Welcome to our
March 6
(1st Sunday In Lent)
online worship service!
Athens First UMC
2 S. College St., Athens, OH 45701
[Live-Stream Begins @ 10:25 AM]
(Nee'-kos) Biblical Greek Word for "Victory"
Sunday, March 6, 2022
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
Monday, February 28, 2022
Sermon (Feb. 27/Transfiguration Sunday) by Rev. Robert McDowell
Transfiguration Sunday is one of the extra special Sundays on the church calendar but it often goes unnoticed. It serves as a bridge between the weeks following the Christmas season and the beginning of the Season of Lent.
And maybe that’s the whole point of this Sunday on the church calendar because it reminds us of how easy it can be to miss the holy moments that happen in our daily lives. Take Moses from our Old Testament reading for example.
This is the story of when Moses went up a mountain and the Lord gave him the Ten Commandments to present to the people. So, he goes back down the mountain and our scripture reading is quick to point out that Moses didn’t know that the skin of his face was shining because he had been talking with God.
And so when Moses makes it down to the people, they were afraid because this doesn’t look like the same Moses who had left them. This was a Moses whose face was now radiating the glory of God. And when Moses discovers that he now looks very different, he needs to put a veil over his face just so that the people would no longer be overwhelmed.
During this long global pandemic, there have been many times when I have not recognized many of you who I know very well but our masks have made it difficult to recognize each other. I remember one time I got out of my car in a grocery store parking lot and I saw one of you wearing a mask, and I thought you were someone else. I called you by the wrong name! Masks have made it difficult to really see each other.
A couple of months ago, one of our church members said to me that even though she knows that wearing masks has been an important way to help stop the spread of the virus, that it’s also made it difficult to really see our true selves. Our masks can hide our expressions to varying degrees and this church member said how it’s bee challenging to get a sense of how the other person is doing. This church member has reminded me of how important it is to really see each other beyond just a surface level.
And so, when the Israelites first saw Moses coming down from the mountain, they couldn’t help but to see that he had truly been with the Lord because his skin was shining. The people could see that Moses had encountered the living God.
What does it mean for us to see God’s presence in our daily lives? What does it mean for us to see each other? And for that matter, what does it mean for us to see ourselves and who we are deep down in our very being? This is what Transfiguration Sunday, this obscure Sunday on the church calendar invites us to do each year. It invites us to open our eyes and see ourselves, each other, and the presence of God at work in our lives.
Let’s begin with how we see ourselves. How we see ourselves can have a significant impact on our attitudes as well as our actions.
You may have heard the story about the Episcopal Priest who went to the Harley Davidson dealer to buy a motorcycle.
The salesman came out to the parking lot, noticed the man admiring the bike, and said: “that there bike is the most powerful piece of machinery you’ll ever be seen on. It goes from zero to 60 in 5.8 seconds. Jet black fuel tank, chrome muffler, raised handle-bars. Can’t you see yourself, flying down the road, hair on fire, every woman’s head turning as you go by?” What sort of work do you do?” the salesman asked.
“I’m an Episcopal Priest.”
“Oh,” the salesman said, now with a disappointed look on his face. “Forget about what I just said because this motorcycle is also known to be the safest, most practical bike we’ve got on the lot. It comes with two helmets and free riding instructions.”
How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself through the eyes of the assumptions of what others may expect you to be or do you see yourself for who you truly are, a child of God?
I have a friend who says that if only we would remember our baptism more often, this would be a game changer in how God wants us to see ourselves. When Jesus was baptized, a voice from heaven said, “You are my child, the beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
For various reasons, we sometimes forget this very basic truth that is revealed in our baptism. We are God’s children. We are all beloved by God. And God is pleased with us.
I believe that our weekly benediction that closes every worship service is related to the meaning of our baptism. Every Sunday, we are reminded of who we are when we say, “You are a blessed, beloved, and beautiful child of God. There are no exceptions, asterisks, or loopholes.”
Or, if you’re not baptized, no worries because we are told in the first few pages of the Bible, that each one of us has been created in the image of God. Each one of us. Again, no exceptions, asterisks, or loopholes.
And when we think of who God is like, descriptive words like loving, patient, generous, forgiving, kind, compassionate, and holy come to mind. And just to think that we are all created in the image of this God who is described in this way! This is who we have been created to be.
This is what it means to be fully human. This is who we are. Do you see this? If you do, that’s great because that is who God has created you to be. If you don’t see this basis truth about who you are, that you have been created in God’s image, then I would encourage you to reflect on this until you do. You are a blessed, beloved, and beautiful child of God. There are no exceptions, asterisks, or loopholes.
And, this morning, I want to ask you how you see others. I think this has been more challenging over these past several years, just because of the widening political and theological polarization that we have been experiencing. It’s not easy to see beyond the different labels that we attach to each other.
