Currently, we're in the midst of a sermon series called "Focus: Five Areas To Change the World." We're looking at the WPAUMC's Five Areas of Focus. Ministry With the Poor and Developing Principled Christian Leaders will not be available on this blog.
July 7 and 8, 2018 Promoting Abundant Health
Romans 8: 18-28
There’s a story told about a man
stranded on the side of the road after his car broke down. He tried everything
he could think of to get the car running, but nothing worked. After struggling
for some time, a limousine approached and a well-dressed man stepped out and
offered to help. He looked at the engine, tinkered for a few moments, and to
the owner’s surprise, started up his broken down care. “How much do I owe you?”
asked the owner. “Nothing,” said the man. “My name is Henry Ford. I created
that care, and I can’t stand to see something I’ve created not do what it was
meant to do.” Well today we’re continuing to explore five areas of focus that
can change the world. My colleagues have led well the past few weeks, helping
us explore the ideas of Ministry With the Poor and Leadership Development.
Today we’re launching into our third focus- Promoting Abundant Health, which is
really about God’s desire to see creation do what creation was meant to do. I invite you to read with me…
If you’re on Facebook, or maybe
you’ve heard through other avenues, you might’ve noticed that I requested
prayer for three young missionaries who are currently detained in the
Philippines. Now most of the time when we think of missionaries, we tend to
think of the work that Dave Peightal and I did in Puerto Rico, rebuilding homes
after hurricane devastations. It was good work, and certainly qualifies as
“mission.” Or you might think of translating Bibles in little known languages
to people groups in foreign countries. But these three young missionaries were
sent on a very different kind of mission- they were sent on a fact-finding
journey to uncover some of the human rights violations occurring in the
Philippines. Essentially, they were there to do the dirty work of bring light
to some dangerous and dark practices. And they must’ve found something
officials were hoping would not be seen, because since February, they’ve had
their passports confiscated, they’ve not been allowed to leave the country, and
one of them has been thrown in jail. (UPDATE:Two have recently been released. PTL!)
Now why am I telling you this? And
why does any of this matter? Well, it matters because the church is called to
care for other people. I want you to hear that loud and clear. The church is
called to care for people. When we stop caring for others, we’ve ceased to be
the church. The church is a place where God is to be worshipped and disciples
are to be made, but the church is also a place where we called to actively love
our neighbor. When Jesus is asked about the definition of a neighbor in the parable
of the Good Samaritan (you know the story well), he paints a vivid picture our
neighbor is defined by the person in need, regardless of where that person
lives or what his or her particular need looks or sounds like. And if we’re
careful to look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we see that he cares about
the entire person- the spiritual side, the physical side, the mental side, and
every other side that constitutes abundant life. Jesus doesn’t separate us and
compartmentalize us, as if God only cares about the inside and NOT the outside.
God cares about it all.
It’s interesting to note that in
the first recorded sermon by Jesus in the Gospels, we’re invited into God’s big
and spacious heart for people. Led by the Spirit, Jesus’ inaugural address was
a bold proclamation that his work, and by virtue of our association with Jesus,
our work, is about proclaiming good
news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, giving sight to the blind, setting
the oppressed free, and reminding the world filled with all these nobodies and
forgotten ones and broken ones that God’s favor is upon them. And then he goes
and does everything he said. Jesus could preach a good sermon; he could lead an
insightful Bible study. But then he went
out and did what he taught.. To some, like blind Bartimaeus, he provided
physical healing. To others, like the woman caught in adultery, he offered
forgiveness of sins. To others, like Zacchaeus, he became a friend to those
nobody else liked. And to others he welcomed them into his presence, and it was
as if they received new life. The Good Physician, caring deeply for his patients,
keeping them alive, but also leading them to abundance.
Even though Jesus doesn’t actually
use the word, there is a word for all
of this, and it’s one of my all time favorites: shalom. Go ahead and turn to somebody and speak that word: shalom.
Doesn’t that sound good? That’s because it is
good. Shalom is often defined as peace, but the better rendering is
wholeness or wellbeing. Shalom is experienced when body, mind and spirit are
firing on all cylinders, the very building block of a person that make up what
we call life, but also the basic pieces of our identity that are prone to
despair and decay in our fallen world. Who amongst us doesn’t know the struggle
of a body that doesn’t quite work the way it once did? They tell me not to grow
older because the body just doesn’t rebound like it used to. Or how about the
mind? We all probably know at least one person battling with depression,
dementia or suicidal tendencies. The mind is often under brutal attack in our
world. And of course, the spirit, the life-giving, inward depths of a person
that is meant to reflect the joy and presence of God. It’s often struck down by
a world that has lost it’s way. And God cares about all of it, every single inch
of what it means to be human, which is why abundant health is one our five
areas of focus.
