Sermons

Worth Green, Th.M., D.Min.

I went to a Christmas Party the other night and heard a great story about a man with a new truck. This is supposed to be a true story—though it did happen back in the 1990’s.

Well, this man was really proud of his new truck. He pulled in to the parking lot at the Clemmons Mill and parked as close as he could to the ramp. He stepped out of the truck climbed the steps, walked across the loading dock, and then looked back at his truck, admiringly, as men are prone to do. For the first time he saw a little boy, perhaps five or six, standing there all alone.

The little boy looked up at him and said, “Say, minster, that sure is a pretty truck.”

The man was suddenly very self conscious. When we get caught looking into a mirror, or looking back at our vehicles we get self-conscious. And the man was very nervous, and he started talking, as nervous people do. He said, “Thank-you, son. I have had it about a week. It has less than 100 miles on the odometer.”

Having said that, he turned around, went into the mill, purchased 25 lbs. of grass seed, which was already bagged, carried it back out of the store, and placed it gingerly into the bed of his truck which was lined in a plastic so tuff it has been compared to the hide of a rhinoceros.

He then got into this truck, buckled his seat belt, placed the key in the switch and turned it. Nothing happened. He did not panic. He waited 5 seconds, and turned it again. Nothing happened. He did not panic. He waited another 5 seconds, and turned it again. Nothing happened, and he knew nothing was going to happen. About that time he looked up to see that the little boy had stooped down on the porch of the mill so that he was just at his eye level. He saw the boy wanted to say something, so he reached over and rolled down the passenger window of the truck. The little boy said, “Say, mister, that sure is a pretty truck. It is a shame they don’t last any longer than they do.”

The same can be said of many Christmas gifts. It is a shame they don’t last any longer than they do.

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Dr. Worth Green, Th.M., D.Min.

In 2nd Corinthians 9:15 St. Paul says that Jesus is the “inexpressible gift.” That means words aren’t enough to describe this gift. To fully appreciate it, one has to have been “without God and without hope in the world.” To fully appreciate it one has to know the height, and depth, and length and breath of God’s love, and that is something that only Eternity can reveal.

Some people think that what God gives us in Jesus Christ is enough, that all other gifts given and received at Christmas merely muddy the waters.

I disagree.

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“The Gospel of Mark”
Worth Green, Th.M., D. Min.

I have taken the liberty of adding back some of the material I left out of the sermon in delivery for the sake of shortening a long sermon. On the whole, this sermon reproduces more closely the one I delivered at the 11:10 a.m. service, though those who heard it at 9:00 a.m. will certainly recognize most of it.

This morning we take up the gospels, which were originally passed on as a part of the oral tradition, watched over by the first generation of witnesses, and set down after that generation began to die out.

There are many gospels, but only four came to be regarded by the church as inspired by the Holy Spirit, and worthy of inclusion in the Canon of Holy Scripture alongside the Hebrew Bible and the Epistles of Paul. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the “Synoptic Gospels,” because their authors appear to have had “a single view.” The 4th Gospel, John, was written after the Synoptics, and takes a different view. I once asked Bishop Wayne Burkette his favorite gospel. Without batting an eye he said, “John.” I think that is true for most people, but this morning I want to talk about my favorite gospel, Mark.

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Worth Green, Th.M., D.Min.

For the past several sessions we have been talking about the Birth of the New Testament. This morning I am going to do three things: 1) I am going to give you a quick review. Repetition is a great way to learn. 2) I am going to tell you what we know (and what we don’t know) about the death of three key apostles, and what their deaths meant to the church. And 3) I am going challenge you with an important stewardship.

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Worth Green, Th.M., D.Min.

I know little about economics; I achieved the high point of my economic education on the streets of Princeton, New Jersey. I did not attend the university. I was there chasing a Master’s Degree in New Testament from Princeton Theological Seminary; but, as I said, the high point of my economic education was achieved on the streets. There was a burger joint—emporium, downtown that I particularly enjoyed. Not far from that restaurant there was a bronze of a young man sitting on the curb reading a book and eating a hamburger. On my first several trips to the burger emporium I simply enjoyed his companionship. He was reading a book and eating a burger; I was reading a book and eating a burger. Then my curiosity got the better of me. I got down on my hands and knees, and looked at the cover of the book. It was by the noted economist Milton Friedman. It was entitled, “There Is No Such Thing as a Free Lunch.” I still believe that. You may eat a free lunch—but someone, somewhere, is paying for it.

While studying the New Testament, I learned that Jesus’ economic policy is hard to pen down. Much of the time, we read our own perspectives into the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life.

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Worth Green, Th.M., D. Min.

6 I wash my hands in innocence, and go about thy altar, O LORD, 7 singing aloud a song of thanksgiving, and telling all thy wondrous deeds. 8 O LORD, I love the habitation of thy house, and the place where thy glory dwells. Psalm 26:6-8

I have a friend who says “Everybody has got to be someplace.” That’s true. Life is a series of events lived in a series of places. We tend to associate the memorable events of our lives with a place. Let me illustrate:

Perhaps you belong to the greatest generation. Do you remember where you were when you first heard about Pearl Harbor? Or, perhaps you belong to my generation; you are a baby-boomer. Do you remember where you were when you first heard of the assassination of President Kennedy? Or, perhaps you belong to the present generation. Do you remember where you were when you first learned that Al Qaida brought down the twin towers of the World Trade Center?

Or, more pleasantly, do you remember where you were when you met your true love? Or, where you were when you first kissed? It is often easier to remember the place than the date!

The Bible is filled with information about place. Abraham remembered the place where he first built an altar. Jacob remembered the place where met God face to face. John the Baptist lived in a desert place. Jesus sought out a lonely place. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were altogether in one place when the Spirit came.

Do you remember the place where you grew up—the house and the church, and the place where you were when you first offered yourself in service to God. John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist Church, always remembered that he was at Fetter Lane, the home of a Moravian Congregation in England, when he felt his heart strangely warmed, and realized that he did trust Christ and Christ alone for his salvation.

Psalm 26 is about a place, and loving a place, not just because it is a nice place or a pretty place, but because it is the place were the Psalmist knew God’s glory to dwell. Let’s look at this Psalm a little closer.

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