Crossing Boundaries

Posted by Chris on August 19, 2007 under Sermons

[Read Acts 10-11.]

Acts 10 is a tale of two cities. More so its an account of two men, Cornelius and Peter, who were divided not only by distance but culture. Under any other circumstances, the paths of these two would not have crossed in any significant way. But God is active in crossing the boundaries and barriers that kept them apart …

Caesarea – Cornelius is military. He’s been deployed to Palestine. He has status and rank. He is among the auxiliary troops that provided stability in Palestine. Cornelius is far from home. He’s from Italy. He is a stranger in a strange land. He stands out. He’s clean shaven with cropped hair. He dresses different. He eats different food. But he is also a religious man. It’s not just show. He is devout and godly – (maybe even godlier than some of the chosen ones in this land.) He respects God. He leads his household in honoring God. He keeps a routine of prayer. He gives money to the poor. But even though he’s a godly man he’s still an outsider in Palestine.

And then one day during his regular routine of prayer, God responds to the prayers of a Gentile … an un-baptized, uncircumcised, unclean Gentile.

Joppa – If anyone is an insider, it’s Peter. He is one of the leaders in Jerusalem. He is one of the Twelve. He is one of the “three” with James and John who accompanied Jesus to the mountain of transfiguration. The apostle Peter is hungry. He’s resting on the roof of Simon the Tanner’s house waiting for supper and he falls into a trance. God knows Peter is hungry, so he spreads a picnic blanket for Peter and decides to serve up some barbeque. The catch is Peter has to catch it and kill it. But more than that. There’s game being served up that is clearly un-Scriptural. Pork, shrimp, crab may taste good grilled with sauce – but it’s a Jewish no-no. And even though God is being quite gracious with the picnic, Peter stands on tradition. Peter protests noting that he’s never even soiled his lips with the taste of unbiblical food. It’s unclean and Peter refuses to eat this gentile food! In fact Peter refuses it three times – (he’s good at triple denial.) But before God leaves with the picnic blanket and the wild game he leaves Peter with a lesson: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.”

Just then three Gentiles show up at the door. If Peter thought his vision might have been a fainting spell, the Spirit makes it clear that Peter should welcome these Gentiles and go where they want him to go. So Peter offers hospitality to these strangers — these Gentiles.

Meanwhile back in Caesarea, Cornelius has gathered his family, his relatives, his business associates. Really the sort of people you wouldn’t find in the typical Jerusalem synagogue. There must have been an odd sort of tension when Peter, the Hebrew religious leader, entered the house of Cornelius, the unclean foreigner. This bunch is so odd, they don’t do things the right way. Poor Cornelius doesn’t know whether to shake Peter’s hand or bow down and worship him. And Peter feels sort of awkward when Cornelius does bow down. Jew and Gentile and the first meeting couldn’t have been any more awkward.
But Peter decides to break the tension. After all, he learned a lesson from God just the other day: “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” And so Peter breaks the tension … Read 10:28-29.

It was starting to become clear that God had set up a blind date of sorts. He told Cornelius to send for Peter, but wouldn’t tell him what Peter knows. He told Peter to go Cornelius’ house, but wouldn’t tell him why. There’s God setting it all up so that these people from different nations have to depend on each other. Even Peter the insider has to ask questions to get the full story. When Cornelius tells Peter that he has been acting on behalf of God, Peter gets more insight into what God is doing … Read 10:34-43.

Before Peter can finish his gospel sermon, God breaks in. The Holy Spirit moves among these Gentiles in the same way it did in Jerusalem. Yes, even in this house of unclean, uncircumcised, Gentiles the Holy Spirit showers approval. And no one is more surprised than Peter and company. They just stand there bewildered and ask “So what do you think – should we baptize them?” They do. And then they really break with custom and tradition by staying a few nights as the guests of Cornelius.

