It's All About Grace

Introduction
Does God ever change your plans?  I had planned to preach something different today. But as I prepared, God gave me a different word.  I sensed Him saying: “Speak about grace.  It’s all about grace.”

Grace is something many Christians associate with Jesus and the New Testament.  But Jesus is God and the God of the New Testament is the same as in the Old Testament.  God is God.  And God is love.  And God is full of grace in both the Old and New Testaments.  And today the message is all about God’s grace.

In the Old Testament, it was God’s plan that the Israelites leave slavery in Egypt and travel to the Promised Land. In Deuteronomy, Moses gave his final instructions to the Israelites before he died.
Moses makes it clear that God is full of grace—even in the Old Testament.

Deuteronomy 9:1-6
¹ “Listen, O Israel! Today you are about to cross the Jordan River to take over the land belonging to nations much greater and more powerful than you. They live in cities with walls that reach to the sky! ² The people are strong and tall—descendants of the famous Anakite giants. You’ve heard the saying, ‘Who can stand up to the Anakites?’ ³ But recognize today that the Lord your God is the one who will cross over ahead of you like a devouring fire to destroy them. He will subdue them so that you will quickly conquer them and drive them out, just as the Lord has promised.

⁴ “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. ⁵ It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. ⁶ You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.

God's Grace is in Both Testaments
God is full of grace in both the Old and New Testaments.  It was God’s grace that gave the Promised Land to the Israelites. He overcame giants for them.  It was not because they were such good people.  They were not good people.  They were stubborn and rebellious.  But God is full of grace and power. 

God came as Jesus in the New Testament.  Jesus came to deliver people from slavery to sin.  What God did in the Old Testament for Israel foreshadowed what Jesus does in the NT.  Jesus leads His people into the true Promised Land.  When we put our faith in Christ and follow Him as Lord, we have eternal life in the Kingdom of Heaven.  And it’s all about grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Grace is God’s undeserved kindness doing for us what cannot do for ourselves.  On the cross, Jesus atoned for our sin.  Those who trust and follow Jesus are no longer guilty of sin.  If you trust Jesus, turn from your sin and follow Him as Lord, you are no longer guilty of sin.  You are no longer slaves to sin.  You are set free.  You are part of the Kingdom of God.

God’s Glorious Standard
Grace is hard to fathom. Christians often struggle to comprehend the amazing grace of God.

We sense that God is Perfect and Holy.  We know it intuitively and from the Bible. 
God’s obviously has a high and glorious standard.  He is perfect and holy.

Romans 3:23 tells us, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”
And Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  So everyone has sinned and the consequence is spiritual death.

Since we fall short, many try to add other things to make up for it.  We add rules trying to earn God’s love and favor.  So some will live rather austere lives thinking it will impress God.  They will not drink, or smoke tobacco.  They will go to church every Sunday (and maybe even more).  Some may even abstain from sex or marriage, pray 5 times a day or live as monks devoted to holy living.  If someone is  doing this to earn God's favor, we call it self-righteousness.  It's a righteousness that we try to manufacture ourselves. 

Others may go the opposite direction.  They may reject God altogether and just live however they please.  Their lives become selfishness, full of greed and indulgence.  A life that rejects God makes the self its own god and quickly degenerates into depravity.

The world is always full of people living on both ends of this spectrum between self-righteousness and rejecting God.  Even church people struggle with this.

God has a different plan.  John 3:17 says, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”  Jesus came as an ambassador of God’s grace.  His death on the cross saves us.  His blood is our atonement.  Our sin-debt is canceled.  Our ransom is paid.

God’s Grace Saves
It is God's grace that saves us.  We cannot save ourselves.  Self-righteousness cannot atone for our sins.  Rejecting God only compounds the problem.  The only answer is God's undeserved, unearned grace received through faith in Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:9 reminds us, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.”  It is God’s grace—not our own self-righteousness—that saves us.

Guess what that means.  You don’t have to feel guilty anymore.  You don’t have to be ashamed.
You don’t have to worry whether God loves you.  When God looks at you, He sees Jesus in you.  And God says, “This is my beloved son/daughter, in whom I am well pleased!”

