Our scripture reading from I Peter says
that we are God’s own people. The King James Version offers a slightly
different wording. It says that we are a
“peculiar” people.
Do you see yourself as peculiar? That’s
not a very flattering word, is it? “Jim, I have always felt that you were
peculiar, and I mean that as a compliment.”
Peculiar has a connotation of being weird
and strange. Who wants to be known as peculiar besides Dennis Rodman and Charlie
Sheen? Most of us want to be seen as normal and people who fit in.
I’m told that there is a town in west
central Missouri with the name of Peculiar. What would it be like to be born in
a town called, Peculiar? There’s a church in Louisiana known as Strange United
Methodist Church. How would you like to be a member of that church? “Yeah, I go to Strange Church. I feel like I
really fit in there.”
The more that I think about it, the more
it makes sense that we should be known as a strange and peculiar people. Those
of us who have been part of the church for any length of time, can easily
forget that God has called us to be set apart.
The writer of I Peter puts it this way. “But you are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.” In other words, you are a
peculiar people.
Today is known as “Heritage Sunday” on the
church calendar. It’s a day to remember and give thanks in particular for our
United Methodist heritage.
Did you know that the United Methodist
Church got its start in England back in the 1700s? Two brothers who were
Anglican Priests, John and Charles Wesley, began forming small groups of people
who would meet every week for a disciplined life of mutual prayer, bible study,
and serving people in need on a weekly basis. These groups were very regimented
and they followed very strict rules of accountability among the members.
These small groups were so disciplined in
practicing their faith in a society that had grown very lax about their faith
that many people outside of these groups began calling them names. They felt
that these small groups of Christians were taking their faith way too
seriously.
One of the names they gave for these
groups was “Methodist.” They referred to them as “those Methodists” as a way to
ridicule them. Wesley decided to turn this into a positive and he made this
their new name.
The very name of our denomination is a
reminder that we are a peculiar people. When we take our faith seriously, it
will create a reaction that will be both positive and negative. No one seems
too interested in a church that simply blends in with the crowd. We are called
to be a peculiar people, a people set apart for the work of Christ in the
world.
I have a friend who is a retired United
Methodist pastor. He told me the story of a time when he was on the crew team
in High School where he lived in Philadelphia. His crew coach was the father of
the famous actress and Princess of Monaco, Grace Kelly.
The coach, whose name was Jack Kelly,
wanted the crew team to practice on Sunday mornings, but my friend told him
that he wouldn’t be able to do that because he attended church on Sunday
mornings. The coach said, “Teller, you
will practice on Sunday mornings or you won’t be on my crew team.” And my
friend who loved to row, but also was very committed to his faith, responded by
saying that he would need to quit the team. In front of the whole crew team and
because he didn’t want to lose this gifted rower, the coach swallowed his pride
and said, “Because of Teller who feels
the need to go to church on Sundays, we’ll have to practice on Saturday
mornings instead.”
Sometimes, it’s not easy to be known as a
peculiar people. People will wonder why we do what we do. But sometimes, people
will be drawn to God out of curiosity as we seek to be faithful to God in our everyday
lives.
One of the reasons why the early church
grew so rapidly the first few centuries was because those early followers saw
themselves as peculiar people. They offered a radical new way of living that
caught people off guard.
Tertullian, a 2nd century Roman
writer reported that the Romans would say about the Christians, “See, how they love one another!”
Justin Martyr, a leading
Christian leader in the 2nd century described the early church this
way: “We who used to value the acquisition
of wealth and possessions more than anything else now bring what we have into a
common fund and share it with anyone who needs it. We used to hate and destroy
one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country.
Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our
enemies.”
In
his book, You Lost Me by David Kinnaman, he offers his thoughts on why
there has been such a decline of young adults attending churches. He writes
that the church has become overly institutional and not enough relational which
is what most young adults are seeking in a church. As a side note, this
actually isn’t just want young adults want. It’s what people of all ages want.