This is good news, but it’s also offensive. Things don’t seem to happen in the proper order. Things don’t happen with decorum and decency. Social and religious customs are just tossed out the window. There’s no concern for purity. There’s no concern for the ways of the past. I am sure there were a lot of really good reasons that God’s people typically didn’t socialize or associate with the unclean people from other nations. After all, how can you teach people the laws if you abandon them yourself?

Well, Peter faces this line of questioning when he gets home. Everyone has heard the news that the Gentiles have received the gospel. But Peter hasn’t been back in Jerusalem for any time at all when some of the concerned brethren approach him. They’re upset. “Peter!” they say, “You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!”
So what’s Peter going to say? It’s true. He did that. And that’s a no-no. It’s just not done. So Peter tells them the story from the beginning … Read 11:5-17.

Who are any of us to stand in God’s way? The good news of this story is that God is offering eternal life to people who aren’t just like us. That’s good news, but it’s also sort of offensive. Rick Atchley tells the story of a woman who was looking at photos of African Christians on a church bulletin board. They were photos sent by missionaries. The woman spoke to the folks around her and said, “I really wish they wouldn’t baptize so many of those dark-skinned people. I don’t like the thought of all them in heaven.” When this woman heard that heaven was a gated community she got the wrong idea. And that’s what God did in the first century and what he still does today. He really doesn’t have much respect for the boundaries and distinctions that we consider so important. As Peter said, “God doesn’t show favoritism.” No, he doesn’t. God is more concerned that a person respects him and does what is right. And God isn’t offended by that person’s family, or race, or financial status, or even what that person may have done in his/her past. In the future that God has in mind, there will be peace and he will not only save our souls, he will save our relationships with one another.

The good news of this story is that God is out there offering eternal life before we even decide to act. That’s good news, but it’s also sort of offensive. It’s offensive because God doesn’t ask us for permission. This is humbling – and it ought to be humbling because if the apostle Peter had to catch up to God’s activity, who are we to think we are in the position to bring anything to anyone? [Story about missionary to San Francisco]

The good news of this story is that God is saving and redeeming people that we might not think about. That’s good news, but it’s also sort of offensive. We might be like the believers in Jerusalem and get concerned about other things. But there’s more good news for us if we’re willing to hear it. The good news is that God is also at work saving and redeeming us, just as he did with Peter. He taught Peter not to call unclean anything that God makes clean. And the concerned believers in Jerusalem, when they heard Peter’s story accepted it too. They didn’t consider Cornelius and his clan to be “the Gentile members.” They accepted them as brothers and sisters. They stopped objecting and started praising God.

Who’s converted in this story? It’s not just Cornelius and his kin. Peter is also converted. The believers in Jerusalem are also converted. Because Christ is Lord over all people he is reconciling us to himself and to one another.

When God’s power is at work among us, we may be surprised at what God will do. It may even make us concerned at times, but who are we to stand in God’s way. If we can accept what God is doing then we may find we are out of objections and we will simply praise God.

Sharing Jesus (Part 1)

Posted by David on August 16, 2007 under Sermons

I want us to prayerfully begin with a reading. Take a Bible and read with me John 1:1-5.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John began writing his gospel (the word means "good news") by introducing Jesus. While each of the gospels were written to a specific readership for specific objectives, they all also shared a common goal. Each of them wanted to introduced their original readers to the man Jesus and affirm God the Father worked through him to achieve God’s long-standing purposes. Each gospel identified Jesus as the focal point of God’s work. Simply stated, one cannot understand God’s work unless he/she understands Jesus.

John’s introduction is profound! If you have been a part of the church of Christ for a few years, you likely have heard at least one part of the introduction discussed in a class or a sermon. In a brief declaration, John affirmed Jesus’ origin, Jesus’ role in creation in Jesus’ pre-human existence, Jesus as the source of life, and Jesus as the light. I would like you to focus on Jesus as the source of life and light.

1. When I was a teen (many years ago), my understanding of what I heard was this: Sharing the gospel is a simple matter.
   1. The process of this sharing was quite simple.
      