You don’t have to fear death.  You don’t have to fear hell or punishment.  You are saved!  You are already a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven—both now and for eternity!  So now you can live without fear or shame or regrets.  Live as royalty, BC that’s what you are!

Unfortunately, sometimes even after a person starts following Jesus, they slip back into another form of self-righteousness where they try to justify their behavior.  They say, “Well, Jesus has already forgiven my sins, so I can live however I want…”  And so they go one sinning or they go back to sinning.  In doing so, they become slaves to sin.  God loves us and doesn’t want us to be slaves.  God wants His sons and daughters to be free.  And not just free in principle, but actually really free.  In other words, God wants you to be free from the power of sin.  Sin no longer has the power to keep you captive. 
Jesus’ death on the cross ripped the gates of our prison cells clear off the hinges!

So many people who decide to follow Jesus are actually still sitting inside a figurative jail cell.  They think they're still trapped and unable to leave the prison.  But the jail cell is wide open.  All they have to do is listen to the Holy Spirit, get up, and walk out of the cell.  But they never leave their sin and it still has power over them either because they don't want to give it up or they are afraid to.

That’s not what God wants for His children.  God’s Holy Spirit lives inside everyone who believes in Jesus.  The power that raised Jesus from the grave can raise you out of your sin.  But you have to trust and receive God's grace.  God gives us the power to break free from sin.  So get up and walk out of your prison!

Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for amazing grace.  We don't deserve it.  We can't earn it.  But You freely give it. Thank You!  Lord help us to trust Jesus.  Receiving His grace, assure us that we are saved and no longer need to be guilty or ashamed.  We are set free and we can live holy lives for You by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Thank You for setting us free!  Now help us to live free, all for Your glory. Amen.

Palm Sunday - The Lord is Here to Save You

Introduction
Today is Palm Sunday.  It is the start of Holy Week, when we recall the last week of Jesus’ life on earth before the ressurection on Easter Sunday—next Sunday.  So if you’ve been reading through the book of Matthew for the Lenten challenge—we are in chapter 21.  And chapters 21-28 describe the last week of Jesus life.  So today we are in chapter 21:1-11, which describes the events Christians traditionally call Palm Sunday.  Let’s take a look.

Matthew 21:1-11
As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. ² “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”

⁴ This took place to fulfill the prophecy that said,
⁵ “Tell the people of Jerusalem,

    ‘Look, your King is coming to you.
He is humble, riding on a donkey—
    riding on a donkey’s colt.’”

⁶ The two disciples did as Jesus commanded. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt to him and threw their garments over the colt, and he sat on it.

⁸ Most of the crowd spread their garments on the road ahead of him, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ Jesus was in the center of the procession, and the people all around him were shouting,

“Praise God for the Son of David!
    Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
    Praise God in highest heaven!”

¹⁰ The entire city of Jerusalem was in an uproar as he entered. “Who is this?” they asked.¹¹ And the crowds replied, “It’s Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Explain the Passage
At this point in the story, Jesus is in his 30s.  He has spent three years in public ministry. He has done amazing miracles—healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and healing the deaf.  Jesus has the power to feed thousands, calm storms, walk on water, and even raise the dead to life again.  According to John’s Gospel, just before Palm Sunday, Jesus raised Lazarus back to life after he’d already been buried in a tomb for 4 days.  Can you imagine the buzz about Jesus as he enters Jerusalem.

Jesus tells his Disciples where to find a donkey for him to ride and he has a specific one in mind.  This is the fulfillment of prophecy from the Prophet Zechariah 9:9. They are to go find a donkey and it’s colt (a young donkey that has never been ridden before) and they are to bring it to Jesus.  If anyone asks why they are taking the donkey, they’re supposed to say, “The Lord needs it.”  That’s important.  It may be hard for us to understand, but in Jesus' day everyone knew the king had the authority to commandeer anything he needed.  Jesus is the King of kings.  He has the authority to ask for anything he needs and people will give it.  If "the Lord" needs your donkey, you let him have it.  Does the Lord have authority to take whatever He needs from you today?  What would you do if the Lord said, "I need your car." Or "I need your home or business or family..."?  Christians are fond of saying "It all belongs to the Lord."  But do you recognize the sovereign authority of God to ask anything of you?  Would you be so willing to give?

