Little Children, Love One Another: Mission and Unity

Posted by Chris on January 23, 2005 under Sermons

How do you overcome an enemy that is stronger than you? How do you defeat a force that seems able to easily overpower you? How do you even gather up the courage to do anything when your foe is better equipped, better trained, and you have nothing but failure?

These questions could apply to many different conflicts and struggles; real battles, spiritual struggles, and personal crises. As we consider how we’ve been gathered up into God’s mission, we have to the realization that aligning ourselves and our congregation with God’s mission and kingdom rule puts us at odds with other forces and powers. Declaring allegiance to God means that we suddenly have an enemy. Peace treaties or non-aggression pacts with these enemies aren’t an option, even though we may be tricked into thinking that is the case. Commitment to the mission of God means facing our common foe. If we have any hope of overcoming that enemy and participating in God’s mission, then we must be united …

Many years ago I took a trip to Scotland and noticed this statue of a proud knight upon a war horse. I learned that there was an inspiring story behind this monument that took place on the field where I was standing. It is a story about the many people of Scotland and a would-be king who challenged an enemy that was much stronger. It is a true story but I hope you will hear it as a sort of parable taken from history …

The knight on the horse is Robert the Bruce, King of the Scots. He was crowned in 1306, but accepting the throne of Scotland made him an enemy of the King of England, Edward I, who claimed to be the rightful ruler of Scotland. For another year, Edward hunted Robert the Bruce to punish him for treason. He captured Bruce’s family and held them hostage. Before Edward died in 1307 he commanded his son, Edward II to continue the fight until Scotland was subjugated and he ordered that his cremated bones be carried in a box before the armies of England in their final assault on Scotland.

Robert the Bruce didn’t have much to work with. Scotland at that point was seriously divided. The clans in the North Highlands were ruled by local chieftains and they were mostly occupied with the ancient feuds with one another. The lands in the south were ruled by noblemen who were related to the royal families of England and Europe. Scotland’s last king had died without an obvious successor to the throne. The noble families were at odds with one another as they contested over who should rule Scotland.

In the midst of Scotland’s division, Edward I of England graciously offered to judge between the claimants, but in the process he kept Scotland divided and eventually claimed the throne for himself. He was able to hold onto his rule over Scotland as long as he kept the people at odds with one another. They were so busy fighting each other that they could not stand against England. Edward kept the leaders of Scotland subdued and earned his nickname, the Hammer of the Scots.

There was one exception. William Wallace, the subject of the movie Braveheart, was the guardian of Scotland during this period. He refused to compromise with Edward. He fought until he was captured and executed. His single-minded leadership set the way for Robert the Bruce, who was one of the claimants to the throne.

After crowning himself king in 1306 and so defying Edward, Bruce was on the run. Along the way and through his many trials he made allies throughout Scotland and imagined a united Scotland that could stand together against a common foe. Eight years later, King Robert Bruce was finally prepared to confront the army of Edward II of England. In June of 1314, Bruce’s rag-tag army of 5000 comprised of knights, peasants, nobles, commoners, and assorted Highland clans camped at the field near Bannockburn and waited for the advance of the English Army led by Edward II and the cremated bones of the Hammer of the Scots. The English army outnumbered the Scots 4 to 1, they were better equipped, had better armor, had more specialized weapons, and better training. And yet, the smaller Scottish army won the Battle and secured their freedom from England. Robert the Bruce’s long mission had borne fruit at last. Bannockburn is a significant victory not only because Scots won, but they overcame their real enemy. As one of Scotland’s 20^th century writers put it: Scotland’s fatal weakness has always been — and Wallace, and later Bruce, both sought to counter it — a preference for hair-splitting and squabbling amongst ourselves, forgetting the great objectives in the means thereto – (Nigel Tranter)

Battle at Bannockburn

Just as Edward’s strategy was to keep the clans and nobles of Scotland divided, so it is our enemy’s strategy to keep us divided. Like the Scots, our preference for hair-splitting and squabbling amongst ourselves distracts us from the greater objectives. If King Robert the Bruce could unite the factions of Scotland at Bannockburn, then I should think that our King, Jesus Christ, can all the more unite us and assemble us for his mission. Unity is Jesus’ strategy also. On the night that he was betrayed, Jesus prayed for his disciples in these words recorded in John 17 –
¹⁸As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. ²⁰"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: ²³I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. ²⁴"Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world. ²⁵"Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. ²⁶I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them."

Unity and Mission – The petition of Jesus, the purpose of the prayer and the teaching is that we might be one with God, Jesus, and with one another. The purpose of this unity is not simply that we might feel good or the avoidance of conflict – it has a purpose that is directly connected to the mission: That the world might know God. Jesus intends to call us together as a unified church so that lost people he loves will come to know God. He prays for us because our unity is essential to our participation in his mission. The question for us is not whether Christ shall succeed – he shall! Rather the question is whether we will be his partners in that mission or whether he fulfill without us. Since unity is that important, you can imagine how the enemy will make every effort to destroy unity. Since many of our internal squabbles and issues have nothing to do with God’s mission, if the enemy can keep us divided, then we are not on mission

