May 4, 2008...2:08 pm
Time To Get in the Game
Here is the transcript of my first sermon that I delivered this morning at Junction City UMC in Junction City, Kentucky. I serve at the church as its youth pastor.
The title of the sermon is “Time to Get in the Game.”
I want to let you in on a little secret. This may come as a shock to some of you, but I love sports. I know shocking. And it doesn’t matter what sporting event it is whether it’s football, basketball, auto racing, or even watching the Kentucky Derby coverage all day yesterday, I just love being around athletic competition.
I’ve written about sports. I’ve been an athlete. I’ve been a referee. I’ve even coached. And in all my experiences in sports there is always one common denominator, regardless of the age or the level of competition. That is the pre-game or halftime prep talk by the coach.
It’s here – during these moments before the game – that the coach will bring his players together for one last talk. I’m just as guilty of having these talks when I coached youth basketball this winter. The coach will often remind his players of what they were taught or went over in the practices, not to fear the opponent, and to give it their best out on the field.
After this talk, the players will join together and break out of the locker room and head for the competition feeling inspired and ready to take on their opponent for the night. Something similar to those pre-game conversation is going on in our scripture passage for today, Luke 24:44-53.
After making several appearances to the disciples and his followers following his Resurrection, we see Christ making yet another appearance. But, there is something different about this appearance. This time he brings his team – his disciples – together to give them his final instructions before turning over the mission of the church to the remaining disciples. Both Matthew and Mark offer similar accounts to Luke’s version.
Luke – the physician and great journalist – recounts the story with the focus on filling prophesy, as we see in verses 45 and 46. Christ says everything that happened occurred to fulfill prophesies about him. But where I want to focus the majority of the time is what happens starting at Verse 47.
Christ says starting at verse 47, “and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
In those few short words, Christ is reminding his disciples what his mission was all about. It was not just about miracles that He performed such as curing the sick, raising the dead, or even giving hope to the hopeless. Christ is reminding his disciples – those whom remain – why he had to die on the cross and why he rose from the dead, so we may find forgiveness and a new life through his ultimate sacrifice.
And because of his love for us, because of his death and resurrection, we are called to witness to others. We are called to witness not just through our words, but being a living example of the transformative power that comes from a relationship with the risen Lord. However, before we can effectively witness to others – before we can get into the game so to speak, we must understand what repentance and forgiveness means for us and accept that for our lives.
Repentance
Take for instance repentance – the act of coming to God and admitting where we have erred and done wrong. We all sin. The Apostle Paul reminds us of this in Romans 3:23 when he writes, “for all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.” In a few short moments, we will take part in a great liturgical example of repentance. As we prepare to take part in Communion, we will utter the words that are familiar to us in:
Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our heart. We have failed to be an obedient church. We have not done your will, we have broken your law, we have rebelled against your love, we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray.
But before we can utter these words or take part in this act of repentance, we have to search our own heart. We have to search those places in our lives where we have fallen short of the glory of God or rebelled against Christ’s love or failed to be a true light to others. It requires us to humble ourselves at the cross and seek Christ’s love.
My life is nothing but stories and examples of having to come to the cross repentant and ashamed. I was once not the bubbly and energetic person you see before you. There was once a time – and not that long ago – that I was angry, bitter, resentful, and living a life that was placing me on a road straight to spiritual death. Instead of turning to Christ to heal the pains in my life, I turned to alcohol. Instead of trying to be touched by the wounded hands of a loving Savior, I turned to sexual relationships to find comfort and peace. This was just after my divorce and bankruptcy. My life before that was not a shining example of being a light before others.
We could go on for hours about stories that brought me back to Christ. Needless to say that I’m indebted to great friends back in North Carolina that showed me where I needed to go to the cross and seek the Lord and repent.
What things are going on in your life that you need to bring to the cross? Maybe it’s not to the severity of the things in my life, but we each have things in our lives – skeletons in the closet – that we need to bring to the cross. Perhaps its something in our relationships, or how we treat others that are different than we are. Regardless, allow Christ to search our hearts and our lives to find those things that we need to repent and bring to the cross.
Forgiveness
When we seek repentance, when we go to the Cross with our sins Christ offers us a new day. When we have been touched by the wounded hands of our savior cleanse us of our sins by his blood, we are given the opportunity to embrace a new day, a new life in Christ. That new day is a new life in relationship with a loving Lord who promises to be by our side regardless.
I’m a big fan of YouTube. I think most people under the age of 35 are these days. One of my favorite videos is a skit done to the song “Everything,” by Lighthouse. In it Christ is seen dancing and spending time with this young woman and the two are enjoying being in relationship. Eventually the young woman gets distracted by others who attempt to take her attention from her. As she fights to get back to Christ, the outsiders keep fighting harder. Eventually, the young woman contemplates suicide, but makes the right call to fight for her life and fight back for Christ. But the world continues to tug, this time she won’t give up. Eventually, Christ comes in and takes on the outsiders and finds victory for this young woman.
After church, if you have internet, I encourage you to look up this video. I get goose bumps every time I watch it.
I mention this video, because I think it gets it right. When we repent, Christ offers that forgiveness of his love. It’s there for us, freely. We don’t deserve it. But, we’re never too far gone to receive it. Paul writes in Romans 8:38-39,
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Have confidence that when we come to the Lord, our sins our gone, the chains are broken and we’ve been set free.
But, I would be lying if I said this new life was easy. It is not. We still live in a world dominated by sin and temptation is already around. But through Christ’s love and forgivness, that when we come to him with a truly repentant heart and desire to be touched by his life, we will have the strength to stand up to the temptations when they came. It won’t be easy, but we will have a great Savior on our side who has won the battle over sin and death.
Witness to Others
Finally, in 24:48, Christ reminds us that we are a witness to these things. We are to preach this message and send it out to all the world.
This means that Christ’s love and forgiveness requires a response, from us not just as individuals but as a church. Last week, Brian mentioned that serving Christ means we go to places that we might not have otherwise considered going. But let me add this … we are called to live out that witness in our lives and in our relationships with others. It means living out our witness as an expression of what Christ has done for us.
It means loving our families perhaps a little more than we have. It means being an example to others so that they may see Christ through us. It requires us to serve others both in our communities here in Danville and Junction City, but across the nation and world seeking to help the poor and those in need by any way we can. John Wesley once said that as Christians we are to “Do all the good that you can, By all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.”
That is our calling as a church, not just Junction City UMC, but of all who accept the name of Christ. Not everyone is called to stand behind this pulpit, but we are called to respond and be a witness to others. It could be as simple as mowing the grass for our neighbors, or even going to Alabama to serve as a site director on a mission field. Whatever you are called to do and however you witness to others, do it with humility, passion and a love for a Lord who loves you and has wiped your slate clean.
And as we enter into a time of communion, I offer a challenge to you. When you come to the table, find your place at the cross and let the Lord seek your heart and let him work in you to find those places that need to be given to him. And let him touch you with his wounds to bring healing and forgivness in your life. It won’t happen over night, but that process can begin today.
So then, are you ready to play the game? If so, do not be afraid. Christ will not leave your side. He is your great head coach in this game. And if you’re ready I promise you this: serving others is the greatest game and the greatest privilege you’ll ever have the opportunity to participate in.
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