How To Spot A Christian

These were my sermon notes from Sunday morning. I don't guarantee spelling, grammar, etc. are used correctly since these were only my speaking notes.

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Gospel Reading:        John 13:31-35

Scripture Text:           1 Corinthians 13

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On June 13, 2003, I was ordained as an elder in the United Methodist Church.

A lot had to happen in order to get that far, but one of the tougher ones was the series of theological questions I had to give written answers for.

One of the questions:

“What are the marks of the Christian life?”

How will you know if someone else is an authentic, real Christian and not just faking it?

How will someone else know if YOU are an authentic, real Christian and not just faking it?

Scripture speaks of a multitude of “marks” signifying the authentic Christian life.

James 1:27...   keeping oneself ‘unpolluted’ is one mark of the Christian life that I see throughout Scripture… the idea of holiness.

“Do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance,” Peter explains in I Peter 1:14-16, and then calls us all to “be holy.”

For me, holiness boils down to Christians making personal choices about their personal behaviors based on the choices God would make as described in the Scriptural record.

One mark of a Christian when they obey the principles of the Bible. I John 5:3  reads: “This is love for God: to obey his commands.” Jesus said “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and do not do what I say?” (Luke 6:46).  

We also read that in Matthew 7:22 where Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord.’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in Heaven.”

As a United Methodist, I believe other marks of the Christian life include meeting together in worship (Hebrews 10:25), active participation in worship by singing, praying, listening, giving, and such (I Cor. 14:26-27), baptism (Matt. 28:19), sharing Holy Communion (I Cor. 11:17-33), hearing the “instruction of the apostles” (Acts 2:42), studying the Scriptures (II Tim. 2:15),  discipleship (Matt. 28:19), and being witnesses of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8).

But let’s take it a step further, shall we? 

Paul spoke of the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5: 22-23) that would be natural by-products of a Christian life:

·      love,

·      joy,

·      peace,

·      patience,

·      kindness,

·      goodness,

·      faithfulness,

·      gentleness, and

·      self-control.

Ultimately though, I think it boils down to what Jesus says in John 13:35, when he clarifies that love is the determining mark of who is or isn’t Christian… “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Years later, his disciples would reiterate that delineating mark of a Christian in passages like First John 4:7-8: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

And the love that marks a Christian life is evidenced by our willingness “to lay down our lives for our brothers…” including sharing our material possessions.

HOW DO WE DO THIS?

HOW DO WE KNOW IF WE HAVE THIS KIND OF LOVE THAT SHOWS THAT WE ARE TRULY CHRISTIANS?

John cautioned the church to “not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth” (I John 3:18).

James explained that this action- and truth-based form of love would be seen by believers caring for those in distress… even orphans and widows…. (James 1:27).

Peter encouraged the believers to “Live such good lives…” that “they may see your good deeds and glorify God…” (I Peter 2:12).

Jesus Himself spoke of the importance of action-based love when he explained that reward and punishment for those who claimed to be his followers would be based on what people had done “to the least of these” because that was the same as doing (or not doing) for him.

Therefore, If I am TRULY a Christian, then I “love my neighbor” (Matt. 19:19) in such a way that I reach out and help with what I have as much as possible to the hungry, thirsty, sick, imprisoned, orphaned, widowed, and needy… physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually.

HOW DO I LOVE MY NEIGHBOR?

I Cor. 13:4-8   Love is…

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever.

Not that any of us does this perfectly, but we know it's what we are to strive for.

O God, help us to love those you've put in our path... that we have the "mark" that shows others that we are YOUR disciples!

Whose Job Is It Anyway?

Here are my sermon notes from this morning's sermons at Reynoldsville: First UMC.

"WHOSE JOB IS IT ANYWAYS?"

Scripture Text: John 13: 3-17

 

I visited my home church, Shinglehouse UMC, a few years back and noticed this in their bulletin:

Pastor: Rev. Randy Headley
Organist: Barb Wheeler
Ministers: All The People

ALL THE PEOPLE are the ministers! It reminds me of the Scripture in Matthew 25 where Jesus tells the story of the sheep & the goats and how doing things like feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick & those in prison, are all ways of showing love to Jesus himself. His words there are "because you've done these things for the least of these my children, you've done them for me..."