Christian author and speaker, Brian McLaren was asked what helps him to stay in a loving relationship with family members and friends who have very profound political and ideological differences than his own. When Brian was asked this question on a theological podcast I was listening to at the time, I remember writing down his answer because I really appreciated his response.
He said, “I have learned to just say to people that I disagree with in the most loving, gracious, and genuine way that I can, ‘I just see it differently.’”
Isn’t that a great response! Of course, this assumes that we’ve truly listened to the other person. But this response is concise, to the point, genuine, but also true to what you believe. No need for arguments. No need for passive/aggressive behavior. We simply say, “I just see it differently.”
One of the ways that we can help people who feel unheard, ignored, and brushed aside is to truly listen to them and affirm them by saying, “I want you to know that I see you. I hear you.”
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism was known for how he encouraged those early Methodists to ask each other the question, “How is it with your soul?” That question invites us to see beyond what is going on the surface, and go deeper in how how we are really doing emotionally, relationally, physically, and spiritually.
If we truly want to see others, that’s a great question to ask. “How is it with your soul?” My District Superintendent asked me that question this past summer in the height of the pandemic. He really wanted to know how I was doing.
In addition to seeing ourselves and others, Transfiguration Sunday is also a time to see and recognize God’s presence in our daily lives. Now, you probably won’t have the same experience as Moses did who had spent six whole days with God on a mountaintop. And you probably won’t have the same experience as the three disciples, Peter, James, and John who witnessed Jesus being transfigured and radiating God’s glory right in front of their eyes. These were literally and figuratively mountaintop experiences.
Even if we may not have mountaintop experiences like the ones in our scripture readings today, God is still present in holy and mysterious ways. We refer to these as thin place moments, those moments where heaven and earth overlap reminding us of God’s presence.
The Apostle Paul writes in our scripture reading from II Corinthians, “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord.” What are those veils that are keeping us from seeing the glory of the Lord?
Some of these veils include the veil of a modern-day world view that has squeezed out any notion of the holy and mysterious. There is also the veil of our own daily preoccupations that can prevent us from seeing how God is at work.
Another veil is the veil of simply not giving ourselves time to reflect on the events of our lives to see how God was present. I like to refer to these as “delayed thin place moments” because it’s only in retrospect that we see how God was present in the people and situations we encountered.
Whether we recognize God’s presence in real time or upon reflection, it’s amazing what we can see when we remove the veils that would keep us from seeing the glory of the Lord.
Several years ago I was part of a team of people who led a weekend youth retreat at the church I was serving. On that Saturday morning, we led the 25 or so teenagers up to the sanctuary. Once everybody was seated in the first pews, one of the leaders told everybody to bow their heads in a time of silent prayer.
Well, the mistake this adult leader made was to tell the youth to bow their heads because they ended up missing the first five minutes of a very moving mime skit that some of our other leaders had put together and were acting out in the front of the sanctuary.
Since the skit was in silence, the youth didn’t know that it had started and we as leaders didn’t realize that the youth still had their heads bowed toward the floor in an attitude of prayer. I still laugh when I think about that memory.
On this Transfiguration Sunday, let’s not miss seeing the glory of God. Let’s see ourselves as God’s blessed, beloved, and beautiful children of God. Let’s see others as people created in the image of God. And let’s be open to seeing God’s mysterious and holy presence at work in our daily encounters.
And as the Apostle Paul says, may we all see the glory of the Lord.
I See You!
Sermon Discussion Questions
Exodus 34:29-35; II Corinthians 3:12-4:2; & Luke 9:28-36
February 27, 2022
All three of our scripture readings refer to the glory of God that shines upon us. When Moses came down the mountain after having spent time with God, we are told that the glory of the Lord shone around him. Likewise, when Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, the glory of the Lord shone around him. The Apostle Paul writes about having unveiled faces and being able to see the glory of the Lord.
Describe in your words what this “glory of the Lord” might have looked like to the people of Israel when they saw Moses and the disciples when Jesus was transfigured in front of them.
Transfiguration Sunday is a time to reflect on what it means to see God’s glory shining in ourselves, in others, and in our daily lives. Seeing God’s glory shining in ourselves, is to see that God has created us in his loving, gracious, and redeeming image. Our weekly benediction reminds us to see ourselves in this way when it speaks of “being a blessed, beloved, and beautiful child of God.”
Share how you see yourself and what a difference it makes when we see ourselves as God sees us.
Seeing God’s glory shining in others means that we see that person a blessed, beloved, and beautiful child of God as well. In the sermon, Pastor Robert shared that one of the ways that we can see beyond the differences that often divide people like political beliefs and worldviews is simply to respond to others with, “I just see it differently.” This honest and simple response can help us to truly see the other person while holding on to our own beliefs and opinions.