I see two extremes that threaten our unity. First is a tendency toward unchecked anger and frustration. There is no sin in being frustrated with others or even with the things that are happening in the church. There’s no sin in disagreeing with the way some things are managed. Sometimes the leaders of an effort or a ministry are themselves frustrated about it because in our imperfect world things don’t always go as we intend. Imperfect people and imperfect plans are bound to upset us. But each of us is responsible for the way we handle our frustration, our disappointment, our anxiety, and our fear. We read in Genesis 4 that God did not condemn Cain for being angry and upset, rather he encouraged Cain to master the sin that was crouching at his door because it wanted to consume him. God is warning Cain to preserve love and unity, but if he gives in to his anger then the enemy will have his way with him! Cain did not resist the enemy at his door. As a result, he lost a brother and God found himself in the unfortunate position of punishing one of his beloved children in order to seek justice for another beloved child now dead. Giving in to the enemy by not managing our anxiety and frustration gives the enemy an advantage and it grieves our Father. You don’t think he wants to judge between his children, do you?

A second tendency that threatens our unity is the extreme individualism of our culture that has even affected the way we view our relationships within the church as well as outside the church. We have reduced faith to the point that it really means nothing more than my personal relationship with God – and in our culture God means "the god of my understanding." Don’t misunderstand, I do believe that all of us have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, but it doesn’t end there – there is so much more. God’s vision of salvation is more than just an amnesty program that gives everyone who will listen a chance to pay their dues before the deadline arrives. God is interested in saving each of us, but he also wants to redeem our relationships with one another. God intends for us to live together in peace with each other and with the creation. Isaiah shares the Lord’s vision of the kingdom of God with us. God speaks of that age saying, "They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:9). If we are full of the knowledge of the Lord, in other words if we are as one with God and Jesus as Christ prayed we should be, then we are compelled to love one another. We cannot be indifferent and exhibit the apathetic tolerance of our age that says, "Well to each his own, and I have to do what is right for me." Jesus did not die on the cross because it was right for him. He died for the sake of the world "that God so loved." Let us no longer reduce ourselves to religious consumers shopping for the church or synagogue of our choice. Likewise, let’s not reduce this congregation to a spiritual supermarket, a sort of Wal-Mart of religion, trying to please the customers with user-friendly services and goods for people of all generations and tastes. That’s not a good model for the church because if all of us show up as customers wanting to be right, then who plays the role of the service managers who are aimed to please: the elders, the ministers, bible class teachers, song leaders, everyone other than you? It just doesn’t work. We cannot market the gospel and we cannot market a loving unified community.

Unity doesn’t mean we are all exactly alike, in fact it means quite the opposite. If we want everyone to be just like us then that’s uniformity. Robert the Bruce’s army on the filed of Bannockburn was not uniform. That was the strength of the King of England who commanded over 20,000 troops comprised of 2500 cavalrymen each decked out in the finest heavy armor and equipped with a 12-foot lance and battle axe in addition to shield and sword, 3000 well-trained Welsh archers who could each launch 5 arrows at a time, and over 15,000 foot soldiers uniform in perfect formation with their quilted coats, steel helmets, and armed with shield, sword and spear. King Robert’s army was only 5000 and they were in truth a sort of conglomeration of smaller armies drawn from all regions of Scotland. The commanders of these troops were landowners or city officials who fought alongside poor peasants from their region; sometimes on horse but often on foot. Since they didn’t have the wealth of their English enemy, they fought with whatever deadly instruments they could find or improvise and their armor, if they had any, was a patchwork of pieces taken as spoils from previous wars. The King himself commanded the largest of four divisions made up of about 2000 troops gathered from the Highland clans who had muted their ancients feuds beneath the watchful eye of their new monarch. All of his troops were accustomed to rough conditions and they were hard fighters but his greatest challenge would be getting them to work as a collective rather than charge wildly into battle hacking and spearing anything around them.

They were hardly uniform, but Bruce knew the common cause that gave them unity. On the night of June 23, 1314 Robert the Bruce assembled his mean and spoke to them: "Our enemies are moved only by desire for dominion but we are fighting for our lives, our children, our wives and the freedom of our country. And so I ask and pray that with all your strength, without cowardice or alarm, you meet the foes whom you will first encounter so boldly that those behind them will tremble. See that your ranks are not broken so that when the enemy come charging on horseback you meet them steadfastly with your spears … You could have lived quietly as slaves, but because you longed to be free you are here with me, and to gain that end you must be valiant, strong and undismayed."

What does this lesson in unity from a Scottish king have to do with us? Our weapons are not spears and swords. Our fight is not with flesh and blood.

1) Unity and a common foe: The enemy is Satan. The enemy is the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Our struggle is against the principalities and powers. May God give us eyes to see the spiritual realities so we may see the battlefield where the very souls of men and women are at stake. We will unite in the face of such powers and lay aside our personal quarrels.

2) Unity and Love as our strength and our Freedom. During President Bush’s Inauguration speech I heard a definition of liberty and freedom that is rarely heard in America today: "Liberty for all does not mean independence from one another. Our nation relies on men and women who look after a neighbor and surround the lost with love." That’s quite a unique perspective affirming that we do need each another and we need to be united. Voices from conservative and liberal corners have often characterized freedom as something very personal and individual. I hope this better definition catches on. It ought to be the standard in the church if not America … We cannot truly preach Jesus and his gospel if we are not united with one another and with the Father. If we are not united, then the world cannot know Jesus through us because we do not know him.

