Hope and Mission

Posted by Chris on October 25, 2009 under Sermons

What do you hope for? – That your team will win, that this sermon will be short, that you won’t have the same argument around the supper table today, that your family could gather around the table. Do you hope that you will find a good job and marry the right person, or maybe you hope that for your children, or maybe you wish you could? Do you hope that you can make it through the day without a drink, a bad thought, losing your temper, or a visit to a certain website? Do you hope the economy will improve? Do you hope that God will return soon, or does that thought make you uneasy and you hope you can find a way that it wouldn’t?

Our inspiration and our mission, our hopes and dreams are influenced by the way we answer another question: What do you believe God is doing with the future?

Spell it out and then ask you to think through it with me … Mission, Hope, and God’s Plans for the Future are all connected in important ways. Bible speaks of the Day of the Lord with Hope.

What God is doing with the future …

• Revelation 7:9-12 – People of all tribes, nations, and languages: These are the things that separate us. We work very hard to preserve our tribe, our nation, our language (culture). We work very hard to hold onto something we cannot always keep. We work for a future that just may not happen the way we intend.
• Humans don’t have the ability to secure the future – we can shape it, influence it, impact it, but we cannot guarantee a particular outcome — this is why we hope.
• On 9/11 people of one tribe attacked people of another tribe. People of one language attacked another nation of people with many languages. The attackers believed that God was going to do something with the future – they believed that God was going to establish a great empire but wicked sinful nations that stand in the way have to be crushed. They knew what the other tribe hoped for and so they targeted that: hope in prosperity, hope in security, hope in strength/power.
• After the towers fell, hopes changed – We hoped that people would be found alive, we hoped that the enemy would be captured and killed, we hoped that things would return to normal. When things did return to normal, what did we believe God was doing with the future? Maybe he would give us some happiness? Maybe he would restore our fortunes? Maybe he would keep us safe? Maybe he would destroy our enemies?
• That’s normal – going back to normal means hoping that God favors your tribe, your nation, and that he speaks your language.
• But on the day that was not normal, maybe we saw a glimpse of God’s hopes. Maybe for a time, when we lifted our heads to the skies, and paid attention to one another, maybe then we saw what God is wanting to do with the future. Because people from different tribes, different nations, and different languages were all covered in ashes. They spoke of the same things: evil and repentance were spoken of, God was named, prayers were shared. We wondered if perhaps God had a different future worked out. It looked just a little like the scene in Revelation 7:9.
• But then we all went back to speaking our own languages, we put on the colors of our tribes, and we secured the borders of our nations. Once again we started to pray that God would bless our hopes – our hope for prosperity, for strength, for safety. And we didn’t bother to consider what God was hoping. We didn’t really spend much time considering his future – maybe because we had a glimpse of it and we knew that God’s future doesn’t always match up with our hopes.

This reminds me of a man named Jonah …

• God has a mission because God is working on the future. There is a wicked nation, full of evil tribes, and people who speak foul language. They offend God. And they offend Jonah too. Before God destroys this wicked nation, God wants Jonah to warn them, because God’s future hopes involve this nation changes its murderous, wicked ways.
• Jonah knows that, and that’s why he doesn’t want to do it. Because these people offend Jonah too. God has a mission that sees the future one way, but Jonah’s hope for the future doesn’t include that wicked nation.
• So Jonah refuses to get on aboard God’s mission. And he finds out that it is a tough thing to argue with God and try to avoid the hurricane force of God’s future and his mission. So Jonah does preach it. He warns the wicked city and tells them that they have no future in God’s future because of their evil ways. (And maybe he’s loving that just a little).
• And the wicked, wicked city changes their hope. Instead of hoping in their strength, their power, their prosperity, they hope in God and his future. And God forgives them.
• And this upsets Jonah. (Jonah 4) – Jonah would rather die than live in a future with people from that other tribe, that other nation, who speak a different language.

If we cannot see past our tribe, our nation, or our language, then we do not see God’s vision of the future.

If our hope is limited to our tribe, or just our nation, and if it can only be spoken in our language, then our hope is not rooted what God is doing with the future.

What we believe about the future will affect the way we live today.

• We believe that a day is coming when God will establish righteousness as normal, sin and its corrupting power will be obliterated – and so we want to hope for that day in such a way that we live like that day is today
• We believe that a day is coming when God invites all his children to a feast, a banquet and Jesus, our Lord, is the head of the table. Everyone there will be dressed for the occasion and there will be peace at that table – and so we want to hope for that day in such a way that we live like that day is today.
• We believe that a day is coming when God’s stored up wrath is poured out and emptied and wickedness and evil have been cast out. There will be no more fear, no more harm, no more worry. Atonement is complete and there is reconciliation between us and God and that means there must be reconciliation with one another, for God wills it. And so we want to hope for that day in such a way that we live like that day is today.
• But yes, we know that that day isn’t quite today – but we live for that day and that means we have a mission – a mission not for our own survival, nor for our protection or victory, rather a mission based on our hope in God’s future.

What do we hope for? What do we believe God is doing with the future?

It is time, past time …

The Sons of Thunder

Posted by Chris on October 18, 2009 under Sermons

2 Samuel 3:38-39

“And today, though I am the anointed king, I am weak, and these sons of Zeruiah are too strong for me. May the LORD repay the evildoer according to his evil deeds!”