Share how you see others and what a difference it makes when we see others as God sees them, as people created in the image of God.
Seeing God’s glory shining in our daily lives means that we see God’s presence at work in the situations and events that we encounter.
Share how you have experienced God’s presence at work in a recent situation or event in your life. What helps you to recognize God’s presence in your life?
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Online Worship (February 27/Transfiguration Sunday) Athens First UMC
Welcome to our
February 27
(Transfiguration Sunday)
online worship service!
Athens First UMC
2 S. College St., Athens, OH 45701
[Live-Stream Begins @ 10:25 AM]
Wednesday, February 23, 2022
Monday, February 21, 2022
Sermon (February 20) by Rev. Robert McDowell
There are some common phrases in the Bible that set off alarm bells for me and today’s Gospel reading has one of those. Jesus says to the crowd, “But I say to you…”
Whenever we hear those words, we know that Jesus is going to offer us a challenge. And in this case today, the challenge relates to forgiveness and loving our enemies.
Last Sunday, our Gospel reading had the words that precede these challenging words. It’s where Jesus offers all of those blessings and woes. “Blessed are you who are poor for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are you are hungry now, for you will be filled. Blessed are you who weep now for you will laugh.”
Jesus was preaching some good news there. But today, those blessings turn into a challenge to us. “But I say to you…”
This phrase kind of reminds me of what parents might say to their children. Children don’t usually like it when they hear their parents say, “I know your friends are allowed to do that, but that’s not going to happen here.”
Or as Jesus puts it, “But I say to you…”
What follows is the challenge that Jesus offers us in what it means to be one of his followers. Jesus says, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you o the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
We have a tradition here at Athens First that after the Gospel reading concludes, the worship reader looks out at the congregation and says, “This is the Word of God for the people of God,” and our response is, “Thanks be to God!”
I noticed that I was a little more hesitant to respond with those words this morning. Jesus has just told us to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us, and we’re supposed to say, “Thanks be to God!” Well, I’m proud to say that I did say those words, but I didn’t do so as enthusiastically as other Sundays.
To be honest, today’s Gospel reading with Jesus’ very challenging words to us makes me hesitate because I don’t know if I’m up to the task.
I mean, do you find it easy to love your enemies? Sure, I believe in forgiveness, but I also don’t want to be treated with disrespect. And what if someone is spreading false information and hatred? I’m not wired to be loving in those moments, trust me!
Here’s a perfect example. While I was working on this sermon, I checked Facebook and one of my Facebook friends had a post that included blatant misinformation that was mixed in with some really, really bad theology.
But actually, it wasn’t the person’s post that got under my skin, it was the many comments to that person’s post. Those comments were filled with even more misinformation and bad theology in my humble opinion.
It reminded me of the frustration one of our church members was experiencing and she said to me, “Robert, is there some sort of Gospel of Hate that I don’t know about because it seems like a lot of people follow that instead of a Gospel of Love.”
I was so tempted to respond to that Facebook comment but today’s Gospel reading prevented me from making such a futile error. My heart was saying, “Prove them wrong!” but my head was saying, “Don’t do it! You know it won’t help. People are going to believe what they want to believe.”
Another church member and I were talking about a similar kind of thing on how to respond to people who believe things that just aren’t true. And so I asked him, “What helps you to not get into these futile arguments when you feel your blood pressure rising?”
And he said something really interesting. He said, “I just listen to them.” And so I asked him, “Well, does it work?” And he said, “no.” But he said that people just need someone who will listen and that you care enough to listen.
He also said something else that was really interesting. He said that sometimes when you just let people talk, you can hear what their real concerns and fears are. But we don’t know unless we just learn to listen.
If people like this church member are taking Jesus seriously when he says to us, “Love your enemies and do good to those who hate you,” maybe I should pay more attention to my own sermons! It’s one thing to preach about following Jesus, it’s a whole different matter to actually follow Jesus.
Jesus says, “But I say to you.” “But I say to you, Robert.”
I think of examples of people who have said, “challenge accepted” when hearing these words of Jesus to love your enemies and do good to those who hate you.
The first one that comes to my mind is from near where I grew up in south central, Pennsylvania. You may remember that back in 2006, a gunman entered a one room Amish school house in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and ended up killing five girls between the ages of 6 and 13 and then also killed himself. It was just an awful, awful tragic news story.
[Scene of 2006 Shooting of 5 Amish Girls, Lancaster, PA]
In a story for NPR about this shooting, sociologist Donald Kraybill said, “I think the most powerful demonstration of the depth of Amish forgiveness was when members of the Amish community went to the killer’s burial service at the cemetery. Several families, Amish families who had buried their own daughters just the day before were in attendance and they hugged the widow, and hugged other members of the killer’s family.”
