PENTECOST SERMON JUNE 8, 2014
I am so excited about this
picture, which I am going to unveil in a couple minutes. After exhaustive research, interviews with
academics, and reviewing polling data, I believe that I have discovered the
greatest person living on earth today.
· No, I am not talking about Mohammad Ali, nor pop
singer Katie Perry, nor Apple CEO Tim Cook, nor even Jesus.
· In fact, this person probably does not even know that
he or she is the greatest. So, let’s unveil the picture to see if you
can recognize the greatest person in the world.
(A large mirror is unveiled.
Preacher tkes the mirror around, so that people can see their faces in
the mirror..ashe says, “So & so is the gratest, etc)
Here’s
the scoop. Each and every one of you has
the God given potential which is beyond your current expectations—and this is true,
regardless of age, education, health, or income. You have a god given destiny to be the greatest.
· Now we are not talking about greatness as defined by
your family, your peers, or your employers.
Not greatness as defined by Entertainment Tonight and the celebrities
magazines on line, nor the Gallup poll.
· Too many people erroneously define greatness by
worldly popularity, power, wealth, physical strength, and the like. No, all that stuff will eventually fade away
and be lost in time.
· No, we are describing eternal greatness as defined by
Our Majesty, the Lord Jesus Christ, who says in today’s Gospel: please repeat
after me--- Whoever wants to become// the greatest in my kingdom,// must become
a servant.
· Yes, Jesus says the greatest person voluntarily serves others, especially in His
Body, the Church, of which He is the Head.
What a paradox!! The greatest
serves…and the greatest follow the example of Jesus, for he rendered
sacrificial service to us on the cross to reconcile us with God. And God rewarded Him by making Jesus the King
of the Universe.
Last Sunday, for those who
were not with us, we began a discussion on two types of Christianity. Please take out the yellow insert, and look at
the side which has the easy chair and the cross. Easy chair or spectator Christians are
primarily concerned about their comfort and security. They only do what they
want to do—doing what feels natural for them. They view Christian life as
coming to church, and then because they primarily have a consumer mentality,
they ask themselves, “What can this
church do for me?”
Now, frankly, when you are
new to active church life---you are meant to be spectators, for we learn by
watching others….by listening and absorbing—all of which is an essential aspect
of active Christian life. But there
finally comes a point where sitting on the sidelines for too long, can actually
wound your soul. Easy chair Christians, without living out an intentional a commitment to serve, will
discover that their faith begins to deteriorate & weaken, as we see in
point # 9. One manifestation of such spiritual
decay is that many easy chair Christians sit around and criticize the work that
the servants are doing, without pitching in to make things better. This happens in all churches, and it happens in
this one, and it is just not fair. Please, do not be part of the problem ; decide
to be part of the solution. Judging others can estrange you from God before you
even know that it has happened.
In contrast, let us look at
those described into day’s reading from Acts, which describes the Day of
Pentecost. 1981 years ago today, God the
Holy Spirit feel upon his disciples, empowering them to become the first
servant Christians. When each felt
touched by God, they immediately responded by creating a new community of
cheerful servants, which we know as the Church.. Looking at the right column,
we see the wonderful difference as described
in point # 3. Instead of seeking our own
self-centered will, we seek the will of Christ and seek to do what he wants us
to do…which is to use our gifts of time and talent to help up build his Body,
the church, because , WE ARE THE CHURCH—THE BODY OF
CHRIST ON EARTH. Instead of asking, “What can the church do for
me?, we ask, “What can I do for God and his church?”
And as was the experience of
those early disciples, something absolutely wonderful happens when we
serve: God the Holy Spirit
showers you with his happiness, through you in ways that you might never have expected. Because as The Purpose Driven Life reminds
–please repeat after me : WE WERE
CREATED //TO SERVE JESUS & HIS PEOPLE.
We have an inner need to serve others, just as Jesus has an inner need
to serve u and reward us..
Earlier this week, my wife
and I identified our best example of this dynamic in our lives, as a community
of servants made up of the two of us: Fifteen years ago, my wife told me that
she wanted a dog. Well, I had never had one before, and had suffered from severe
allergies most of my life. But, by then
, such allergies were no longer a problem!!!
So Ellen enthusiastically pressed
her case; but, she said that she wouldn’t, unless I agreed. PP Well,
I did not want a dog. The idea of a drooling, smelly, hairy creature getting
into my face just repulsed me. .PP But I decided to serve Ellen
by agreeing to become a dog owner. Well,
that little dog named Oliver, (who passed away last week), loved
me more than I deserved, and brought forth joy, laughter,
companionship, and adoration which
has permanently changed my life. When you serve others, God turns around and
serves you in ways that enrich life beyond our dreams.
Over the past month, the Vestry’s
Cheerful Service Commission has been in dialogue with the lay leadership of
your church---and today we are unveiling new volunteer opportunities--- –so that
everybody can contribute to the building up the strength of Christ Church. My
friends, you are our most important resource--not our money, not our building—as
important as those things are, you are more important.
Dan
Molly
Now we are going to provide a
couple minutes for you to individually pray and think about this---and to
individually ask Jesus to direct you to
serve Him ,here, in your church
family. While the Choir sings a new hymn
about ministry and serving, please consider checking off a job on one or both of these forms. Once
you have finished, raise your hand and the Ushers will bring around a basket to
collect your offerings, which we will later bless at the altar. So my friends,
remember the words of Jesus who said, “Give and it will be given back to you, a
double measure of His blessing that will overflow your ability to contain it
all.
The Rev. John Donnelly
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