Community Covenant Church - Sermons - Faith In Action: Party

October 14, 2007

Scripture Reading

Matthew 25:31-40

31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Faith in Action

“Party”

Luke 10:17-23

Have you got the fever?

You know… the “fever”?

No… not the flu… not a cold!

I’m talking baseball fever?

You know, “men of October”, “the playoffs”… the World Series!

Have you been watching? Even when the games are not being played, the media is full of baseball talk and baseball images.

Maybe it’s because it is our “national sport”. I don’t know, but I do know that Americans have this thing about baseball. While the world goes crazy about soccer, especially when the World Cup is up for grabs, Americans seem to yawn and refocus their attention on baseball.

A couple months ago some young newlyweds, Adam & Ashley worshiped with us. Adam is a professional soccer player, in his first year with the Revolution….. you know, the New England Revolution.. our professional soccer team!? They were in the midst of their playoffs, but my guess is that fewer New Englanders had “soccer fever” than have “baseball fever” this fall.

There is something exciting about baseball!

And it’s not just here in New England, it’s all over our country. When we moved from Chicago to Omaha, right down the street from our first house was Paulie’s Sports Bar with its giant Chicago Cubs logo painted just outside their doors on the street. Baseball transcends neighborhoods.

I would dare say that even in New York City, there are people who are adjusting their lives so that they can watch the playoffs, though both the Yankees and the NY Mets… how do you say it.. CHOKED this year!

Now, as an aside, I do know of at least one New York Yankee’s fan here in our church (my nephew Jacob), and I am a bit sad for him… but only a bit! Sometimes we need to learn to appreciate what we have, by having it occasionally taken away from us. The Yankees will be back; money will flow, the best players will be bought. Though as we know here in Boston, becoming a team is just as important as being talented.

One of the signs that baseball fever is nation-wide is the amount of money shelled out by stations to broadcast the games. Millions upon millions of dollars point to millions and millions of viewers. If no one but people living in Massachusetts, or Ohio, or Colorado or Arizona were going to watch the playoffs this fall, you would see none of this happening.

There is something about baseball in American that generates excitement. But even more so, joy. To pick a team, even if it’s not your “hometown” team, and will them to win in the 9^th inning, fills Americans with something special.

Now, in recognizing a national excitement for baseball, I cannot diminish in the least the intensity of emotion felt by people of “Red Sox Nation”. Who can deny the sincerity of diehard fans:

- who not only rearrange their lives to watch baseball, and

- who not only sit out overnight with a distant hope of getting a ticket into Fenway, and

- who not only camp out to get an autograph from their favorite players.. but

- who also wear their “lucky” shirts and socks, or perform other strange rituals so not to “rob” their Red Sox of a victory?

Their passion is real and intense.

During ten years in Omaha, NE I thought I had seem the ultimate sports fans, where “game day” for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers football team would transform houses, yards and apartment complexes into a sea of red flags and banners and tale-gating parties. Whenever the Cornhuskers played at home, their stadium in Lincoln became the third most populated area in the whole State of Nebraska. And if you went to that game wearing anything but red, the 85, 999 others in that stadium knew it you.

I though sports fans were uniquely crazy in Nebraska, until I moved back here and found Red Sox Nation, and walking into Jim & Misty’s basement.

There is something special about baseball in America, and about our celebration of the Red Sox here in New England.

Recently I heard a sportscaster comparing Red Sox fans with Patriot football fans…. stating that the Patriots were a bit jealous of all the attention given the Red Sox. I don’t know…. I kind of think that that the Patriots are doing just fine building their own crazy fan base, while playing just 1/10^th the number of games each year that the Sox play.

Maybe the issue is accessibility, of being able to sit in the stands and feel the excitement of the athletes on the field. Maybe it is our ability during childhood and youth to play t-ball and little leage, and dream about winning the World Series.

When we reflect upon the joy and excitement of baseball this October,

- perhaps you relate best with the excitement of those who simply enjoy a good baseball game.

- Perhaps you relate best with those who get so infected with the fever that Red Sox Nation becomes part of their identities.

- But can you… can any of us, even begin to relate with the highest level of joy and excitement in baseball, experienced by being a member of a World Series Championship Team? For even if the Red Sox win it all this year, the joy and excitement that we will experience will only be a shadow of that felt my members of the Red Sox, who knew that their efforts truly contributed to the win.

Now before you walk out of here confused as to whether I offered a sermon or a sport’s cast, let me tie in this joy and excitement of baseball with God’s Word for us today; for the tenth chapter of Luke presents a story of teamwork and celebration, it points to a joy and excitement that can fill our lives even now.

Luke reports in his Gospel (chapter 10) that in the midst of his powerful ministry…

Luke 10:1-3

1….. the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. 2He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. 3Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. …………………………..

Jesus sends these followers out as his representatives, with instructions in dealing with the resistance they will certainly encounter, and with instruction to bless those who welcome them, and to offer healing to the sick while proclaiming the arrival of God’s Kingdom. What follows is remarkable:

Luke 10:17-20 17The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18He (Jesus) replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Have you ever thought of how exciting it must have been to follow Jesus around; to hear his teaching and watch him perform miracles? Just prior to telling us this story, Luke wrote about Jesus’ feeding the 5,000 people with only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. He wrote about Jesus healing a boy who had been possessed by an evil spirit. He had even written about how Jesus had sent out his 12 Apostles with power to do his work. How exciting it must have been to have been following Jesus around and see these things happening.

