South Roanoke United Methodist Church

The season after the Epiphany is a season of Ordinary Time, which includes eight Sundays this year. It is ordinary in that it stands between the two great church year cycles of Advent-Christmas-Epiphany and Lent-Easter-Pentecost, and has no central theme. The first Sunday focuses on the Baptism of Christ and the last Sunday on the Transfiguration. 

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY                        JANUARY 15, 2006
                                                  Human Relations Day 

As Christ cares, we care… We care about all people.
We care about worship… We care about learning.
We care about service… We care about You.
We are a community of Faith growing in God’s Grace. 

9:00 A.M. PRAISE SERVICE
Led By Graceful Praise 

8:50 a.m.-Gathering Songs
9:00 a.m.-Greeting and Singing
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
Children’s Time
Scripture
Sermon
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Offering and Special Music
Singing
Benediction

ORDER OF SERVICE-11:00 A.M. 

+ Indicates the people standing

ENTRANCE 

Words of Welcome, Registration of Attendance and Announcements            Bill Davidson
     (We encourage all of our worshipers to please sign the registration pad as it is passed
      along the pew; visitors are requested to also list their address. After it has been
       passed, please return it to the center aisle. If you wish to join this church by letter of
       transfer or profession of faith, please check “wish to join” on the  registration pad.)
Gathering Music                                        Folk Tune                                        Whitlock
+The Opening Prayer 570                                                    Prayer of Ignatius of Loyola
     Teach us, good Lord, to serve you as you deserve; to give and not to count the
      cost; to fight and not to heed the wounds; to toil and not to seek for rest; to
      labor and not to ask for any reward, except that of knowing that we do your
      will; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.    
+Processional Hymn  145                        Morning Has Broken                        Bunessan  

                                 PROCLAMATION AND RESPONSE
Sharing of Joys and Concerns
     -Ross Jeffries     -Phil Leslie     -Phyllis Newman     -Steve Hamed Family  
     -Betty Smith Family     -Loretta Hodges
Children’s Time
                          (Children leave for Children’s Church. See * below)
+Psalter                                                                                                         Bob Garner
      854-855   (with response)                                                                         Psalm 139
+The Gloria Patri  70
+Hymn  419                                  I Am Thine, O Lord                                  I Am Thine
The Gospel Lesson   (N.T. pg. 92)                                                              John 1:43-51
     Pastor:    The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
     People:  Thanks be to God. 
Anthem                                      I Will Always Rejoice                                     Callaway
     I will always rejoice in my Lord! I will lift up my voice and sing for joy! The sun will join
          in my song of praise. The moon will sing with the notes I raise. I will always rejoice
          in my Lord!
     I will always rejoice in my Lord! I will join in the symphony of life! In harmony with the
          falling rain, the trees and fields in glad refrain. I will always rejoice in my Lord!
     Daily I will cleanse my heart with everlasting praise! Daily I will feast upon the riches of
           his grace!
     I will always rejoice in my Lord! I will shout, “alleluia” to my king! Forever my heart will
            rise up and sing, forever my lips will his praises bring. I will always rejoice in my
            Lord!
Sermon                                    “Spiritual Illusion”                                    Bill Davidson
+Response to the Word  883                                                            Affirmation of Faith
     A Statement of Faith of the United Church of Canada    
Pastoral Prayer
The Lord's Prayer                                                                                  Hymnal, No. 895
     Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy
      will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And
      forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And
      lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the Kingdom,
      and the power, and   the glory, forever. Amen.
Offering of Tithes and Gifts to God's Work
    Offertory Prayer 
    Offertory                                                                      
+Doxology                                                                                              Hymnal, No. 95
     Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; praise him, all creatures here below;
     praise him above, ye heavenly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.
 
                                                   SENDING FORTH
+Hymn 582                         Whom Shall I Send?                          Deus Tuorum Militum
+Benediction
+Postlude

+Indicates the people standing

THOSE SERVING TODAY:
  Ushers:   Captain-Gary E. Tegenkamp, W. R. Clemmer, Jr., Ellie Clark, Jeff Huffman,
                J. Patrick Budd, Tim Johnson 

January 15, 2006    2^nd Sunday after the Epiphany              SPIRITUAL ILLUSION
            Human Relations Day      Psalm 139    John 1:43-51  

CHILDREN—my first appointment  Sussex County   driving home from late night pastoral emergency.  Stopped at stop sign, looked both ways, saw 4 headlights--2 cars far away on my left.  Pulled out, next thing I new 4 bright lights immediately behind me!  What happened?  I was tired, wanted to get home.  My perception was off.  I made it home safely but much more aware of how susceptible I am to optical illusion at night—hope I’ve learned to give it up and pay more attention.   Nathaniel suffered from spiritual illusion—“Can anything good come out of Nazareth ?”  