The Sons of Zeruiah

Asahel

• Pursues Abner without mercy (2 Samuel 2)
• Killed by Abner (2 Samuel 2)
• Avenged by his brothers (2 Samuel 3)
• Counted among David’s heroes (2 Samuel 23)

Abishai

• Wants to kill Saul (1 Samuel 26)
• Kills Abner – revenge (2 Samuel 2)
• Wants to kill Shimei for cursing David (2 Samuel 16)
• Killed to get David water (2 Samuel 23)

Joab

• Commander of David’s Army (8)
• Kills Abner – revenge (2 Samuel 2)
• Involved in Uriah’s murder (11)
• Woman from Tekoa (14)
• Executes Abasalom (18)
• Chastises David in grief (19)
• Kills rival Amasa (20)
• Executed by Solomon (1 Kings 2)

2 Samuel 20:11-12

One of Joab’s men stood beside Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!” Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road, and the man saw that all the troops came to a halt there. When he realized that everyone who came up to Amasa stopped, he dragged him from the road into a field and threw a garment over him.

Sons of Zeruiah

1. Commited to God and David
2. Not committed to God’s ways
3. Devoted but unjust

David to Solomon (1 Kings 1)

• He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood stained the belt around his waist and the sandals on his feet. Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace.

Sons of Thunder

1. Eager to do God’s work, but not in God’s ways
2. On God’s side, but do not have God’s heart
3. Willing to do harm for the sake of “good”
4. Being Right vs Being Gracious

Healing and Mission

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

In the ministry of Jesus and in the first century church, people experienced God’s healing.

Luke 4:18-21 … “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”

Acts 3:6 — But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

Healing continues in the church. In the name of Jesus, his disciples continue this ministry in his name and with his presence.

• It’s too bad that charlatans kept us from recognizing the importance of the work of healing in Christ’s name (Acts 7 – Simon the Magician)
• “We don’t want people to think we’re faith-healers.” Those faith-healers also preach in suits and ties. Do we stop preaching? If we stopped preaching and teaching because of bad preaching and teaching, that would be sorry. So let’s not stop healing because of a few eccentrics.
• Let’s expand our definition of healing and mission … it’s not just miraculous. Healing wasn’t the only focus of the miracles. It was a sign that the kingdom of heaven – a new reign – was breaking into our world. And that’s still the case today.
• You do not have to be in the medical, science field to participate in God’s work of healing.
• Body and Spirit are both the domain of the kingdom of God
• We do not command God’s power to heal. Even Jesus was limited in his power to heal. But likewise we cannot say that our faith is proportionate to our experience of healing. Once again, that is trying to command God’s power.
• Death has ultimately been conquered. The resurrection is God’s sign that all disease and death will ultimately be undone – that is his will. As Jesus said, we have experienced God’s favor in Him.

I don’t think we’ve truly left healing in the past as some odd artifact of a legendary age. Look at our prayer list. That’s a witness to our hope and faith that God heals. But how wide and how broad is our understanding of God’s healing power – the in-breaking of the kingdom?

All sorts of healing … James 5:13-18

• James is an early word from the Christian community. He seems to assume that there are godly responses to disease and sickness – and even sadness and sin. And he doesn’t chop these up into separate concerns.
• I find it humorous that “medical science” begins to accept that these issues are related. Thank God for physicians and counselors who administer wisdom and learning in combination with God’s principles.
• Christian leaders in ages past (including James) understood how sin, sadness, and sickness, and faith were intertwined and they prescribed treatments for the whole experience of illness and wellness.
• But please note: This can sound a lot like new age medicine or therapy that has no relationship or reliance to God’s Spirit whatsoever. Thos views are not wholly wrong, but they are missing the vital core of healing. James, Jesus, and the witness of Scripture always place God and his Spirit at the center of healing.

Some practical responses for the church …

• Stress, mental illness, depression, addiction – We have got to stop saying that these are not real. They may be difficult to understand and perhaps even debatable, but they are real. Whether we attribute it to an evil spirit, or brain chemistry, or a bad day – it is real. But it is also all within the power of God to manage. Honestly, is God anymore threatened by a demon than he is by serotonin levels?
• We also need to get beyond the unnecessary burden of shame that surrounds issues such as these and addiction. Do we speak the language of shame or the language of healing? “Wait, isn’t this enabling the problem?” Not at all. Was Jesus enabling the Legion of demons that possessed the Gerasene man when he asked their name? In ages past, Christians understood that naming a problem (or a force or a demon) was a way of overcoming it. Just as a diagnosis can be a first step to treatment, naming problems gives us the “handle” on them that we need so that we can place it in God’s care.
• Challenge to the church: Let’s stop being afraid of sickness and sadness. Let’s stop being afraid of the “sinners in our midst” and let us not be afraid to name truth and humbly work within God’s healing power to overcome them.
• Being a community of truth doesn’t simply mean that we hold all the right doctrinal positions. It means that we are authentic and we can speak truthfully to one another. We tell the truth about ourselves and one another and we speak God’s truth. The powers of addiction, depression, stress, and sin are fueled by lies. James is calling the church to speak the truth in song, prayer, and confession.

