We Are Family

Introduction
I’ve been reflecting a lot about my Mom and our relationship lately.  I guess because of Mother’s Day.  One thing I remember in particular is the day I left home to go off to college.  It was the day I “moved out” of my Mom’s house.

We went to eat lunch at the Texas Cattle Company in Macon.  I didn’t want orneed my Mom to go all the way up to Marietta to help me move in to college at Southern Tech.  Although she would have liked to, I felt I needed to do it on my own and she let me.

Even though I moved out of my Mom’s house, we remain connected. I visited every weekend and we talked often on the phone.  We were and are bound by love and always will be.  Regardless of whether we live in the same house, we will always be family.  I’m so thankful for all my Mom did for me—for her sacrifice, her love, her continued support—and for the legacy she passed on to me.

My relationship with my mom and my family are a good lead in to wwhat I want to share today.  I want to talk about family, but I want to broaden the concept of family beyond your biological family.  Jesus said family is deeper than blood relations. Jesus said in Matthew 12:50, “Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

The Church is a family. We are connected to each other. And I want to discuss this connectionism among the followers of Christ in the Church.

Acts 15:22-29 tells about a special council the early followers of Christ held in Jerusalem to deal with an important issue in the growing Family of Christ, the Church.  You see, Jesus was Jewish.  The first disciples were Jewish.  The earliest followers were Jewish.  They followed Jewish religious customs laid out in the Old Testament.  (You know things like: don’t eat pork.  Don’t work on the Sabbath day.  Celebrate Passover.  Etc.) 

As the years went by, more and more non-Jewish people became Christians and started asking a legitimate question: Do non-Jewish people need to follow all the Jewish religious rules in order to be Christians?  And a really important issue was about circumcision.  Most Jews are circumcised at birth.  But if you became a Jew as an adult, you would need to be circumcised then.  So this was a important (and potentially painful) issue for the male gentiles who wanted to follow Christ.  Did they need to be circumcised and follow the Jewish laws of the Old Testament to be Christians?  So the Church had a big conference to discuss the issue and make a decision. Let’s read what they decided.

Acts 15:22
²² Then the apostles and elders together with the whole church in Jerusalem chose delegates, and they sent them to Antioch of Syria with Paul and Barnabas to report on this decision. The men chosen were two of the church leaders—Judas (also called Barsabbas) and Silas. 

Let’s pause here to consider.  The early Church felt it was important to speak as one body.
Christians are in connection.  Not individuals.  Not even individual congregations.  The early Christians wanted everyone across the whole church to believe and practice the same thing (as far as it was possible).  So they made a decision and sent representatives with the official decision in a letter.

Acts 15:23
²³ This is the letter they took with them:

“This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!

It's important to recognize that the Jerusalem council represented church congregations that spanned across a geographical area roughly the size of the Southeastern United States.  This was the Church--a large body of believers made up of hundreds of small local congregations that spanned throughout the middle east.  And they were all expected to follow the same rules.

Acts 15:24
²⁴ “We understand that some men from here have troubled you and upset you with their teaching, but we did not send them! 

In other words, some people have made proclamations that don't represent the official positions of the  connection/family.  They had no authority to say what they said.

Acts 15:25-27
²⁵ So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, ²⁶ who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁷ We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question.

This is the official ruling for the connection.  Everyone in this family will follow the following ruling.

Acts 15:28-29
²⁸ “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements: ²⁹ You must abstain from eating food offered to idols, from consuming blood or the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. If you do this, you will do well. Farewell.”

The Take Aways for Today
There are 3 main take aways I want you to see today from this Scripture.  

1. The Church is Connectional
2. It’s not about rules. It’s about grace.
3. Christians have the simplest of rules.

Let's look at each of these.  First of all, the Church is connectional. Christianity is not an individualistic faith.  Contary to popular opinion in 21st century America, faith is not a private matter.  We are a community, a family.  What you do matters to me. And what I do affects you.  Thus, we live together, worship together, serve together, and make decisions together.  And here’s the hard part for most people in America.  Our connection even goes beyond our local church.

The Local Church
It’s easy to feel loyalty to your own local congregation.  It’s also easy to fall into a trap where all you care about is your own local congregation.  We may appreciate other churches in in our community, but we are tempted to see our own church as more important.  If we're not careful, we may even see other congregations as competition.  However, our local church is only one small part of God's great Church.  And each little part is important and we are all on the same team.  We are not competing against each other.  There are plenty of people in our community that aren't part of any church.  There's more than enough unchurched people to go around.  We need not fight over who goes to what church. Let us work to include those who are not going to any church. 

Our Household – The Denomination (The UMC???)
My local church is belongs to the United Methodist Church.  However, there are a lot of question marks in that affiliation for us right now because our congregation is preparing to vote on whether we wish to remain in the UMC.  Many feel the UMC is not follow the household rules anymore and we are finding it unbearable to remain in the same house.

Going back to the family analogy.  Did you ever hear parents say something like:  "If you're going to live in my house, you have to follow my rules.  If you don't like it, go get your own house."  And if your parents said that to you and you decided to move out, you might need to have a conversation about what you get to take with you.  Maybe your parents would say: "You can't take the care your driving.  That belongs to us!"  But you might argue back and say, "Hey!  I worked and earned the money for this car and bought it myself.  Just because the title is in your name doesn't mean it's fair for you to say it's yours."  And you might have to work out how to divide everything up.

Well that's sort of where we are in the UMC right now.  We can no longer agree to follow rules of the house. Many congregations are wanting to move out and into another house, but we have to decide what property we can take with us.  