      1. Any caring person would quickly see the genuineness of your message.
         
      2. All you needed to do was present their need and their responsibility.
         
      3. As soon as the one receiving your message understood his/her need and responsibility, they would respond.
         
      4. The core of the concept seemed to be this: factual information presented, plus the presentation of need, resulted in a response (that is quite simple).
         
         1. Thus, knowledge of the facts resulted in a response to the facts.
            
         2. Spiritual growth and development was assumed.
            
         3. Devotion to the church was assumed.
            
         4. A change in lifestyle was assumed.
            
         5. It was assumed that if a person was converted, he/she would become "just like you."
   2. Those were simple, convenient assumptions in that situation.
      
      1. We pretty much lived in isolation.
         
      2. There were only white, lower middle-class people in the county.
         
         1. While there were some distinctly poor people there, such people were the minority.
            
         2. Almost everyone was similar–struggling to improve their lifestyle but not at all regarding themselves as deprived.
      3. There was a total absence of colors, cultures, or languages–only English was spoken, people were white, and only the local culture existed.
         
      4. The assumption among the younger people (teens) was that even if colors and languages existed, everyone would be the same–just look different or sound different.
         
      5. Of the thirteen congregations of the church of Christ in the county at that time, twelve were rural.
         
         1. Only one congregation existed "in town."
            
         2. It had the only full time preacher in the area.
   3. One of the naive convictions of people who live in isolation is that they are equipped with an uncanny insight that gives them all the answers–and the answers are simple.
      
      1. Life was simple so problems, by declaration, were simple.
         
      2. Needs were simple so solutions were simple.
         
      3. Problems primarily existed because people complicated life by ignoring the simple.
         
      4. As a result, there was a genuine willingness to help "those who are trying" and a deep confusion when those with complex problems were occasionally encountered.
2. How the situation has changed most everywhere in the last 50 years!
   1. Whereas "culture" was not even a word I heard in my teen years, it is often a common vocabulary word of almost everyone.
      
      1. Differences in color often mean differences in outlooks, traditions, values, concerns, and priorities.
         
      2. Differences in languages also often reflect differences in outlooks, traditions, values, concerns, and priorities.
         
      3. In our city there is a Buddhist temple, several Moslem mosques, and a group of Jewish worshippers with deep roots in this community.
         
      4. Recently, I was in our mall in the early evening, and I could have been in any cosmopolitan city of the U.S.A. as I listened to diverse languages–English definitely was not predominant!
         
      5. In our physical church facilities:
         
         1. A congregation of Laotians meet weekly with a Laotian minister maintaining an office in the physical complex.
            
         2. We are building a Hispanic building as we and our Hispanic brethren move toward an independent Hispanic work in our city.
            
         3. In the original congregation, we have African-American members, Laotian members, Hispanic members, and Native American members, as well as Caucasian members–all of whom rarely miss meeting as a congregation on Sunday morning.
            
         4. Any person who thinks we are all alike with our different cultural backgrounds simply because we all speak English is either unobservant or pretending.
3. The challenges in sharing Jesus are enormous!
   1. Recently, I began (again) reading What Every Church Member Should Know About Poverty by Ruby K. Payne and Bill Ehlig.
      
      1. What they share is enlightening and frightening at the same time.
         
      2. They discuss and illustrate the hidden languages and hidden rules of the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy–and these languages and rules are silent!
         
      3. The different ways that people in different socio-economic groups think regarding "every day" matters is astounding.
         
         1. The different groups do not approach living and life’s needs in the same way.
            
         2. They do not value the same things.
            
         3. They do not learn in the same way (different groups approach their perception of needs in totally different ways)–cause, plus effect, and drawing a conclusion or conclusions, is meaningless to some groups.
      4. Some groups do not approach life with "a plan."
         
         1. If you do not learn how to plan, you cannot predict.
            
         2. If you cannot predict, you do not identify cause and effect.
            
         3. If you cannot identify cause and effect, you cannot identify consequence.
            
         4. If you do not identify cause and effect:
            
            1. You do not end impulsive acts.
               
            2. If you encourage impulsiveness, the end result is often criminal behavior.
   2. To conclude that just putting out facts that concern us will evangelize people is thinking that misses the reality of our situation in our country as well as the world.
      