But why a donkey and why a colt?  When a king comes to attack, he comes on a war horse.  When the king comes on a donkey, it’s for peace. And a colt is a young donkey that has never been ridden. Jesus is making an important statement.  He’s a king. And He’s such a special king, He needs a donkey that no one else has ever ridden, because he is not like any king people have met before.  This King is the long awaited Messiah. 

Lastly, Jesus is saying the Messiah comes to Jerusalem for peace. I don’t know if the people in Israel fully understood what Jesus was saying.  They probably understood the prophetic symbolism; Jesus was fulfilling Scripture. And they understood He was publicly declaring Himself the Messiah—the royal heir to David’s throne. They realized Jesus was coming to the capital city to claim His throne.  And crowds of people flooded the streets to cheer him.  They waved palm branches—the national sign of victory.  They welcomed Jesus as their Messiah—calling Him the Son of David and praising God.  They begged Jesus to save them.  That’s what “Hosanna” means.  It means “Save us!”  They threw down their garments on the ground—a symbol of submission (sort of like saying, “You can ride over our clothes, just don’t ride over us.”)

They understood Jesus was the Messiah, but I don't think they understood His mission.  Donkeys are for peace and many in Israel wanted the Messiah to come for war, to kick out the Romans.  However, Jesus’ mission on earth was peace and reconciliation—for all people, including the Romans.  The Gospel of Luke says that Jesus wept as he drew near to Jerusalem. “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not recognize it when God visited you.”

Jesus came in peace, but Jesus knew Jerusalem would reject the peace He offered.  He knew that in a few more years (65 AD), Jerusalem would rebel against Rome and the Romans would burn Jerusalem to the ground (in 70 AD) and thousands of people would die horrible deaths and the survivors would be dragged away as slaves.  No wondered Jesus wept. Jerusalem literally means “City of Peace” and it was supposed to be the "City of God", but Jesus knew they wouldn’t accept the peace He wanted to brings because they wouldn't accept Him as God.

Why Does this Matter to You?
Palm Sunday is a fun tradition in the church.  It’s an upbeat, triumphant service. Kids get to wave palm branches and we get to see their smiling faces. 

I hope hearing some of this history is helpful for you, but what does it really mean for you?  Is there in practical purpose for Palm Sunday?  I think the reason the Church celebrates Palm Sunday every year is in the hope that you will finally understand something important.  Jesus came to save you.  He didn’t come to save you from some external enemy that’s oppressing you.  Jesus came to save you from you.

You see, for the people of Jerusalem, it wasn’t the Romans that were the problem.  It was the people of Jerusalem themselves—their sin; their rejection of God.  Their refusal to let God be their sovereign King.  When Jesus comes to save you, He saves your own sin and rejection of God.  
You are the problem. 
The problem is not the Devil. It’s not cancer. 
It’s not your disability or illness that’s the problem.
The problem is not the broken bones that need to mend or the pain you feel.
The real problem is not your financial debts or that the government takes out too much in taxes.
The real problem is not gun violence or racism or political division or Republicans or Democrats.
The real problem is not that those people over there aren’t living the right way.
The problem is not the UMC or the GMC or homosexuality.
Jesus says, the problem is you. You are the problem.
It’s your heart. Can’t you see. It’s full of sin.  You reject God as he absolute Lord of your life.

I’m not saying this to make you feel guilty or to make you feel bad or to condemn you.
John 3:17 says, “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.”  But if you can’t recognize the real problem is in you, how can the Messiah save you?

Holy Communion
Everyone loves Jesus when they think He’s come to conquer their enemies.  But what do you do when you realize you’re the enemy and He needs to conquer you?

In a few days, people in Jerusalem decided they didn’t really want Jesus to be their Messiah. 
So they arrested Him and handed Him over to the Romans to be beaten and crucified.  They traded Jesus for a criminal because they were criminals.

Jesus knew what was coming. But He also knew that darkness can never extinguish the Light of the World.  Easter resurrection was coming.  So He shared the Passover meal with His Disciples—the thanksgiving meal that celebrates God’s deliverance.  He changed the liturgy to show He is the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.  For 2,000 years, Christians have shared this meal to remember Him and to find strength in His saving presence.

