible into English.
His crime was that he tinkered with
The Word of God. Tyndale also
spoke out against some of the major teachings of
The Church.
For these and other
atrocities, William Tyndale was strangled to death by priests.
To send a stern warning
to other free-thinkers,
The Church burned his remains
in public. Such laws were
designed to keep people loyal to Church
doctrine and
dogma. How times have
changed!
Today, what is
the true test of one's religion? As Jesus taught, it has
nothing to do with being obedient to
laws.
The true test of a person’s
religion is what it does to the spirit by which they live each day.
(Matthew 22:40)
When
our energy flows away from us with attitudes filled with love, mercy,
and forgiveness, we are free from being defined by obedience to laws.
When we experience such
freedom, we have found the pearl
of great price. People who feel
entitled to hold on to feelings of resentment, or hostile, negative, and
pessimistic judgments are investing their energy in responses that have
no application after we exit this life.
Try to imagine one sin
that we can commit once we graduate from the world of forms and human
responsibilities. Our lesson today features Jesus asking a key question, "What does
the Law allow us to do on the
Sabbath -- to help or to harm?" This question sets the tone for
everything Jesus taught during his ministry.
Today, we are blessed
by being born in a generation that tolerates many variations of beliefs.
Jesus taught the most creative way for people to understand their
wholeness is to express loving energy in everything that they do. (John
14:6) Being afraid of God has been
erased from our religious practices and beliefs.
We are free to embrace whatever
is coming up for us with kindness, compassion, and empathy. Like Jesus
who could forgive from a cross, we will still be teaching others by our
responses to whatever is happening. When Islamic
zealots were beheading Christians, one of these
guardians of their faith was
about to end the life of a missionary.
A rope had been thrown over a tree branch and she had her hands
tied above her head. This I, too, am a
follower of Allah’s teachings
that came through Jesus.
Your friends have violated me in every possible way imaginable and now
you are going to end my life.
I just want you to know before you kill me, that if our roles
were reversed, I could never want to harm you in any way.
I would much rather that you be my friend because I believe with
all my heart that you are my brother. With a mighty blow
from his sharp machete, instead of cutting off her arms and head, the
warrior cut the rope and while looking into her eyes, he said, “I
believe you. Go back to
your people.” She
was prepared to die demonstrating what her faith led her to teach during
that terminal moment.
It was as if Jesus said through her, “Father forgive him; he is
not aware of what he is doing.”
Every day we must remember that
there is no law against loving those whose values are different.
(Matthew 5:43) CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER Thank you, God, for these moments together.
Many of us do not come seeking the prizes of the material world.
We come because of our desire to learn the path that allows
patience, compassion, and peace to flourish in our lives.
When we are happy, our world sings. As we experience our lives,
help us to remember that even our most humble deeds can move mountains
in the lives of others. Jesus has demonstrated for us what can happen
with a teacher and twelve followers.
Help us to reflect on our identity as being among other angels
on assignment in a world that swirls with change.
Amen
THE PASTORAL PRAYER
We have drawn ourselves into your
presence, O God, with a deep sense of appreciation for how the
experience of worship has the ability to center our lives on the needs
of our spirits. When we come here and open ourselves anew to the
healing of your presence, how peaceful we become when we let go of
everything that makes demands of us. Your presence becomes like a
sponge that absorbs our fears. You never tire at giving us new ways to
define who we are. Your inspiration provides us with fresh insights into
our struggles and frustrations.
Your tireless patience with us keeps us centered on the values
and spirit that produce a life filled with happiness and peace.
As our spirits seek
to continue their evolution, we know how easy the temptations come for
us to take the path of least resistance. We know the struggles
when issues of pleasure confront those of character. We are no
strangers to the attractiveness of compromise. We know how
blinding self-interest is when we are faced with a decision that will be
unpopular for others. Evoke in us, O God,
the memory that we are created in your image. Help us to carry
that awareness into each relationship and circumstance. Remind us
that our lives reflect everything that we believe. In that
knowledge, we pray that we will make visible the values that create
community, friendship, healing, and wholeness. May your will be
done on earth because we at Centenary are alive in your service.
We pray these thoughts through the loving spirit of Jesus, the Christ,
who taught us to say when we pray . . .
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