Have you ever noticed that the moon looks bigger on horizon when it is actually same size as it appears high in the sky?  We know that but how do we still get it wrong?  The brain gets fooled by the trees and the landscape in the line of sight on the horizon into a perception that the moon is farther away.  It is an optical illusion.  Now we may not have known exactly why this happens but we have been aware that we suffer from optical illusion.  It’s good to know because when you know you suffer from optical illusion from time to time you can learn to give it up and see what is really true.  

Now we are the most intelligent creatures on earth; we are the species of the highest order and yet our perceptions can be so far off, our brains are so easily fooled.  You see,  as intelligent creatures, as species of the highest order eventually you just have to learn that your perception is off—that your brain is susceptible to illusion.  In certain circumstances you have to learn to give up illusion, no matter how it appears, and find more trustworthy ways to make sure you get it right.  

But this is not the only kind of illusion from which our species suffers.  As you hear the Word of God today you encounter a stark reminder of another illusion from which you suffer.  You need to learn to give this one up too.  In the face of this illusion you need to find more trustworthy ways to make sure you get it right because if you don’t get this one right it’s not your brain that gets fooled—it’s your heart.  You see, the Bible says you suffer from spiritual illusion—spiritual illusion—that’s when your heart gets fooled and your perception of truth is so far off that you get God wrong, you get Jesus wrong, you get life wrong.  

In the Gospel of John this morning Nathaniel got it wrong.  When his friend Philip comes up to him so full of excitement and joy and tells him, “We’ve found the One Moses wrote of in the Law, the One preached by the prophets.  It’s Jesus, Joseph’s son, the One from Nazareth .  Nathaniel, he’s the One!!”  Philip believes Jesus to be the Messiah, the one who would finally fulfill all the promises of God for God’s people—the savior of the world.  What is Nathaniel’s response?  “psshh!  Can anything good come out of Nazareth !  Humf!  Nazareth !  You’ve got to be kidding!”  Nazareth was a small, insignificant village about half-way between the Mediterranean and the Sea of Galilee well off the beaten path from which not much good had come at all.  No, the Messiah could not come from there.  Philip’s got it wrong.  He can’t be the one.  

Now Nathaniel hasn’t even met Jesus and doesn’t know an awful lot about him—he just knows he’s come from Nazareth .  But he already suffers from spiritual illusion.  His heart is fooled into expecting something entirely different in the Messiah and that spiritual illusion prevents him from recognizing and knowing the truth.  

What about you?  Do you suffer from spiritual illusion?  Let the Gospel speak to you this morning.  You see, the Gospel writer knows, and Nathaniel will soon learn, that God does not save the world in the ways you expect.  It doesn’t appear that
     --a man of humble Middle Eastern origins, born in a stable with a cattle feeder for a crib would amount to much of anything
     --a man who gives up his carpenter trade to spend his time with sinners, tax collectors, the unclean, and prostitutes is a very
        ambitious sort of fellow
     --a man who lives his life by loving the most the least fortunate in life by giving, by denying himself, by taking the last place at the
        table would ever get anywhere in life
     --a man who defies the religious authorities until he is finally executed by the state is a man of God at all.
God does not save the world in ways you expect.  This is not what you expect of a Messiah.  

Now of all the Gospel writers, the writer of the Gospel of John makes very clear that this Jesus is divine—the Son of God; one with the Father in the creation of the world; God made flesh.  But this Gospel writer also wants to make very clear that this Jesus was very much a human being—that’s what “God became flesh and lived among us” means.  For example, can you imagine anyone who got along so well with everybody, especially the least respectable folks around, not having a sense of humor?  Sure, Jesus laughed, enjoyed a good joke now and then, he even told a few, right here in the Gospel—subtle ones we find in the curious way he told parables and stories so that the common folks always knew exactly what he was really talking about.  Can you imagine anyone who carried so much passion in his heart for the proper service and worship of God never getting angry when faced with those who were teaching the people wrongly about these things?  Sure, Jesus got angry now and then.  He never minced words with religious authorities who misled the people—he even turned over the moneychangers tables in the temple where profit earned in the purchase of the proper sacrifice was worshiped more than the God for whom the sacrifice was intended.  Jesus, you see, was a real, flesh and blood human being.  If you were a common person, poor, a peasant barely getting by, as most of the people were in Jesus’ time, and you met Jesus at the time Nathaniel did you would have liked him, instantly.  

But I am afraid, I am afraid this morning that this is not what you expect of a Messiah.  But this is your Messiah.  This is your Lord.  This is who he is.  This is the One who calls you everyday to follow him.   He is calling you today.  Don’t get it wrong.  Unless you listen to him, unless you trust his every word, you better believe your heart will get fooled every single time, lies will begin to look like truth, and your spiritual perception will be so far off that you get God wrong, you get Jesus wrong, you get life wrong.  