We set the Communion table.  We share the Sacred Meal. 
We remember the Solemn words Jesus told His Disciples.
This is my Body given for you.
This is my blood of the New Covenant poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Do this in remembrance of me.

Women Can Preach. Amen!

Introduction
Christians don’t always agree on everything.  That's why we have so many different denominations.  We all read the same Bible, but we may interpret it slightly different.  Today, I want to address a difficult disagreement among various Christian traditions.  Can women preach and be the pastor of a church?  Can women have authority over men?  Methodists say yes and today I want to show why.

The Bible is the Word of God and contains everything necessary and sufficient for our salvation.  The Bible is the foundation of all Christian belief and practice.  So if we’re going to learn if women can preach, we have to start with the Bible.  Those denominations that do not allow women to preach and lead churches believe the Bible forbids it.  I respect them for their decision (even though I disagree), because I respect their commitment to follow Scripture, even when it goes against the grain of cultural pressure.  Churches do not take their cue from society; we follow Scripture.  However, I believe the Bible says women can teach, but you have to look deeper than just the surface.

The Bible is a complex and ancient document--not a modern textbook or instruction manual.  Some things are very easy to interpret while others take a lot of effort.  There are different genres of literature in the Bible and we have to read and analyze them to understand what God is saying to us today.

Paul’s letters in the New Testament are an excellent source of information for Christian living.  However, we always read them knowing they are letters and we’re only hearing half of the conversation.  Hearing only half the conversation can be very tricky!  Do you remember the State Farm commercial a few years ago, about Jake from State Farm?  A wife catches her husband talking on the phone at 3 AM and it sounds like he may be having an intimate conversation with another woman, but she's only hearing half of the conversation.  She askes who it is.  The husband says "It's Jake from State Farm."  The wife snatches the phone and ask, "Who is this!"  The guy on the other end says, "It's Jake, from State Farm."  We have to be careful the conclusions we draw when we are only hearing half of the conversation.

In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul writes his letters to specific communities, often to address specific problems.  We only hear what Paul is saying, not what the community is saying and we must use a little detective work to figure out what is going on in the church to get the full story about what Paul is teaching and why.

The Roman world of the first century was very different from our own.  The Romans conquered a wide swath of cities over a vast area.  All these different cities had their own cultures and traditions and religions, which made Christian preaching and teaching and living quite challenging. 

There’s an intriguing document called Ehpesiaca, written around 50 AD by a man named Xenophon of Ephesus.  It’s fascinating because it was written around the same time the Apostle Paul ministered to the Ephesians (as recorded in our Bibles).  In the ancient document, Xenophon describes the great Temple of Artemis of the Ephesians.  Artemis was a goddess to the Ephesians.  According to Acts 19:25, the Ephesians believed the statue of Artemis fell down from heaven.  Ephesus was a religious center for the worship of Artemis.  People came from all over the world to worship Artemis in the “Artemiseum” (which kept a lot of Ephesians in business—selling religious trinkets, jewelry, idols, etc.). 

Xenophon describes that the Temple of Artemis was different from most other male-dominated religions in the ancient world.  Artemis was a female goddess and her temple was staffed by female priestesses.  The priestesses were at the top of the social order of Ephesus.  They adorned themselves with elaborate and expensive clothing and jewelry that showcased their sexuality and femininity.  They wore their hair uncovered and in special braids that indicated their wealth and beauty and devotion to their god.  Contrary to the Biblical story of Genesis, the Artemisian religion taught that the goddess Artemis created humanity out of a woman.  Woman were created first and then the man came from woman.  It was exactly the opposite of what the Bible teaches in Genesis.  (In Genesis, God created a man out of the dust of the earth.  Then when the man could not find a suitable mate from among the animals, God caused Adam to fall into a deep sleep.  Then God took a rib from Adam's side and made a woman out of it so that she was bone of Adam's bone and flesh of Adam's flesh.) 

The Artemisian religion flipped the Christians creation story on it's head.  Rather than presenting men and women as equals (like Christianity) Artemis elevated women above men.  Furthermore, Artemis taught women they must worship and honor Artemis or they would die in childbirth.  Since childbirth was already one of the most dangerous experiences for women, this was quite a statement.  Ephesian women were afraid and wanted Artemis' protection.

