No Killing

Posted by Chris on November 11, 2007 under Sermons

The sixth word to live by is just three simple words – Do Not Kill. [In fact, in Hebrew it is even simpler – it is just two words. Maybe “No Killing” would be a good translation]. This ought to be a very simple word to live by. No sermon necessary. Let’s just affirm that we will not kill and we needn’t discuss this any more.

But it really isn’t that simple, is it? The very fact that such a terse word to live by even needs to be spoken indicates that we have a problem. It may be easy for nearly all of us to say, “At least I haven’t murdered anyone.” But we are all connected in a culture that participates in killing.

Scanning through the commentaries and discussions on this matter, I have been confronted with the complexity of this issue. First of all, is the word “kill” better translated as “murder?” Is there really a difference? Some scholars say yes, and some say no. There’s more debate, can one be opposed to abortion but support capital punishment? Can one oppose euthanasia but support war? Some say it is not right to be inconsistent and still respect this word to live by. Some say the circumstance and issue are different.

It’s complex. We could spend hours engaging in the discussion of these issues — and that would not be a bad thing! We could probably stand to engage in more discussion if we seriously respect God’s instruction on how to live. And we intend to spend almost one hour on that tonight. Differing voices that make their cases quite well are engaged in the discussion of three simple words that make up this sixth word to live by. Today, let’s pay attention to one voice. It is the voice of our Lord and Teacher. What does Jesus say about this word to live by?

Matthew 5:21-26
“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ?You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgment.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgment! If you call someone an [empty-headed] idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.
“So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God. When you are on the way to court with your adversary, settle your differences quickly. Otherwise, your accuser may hand you over to the judge, who will hand you over to an officer, and you will be thrown into prison. And if that happens, you surely won’t be free again until you have paid the last penny.”

Jesus takes “God’s Words to Live By” very seriously. So seriously that he is not content just to take them at literal face value; rather, he teaches us that there is wisdom and principle within these statements – even the ones that seem so simple. Jesus understands that the root of murder is hatred and the seed of hatred is anger. Being angry without the courage and maturity to resolve the anger leads to violence. Violence and killing result in judgment.

Jesus is listing examples for us under the general banner of what you can expect from unresolved anger:
1. Insulting someone in anger can get you taken to court. We call that terroristic threatening these days. In a land where children and disgruntled employees vent their rage with semiautomatic rifles, we have learned to take angry words seriously.
2. Cursing someone in the name of God is presupposing that we are the eternal judge of others. And the third word to live by taught us that God doesn’t overlook the casual, thoughtless useless of spiritual language used in anger.
3. All the time people leave worship mumbling about those things that distract them or ruin the experience. Have we ever stopped to think what ruins God’s experience in worship? Jesus knows: God is distracted when his children are living in un-reconciled contempt for each other. God is worshipped in the place – anytime and anywhere – where men and women settle their difference and defuse the power of anger and bitterness before it turns to any form of violence.
   1. Rick Atchley points out that the first funeral on earth was for a murder victim. Cain killed his brother. It began with anger and grew into hatred. It finally ended with violence. What started this spiral? According to the story, it began in worship. Cain should have settled the matter with God and his brother, instead he was consumed by his pride and rage. He killed Abel. And God grieved for both of his children. Wouldn’t we rather make God happy than offer him sorrow?
4. Jesus even gives a legal advice. He’s a big believer in out-of-court settlements. Not because it is necessarily a better legal move, but because it is a better way than that of the angry soul who wants fight it out in the courtroom. There are a lot of angry people going to court against one other. But just as a drunk has to be convinced that he cannot beat up everyone in the barroom, an angry person needs to know that they will not win every court battle. If it is personal, settle the matter between individuals. The court may not favor you today.
   1. [The People’s Court was the first of the courtroom reality shows. The announcer Doug Llewellyn would always tell the viewers: “Don’t take matters into your hands, you take ?em to court.” Jesus would disagree with Doug, with the stipulation that it is better to take matters into your own hands if you are going to settle things in righteousness and peace. Of course there are times when matters have to be settled in court, but in court or out of court we cannot be ruled by anger, hatred and violence if we want to Live as Jesus Teaches Us and as God Wills Us.]

Jesus teaches his disciples well. One of his disciples, John the Apostle, understands Jesus’ teaching and the meaning of this sixth word to live by that God spoke.

