Below you will find the transcript of the sermon, the YouTube link of the entire service, and the Soundcloud audio of the sermon.
Eastertide is almost over. That's mind boggling. It's almost time to take down the cross and the white cloth outside. For Pentecost Sunday, the color will be red. But, that's still a week off. Don't rush things, right?!?! Everything is already running together in a blur.
I didn't lose my stuff (as badly) after recording this past week's sermon (yep, recording) like I did the previous week. However, I did on Sunday morning as I listened to the final song being sung and played.
I'm still in some sort of Holy Spirit transformation and growth pattern these days. For the most part, that is a very good thing. I am open to the moving of the Holy Spirit, even though it isn't always comfortable for me.
As I see it, if I am going to speak hope, then I'd better be willing to walk the path that Jesus walked, the path that others walk, the path I need to walk....in order to know the hope, in order to experience the healing, in order to be able to simply "be".
I shared a quote by Carlo Carretto as it related to hope from the "blue" book: A Guide to Prayer For Ministers and Other Servants. It's not in the transcript, so I will include it at the bottom of the post.
Peace,
Rev. Deb
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“Speak Your Hope”
1 Peter 3:13-22 (CEB)
May 17, 2020 (6th Sunday of Easter)
St. Elmo UMC (FB Live)
1 Peter 3:13-22 (CEB)
13 Who will harm you if you
are zealous for good? 14 But happy are you, even if you suffer
because of righteousness! Don’t be terrified or upset by them. 15 Instead, regard Christ the Lord as holy in
your hearts. Whenever anyone asks you to speak of your hope, be ready to defend
it. 16 Yet do this with
respectful humility, maintaining a good conscience. Act in this way so that
those who malign your good lifestyle in Christ may be ashamed when they slander
you. 17 It is better to
suffer for doing good (if this could possibly be God’s will) than for doing
evil.
18 Christ himself suffered
on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the
unrighteous. He did this in order to bring you into the presence of God. Christ
was put to death as a human, but made alive by the Spirit. 19 And
it was by the Spirit that he went to preach to the spirits in prison. 20 In the past, these spirits were
disobedient—when God patiently waited during the time of Noah. Noah built an
ark in which a few (that is, eight) lives were rescued through water. 21 Baptism is like that. It saves you now—not
because it removes dirt from your body but because it is the mark of a good
conscience toward God. Your salvation comes through the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, 22 who is at God’s
right side. Now that he has gone into heaven, he rules over all angels,
authorities, and powers.
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THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD FOR THE PEOPLE OF
GOD.
THANKS
BE TO GOD.
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Today is the 6th Sunday of Easter. Only 1 more week of Easter and then we
celebrate the birthday of the church on Pentecost.
Today’s sermon title comes from verse 15: “Whenever
anyone asks you to speak of your hope, be ready to defend it.”
Speak your hope.
Let’s look at what that means.
First of all, there is an assumption that we have a
hope to speak of here, isn’t there?
What IS that hope?
As we look through the rest of the passage, we can
find answers, both before and after that verse. In verse 15 prior to the admonition to speak
of your hope, the admonition is to “regard Christ as holy in your hearts”
Christ is holy in our hearts. That is hope.
Verse 18—Christ was made alive by the Spirit. That is hope.
Verse 19—Your salvation comes through the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. That is hope.
Speaking of salvation, in last week’s sermon, the
word came up in verse 2 (1 Peter 2:2)—“you will grow into salvation”.
I mentioned that the Greek word for “salvation” is
“sozo” and it that it also means “healing”. Looking at that verse with the word
healing—“you will grow into healing”.
Let’s look at the Greek word “sozo” for a
moment. The Strong Concordance reference
is G4982 for those who are waiting to hear that information.
Among the meanings for SOZO: to save, to heal, to
restore to health (to be made whole), to preserve from being lost.
Looking at today’s verse 19, “your healing comes
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ”.
Putting those two together: ‘Your healing comes
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and you will grow into healing.’
Healing.
Let’s talk more about that because healing is a big part of the hope you
can speak of with others.
Where do you want/need healing in your life? Physical?
Emotional? Spiritual? What are the wounds in the past that could
use some healing?