Now this was a fanatical religion.  When Paul and some early Christian missionaries tried to preach about Jesus in Ephesus in Acts 19, some of the local businesses who made money off the Artemisian temple gathered a mob to start a riot opposing the Christians.  They took over the city and shouted “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” for 2 hours until authorities final got things back under control.  (This was sometime around 53-55 AD—around the same time Xenophon wrote Ehpesiaca about the Artimesian religious practices.)

Now, knowing that background, listen to part of a letter Paul wrote to Timothy who was leading a church in Ephesus at that time.

1 Timothy 2:9-10
⁹ And I want women to be modest in their appearance. They should wear decent and appropriate clothing and not draw attention to themselves by the way they fix their hair or by wearing gold or pearls or expensive clothes. ¹⁰ For women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the good things they do.

Do you see now what Paul is saying?  He's instructing Timothy to discourage the women from his congregation from dressing like the Artemisian priestesses.

¹¹ Women should learn quietly and submissively. ¹² I do not let women teach men or have authority over them. Let them listen quietly. ¹³ For God made Adam first, and afterward he made Eve.  ¹⁴ And it was not Adam who was deceived by Satan. The woman was deceived, and sin was the result. 
And here we see Paul is correcting the Artemisean false teaching about creation.
¹⁵ But women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.

Explanation
This passage is one of two main Scriptures some denominations use to bar women from ordination.  Methodists disagree.  We ordain women.  Here’s why.

Paul is writing to Timothy advising on the best way to pastor a church in Ephesus.  Ephesus, the home base of the Artemisean temple, where women dress in expensive, elaborate clothing, and lord their priestly position over men.  No doubt, many women of Ephesus were highly educated and wealthy, but their status and wealth and education was a direct contradiction of Biblical Christianity.  It was tempting for some of these women to come into the church and feel they could immediately step into positions of authority in the church.  I mean, some of them may have been former priestesses of Artimus (or had aspired to be Artemisean priestesses).  Paul didn't think it was a good idea for them to immediately assume leadership in the Ephesian church.  They weren’t ready.  They had to die to their former way of living and learn a new way of living as Christian women.

Knowing the context of the Ephesian women makes all the difference. Paul is not saying all women, everywhere shouldn’t wear jewelry or fix their hair or wear pretty clothes.  he is only talking to the women of the Ephesian church.  

The context of the 1 Timothy also helps verse 15 make perfect sense.  Verse 15 – “Women will be saved through childbearing, assuming they continue to live in faith, love, holiness, and modesty.”  Artemis told women they would die in childbirth if they forsook her.  Paul says, “No you won't.  You will saved in childbirth if you follow Jesus.  Artemis cannot hurt you.”

Paul was writing to say the women of the Ephesian church should not be in charge at that time.  It wasn’t good idea at that moment.  However, Paul did not intend to make a general statement for the whole Church around the world for all times.  We know that because there are other places where Paul explicitly affirms women in church leadership.

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul affirms that women can pray and prophesy in public at church.  Prophesy is considered one of the most important roles of church leaders.  In the Old Testament, a prophet was considered more important than the king.  Remember, it was the prophet Samuel God told to anoint Saul as the furst king of Israel.  And when Saul repeatedly disobeyed God, God sent the prophet Samuel to tear the kingdom away from Saul and annoint David in his place.  When David sinned with Bathsheba, the Prophet Nathan was the one who called him out on it.  And in 1 Corinthians, Paul says women can be prophets.  As the Apostle Peter preached in Acts 2:18 (quoting Joel 2:28-32), "In those days I will pour out my Spirit even on my servants—men and women alike—and they will prophesy."

Furthermore, Paul affirms many women who led churches. There are numerous references to women leaders in the New Testament.  For the sake of time, I will only list three here.  First there is Romans 16:1, “I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a deacon in the church in Cenchrea.”  Deacons are the counterparts to the preachers/pastors.  Steven, the first martyr of the Christian Church, was a deacon.  In the United Methodist tradition, deacons are ordained just as elders (pastors) are and consider at the same level.