I John 3:11-20
For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. Anyone who hates a fellow believer is a murderer, and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another. If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

There is a lot to discuss when it comes to this simple word to live by: Do Not Kill. Let’s continue the discussion – but only if we take it seriously. Taking it seriously means that we are not going to be haters. Haters, says John, are murderers. He is basing that on what Jesus says.
“But what do we do about being angry?” Augustine said that Hope has two beautiful daughters: Anger and Courage. Anger at the way things are, and courage to believe it can change. We all get angry. Even God gets angry. Just remember that Anger doesn’t do well on her own. She needs her sister Courage and together they remind us of Hope. On her own, Anger has a tendency to get lost in hatred and violence — because Courage is absent and there’s no Hope.

Do you have the courage to change the way things are? Hatred, violence, murder or Hope? Which do you choose to live by?

Notable sources used in preparation of this sermon:
• Rick Atchley, Sinai Summit.
• J. John, Ten: Living the Ten Commandments in the 21st Century.

5 False Choices about Evangelism

Posted by Chris on November 4, 2007 under Sermons

1. Domestic or Foreign
   • Globalization has shrunk the world
   • Here is there and there is here
   • Acts 8 response to change
2. Evangelism or Edification
   • Discipleship involves both
   • Which is for “us” and which is for “them”?
   • “Insider” or “Outsider” ministry distinctions fail
3. Service or Evangelism
   • How do we proclaim good news?
   • Jesus’ ministry was teaching, healing, casting out evil
   • Luke 4 and Isaiah 61
4. Ministers or Members
   • Do we believe in the “priesthood of all believers”?
   • Networking and designated ministers still work together
   • Luke 16
   • Who Evangelized? [Evangelism is the church’s project. Network of relationships.]
5. God or Us
   • It is God’s work
   • We are God’s work
   • God works within us
   • Ephesians 3:20-21
   • “I am with you always” [Christ’s promise]

Generation to Generation

Posted by Chris on October 28, 2007 under Sermons

Thesis: God’s vision of the kingdom is multi-generational. There is a place for all ages and the Holy Spirit is poured out on all.
There is a wisdom of the world that separates us not into generations, but demographics. I am soon to enter into a new demographic. The subtle implication is that I am very different those younger or older than me.

Next week I will be forced to leave the demographic that has been my home for the last 21 years – Male 18-39. Even at 39 it was kind of inspiring to think that I had something in common with 18 year olds. After Wednesday [October 31] I will join the group of 40-62. Hooray! I can look forward to Senior Discounts.

According to their definitions, generation suggests a continuation while allowing for differences. A demographic is a division, slicing up group by certain criteria and making comparisons.
If we are going to be the people of God – the continuation of ancient Israel and the heirs of Pentecost – then we need to have a generational mindset rather than a demographic mindset. By a generational mindset I mean a perspective and vision that views all ages of people from God’s point of view and not from our limited point of view.

However, it is difficult to overcome the limiting “demographic” perspective. One of the typical ways we limit ourselves is we play the age card – I am too old or I am too young.

What’s the Right Age?

I’m too old … Noah; Abraham & Sarah; Moses; John; Anna & Simeon; Elizabeth
I’m too young … Samuel; David; Jeremiah; Josiah; Mary; Jesus

God intends to use people of every age …
If I were to come before you and say, “Some of you are just too old. You need to retire and get out of the way.” You would be offended. But some of you say that very thing about yourselves! Why are you offended if I say it, but it is justified for you to say so?
If I were to come before you and say, “You younger ones need to keep out of the way and stay out of trouble. Stop demanding all the attention, you are young and you need to just wait until you get older.” Not only would you be offended, but many adults would be too. But how is it that everyone would be offended if I say those things, but some of you and some of the adults often say “Well he or she is just too young for that.”

At every point in your life you are either going to be able to say you are too old or too young. God’s spirit rests on the young and old, on men and women empowering them all to serve

• Joel 2 and Acts 2 – God intends all generations to serve him and to serve one another.
• The Cloud of Witnesses – Hebrews 11 – We complete the faith of the witnesses.

Institutional view of church orients us to think demographically – it limits us.
Family view makes us think generationally – it creates options that God works in.

I thank God for Wilma Chase at the West-Side Church in Russellville. She taught the 2-year-olds. When she was in her 70’s and widowed she was teaching our 2-year-old son. Demographically, she ought to have stopped. That is something for younger people. But generationally, she was a great teacher with every year.
She would often say, “Why don’t more people my age teach? They have nothing else to do.”

Legacy …

“Little Christians are not growing up to be big Christians.” Why? Because we don’t see our faith as a legacy – something handed down to us and that we hand down to another. Too often we see faith as something we have and those older or younger than us don’t.
The notion of a personal faith is limited. Yes, each of us has to own faith – but if that faith is going to have substance it has to be part of something larger than us.
Deuteronomy 6 – Invites the older generation to respond to this you language with we language. They recount the faith narrative in a way that incorporates each new generation into the story. And those who told the story, received the story from those before them.
Telling the story in that way challenges the younger generation to a heroic form of faith. It invites them to see the link of past present and future rather than the selfishness of a single generation (their own or the older one – note that the response in Dt. 6 is not, “Well, back in my day we knew everything from an early age.” That kind of response distances the generations and eliminates common ground and story.)

