My first sermon in a new church is always a variation of something I heard on the radio years ago called “This I Believe.” In these radio essays, individuals would start off by saying, “This I believe,” and then they would explain what they believed exactly.  Sometimes, it was something super important and life-defining, and sometimes, it was something rather trivial and even silly.  But I always found them fascinating because they gave insight into who a person was. 

So I would always start a new appointment off by walking out from the pulpit saying, “This I Believe,” and then reciting the Apostles’ Creed. That was always it. You want to know what I believe – there it is. The Creeds–the Apostles, and the Nicene–they truly define what I believe, who I am and what the boundaries are of this thing called orthodoxy or “right belief.” 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried;
the third day he rose from the dead;
he ascended into heaven,
and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

This Creed outlines what we believe about each person of the Trinity—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. It tell us who Jesus is, His life, death, resurrection, ascension, and return. It shows us the power and call of the Spirit. It is what I believe.  It is who we are as the church.  

This I believe. 

The Creed is, in and of itself, a Trinitarian statement.  I don’t know if you have ever noticed that.  The first part of the Creed defines the Father, the second the Son, and the third the Holy Spirit. In regards to the Holy Spirit, we see one of the primary goals of the Spirit is the Church. When we affirm that we believe in the Spirit, we affirm that we believe in the Church. We affirm the need, the calling, and the purpose of the Church. It is birthed by the Holy Spirit, rooted in Jesus, serving the Father. It is our community of believers. 

Do you remember the old Uncle Sam poster and images? That old “Uncle Sam needs you” image with the old man draped in the stars and stripes, pointing at the viewer? The image or the idea was around for many years, but the image that most of us think about was standardized during the time of World War I for recruitment. It’s since become a pretty ubiquitous image, seen all over the nation and world.  

Uncle Sam needs you. 

I thought about that image and concept with the church a lot recently.  One in a way that you could probably can imagine, and one in a way that you may not.  First, the one that you probably see coming. 

The church needs you. Yeah, that’s what you saw coming from a mile away. St. Matthew’s needs you. We are in a new season right now. We’ve talked about this in leadership, in classes, and all around. Our church is becoming something new.  This is exciting.  This is scary. This season is full of possibilities. There will be new things birthed. Things may look different in some ways. We are no longer the same church we were a year ago, two years ago, or ten years ago. God is calling us to something that may look and feel a little different. Worship times may shift around. Budgetary items may move. You see new people in different places. Growth is scary, yes, but it is also exciting. 

And your church needs you. The church needs your financial stewardship. If you know me, you know that I am loathe to talk about money. But, we need your stewardship. We’ve thought around a lot of ideas – every family giving an additional $50 a month, if able. Everyone gives an additional 1%. Giving up a weekly cup of coffee or a latte.  I like this idea; just trying to come up with a good name for it! There are lots of things floating around, but here is my basic challenge. If you aren’t giving consistently, begin. If you are giving consistently, move towards a tithe or 10% of your income. If you are tithing, is there more than you can do.  Holly and I tithe our income to the church. Beginning this month, we are going to give beyond a tithe.  I know that our church needs us in this moment and I know that our family can do this. I challenge you to give in the way that you are able. 

Your church needs you and your service. We are blessed with an abundance of children right now. We are working to grow our youth group. We need to start new Sunday School classes. We need strong voices (especially men) in the choir. We need service all around. We need you. Where can you plug in? Where can you find your calling? Where can you serve?  

The church needs you, yes. And that leads to the second concept I mentioned earlier. The church needs you to help us grow and be healthy. Because our community and the world needs us.  I think Madison, the Metro, Mississippi, and the world need what St. Matthew’s offers. 

Let me be completely honest and transparent here. The path that we are walking as a church is a challenging path.  It is not always an easy path.  It is a path of trying to pull together voices and persons who may not always agree on big, important issues and find common ground. In this, we are finding the ability and call to unite in what brings us together and not focus on what separates us.

I believe, deep in the core of my being, this is the right path.  It is a path that I believe the world needs.  It is a path of hope; it is a path of healing.  It is a path that we can model well. There is a legion of complaints about the polarized and divided nature of the world and how our institutions seem to be fraying at the edges. We complain about how no one can do anything to help fix the destructive, toxic nature of where we find ourselves.  

I say to you that St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church is trying to do just that by focusing on what can unite instead of that which divides.  In the recent book “The Three Practices” Jim Hancock talks about bridging our differences.  One of the key principles he stresses is that we should “stay in the room with differences” even and especially when it is hard. 

We are a church that has always held to theological and social positions that are traditional.  Yet, we are part of a broader connection that contains many people, and perhaps even some of us here today, who would not hold some of these same convictions. Choosing to walk this path together is a challenge. But in walking this path we are saying to the wider world: “We will not walk away.” Just because we do not agree on all things does not mean that we cannot be united on the main things.

Tom Wright, the great British pastor and theologian, once wrote, “It’s quite easy to do unity as long as you don’t care about holiness. And it’s quite easy to do some sort of holiness as long as you don’t care about unity. But doing the two together is jolly difficult.”  Yes, it’s a challenge. But just because it’s a challenge doesn’t mean that it’s not right.  