Paul wrote in Romans 16:3, “Give my greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in the ministry of Christ Jesus.”  Priscilla and Aquilla were pastors who led a church in their home.  They are also credited with pulling Apollos aside and correcting some of his theological misunderstandings about Christianity.  So Pricilla (a woman) corrected Appolos (a man).  The fact that Paul mentions Priscilla and Aquilla together shows that he considers them equal.  In a male dominated culture, Paul was under no obligation to name Priscilla.  Paul could have just said Aquilla, but Paul always makes a point to name Priscilla and he puts her name first (indicating she was the leader of the pair).

Romans 16:7 says, “Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews, who were in prison with me. They are highly respected among the apostles and became followers of Christ before I did.”

Junia is a woman.  The name is the Latinized version of Joanna—possibly the same Joanna who saw Jesus rise in Luke 24.  

The early church (up to 1000 AD), accepted that Junia was a female apostle who had been with Jesus and the twelve Disciples.  (The early definition of an Apostle was one who had physically seen Jesus before the crucifixion.  

Now, all these references by themselves do not prove that women were allowed to pastor and lead churches in the New Testament.  They are clues, but not proof.  However, taken with the New Testament worldview (as well as Paul's), we can see that women did (and should be allowed today) to be ordained as pastors and lead churches.

Look at Galatians 3:28-29.  "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you."

According to Old Testament regulations of the Jewish religion, women cannot be heirs.  Women didn't inherit family property or money; only men could be heirs.  Yet in Galatians, Paul is saying gender no longer defines who is an heir.  Both men and women inherit the Kingdom of God.  So, if women are now equal inheritors, why shouldn't they also be equally called to preach and lead?

We also see that Jesus discarded the cultural separation of roles between men and women. Jesus accepted women as equals throughout his ministry.  In the story of Mary and Martha from Luke 10:38-42, Jesus is teaching while Martha is serving food and doing what was traditionally considered "women's work".  Mary is sitting at Jesus feet learning.  Martha says to Jesus, "Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”  Now, notice Martha does say, "Why don't you tell Peter to come help me?"  Why?  Because fixing dinner was women's work and Bible study was what the men did.  But Jesus refuses to tell Mary to go help Martha with the women's work.  Jesus wants Mary to learn just like the men.  You see, Jesus is reforming the old ways of thinking and doing--even the roles of men and women.

Conclusion
God did not create men to rule the world and women to be subservient.  That was not God’s original plan.  It was a result of the fall because the first people sinned and the world became corrupt.  The world and the people in it are cursed by sin.  After sin, Genesis 3:16 says of women “you will desire to control your husband, but he will rule over you.”  And ever since we have seen this curse in action.  Men throughout the ages have tried to subjugate women.  On the other hand, women have tried to break free, often going too far the opposite direction, saying men are less important than women.  Any time we hear it taught that men are better than women or women are better than men, we are seeing the results of the curse brought about by sin.  

Jesus came to break the curse.  What does that mean?  Well, it means a lot of things.  One important way we live out this new truth of equality is by recognizing women can have equal leadership responsibility in the church (and in the work place and in government).

In the Methodist church, women can be ordained as pastors of the church.  We believe this is based on the Word of God.  We aren’t led to this by the changing whims of culture.  Rather, we lead culture to this understanding because of the eternal Word of God and the new reality brought about by the ressurection of Jesus Christ.  The curse is broken and the realities of God's Kingdom are breaking in and taking over our world and ideas.

What Curse Needs To Be Broken In Your Life?  Come to Jesus.  He is the One who can set your free.  You don't have to keep living the broken ways you lived before.  Jesus has the power and the will to set you free. 

Christians Worship the Trinity. Amen!

Introduction
The Bible is the Word of God and contains everything necessary and sufficient for our salvation. The Bible is primary way Christians understand God and faith and what we teach and how we act. Amen!

Some things the Bible teaches are clear and straight forward and easy to understand.  Exodus 20:13 is pretty clear, "Do not murder."

Other teachings from the Bible require you to think a little bit more.  Among those deeper doctrines the Bible teaches is the Trinity.  So today, I’m gonna do my best to mine the depths of God’s Word to show you that Christians worship the Trinity.