1 John 3:23-24: And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in them. Jerome says, that when John was an old man in Ephesus, he had to be carried to the church in the arms of his disciples. At these meetings, he was accustomed to say no more than, “Little children, love one another!” After a time, the disciples wearied at always hearing the same words. They asked, “Master, why do you always say this?” “It is the Lord’s command,” was his reply. “And if this alone be done, it is enough!”

Words of Jesus – His prayer. All will know you are my disciples if what …? If you love one another. (John 13:35) Don’t let your ranks be broken!

Management Training

Posted by Chris on January 16, 2005 under Sermons

Last week we affirmed that the mission of the church can only be God’s mission. We have noother mission than God’s mission. We affirmed this: that this is the church of Christ and he mustbecome greater with no emphasis on us. All that we do and all that we are is by God’s handmoving among us. He secures our future, he saves – we are merely servants of the gospel.

Now, if that is the case. If we are truly striving to be about his mission in every way, what on earthshall we say about the various ways that we spend our money and time? What shall we say aboutthe many wonderful resources that we acquire and manage? How do we manage earthly mattersand spiritual matters at the same time – especially if everything is mission?

Read Luke 16:1-13

If you have ever heard of the hard sayings of Jesus, then this is one of them. This story iscontroversial in the history of the church. It is a tale of thieves and scoundrels. And in itsconclusion, Jesus seems to be noting that there’s some worthy lesson in the action of the clevermanager. [Stories about clever rogues are not unique. Everybody loves Robin Hood because hesteals from the rich and gives to the poor. But however heroic we make him, he is stealing. Heis breaking the law.] The commentaries give so many different views on this text that it is nearlyconfusing. There are attempts to clean this story up, but they always seem to miss the point …

The point is in verses 8 and 9 when Jesus says, “For the children of this age are more shrewd indealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” Jesus is taking a tale about thechildren of this age and placing it in contrast with the kingdom. If the scoundrels, rascals,tyrants, and desperate citizens of this present age have the imagination and determinationto further their causes, then how much more imagination and determination should we havefor the cause of the kingdom?

The controversy about this text mirrors the controversies we have about use of resources andwealth. This saying may be a hard saying not only because it seems that Jesus is applauded ashady character, but because this parable calls us to a singular devotion and commitment thatseems radical and extreme against our thinned out religious traditions. That happens when weview our faith as static and completed rather than viewing it as mission and journey. WhenChristianity is a matter of correctness and formality it becomes a bureaucratic game that attemptsto balance the status quo. It becomes nothing more than a set of rituals that really do not makea difference …

[William Wallace became a thorn in English King Edward I’s side because he didn’t subscribe to the legalformalities of warfare. For him, this wasn’t a game for nobles and lawyers. Wallace wasdetermined to win freedom from England at all costs and would not stop until they executed him. There were no compromises.]

Our controversial little story from Jesus is intended to stir us to thought and press us to makesome important decisions. The story raises two key questions that force us to align ourselvesin the kingdom or the world …

First question – Who do you serve? We need to be clear and certain in this choice. In urgenttimes we cannot be patient with split decisions or wavering. “No one can serve two masters. Foryou will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannotserve both God and money.” – v. 13

For all the shame of it, the dishonest manager was clear about his master. His “boss” in the storywas a means to an end. Don’t assume that this manager was in any way particularly loyal to thiswealthy lord. No, the manager’s “lord” was his own self. He serves “mammon,” and even if theBig Boss was going to fire him, then he was going to use the Big Boss to provide for his future. As a servant of mammon [or his own selfishness] he will do whatever it takes to fulfill his causeand other “so-called lords” will not deter him. He is undistracted!

Kingdom ethics are very different for the children of light, but we need to have a higher level ofloyalty for our Lord is much greater and more worthy. The parable calls upon us to move from thelesser to the greater: If the children of this age are so determined and undistracted in their serviceto a false Lord, why aren’t we, the children of light, all the more determined and undistracted inour service to THE Lord?

Second Question – How will we use the resources we have been given? If our answer to thefirst question is that we serve God, then that determines how we will use what we’ve been given. It is an issue of faith and trust. Listen again to the little proverbial statement Jesus makes and hisapplication: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoeveris dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthyin handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?” (v. 10-11)

Sometimes you have to appreciate the enemy’s style. (When an opposing team scores in abrilliant way you have to tip your hat).
The crooked manager is good at something. He’s a good embezzler. Why didn’t he just take themoney and run? Because he sets up a situation in which he cannot lose. If the Big Boss kickshim out of the house, he has new friends who owe him favors. Yet, by being generous andforgiving debts to the Big Boss’ clients he has won their favor for the Big Boss. The Boss hasgreat honor and satisfied clients. He stands a chance of getting in good with the Boss – and if theBoss cans him, then the Boss loses honor and favor among his clients. When the little plan isover, the Boss decides that he wants someone this clever on his team – even if it means riskinga little embezzlement.

