Several years ago, Penny and I saw the
movie, “Good Night & Good Luck.”
It’s a movie starring George Clooney and is the true story about the CBS
newscaster, Edward R. Murrow, who in the 1950s, stood up to Senator Joseph
McCarthy’s accusations of people being involved in communism.
I found the movie very interesting but I
must say that I was bothered by his send off phrase that he would use after
every news episode, “Good Night and Good
luck.” I don’t know about you, but I’m
in need of something more than just luck.
In our scripture reading this morning,
Jesus shares final words with the disciples before ascending into heaven. I’m sure it was an emotional and tearful
moment. They had been through so much
together over a three-year period and it was now time for Jesus to leave
them. Jesus didn’t tell the disciples,
“good luck” as he was being lifted from their presence.
No.
Luke tells us that he lifted his hands and blessed them and he continued
to bless them as he ascended into heaven.
Of all the elements of a worship service;
including the music, the sermon, and the prayers; there’s one element of
worship in particular which sometimes gets forgotten and that’s the
benediction.
My first pastorate was as a student intern
at a church in Lima, Ohio. The Senior
Pastor was on vacation one Sunday and had invited a guest pastor to preach on
that particular Sunday.
My job as the student intern was to
welcome this guest pastor and assist in the worship service such as handling
the prayers and the scripture reading.
Before we went into the sanctuary to worship, I asked this visiting
pastor if he would like to offer the benediction when the service was over.
And he said to me, “No. I really think you should
offer the benediction. That’s something
that the congregation should hear from you.”
I’ll never forget that brief conversation
a little over thirty years ago, and since then, I have tried to never take this
last piece of the worship service for granted.
What really is the benediction? It’s a blessing upon the congregation as they
prepare to go forth to live out the good news of Jesus Christ during the week.
The idea is that every Sunday morning when
we come to this place for worship, we receive a blessing from Christ. Or to put it another way, you and I receive a
blessing at the end of worship so that we can in turn go into our community to
be a blessing to others.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that the
living out of our faith has nothing to do with luck and has everything to do
with who Jesus is.
His
prayer of blessing upon the Church of Ephesus is that…
“the God
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom
and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart
enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are
the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the
immeasurable greatness of his power
for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”
Just before Jesus ascended
into heaven, Luke tells us that Jesus opened their minds to understand the
scriptures. And specifically, he
explained again the meaning of his crucifixion and resurrection and told them, “You are witnesses of these things. And once you receive the Holy Spirit, you are
to proclaim this good news.”
Jesus didn’t leave the
disciples with luck. His plan was to
make sure that they understood the scriptures, accepted their responsibility to
be witnesses throughout the world, and to have them wait to receive the power
of the Spirit to carry out his work.
Instead of luck, we are to be faithful and
depend on the presence of Jesus in our daily lives.
And it certainly doesn’t hurt to throw a
little strategy into the mix.
Several years ago, I was eating lunch in a
restaurant and got to know the owner of the restaurant. After he heard that I was a pastor, his eyes
lit up and he told me about his involvement as a layperson in helping to start
new churches.
And I asked him the question, “In the churches that you have helped start
which have turned out to be growing and vital churches, do you notice any key
ingredient that helps them to be successful?”
He said, “Well yes. I do notice something. Either people want their church to grow or
they don’t. It’s as simple as that.”
He said, “For example, this is one small thing but it just goes to show how
intentional this growing church is in reaching people for Christ. This church intentionally built an outside
basketball court on its property with the hope of attracting young people from
the neighborhoods. But that’s not
all. They intentionally place a
basketball on the court during a time of the day when young people are walking
by the church so that they will be more likely to start playing. And then this church has someone watching all
of this and when that person sees a young person or a group of people gather on
that court, that church member goes and starts shooting baskets with them with
the intention of getting to know them and to build relationships. The church member ends up providing care and
support for those young people and then they begin to bring their friends and
family members to the church. That one
little strategic ministry has built a bridge between the church and the
community.”
When Jesus left the disciples by ascending
into heaven, I think he expected them to not only rely on the coming of the
Holy Spirit, but to also use some creative thinking and smart strategy in being
his witnesses.