Matthew 3:16-17
¹⁶ After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. ¹⁷ And a voice from heaven said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”

Explanation
These verses may be familiar.  They’re from the story of Jesus’ baptism by his cousin John in the Jordan River.  What I want to point out for you today is how the Trinity is embedded in the story. 
Who is being baptized?  Jesus.
What descends upon Jesus?  A dove. The Spirit of God.  The Holy Spirit.
Who speaks from Heaven?  God.  The Father.
So in this story all three persons of the Trinity are revealed.  

Now that word—Trinity—is never written in the Bible. It’s never literally written, but it’s definitely there. It’s embedded throughout the Bible in both the Old and New Testaments.

Genesis 1:26
From the creation story in Genesis 1:26, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.”  The original Hebrew words were plural, which shows the plural nature of God's character.  That's why English translations use the plural pronouns "us" and "our".  This indicates that God is a plurality (like a trinity).

Isaiah 48:16
In Isaiah, the Messiah speaks to Israel, “And now the Sovereign Lord and his Spirit have sent me with this message.”  So in this Old Testament passage, we see all three person's of the Trinity.

John 10:30
In John 10:30, Jesus said, “The Father and I are one.”

2 Corinthians 13:14
2 Cor. 13:14 reveals the trinitarian greetings use by early Christians like Paul , “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

I won't try to list all the passages in the Bible that reference or allude to the triune nature of God (there are over 100 in the Old Testament alone).  You can search them out yourself.  So thought the word "Trinity" is not there, the Trinity itself is a reality in the Bible.

Initially, no one in the Christian faith questioned or tried to define the trinitarian nature of God.  It was just assumed.  Jesus, the Son of God, taught in terms of his relationship to God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The 12 Apostles carried on this tradition.  And in the beginning, the early Christians had some very pressing problems to deal with—trying to spread the Good News about Jesus while also facing severe persecution, imprisonment, and death.

But eventually, some people began accusing Christians of worshipping more than one God—
that Jesus was a God, the Father was a God, and the Holy Spirit was a third God.  Others tried to rank the three persons of the Trinity—maybe saying the Father was the supreme God, but then God created Jesus and the Holy Spirit as lesser gods or angelic like figures.  however, these ideas are contrary to Scripture.  John 1:1 says, “In the beginning the Word [Jesus the Son] already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.”

Eventually, Christians needed to define the Trinitarian nature of God to dispel  misunderstandings and wrong teaching.  They said:

There is only one God.  The Bible is clear there is only one God and His followers must not worship any god but the Lord (Ex. 20:3).  So it cannot be that Christians worship three Gods.  

God is three distinct Persons:  Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  The Bible clearly teaches The Father is God and Jesus is God and the Holy Spirit is God.  Therefore, somehow, mysteriously, There is one God who is revealed as three different persons.  When Jesus prays to His Father, Jesus is not talking to Himself.  He is talking to a distinct Person.

Furthermore, Christians discerned, God is not created. God is eternal.  God has always existed.  And since God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all Three have always existed.  In other words, God did not create the Son or the Holy Spirit.  They were always part of God (Genesis 1, John 1)

All Three at All Times
Undoubtedly, someone will approach me and say they have a simple way to understand the Trinity.   They may say, "There is this example of water.  Water can be ice or liquid water or steam.  It is all three, yet it is still water."  This can be a helpful illustration (I’ve even used it before), but it still doesn’t fully capture the nature of the Trinity.  This is because water is either ice, water, or steam.  It is not all of them at the same time.

There were some Christians who tried to argue that God is one, but appeared in different forms at different times.  This is actually a heresy called “modalism”.  A right and biblical teaching is that God is all three forms at all times.  We know this because there are clearly times in the Bible when God was all three forms all at the same time.  The baptism of Jesus is a perfect example.  In the story, The Son is baptized, The Father speaks from Heaven, and the Spirit descends like a dove.  So all three Persons of the Trinity are present in the story at the same time.  

Reasons The Trinity is Important
Now, this is deep stuff; some people might wonder if this trinitarian stuff really matters.  It does. If a church does not accept the Trinity, they’re not really functioning as a Biblically Christian church.
Let me share some reasons why.

First of all, Christianity believe in only one God. 
Some religions, like Hinduism and Buddhism that believe in many gods, express appreciation for Jesus.  They will say he was a great teacher or they may even say Jesus is one of the gods (one among many).  But Christians cannot accept this.  We believe Jesus is God and the only God.  Jesus said in John 14:5, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”  So true Christian teaching says, Jesus isn’t just one of the ways; no, Jesus is the only way, the only truth, the only life.