Again we are called from the lesser things (little, filthy lucre) to the greater things (much, trueriches): If the children of this age know how to be creative, imaginative, and bold in usingresources for their unrighteous efforts, how much more creative, imaginative, bold and risky shouldwe be for the sake of the kingdom? Don’t misunderstand, I am not saying we should adopt theethics or the tactics of the children of this age, rather I am saying we should outthink them, out riskthem, and outwork them. We can develop our own creative ways of using “stuff” for God’smission.
Too often our concerns are not about ethics and mission. We are more frightened about makingmistakes. We are more concerned about offending our sensibilities. We are limited in our visionand stalled to comfortable inactivity because we think that God has no hands but our hands to dohis work on earth – or we think that God has no pocketbook but our pocketbook. This lack ofimagination and action allows the children of this age to outdo the children of light.

I recall a conversation in the mid-1990’s with church leaders who were certain that the Internet wasa passing fad. One lone voice was trying to convince them that they needed to see the kingdomopportunities with this new form of communication. I would say that the lone voice won out. Idon’t think that conversations like that happened among the opportunists in the porn business. One of the first industries to make major use of the Internet was the porn industry. Some of thechildren of light avoided the Internet because of it.

Why do we let them claim turf that rightfully belongs to our master? Why aren’t we bold enoughand determined enough to establish our Lord’s presence in the midst of hell’s territory? Are wetoo timid or effete? Do we think that it would scandalize God or send the wrong message? Godoffended the sensibilities of religious nobles when he set up shop at the intersection of Sin andShame and chose a cross as his sign. . . his message was clear!

William Willimon tells the story of a Florida church that had once been a great congregation in theheart of the city. But the city changed and the neighborhood declined. The congregationdwindled and the membership was made up of those who commuted from the suburbs. Thecongregation soon had a problem with vagrants and homeless men around the old churchbuilding. They dirtied the place up and on a few occasions they broke into the church building. The congregation put locks on the doors but the vagrants broke the locks. So a meeting was heldto discuss better security and bigger locks. What could they do to keep these homeless peoplefrom damaging their building?

Someone moved the question to a vote and that night they left the doors wide open. Twentyhomeless men showed up. There were all sorts of problems – the kind that require creativethinking and imagination and clever action I am sure – but in time the church worked with thesehomeless people and people realized how new life had come to this church.

Jesus said, “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves so that when it is gone, youwill be welcomed into eternal dwellings.” (16:9)

In our service to God’s mission as saved people how are we going to be faithful with the lesserthings? Will we be distracted by our sensibilities, our traditions, our nostalgic past or ourpresupposed future? Will we be distracted by our allegiance to comfort or fear? Or will we befaithful in the things of this world that all belong to God – yes even what is in our own bankaccounts, every penny of it – and will we serve our God so faithfully, creatively, and boldly thatsome of the children of this age may just be drawn to the light of reflected off his children.

Who Is Equal to Such a Task?

Posted by Chris on January 9, 2005 under Sermons

Introduction: Who Is Equal to Such a Task?

As another week goes by our news continues to focus on the efforts to help those who suffer following the tsunami in Asia. This week our elders considered the best ways that all of us could participate in relief. One of our local news channels hosted an all day telethon that raised nearly $200,000. Some of you helped out with that. That news channel spoke to Kevin Vaught about CURe and their work to supply material for other relief agencies. On our website we have listed four different Christian agencies that are working with people in Asia. We encourage you to lend your support to them.

There’s a lot of great work going on. It is heartening to see the compassion of good people and an incredible sense of unity. And yet, I have one recurring thought in all of it: Is it enough? Can all our efforts match the scale of this disaster? Will we be able to do enough soon enough? Don’t misunderstand! This isn’t a criticism of the work and efforts that all of us are involved in, it’s just an expression of humility in the face of a daunting mission. Alone none of us could do anything to make much of a difference. United we have a chance at making a difference – and it is still a lot of work. Who is equal to such a task?

It reminds me of the church’s mission to evangelize the world. Faced with the realities of a lost world, a church that is often stymied by conflict and lack of resources, how do we think that we can make a difference? Perhaps we are emboldened by the impossibility of it all. Like Don Quixote we dare to dream the impossible dream and we fight windmills in the misguided belief that they are dragons and we are knights. Perhaps we decide to leave mission work for the experts and those with the resources to do it. Perhaps we decide to leave local evangelism to the professionally trained and those who have the gift for it. The rest of us get to work providing the support structure and the organization wherewithal to indirectly support the Great Commission. After all, "God has no hands but our hands" to do His work on earth." Really? But who is equal to such a task?

The Apostle Paul posed that question to the church in Corinth. He wants them to know that his ministry is no easy thing. He and his fellow messengers of the gospel are pleasing to God, but there are some who receive him like a welcome fragrance and others who reject him as the stench of death. Service to God combined with reception and rejection – "Who is Equal to a such a Task?" (2 Corinthians 2:15-16). So how does Paul do it? How does he continue in the face of such rejection and uncertainty?

 By ourselves we are not qualified to claim that anything comes from us. Rather, our credentials come from God, who has also qualified us to be ministers of a new covenant – (2 Corinthians 3:4-6).

Paul’s answer – It isn’t OUR mission. Because God’s mission has placed us where He wants …

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom.  ^18  As all of us reflect the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, we are being transformed into the same image with ever-increasing glory by the Lord’s Spirit.   Therefore, since we have this ministry through the mercy shown to us, we do not get discouraged. ^2  Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not use trickery or pervert God’s word. By clear statements of the truth we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience before God. – (3:18-4:2)

We are not the initiators of the mission; we are the targets of the mission just as much as anyone else. We are not the rescuers, we are the rescued. We are not the healers, we are the healed. We are not the senders, we are the sent.