      1. Why should your view of life and death be my view of life and death?
         
      2. What do the concepts that concern you mean to me?
         
      3. Why should I trust your facts?
         
      4. Why should my daily life change?
         
      5. Why should I concern myself with the future?
         
      6. Why should I concern myself with what happens after death?
         
      7. Why should the thoughts that concern you concern me?
         
      8. Why should the values that concern you concern me?
   3. Here is  one example of failure (as a congregation) to understand that different groups learn and perceive on a different basis:
      
      1. Congregations assume that if a person understands enough to be baptized (which in most cases is very little), the person knows enough to understand what it means to be a Christian.
         
      2. Then the same congregations often are in constant struggle and turmoil as baptized-but-unconverted people constantly champion values that are decidedly unbiblical and unchristian as people reflect little or no interest in being Jesus’ disciples.
         
      3. Such congregations are commonly consumed with internal struggles to the extent that they become virtually paralyzed.
4. We as Christians, individually and congregationally, desperately need a more biblical view of evangelism and conversion.
   1. There is an enormous difference in being convinced of some "facts" and wanting to be Jesus’ disciple.
      
      1. Consider a contrast.
         
         1. A troublesome view:
            
            1. "I need to believe? Okay, done that."
               
            2. "I need to repent? Okay, done that."
               
            3. "I need to be baptized? Okay, done that."
               
            4. "Now what can I expect from God? No serious sickness in my family, right? No tragedy in my family, right? Opportunities for prosperity, right? A lifestyle I really enjoy, right?"
         2. A biblical view:
            
            1. "Jesus Christ can show me how to escape the effects of my mistakes and focus me on the eternal, both in this life and in my death."
               
            2. "Through him my life can have a hope-filled meaning and purpose available nowhere else in nothing else."
               
            3. "In him is freedom from every wrong I have done and from the fear of dying."
               
            4. "I believe in the resurrected Jesus Christ."
               
            5. "I turn from the life I have lived."
               
            6. "I want to be baptized so I can enter a different existence."
               
            7. "I want to be Jesus Christ’s disciple to express my appreciation for his allowing me to be a part of God’s family."
               
            8. "I want to be a disciple; I want to learn how to live; I want to serve; I want to use life for something eternal, something besides me and my desires."
               
            9. "I want God to remake me as a person and use me."
      2. Could you contrast a congregation filled with the people first described and the people last described?
         
         1. We will become congregations filled with the people last described only when we become a converted people who place total confidence in Jesus Christ as the way to God.
            
         2. We will become congregations filled with converted people only when we all seek Jesus as the source of life.
            
         3. We will become congregations filled with converted people only when we want to be light in a dark society that loves evil and its expressions.
   2. So, I urge you as Christians be Jesus’ light wherever you are, in all your life, in all you do.
      
      1. People may learn differently, but everyone understands a consistent example.
         
      2. People need to see the influences of Jesus Christ in you as a person who is single, as a wife, as a father, as a parent, and in all family relationships.
         
      3. People need to see the influence of Jesus Christ in your life as you work.
         
      4. People need to see Jesus Christ’s influence in your life in every community involvement you have.
   3. The essential step in being effectively evangelistic is developing a people who shine for Jesus everywhere, everyday in all they do.

We desperately need disciples of Jesus, not just people who go to church. Which are you?

Ram Tough and Billy Goat Gruff

Posted by Chris on August 5, 2007 under Sermons

Daniel 8: Four Scenes

1. The Ram with Two Horns
2. The Goat with One Horn
3. Four Horns Plus One More
4. A Little Help from the Angel

Where Is Daniel?