I notice that Jesus didn’t give the
disciples a detailed strategy on how to go about being his witnesses. He pretty much left that up to us to figure
out. God gave us minds to think these
things through and the Holy Spirit to empower us to carry forth His mission.
He doesn’t want us to depend on luck to
fulfill His purposes. He wants us to
participate with him and to share in the joy of a job well done.
Every Sunday morning, when I stand before
you to offer the benediction, I can’t help but to think of the many people who
will be blessed because of your faithfulness to the Gospel.
One
night during a Missions Team meeting, one of you came to let us know that your
small group wanted to have a hot chocolate donut give away in front of our
church during Final’s Week. You blessed over 75 students that day through this
creative way of letting the people who walk by our church know that we are a
church that cares.
I remember saying a silent
prayer of thanksgiving that you would do such a nice thing.
What a blessing you are.
Speaking of Final’s Week, many of you know
that our church invites college students to study down in our Fellowship Hall
during Final’s Week. When I first heard one of you mention this to me, I
remember wondering how many students would really come. There are a lot of
places students can study, like the library, a coffee shop, or back in their
dorm or apartment.
A
lot of college students ended up coming to our church all because one of you
personally went to each fraternity, sorority, and apartment near our church and
you personally invited them to come. You told them that not only would we
provide a quiet space, but that we would also have home baked cookies and other
snacks.
One night during Final’s Week, I stopped
by here and I saw Wendy Merb-Brown in the kitchen. She and Logan were providing
dinner for our college students. You didn’t just provide cookies and snacks.
You went all out because you wanted them to know that we are a church that
cares.
What a blessing you are.
Last month, a worship guest wrote this on
the back of their Sunday Connect Card.
They wrote, “May God bless your church! We are in town for our son’s graduation.
Thank you for being so friendly and welcoming.”
As I read this note, I could picture one
of our greeters opening a door for this couple as they entered our church that
morning. I could picture another person going up to them and inviting them over
to our coffee and refreshments area. I could picture someone else telling them,
“My name is…It’s so nice to see you.”
What a blessing you are.
Our church received this thank you card
from Habitat for Humanity here in Athens. Here’s what the card says:
Our church received this thank you card
from Habitat for Humanity here in Athens. Here’s what the card says:
Rev. McDowell and First UMC Family,
Wow, how amazing is our Lord!? I cannot
begin to describe how amazed I am with the passion of this church and your
willingness to give unto others! Your donation of $6,318 is a blessing to a
family soon to be partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Southeast Ohio!
Thanks to you, a family will have the opportunity to not only own their own
home, but will be able to raise their family in a safe environment! We are
beyond grateful to be a part of such a community as your church! Thank you!
What a blessing you are.
One of you walked up to me in church and
you said, “I just want you to know that
my wife and I will be sending a check to the church, but we don’t want it to go
directly into the general budget. We’re still going to give to the general
budget like we usually do, but we want you to use this extra gift to help pay
for anything that the general budget doesn’t cover, like if you want to start a
new ministry or something like that.”
Pastors live for these moments! I’m pretty
sure that I could hear the angels of heaven singing the “Hallelujah Chorus” when
you shared this with me.
Do you remember the awesome hospitality
training that we had at the OU Inn this past March? Yeah, that happened because
of your unexpected gift.
What a blessing you are.
I thank God for each one of you and for
all the ways that you are shining the light of Christ as you go forth from this
place week after week. Lives are being
changed and people are growing closer to Christ because of you.
With this in mind, let me close this sermon
by saying from the bottom of my heart…
Good day and God bless!
Good Night & Good Luck
Small Group Questions
Ephesians 1:15-23 & Luke 24:44-53
May 28, 2017
Just before Jesus ascended to heaven to be with his Heavenly Father, St. Luke tells us that he "blessed them (his disciples.)" This scripture passage reminds us that Jesus blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others.
How has God blessed you? Share with the group.
Just like the disciples, we are blessed by God to be a blessing to others. That's the whole point of the benediction at the end of a worship service.
In what ways has God empowered you to be a blessing to others as you live out your faith?
The accompanying scripture for today is from Ephesians 1:15-23. This reading reminds us of how God has blessed us in many incredible ways through the presence of Christ in our lives.
Read this scripture together and share which part of this blessing stands out for you personally.
“The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.”