My hope is that once people get to decide where they want to live (whether it's in the UMC or another denomination), we will all be able to get along better.  Because whether we are in the same household (denomination) or not, we are still family (relate by the blood of Christ).  We should be able to live together in peace and unity in our own household and be good neighbors to our extended Christian family outside our denomination.

Our Tribe – Methodist
The next level up on the Christian family tree is our tribe, which more me is Methodist (or you might even say Wesleyan).  There are numerous denominational families that belong to the Methodist tribe.  We all are strongly influenced by the theology of John Wesley. Our share Wesleyan theology includes things like Infant Baptism, an important emphasis on grace, and strong sacramental theology, among other distinctives.  The Methodist tribe--which includes the UMC, GMC, Salvation Army, The Nazarenes, Evangelical Methodist Church, Wesleyan Church, and many others--have a lot more in common with each other than we do with denominations in other tribes like the Baptist, Pentecostal, and Roman Catholic tribes.

The Church Universal 
The final level that includes every Christian, throughout all time, in every place, and in every denomination is the universal Church.  The rules for who belongs in this broadest category are very simple.  The chief requirement is that you repent of your sins and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.  All who do this are part of the extended Christian family we call the Catholic Church (AKA the Church Universal).  We can respect, appreciate, and work with all Christians—regardless of denomination--and we should.  We are all followers of the same Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior. 

It’s Not About Rules.  It’s All About Grace.
Following Jesus is not about rules; it’s all about God's grace.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

The Jerusalem Council rejected legalism that tried to say Christians needed to follow Jewish religious laws in order to be saved.  The Christian Church clarified that following Christ is not about rules; it's about receiving God's grace through Jesus Christ.

There are still people today who will try to say you’ve got to do certain things in order to be a real Christian.  Some Pentecostals (not all but some) say you must speak in tongues in order to show you are really a Christian.  Some Baptists (not all but some) say you must be fully immersed in a believers baptism in order to be a real Christian.  Some Seventh Day Adventists (not all by some) say true Christians worship on Saturday (the seventh day) and eat the kinds of food the Old Testaments says we should eat.  The Jerusalem Council settled this in Acts 15.  It’s not about rules.  It’s about God’s grace received thru Jesus Christ. 

And in order that Christians may all live together in unity and peace, the Jerusalem Council laid out the simplest of rules for early Christians to follow:

1. Don’t eat meat sacrificed to idols.
2. Don’t eat blood.
3. Don’t eat meat from strangled animals.
4. Abstain from sexual immorality.

Numbers 1, 2, and 3 have to do with maintaining connections with Jewish Christians and not being a stumbling block to anyone.  The Apostle Paul clarified this in 1 Corinthians 8, 9, and 10.  Meat in the first century was almost always butchered as part of a religious sacrifice.  Jews could only eat kosher meat sacrificed to Yahweh.  But most meat sold in gentile meat markets had been sacrificed to idols or pagan gods.  Jews found such meat to be abhorrent to their faith.  Thus, Paul said, Christians should avoid eating meat sacrificed to pagan gods because it might lead someone to think Christians believed in and were honor false gods.  Paul's reasoning was that false gods don't really exist so meat sacrificed to them was not polluted in any way, but it was the conscious of the people who knew about the meat that mattered.  Even if a Christian knew there was nothing wrong with eating the meat, they should protect the consciousness of others who might think it mattered.

In 21st century America, we don't have to worry that meat was sacrificed to an idol or false god.  Although, we might need to pray about and consider other issues, like whether the meat was processed in an ethical way or by a business that treats their workers fairly or one that is a good steward of the environment.

The fourth rule of the Jerusalem council deals with actual sin that is abhorrent to God and destructive to people, relationships, and communities.  The Jerusalem council instructs Christians to abstain from sexual immorality.  Jesus, The Apostle Paul, and the letter of Jude all agree Christians should abstain from sexual immorality.  No where in the Bible does it allow for the faithful to be sexually immoral.

So really, you could say there are just 2 broad rules all Christians should follow.  So from 613 Jewish laws in the Old Testament, Christians come down to just 2:

1. Don’t be a stumbling block.
2. Don’t be sexually immoral.

Of course, we understand that living faithfully for Jesus requires wisdom.  We must let the Holy Spirit guide us to discern what is the right thing to do in any situation.  But it really is simple. And God is full of grace through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Conclusion
Because of the Jerusalem Council’s decision, Gentile believers were welcomed into the Church.  They joined in droves.  Within a few years, there were more Gentile Christians than Jewish ones.

Have you joined the Church?  What does that mean?  First of all it means to repent of your sin and give your life to Christ.  Turn away from your own selfish way of living and turn to Jesus.  Let Him be Lord of your life.  Follow Him and He will save you.  

Second, be baptized. Baptism doesn't save you, but it is the outward and visible sign Jesus commanded His followers to use to initiate new believers into the household of God.  God imparts grace to us through baptism to help us live as He wants us to live.  

Third, when you join a local congregation, you promise to support the church with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your service, and your witness.  Using the family analogy, joining a local church is like getting married.  You stand before God and witnesses and promise to be faithful to the church.  You declaration makes it possible to move into a deeper relationship with the family of God because everyone knows you are truly committed.

If you’ve already done all these, take some time to reflect what it means for you and if you’re being faithful to the family.  

If you need to do any of these, I can help. I would love to talk with you help welcome you into the family of God.

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.