Crete

This was also a first century problem and Titus (who was mentored by Paul) was an evangelist on the Island of Crete – a place that suffered a breakdown in the family. Paul’s advice to Titus was to bring the generations together in nurture and mentoring [Titus 2:1-7].

Levites

This mentoring was ancient wisdom among the people of God centuries before Paul. [Numbers 8:23-26] – The Levites tradition of mentoring.

When is the last time you took an interest in someone outside your generational group? To mentor them or to be mentored – those of us who are younger need to be asking the older ones. Those who are older need to respond and be available.

Interpretation of the Cord of Three Strands – Who is your mentor, Who is your peer, Who do you mentor?
Paul – Gamaliel, Silas, Timothy and Titus

Let the older ones make the first move … We must enter into their world of another generation incarnationally. We have to be ourselves, but we can still reach out to the younger ones (whether that means teens or middle-aged). If I can do it, you can too. We cannot fear being rejected – Christ didn’t.

Connections and Consideration/Respect

Randy Harris’ vision – the old and the young hating but deferring to each others’ worship styles … Could we do that? Why wouldn’t we? How would we be blessed if we did?

Honor Father and Mother

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

The fifth word to live by is not simply a rule to keep children in check. This word to live by, just like all the others, is directed to believers of every age. So, the charge to honor our mother and father is aimed at adults also.

What does it mean to honor our mother and father?
To honor means more than demonstrating sentimental feelings. The word “honor” literally means to give weight or heaviness. To honor someone then means that we take them seriously.

That sort of honor may run against the grain in our culture. We find it easier to not take parents seriously. We laugh at parents. We lampoon parents. [Simpsons comic.] Marketing to teens and adults contributes to the myth that the older generation doesn’t understand. Or that older people are cranky and crabby. [Maxine comic.] The jesting and the marketing isn’t malicious, it just silliness. No one is supposed to be hurt by it. No one is supposed to take it seriously … and there is the problem.

A little jesting and silliness isn’t the only way to dishonor mother and father by not treating them seriously. Locked up in our cultural mindset are certain stereotypical assumptions about what parents or grandparents ought to be. These are flat, simplistic assumptions. Sentimental concepts of “mom and dad” are a way of disregarding the fact that our parents, of any age, are real unique individuals with their own histories and needs. The danger of these assumptions is that they could become an unrealistic expectation. Likewise, to be overly sentimental can lead adult children to patronize their aging parents. It’s good to take parents as they age, but to pat them on the back as kindly old folks who mean well but have outlived their usefulness is dishonor.

When, for any reason, we fail to take our parents seriously, we dishonor them. And that becomes a problem not simply for our parents, but it infects our culture and community with some very negative values …

The Brothers Grimm – There was once a very old man, whose eyes had become dim, his ears dull of hearing, his knees trembled, and when he sat at table he could hardly hold the spoon, and spilt the broth upon the table-cloth or let it run out of his mouth. His son and his son’s wife were disgusted at this, so the old grandfather at last had to sit in the corner behind the stove, and they gave him his food in an earthenware bowl, and not even enough of it. And he used to look towards the table with his eyes full of tears. Once, too, his trembling hands could not hold the bowl, and it fell to the ground and broke. The young wife scolded him, but he said nothing and only sighed. Then they bought him a wooden bowl for a few half-pence, out of which he had to eat.
They were once sitting thus when the little grandson of four years old began to gather together some bits of wood upon the ground. “What are you doing there?” asked the father. “I am making a little trough,” answered the child, “for father and mother to eat out of when I am big.”
The man and his wife looked at each other for a while, and presently began to cry. Then they took the old grandfather to the table, and henceforth always let him eat with them, and likewise said nothing if he did spill a little of anything.

We can teach our children how to honor us by the way we honor our parents. The fifth word to live by is foundational to teaching us how to live as a community of believers. The remaining words tell us how to live with one another. The foundation of all these words is the first word about God. The next layer of the foundation is the word to honor our parents.

Learning to live as a community with generations side by side is not easy for us. The way we structure our social life and our home life doesn’t encourage our sense of legacy and community. Politics and marketing tends to pit the needs of one generation against another. [I recall having a conversation with a elderly man years ago. I was delighted to see interest rates falling because it meant that my young family could begin to think about buying a house at a reasonable rate. But the older man was disappointed and worried because it meant that his savings and investments that represented his life’s work were barely earning enough to sustain him.] And those sort of imbalances are see-saw options are what we have in a society in which we see ourselves first and foremost as individuals.
When we regard ourselves ultimately as individuals and do not take our connections to others and other generations seriously, then we may see ourselves as members of a group, but we don’t find it very difficult to disconnect, withdraw, neglect, or push away others.

