Sept 16,12 UMW Sunday WHO WE ARE This morning we are celebrating United Methodist Women Sunday. As one woman at the district meeting said, the UMW are the backbone of the church. When you want something done, ask the UMW organization and many times they will deliver. Knowing that not all the woman of this church come to our meetings, we also know all women of the church have a role in keeping this church and other churches running. We are a special organization that strives to grow in our faith and in our service to God. Though we here have a small unit we have added new women of faith who have joined with us to support not only our local church, but to help in the mission of the church. As John Wesley has taught us, the world is our parish. In fact, it isn t just the missions for here, but also around the world. And our unit is thinking about new ways to be in missions being involved in our own community. Where there is a need, the UMW might be able to help. Men that does not mean you can tune out God s message this morning. For all the things that we hear this morning includes the men as well. Three words can describe who we are as brothers and sisters in the Lord. We should be seeking to know God. We should be sharing with the world. We should be serving others. We should do all the good we can we should do no harm.and we should love God. In reality that is the purpose of the UMW. Their purpose statement says that they are to know God, to share their faith, and be in servant hood to others. It isn t just a group of ladies that help keep the kitchen updated. It isn t just a group of women who take care of cleaning. All women are called to seek God s presence and grow in their faith, to learn how to share their faith with others, and to serve others. Sounds like a good thing for all of God s children, men and women alike. We have some women in this congregation that work at the food pantry, help with the Hospitality for the homeless. Others have made quilts for kids at Cunningham. Another knits hats for new born babies. We have women who serve as lay speakers, and who teach VBS and help serve meals during funeral dinners. Who are they? They are God s
servants dedicated to seeking God s face, sharing their love through a variety of works, and being his servants wherever needed. Sometimes we forget how active women were in the Scriptures. They weren t all stay at home moms. And when they did stay home, like most of you, they were active in their communities, helping their husbands and fathers in fields and being the gofer.you know, go for this, go for that kind of thing. They sought to know God more deeply, to share their gifts with others, and in many ways were servants of Gods. They taught their children the Scriptures and guided and planted seeds of their faith, opened their homes to those who were in need. They cried with others, and rejoiced as well. You might recall a few women mentioned in the Bible. Women like Mary, the mother of Jesus. Or Mary Magdalene, the one Jesus drove the demons out of and was first to the tomb on resurrection Sunday. Who can forget Sarah, Abraham s wife. She laughed when God told Abraham she would have a baby, but when she was the age of 90 she gave birth to their promised son Isaac. How about Hannah who faithful to God yet the one thing she wanted most God did not give her, a child. She continued to pray for a son that if blessed, she would dedicate to the Lord s service. One day God answered her prayer and nine months later Samuel was born and she brought him to the Temple where he became priest and prophet for many years, anointing Saul as the first king of Israel, and later anointing David as king. How about the bad girls of Scripture like Bathsheba the one who King David got in trouble with. How about Delilah, My oh my Delilah, who trapped Sampson and cut his hair and he lost his strength and was captured by the Philistine army and blinded. Some of you might know Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab who vowed to kill Elijah because he destroyed all her priests who worshipped Baal. True some of these aren t really the ones that served on God s side, but they are women who are mentioned in the Bible and part of God s story.