That little church has captured that... the Pastor is there as a servant and an administrator and as a preacher, but most of the ministry of the church actually comes from the lay people who sit in the pews each and every Sunday. The ministry of the church comes primarily through them, even though most people will still speak of the pastor as “the minister.”

Well, what Jesus told in story form there in the end of Matthew, he retells the night before his death, in very easy to understand, hard to miss terms by using an example.

Read with me our Scripture passage for this morning: John 13:3-17 (New Living Translation)

Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.  So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.


When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”


Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.”


“No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.”


Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!”


Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” For Jesus knew who would betray him. That is what he meant when he said, “Not all of you are clean.”


After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

Even though the apostle John spends several more chapters on what Jesus did that final night, and what he taught, this teaching on service is the final night before his crucifixion. He wanted the disciples to remember these things, because they are some of the most important aspects of following Christ: the whole idea of service.

And Jesus goes about it in a way that they cannot forget.

He, the leader, the master, the teacher, the KING, starts acting like one of the lowest of slaves... He gets down and washes their feet. He serves them.

verse 4 "so he got up from the table..." Later in verse 26, he is back sitting at the table and dipping the bread.

‘So what?’ you might ask... ‘What you getting at preacher?’

Just this...
Jesus shows us here that service sometimes is inconvenient... maybe even in the middle of a meal. Yet, by his own example, we see that even a meal, the very meal that was to become the most famous meal in all of history, The Last Supper, even a meal is no excuse to keep us from serving others.

In my life, it was my grandmother who showed this behavior best. I'm thinking of the big Sunday dinners, or for that matter the everyday evening meals, where most of the way through the meal she is up & down, back & forth, making sure there were enough potatoes or meat or beverage or vegetable or whatever... but if she saw that one of us needed something, especially my grandpa, she would drop her fork, with food still on it, and get up to go get whatever was needed. Then she would return to her meal and the food on her plate.

Jesus does that here. Even though it's the middle of the meal, he stops eating and takes off his outside coat, rolls his sleeves up (so to speak), grabs a towel, and starts washing the disciples’ feet.

Sometimes service as a disciple of Jesus Christ will be equally inconvenient, yet still necessary. Yet how many times do we say, ‘Wait a few moments, or a few days, and then I'll be able to help?’

Notice also that Jesus also washes Judas Iscariot's feet. They all sit down to the meal and are eating, when Jesus gets up and washes the feet of the disciples. Then he goes back to the meal and tells everyone that the one who will betray him is the one he gives the bread to. In fact, Scripture even records Jesus talking to Judas after the meal. There is no question about it... Judas was there when we are told that Jesus washed his disciples’ feet.

How many times do we say we want to serve Christ, but then when he deliberately puts us in a place where we need to serve him by serving others, we refuse to serve some just because they've been mean to us or hurt us in some way? We are more likely to say something like “If that's the way she's going to be, then see if I ever try to help her again!” Yet here is Jesus, who already knows what Judas is up to and what he's about to do, and still he is shown the love of Jesus like every other disciple.

And lest we think that this is just a message for just the “church leaders on how to serve their church and their God, look again at verses 12-17:

After washing their feet, he put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.


ANY of us who call ourselves followers of Christ are his disciples and are called to serve him and follow his example. We are to be involved in service... through the local church and as individuals. It reminds me of the story I once read about “Who's Job Is It?”

"This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done." (author unknown)

We are to be involved in service... through the local church and as individuals. We are called, like Jesus said in verse 17: “Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.”

Jesus is our example here. We are to serve, we are to serve even if it's inconvenient, and we are to serve even those whom we don't like or who hurt us. But how we serve speaks of how we love our Lord.

This morning we have dedicated our service of others, to the Lord by our acceptance of positions of service here in the church. The committee chairs and members, the secretaries, the communion stewards, the ushers, the musicians, the custodians, the historians, and the financial people.

Some of the positions may seem “important” or even “spiritual” while others may not. Yet, each job, from chairperson to committee member to the cooks to the custodians is an indispensible part of the way that we, as a united, unified group of believers, serve our community and our Lord.

As we prepare for our final hymn let me just remind you of what was said to people attending the little Quaker church as they were preparing to end their worship time and then go home: They were told: “The service starts when the meeting ends.”

We worship this morning, but our service is how we work together and individually for the kingdom of God.

(Adapted from a sermon I preached January 5, 1997)