Difference between revisions of "Sermon for September 18th, 2022"

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Even way back then, Johnny Cash was part of them.  I'm going to let Patrick sing those songs for you now, staring with "Jesus was a Carpenter."
 
Even way back then, Johnny Cash was part of them.  I'm going to let Patrick sing those songs for you now, staring with "Jesus was a Carpenter."
 
   
 
   
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====Jesus Was a Carpenter (3:25)====
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*Jesus Was a Carpenter (3:25)
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Jesus was a carpenter and he worked with a saw and a hammer
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And His hands could join a table true enough to stand forever
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And He might have spun His life out in the coolness of the morning
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But He put aside His tools and He walked the burning highways
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To build a house from folks like you and me
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And He found them as they wandered through the wild Judean mountains
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And He found them as they pulled their nets upon the Sea of Galilee
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And for a thousand evenings while the day behind Him emptied
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He walked among the poor, and he stopped to touch the dying
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And He built His house from people just like these
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It was on a shining Sunday when He rode to old Jerusalem
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And the palms they cast before him were the crimes they laid against Him
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It was on a storming Friday when He climbed the streets to Calvary
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And where He died today why they're selling beads and postcards
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And they tell us too that that was long ago
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But would He stand today upon the sands of California
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And walk the sweating blacktop in New York and Mississippi?
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Where the mighty churches rise above the screaming cities
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Would He be a guest on Sunday, a vagrant on a Monday?
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With the doors locked tight against his kind you know
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Come again now Jesus be a carpenter among us
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There are chapels in our discontent, cathedrals in our sorrows
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And we dwell in golden mansions with the sand for our foundations
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And the raging water's rising and the thunder's all around us
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Won't you come and build a house on rock again
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Jesus was a carpenter and he worked with a saw and a hammer
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And his hands could form a table true enough to stand forever
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And he might have spun his life out in the coolness of the mornings
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But He put aside His tools and He walked the burning highways
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To build a house from folks like you and me
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The first time I heard that last song, I always thought Johnny Cash was saying that Jesus "put aside his tools and walked the burning highways to build a house FOR folks like you and me.  But when I was
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The first time I heard that last song, I always thought Johnny Cash was saying that Jesus "put aside his tools and walked the burning highways to build a house FOR folks like you and me.  But if you listen closely, he actually says "to build a house FROM folks like you and me."  That's an important distinction--the house of God is the church, and Jesus didn't build the church as some kind of gift for us.  He built his church out of us (folks like you and me) as a gift for the world.  The church is not for us.  It's for them.  It's our job not to "lock the doors against his kind" but rather to throw them open, and walk those burning highways that take us into the world as we share his message of love and redemption.
  
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The next song is about that highway, that gospel road.  It starts with episodes from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  But then the road takes us past calvary, past the crucifixion and resurrection and on the road to Emmaus, to Paul and Silas, and the saints and martyrs of the early church.  Pay attention to the way that the song ends, not in the Bible or the early church, but with an invitation for us to walk that gospel road today.
  
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====Gospel Road (5:00)====
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*Gospel Road (5:00)
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Matthew, Mark and Luke and John told about Jesus on that gospel highway
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Matthew, Mark and Luke and John told about Jesus on that gospel road
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If you've paid attention to the words of today's songs, then you've heard the entire gospel message presented to you, and you've even received a personal invitation to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Next week, our final week in the series, we're going to take a look at just how exactly we can do that--or at least how Johnny Cash thought we ought to live out our Christian faith, in good times as well as when we find ourselves in troublesome waters. So I hope you'll join us again next week for the conclusion to our series. In the meantime, let us pray...
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How his pillow was the stone where he laid his head; How the hungry five thousand on the hill were fed;
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How they sent him to the cross but he came back instead to walk upon that gospel road
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The desire of ages now had finally come; born to walk upon that Gospel Highway
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Born of a virgin down in Bethlehem; Born to walk upon that Gospel Road
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And life would begin at the touch of his hand; The people would listen to him throughout the land
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For never a man spoke like this man; Walkin' down that Gospel Road
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John the Baptist said the kingdom has come; Baptizing’ people in the Jordan river
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John the Baptist said the kingdom has come And they came to hear him at the Jordan stream
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The voice from the wilderness said hear what I say: A redeemer is comin’ and today is the day
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I was sent to tell you now to make straight the way For him to walk upon that gospel road
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So two by two and three by three they walked in His footsteps on that Gospel highway
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Two by two and three by three Walked in His footsteps on the Gospel road
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And they would die in shipwrecks and in the lion's den they would die on crosses and on spears of men
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  But when one fell back, two more would start again Walking down that Gospel Road
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Yes, Paul and Silas in the midnight jail For talking 'bout Jesus on that Gospel highway
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Paul and Silas in the midnight jail For talking 'bout Jesus on that Gospel road
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And they sang out rejoicing and the jail split wide The doors busted open and they walked outside
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But they went back to preaching through the countryside Walking on the Gospel Road
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Goin’ to tell the people now in Nazareth He’s come to walk upon that Gospel Highway
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Goin’ to tell the people now in Nazareth He’s come to walk upon that Gospel Road
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  And into the Synagogue the road did lead to let them know the thing on which their soul must feed
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  The time has come to help the poor and those in need; The weight upon that Gospel Road
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Hey, won’t you come on with me from Jerusalem And walking to Emmaus on that dusty highway?
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Hey, won’t you come on with me from Jerusalem And walking to Emmaus on that dusty road?
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The traveling gets harder and with each rebuff Some turn back because they’ve had enough
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But Jesus told you it was gonna be rough To walk upon His Gospel Road
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Revision as of 21:21, 17 September 2022

