You Are Mine All Mine!

January 10, 2016   Acts 8.14-17, *Isaiah 43.1-7 “Mine, All Mine” Pastor Jacqueline Hines

When we read and study and listen to God’s word we cannot assume that every conversation is to be taken literally. We cannot assume that every biblical proclamation is absolute and sealed in concrete.

When we hear David say, ”The Lord is my shepherd,” We clearly understand that David is a King and not a sheep and Jesus is a carpenter and not a shepherd. We hear the spiritual truth as well as the and physical reality that surrounds the biblical symbolism.

We have less confidence in our interpretations whenever the bible uses directives, such as remember the Sabbath and do not kill. Our culture teaches us to do what we are told to do and not to ask too many questions.

Our God is not confined to our culture or any other culture. For example, God wears what God wants to wear. If God wants to come to us wearing a nose ring, a tattoo, a hijab, or a crew cut then God does what God wants to do. God thinks about what God thinks. God does not necessarily think about what you or I think about. If you get under your warm covers at night after you have had a tasty supper and you are thinking about that person who does not have enough food or enough covers, then you are probably thinking about what God thinks about. If you are thinking about what financial plans you have to make to prepare senior citizens for social security 20 years from now like the Social security Administration is doing, then you are probably thinking about what God is thinking about. 

God comes in an assortment of ways and speaks in a variety of languages and appears in whatever way is necessary to get our attention so that we can hear what was given to us through Isaiah.“

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;”   ----That is I have paid whatever price is to be paid to claim you.

“I have called you by name, you are mine.”  We belong to God. At times that feels real good and comfortable. At other times we may feel a bit constrained and controlled, when we have something else in mind to do or be.

When I was a teenager, I worked in a gas station on the night shift. There was a hospital up the street and employees would come throughout the night to fill their tanks with gas. In between there were many quiet moments when I could gaze at the stars and the wonders of the night and talk to God.

In God’s own way, God spoke back to me. One night I sensed God’s presence and love and embrace and the words “You are mine, all mine,” came to my heart.  Years later I read this passage in Isaiah 43 and verse 1 where God tells the people, “You are mine,” and I realized our life always connects to the Scriptures!

Isaiah continues, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”

3 For I am the LORD your God,

   the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.

 4 Because you are precious in my sight,

   and honoured, and I love you,

I give people in return for you, [it sounds like God is negotiating hostages – God’s patience and longsuffering with us may lead to a negotiating conversation at times, too]

 5 Do not fear, for I am with you;

God’s message is clear and personal: I know you, I love you,

I will be with you.

What a wonderful world it is when we sense that we are known by God in this infinite universe. How awesome it is when, when we feel loved though evil surrounds us. What a comfort to be certain that we are not alone.

Made in God’s image we humans often communicate those same messages to one another  - I know you, I love you, I will be with you.

Being known and loved and with each other keeps us real like the Velveteen rabbit – a stuffed animal who was so loved day after day that he became real.  Or as one of the characters in the book says, “Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

Being a Christian and being a United Methodist is all about being known by our names, loving each other and, keeping the promise of the covenant to be with one another. We keep our covenant with each other all the way around the world.

That is why I try not to get upset when I am asked to support people I don’t even know around the world. I can’t complain after knowing that we have missionaries who are giving their lives and sacrificing their luxurious lifestyles in order to pour love into the lives of God’s children, getting to know them by name, loving them day after day and staying with them until the mission is fulfilled.

I wanted very much to make the Conference No More Malaria Campaign go away, but I realize more and more every day that God is on the side of the poor and Malaria is definitely a disease of poverty. Malaria is treatable and preventable.

We have spent millions on education, medication, and nets under which people can sleep and avoid being bitten, since the mosquito feeds at night. At one point 3000 children would die in one day because of malaria. We as the United Methodist Church have participated in cutting the mortality rate in half. We have sent 45 million nets, trained and equipped nurses and doctors and much more. 

We work together because we are called to stand up for the poor and because we know it could be us. The Ebola epidemic reminded us last year that we are our neighbor’s keepers. In 2012 more people died of malaria than they did of HIV and AIDS in this world.

Over half the soldiers serving in the South Pacific in World War II came down with Malaria. Those working on the Panama Canal saw 20,000 deaths from Malaria. Presidents George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Andrew Jackson all suffered from malaria.

Fortunately, in 1949, the United States was declared malaria free. Medicine and insecticide have evolved with global conversation and cooperation. Today, those most effected are the poor, and God is calling his children to stand together as always.

In March of last year, the World Health Organization formally notified the world of an outbreak of Ebola virus. Six months later in August, they declared the epidemic to be a "public health emergency of international concern.”

Like wildfire, we also have an epidemic of domestic terrorism – whether it be shooting out our shooting up.  We have much to do to learn about responding to our fearful neighbors, to those whose mental health is strained, and those who need real people to share a little love.

I am ever so glad that we are a part of a church that cares and puts our faith in action. Tamie is a candidate for ministry in our Conference. She is attending Lancaster seminary and we are her mentoring church for the year. Her seminary training required that she go on a foreign mission. She is at this very moment in Haiti – the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Her husband is giving us a day by day synopsis of her activity through emails. When she returns she will share her story with us and we will listen because we are ever so ready to hear what God has spoken to her heart.

In the meantime, inasmuch as we grow convinced that we belong to God and God’s people – that is that everybody knows our name, that we are much loved and adored, and that we are never alone, we too are hearing God speaking and we are grateful for God’s word. For, we know that we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Amen.