Who are the UMW? Well like the women of Scripture they are filled with special gifts. One gift is the gift of hospitality. When thinking of Scripture I think of Ruth and Naomi. Naomi took her daughter-in-law under her roof when her husband, Naomi s son, died. Though she released her from any pledges, Ruth wanted to be with Naomi and told her wherever she went she would go, and she would worship her God. So Naomi opened her home and invited Ruth to join her in finding new hopes in Bethlehem. Next there is the gift of faith. One mentioned is Rahab the harlot. Perhaps you know her story. Rahab lived in Jericho and when Joshua was ready to attack that city he sent spies to check it out. Those spies stood out like a sore thumb in Jericho. They looked like strangers. The people of the town became afraid of them knowing they came to spy out the city before the attack. The two spies tried to sneak away but the people were hot on their trail. The spies found their way to Rahab s place and when the towns men questioned her, she pointed them in a different direction as the men hid in her house. For that, Rahab was blessed. You see, she asked the Hebrew men to spare her. They told her to place a red clothe outside her window so when the attack came and Joshua s troops saw it, they would not harm anyone in that room during the battle. In the faith chapter of Hebrews it is said of her, By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient. God rewarded their faithfulness even though they were Gentiles, but ended up with husbands of Jewish faith and blessed to be in the line to the Savior. Also God has called women for a purpose. Take the woman who anointed Jesus with that precious perfume. While Judas angered because she poured that expensive oil, perhaps oil that could have been sold and brought a year s income, Jesus humbly received what she was doing, for though the disciples didn t know it, she was preparing his body for burial before he even died.
And here is another that falls into this category. Esther was a teenager herself when she found herself summoned to the court of the King of Persia. She was one of the most beautiful women that had graced the palace and King Xerxes took a shine to her. God put her there at a time when her people needed her the most. This young lady saved her people. She had the faith and courage to speak to her king about what was going to happen to her people. And through the power of God, the king changed his mind and the story ends well. It was true what her uncle Mordecia had said to her. Esther, who knows maybe you were born for such a time as this. These women may not have stood out in history but in His story, that is God s story they are women of faith that have paved the way for many women s groups who are involved in churches throughout the world helping in missions, those like Mother Theresa, offering themselves to Christ to use their hands, their feet, their mouths, their ears, their gifts in service that those who are blind can see, that those who are poor can have food, those who are lost can be found, that those who are lonely can find a friend. We all should be seeking. We seek to understand God s word for our lives. We seek to know God more clearly to understand God s reason for putting us on this earth. We seek to understand God s will for our lives. Jesus tells us this one simple statement. Seek first the kingdom of God and everything else we need will be added to us. It s that seeking that we have a tough time with. We wish God would have given our parents steps that we were to follow when we were born that they could pass on to us when we got older so we could check them out and even know what our future was going to be like. But you and I know we wouldn t be able to handle it. We would like to see the joys, but not the heartaches. We want to see the success but not the failures. That s why God says seek him first because then you can lay your life at his feet and say yes Lord, I surrender all.
The second word is sharing. Sharing means just that. Sharing ourselves with others. Isn t that part of our culture? Isn t that what we try and teach our children, to share with others? Sometimes the kids do it better than we do. God calls us all to share the good news of the gospel but he also tells us to care for one another. Let me read a portion of Scripture that tells us about heaven, but reflects on what we do on this earth. For 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, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. Then the righteous one answered the Lord, When did we do all this. The king replied, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me. And finally, we are not only to seek God with our whole being, we are not only to share with others from our abundance and our joy, we are to be servants. Isn t that what Jesus told the disciples they were to do when he knelt before each one during the last supper and washed their feet? It was an act of servant hood. And he told them that in the future that is what they are to do, be servants. Help the poor, help the needy, help the lost soul, help those who cannot help themselves. Those three words are not just reflecting what the UMW is all about. It s what our church should be about all the time. God has called us to seek him, to share our faith and other stuff that he has blessed us with and he has told us to be servants to one another. So this morning, yes we pay tribute to all women of the United Methodist Church. We thank them for their sharing and their work in missions. We thank them for the work in this church, in this community and in our world. We thank them for their dedication, for learning to be like Jesus, and in sharing with others who are less fortunate.
Yes, the purpose of the UMW is to know God to grow in their faith.and to be in missions. We thank them for leading the church in understanding their work. We are proud of all the women in the past, those now serving, and those who will join with us to be Gods hands, his feet, his voice, his heart. Praise be to God. But that isn t the end. For all of us who call ourselves Christians we too are called by God to seek, to share, and to serve. At the final roundup we all want to hear God s voice say, Well done my good and faithful servant, well done. \ So may it be. Let the faithful people of God say amen.