June 21, 2015 AC Closing Worship Service I Kings 17:8-16 First and All Finally, we are now in the closing worship service. I give thanks and praise to God who has been with us and led our holy conferencing. I also want to express my deep appreciation to all of you for your prayers and faithful participation in this conference. Sitting in a chair for three days was not an easy thing to do. I am also deeply grateful to Bishop Chamberlain and Bishop Kammerer for their presence for consultation, to the members of the Annual Conf. Planning Committee, Roanoke District clergy and laity, staff of the Virginia Conference Center and to all of you who helped this conference on the stage or behind the scenes. Thank you very much. The theme for our Annual Conference was From Members to Disciples. I hope all of us will not forget this theme over other issues and will carry this theme back to our local churches. The mission of the United Methodist church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. However, many churches, many of us, do not have a clear idea about the meaning of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ. And many of our churches do not have a system or roadmap to make Jesus disciples. For many years we, the United Methodist Church, have paid attention to making members of our churches. Now, the time has come to shift our focus from making members to making disciples of Jesus Christ. This change is very important and critical for a new future for our churches. There are significant differences between members of the church and disciples of Jesus Christ. Let me share with you what I wrote for the July issue of our Advocate magazine: Members are more concerned about me and my needs. In today s world membership means seeking maximum benefit with minimum investment. To members it is important whether the church will meet 1
their needs or not. I do not think it is wrong for the church to work to meet the needs of its members. We need to provide care and love that members need. But if the ministry of the church only stays there, meeting the needs of its members, we cannot be faithful to our mission. Being and living as disciples of Jesus Christ is a life-long journey. We need to help our members grow to become disciples of Jesus Christ. Growing into disciples of Jesus is more than taking a class and learning about Jesus life and teaching. It is related to our values, our priorities, and lifestyles. The call to discipleship is a very serious challenge for us, although it is what the Christian life is. This morning we listened to a Scripture lesson from I King. In today s lesson, we find serious challenges to living as the people of God. Following the word of God, Elijah went to the town of Zarephath and stayed there during the drought. When he came to the gate of the town one day, he saw a widow gathering firewood. First, Elijah asked her to bring him a drink of water. And then he asked her to bring him some bread. At that time, she had only a handful of flour in the bowl and a drop of oil in a jar. She was preparing the last meal for her son and herself. Even when Elijah learned of this woman s miserable situation, he did not withdraw his request. He selfishly and shamelessly said to her. Go ahead and prepare your meal. But first, make a small loaf for me. It was really a rude and selfish request. All she had was a handful of flour and a drop of cooking oil. This was not enough for her to make a last meal for her son and herself. She even said that after that last meal, they would die of starvation. Even so, Elijah asked her to bake a loaf of bread for him first. In this lesson, we find God s challenges to her and to I 2
us who want to follow Jesus Christ. It can be summarized into two words: first and all. These two words, first and all are the challenges we face in living as disciples of Jesus Christ. Elijah asked her to make bread for him first. God wants first place in our life. We believe in God because God is so important that God cannot be compared with any other being or any other thing. If God is in second or third place among our priorities, then why do we need such an unimportant God? God is God because God is in first place. If God is not in first place, that God is not the God in the Bible, and we are worshipping an idol. That God is our creation and exists just for our comfort. Once a pastor preached a series of sermons on the Ten Commandments. When he preached on the first commandment, You shall have no other gods before me, he created an interesting sermon title. It was Who is number one? Who is number one in our life? What is the first priority in our life? Sometimes this request from God seems to be very selfish. But this is not true. Because God loves us so much, God asks us to listen to this request. When God is in first place, our life will be in the right place and in proper order. Money will be in the right place. Family will be in the right order. We will be able to have the best life because God s way is wiser than our way. If God s wisdom is weaker than ours is, why do we need to believe in such an unwise god? If God s power is weaker than ours is, why do we need such a powerless god? God is God because God is in first place. If we truly believe in God who is number one? Our relationship with this living God should be in first place in our daily lives. This is the reason prayer should come first. In II 3