• Daniel’s location in time and space within his vision (8:1-2) gives us the starting point in understanding the directions and movements of the Ram and Goat.
• When: Third year of Belshazzar (546 B.C.). Seven years before Persian takeover
• Where: Susa facing the Ulai (in the vision). He is in Persia

The Ram – Persian Empire

• Two Horns = Medes and Persians
• Charges from east and goes west, north, and south. These directions are relative to Susa, the capital of the Persian Empire.
• This follows the expansion of the Persian Empire and includes its conquest of Babylon

The He-Goat

• One Horn = Alexander the Great. He moves without touching the ground shows the rapid progress of Alexander’s campaign.
• Battle of Gaugamela – 331 B.C. Alexander conquered Darius III and claimed the Persian Empire for the Greek Empire
• Attacks from the west – Macedon is west relative to Susa.

Four Horns

• Wars of Succession (323-301 B.C.) – Alexander did not have a stable heir. His generals engage in wars for the next 22 years (and beyond) and divide up the Greek Empire
• Alexander’s Generals:
  1. Ptolemy [Egypt, Palestine]
  2. Seleucus [Babylon]
  3. Antigonus [Syria, Turkey] – Seleucus eventually acquires Antigonus’ territory
  4. Cassander [Macedonia, Greece]
  5. Lysimachus [Thrace, Bythinia]
• The four horns represent the four major divisions following the Battle of Issus in 301 BC – Ptolemy in Egypt, Seleucus in Syria/Babylon/Persia, Cassander in Macedonia, and Lysimachus in Thrace/Bythinia

The “Fifth” Horn

• Antiochus IV Epiphanes is the Fifth Horn that grows up toward the south, west, and the beautiful land.
  • His movement toward the south involves his attempt to invade Egypt in 168 BC. His efforts are thwarted and on his return through Jerusalem he occupies Jerusalem with a vengeance. (See below)
• Ruled Seleucid Empire (175-164 BC)
• Epiphanes = “God Manifested”
• Hellenized Jerusalem

Culture Wars

1. 168 BC – Antiochus invades Egypt
2. 167 BC – Invades Jerusalem
   • Rebuilt Temple as fortress
   • Erected statue of Zeus (that looked a lot like Antiochus himself!)
   • Forbade Jewish religion
   • Abomination of Desolation – He sacrificed a pig on the altar to desecrate the temple. This is an event that lives in the Jewish mindset from this point to the time of Jesus and beyond. The vital connection for relationship and forgiveness between God and his people is violated and seemingly broken by Antiochus.

Faith Crisis

1. How can a ruler like Antiochus invade God’s turf?
2. How can the worship that represents relationship be set aside?
3. Are God and his order for creation reliable?

How Long Will the Desecration Last?

• 2,300 evening and mornings = two daily sacrifices in temple
• 2300/2 = 1150/30 (days in the lunar month) = 38.3/12 = 3.19 years
• 3 years and 70 days
• The temple was invaded in fall 167 (idol of Zeus was set up on Chislev 15, 168) and the temple was restored on Chislev 25, 164 BC. All of this is fairly close to 3 years and 70 days.

His Power At Work Within Us: Wait and Pray

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Read Acts 1:1-14.

• A new hope and new wave of energy electrifies the 120 believers in Jerusalem. They thought Jesus was dead. They lost heart. But now he is with them.
• A resurrected Messiah is unstoppable, so Peter speaks for everyone when he asks if this is the time for action.
• Jesus reminds Peter that that is God’s call. Everything Jesus had been about was submitting himself to God: “Yet not as I will, but as you will.” So even now Jesus is going to ask his disciples to do what they seemed unable to do on the night he was betrayed – PRAY!

Jesus’ advice might be annoying or confusing to action-oriented Americans who live in an instant society. Our cultural wisdom urges us that … the early bird gets the worm, and we need to strike while the iron is hot, and opportunity only knocks once because time is of the essence and time is money, and we need to give 110% because we can’t just stand there, we’ve got to do something, so we pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps with the sweat of our own brow just to get-r-done.