• We have got to stop despising weakness. Our culture glories in youth, strength, and power.
• This is why health care is such a major concern in our nation. On a big scale, we bought into the modern idea that through our own resources we can create a world in which no one gets sick and no one dies. It is the serpent’s lie that convinces us that we are no good if we are weak. It is the serpent’s lie that convinces us that we are less human if we are weak or sick.
• Let the church be a family in which our value is NOT determined by how healthy we are. I know that we find it hard to share our weaknesses (physical and otherwise) because we are afraid that others will treat us differently. We don’t want to be pitied. And in church we should not be pitied. (Rose prayed for me and my mom).
• Pain and weakness are not a sign of God’s disfavor. Tragedy and suffering is not a sign of God’s abandonment. (John 8) Nor is God always trying to teach us something. Sometimes we tell people who’ve experienced a horrible situation – “What is God trying to teach you.” Maybe God is trying to teach us (the questioners) something. Honestly, how often do we pray for people and want others to be well because we aren’t sure that we can bear their brokenness?
• We rejoice with those who rejoice and we suffer with those who suffer – but all have the same worth for all are created in God’s image. Think of how much healing would take place if we adopted this belief and practiced this belief more.
• We can show dignity and respect the humanity of one another (Mark 10) – Jesus asks the blind man “What do you want me to do for you?”

• Let’s be serious about healing the sickness of sin. Some of us feel illness in our mind, our heart, our bodies because of sin and broken relationships.
• Man goes to doctor and says, “It hurts when I lift my arm like this.” … Stop hurting yourselves.
• Do you need to reconcile with others? There is so much pain in our relationships with one another and the spirit of God can heal it. “But that’s not easy.” No, in fact Scripture says 1) it is hard, and 2) you need to do it.
• Do you need to reconcile with God? Maybe you need to have it out with God. Go ahead. But you will never be healed and whole if you do nothing.

Thomas Aquinas went to visit Pope Innocent IV. Aquinas was amazed at the trappings of wealth, gold and treasures. So the Pope commented to Aquinas, “Well, Thomas, I suppose the church cannot say as Peter did, ‘Silver and Gold have I none.'” Aquinas replied, “True, Your Excellency, but neither can we say, ‘Arise and walk.'”

What’s our message? Can we say “Arise and Walk”? Are we willing to be so bold? Is our faith in our own resources (silver, gold, science, human effort) or in the Spirit of God? Let’s be agents of God’s healing in God’s ways …

O Absalom, Absalom

Posted by Chris on October 11, 2009 under Sermons

2 Samuel 12:11-12

“Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes …”
“… and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

Wise Woman of Tekoa

King David

Layers of Story

• WOMAN of TEKOA
• DAVID and ABSALOM
• GOD and HUMANITY

David’s Option

1. Bring Absalom back to his land and house
2. David will not meet with him – loss of favor
3. Absalom resents this

Absalom’s Rebellion

1. Absalom believes he is just
2. David and his people go into exile
3. Absalom follows shrewd advisors (16:21-23)

Absalom’s Capture (18)

1. David orders Absalom to be spared
2. Joab executes Absalom
3. David mourns – depression
4. David returns to Jerusalem – forgives (19)

Parable of Father and Sons

1. Family or Justice
2. Reconciliation or Destruction
3. The Way of Jesus

Three Layers of the Parable

• Woman and her sons (parable)
• David and Absalom
• God and Us
• The Need for Reconciliation

Revealed to Little Children

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

If we are going to talk about mission, then we need to look at Luke 10.

• Jesus sent his disciples out to preach and proclaim the kingdom of God
• It was risky
• They relied on God’s spirit and maybe help from others

We often compare Jesus to a preacher, but what if he’s more like a youth minister?

• How old are these disciples? Some of them are probably in their teens.
• Some of them leave their parents behind
• Jesus was the traditional age to go into ministry (age 30, so we believe)
• Jesus wasn’t the approved age for a pulpit minister (35-45, married w/kids, 10 years exp.)
• These disciples were considered unlearned, bumpkins, zealots, rough

The Report of the 72 who were sent:

• Evil was sent running, and we didn’t even count on that!
• The defeat of evil is exactly what the mission is all about.
• Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning!”

Jesus’ response to the report

• Jesus rejoices!
• What is it that fills Jesus with joy?
• God has revealed the power of the kingdom to “little children.”
• Not the wise, the learned, the experts, the powerful, the mature, but to little children!

Why little children?

“Star Wars” (1977) – It revolutionized pop culture. After 1977, movies and TV changed. Merchandising became big business. No one saw this coming because Star Wars was considered a “kid’s film.” Even most of the people working on it thought it was a children’s film with robots, shaggy monsters and dark villains.

But the film was popular with more than just children and it has remained popular for over 30 years. Why? Maybe because this film touched on our very basic hopes to see evil defeated and good triumph. Something that we understand as kids.

What was it like before 1977? It was the same. We still believed in good and evil and heroic deeds, adventures to save the princess, the power of evil. It’s just that Lucasfilm figured out a great way to package that and market it.

How did the church lose its child-like imagination? How did we lose our basic belief and hope in the struggle between good and evil and the faith that good always wins?