It is because this fifth word has implication for all of the community that we do not get a pass on honoring parents because they are not very honorable. A word of caution here – we do not want to interpret this word as saying too much – it is not a bludgeon for parents to use to demand authoritarian obedience, neither is there a loophole for those whose parents are bad parents. Honoring parents – that is treating them respectfully and seriously – is how we learn to be community – even when that isn’t easy …

Honoring our parents teaches us that we are vitally connected to one another in bonds of community that are not so easily cut. For instance, it is a fact that you cannot divorce your parents. You can disagree with parents, you can reject them, neglect them, disown them, ignore them, but you cannot divorce them. I have a friend who has such bitterness toward his father that when we married he left behind his father’s family name and adopted the name of his wife’s family. I don’t criticize him for that, it was something I am sure he needed to do. And even though their relationship may change, his father is still his father and changing his name doesn’t alter that reality. There are all sorts of difficulties that come up between the generations, between children and parents. Our interactions within the home are where we first learn how to interact with community. The sooner we learn to take one another seriously and honor one another the better we will be able to live as community.

God spoke these ten words to live by and attached a promise to this fifth one. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. God’s timeless vision sees his community of people across time as well as space. This fifth word just gives us a glimpse of how we can see things across the generations. We need that sort of vision. It would serve us much better than our narrow focus as individuals on the here and now. Our limited vision convinces us that the crisis and anxiety of today is the way it always has been and the way it always will be. When both old and young have that sort of view we turn inward and get selfish and don’t think of the ability that God has given us to bless one another across the ages.

[Story attributed to Paul J. Meyer] – Once upon a time long, long ago there was an old country chapel that had been a part of the community forever. The worship house had been built by the community over 200 years ago. But now the roof began to leak and was the beams were starting to collapse. Many feared that they would have to take down the old chapel. They didn’t want to. They loved it. But they didn’t know how they could repair it. Then one day, the original plans for the chapel were found. They included instructions on repairs. But more than that, the plans included a detailed note and a map explaining that a forest had been planted nearby. In this forest the future generation would find a specific type of tree now matured that the original designers recommend for fashioning new support beams. The people who followed the map found the trees planted there in neat rows just for them by a generation that had lived 200 years before them. They set about repairing the chapel – not for themselves, but to honor their fathers and mothers.

Keeping It Holy

Posted by Chris on October 21, 2007 under Sermons

Sabbath Rules

• Shabbath Goyim
  • Gentile that does prohibited work on Sabbath
• Eruv
  • Boundaries that allow for travel and to carry objects from place to place

Jesus on Sabbath

• The Sabbath was made for humankind. Humankind was not made for the Sabbath.
• Mark 2:23-3:6
• The Principles of the Sabbath are located in its origin

Origin of Sabbath

• God makes it Holy (Genesis 2:2-3)
• Commandments (Ex. 20, Deuteronomy 5)
• Sabbath Day, Year, Jubilee (Leviticus 25)

Exodus and Deuteronomy
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.

Principles of Sabbath

1. Remembrance of God
2. Harmony in Created Order
3. Respect of Humanity

Christian Sabbath Options

1. Sabbath = Saturday. Christians obligated to keep it.
2. Sabbath = Sunday. Christians obligated to keep it now.
3. Christians are free from Ceremonial observance, but there is wisdom in regarding the Lord’s Day as special

1. Seventh-Day
   • The Decalogue is part of God’s Moral Law. It was not “cancelled out” by Christ
   • Keeping the Seventh-Day is a test of the faithful who do not follow the apostasy
   • 7th Day Adventist, 7th Day Baptist, Worldwide Church of God, Messianic Jews

2. Sabbath Transfer
   • Sabbath is every seven days, not necessarily the seventh day of week
   • Rest is for Worship. Sets up a worship/work cycle.
   • Very little Biblical basis for the transference.
   • Rationale for “blue laws”

3. The Lord’s Day
   • Inclusion of Gentiles magnifies importance of Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7)
   • Eighth Day rationale (John 20:26)
   • Sabbath is not a binding ceremony (Acts 15, Romans 14)
   • The Lord is the focus of true “rest” (Hebrews 4:11)

The Lord’s Day

• Celebration of Lord’s Supper had special meaning on Lord’s Day (Acts 20:7 – 11, 1 Cor 16:1-2)
• Appearance of Jesus on Lord’s Day (John 20:26, Revelation 1:10)
• Late first century and Second century witness to special observances of the Lord’s Day

