SETTING THE CONTEXT

The psalm we are about to read celebrates God’s self-disclosure. It talks about God revealing Godself in three different ways. First it sings of God’s self-revelation through creation, secondly it sings of God’s self-revelation through the word, the spoken word and finally it tells of God’s self-revelation through particular work in an individual’s life. As we read this song responsively listen for these three movements of revelation: creation, the word, and the individual. Notice that the final verse is very familiar; George prays it before very sermon.

Read Psalm 19 responsively

The next reading is a very important story; in fact, many scholars say this reading is the climax of the Gospel of Mark. It takes place in a village well north of Galilee called Caesarea Philippi. In Old Testament times this place was a center of worship to the Canaanite god, Baal. Later the Greeks substituted their own god in place of Baal, the Greek god, Pan. In the high cliffs of Caesarea Philippi was a cave that was dedicated to Pan. Other rock cuts held statues dedicated to the mythical nymphs. Eventually the Romans used the area for emperor worship and that is why the area was renamed in honor of Caesar Augustus. Jesus traveled with his disciples to this place full of signs of other gods, competing gods to ask two very important questions and to teach a crucial lesson.

Read Mark 8:27-38

THE SERMON

Before I begin, can someone hand me a hymnal? (I ignored any offers.) I really would like a hymnal, would someone please hand me one? (I ignored any offers.) When we ask for something, we have to be willing to receive it. I learned this wonderful lesson from my devotional book, Journey of the Spirit.ⁱ When we ask for something, we have to be willing to receive it, that is true in our spiritual lives and it is true in the life of our church.

The psalm we read poetically describes God’s self-disclosure. God speaks to us through creation. I love the image painted in the Message Bible in verse 6. “That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith.” God speaks through the spoken word: the law, the commandments, the teachings. This revelation the psalm tells us is “more precious than gold and sweeter than honey.” God reveals Godself through our lives. We said together, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord.” Long after the psalm was written, God gave us another revelation in flesh and blood, Jesus, who embodied the glory of God that creation proclaims and the teachings of God passed on through the spoken word. He modeled the particular work that God does in human lives. God gave us Jesus so that through him we could see and experience God’s self-disclosure and we could see how to emulate him. Have you asked Jesus to lead you in the living of your life? When we ask for something, we have to be willing to receive it.

In the midst of all the competing gods, Jesus asked his followers two key questions: “Who do people say that I am? Who do you say that I am?” The answer to that final question would indicate whether or not the disciples would follow Jesus or not. It indicated whether they would be willing to receive what he taught them about being a follower. Every person who encounters Jesus must answer that question, “Who do you say that I am?” In fact, one professor said that the answer to that question is the beginning of all Christianity - then and now. If we say like Peter that he is the chosen one; he is the one we wish to follow, then we have to receive the way of life that he demands. As we read in Mark’s Gospel that way of life is a life of self-sacrifice. It is a life that is not “me-centered” but “God-centered” which involves being “other-centered”. If I wish to be a follower I am no longer the center of my universe. I have to be willing to love God and love others as Jesus loved them. Let’s not forget that Jesus was willing to be publicly humiliated and executed for the good of all people that is our example of self-sacrifice. When we ask to be his disciples, when we ask to be Christ-followers, we are asking for a life of self-sacrifice rather than living a life of self-centeredness. Are we willing to receive it? Are we willing to open our hearts wider and wider?

As George mentioned last week, this is Open House Month across the United Methodist Church. We are asking you to make an extra effort to practice inviting and welcoming people to our church, so that they may receive what we have, that which is “more precious than gold and sweeter than honey.” Ads have been running for several months now on a number of cable networks about the United Methodist Church. They challenge people to rethink their image of church and then they make the promise “Open hearts, open minds, open doors. We are the people of the United Methodist Church.” For years now, we have looked at the word open as a descriptor, an adjective. Our hearts are open. Now the national church is challenging us to look at the word “open” as a verb. Open our hearts. Open our minds. Open our doors. It amazing the difference a tense will make. Today’s Scripture helps us see what pushing our hearts open entails. It is the Spirit of Christ calling us to a life of self-sacrifice, a life of unselfishness. If we truly believe that Jesus holds the key to life connected to God, if we truly believe that what he offers is more precious than gold, then it pushes us to open our hearts to share the gift. It pushes us to do whatever is necessary to offer more and more people this precious gift of faith or trust in him.

Last week George talked about the extravagant hospitality of God. God’s extravagant hospitality, just like God’s extravagant grace is extended to every person, every person no matter who they are or what they have done. As we receive God’s extravagant hospitality, how can we deny it to our neighbor (see Luke 10:25-37 for the definition of a neighbor)? As Bishop Robert Schnase says, “Hospitality springs from a love that motivates us to openness and adaptability. … Radical hospitality begins with a single heart, a growing openness, a prayerful desire for the highest good of a stranger.”ⁱⁱ Radical, extravagant hospitality is part of discipleship. It springs from obedience to the ministry and character of Christ. An open heart is the engine that pushes us to practice extravagant hospitality. How far can we open our hearts? This much?

(Show the film clip Keys to the Kingdom.ⁱⁱⁱ)

God uses congregations to make disciples. As Bishop Schnase says, “The community of faith is the primary channel through which God forms people into the Body of Christ.”^iv In the extravagant, radical hospitality that those boys received, they encountered God and it changed not only their lives, but the lives of their entire family and all those people Rev. Roger Swanson (the former Director of Evangelism for the General Board of Discipleship and the younger boy in the story) has ministered to during his life. Are we willing to offer that same possibility to others? It will take opening our hearts, opening our hearts, opening our hearts. So often we say we want our church to grow; we want more children and youth. We say we want more and more people to accept the extravagant hospitality of God, but are we prepared to receive what we ask for? Take a look at the insert see “How your hospitality” is now and what you can improve on. Pray for that friend, relative, associate and neighbor then invite one of them to church. Open your hearts, open your minds as we open our doors. Amen.

Sermon delivered by Rev. Nancy Cushman on September 13, 2009.