I realize that this isn’t an easy topic. Healing doesn’t come without some pain. However, one of the life lessons I have
picked up along the way is that there is such a thing as growing pains. They exist physically. As we experience growth as infants and
children, there is pain in our bodies.
Most of us don’t realize the pain, yet some people feel the pain. As infants, we cry out, unable to express the
pain.
Just as we experience physical growth pains, there
are spiritual growth pains. It isn’t
comfortable to be faced with ourselves and needed growth. Yet, if there is going to be pain in our
lives, regardless, isn’t it much better to have pain that leads to healing and
wholeness rather than to stagnate.
I believe that this time of being set apart is a
time for healing. It has been for
me. I have been able to spend time
listening to the Creator, to God, to the Holy Spirit. I have been able to go back into the past and
allow God to bring healing into areas of my life that have been buried deep
under the surface for years. I don’t
know the things you deal with, the experiences you’ve had. I only know my fears, my insecurities, my false
self stuff…..
By allowing the Creator, the Artistic Designer, the
Master Builder, the One who knows me best to work in me and on me, I have been
going through a transformation and healing process. It’s ongoing.
I recognize that. As long as I
continue to breathe, there is work to be done on me and in me.
And because the Master Builder continues to work on
me and in me, I know that there is work being done through me. All of this is my hope that I can speak of
with others.
I can share my experiences as the opportunities
arise.
Because Jesus Christ is alive by the Spirit and
because my healing comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have hope
to share with others.
In last week’s
sermon, toward the end of the sermon, I said this: “Church, you ARE chosen
and valuable living stones. God is
working in and through you and me to build something beautiful. God is bringing healing into our lives.”
I believe that while we are apart from worshipping
together in community, the Master Builder is truly doing a beautiful thing in
us individually and collectively. I
believe that there is healing taking place.
I believe this because I’ve seen it and experienced it. Not just in my own life, but in a few other
lives that I’ve been able to observe.
I’ve seen it in Facebook posts—in people’s writings and in art. I have heard and seen it in Zoom
conversations.
I know that healing is crucial to growth. If we only cover up our wounds, then it is
difficult to allow the hope to shine through.
Once we have experienced healing in an area, then the light and love of
Christ can shine through the scars of the wounds and we become and Henri Nouwen
calls us, “wounded healers”. We have all
been wounded. The question is whether or
not we will be wounded wounders or wounded healers.
Allow the healing.
Share the healing.
Allow the hope.
Share the hope.
In closing, hear these words from Psalm 66, verses
16-20 from the Psalmist David who spoke his hope:
“Come close and listen, all you who honor God; I
will tell you what God has done for me: My mouth cried out to him with praise
on my tongue. If I had cherished evil in
my heart, my Lord would not have listened.
But God definitely listened. He
heard the sound of my prayer. Bless God!
He didn’t reject my prayer; he didn’t withhold his faithful love from me.”
Will you pray with me? (Spirit of the
Living God)
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YouTube Worship Service for May 17:
Soundcloud Audio Version
SOZO Scripture references from Bible Tools
SOZO Scripture references from Robust Designs
Bookmark that I shared during the sermon:
On the front: a stamped Pooh and Piglet walking alongside each other down a path.
On the back: "There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you."
This bookmark was given out to the Tuesday Ladies Bible Study at Burks UMC by Amy Nutt, Pastor and leader on June 2, 2015.
Quote that I shared from Carlo Carretto that spoke hope to me:
From A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants, page 176
"God presents himself to us little by little. The whole story of salvation is the story of the God who comes.
It is always he who comes, even if he has not yet come in his fullness. But there is indeed one unique moment in his coming; the others were only preparations and announcement.
The hour of his coming is the Incarnation.
The Incarnation brings the world his presence. It is a presence so complete that it overshadows every presence before it.
God is made human in Christ. God makes himself present to us with such a special presence, such an obvious presence, as to overthrow all the complicated calculations made about him in the past.
"The invisible, intangible God has made himself visible and tangible in Christ."
If Jesus is truly God, everything is clear; if I cannot believe this, everything darkens again."
--From The God Who Comes
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