First United Methodist Church - Fort Collins, CO

The second in the series of sermons on the life and teaching of Jesus moves us from what was in his name to what was behind what he did. Sometimes we have come to see some things in our faith when we put them in the perspective of the context in which they were put. I have wanted to deal with the whole matter of miracle and how we learn from it for some time. Jesus was said to have performed miracles. He made a blind man be able to see. He healed people who had leprosy. He healed a man who was unable to walk by the pool at
Bethesda, and he turned water into wine. Each of us will be able to identify our favorite miracle story, and some of the stories we point to are ones that are a problem for us.

Would we be better off, in our day, if we didn’t have to try to explain some of the miracles of Jesus? Wasn’t there enough in the wisdom of what he said and in the courageous sacrifice he was willing to make to inspire us to be his disciples? Are we really looking for miracles to happen today?

Did Jesus really believe in miracles? How important were the miracle stories to him? It’s a legitimate question. If we examine the Gospels we will discover that Jesus never performed the same miracle in the same manner. Many of the miraculous actions of Jesus were followed by his warning not to disclose what he had done. It would be reasonable to conclude that there were things much more important to Jesus than the acts that violated natural law.

Frankly, I am a Christian in spite of the miracles of Jesus and not because of them. They are episodes in his life I have to rationalize and not parts of his life story that draws me closer to his truth.  What do you think about the miracle stories? How do you explain them?

If you have thoughts, please leave a comment with this post. For personal thoughts write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. I look forward to hearing from you.

- Charles

There is some uncertainty how many of the August sermons I’m preaching. I think I get to preach three of the four Sundays, but that could change is Joel and the youth want to take a Sunday to report on their important mission trip to Mississippi. On August 20th The Reverend Rod Wilmoth will be preaching. He is one of the truly great preachers in our denomination and we are fortunate of have him with us the third Sunday of the month.

The sermons I preach in August will concentrate on the meaning of Jesus life and mission. I begin with the question he raised of himself as he was visiting with his disciples. He asked, “Who do men and women say that I am?” and then he asked Simon, “Who do you say that I am?”

The result of that exchange with Simon led to a change in Simon’s name. Jesus told Simon from then on his name would be “Peter”, and “upon this rock I will build my church”.

Jesus was named “Christ”, “Son of God”, “Son of Man”, and he had many other names. How he is named determines who he is permitted to be. I intend to explore this issue of the names of Jesus.

In that context I want to ask about our names. What are we called? How are we named? What difference does it make how we are addressed?

My mother and father named me Charles. The first church I served in Colorado I was an Associate Minister. The Senior Minister determined that, since the organists name was Charles, and, since Charles came to the staff before I was appointed, my name would be changed to “Chuck”. I have wondered what difference that made in my ministry.

Do you have a name that is different from the one you were given at birth? Does it matter?

What’s in your name?

- Charles