Good morning. To prepare us to continue our worship and to hear the words that the Lord will surely lay on our hearts this morning, let’s take a moment and confess our shortcomings, voice our concerns and offer our prayers in silence to the Lord. . . . . . Most gracious and awesome Father, I pray that You will awaken Your Spirit in this church, in this congregation. I pray that all my words and thoughts be guided by Your Holy Spirit. For this morning, dear Lord, we are in need of Your presence and guidance. Unite us as a single body of Christ working together for Your glory and hear us, O Lord as we pray aloud to You in the manner You have taught us. . . Our Father, etc. .
The first scripture this morning is from:
2 Kings 5:1-14
This is the story of a Syrian army chief who was quite successful, but had leprosy. A captive slave girl told Naaman about a healing prophet of God who would be able to heal his leprosy. So Naaman sets out to get healed, carrying himself with all the arrogance and self-reliant attitudes of his position. Naaman expected to be treated with all the pomp and circumstance that would be fitting of his position. He expected this prophet to come out and bow down and welcome him and, with a wave of the hand, heal him from his leprosy.
But that’s not what happens. Instead Elisha sends out a messenger and tells Naaman to go wash in the Jordan river. Naaman leaves, quite angry. His dignity is hurt. His officers talk him into going back and doing what the prophet asked. They talked him into putting his pride aside and to try what the prophet commanded. He finally listens, and, of course, he was healed. Hear the story from 2 Kings; I will be reading from (The Living Bible).
1The king of Syria had high admiration for Naaman, the commander-in-chief of his army, for he had led his troops to many glorious victories. So he was a great hero, but he was a leper. 2Bands of Syrians had invaded the land of Israel, and among their captives was a little girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid.
3One day the little girl said to her mistress, "I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy!"
4Naaman told the king what the little girl had said.
5"Go and visit the prophet," the king told him. "I will send a letter of introduction for you to carry to the king of Israel."
So Naaman started out, taking gifts of $20,000 in silver, $60,000 in gold, and ten suits of clothing. 6The letter to the king of Israel said: "The man bringing this letter is my servant Naaman; I want you to heal him of his leprosy."
7When the king of Israel read it, he tore his clothes and said, "This man sends me a leper to heal! Am I God, that I can kill and give life? He is only trying to get an excuse to invade us again."
8But when Elisha the prophet heard about the king of Israel's plight, he sent this message to him: "Why are you so upset? Send Naaman to me, and he will learn that there is a true prophet of God here in Israel."
9So Naaman arrived with his horses and chariots and stood at the door of Elisha's home. 10Elisha sent a messenger out to tell him to go and wash in the Jordan River seven times and he would be healed of every trace of his leprosy! 11But Naaman was angry and stalked away.
"Look," he said, "I thought at least he would come out and talk to me! I expected him to wave his hand over the leprosy and call upon the name of the Lord his God and heal me! 12Aren't the Abana River and Pharpar River of Damascus better than all the rivers of Israel put together? If it's rivers I need, I'll wash at home and get rid of my leprosy." So he went away in a rage.
13But his officers tried to reason with him and said, "If the prophet had told you to do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply to go and wash and be cured!"
14So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the prophet had told him to. And his flesh became as healthy as a little child's, and he was healed!
This ends the reading of the first scripture lesson for this morning.
I believe there is something really important and appropriate to this passage. This is a story of humility. Humility and healing go hand in hand. Until we can get our own, self-reliant feelings out of the way and rely on God alone, there can be no healing either physical or spiritual. We must put ourselves, our pride and our hurt feelings aside and trust that God knows better. Naaman had a choice. He could have chosen to keep his leprosy or to keep his pride. He made the choice to forsake his pride and be healed. We have that same choice every day.
The second scripture reading is from the Gospel of Luke, chapter 10, verses 1-11 and 16-20. This is taken from the New King James version.
After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 2Then He said to them, "The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. 3Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves. 4Carry neither money bag, knapsack, nor sandals; and greet no one along the road. 5But whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house.' 6And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. 7And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house. 8Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. 9And heal the sick there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' 10But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, 11'The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.'
16He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me."
17Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name." 18And He said to them, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you. 20Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
There’s a number of verses that strike me in this passage. I am always amazed at how God works in our lives. There are several thousand pastors and lay speakers across the country this morning, all preaching on this same scripture. There will be several thousand sermons all different. Some will be similar because of the many preaching points that are available and the guidance of the Lectionary, but they will all be different. You see, God moves in us to focus on a particular verse or part of a verse and speak the words that He wants to impart to each church and congregation separately.
The first thing I noticed in this passage is the seventy people who were sent out. Up to this point we have read only about the 12 chosen disciples and how they were to go out and preach and teach and witness for Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus gathers seventy others around Him and gives them new and specific instructions for witnessing to the world. We generally look upon the disciples as the ministers of Christ. They are the preachers and pastors and missionaries who were charged with witnessing and teaching. But now, Jesus went beyond this inner circle. He charged those in the congregation to become witnesses for Him also.
This was Independence Day for this small band of Jews. Just as we celebrate our independence and freedom from the old, this group was given freedom to pursue a new life of happiness and peace in the Lord. They were released from the old rules and laws and asked to go out into a sometimes ruthless world and spread the good news of independence and of an awesome peace. But this Independence Day was quite remarkable for this group. They were given the power to win out over evil. And we, today, have that same power to win over evil as long as we keep God first and foremost in our hearts and minds.