I know that these days have with them a sense of uncertainty.   Because of this, I want to provide as much clarity for St. Matthew’s as possible, and I want you to hear – that our church and leadership have the same ethical expectations of clergy and laity that we have always had.  We remain committed to the historic doctrine of sanctification.  Nothing has changed in how we do life together as clergy or as laity here at St. Matthew’s, no matter what you may have heard. We remain the same church we were last week and will be the same church a week from now.  

Being a preacher, I spend a lot of time in churches, especially in church fellowship halls.  I’ve seen all kinds of posters and art on the walls of different facilities.  One of the common ones that I have seen over and over again is the pictures of the Twelve Disciples.  You’ve probably seen these yourself.  I like how they show the expressions of these men; it is always interesting to look at and ponder.  Two of my favorite disciples to ponder are Matthew and Simon the Zealot. You know these two, or at least are familiar with Matthew. Matthew was a tax collector. It’s easy to make fun of tax collectors, but that was a very specific and different thing in Jesus’ time. A tax collector would have been a person who was Jewish but who was working for Rome, collecting taxes. The way they made their money was by using the power of Rome to extort from the people. In other words, they were in a league with the enemy and used the enemy to steal from their own people.  

Zealots you may not be as familiar with. They were a group of individuals who wanted to drive out the Romans.  They hated the Romans.  Hated them. It is said that the zealots kept a dagger in their belt so that at a moment’s notice, they could stab and kill a Roman soldier. There was one group they hated more than the Romans through. Want to guess who that was? 

That’s right, the tax collectors. They HATED the tax collectors because they were traitors to their people.  Yet, who did Jesus have within the twelve working together?  A tax collector and a zealot. In spite of their great differences and beliefs, they found a way to unite by following Jesus Christ. While they committed to following Jesus, it is very likely they retained parts of their worldview. But as important as that may have been to them, their commitment to Jesus was of greater importance.  

This is a powerful example for us as followers of Jesus.  It is so easy, even expected, to break relationships, to separate, to pull apart over disagreement, even real disagreement. This happens all too often in the world, and in the church as well.  Finding the path of unity is hard but essential for us Christ followers.  Much like Matthew and Simon, our commitment to Jesus and the relationships that we have with each other is that tie to unity.  

The heart of St. Matthew’s remains constant and true. We continue to love our God, love our Neighbor, and love each other.  We continue to lift high the cross, and we continue to praise the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Savior. We continue to model the healing love of Christ that can redeem and restore all who come to Him.  

Lenard Sweet said, “I once believed that our mission was to make sense OF the world so that we could make sense of Jesus TO the world. Now I realize that our job is to make no sense to a world that makes no sense, and to incarnate the gospel in a world that refuses to come to its senses but will nevertheless take offense. In other words, our job is to be an incarnational, loving, defiant witness in the world that God loves, and trust God with the rest. The gospel will always be perplexing to a world that has lost its way.” 

Friends, in this moment, I believe that the world needs our example so very much. I believe the world needs this example of unity can look like. 

And friends, as one who believes that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father, one who affirms the creeds, I want to open the door as wide as possible for as many as possible to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ.  So that whoever would believe, would not perish, but have everlasting life.  

I believe that our church should be 

Orthodox in theology
Evangelical in nature
Welcoming in posture   

Orthodox in our doctrine. We are a church that affirms the authority of scripture and and the truth of the Creeds. We do not say them with our fingers crossed. We believe them. 

We are evangelical in our nature. Jesus is the answer. No one comes to the Father but through the Son. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the source of our hope and our salvation.  It’s always, only, about Jesus. 

We are welcoming by posture. We want as wide a door as possible so that as many as possible can come and experience the life-changing love and grace of Jesus Christ. We want all the world to know it is loved.  

You’ve heard me pray before; we pray for those for whom no one else prays. I wish I was smart, or holy, enough to have come up with that on my own. I borrowed it from a professor of mine in seminary. When I heard Dr. Knick pray it, I thought that was the most Christian thing I’ve ever heard. We pray for those outcasts.  Forgotten.  Forsaken.  Who feel unloved. We want to love them deeply and truly because Jesus loves them deeply and truly.  

Orthodox in theology. Evangelical in nature. Welcoming in posture. So that all the world can know.

Friends, I know the road will, at times, be challenging. But I also believe that is a path of hope, of joy, of grace, of healing. I love the old hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers.”  I especially love the last line: 

Onward then, ye people, join our happy throng, 
blend with ours your voices in the triumph song. 
Glory, laud, and honor unto Christ the King, 
this through countless ages men and angels sing.

Join our happy throng.  That is what we are calling our world to, to join this movement, this “throng” of love and hope.  That is what the world needs, and I believe our world needs us to walk this road to show them how to do it. 

 And for us to walk it, our church needs you. 

Jesus tells us Matthew 16: 24-26: 

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

He calls us to follow Him down the path that He has called us, no matter how hard it may be. We walk it through with joy, for He is with us.  And we have each other. We are not alone. Today, or any day. We are not alone. 

Jesus needs you. Your world needs you. Your church needs you. I need you. We need each other. I believe that our best days are ahead; down this path we walk.  

This I Believe.