• Maybe we’ve been too jaded by a cynical world
• Maybe we got involved in so many busy activities
• So many programs and preparations

We need to recover the imagination. We need to have the same imagination and child-like faith that sees simple acts and adventures of mission that knock Satan off his feet. We need to view the world again as a field where good and evil struggle. We need to rejoice that our names are written in heaven – not because God’s keeping score or because we want Jesus to save us a seat, but because God knows that he has some agents down here that he can call on when there’s a mission.

But we’ve all gotten tired and bored! We have become so busy! And it has made us bitter and proud!

Mary and Martha (Luke 10)

• Mary is captivated, but Martha is busy.
• At least Martha is inviting Jesus to hospitality. If it were left up to Mary it would never had been done!
• Jesus explains to Martha that she only needs one thing. Why doesn’t he tell her what the one thing is? Because if he did then she would work on it the same way she was working at hospitality. She would wear herself out, upset everyone else and get upset with everyone else. Even with the one thing, she would get bitter and burdened with responsibility.

1. Let’s believe again that the world really can change – otherwise, why do we have a mission?
2. Let’s believe again that demons and evil can be sent running and that Satan (the dark villain) has fallen from the sky like lightning.
3. Let’s believe again that good wins out and let’s pledge to be on the winning side.

Reflections for Blue Jeans Sunday

Posted by Chris on September 27, 2009 under Sermons

Reflection #1: University Church of Christ circa 1991.

There was a similar event every year at University Church of Christ in Abilene. At that event we just collected blue jeans. I recall as a young man how our preacher, Eddie Sharp, would come dressed in blue jeans and take his place at the austere pulpit in University’s old cathedral like worship center. It seemed wonderfully out of place. Here was this man in work clothes invading the holy arena of the pulpit.

But the impression was a positive one. It formed in me the notion that who I was on Monday-Saturday had to do with who I was on Sunday. It brought my worship life and my work life together. It made me realize that before God there was no casual side and formal side. It let me know that Sunday morning was not an isolated, restricted compartment to my life. I was shaped by that experience and I began to think of faith as something that had to do with action and service.

Reflection #2: How This Started.

Blue Jeans Sunday isn’t my idea. Not really. It isn’t anyone’s idea. It is a spirit. It is an emerging reality. Dare we say that God’s Spirit might have something to do with it? Let’s see, but if the events of today and the spirit that follows is anything like the growth leading up to this, then we all ought to be thrilled.

To start with, there was some discussion about how the Hope Chest needed donations of Blue Jeans before school started. A vague recollection of University collecting jeans made Karen and me think about that event and talking about it created some interest.

We put the event off (it was going to be “Jeans in July”). The Hope Chest board starting thinking about it, and they began to see the possibility of not just collecting jeans, but welcoming people to help stock them. And then the possibility of other work projects came to mind. Then someone suggested wearing blue jeans so we could work. And then it was suggested that the elders definitely should wear Blue Jeans. And this wonderful energy and creativity began to swell up. The sort of energy you encounter when people get interested in what God can do. And now the event really isn’t over. It will keep going beyond this day.

Reflection on Preaching

The jeans I am wearing today are the jeans I wore everyday at the worksite during our mission to Mexico. The joke on that trip was that I wasn’t “the preacher” that week. I was just a rebar-cutting, nail-pulling, wood-hauling worker. After all, what kind of preacher wears dirty jeans and a sweaty T-shirt? If I might differ, I humbly suggest that I did preach that week. Maybe I didn’t use words, but the actions preached and they served God’s purposes. Our work is also the kingdom of God.

There are so many of you here who are talented in so many types of works. I hope you regard your skills and service as valuable to the kingdom. Don’t bury those talents. Don’t disregard them. And certainly don’t be lazy in the kingdom of God – the mission is too important.

Reflection #4: Created to Do Good Works

What were you baptized for? Salvation, right? But what does it means to be saved? You were saved to do good works. Your baptism was your ordination to do good works. Work out your salvation. That doesn’t mean work for it. It means put it into action.

As you go along. Today we are aware of our mission and next month we will start praying for our mission works. The great commission of Jesus isn’t really “Go Ye.” That’s a bad translation. A better translation is “As you go on your way, make disciples.” We’ve focused on the GO part to the neglect of making disciples. And that has caused us to neglect being disciples. So missionaries and evangelists are the only ones who go. But that’s not what it means to follow Jesus. Being a disciple means baptizing and teaching as you go on your way.

As you go on your way today, you are going out to participate in good works. Those good works are works that glorify God, so that means that they worship him. As you go out today on your way you are going out there to find Jesus and join in with what he’s doing.

I want you to realize that when you are cutting branches over here, that you are worshipping God. Every sentence you write with a pen [on a greeting card] is worship to God. Every step of the walk [on campus] and every breath of prayer are worshipping God. Every box you move, every shelf you stack, every tire you wash worships God if you offer that as a joyous sacrifice to him and surrender it to his purposes. How is it worship? I’m glad you asked …

Reflection #5: Worship is Moving

Worship is active. It is a verb. One of the oldest definitions of worship is “the work of the people.” We can get so focused on worship being about us and serving our members. We can make our preferences the measuring stick of worship. We can come to the assembly and sit and wait for something we can get out of it.