our plan for the church, God s vision and God s should be the top priority. In my years of ministry, I learned many things. One of them is in our planning for the future of the church it is important whether we can do it or not. But it is more critically important whether God wants this plan or not. Although the plan seems to be risky and impossible to us, if God wants that plan, we need to take a risk and obey that plan. To us it looks impossible, but to God nothing is impossible. It is neither wise nor faithful to restrict God s vision with our own ideas or plans. A visitor came to the U.S. Before he left his country, he learned two important English words. One was Thank you, and the other was After you. He was told that he should be humble in this new land. When he arrived at the airport of the U.S., he could not find the directions and was very confused and frustrated. Looking here and there, he bumped into a tall and big man by mistake. He quickly remembered the first word and said to him, Thank you. The big and tall man got mad and shouted back to him, You go to hell! The visitor remembered the second word and said, After you. We Christians are called to live with this confession, Lord, after you. This is the way of living as disciples of Jesus Christ. In our daily lives, in our ministries and in our planning for the future, we always need to remember this confession, Lord, after you. III The other challenge, the more difficult challenge we face in living as a disciple of Jesus Christ, is all. Elijah asked the widow to make a piece of bread for him first. All she had was a handful of flour and a little cooking oil. Elijah asked her to use all of these to make a piece of bread for him first. 4
God wants us to recognize Christ s Lordship in all areas of our life. Some people think that being a disciple of Jesus Christ is only a part of our life. We have many areas in our life like family life, social life, business life, and so on. Some people think discipleship is only one among many areas of life, like a piece of a pie. I do not think this is what our Lord wants. Disciples life is never one among many. Our faith in God and discipleship cannot be limited to Sunday or church life. Our faith should be the foundation that all other areas of life are built upon. Every moment of our life and every area of our life are to be built upon our faith in God. This is a big challenge to us. But whether we like it or not, this is the reality of our life, if God does exist, and if we believe in God. I remember a story I read in one of Harry Emerson Fosdick s sermons: Once Joseph Jefferson said about his fellow actor, Edwin Booth. Mr. Booth ran his theatre as though it were a church. One day a cowardly clergyman with parishioners who thought it wrong to go to the theatre, wrote Booth, asking whether there was a back door or a side door in his theatre where he could slip in unperceived. Mr. Booth answered, There is no door in my theatre through which God cannot see. There is no area in our life God cannot see. It is absolutely impossible to escape from God. God wants to be the Lord of all areas of our life. We disciples of Jesus Christ need to care about not only our spiritual life, but also our physical health. So, proper exercise and a healthy diet are important parts of our discipleship. If all areas of our life are under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, our wallet and check books should be born anew, too. Some people say that the church should not talk about money. I do not agree with that. I think one of the most important responsibilities of pastors in today s materialistic world is to teach the people of God the biblical principle of 5
money and how to use money in a way that glorifies God. If we truly want to live a disciple s life, following Jesus Christ, our wallets and checkbooks are to be baptized and born anew also. Money matters are also to be under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. IV Putting God as our first priority and living all our areas of life under the Lordship of Jesus Christ is definitely a big challenge and a risky adventure for us. This new life asks us to change our priorities and may ask us to give up what we love most. It may be painful for us to grow from members of the church to disciples of Jesus Christ. I think one of the key words for our discipleship is the Cross. In growing from members of the church to disciples of Jesus, the most critical decision we have to make is whether we are willing to bear the cross to follow Jesus or not. Our Lord Jesus Christ made it clear to his disciples: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. (Mark 8:34-35) Members seek self-satisfaction, but disciples seek self-denial. Members seek saving their life, but disciples seek losing their life for the Lord. This is a fundamental difference between members of the church and disciples of Jesus Christ. But in today s church, Cross is not a popular word. Many people think that bearing the cross is only an old, old story. They want to avoid it. But this story is still true in following Jesus Christ as his disciples. This is an important way of restoring the vitality and authenticity of our faith. This is the time for us to rediscover a biblical and authentic discipleship. Living under the new priority of putting God first and being obedient to the Lordship of Christ in all areas of our life are big challenges for us. 6
To the widow in Zarepath, it was a life or death issue. If I spend all I have to make a piece of bread for Elijah first, then what will happen to my son and me? What will our future be? At this crossroads, the widow decided to be obedient to Elijah s request. She made a piece of bread for Elijah first, remembering what he said: Don t be afraid! There will be enough food for you and for your son. The Lord God of Israel says that there will be plenty of flour and oil until it will rain on earth. What happened to the widow in Zarephath when she obeyed the request of Elijah? Did she and her son die of starvation? No! God s promise was faithful. The Bible said, The jar of meal was not emptied, neither did the jug of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah. God took care of their future. God saved her family and Elijah in a serious famine. Sisters and brothers in Christ, first and all, this is our Lord s challenge to His disciples. First and All, this is a very dangerous and risky request from our God to those who want to grow from members to disciples. However, if we respond to this challenge with trust in God s love and promise, God will provide for our future. God will lead us to a new future as God did for the widow in Zarephath. If we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness as Jesus disciples, then, everything will be added unto us. This is still true. If we die with Christ as His disciples, we will rise with our Lord. This is still true. If we faithfully respond to the challenge of first and all from the Lord, we will walk with Jesus Christ as His disciples. This is still true. Thanks be to God who is number one and all! 7