Jesus’ advice is probably more frustrating to us than it was to Peter. There’s work to be done – kingdom business – and sitting around praying is something we can do on our own time.
What if Peter and the 120 had had the attitude we sometimes have? What if they had watched Jesus ascend to heaven and then say to themselves – “Well, Jesus gives good advice but he doesn’t really know what its like in the streets of Jerusalem. There’s a lot of work to be done and only a 120 of us.” What if they had got anxious instead of got down on their knees? I wonder if they had done that would there even be a chapter 2 and the day of Pentecost.

God’s power is at work within us. We don’t channel the power or command the power. We cannot bottle it or manage it to serve us. Even Jesus didn’t do that. His power works among us and our response is to be faithful and follow.
We understand that this power works among us to accomplish God’s mission. Reading the text, our first work should always be prayer – not a perfunctory opening prayer, but the humble recognition that the mission and evangelism is God’s power at work among us and not a do-it-yourself job on our part.

Prayer is vital and it might help us to be more active and devoted to prayer, but our cultural viewpoints may make it so that we have …

• We have a hard time believing that prayer actually gets anything done.
  • We want things that we can chart and measure and plan.
  • We want to meet needs and fix problems. We believe prayer is good for the soul, but little else.
  • We equate prayer with a ritual in worship. Certainly it is right to pray in worship, and our prayers in worship are not meaningless, but all of worship is prayer. And prayer is worship.
• Our values are upside down – we believe that prayer is the seasoning for the main course. In reality, prayer is the root, stem and leaves – our effort is just a blossom.

1. Prayer keeps us from apathy and anxiety
   • Sometimes we accept that things are the way they are – – And the way they have always been.
   • Sometimes we worry about things they may or may not ever happen.
   • Both ends of this spectrum – apathy and anxiety are due to an overemphasis on US. If it’s all up to us, things probably won’t change much. If it’s all up to us, then we aren’t doing enough or we aren’t good enough or we are going to do it all wrong.
   • But when we stop and pray we get centered on the power that is at work among us. We wait for God to work and then we simply have to be faithful and follow.
2. Prayer keeps us from arrogance
   • So you can see how prayer keeps us from arrogance. When we are arrogant, we put more faith in our own ability than in the ability of God.
   • We will spend months planning programs and budgets; we will spend thousands on new ideas, but we are skeptical or unconvinced of the value of a whole night in prayer. Why?
   • It runs against our “do-it-yourself” grain. Our individualism has made us less dependent on God.
   • Sometimes we go ahead of God. We continuously invent another program, another plan. We toil and labor and sweat, and like those apostles who worked and worked to cast out a measly little demon from a poor suffering child. Once they surrendered the effort to Jesus the demon was cast out and when they wanted to know why he could when they couldn’t he told them “That this kind only comes out with prayer.” (Mark 9:14-29) Let’s not think that prayer isn’t important.

Be Still and Know That I Am God
About eight years ago I attended an evangelism conference with an elder and fellow minister of the church I served in Texas. It was a good conference. We were inspired. We left the conference in Ft. Worth buzzing and enthusiastic about all that we could do back home. We were driving along I-45 talking and brainstorming about plans and about halfway home near Fairfield, Texas the van started losing power. I couldn’t understand it. And then I caught sight of the gas gauge. [In 26 years of driving, I have run out of gas twice. And the first time it was the car’s fault. The gas gauge lied to me.] But this time I was so caught up in plans and programs to do the work of the church I forgot something as simple as getting fuel.
The loss of power in our American-built van sort of made all of stop and re-focus. What were we skipping over in all of our high and mighty ideas? Who were we outrunning? We ran out of gas, but God has power that never quits. There was only one thing that we needed to do – and it wasn’t finding gasoline. As the world rushed on beside us at 70 mph, we sat and prayed. All of our talk about plans and programs and busy-ness were put aside. In a van with no gas on I-45 near Fairfield, TX we humbled ourselves before God in prayer. We prayed for the lost. We prayed for the church. We prayed for wisdom and patience and we prayed for power – all in God’s own time.