I love the song that I learned on a mission trip to the Caribbean so many years ago. They sing, “You’ve got to move, you got to move – when my Lord he gets ready, you got to move!” And then they add in verbs … “You’ve got to preach.” “You’ve got to pray,” etc.

In most places in the world and throughout history, worship is much more active than we often regard it. The people don’t just sit. They gather. They bring the bread and wine. They serve it. They wait on tables. They talk to one another. They stand and sing. It’s not about being entertained; it’s about the work of God’s Spirit motivating people to do right.

We talk about a living God. Paul said that “In God we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28.) He was trying to translate the living reality of God to a bunch of philosophers in Athens who thought that God was far away. He was quoting their own philosophers. Intellectually, Paul was dressing up in such a way that he could relate to the world around him.

God is active and our world needs to see that. Now I ask you, how can we sit around idly and lazily in the presence of such a God? We ought to at least jump off our pew and bow down, yes?

Growth Through Conflict

Posted by Chris on September 20, 2009 under Sermons

Read Acts 6.

The first church conflict …

The Work of the 12

1. Ministry of the Word (Apostles Teaching)
2. Ministry of Prayer
3. Ministry of Tables – (Service is a form of worship)

Faced With Problems – Why do they have problems? Why the conflict?

1. Growth – The community is growing larger and the challenges of sustaining are getting tougher. Growth causes the groups to grow anxious.
2. Culture Clash – Add to this anxiety the problem of cultural differences. All of these believers are Jews, but they have grown up over the generations in different cultures. The Hellenists are influenced by Greek culture, the Hebraic Jews have grown up in their homeland and preserved the old paths. Hellenistic/Greek believers would have grown up with a different language and a different outlook. They would have been accepting of cultural differences that the Hebraic believers would not. The Hebraic Jews probably looked down on the Hellenistic Jews because they believed that they were compromisers. The Hellenistic Jews probably considered the Hebraic Jews as backwards and odd.
3. Need for Resources
   1. Why are the Hellenistic widows being overlooked? Maybe the Hellenistic believers aren’t giving like they should. If there was an abundance, then no one would be overlooked. This isn’t a managerial, administration issue. The problem isn’t in the delivery. It may be on the collection side. Leaders among the Greeks are needed to inspire sharing.

Arriving at a Solution

1. Sharing Leadership – The 12 are not anxious leaders. They know that the church belongs to God and that Christ is completely in charge. So, the Holy Spirit appoints leaders (they’ve already tested that in Chap 1)
2. Empowering Service – They are able to share their leadership. Moses shared leadership with judges. The kings of Israel were appointed by God’s spirit. Prophets were empowered to speak according to God’s spirit. Why do we assume its any different with the church?
3. Giving Authority
   1. The 12 trust the 7. They share authority with them
   2. All authority in the church is in Christ. All authority is shared authority. This is God’s church.
   3. Authority is not a choke chain that reels the 7 in when they make a mistake. They are not holding a paycheck or excommunication over the head of these men.

Criteria for Leaders – So who do you give authority to?

1. Holy Spirit
2. Wisdom

The criteria are not men who have experience in food service. They do not need to be men who have been successful in their business and careers. They need to be people who are caught up in the spirit of God that has been the mark of leaders in the last 5 chapters. The fruit of the spirit will be obvious in their lives.

Also, they need wisdom – wisdom is a quality that has to do with doing the right thing. It is discernment. It’s different than simply keeping rules, holding to tradition (the way its always been done), or following policy (sheepwalking).

• It means understanding what’s really going. Wisdom = leading people to be more like Christ and do the right thing.

• Jesus had wisdom from God. He did the appropriate thing and the right thing. It didn’t always meet expectations of the hierarchy, the leaders of Israel or the religious elite, or the traditional. But it was rooted in God’s ancient wisdom.

Leadership …
There are not slots and stations in the church (i.e. a corporation or the military) One can move up when a slot comes open. These are organizations that focus on rank and function. The job is more important than the mission. One fills a slot (featherbedding). Different sorts of leaders are needed depending on the mission and the church is allowed the creativity to shape leadership to a certain degree to accomplish the mission. No, you do not need a pulpit minister to accomplish the mission. But as long as you do have one, then the goal must be to accomplish God’s mission. Not just to fulfill a set of tasks. There is a ministry of the word and a ministry of prayer and a ministry of service. Who does it and in what capacity is an open matter.

Outcome

1. Unity — Unity is not simply making people happy. It is moving them through anxiety to God’s peace. Unity can be hard work. It doesn’t mean everyone agrees about every detail, but it does mean that there is respect rooted in the holiness of God. It doesn’t mean that there are never problems or conflicts, but it does mean that we believe in proposals that can benefit everyone and bring glory to God. (Rather than the “my way or I’m hitting the highway” attitude – they are not church customers. They are unified)

2. More Growth – Notice that more people are being added to the church. That’s God’s work. When God sees a body of believers who can empower leaders who are wise and full of the holy spirit, when God recognizes a group that cares for one another and can work out problems, then he trusts them with “his kids.”
   1. Who do we trust with our kids?
   2. Who do we trust with our pets?
3. More Leadership – The 7 are committed to the ministry of the table and they end up doing word and prayer. I think the 12 also served on tables, too.

