Bishop Greg Brewer: Lord, in the midst of all that makes up our lives, all that we're going through, all that we endure, all that we enjoy, help us, oh Lord, in these moments to focus on you. Help us Lord to see you at work here in this service, in this church and in our lives and in the lives of our family. Thank you that you are Lord over all and we trust in you. So this morning speak to us Lord. Your servants are listening.
For it is in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord that we pray. Amen. Please be seated. Is there anything better to talk about in a sermon than Jesus? If there is, I don't know it.
What's the line? Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in his wonderful face. So goes the hymn. And there is no substitute.
As a friend of mine said succinctly, Jesus is God's final sermon. He alone is the exact likeness of the invisible God. He alone is the one who overcame death. He alone is the name that is above every other name. He is the first, meaning the preeminent one.
The one who is higher than all others. And he is the last. The final word of all that God is. We believe very deeply that in the midst of all of the questions about who is God, what is God like, we believe that when Jesus said, if you have seen me, you have seen the father. We have in the life, death, resurrection, and teachings of Jesus the very picture of God.
It is God, it is how God is presenting himself to the rest of the world. That's one of the clear points that Paul makes in his epistle reading. He said, when I came among you, Paul writes, I did not come to impress. Stop right there. He's in a brand new culture.
He's among people that he doesn't know. I would think everything inside of him would want to make a good impression. That's how many of us think. Right? But that's not his passion.
That's actually not even his concern. He said, I only came to speak of Jesus and specifically the cross of Christ. That peak event that reveals more than any other who God truly is. And what is that? That is sacrificial love.
And that sacrificial love is life changing for all who encounter it. Paul writes quite humbly to proclaiming Jesus who was all God had directed him to do. There there was no plan b. In other words, if the message of Jesus was rejected, if it didn't, as we would say, land well, he would have no choice but just to move on. He only had one directive.
But, what happened, as he writes, was that as he proclaimed Jesus, God moved among Paul's hearers. Lives were changed. Paul describes demonstration of the spirit and power. That's what happens when Jesus is proclaimed. Something happens in the room when people begin to speak of the name of Jesus.
As we begin to turn the focus of our attention upon him, as we exhale, breathe deeply, enter into the worship. Listen carefully to what the word of God is saying. Something happens. These are actions that God honors with His presence. Things begin to change in and around us.
Sometimes, it's like a gentle peace that settles over the room that finally allows guilt and stress just to wash away. But sometimes, it's like electricity. The energy in the room increases. There is a vibrancy in what the preacher is saying that is beyond his natural ability. The word of God comes alive and people in their hearts begin to respond.
They begin to say yes. And, it just wells up inside of them. It's a response to what's happening because God is using all that is happening in those moments to draw people to himself. You see, when they say yes, they're they're not really saying yes to the preacher or to anything else in the room. This is an invitation that God is extending, and they are saying yes to Jesus.
When that happens, God is present here. God is the one who is orchestrating these events. God is the one who chooses to pour out his spirit as Jesus is faithfully proclaimed. I know some of you come here early to pray, and I'm grateful that you do. But I would ask here, please pray that in word and sacrament, Jesus is the one who is proclaimed.
And proclaimed in such a way by the spirit's power that people may encounter him, fall in love with him, lay down their lives for him. We are in the midst in this service of transacting as it were business with God. We're not just coming in to sit and observe, we are entering into his presence and Jesus invites us to interact with him, to speak with him, to be honest about all that's going on in our lives, to open our hearts to his forgiveness and his mercy in our love. The definition of what we are doing here this morning is encounter and nothing less than that. Which is why even in the songs that we sang already today, what's flowing through those lyrics is nothing less than an invitation.
Even the liturgy, blessed be God. Who's he talking to when Jordan says that? He's saying it to us. In other words, snap to attention. We're here.
Let's bless God together. It's all about being invited into something that draws us beyond our own capacity just to continue to ruminate of all that's going on in our lives. Self examination is not a bad thing, But continuous rumination does nothing more than draw you inside yourself. And what the liturgy, the music, the scripture, everything is doing is calling you to get out from that and to look up. To see him.
To turn your focus not on just what's happening inside. You can do that anywhere, you know. But to turn your eyes as the song goes, on Jesus. Because that's when the life transforming moments began to happen. So long as you sit back and observe, you take the posture of a non participant.