You see, your heart gets fooled because you expect God to
     --always be in all the high places when in Jesus Christ God is actually in all the low places
     --always be in the proper, socially acceptable places when in Jesus Christ God is especially in the out-of-place, unusual, and
        ordinary places
     --always be only the bestower of wealth and blessing upon the well-to-do of this world when in Jesus Christ God actually suffers
         with the poor
     --always be the one who makes sure you get everything you need when all along God in Jesus Christ calls you to give that others
         may have enough
     --always and only be right here in the church when in Jesus Christ God is actually out there right in the midst of the muck and the
         mire and the struggles of peoples lives
     --always do just what you expect God to do when all along God will always do what God does.  

Unfortunately the Church has always suffered from spiritual illusion.
     --the early church 1^st thought that the new Christian movement was only open to Jews who followed all the Jewish ritual and
         practices and excluding the Gentiles, the non-Jewish population
     --the medieval church felt God called them to Crusade which led the church to a terrible era of violence where all who would not
        follow Jesus were killed in war
     --in our day some of the most bitter and violent conflicts among people have their roots in differences between religious faith
It is all, every bit of it, an illusion, it’s a lie.  This is not what God calls us to do and be.  But tragically, just as we are susceptible to optical illusion so we are painfully susceptible to spiritual illusion.  And, unfortunately, even as you cannot help suffering from optical illusion because that’s just the way your brain works, so you cannot help suffering from spiritual illusion because your heart is shaped by the culture in which you live.  When you learn all your life that what is really valuable is found in high places, in proper places, in wealth, in being first, and that God is only in the church, your perceptions are off.  Your heart gets fooled.  You don’t recognize the truth, you get God wrong, you get Jesus wrong, you get life wrong.  

That’s why the church has to hear the Gospel again and again Sunday after Sunday.  If we ever stop listening to the Gospel we will fall so far back into our own illusions that we will actually begin to believe that
     --God is only in high places;
     --we could never even imagine God ever being in out-of-place, unusual, ordinary places;
     --you and I are the most wealthy and powerful people on earth because we work the hardest and are the most faithful of all
       God’s people and that God may well love everybody but God loves us most;
     --we deserve everything we have because we have earned it and we better hang on to every bit of it or we’ll lose it for sure;
     --God is only known and experienced in the sanctuary, the Sunday School class, where we are insulated, protected, from the
        inevitable change and difficulties and tragedies of life.
Sisters and brothers, that’s all an illusion.  And in your heart of hearts you know that to be true.  

If you are so susceptible to illusion, if your heart is just as easily fooled by spiritual illusion as your brain by optical illusion, what do you do to make sure you get it right?  Well, just as with an optical illusion, so also with a spiritual illusion—you have to learn to give it up.  And I know just the one to teach you how.  Would you meet Jesus this morning?  

Nathaniel met Jesus.  Jesus came up to him with a big smile on his face and I suppose put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Ah, here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!”, and greeted him as if he were a life-long friend.  By his manner and his welcome, Jesus shares a familiar, traditional greeting with his Jewish brother.  He calls him an Israelite, a man of Israel .  Israel , you may remember, was first called Jacob.  God changed his name from Jacob to Israel —the name Jacob means “deceiver.”  Jesus, I think, shares a kind of inside joke with his new friend, kind of like “How are you you old so-and-so!” just as if Jesus knew him all along.  As Nathaniel first meets Jesus, he encounters one whom he had never met, yet who knew him very well.  In Jesus he met someone who knew him better than he knew himself.  When he met Jesus, Nathaniel begins to learn who he himself really is.  In Jesus Christ God knows Nathaniel very well.  It was then, right then, that he gave up all his illusions and said in his heart:  “Jesus, you know me very well.  You know how much my heart gets fooled.  You know the truth.  Let me follow you because I need to get this right.”  You see, in Jesus Christ, Nathaniel met God.  

The Psalmist said it, “O Lord, you have searched me and known me.  You know when I sit down and when I rise up.  You discern my thoughts from far away.  You search out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.”  

What do you do to make sure you get it right?  When do you ever give up on illusion and begin to learn the truth?  The Church says
     --it began in you long before you were born at God’s earliest thoughts of you.
     --it continued in you in your baptism when you were entrusted to the God who loves you
     --it grows in you whenever you share in the community of faith in the prayer, worship, sacrament, and service of the church.
It happens again and again in your life when Jesus comes up to greet you with a simile on his face, a hand on your shoulder, calls you by name, and says, “How are you, you old so-and-so?”  When you meet Jesus, that’s when you give up on illusion and begin to learn the truth.  

Give up your illusion and get it right.  Meet him again right now, your Messiah and your Lord.  He’ll set you straight.