John Wesley, the founder of our
Methodist branch of faith, was known for his deep desire to see the Gospel heal
in all shapes and forms. He often visited prisoner to encourage the inmates. He
was an advocated for education, doing everything he could to ensure children
had the opportunity to shape their minds. He even wrote a book called “The Primitive
Physick,” in which he sought to offer practical medical advice to those who
couldn’t afford a doctor.[1] Isn’t
that awesome? That’s our theological DNA! In a letter written to another
theologian, Wesley encouraged him to be cognizant of both the spiritual and
physical needs of the world. Wesley writes, ““It will be a double blessing
if you give yourself up to the Great Physician, that He may heal soul and body
together. And unquestionably this is His design. He wants to give you … both
inward and outward health.” [2]Dave Peightal and I had the chance to give
ourselves over to the Great Physician last week in Puerto Rico. And we
discovered that a hurricane can cause both inward and outward devastation. From
the outside, our work looked like rebuilding homes and tearing down walls, but
as we got to know the people we worked with, we learned that our rebuilding
efforts were about so much more. There was a man who was living in his cemented
bathroom, because that was the only remaining structure he had left. We weren’t
able to build a home for him last week, but we were able to help him take the
first steps out of his painful reality. There was the family that had to leave
the job site because they couldn’t bear to see all their flood-ravaged
possessions be tossed into a dumpster…but they were grateful to have someone
else do the gut-wrenching work of tossing away bits and pieces of the only life
they’ve ever known. There was the pastor who ended up telling her story around
the dinner table, a prayerful hope that she needed to share, even though she
was there to serve others. And there was the Bishop of Puerto Rico, simply
offering his gratitude for the fact that someone, anyone, had listened to the
cries of the people and decided to show up.
To put a fine point on it, that’s what Abundant Health is really all
about. It’s about hearing the cries of creation and showing up. The Apostle
Paul calls these cries “groans.” And I think that’s good imagery. Even though
Romans 8 is all about life, you can’t experience the fullness of life until you
enter into the groans. Paul says all of creation groans for the redemption of
God. And let me tell you, if the trees could personify after a hurricane, you
would see their tears and hear their pain. Those of you who walk and pick up
trash from the roads know a thing or two about the groaning of creation. I
wonder how creation groans for that glorious, eternal day, and how you might be
able to respond right now? Paul says that we also have inward groans, those
prayers we lift up, those days when we have nothing left, when we long for that
moment when there will be no more death, or mourning or crying or pain. Get to
know someone’s vulnerability, someone’s story, and you’ll hear the depths of
their groaning. I wonder what groans are happening in the person beside you,
and how you might be able to respond today? Paul also says there’s a third type
of groaning, the one I find to be most interesting: God’s groaning. God groans
for creation to be the way He always meant it to be, and God’s heart yearns to
make all well again. What does the Lord groan for? For justice, mercy and
kindness; to cover this world in the fullness of His love.
Friends, our world cries out for hope and healing. And as one teacher
reminds, we have to listen to the groans in the world.[3]
And then we need to enter into them. That’s how we promote abundant health. Groans
sound painful, and most of the time, they are. But groans are where we find the
surprising activity of God’s good and holy Kingdom. In fact, I think we’ll miss
out on some really amazing moments with Jesus if we run away from the groans,
instead of toward them. Sometimes that looks like a conversation around a
table; sometimes it looks like building of a new home. Sometimes that looks
like mucking out mud from a basement; sometimes it looks like a fact-finding
mission to uncover humanity’s darkest secrets. Sometimes it looks like planting
and rooting yourself in a community that needs the best of you, and sometimes
it looks like an inconvenient detour when you see a stranger left for dead on
the road and you stop to offer whatever you have. That’s the work of the
Kingdom. That’s a vision of God’s heart. That’s what we’ve signed up for when
we’ve taken upon ourselves the mantle of Christ. Where do you see brokenness in
the world today? Where do you see wrongs that need to be right? Where do you
see pain or opportunity? That’s where you’ll find the Kingdom of God. Amen.
[1] https://www.umcmission.org/Find-Resources/John-Wesley-Sermons/The-Wesleys-and-Their-Times/Primitive-Physick
[2] http://www.umcabundanthealth.org/about/
[3] https://renovare.org/books/listening-to-the-groans
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