We are just vessels and containers for this good news treasure. We are just clay pots, vessels, garbage bags filled with treasure. (4:7)

For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as merely your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in clay jars to show that its extraordinary power comes from God and not from us. In every way we’re troubled but not crushed, frustrated but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:5-9)

Paul’s answer to the question "Who is equal?" is that none of us are; but rather than drive us to despair, this honest realization that the mission and the power behind the mission belongs to God gives us new hope. Think about it like this, when we thought that evangelism, the mission, the Great Commission was all up to us we get frustrated and feel guilty. One writer noted that this has been the case …
"Too often calls to evangelism overlook the most important element: the empowering of God. We are asked to operate in our own power. When we find that we lack that power, we become frustrated and guilt ridden." – Tony Ash

When we consider, as Paul does, the empowering of God, then we shift the focus and locus of mission off of the church, off of ourselves. This not only relieves us of our burden of guilt and frustration, it empowers us and primes us to do more as participants of that mission than we ever could have imagined. Notice that we actually do more, not less; this isn’t simply checking out and saying "It’s all in God’s hands." But neither are we saying that "God has no hands but our hands." Maybe a better way to put it is that we see the hand of God at work among us and around us. We believe it and we are telling others about it. (2 Corinthians 4:13-14) …

Conclusion:

As we look ahead to 2005 and consider the mission of God that has become our mission – I could start the year by telling you what we need to do. I could even try and cast a vision for what we can do FOR GOD. (As though God has no hands but our hands.) But none of that would be appropriate. Rather we should 1) have a vision for what God is doing (what He has done, is doing and will do) and we should 2) pray that God will work within us. Rather than state that God has no hands but our hands, it is better that we should say that “we shall have no mission but His Mission.”

Since this is true, then all that we do and all that we are is God at work among us. We are the visible evidence of His mission. We are an example of His work. We are the model home for the heavenly mansion estates that are under construction and will be completed soon. Our efforts to maintain an organizational structure must never eclipse the mission. One of the identifying marks of the church is its "sent-ness." You can tell the church by its "sent." "Being here" must never overshadow "being sent." In fact, being here is part of being sent. The distinction between those who stay and those who go is false. The distinction between internal programs and external programs/nurture and outreach is false. If the mission is initiated and controlled by God, then everything is mission. Everything we do is a part of the mission. Every member, every program, every budget, every minister, every ministry is just another clay jar, plastic tub, metal can, or paper bag holding the same glorious gospel treasure.

Here is the one thing that we affirm today and for 2005 and beyond. May this be so in all that we do: Christ must become greater with no emphasis on us. If we really believe that we are the church of Christ then we must believe that this is Christ’s church – not ours. This must be our core belief at West-Ark: that everything we do is in the name of Jesus and it flows from the precious treasure that we carry within us – the treasure of the gospel. Everything from our worship and preaching to the coins, checks and bills we drop in the plate must be about Christ and His power to save. We must believe and speak like we know that’s the real power around here; we’re just a cardboard box to carry it in. Every program from education to budgeting for new carpet must be about Christ and His power to save – we mustn’t give in to the worldly thinking that there is secular business and religious business around here. Rather we must believe and speak that it is all about Christ and we are just a burlap tote sack for carrying His powerful gospel.

The mission is God’s. God so loved the world that He sent His only son and whoever believes in Him will not die but have eternal life. Jesus Christ was crucified, He was buried, but God raised Him to eternal life on the third day and exalted Him. He is Lord, and just as the Father sent Him, He sends us (John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 15, John 20, Acts 1:8).

This is what we believe. This is what we speak. I want to share with all of you who hear this message and read this message the treasure that was shared with me. It is not something that I or even this church can hoard – we are just the container. God can fill you with the treasure of hope and the gift of the Holy Spirit. He can raise you just as He raised Jesus. Trust Him. We believe that if we have buried with Him we will also be raised with Him. Give everything to God – believe it, speak it, submit to it in baptism and let God fill you with new life.

Act of God

Posted by Chris on January 2, 2005 under Sermons

New Year celebrations were more solemn than ever this year. In Southeast Asia especially, celebrations were subdued with sadness and grief. Many nations, like Indonesia, suspended official celebrations and urged people to attend be reflective, to be prayerful, and to attend religious services.

Even in countries not directly effected by the force and fury of the earthquake and tsunami, the ringing in of 2005 was perhaps a bit more sober. Many would have liked to "lose themselves" in the party and forget about their cares and worries, but it is hard to ignore 150,000 deaths (one third of them children). It is hard to ignore 5 million left homeless.

And then there’s the staggering reality than this is just the beginning. Even the media has found it difficult to move past this story and return to the news that matters most (keeping us informed of the latest celebrity marriage, divorce, trial, shooting, fistfight). This story seems to be growing in intensity and severity each day. There’s the inevitable problem of disease and poverty. There are brewing controversies over which nation will help the most and whether or not we are doing all we can. Ironically, the tsunami doesn’t pay any attention to your national origin, your income, or how you voted in the last election. It doesn’t discriminate between Muslim and Christian, Buddhist or Baptist. The severity of this event has humbled humanity and made us ask some important questions; deep questions about the sort of things we would sometimes rather ignore.