But now… suddenly, Jesus turns to you… one of the 72, and tells you to go…. go and heal and proclaim the arrival of God’s Kingdom. Suddenly, you are no longer a spectator, but a participant. And not only are you a participant in marvelous things seen with your own eyes, but you are a participant in something so great; so vast, that you do not even have the eyes to see its full impact. But Jesus does:

…. I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

Today, even though we couldn’t see it, Satan fell like lightning from heaven when we gave Project Just Because underwear & socks. For Satan falls,” like lightening from heaven”… he falls from his thrones of power in this world,

- whenever we go out in Jesus’ name to serve another with a heart of love,

- whenever forgive someone who has wronged us,

- whenever we take pains to put another’s needs in front of our own, and

- whenever we follow the Holy Spirit’s prompting to lean into God’s marvelous adventure of faithful living.

The region the disciples frequented, the towns and urban centers, were under the grip of Satan, and needed the work and grace of God. This is just as true today, isn’t it, right here in Hopkinton, in Upton, Milford, Mendon, Medway, Franklin, Bellingham?

In biblical days, Christ’s followers weren’t necessarily going into the woods or the deserts where snakes and scorpions were the problem. The context of this passage is about power over spiritual forces. Jesus’ followers had been given the power to transform the spiritual dimension of the world in which they lived under the power and authority with which Jesus had filled them. And so do we!

If you participated in our collections of socks & underwear, your faith in action empowered by God knocked Satan down. Isn’t that an awesome reality; that physical action; going to a store, giving up some money, and bringing your bag to church, things you can see and touch and do, have an impact in the spiritual realm?

But as amazing as this truth is; as great a celebration as this day deserves, Jesus went on to point out an even greater reason to celebrate. Jesus said, “Don’t rejoice that the spirits submit to you…”; in other words, don’t rejoice that you now have the power to do what I have been doing, “but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Your names are written in heaven? You are on the roster as one of God’s own. Jesus said the real reason to celebrate is not that we have power, but that we’re on God’s team.

You are not just a lover of baseball, and you are not just a fanatic fan of the Red Sox….. but imagine that you are a member.. a player on the 2007 Red Sox. It’s October, and the playoffs are underway, but you are not just watching from home; you’re not just a person rooting from the stands, but you’re on the field contributing to the excitement and joy, and to a victory that is certain. I don’t care how good the Sox are this year, their victory is not certain; but God’s victory is.

Through Jesus’ total obedience to the Father, even unto death on the cross, and through His resurrection from the dead, victory was made certain.

So how does it feel to play on a team that has won?

There are many of us who would shy away from participating if the win were not certain. We might excuse ourselves because we know we would choke: we would strike out at the plate, or we would drop the infield pop up. In other words, we would excuse ourselves from participating because we felt we could only weigh down the team and cause it to lose.

But now imagine knowing that the team going to win, no matter what; and that whatever you were able to do, would simply bring about that victory even more quickly! Today its underwear and socks, tomorrow... who knows? Maybe we’ll build our own Habitat for Humanity house right here in Hopkinton! Maybe we’ll start a Gambler’s Anonymous program in response to our State leaders’ plan to support Casinos!

But whatever it is; feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, caring for the sick, visiting those in prison…. Whatever it is, if we are out there with Jesus playing the game, we are simply participating toward our sure victory. We simply cannot lose what Christ has already won for us.

The reality of the cross and the empty tomb frees us all up to participate, and not only to participate, but to offer ourselves as often as we can with as much as we can offer.

The Apostle Paul once wrote to the Colossian Christians

Colossians 1:24

Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

Paul saw himself as a player. He was on God’s team…. And he saw that even in his sufferings he was contributing to our victory in Christ. We are walking with God through life toward God’s sure victory, because our names are written in heaven, and all our small and great actions are hastening Satan’s dethronement.

That is hope, and that is worthy of a joyful celebration. And that is exactly what Jesus does…..

Luke 10:20-23

21At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.

22"All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

23Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.

Luke faithful records the variety of emotions displayed by Jesus in the scriptures, as Jesus experienced and displayed anger, sadness, compassion & laughter. Here we find Jesus overwhelmed with deep feelings of joy.

What a moment this was! For sometime now Jesus had known the joy of doing the work of His Father, of bringing God’s healing and restoration and forgiveness into a decaying world. Jesus had come to see Satan’s power fall in everything He did. And now Jesus gets to share that joy and excitement; not only with his 12 disciples, but also with 72 empowered followers.

Do you see the connection? Can you forgive my earlier baseball ramblings? Can you understand the excitement and joy Jesus is talking about here…. Not just that we are empowered by His Spirit to participate in Satan’s dethronement… but that we have been made members of God’s team…. the team guaranteed to win it all.

Let us live in the joy and excitement expressed by our Lord, as we continue to put our faith into action. AMEN