The Amish families extended forgiveness to the family of the shooter including the man’s wife, now widow. One Amish man held the shooter’s father in his arms for an hour offering comfort to him. The Amish community even permitted the widow of the killer to attend the funeral of one of the victims so that she would be able to offer her deepest condolences.
I remember really struggling with this response and feeling that this offer of forgiveness was too soon and that more time was needed for this community to grieve. But then I read a statement from one of the Amish fathers who said that we all need to remember that the man who killed their children had a mother and a wife and soul and now he’s standing before a just God to answer for what he had done.
“But I say to you…” Challenge accepted!
Another example of loving your enemies comes to mind. And this is related to the Westboro Baptist Church that has sadly become famous for being hateful toward anyone who doesn’t believe the way that they do.
Known for their hate speech against atheists, Jews, Muslims, Gay and transgender people, and numerous denominations, this small Kansas church of about 70 members and founded by Fred Phelps continues to travel to places around the country to spread their Gospel of Hate.
But out of this hate-filled church, comes this story of one of their own members, Megan Phelps-Roper, daughter of founder, Fred Phelps. She had grown up in the Westboro church and was their church representative on Twitter. She would post messages about the church’s doctrine and would use hate-filled language in her tweets.
As you can imagine, that led to a lot of reactions to her messages of hate, but there were some Christians on Twitter who responded to her tweets not with hate but with love. These Twitter responses to her tweets eventually led her to leave the Westboro church because she realized that there was a better way of living out the Christian faith than what she had been taught to believe.
In 2019, she released a Memoir, “Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope.” She also is on the speaking circuit telling about her experience in moving from a Gospel of Hate to a Gospel of Love.
“But I say unto you…” Challenge accepted!
These stories of love and forgiveness give me hope especially whenever Jesus sets the bar high in how we respond to others, especially to those who seek to do us harm.
But it’s not like Jesus doesn’t show us what he expects of his followers. At the end of the Luke’s Gospel we are told that as Jesus was hanging on the cross he prayed, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus life was one of love and forgiveness.
Jesus says if you want to be my disciple, do good to those who seek to do you harm. One of my favorite prayers is one that I pray every Monday morning for my daily devotions. It’s a simple prayer, a rhyming prayer. It goes like this:
“Dear Lord Jesus, help me to do the things I should, to be to other kind and good, and in all I do or say be more loving everyday.”
And when I think of Jesus challenging words to us, I also think of these lyrics from a song that asks the question, “Are you tough enough to be kind?”
Are you tough enough to be kind? I think that’s really what Jesus is asking us here in our Gospel reading for today. Are you tough enough to be kind? Are you tough enough to be one of my followers and love your enemies and do good to them? Are you tough enough to not judge others? Are you tough enough to forgive those who have hurt you?
And may we all say, “challenge accepted.”
Challenge Accepted!
Sermon Discussion Questions
Luke 6:27-38
February 20, 2022
Last Sunday’s appointed Gospel reading included Jesus’ words of blessings upon the crowd. Just after Jesus’ offers these words of blessings, he now offers very challenging words to us about loving our enemies and those who would do us harm. Read Luke 6:27-31. “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you o the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not which old even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
What is your initial reaction in hearing these words from Jesus? Why do you think Jesus offers us these challenging words?
In Jesus’ day, the Roman authorities would have been viewed as “the enemy” because of their occupation of Israel. They would have also associated the word, “enemy” with anyone who sought to hurt or harm them.
Think of people who “get under your skin.” It could be people who have sought to harm you or others physically, emotionally, or spiritually. How do you respond in these situations? What does it mean for you to love those who are seeking to harm you or others? Remember that to do harm can include spreading misinformation as well as other harmful acts.
Pastor Robert shared two examples of people who sought to show love to their enemies. These include the Lancaster, PA Amish community who showed love to the widow and family of the man who killed five young Amish girls back in 2006. Even in the midst of their own grief, they found ways to show love. The other example is a former member of the Westboro Baptist Church which is known for their homophonic and very hate-filled speech toward others. Christians on Twitter responded to her hate-filled rhetoric with words of love and kindness. This led her to leave the church and write a memoir, “Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope.”
Share other examples where you have seen people accept Jesus challenge to love their enemies.
Here is a prayer that can help us to remember and accept Jesus’ challenge of loving our enemies. It’s a simple prayer that rhymes.
Dear Lord Jesus, help me to do the things I should, to be to other kind and good, and in all I do or say be more loving everyday. Amen.
Sunday, February 20, 2022
Online Worship (February 20) Athens First UMC
Welcome to our
February 20
online worship service!
Athens First UMC
2 S. College St., Athens, OH 45701
[Live-Stream Begins @ 10:25 AM]
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