A week ago it was Southeast Asia. Last summer it was Florida. A few years ago it was the north coast of Honduras struck by Hurricane Mitch. What will it be and where will it be next time? You may have missed this "lesser" bit of news in the coverage of the tsunami, but last week astronomers discovered an asteroid that had a 1 in 37 chance of striking the earth 24 years from now. They have updated their data recently to revise the path of the quarter-mile wide rock so that it is less likely to hit us. But what if they are wrong again? It’s all a bit frightening and we are not used to being so concerned. We work hard to keep our homes safe and secure, but how do you control the planet? Perhaps our arrogance has convinced us that we can control nature and solve any problem. We are told that we have the power to destroy creation, but maybe we have forgotten that creation has great power to destroy us too. In the insurance business, these events are called Acts of God. I don’t think that the insurance companies are managed by theologians, rather, this term harkens back to the realization that there are some things that only God can control. [Want to read more about the asteroid risk?]

It raises many questions, doesn’t it? The sort of questions that we in our quick-fix world tend to ignore: Is God paying attention? Did God sanction the earthquake? If not, why didn’t God protect against it? Why does the tsunami strike Southeast Asia and not somewhere else? Is there something unique about that place? Is it random or directed by God? Maybe the rain falls on the just and the unjust alike, but sometimes it seems like it falls harder in some places!

These are the sort of questions Jesus fielded in his ministry. The people in the first century were accustomed to the concepts of fortune and misfortune. An act of God was more than insurance jargon to them …

Luke 13:1-5: ¹About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem. ²“Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? ³Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. ⁴And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? ⁵No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish.”

Background: Jesus is teaching that judgment will come, so be ready. Fear God who has power to end life and eternal life. He is the judge we must deal with. Certainly he is merciful, but his mercy doesn’t deny the seriousness of having a rich relationship with him.

Prompt: In the course of his teaching, someone brings up the tragic news of the day. Pilate slaughtered a group of Galileans at worship. He mingled their blood with the blood of the sacrifices. Pilate went straight into God’s house and killed these people who were doing nothing more than worshipping. Why? Had they done something to offend God? Did God allow it? If God didn’t, then why didn’t he stop Pilate? (It is a question of their fate).

Response: Rather than comment on Pilate’s attack, Jesus focuses on the main issue: the need to repent.

• Jesus adds a tragic event that was "just an accident." A tower in Siloam collapsed and killed 18 people. His question: Are we to assume that the slain Galileans were more sinful than other Galileans because of the tragedy? Are we to assume that the 18 killed by the tower collapse were more sinful than other Jerusalemites?
• Jesus’ answer is no. Before God, we are all sinners and without repentance, we will all perish. It is futile to try and calculate and categorize tragedies as to whether they are random or according to divine law. Who are we to counsel God?
• Act of God: We tend to think violent acts or natural disasters are the judgment of God or the will of God. Did God do this? And if he did why? Jesus calls us away from such fruitless pondering and says "People die and all of you will die. And all of you will perish if you don’t change."

Application:
The 150,000 who died are no more or less sinful than any of us. [Yes, there were children – and like our children they are innocent in their ignorance of right and wrong.] Sometimes, towers collapse. Sometimes, earthquakes strike. Sometimes, tornadoes destroy. Sometimes, planes and cars crash and collide. Sometimes, cruel leaders and desperate psychopaths commit acts of terror. And sometimes they do not. But unless you repent, you will perish.

Repent = not just turning away from what’s wrong, but turning toward God. A parable about repentance (turning toward God) from Luke 13:6-9 …

⁶Then Jesus used this illustration: “A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. ⁷Finally, he said to his gardener, ‘I’ve waited three years, and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s taking up space we can use for something else.’ ⁸“The gardener answered, ‘Give it one more chance. Leave it another year, and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. ⁹If we get figs next year, fine. If not, you can cut it down.’ “

The owner of the vineyard had every right to expect figs from his fruitless tree. He had been patient with it for three years. He has the authority and the right to cut it down. But he mercifully gives the tree another year. One more year …

The New Year is a time when many of us consider changes we want to make in the upcoming year. There is some degree of reflection and moral introspection. Some of us will resolve to save money, to read a good book we’ve long intended to read, many of us will resolve to be more active and disciplined in our daily lives. Some of us will make a special effort to end a bad habit like cursing, smoking, or eating too much. But we all need to change. We need to repent, to turn toward God and be changed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian life is not a matter of keeping the rules and keeping up appearances. Life in the Kingdom is not a game with God of gaining favors and avoiding losses. Life in the kingdom is about aligning our lives with God’s purposes. This means that the knee that bows before God is a part of the same leg that walks a life worthy of that worship. Without repentance (turning toward God) all our gains are nothing but loss. Christian life/Life in the kingdom is a changed life rooted in Christ and nurtured by the Holy Spirit. When our lives and our life together are rooted in Christ they yield a harvest of spiritual produce.

Perhaps we have a year ahead of us to bear fruit consistent with changed lives. Perhaps a year – or more – or less. It’s hard to say because Christ could come back ready to clear out the worthless trees – or a tower might collapse, an enemy might strike, the earth may shake, the waters may come crashing down. I don’t know – and neither do you. But we do know this – unless we repent, we will certainly perish.