John 3:16 has often been called a summary of gospels, or sometimes the very heart of the gospel message. Today's sermon--the heart of our sermon series featuring the gospel music of Johnny cash--focuses on the story of Jesus, which is summarized so succinctly in this one verse. But I've also included the next verse, John 3:17 because that verse talks about condemnation--and how that was NOT what Jesus came to do. Johnny Cash (you know, the other JC), in his own life and his music, was always careful to focus on God's salvation, and never on judgement or condemnation.

John 3:16-17 (NT p.94)

16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. 17 “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.

Music & Message: The Gospel According to Johnny Cash, Part II

For those of you who weren't with us last week, Patrick Kell is an El Paso native, a member of First Presbyterian Church and a lifelong Johnny Cash fan. He has released two albums which are available on Apple Music, Spotify, and pretty much anywhere else you can purchase or stream music. Please welcome Patrick Kell...

When I was in seminary, I had a professor who would always tell his students that the very best thing a preacher could do is to get out of the way and just let the scriptures speak for themselves. That's kind of my plan for today. I'm going to introduce the songs, maybe throw in a comment or two, but Johnny Cash knew his bible well, especially when it came to the life and ministry of Jesus. So I'm going to let his songs tell the story.

We begin that story NOT with the birth of Jesus or his childhood, but with his miracles. Because that's how the people in Jesus' own time would have first heard about him--through some of the amazing things he did, that spread by word of mouth throughout the land of Galilee. And the very first miracle of Jesus was turning water into wine...

  • He turned the Water into Wine (3:14)

Speaking of where things begin, I was thinking last week about where this idea for a sermon series based on the gospel music of Johnny Cash came from. Patrick and I have talked about this for a long time, but probably the real origins go right back to the very beginning of our friendship--and some long conversations about God. Patrick knew that I was a pastor, and would ask me questions about the Bible or about what Presbyterians believed. And every time I said the name "Jesus" he would start singing a Johnny Cash song: "Jesus was a carpenter and he worked with a saw and a hammer." I would usually say something like, "Well, actually Jesus was more of a stone mason than than a carpenter" and Patrick would happily change the words to the song. Whenever I mentioned the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, Patrick would also break out in to song: "Matthew, Mark and Luke and John told about Jesus on that gospel highway." I would then say, "Well, those probably weren't really the names of the actual gospel writers..." And then Patrick would make up his own names. As you can imagine, we had some pretty fun, pretty interesting, and pretty musical conversations. Even way back then, Johnny Cash was part of them. I'm going to let Patrick sing those songs for you now, staring with "Jesus was a Carpenter."

  • Jesus Was a Carpenter (3:25)

The first time I heard that last song, I always thought Johnny Cash was saying that Jesus "put aside his tools and walked the burning highways to build a house FOR folks like you and me. But if you listen closely, he actually says "to build a house FROM folks like you and me." That's an important distinction--the house of God is the church, and Jesus didn't build the church as some kind of gift for us. He built his church out of us (folks like you and me) as a gift for the world. The church is not for us. It's for them. It's our job not to "lock the doors against his kind" but rather to throw them open, and walk those burning highways that take us into the world as we share his message of love and redemption.

The next song is about that highway, that gospel road. It starts with episodes from the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. But then the road takes us past calvary, past the crucifixion and resurrection and on the road to Emmaus, to Paul and Silas, and the saints and martyrs of the early church. Pay attention to the way that the song ends, not in the Bible or the early church, but with an invitation for us to walk that gospel road today.

  • Gospel Road (5:00)

If you've paid attention to the words of today's songs, then you've heard the entire gospel message presented to you, and you've even received a personal invitation to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Next week, our final week in the series, we're going to take a look at just how exactly we can do that--or at least how Johnny Cash thought we ought to live out our Christian faith, in good times as well as when we find ourselves in troublesome waters. So I hope you'll join us again next week for the conclusion to our series. In the meantime, let us pray...

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