SETTING THE CONTEXT

A short phrase in this passage piqued my curiosity, “We had suffered and been shamefully mistreated at Philippi.” The first recipients were probably instantly aware of the details of this statement, but that memory has faded for hearers 2,000 year after the fact. So I went searching through the book of Acts to see if Paul had any altercations in Philippi. In Acts16 we read that Paul and Silas’ journeyed to Philippi. One day, Paul called out a spirit that was possessing a slave girl that act made her useless to her owners and they dragged Paul and Silas to be judged. They were publicly stripped of their clothing and severely beaten with rods. Then they were thrown in the local jail and their feet were fastened in stocks. Think of them bloody and sore from their beating now with their feet locked so they can’t move around in a dark smelly cell with other prisoners. God rescued them from their imprisonment and in the process converted the jailer and his family to believers in the way of Christ. Was this incident what Paul was referring to in our passage, maybe or maybe not, but it gives us a clue as to what he and the first disciples faced as they lived and shared the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Read 1 Thessalonians 2:1-8

Things are really heating up for Jesus. He entered Jerusalem for what would be the last time. His conflicts with the religious leaders were increasing in intensity. They challenged his authority. “Just who do you think you are?” In the parable we are about to read Jesus tries to get them to see what really matters to God.

Read Matthew 21:28-32

THE SERMON
It must be especially painful to God to have believers resist God’s will and way. The religious leaders in Matthew’s Gospel were actively resisting Jesus’ message. They had gotten comfortable turning the practice of faith into an activity of personal gain. Their confidence in their righteousness blinded them to compassion for others. Can you imagine if someone came in here and told us that prostitutes and corrupt politicians were going into the kingdom of God ahead of us? We’d be so offended, but that is precisely the message Jesus is giving, a message he still aims at the church today. Biblical scholar, Douglas Hare sees the connection to today’s church, “How easily “church work” degenerates into little more than simply maintaining the institution, with no excitement concerning what God’s active grace is doing and consequently no enthusiasm for evangelism and renewal! We say that we are going to work in the vineyard, but instead of harvesting the grapes we spend our time rearranging the stones along the path!”^[i] One son said no to his father’s work request, and then he turned around and did it anyway. The other son said, “Sure, I’ll go” but then he never followed through. Who did the will of the father? This parable tells us that lip service is no service. The response to God’s gospel message calls for more than saying we believe, it calls us to live what we believe. The Pharisees went to John the Baptist to be baptized clear back in Matthew chapter 3 verse 7. John very harshly called them to “bear fruit worthy of repentance” and not to cling to their self-righteousness. Bear fruit. It is a phrase that keeps popping up in my Scripture reading and devotions. Bear fruit.

It had to be hard for Paul to preach to the people of Thessalonica with the scars, both physical and emotional, from that other trip still fresh on his mind. I can’t imagine being beaten for doing Christ’s work. Yet some Christians including our friend, Surafel, have experienced just that. The only way you could keep going is if something else is more important than the suffering; for these Christians that something is sharing the gospel.

A life pleasing to God, a fruit-bearing life requires self-sacrifice. It requires spending ourselves on something more important than our personal gain and comfort. We see the supreme example of self-sacrifice in Jesus Christ. Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Paul, Silas and the other apostles knew what Jesus meant. They knew self-sacrifice as we saw in Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians. Church membership in the USA and in Europe is declining at a steady rate. I think some of the malaise comes from our comfort, if we don’t sacrifice anything for Jesus, if we don’t risk anything we don’t feel the fire of his spirit. There are things more important than comfort.

We have to not only believe in Jesus, we have to believe him when he says we must bear fruit, that all nations will be judged by whether they feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, cloth the naked, take care of the sick and visit the imprisoned. (Matthew 25:31-46) The work in God’s vineyard includes doing to “the least of these” God’s needy and suffering children. When we are faithful, when we sacrifice ourselves for God’s work a Beacon of Hope shines brightly into this broken world.

