March 11 2018 (Fourth
Sunday in Lent) Ephesians 2.1-10 “The World Calling” Pastor Jacqueline Hines
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A few moments after the daughter announced her
engagement, her Father asked, "Does this fellow have any money?"
"Oh Daddy, you men are all alike," sighing
deeply, she replied, "That's exactly what he asked me about you."
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Paul was proud of the church in Corinth. They
had become a church against many odds. The church was a part of a culture of extraordinary
temptations, distractions, and opportunities to satisfy the self and put God
last. The church at Corinth had issues, but they still found a way to be
exemplary Christians.
We find so much information in Paul’s pastoral
letter to the church in Corinth. They gave generous offerings to missions and
to the poor so much so that other
churches were inspired. Corinthian Christians were very talented with
their spiritual gifts of teaching, preaching, witnessing, testimonies, prophesying
and speaking in tongues. They had plenty of fellowships and food over which to
gather and encourage one another in the Lord. They needed the encouragement to
provide comfort for those times when life and the business of building a church
brought moments of discouragement.
As they united and worked in harmony with one
another, they had to stay alert and prayerful for there were some among them
more hungry than others. There were others who did not quite fully appreciate
the enormous value of keeping all
Ten Commandments. Some saints could not get comfortable kneeling at the
Communion rail knowing that the Table of the Lord was always open to EVERYBODY
no matter what transgender, transsexual, trans union, transmissions, and
transformations they brought to the table.
The church in Corinth was a church that was
growing and developing in amazing ways. They had become a lively church, a bold
and feisty church. They were at times just as cold-hearted and evasive or hot
tempered and confrontational as much as any family or faith community, but through
prayer they had grown, so much so that Paul could talk about how they were in
the past. He said in verses 1-3:
You were
dead through the trespasses and sins 2in which you once lived, following the
course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, [ the devil
] the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. 3All of us once lived among them in the
passions of our flesh, following the
desires of flesh and senses, and we were by nature children of wrath, like everyone else.
Paul commended them on their spiritual growth,
despite their struggles. We all struggle.
We were taught by a counseling professor in
seminary that it is ok to be passionate about our faith, even to the point of being
mad at God, to let it all hang out because God is strong enough to handle our
anger. But there came a day when I learned that we can take that attitude a
little too far. [slide # 1 attitude is everything]
A member of a United Methodist church was in a
military hospital in the psychiatric ward. He had been diagnosed with
schizophrenia and he was not happy about taking the medicine that would bring a
balance to his brain. He was mean and surly but his family stood by his side
for years.
He tells the story of the day he had a vision
that Jesus was standing at the foot of his bed with eyes of love. He raised his
fist and swung at Jesus as hard as he could, so hard that he knocked his own
self out of bed and bang – onto the floor. He had gone too far with his anger. He
only brought harm on to himself. [slide # 2 man on bed]
One day I gave God a piece of MY mind. I do not remember what I was
thinking about but I clearly recall feeling that God was no longer worthy of my
time and attention. [slide # 3 my life….] I ranted and raved in my heart, rebelling against a God who did
not bother to ask me if I wanted to be born and who refused to be my personal
butler. Suddenly, I had a vision of a very small person with an ancient face
full of hurt, running quickly to get away from the shower of self-centered
frustration that I felt too free to share. That vision was a powerful reminder
that words hurt even when they are unspoken. Negative feelings are weapons. [slide # 4 gun]
One of my students taught me that being out of
control is not necessarily out of control at all. She was a new student in the
high school math class in the heart of Baltimore. For several days, she entered
my classroom, raging at me, spewing insults reserved for substitute teachers
which I was. She used the “f” word often and rejected all my efforts to calm, claim,
conciliate and capture her attention. It was obvious though, that she did not dare
to get up in the faces of the “bloods” or the “crypts” gang members who bullied
her, for they would surely retaliate with violence. The lesson was that every
rager, carefully chooses each victim. No one is as out of control as often as one
might think. We do not lose our tempers, we choose our victims very, very
carefully.
By the grace of God, this child neither
annoyed me nor frightened me as some students did. God used my calm and
confidence in that instance. It did not take long before she transformed into a
sweet angel. [slide # 5 attitude…little
thing]
Another time, thinking that I could be honest
with God and share my raw emotions, with no effort to filter my thoughts. I was
again silently fussing and fuming about how life was not going MY way, I was telling God off. That
is not all I was doing. I was forgetting who God is. I was forgetting that God
is worthy of praise and honor. I was refusing to realize that no one, not even
God deserves anything less than something good.
All of a sudden, in my quiet storm of rage, instead
of feeling free and relieved, I felt the wrath of God, like a hot flash, warning
me to get a hold of myself and show respect and gratitude! The feeling lasted a
mere millisecond before I was again flooded with a sense of God’s love and
warmth, but it was enough to shake me up and make me think twice before getting
up in God’s face again.
The only time we should dare to bring our mess
to anyone or anywhere, much less to the throne of God, is when we come
carefully confessing offering premeditated praise, and humbly hungering for
healing.
Negativity hurts. Negativity kills. Negativity
deadens the possibility of greatness. The world encourages us to be harsh and
heated or cold and crass. In our heart of hearts, we want a peaceful life. The
Lenten season is our escape to opportunities that soften our rough edges. It is
a season that teaches us to liven up, to act warmly, to listen and learn, from
one who has mastered the art of healthy relationships. Jesus saves us from troubling
and tumultuous relationships. That is another good reason to journey into Lent.
[slide # 6 attitude…flat tire]
Lent is an invitation to refresh our lives and
remove the deadly inspirations that threaten us. The Greek word for “dead” is
“nek ros” [slide # 7 nek
ros = dead because of sin]
It means to be departed from this life. “Nek ros” also means
destitute of a life that is devoted to God, inactive to doing the right thing,
and spiritually dead. [slide # 8 “Nek ros” = spiritually lifeless]
When we come to the Lenten journey with some spiritual dead
zones, we can be assured according to verse 4 that “…God, who is rich in mercy,
or kindness which is “el eh os” in the Greek - will bring great kindness to us. [ slide # 9 kindness = “el'-eh-os” in the Greek]
It is out of the great love with which God loved us that God,
not only shows great kindness, but makes us alive together with Christ. In the Greek, the word for love is - agape - …” [slide # 10 God’s agape love… -] which means affection and good will.
The love of God and the love the Corinthians shared with
each other shaped them and molded them into exemplary Christians. [ slide # 11 sweat, smile…] May the generation
behind us have our good example to follow. Amen. [slide # 12 …act…]
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