Conclusion

• The early church does emphasize the Lord’s Day over the seventh day
• This is not the result of a specific rule or change
• Some scripture is reinterpreted in light of Christ
• Sabbath and Lord’s Day are community events

Keep the Sabbath Holy

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

God spoke these words to live by …
Exodus 20:8-11 — “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

Years after the time God spoke these words, Moses recalled them saying to the people: “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor the alien within your gates, so that your manservant and maidservant may rest, as you do. 15 Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5)

The first four words to live by focus on our relationship with God. If the first three are a three course meal, then this fourth word is the table setting. The first three words reveal to us who God is and who he isn’t, but the fourth word creates the environment for the relationship with the God who delivers, the God who cannot be manipulated or made into our image. We are to keep the Sabbath by keeping it holy. A special day for the whole community.

It seems so ancient and meaningless, this command to set aside a special day. Hasn’t this command been repealed? Isn’t this the command that hasn’t been repeated or carried over into the NT? We typically think of Jesus as the one who emphasized the enduring significance of the Ten Words. Here’s what Jesus had to say about the Sabbath …

Mark 2:23 – 3:6
1. Jesus did not respect the legalistic observance of the Sabbath that ignored the needs of people. The Pharisees were maintaining a religious system that attempted to sanctify a 24 hour period, but it ignored real issues such as hunger and health. Jesus does not support their legalistic system …
2. But Jesus is not against the Sabbath. He contends that if they understood that “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,” then would understand the principle of the Sabbath.
3. Of all the words to live by, this is the one that especially calls us to understand the principles that are embodied in the keeping of this commandment …

Principle 1: The Principle of Remembering [Honoring God, listening, holiness]

• Our lives can get so busy that we lose the ability to reflect and refresh. “Be Still and Know that I am God” is a song we need to sing more often. Too often the song we sing is “Get busy and think that you are God.” Being still and quiet reminds us that He is God and we are not.
• Remembering and Holiness allows us to experience true rest: We are overwhelmed with leisure. Our play is sometimes a lot of work.
• “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, ?Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.'” (Mark 6:30-31). True rest is rest with God.
• The Sabbath is about respecting ourselves and connecting with our Creator God.

Principle 2: The Principle of Trust [Created Order – Exodus 20]

• The rationale for the Sabbath in Exodus is found in the created order. Cycles and patterns are part of the created order. “God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh.” The seventh day is not unimportant. It has real meaning. The seventh day is a day in which God enjoys his work. The seventh day is when God created satisfaction, tranquility, peace.
• God’s created order teaches us how life is supposed to be lived, and if we understand the principle of Sabbath Trust, then we can reflect on how we tune our lives to the rhythms of the created order: Night and day, inhaling and exhaling, animals and plants.
• The created order is an interconnected system and the observances of holy periods of rest are for the best. Learning to trust God’s wisdom in the created order rather becoming so proud that we do whatever we want. [The Dust Bowl in the 1930’s was the result of overproduction and a severe drought in the west. Cotton was a cash crop but it also dried up the soil. The land was taxed beyond its limits and it dried up so bad that nothing could be grown on the land.]
• But our tendency is to trust in our work. The Sabbath corrects that. In Israel, the Sabbath was also the seventh year and not just the seventh day … In the Sabbath year. … “You may ask, ?What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?’ I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years.” (Lev. 25:20-21) Could we trust God this much?
• The Sabbath is about respecting the world God made – the land and resources — rather than overusing it and abusing it.

Principle 3: The Principle of Humanity/Spirituality [Justice – Deuteronomy 5]

• The rationale for the Sabbath as it is mentioned in Deuteronomy is a sense of justice. The Sabbath was a way of keeping God’s people from relapsing into slavery. The power of Pharaoh had dehumanized and demeaned the people through the overwork of slavery.
• So, the Sabbath declares to all that “We are not slaves.” This is more than private time. This is a public feature of the community. Notice that the Sabbath wasn’t simply for the wealthy or the true members of Israel. It was communal and it even extended to servants and foreigners living among them. Since the Sabbath principle of being human rather than slave is communal and public, no one is taken advantage of.
• This principle of Sabbath keeps us from serving the wrong master. But the concept of shutting everything down for a day is very counter-intuitive. Our work ethic supports excess. Rather than a Sabbath ethic (which is Biblical and supported by Jesus) we are more influenced by a Puritan Work ethic (which is not Biblical and originated with Calvinism). Unfortunately, the Puritan work ethic (which encourages constant labor) leads to becoming dehumanized or it leads to enslavement. The Sabbath ethic is humanitarian and leads to spirituality.
• Can our institutions really respect this? Chick-Fil-A is a rarity in the world of business. Every Chick-fil-a store is closed on Sunday. The only rationale is that it honors God and it honors employees. The founder of Chick-Fil-A has been told countless times about the profit he is losing by being closed on Sunday. But Truett Cathy seems to recognize a principle greater than profit. What if our institutions respected people as humans rather than workers.
• The Sabbath is about respecting human beings rather than abusing, using, or enslaving them.