4. More Service – More leadership means more service (John 13) – the leader serves. If you serve, then you are a leader. You are teaching others.

The Seeds of Rebellion

Posted by Chris on September 13, 2009 under Sermons

2 Samuel 12:11-12

“Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes . . .
“. . . and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.”

David, Wives, and Children

Ahinoam was the mother of Amnon.
Maacah, the daughter of the king of Geshur, was the mother of Absalom and Tamar.

Amnon

• David’s eldest – heir to throne
• Desires Tamar
• Leviticus 18:9, 11

  Jonadab …

  Encourages Amnon to satisfy his desires
  David had done so
  Invents a scheme, gains David’s permission

• Amnon hates her then casts her out

Tamar

• Victim of Amnon’s lust
• Her future is stolen from her
• She goes public with the crime – mourning, shame

David’s Response

• Anger – but no justice
• “but he [David] would not punish his son Amnon, because he loved him, for he was his first-born.”
• Heir to throne
• Amnon did what David did

Absalom

• Cares for Tamar
• Plots revenge on Amnon for two years
• Kills Amnon and flees to Geshur

Joab’s Plot

• Spy approaches king
• Convinces David to be merciful
• Absalom returns, waits to see king
• Demands justice again

Unworthy Heirs

• Eli’s sons
• Samuel’s sons
• Saul’s family
• David’s family

A New Testament Church

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

We say that we want to be a New Testament church. What does that mean?

1. We might answer that it means being the church described in the New Testament. Of course there are a lot of churches described in the New Testament and they are very different, but we might mean that a New Testament church embodies what they have in common.
2. We might answer that it means sharing the same doctrine and belief as the New Testament church. We can focus on their practices in particular and we have to be careful that we don’t cherry pick a few items and put together our own idea of what church should be, but it is possible to read through the New Testament and read about some of the ways the church lived and worshipped.
3. But how often do we think about having the same spirit as the church in the New Testament? How often do we read about the enthusiasm, the joy, the awe of the churches that followed Christ and the changed behavior that resulted and we answer, “That’s what we ought to be like.” It’s a very clean process to highlight the sort of things we ought to “do” to be like the New Testament church. We are Americans and we like to focus on “doing.” But it’s very different to focus on “being” and thus having that same Spirit. That’s not as easy to control, is it?

It isn’t easy to control, and the path to having that same Spirit comes in surrendering control to the Almighty God and the Lord Christ who empower that Holy Spirit within us. It means living with the impact of what God has done in Christ. A fact that changes everything – a reality that continues to work in our world. If we are really and truly going to be a New Testament church then here are a few items we need to consider . . .

1. Living like Resurrection People
   • The presence of the church is the surest evidence of the resurrection. A people whose lives and life together is so unique that it can only be explained by the truthfulness and significance of the resurrection.
   • ³²All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. ³³With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. ³⁴There were no needy persons among them.
   • Maybe the world doubts or ignores the resurrection not because we have failed to preach it, explain it, or make convincing arguments – but maybe because we haven’t always behaved like resurrection people.
   • Imagine a group of believers today who are sold out to the revelation that Christ is risen from the dead and continues to work within his people and in this world. Would that alter our values? Would it change the way we treat one another? As we imagine this, let’s remember that this is who we are called to be.
2. Overcoming Materialism
   • ³⁶Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
   • What is materialism? It’s faith in stuff. It is trust in our possessions to give us security. In ancient times, people hoarded their food, fought over land, locked up treasures. We are more sophisticated in our times and in our nation, but we are still so very concerned about security. We want to secure our lives, secure our future, secure our survival.
   • If we are filled with the spirit of Jesus, then we take seriously his teaching about treasure. Where is our treasure? That’s where our heart will be.
   • It is interesting that Luke describes the New Testament church as a community that shares everything. They have a different sort of economy that involves security in God’s power and sharing of all things. Letting go of things that are not eternal.
   • Resurrection people are not troubled by reports of a sour economy. Neither do we put our faith and security in bull markets or political policies. Our economy is very different. We overcome materialism and worry about security because our treasure is in heaven. Our future is secure.
   • If we think that we need to get away from all this talk about money in worship and focus on more spiritual things, please understand that the New Testament church seemed to regard economic issues as very spiritual. They seemed to regard it as a matter of life and death.
3. Giving in to the Awe of God
   • The people were in awe of what God was doing among them. Outsiders were in awe because of the great grace and wonders within this community – the kind of wonders represented by sharing everything.
   • Ananais and Saphira want to be a part of this awe, wonder, and sharing. But they also want to secure their own security. So, they work out a plan to pay their dues to the community but also secretly stash away a part of it just in case. Where’s their treasure? Where’s their heart? Do they want to share with the rest of the church, or do they want what the church can share with them?
   • The church does share something with Ananias and Saphira. They share a respectful burial service. The wild, untamed power of God and the fear of the Holy Spirit seems to contradict our expectations.
   • Joy and gladness vs awe, fear, reverence – both of these can exist in a community that lives with much grace.