Kinnaman goes on to write that the reason
why the Methodist Church grew rapidly and consistently early in it’s history is
because it was more focused on relationships than it was with being an
institution. Relationships in the early Methodist Church were formed through
several small groups of about ten to twelve people who met in each other’s
homes to help one another grow in their walk with Christ.
The leaders of these class meetings were
considered lay pastors who helped their groups to deepen their bond with each
other and with Christ. They shared their joys, failures, griefs, sins, and
spiritual struggles. Over time, a trust level grew among the people in the
group to the point where everyone felt comfortable in sharing their faith with
each other.
These groups were always open to receiving
new people, regardless of where they were in their spiritual lives. The focus
wasn’t on the institution. The focus was on building strong spiritual relationships
in and outside of the church.
Kinnaman makes the observation that for
churches to reach young adults in today’s world, we need to reclaim our own
Methodist heritage of small groups and class meetings. It’s through the
building of strong relationships that the church is able to reach people of all
ages.
I think that this is what our scripture
reading from I Peter never wants us to forget. We are a peculiar people. We’re
peculiar because we have been claimed by Christ and we are called to be his
people in the world.
Many of us remember the tragic story of a
gunman who killed five girls at an Amish schoolhouse in Pennsylvania about
seven and a half years ago. If you remember, the killer ended up taking his own
life.
Just days after burying their own
daughters from the shooting, this Amish community also attended the funeral service
of the gunman. They showed incredible forgiveness and kindness by hugging the
widow of the gunman and members of her family.
Just one year after the shooting, this
same Amish community offered another gesture of forgiveness. They donated money
to the killer’s widow and her three young children.
The response of this Amish community is an
amazing story of healing and forgiveness, but it doesn’t end there. There was a
ripple effect. Because of the love and kindness that the shooter’s wife had received
from the Amish community she decided to write a book that offers a message of
hope that is possible even after a terrible tragedy like the one caused by her
husband.
There was another ripple effect. The
mother of the gunman has been able to find healing by forgiving her son just as
the Amish community has forgiven him. Teri Roberts has gone on the speaking circuit
to share her story of forgiveness and hope to anyone who will listen. She says
that the world needs more stories about the power of forgiveness and the
importance of seeking joy through adversity.
All of these stories of healing, hope, and
forgiveness out of a terrible tragedy have been made possible because of a
peculiar group of people who were willing to take that first step in offering forgiveness.
Do you see yourself as peculiar?
I mentioned that today is known as
Heritage Sunday on the church calendar. Another interesting piece of our
history is that John Wesley, who founded the Methodist movement almost died when
he was only five years old.
A fire broke out at his house and little
John was stranded on an upper floor of the building. Two neighbors were able to
rescue him jus seconds before the roof collapsed. One neighbor stood on the
other’s shoulders and pulled him through the window.
As he grew older, John Wesley often
referred to himself as a “brand plucked
out of the fire.” He always knew that God had a special mission for him to
accomplish. And that mission was to be the leader of the Methodist movement to
help people grow in their faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.
John Wesley knew that he was a peculiar
person who was called to form a peculiar people known as Methodists.
A friend of mine who has served many years
as a pastor tells me about the time when he was appointed to a church in
northwest Ohio several years ago. It was his first Sunday as the new pastor and
several people had come to worship that Sunday to check out their new preacher.
This church had a balcony like our church
and on that Sunday, the balcony of this church was just packed with people.
During the opening of worship, my friend welcomed everyone to church and he
noticed the many people up there in the balcony. To acknowledge their presence
he said, “What a great crowd of people we
have today. There must be fifty odd people up there in the balcony.”
The people started laughing at
his comment and that’s when he realized the double meaning of his phrase,
“fifty odd people.”
You know, come to think of it, we are an
odd bunch of people, aren’t we? In Jesus Christ, we are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people.
We really are a strange and peculiar
people.
And
I totally mean that as a compliment.
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