What’s In a Name?

Posted by Chris on October 14, 2007 under Sermons

Have you searched for your name with Google?

Rumplestiltskin – The princess had to guess his name to gain power over him.

Unlike Rumplestiltskin, God can give out his name freely. He has no problem revealing his name as he cannot be controlled.But the people who receive his name must treat the name with respect …

God reveals himself through his name. This is part of the Exodus story

Exodus 3

• Moses asks: “Who Am I and Who are You?” (3:11-13)
• “I AM” sent me to you
• The Name by which I am known (3:15)

Exodus 6:3

• God appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
• But he was not known by his name “YHWH”

Exodus 34:6-7
“The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.”

Seven Divine Names
1. YHWH
2. El (God)
3. Elohim (God)
4. Adonai (The Lord)
5. Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh (I Am Who I Am)
6. Shaddai (Almighty)
7. Tzevaot (Lord of Hosts)

There is an urban legend that circulates about the FCC wanting to remove the name of God from TV in every single way. Maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

• Pious Talk Making Claims in God’s Name
• Political and Religious Overuse of God’s Name
• “Oh, my God!”

Respect and Holiness -vs- Throw Away Casuality
We are a throw away culture. Things used to last generations they were passed on. They were made with the greatest of care

Words are just as meaningless in a throw away culture.
The word written and spoken litters our landscape.

Tetragrammaton

Jehovah
“YHWH” → JeHoVaH

The Name

• YHWH did not withhold his name
• He cannot be controlled
• He can reveal his character and nature to the extent that his people can stand it.

Don’t Misuse God’s Name

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

This is the third word that God spoke. This is the third word to live by. We typically think of this as the command against cussing. Well, that’s a start. In fact – just notice from reading Exodus 20:7 – this is about so much more than “cussing.”

What does it mean to misuse God’s name? Why does God take it so seriously?

Since the Exodus, God was known among the Israelites as Ha-shem, which means “The Name.” The people knew God’s name, but God is so holy that even his name is holy. Sinful people like us should not mention that name without preparation and serious intent.
To the ancients, names have power – they are not merely words. Of course words have power and names are even more powerful for with a name you have a handle on something. You can manipulate it. You can define it. And so, if God has a name there is a temptation to define him – to use that name for influence, power, and protection.

What a burden to know God’s name in a world that puts so much stock in words and especially in names! What was God thinking in revealing his name?

If you know God’s name then you know exactly what he was thinking. God reveals his name to Moses through the burning bush (Exodus 3). Moses needs a tag, a label, a handle to get a grip on this God who wants him to go to Egypt and demand the release of the captives. That’s a huge and daring task and he wants to know if he is going to have the power to back up these claims. Besides that, these suffering Israelites aren’t just going to accept the wild claims of some old goat-herder. He had better have a business card, some credentials to make his case.

But there’s a risk in God giving out his name! What if Moses or anyone else wants to steal God’s identity. Anyone can go around speaking in the name of the Lord. Anyone can use God’s “PIN Code” of a name to open up the vaults of heaven. What was God thinking in revealing his name?

If you know God’s name then you know exactly what he was thinking. God’s name is “I WILL BE WHO I WILL BE.” God is telling Moses (and everyone else who hears his name) that you cannot use this name to manipulate me. You cannot use this name to reduce me, to define me, to summon me, to dismiss me or to control me in any way. So there is no risk to God in revealing his name.

But there is a risk to the people who know the name. Although God is not tamed by his name, the name is a holy and powerful name. It is still the name of a God who is greater than idols and has the power to define not only himself but also the created order.

The name of God tells us that in our relationship with “the one who will be what he will be” that He is always present and we must come to know him not through a magic formula, or a theological statement, or a pious poem, but through his character.

He reveals that character in these Ten Words:

• He is jealous. There is no room for other Gods in the relationship.
• He holds generations accountable for the sins of those who reject his ways. That seems so harsh, but it is reminder that our poor choices and bad behavior remain among our children for a very long time.
• He is faithful and kind to thousands of generations of the ones who are devoted to him. God saved Israel because of a promise he made to Abraham. You and I are blessed by the devotion of saints who lived long before us. God blesses us because of their faithfulness to him.