Sum up a description of the New Testament church (identifying marks of the church):

• a church in which no one suffers from need,
• a church that shares everything they have,
• a church that is one in heart and mind,
• a church that lives with much grace upon everyone,
• a church that testifies to the resurrection of Jesus with power

When Kings Go Off To War

Posted by Chris on September 6, 2009 under Sermons

Where is David?

• David sent Joab to fight Ammon
• David remains in Jerusalem
• Joab sieges Rabbah

Bathsheba

• David sends for Bathsheba
• David uses her
• She sends word to David …

Uriah the Hittite

• David sends for Uriah
• Allows Uriah furlough
• Gets Uriah drunk
• Fails at cover-up

Joab

• David sends message with Uriah
• Advance siege, then pull back
• Uriah and others killed
• Joab sends report

Nathan

• God sends Nathan
• Justice parable: Rich man, Poor man
• God removes sin
• Consequences

David Repents

• David repents (Psalm 51)
• Shame among nations
• Death of child
• New child – Solomon

Rabbah

• Joab takes the city water supply
• David enters the battle (at Joab’s hint)
• Ammonites defeated

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Evening Sermon, 6 September 2009

A related sermon from the same text:

Text: II Samuel 11-12
Theme: Confession of guilt leads to forgiveness; covering sin does not.
Subject: Condemnation and Forgiveness

David was a man after God’s own heart, but for a time he had a heart problem.
It began with David finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. It doesn’t seem like a very dangerous place. He’s home, but the problem is that he should be doing what kings do after the winter – going to war. David should be protecting and defending. But instead, he’s left the leadership of the army in the hands of General Joab – not a bad choice. Joab is a loyal and accomplished warrior.
But going back to David’s heart problem – it begins one evening in Jerusalem. David had had a lazy day in bed. He got up and was out walking on the roof of the palace. He was looking over his kingdom, his royal city. That’s when he took notice of one of his royal subjects. She was a beautiful woman. She was taking a bath this evening. Perhaps it was his boredom on such a lazy day, perhaps it was just curiosity – but his glance became a look and the look became a gaze and the gaze became desire. When David got interested in this beautiful woman and wanted to know how he could have her that’s when the sending began.

First, he sent someone to find out about her. “Isn’t this Bathsheba – Eliam’s daughter; Uriah’s wife?” [That’s the way a good servant tells the king “She’s not available. She’s not an object for your pleasure. She’s someone’s daughter. She is another man’s wife. A man who is off at war fighting for you.”]
Still, David sends someone to get Bathsheba. He sends. They get. She arrives. He sleeps with her. She goes back home. It’s done. But there’s more sending …

Now Uriah’s wife sends a message to David – “I’m pregnant.” David is not the last person to have his world turned over by this message. He is not the first to try and undo the consequences of this message either. And now his heart problem grows worse. And now there’s more sending …

David sends word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite!” And Joab sends him. David puts on a smile and tries to show interest in Uriah and the war effort: “How’s the war going? How ?bout that Joab? He’s a fine general, eh? How ?bout your fellow soldiers? How’s morale?” Then David cuts to the chase – the real reason he’s interested in Uriah – to cover his mistake. “Say Uriah, I think you’ve earned a little R & R, why don’t you go on down to your house and -um-well, just enjoy a night at home with your wife – what’s her name – oh right, Bathsheba.” And David sends him off with a gift like they were old pals.
But the plan to give Uriah credit for the pregnancy hits a snag. It seems that Uriah has a problem. He has virtue. He has principles. And so he refuses to go home, but instead spends the night at the palace barracks. David sends for Uriah again and asks him “Why didn’t you go home? This is furlough – you are supposed to see your wife!” Uriah’s answer is a question – “The ark of the Lord, the men of Israel and Judah, Joab and his men are on the frontline sleeping in shifts in tents. How could I go home and sleep with my wife? How could I?“ How could he David? How could you David?
What’s a king to do when a Hittite, a Gentile, shows more covenant righteousness than the king of Israel? What do you do with a man of principle? Instead of being moved by his example, David’s heart problem grows worse and he decides to get Uriah drunk. That’ll get him home for sure. But even though Uriah gets drunk – his integrity remains. He will not go home. That means David needs to do more sending – and this is the worst yet.

David sends orders with Uriah to Joab. The orders say, “Send Uriah to the front line, then pull back, leave him undefended – I want him dead.” And so Joab once again does David’s sending. [He and his men have the city of the Ammonites surrounded. The army besieging doesn’t have to attack – they just have to outlast those inside the city wall. One of the most foolish moves they can make is to rush the wall. Anyone on the wall can take out the men below – especially the archers. So guess what Uriah’s orders are?] Uriah is killed and some others in David’s army too. Even though their deaths did not achieve victory in war, it preserved the honor of the king – unfortunately, their families back home can never know.
Now Joab sends word back to David: a full account of the military failure. The messenger arrives and goes over the report. Only one part matters to David – “Uriah is dead.” That will cause him to forget about the casualties.
Now David sends word back to Joab – “Don’t see this as evil. People die in war. Press the attack and destroy the city.” And so it is done. Uriah is gone. There is a funeral – the wife of Uriah mourns. There is a wedding – the wife of Uriah marries David. There is a birth announcement – the wife of Uriah gives David a child. It’s done.