There were so many interesting things that happened in the months that followed. Things we never would have imagined. Things that we certainly would not have been prepared for if we hadn’t prayed. And things we probably wouldn’t have chosen if we hadn’t prayed.

You and I may not be here today if those 120 folk in Jerusalem had decided to strike out on their own and do their own work instead of pray and wait for God’s work in them. But thank God they did and can you believe what happened next? Sure you can, for here we are today.

So let’s get busy – let’s get busy praying. And we may just be amazed at what happens next.

The Power of Imitation

Posted by David on July 30, 2007 under Sermons

We live in a world that loves to imitate. People seek to be fashionable in the way they dress. Fashion in dress encourages imitation. If you think you are immune to the imitation of the fashion of dress, consider how quickly you adapt your clothing to the area you live in. Accepted behavior commonly influences our behavior. We do things in the "right" way because that is the way everyone else does. With many, it is a tragedy if we do not do something the "right" way as "the in thing to do." Do you not find it fascinating to hear people discuss what is acceptable now and what is not acceptable now?

All of us would likely be surprised at how much imitation we would find in our dress, our speech, our behavior, our cars, our homes, and our lives in general. Imitation is even at the roots of our war. People who embrace Muslim lifestyle and values do not want their society imitating the lifestyle and values of western societies (that includes us!). And we are fearful of the influences of the lifestyles and values of "those societies." Why? Many say they do not want those influences in our "Christian" nation.

We are a "Christian nation"? This nation reflects a "Christian" lifestyle and "Christian" values? Really? Do you think average Americans would even agree on what a Christian lifestyle and Christian values are? How often do Americans associate the Christian lifestyle and values with the dress codes and behaviors of particular groups who declare themselves Christian?

Imitation is not a bad thing of itself. In fact, imitation is impossible to avoid, and has been since societies existed. Imitation plays a key role in influence. Consider a statement from Paul.

"Be imitators of me, just as I also am of Christ." (1 Corinthians 11:1)

1. I want you to begin by thinking about what an enormous challenge it was in the first century to make Jesus Christ a world influence.
   
   1. We usually focus on all the things they did not have in their societies to aid mass communication–no printing press, no radio, no television, no modern advertising agencies, and no modern "spin doctors" to tell people what to think as if people cannot think.
      
   2. I challenge you to think of the enormity of the task from a different perspective.
      
      1. The small Jewish nation into which Jesus was born had Jewish ways to do everything.
         
         1. They had Jewish traditions for marriage.
            
         2. They had Jewish traditions for death.
            
         3. They had Jewish traditions for keeping the Sabbath.
            
         4. There was a "right Jewish way" to do everything a devout Jew did.
      2. The vast majority of people were idol worshippers.
         
         1. Most of the time, we stereotype idol worshippers; the truth is there were many forms of idolatry, and many of those forms had distinct differences.
            
         2. Each of those forms had "correct" ways to do everything.
      3. The key question: how do you make Jesus Christ influential throughout the world, among all people whether Jewish or idolatrous?
         
         1. How do you make Jesus Christ influential in your own society?
            
         2. How do you make Jesus Christ influential trans-culturally?
            
         3. That was an enormous challenge in the first century!
      4. Initially, the world was big and the Christian movement was tiny (sound familiar?).
2. I want to affirm one truth: Christianity is about Jesus Christ, about the impact of Jesus Christ on human life.
   
   1. The central figure in each of the gospels, the first four writings of the New Testament, is Jesus Christ.
      
      1. They affirm Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) God promised.
         
      2. They declare he did the works of God.
         
      3. They affirm he declared God’s focus on human behavior in his teachings.
         
      4. They affirm he died for us.
         
      5. They affirm God resurrected him from the dead.
         
      6. Without Jesus, there is no "good news" (the meaning of the word gospel).
   2. Acts affirms Jesus is Lord and Christ.
      "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ-this Jesus whom you crucified.” (Acts 2:36)
      
      1. It affirms the impact of Jesus Christ on Jewish people.
         
      2. It affirms the impact of Jesus Christ on Gentiles.
         
      3. It affirms the impact of Jesus Christ on the arrested Paul.
   3. The epistles affirm how belonging to Jesus Christ affects how people who have accepted Jesus Christ live, how Jesus Christ affect the concerns of the individual, and how Jesus Christ affects those who present him to others.
      