If the character of God is so untamed, then certainly it means something to speak his name. Yes, we ought to take care to how we drop his name and how we hand out his business card. Its no risk to God – after all he will be who he is. And yet that’s just the problem, when we blithely bring God into a situation we invite the one whom we cannot control. How then should we use and not use this Holy Name?

Thankfully, Jesus taught us what this third word to live by really means. There’s a certain danger of misuse when it involves swearing by God’s name. Telling the truth and verifying trust often depends on people swearing by the name of a god or a holy thing. Jesus teaches us to simply speak the truth. If your Yes is Yes and your No is No all the time then you have the character of God and are not simply dropping his name to make your point. (Matthew 5:33-37) If you don’t normally speak the truth, don’t bring God’s name up to prove you are not lying. You may want God there when you speak truthfully, but the “I AM” was also there when you were lying and bending the truth.

I am glad that Jesus taught us what this third word to live by really means. There is a certain danger of misusing God’s name to punish and curse people. After all, if he really does hold people and their offspring accountable for three or four generations, then suddenly the name of God is a powerful weapon against the people who irritate us and abuse us. So we go through life like a bunch of magicians out of a Harry Potter tale invoking God’s name in our curses. We might use words like “damn or hell” – that’s elementary. But when we are advance, we simply take a self-righteous stance and use God as an excuse for retaliation or exclusion.
Jesus did not teach us that. He taught us to love our enemies. He taught us to use God’s name in prayer for those who do us wrong. (Matthew 5:43-48) Paul, who persecuted Christian families, understood what Jesus was teaching when he wrote “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.” (Romans 12:14)
Jesus taught us to make things right with a brother or sister before we come before God and try to worship him on our moral high ground. According to Jesus, God is better praised in valley of humility and reconciliation rather than the lofty high ground of personal offense or religious principle. If we love even our enemies and settle matters quickly with each other before they grow into feuds and grudges, then we have the character of God – we are perfect even as he is perfect. If you need to get something right with another person, don’t bring God’s into it by asking him to take care of something he expects you to deal with. You may want God to show up when you put on your Sunday best, but the I AM was there when you were nursing your grudge.

God takes it seriously when we invoke his name. The Name of God is the beginning of holiness. When Jesus taught us to pray he taught us that the first thing to say is “Our father who is in heaven, holy is your name.” Learning to respect God’s name is the first step to respecting that which is holy – things like the soul and the image of God in other people. The name of God is not a handle that we use to manage God; it is a handle we use to manage ourselves. That’s why he puts his name on us when we are born into Christ. Live up to your family name and live out the character of the God who will be who he will be.

God vs. The Gods

Posted by Chris on October 7, 2007 under Sermons

Different traditions number the Ten Commandments differently …

Are the first two commandments one or two?

Two or One?

• No other Gods
• Do Not make Idols
• Are these saying the same thing?
• Are they two different points?

Among the Gods

• Exodus 15:11
• Exodus 18:11
• Joshua 23 – 24
• Psalm 86:8-10

Battle of the Gods

• Exodus 12:12
  – “I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.”

Household Gods

• Genesis 31
  – The God of my Father (v. 5)
  – Laban’s household gods (v.19)
  – Jacob respects Laban’s gods (vv. 31-32)

Buried Gods

• Jacob wrestles with God – Gen. 32
• Conflict with Shechem – Gen. 33-34
• Throwing Away Foreign Gods – Gen. 35

Dumb Idols

• Isaiah 44:13-20
  – An idol is a worthless, powerless thing
  – Its maker is mortal
• Psalm 115:2-4

Two Concerns

1. You must not have other gods
   • Other “powers” may exist
   • GOD is the only divine power worthy of our worship
   • God is “Jealous”
2. You must not make graven images
   • The Character of GOD cannot be captured in an image
   • An image is not God

No Graven Images

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Image. The second word is a warning about making graven images. (idols = graven images). This may be a more serious word than we imagined. We are good at making images. We are a visually-oriented culture. Image is as important as language in our culture.

• Politics is becoming more and more image driven. Next year there will be a lot of talk about the possibility of a woman President or African-American President. Watch and see if there isn’t talk about what that means for America’s image. Personally, when it comes to image, I wonder if we will ever elect a fat President? The last plus-size President was Taft.
• Business is driven by image. Product sales can depend totally on image and have nothing to do with quality. And what’s even more incredible is that consumers may “know” that a product is not good quality or practical, but they will buy it anyway because of the image it projects. [Barclay cigarettes. How do you know this is Coke?]
• Entertainment is obviously concerned with image. Magazines and tabloids make money hand over fist selling us images of people who often aren’t significant except for the fact that people tend to buy pictures of them. Expectation of beauty, confidence, acceptance are imaged in the media and marketing. And we tend to buy it.