Besides the obvious, July 4th has held a special significance for my wife and I for the last 21 years. It is the birthday of our middle son Michael. He grew up thinking all those fireworks were in celebration of his birthday. And, I will admit, we waited for quite a few years before telling him they were not. But, now, today, they are. He is spending his 21st. birthday along with his younger brother Joshua, in Iraq. They have both been serving in the National Guard 109th Field Artillery, Bravo Battery since February. And I know they are both doing their part to spread some of the good news of our Lord to fellow soldiers and others they meet and doing their part in fighting for freedom and independence for a nation of oppressed people. They are praying for this church right now.
So, let’s take just a moment here and offer up a prayer for all of our soldiers who are spending this July 4th in a foreign land, and all who have ever served, defending freedom for all of God’s people. And let’s offer up a word of thanksgiving that God has allowed us to live in a land free from oppression, in a land where we can worship our God without fear. You can pray silently or you can lift your voice out loud and if two or more begin praying out loud at the same time, please do not stop. God can hear us all. Please rise and stand with me and if you feel like grabbing your neighbor’s hand, do it. Pray with me.
As you hear our prayers dear Lord, please send your blessings on all who are serving and all who have served in the fight for freedom and independence. Hear our silent prayers and hear our verbal requests. . . pause . . .Thank you Lord for the freedoms we enjoy and the ability to worship you freely. Amen. Thank you, please be seated.
So remember, it was Jesus Himself who gave us, the successors to the seventy, an independence from the old laws and gave us very explicit instructions. We are to go out into our world, our workplace, our homes, our circle of friends and relatives and sometimes, the battlefield and witness for Christ. And, if we keep our focus on God, we will not be intimidated by any evil that may confront us or any evil that confronts others around us.
But this passage goes on. It talks about those who are not willing to listen when we witness and to those who are not willing to receive peace. It tells us to wipe the dust from our feet and move on. When we read about the earlier commission of the 12 in Luke and in Matthew, Christ says "to shake off the dust." This saying has always fascinated me. It has a widespread meaning.
This story tells us that the harvest is great, but the laborers are few. This is the reason for urgency. There are so many to get the story of Christ and Salvation to, but so few to carry that story. It doesn’t mean the world will end tomorrow; it just shows us how great the task is. So we should not waste our time. We should not dwell where there is no hope of reaching through to someone. We should shake off the dust and move on to the next person.
We are to offer peace. That peace is a great inner feeling that can only come from knowing Christ as our Lord and Savior. We must try to impart that peace to others, but if they are not willing to accept it, then we must move on to offer that peace to others who might be more willing to accept. So, we should shake off the dust. There is too little time and so much to do.
This story also tells us about getting stuck. About dwelling on things or people we cannot change. About spending too much time trying to make something right that we really have no power to change.
I have seen many Christians get stuck trying to change a person and get them to understand and believe in our Lord and His salvation. And I have seen many Christians get stuck trying to change situations and make them better (at least better in our way of seeing things). And I have watched those Christians become disappointed and angry because they could not make the changes they wanted. They began to doubt themselves and their faith was tested. They started to feel like they were failing. Their ego got in the way. They forgot to step back and let God take control. They forgot that there are just some things that cannot be changed. They forgot that there are times when we must shake off the dust.
This is not a new thought, but it has carried through the ages. Today we see this message in the Serenity Prayer. The longer version goes like this”
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen. --Reinhold Niebuhr
It’s the same thought that was put forth in our Old Testament in Proverbs 3, 5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct your paths.
So, all of this tells us not to waste time. We must move on, past disappointments and delays. Our job is to tell the old, old story as spoken of in the hymn, the old, old story of Jesus and His love. And when we come upon setbacks, we must shake off the dust and move on, keeping our ultimate goal in sight and not become sidetracked with diversions or get stuck on things we cannot change.
From what I’ve been told, you, as a congregation are going through a setback. I understand that you have lost your pastor. This is always quite a setback in any church. This means many of you are going through a period of disbelief, shock, anger, distrust, fear and many other feelings. And these feelings will have to be dealt with before you will be able to move on.
This will mean change and change is hard to deal with. Everyone here will experience this change differently and everyone here will have a different understanding of what is happening. The most important thing to keep in mind is that the Lord works His wonders in His own way. We may not understand now and maybe never will understand, but we must trust that the Lord knows what He is doing.
As the body of Christ, we must acknowledge and try to understand the feelings of all parts of that body and be as supportive and comforting as we can be towards one another. Remember also that it is not a pastor that makes a church. A church is the sum of all of its members. The body is the sum of all of its parts. You are the church. You will determine what happens as you begin to set aside your feelings and let yourself trust in God.
Just like the story of Naaman, healing will occur when you are able to remove yourself and your feelings and your pride and your hurt from the center of what is happening and let God take control. Then, and only then, will true healing take place. Then, and only then, will you be able to shake the dust off your feet and move forward to do God’s work.
I would charge you to use this time, this day to reset your clocks. It is not time to turn back to the past; it is time to use this date as the date from which all future things will happen in this church. Next year will be the year after this church changed.
Pray with me.
Father, send down the peace that can only come through You and Your son, Jesus Christ. Send your peace to this church, to this body of Yours so that they may know that all things are done by You for the benefit of the whole body. Comfort and reassure each member of this congregation. Console those that need your consolation. Understand those that need your understanding. Help those that need to mourn this loss. Help those that are angry to lay that anger at Your feet and move on. Hold them all in Your loving arms as they face the trials of finding a new pastor and a new direction in Your fight for truth. Let this be a new day of independence for every member of this church. Let this be the day for a new beginning. We ask this all in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Benediction:
As you leave here today, accept the peace that only God can give you and only you can receive. It is there to help you through the days ahead. It is yours. He has given it. Don’t make Him shake off the dust. Amen.
Sermon of July 4, 2004
Presented by the direction of our Lord
To the congregation of
La Anna United Methodist Church
By: art