When people ask us how the trip to Ethiopia was, it’s hard to know how to answer. It was meaningful. It was wonderful. It was hard and uncomfortable. It still haunts us. It was amazing. I had to wear a pollution-filtering mask every time I went out in the city. I felt foolish even though I used a traditional head scarf to hide the mask, but it really did help. By God’s grace and with my doctor’s help, the headaches stayed under control throughout the trip. Most everyone on the team had stomach upset. The teenager on the team had to receive an IV from our team medic because she was so dehydrated from vomiting. The trip was challenging. Every one of these people though will tell you it was so worth it. Not one of them regretted going at all – I asked them. I have no doubt that some will return to Ethiopia to work again because we found something more important than our comfort. We were able to look into the eyes of abandoned children and say to them in words and deeds, “Jesus loves you so much he has called us, people from across the ocean, to help you.” We were able to say to the dedicated and terribly underpaid staff who works with these children every day, we are partners with you in this important work of God’s. We were able to witness the Beacon of Hope that is shining so brightly in a place where beggars live on the streets in great numbers and the average life expectancy is age 45. We were able to witness the bright faces and warm hugs of the children in the orphanage, Drop-In Center, and from the foster homes. You can see such a difference in the health and demeanor of the children who have been in the program a while and those just off the streets. The team who went in March was cautioned about one young girl who was new to the Drop-In Center. She had been brutally gang raped on the street and she was very volatile. Just seven months later, she greeted us with hugs and smiles at the airport and fell into the arms of a pastor who returned with us from that March trip. Barbara Bolkan discovered while she was helping the medic examine the children that this girl suffers from terrible migraine headaches. I was able to give her some aids to deal with the light and sound sensitivity and to tell her and the staff some acupressure points to relief some of the pain. God even used “the thorn in my flesh” and in Barbara’s daughter’s flesh to relieve the suffering of another! This child and the other children are a testimony to the power of the Beacon of Hope! The children are receiving such loving care, not only the basic necessities, but as they are able the staff gives the children little things that make life so special. The children at the orphanage have a recreation trip 2-3 times per year. There were photos on the living room wall of a trip to the zoo. They have programs in the chapel in the Drop-In Center to recognize the children who achieve high marks in school. They are paying for three children to attend preschool. Your sponsorship makes all this possible. Your cash gifts bought a CD player for the chapel in the Drop-In Center. The children really really wanted to be able to listen to Christian CDs. They were so thrilled by the gift. The ministry bought a cooker for the staple breads they eat. The old cooker was unreliable. They are going to get it repaired so the cooks will be able to cook twice as much. There is still more money they will be using.

We heard about the impact of the March team’s HIV/AIDS training. Many leaders stood up to testify to the work they’ve done since the workshop in March. Hundreds of people have been tested, counseled and cared for. One man said that he got so much from the teaching on John 9 “who sinned this man or his parents?” Now he realizes that people with HIV should not be blamed for their disease and he is spreading that message to others. He is counseling people about the nutritional needs and encouraging people to get tested. One man testified that his church has really taken on their responsibility in earnest and are going all out to prevent folks from being infected, helping to train the youth in peer education, and married couples. He said there is real change as people are becoming more aware, being tested and as the church is becoming more involved. Many people testified to how their churches are collecting money and supplies for orphans in their communities, they are going into the homes of the very sick providing assistance, giving counsel and training them on how to care for themselves. We took notes of many more stories. We saw the Beacon of Hope lit by the Mission Team in March led by Rev Jim Swenson and Ann Hansen is still shining brightly and still expanding the light.

You don’t have to go to Africa to work in God’s vineyard. There is important work everywhere.  We can give a sacrifice of our time and commitment to be Stephen Ministers, Sunday School teachers or volunteers here or at the other organizations that serve others right here on our campus. We can give of ourselves on mission trips like the trip to Africa or the trip to New Orleans that just left. We can sacrificially give our money to further the work of the church or support kingdom-building ministries like Hope for the Hopeless. We can sacrifice convenience by driving less, carpooling, recycling our trash, carrying cloth shopping bags, or do other activities that care for God’s creation. The point is the giving of ourselves: our time, our talent, our presence, our money, our witness, giving all of these sacrificially so that the Beacon of Hope may shine through us. The ironic thing is that those who live biblically, those who live self-sacrificially emptying themselves for God’s purposes are filled with the spirit of God. I encourage you to share yourselves generously, to live a fruit-bearing life so that through the work of the church, your work God’s Beacon of Hope will continue to shine brightly into this troubled and broken world. It is worth the sacrifice. Amen.

Sermon delived by Rev. Nancy Cushman on October 26, 2008.