Image isn’t really wrong though; it’s just really powerful and we don’t often realize that. Images have changed the world for the better. Images taken from real moments have lasted for generations. They remind us of the joy of being human. They confront us with things that must change. They inspire courage and hope. Images are powerful and we must recognize it, for image is an important part of faith when correct. God created us in His image. However, God speaks this second word to live by and warns us not to make images of God or any other kind of god.

Graven Images
Images themselves aren’t wrong – graven images are the problem. We have to pay careful attention here or we will miss God’s point: The second word to live by is not a call to jihad that encourages us to smash up every idol, statue, and religious display. We are not the Taliban. We are not Imperialist missionaries. God isn’t telling us to go out and smash up everyone else’s graven images, rather he is warning us not to make our own. Graven or carved images are crafted deities that we can shape into whatever pleases us. They are made of wood and our own will. They are made of metal and mental assumptions. Whatever medium we use, tangible or intangible, the graven or carved image is a god that we make into our own image.

We may think it ridiculous that someone would make their own God. We might laugh right along with Isaiah (Isa. 44) when he pokes fun of the foolish fellow who cuts down a tree and uses part of the wood to heat his house and roast his meat, but carves a god to worship out of the rest. Yes, that seems silly enough. But often the gods we shape, the gods that we end up making for ourselves, the gods that compete for our loyalty are things that really seem very good …

Israel didn’t think it was ridiculous to worship the bronze snake that God had given them in the desert. When they were plagued by venomous snakes on their journey through the desert, God had Moses craft a bronze serpent and mount it on a pole. Anyone who was bitten by a snake looked at the bronze snake and they were healed (Numbers 21:4-9). That’s a good thing. But it wasn’t such a good thing centuries later when King Hezekiah destroyed it. By that time the people had been burning incense to it and gave it a name – Nehushtan (2 Kings 18). It was a gift from God, but it wasn’t God.

Israel didn’t think it was ridiculous to place their confidence in the Temple of God rather than the God of the Temple. It was truly a holy thing. Solomon himself dedicated it, and yet even as he dedicated this holy place he wondered …
27 “But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built! 28 Nevertheless, listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you today. 29 May you watch over this Temple night and day, this place where you have said, ?My name will be there.’ May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place. 30 May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me and your people Israel when we pray toward this place. Yes, hear us from heaven where you live, and when you hear, forgive.” (1 Kings 8)

The temple was God’s address, but it wasn’t God. And the people seemed to have forgotten that in the days of Jeremiah. They had become confident that God was okay with them as long as the Temple was in Jerusalem. So God had Jeremiah preach a sermon to them saying, Do you think you can rob and murder, have sex with another man’s wife, tell lies nonstop, worship the local gods -and then march into this Temple, set apart for my worship, and say, “We’re safe!” thinking that the place itself gives you a license to go on with all this outrageous sacrilege? (Jeremiah 7:8-11)

The good things that bring us closer to God can become the trickiest of idols. It’s very easy to equate these things with God and we can be tempted into thinking that when we manage these things we manage our relationship with God.

The good things that bring us closer to God can become the trickiest of idols. It’s very easy to equate these things with God and we can be tempted into thinking that when we manage these things we manage our relationship with God …

• We do that when we equate the Bible with God. Any attempt to limit God to the pages of a book is a graven image that attempts to shape God to our expectations – to limit and reduce God – carving Him into our image.
• When we use the term “church” in place of God we run the risk of worshipping our concept of church rather than the God who calls the church and adds to the church.
• When we reduce our relationship with God to the strict observance of the Lord’s Supper and disregard the living Lord who meets us and serves us. We participate in the body and blood at the table, but when we reduce it to an “act” we have crafted a god that we can manage.
• When baptism becomes a procedure rather than a new birth in Christ, we have put our faith in the command rather than the Commander.

When we try and stamp our image of God on these very good things, they become graven images.

Notice the subtlety here … the Bible, the church, the Lord’s Supper, and baptism are all extremely important. They are all very holy. But they are not the Holy One. We are the church – not an institution apart from us – and we encounter the Holy One, the Living God when the images of word, water, bread and wine are living images, not graven images. And when we participate in these living images we share in the life of our Living God and He stamps His image on us.

God spoke the first and second words to live by because he wants us to know who he is and who he isn’t. God made us creatures with bodies and he understands our tendency to want to shape something that we can see, touch, feel and control into a God.
Thanks be to God that Christ “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (Colossians 1:15-16)
The problem with graven images is that we make God look like us. The good news of God became flesh is that God makes us look like Him.
Imago Dei – In our relationship with God, He is the One who will be making images – not us.