But now the Lord sends. Perhaps David and Joab could be convinced not to see this as evil. But not the Lord. Perhaps David could ignore his heart problem. But not the Lord. The Lord sends Nathan to confront the king. Nathan must try and recover David’s heart for God. Nathan is wise not to accuse David boldly. 1) David killed Uriah, why wouldn’t he kill Nathan? Nathan’s parable: A rich man who takes a poor man’s only sheep. Does this parable hit home for David the shepherd? David the king still knew the life of the shepherd. This story stirs something in him – perhaps the qualities God saw in David’s heart that lead God to anoint David. As Nathan tells the parable, David is burning with anger. David is furious at the rich man who acts in destructive ways with no regard to the innocent.

Can we sense David’s anger? The outrage we feel when we hear stories of injustice. The anger we feel when people harm other people, when they do things that are destructive without pity and remorse. The disgust we feel when people disregard the blessings they have and act selfishly and greedy. Can we sense that?

David passes judgment, not Nathan. “The man who did this deserves to die! He had no pity! By God, he’ll pay!” When Nathan says “You are the man” David’s heart flat lines. His diseased heart so burdened with his own self-righteousness has an attack. David is confronted with his condemnation and the consequences. While David is having his spiritual heart attack, his past and future pass before him in Nathan’s words …

1. David has done what a king should not do. He has acted against the whole moral tradition of his people. Israel wanted a king to rid their land of such corruption. They wanted a king to give them security and protect them from their foes. David has fallen down on all these.
2. God has blessed David. David didn’t need Uriah’s wife. God provided for David richly. God is not a killjoy who doesn’t want David to have pleasure – David was ungrateful. He did not want what God gave him. He was only interested in what he could obtain for himself.
3. The future: David and his nation will forever be scarred by this. Since David abused the power of the sword, so he will be cursed by the sword all his years. Since he abused the commandments concerning neighbors and the sanctity of marriage, David will find it violated in his family. These are the consequences of his own condemnation.

How should David handle his guilt? How do we handle our guilt? Should he deal with this matter privately? Isn’t it enough to confess to Nathan and then move on? Should David deal with this publicly? Won’t it jeopardize the nation? David could dismiss Nathan. He could offer an explanation. The little parable is just that – a story. Real life is not so simple.

David has more options than just confessing his guilt. He could eliminate Nathan or dismiss him. But David’s heart is shocked back to God. So … 1) He is convicted. He admits his situation and sees the evil he has done. That takes courage – the courage to overcome self-deceit. 2) He repents. He throws himself on God’s mercy. He gives up his impulse to be in charge and in control. He submits to the moral covenant of God. He renounces his claim to be a self-contained moral standard. David feels death. He has sentenced himself to death. All he can say is “I have sinned against the Lord.” And that’s when his heart starts beating again. Nathan affirms to David that he will not die and that the Lord has removed his sin – he will be scarred, but he will live. The condemnation is done, the life of a forgiven man begins.

Conclusion and Application:

1. Confession of guilt leads to forgiveness; concealing sin does not. The sin in this story is not simply lust. It is the warped notion that we are morally independent. David thought he was independent of any moral standard and he arrogantly assumed that he was in control. David made himself the beginning and end of his righteousness.
   • So, he tried to conceal his guilt – to erase it and undo it. The most tragic sinners are not those who are aware of their guilt, but those who are not. Those who make their own perspective the standard. They cannot see the evil they do – and what they do, they justify it.
   • This is why Paul was the chief of sinners. He justified what he did in the name of God. This was what Jesus charged the Pharisees with. And it’s the same problem some of us have!
   • How would you feel if someone said, “You’re the one”? It’s one thing to be accused. It’s something else entirely when the accusation sticks. When we recognize in the accusation the sting of truth. We can defend or ignore an accusation that is false – but when the accusation “You are the one” convicts us, then we feel all our control and condemnation unravel.
   • David admits and turns to his only source of help. By feeling it he can finally be helped by God and not be deceived further by his own sinful efforts. After this event, David composed Psalm 51 – a confession of sin that appeals to God for a clean heart and new spirit. And it also contains a promise that he will proclaim to others God’s goodness. Let David’s confession lead us through our condemnation to …
2. See Your Guilt Through God’s Eyes – In 11:25-27, David tells Joab not to see what they’ve done as evil. That’s how David wanted to see things. But God’s eye’s are clearer – not only to see what’s evil, but how the evil might be overcome – to see a resolution to the guilt.
   • David’s eyes saw his ability to control and manage problems – and his response to the problems was flawed. God sees not only the breaking of covenant, but he sees a way to the restoring of covenant.
   • What do we see in this story? Do we see someone else? Or do we see ourselves? If we see someone else, then the simple phrase – “You are the one” ought to give us cause to feel – it ought to shock us back to life and open our eyes.
   • If you feel your heart shocked back to life and are courageous enough to confront the sin you’ve been hiding – then don’t trouble yourself any longer. Let go of the burden of finding words and ways to explain and cover what you did. Why do that when it is better to simply say “I have sinned” That’s risky, but Nathan could not say “You will live” until David said “I have sinned.”