[The teaching of Jesus is a call for you to turn to God. If you find yourself in sin, turn away from sin and turn to him. And God help us if any of us should be judgmental. Are we more or less sinful than any who respond? If you find yourself in need of help – maybe a crisis of a different magnitude has come crashing into your life, turn to God and let us pray with you. You may have to endure it, but not alone.]

Addendum: I think every Christian should consider this recent article from the London Guardian. In no way am I agreeing with every point made by the author, but I think he sets forth the spiritual and theological challenge that all disciples should spend more than a minute considering. This is especially true if we want to proclaim a biblical worldview.

The Gospel According to Joseph

Posted by Chris on December 26, 2004 under Sermons

Opening thought: "When you see a Nativity scene, what do you look for? Is there a certain individual you are drawn to? Do you want to see how the wise men, shepherds, or angels are portrayed?

The scene at the Nativity – (a pastiche of the many events, a homogenization of the various perspectives – and these days anyone can be a part of the Nativity! Santa, Frosty, Rudolph – even Looney Tunes!)

• Joseph – He is sort of the forgotten presence. What is he doing there? Where is he to be posed? Beside Mary, greeting the wise men, sorting out the gifts, tending to the sheep. What useful thing is he supposed to be doing?

• I think there is a tendency to ignore Joseph because his perspective on the birth of Christ reminds us of the shadowy side of the birth of the Savior. When Luke writes his gospel it seems sure that he told the story of Christ’s birth from Mary, and she kept many of these memories in her heart. Luke’s account of the birth of Christ is by far the most popular and most well known (with the exception of the Star which we get from Matthew).

• For Joseph, Mary’s betrothed husband, the story of the birth is not about things he kept in his heart, but of things he struggled with in his soul. For Joseph, the focus is not on gifts and visits. It is on the trial of it all – on what appeared to be infidelity and his thoughts of a quiet divorce, the weight of the law, the shame of sin and a fear for his family. And though it is a much rougher, shadowy account of things, it is still very much a story of good news – perhaps one very appropriate for us because it is a testimony of the gospel light breaking into the darkness. And with the help of Matthew, I want us to give attention to the gospel according to Joseph.

The Feeling of Shame and Scandal
Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married. It is supposed to be a blessed time as the two prepare for life together. There is already a sacred covenant between them and before the community they have promised themselves only to one another. They are not yet married and the rules about their interaction are guided by the community. Joseph is soon to begin his career with his father’s approval and begin a family with his wife. Joseph and Mary are bound to one another, but Joseph will not take her home to live with him until after the wedding.

However, this time of ordinary happiness is spoiled by scandal. Mary is pregnant. It would be bad enough if Joseph were the father and they had shamed the expectations of marriage, but all Joseph knows at this point is that he is not the father. He is in turmoil. If he ignores what has happened, he will be ignoring God’s law, and the law is very clear –
If there is a young woman, a virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies with her, you shall bring both of them to the gate of that town and stone them to death, the young woman because she did not cry for help in the town and the man because he violated his neighbor’s wife. So you shall purge the evil from your midst. (Deuteronomy 22:23-24)

Joseph is a righteous man, but he is also a compassionate man. He loves God and God’s law, but he also loves Mary. He does not want to humiliate and expose her as a sinful woman, she would be rejected by the village and it would shame her and her father and she is so young. But worst of all it could lead to the death penalty. If the people were outraged, they could be brutal.

But he cannot marry her either. Joseph cannot simply forgive her and marry her anyway – that’s very storybook and soap opera romantic, but it is not reality in first-century Palestine – certainly not for Joseph. The law demands that he annul the marriage. This is how he shows his love of God and the people of Israel.

Joseph is seeking a way through his dilemma. Since he learned of the pregnancy he has been trying to figure a way out. He is righteous, but he is merciful. His best option – to fulfill his obligations to God and to Mary – is to give her a "quiet divorce." He can send her away to her relatives down in the hill country of Judea. She can go down there until the child is born and Joseph will prepare the divorce with a few trusted officials. It’s not a perfect solution, but it is the best that he can do – nothing else is possible.

The Dream of a New Possibility
While Joseph is trying to figure it all out, he has a dream. This dream is gospel – that is, good news.

• Don’t be afraid to take Mary as your wife – the child is born of the Holy Spirit
• Name him Jesus – for he will save his people from their sins

Now Joseph has a possibility that wasn’t there when he was trying to figure it out on his own. Matthew says that this fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 7) that the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son and he will be named Immanuel – God is with us.

• The first time that prophecy was spoken it was meant to convince King Ahaz to trust in God and not worry about Israel’s foes. To rely on God and not his own treaties. But Ahaz chose to figure it out himself; he preferred his own solution. He decided that he would rather not bother God with this business.
• When Joseph awakes from the dream, he has to decide what he will do – follow his own solution, or accept the dream and the "God is with us"/Immanuel alternative. It won’t be easy to accept the dream. If he takes Mary as his wife it means that onlookers will say that he has been with Mary before the wedding or they will be ashamed because Joseph has ignored the sin. (There are also risks to come that he cannot yet imagine – the aggression by Herod and the need to flee, but God’s messenger is there for Joseph once again).