Christians believe in only one God. There are other “one-god-only” religions, and it is sometimes said if there is only one god then we must all worship the same one-god.  However, Christians are different from the other monotheistic religions like—Judaism and Islam.  Jewish and Muslim people also believe there is only one God and those religions will sometimes express admiration for Jesus.  However, they reject the idea that Jesus is God.  For them, Jesus is a good man or a prophet.  But Christians believe Jesus is God.  Furthermore, we also believe the Holy Spirit is God.  And yet we also contend that the Trinity is One God.  The Trinity sets Christianity apart as distinct from other monotheistic religions.

There is a second reason for acknowledging the Trinity, one that is even more important.  The Trinity shows how God really is love.  You have to understand, God is and was and will always be fully complete without us.  Some people have this notion that God created people because He was lonely.  However, God wasn’t lonely.  God was already in a full and complete relationship before humanity.  In God’s trinitarian unity, He was already whole.  He lacked nothing.  He didn’t need anything.  He was already in a perfect relationship.  So, God created humanity (and all creation), not as a means to fulfill some longing within Himself, but rather as an overflowing expression of His deep, eternal love.

We struggle to understand God's kind of love because we often think of love as a longing within us.  We “love” someone or something and we need (them or it) to complete us, to fulfill us.  God love doesn’t work that way.  God is self-giving love, not a longing, consuming love.  God didn’t created the universe for his own benefit, He created us out of an overflowing love.  We are an expression of His self-giving love.  Because God was already a trinity in relationship, He was not lonely.  Your life is a gift—free and clear—no strings attached.  Your existence is an expression of God’s grace.  Thus, we learn the true nature of love from God’s trinitarian nature; and we are made in God's image.  We are made for love and by love.  Love is giving, not consuming.

Third, the trinitarian nature of God means we can truly be saved.  Jesus is not a creation of God.  Jesus is not an angel (or a created being). The Trinity reveals Jesus is fully God and fully human.  

Why is that important?  Well if Jesus wasn’t fully man, then He couldn’t truly understand our situation.  (How can a perfect, infinite, all powerful diety understand anything about living as broken mortals in a broken world?)  Thankfully, in Jesus, God became fully human.  The all-knowing, all-powerful God of the universe compressed Himself into the limited time and space and perception of a human body.  As Philippians 2:7-8 says, “He gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave, and was born as a human being.  When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”  Hebrews 2:17 says, “It was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God.”  Jesus knows what it’s like to be you.

Yet if Jesus was only a man, He wouldn’t have the power to save us.  Our problems are too big.  Thankfully, Jesus is also fully God.  That means He has the power to save you.  No matter how terribly lost you are.  No matter how sin sick is you soul.  No matter how awful your problems, nothing is beyond the control of the all-powerful, all-knowing, ever-present glory of our God in Jesus Christ. 

Jesus’ ressurection from the grave is the ultimate sign of God's ability to save you.  If Jesus can rise from the dead, He can raise you out of any deadly problem you face.  And He will if you will trust Him.

Closing
Maybe, I’ve given you a lot to think about today.  The Trinity is a very deep subject.  Yet, we can be thankful the Trinity is so hard to understand,
because it shows that our God is a Big God.  If God were easy to understand, He wouldn’t be much of a God.  (Listen, I can’t even understand myself a lot of times.  Why do I do the things do?  Why do I get upset or respond the way I do?  I don’t know.)  If I can’t even fully understand myself, how can ever expect I will understand
the infinite nature of an eternal God who has always existed, and always will
who made stars and planets that are so far away from us
it has taken trillions of years for their light to reach us;
who made all the animals and plants and river and mountains we can see,
but also made microorganisms so small we don’t even o they are there.
(There were 10X more microbes in the breathe of air you just inhaled
than there are people in County where you live--and you inhaled another breathe, and another…)  Our God made all of this.

Let us take a moment to try and wrap our heads around the infinite nature of God.
And also to marvel that this Great God gave up the glory of heaven
to come to our broken world to die on a cross to save you and me.