Participant. And things could pass you by. But if you're willing to take a step in, enter into that which is being offered, sing the songs and think about what you're singing, Enter into the liturgy. Turn the focus of your attention upon God himself. That's when things begin to happen.
And Jesus promised that they would. Hearts are warmed as John Wesley said. People encounter God in fresh ways. Word and sacrament come alive. We don't just hear the words, we're encountering Jesus in those words.
We don't just receive the bread, we are encountering Jesus in the bread. Jesus is the host of this banquet. He is the one who by the Holy Spirit is pouring out his strength into our lives. Would we but receive it? He knows our challenges, our difficulties, our joys, our sorrows.
We can come to him just as we are because he already knows us anyway. There's no need to pretend. Ask and you shall receive. Have you come to impress this morning or have you come to receive? To enter in.
To seek God. Beloved, I would encourage you, come and be among the beggars. Come and receive. Find a moment when you are not thinking about what others are thinking of you And think on him. Open your hearts to him.
We proclaim Jesus and him crucified, Paul writes. Why? Because crucifixion is God's declaration. Jesus says, greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends. Did you hear that?
His friends. And he turns and looks to his disciples who not much later stand and betray him. And he says to them, you are not will be. You are my friends. And the same is true for us.
We are his friends no matter what happens to us after we leave or even in between the services. It's not very difficult, is it, to be with kids and spouse and others, and all of a sudden, something happens inside, you're beginning to get tense, you disagree with what the purpose is saying. It's just a part of what it means to be human. If you think friendship is calculated, friendship with God, on your behavior, you don't even get to first base. Jesus said differently.
He said, greater love has no one than this, than he, meaning Jesus, laying down his life for his friends, you. You are my friends. And that does not change. What we see in the crucifixion is Jesus laying down his life for us, taking upon himself the punishment due us for our sins, and in so doing speaking a word of forgiveness and restoration that can only come from the one who has paid that ultimate price. Jesus is the only one in the universe.
God in the flesh can look Who can look at you from the very depths of who you are and speak words of forgiveness because he knows it all within you intimately. That's why, why pretend? He knows us as we are. Not how we would like to present ourselves to him, but as we are. His word is the only word that changes us.
And the word of absolution and affirmation are his words. There is no other like Jesus, the one who in death faced death itself, pushed to the side to set free all those who long to be free from death's grip, so that we are no longer victims in this life. No. In the death and resurrection of Jesus, we share in his victory. That's what it means to be friends.
That's what Paul writes when he says, we are co heirs with Jesus Christ. Meaning, his death, his resurrection, his victory has been implanted within us. And because that's so, I taste of his victory. I taste of the absolution, which is the fruit of his father. Forgive them.
That he cried upon the cross. These are words that no one else can say. Jesus' victory over death lives inside each one of us who have said yes to him. We share in his death and we rejoice with him in the promise of his resurrection. We have become friends of God, filled with the spirit.
That's why we sing for joy. You know, if you don't know a lot of joy in your life, that's because you're not encountering Jesus. He's the one who parts joy. It's the fruit of the spirit. And there are plenty of people who, because they're so inwardly focused, know nothing more than the inward rumination of their circumstances, trying to find a way to make life better.
I understand. But the fact of the matter is is that that kind of path leads to the dead end so that all you have staring in front of you is you. You're no better. Jesus has to be the one to come in and break that cycle and turn us toward him. Because it is in seeing him that we know forgiveness, mercy, and joy.
Today, I sing for joy because I know I am forgiven, and I have the promise of eternal life. Is that not true for you? Only Jesus is here. He is the only one who can bring this vision a life to life. A vision that that is bigger than anything that we could have ever imagined.
As the hymn goes, rise up ye saints of God. Have done with lesser things. Give heart and soul and mind and strength to serve the king of kings. Why waste your life on being good at plenty of things that just don't ultimately matter? That is the temptation of this culture.
You can spend all afternoon talking about who's gonna win the Super Bowl and what Bad Bunny may or may not be doing at the halftime show and all the other things that will preoccupy a lot of Super Bowl conversations. And you know that's not bad. It's not wicked. But if that's all you've got, sad and empty is your life. Turn your eyes upon Jesus And be changed and sing for joy.
Amen.