For Joseph, the dream is truly a gospel – good news. It means that more is possible than he would have ever imagined. It means the burden of the law has been lifted.

• Can you sympathize with Joseph? He is a good man, a righteous man and compassionate. But he is faced with (what he thought was) sin and the law doesn’t just "allow" him to break off the betrothal – the law and honor demand it.
• Haven’t we been there? That crossroads between righteousness and mercy? Even in our benevolence we know that we are helping, but the reason we must help might be the result of sin. How are we to be merciful without ignoring sin? In our church and in our family, we want to be merciful to those who lie and betray us who hurt us. We love them so much that we want to forgive and forget, but how can we, even in love, ignore the sin? How do we demonstrate our compassion and concern without seeming as if condone sin? What will people think? What will people say? What message will it send? In Joseph’s case he is comforted with the revelation that Mary has not committed a sin, but the people Mary and Joseph know will not have shared that revelation. And what do we do when we are in turmoil over those who have indeed sinned.What do we do then?

A New Possibility – "God is With Us"

O, how we need Immanuel – God is with us. How we need Jesus! He will save! Joseph receives the word of God in this dream as good news. He welcomes the possibility that this child is the Messiah – the Son of God. Yes, there will be scandal – not because of Joseph and Mary’s sinfulness but because of the sinfulness of humankind – but the possibility of the gospel that Joseph receives means that he and Mary and all their people will be saved.

• Would you like to share Joseph’s dream?
• Would you like to hand your struggle over to God and just be obedient?
• Would you like to overcome the fear, worry, and shame and trust in God?
• Would you like to welcome the possibility that God is with us and he is on our side?
• Would you like to let go of the burden of finding your own solution to your problems and trust in God’s possibilities – things that you and I cannot even imagine?

Joseph did all of that. He relied on God and trusted in God even when it seemed difficult or questionable. Unlike King Ahaz, Joseph sets aside his very logical, pious, and reasonable solution and pledges himself to God’s risky, but amazing, solution.

The gospel according to Joseph is the good news that God’s works are greater than our limitations. We are sinful and the law is often not on our side, and even when it is it is a burden God is with us!

So when you see Joseph in a nativity scene look for a man who trusts in God, look for a man who’s been saved from a dilemma between righteousness and mercy. Look for a man whose dream came true – God is with us! He will save us!

Reality Check

Posted by Chris on December 19, 2004 under Sermons

What is Real?

Have you noticed how reality shows aren’t really real? What’s real about lying in a Plexiglas box full of roaches or getting stranded on an island? What’s real about falling off a bridge on a wire or racing around the world with a little person? What’s real about spoiled socialites working on a cattle-farm? What’s real about a fictional millionaire dating 30 women in a week so he can get married? Why are we shocked when we find out that reality shows are staged, scripted, and edited?

Have you noticed how so much of so-called "real life" isn’t really that real? Have you noticed that I don’t wear the clothes I want to, but often dress the way you expect me to? Have you noticed that we don’t really tell each other about the movies we go see or the books we read, but we may talk a certain church talk that we reserve for our time together? Have you noticed how we sometimes don’t tell each other what we really think or feel but often give the answer we think someone else wants to hear? Have you noticed how we will not tell each other about the things that we need help with – the mismanaged money, the addiction to pills or something to drink or something to smoke, the need to visit certain websites "just out of curiosity," or the need to be accepted by others and to have someone like us, love us, or praise us. And even though we would love to be as honest as to share all of this sincerely with another person, have you noticed how we seem to manufacture an "image" for ourselves and others? Have you noticed that "real life" sometimes isn’t real?

Perhaps that is because we think that if others knew the truth about us, they might hold that against us. Maybe each of us is concerned that someone else might use us as a step ladder to get up on his or her moral high ground? Then again maybe some of us are just as real as we can be – when in reality we are angry, disappointed, and perhaps a bit cautious with all the other hypocrites in this so-called real world. However you put it, sometimes the world isn’t that real.

Keeping It Real

Don’t think for a moment that "false reality" is just a problem on TV or in the church. There’s plenty of hypocrisy in the world. In fact those who claim to be "keeping it real" are often putting up a rehearsed front. They are playing the part of the strong individual who doesn’t care what anyone or anybody thinks about him or her. If that’s so, then why do they make a strong point of this in everything they do? I am convinced that if you want to find reality and the type of person who is real and not just "keeping it real" you have to draw close to the people who are close to God …

Among all the saints in our cloud of witnesses, no one is more real than John the Baptist. (Read Matthew 3:1-12) With John, what you see is what you get. John’s a preacher, but he doesn’t dress up for anyone – except God. I have heard every joke about preacher’s being the first in line for a potluck (which has never been true in my experience). John’s a preacher, but he doesn’t have time for potlucks and dinner on the ground and church socials. And even if he did, you may not want him to come: "Oh look here darling, someone brought roasted grasshoppers drizzled with raw honey. I wonder who that would be." If John went to preaching school he missed the classes that taught you how to dress for success. It’s obvious as he preaches without a tie for his camel hair shirt and leather belt – unshaven, for days and the only bath his constant baptizing. John’s not much on communication either. He must have skipped the rhetoric and conflict courses. I don’t know about you, but I always heard that you don’t win over your congregation by calling them a "brood of vipers" in your sermon.