   4. The collective point of the New Testament is that Jesus Christ changes the way people who live for God live and act.
3. Please focus your attention on Ephesians 4:17 through 5:2. Please read with me.
   Ephesians 4:17-5:2, "So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth each one of you with his neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma."
   (Please keep this text in front of you.)
   
   1. I want you to see for yourself in this text that there is:
      
      1. Life lived before Christ.
         
      2. An understanding of what it means to be in Christ.
         
      3. Contrasts between life before Christ and life in Christ.
         
      4. And a call to imitation.
   2. This book was written to Gentiles who became Christians (look at chapter two).
      
      1. The book stressed the impact of Jesus Christ on people who formerly lived godless lives.
         • Ephesians 1:1,2  Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are at Ephesus and who are faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
         • Ephesians 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ
         • Ephesians 1:15,16  For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers
         • Ephesians 2:4,5  But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)
         • Ephesians 3:4  By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ
         • Ephesians 3:14-19  For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
         • Ephesians 4:14-16  As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.

      2. Note the continued emphasis on Jesus Christ.
   3. Now look carefully at the text we read in the beginning, which began in 4:17.
      1. Verses 4:17 through 4:19 obviously deal with the lives these people lived prior to their knowledge of Jesus Christ.
         
      2. Verses 4:20 through 4:22 declare plainly that the message from Jesus Christ did not teach them to keep on living as they lived before coming to Christ.
         
      3. Verses 4:23 through 4:24 declare the responding to the message about Christ is to result in a transformation of life
         
         1. There was the former life and there is the new life.
            
         2. There is a "what you used to live for" given in contrast to "what you now live for" as Christians.
      4. Then there are at least six contrast between a life lived that does not know Christ and a life that has been given to Christ in verses 4:25-32.
         
      5. Then there is the challenge to let Christ teach them how to imitate God in the way they live in verses 5:1, 2.
4. The point I want you to see should jump out at you: Christian existence is about living for Jesus Christ.
   
   1. I am going to say some things that could be easily misunderstand. I say them because:
      
      1. I want you to think.
         
      2. I want your faith to develop deeper roots to support a deeper understanding of God’s work.
         
      3. (If you do not understand, ask me about what you do not understand.)
   2. Ultimately, you are not a Christian because of the faith of anyone else–your grandparents, your parents, you favorite preacher, your favorite Bible teacher, your favorite example in the congregation.
      
      1. Spiritual maturity is believing because of your conviction, not because of someone else’s conviction.
         
      2. You belong to Jesus Christ, not to a person you know or to a group you know.
         
      3. Why is this understanding so important?
         
         1. A person is not perfect–all of us (even the best of us) are capable of making some very ungodly mistakes.
            
         2. Congregations are composed of people–all of them are capable of making some very ungodly mistakes.
            
         3. When people fail, you will loose faith if your faith is rooted in people.
      4. We live in an evil world.
         
         1. While we always wish to be the yeast of God’s influence, bad things will still happen to godly people.
            
         2. When good people suffer, you wish to praise God through Christ for His blessings which you see, not denounce God and Christ because things are not happening like you would like for them to happen.
   3. Understanding we belong to Jesus Christ could even change your concept of evangelism.
      
      1. Conversion is not a matter of changing a few facts.
         
      2. Conversion is not a matter of becoming a part of a religious organization.
         
      3. Conversion is about accepting a Savior, placing confidence in a Savior, and following a Savior as his disciple.
         
      4. People need to see how that belonging to Jesus Christ affects who we are and how we live–that is the "light" we reflect that urges them to turn to the Savior we turned to.
         
      5. We want them to seek the Savior, not follow a religious system.

Is godly influence bad? No! Is godly imitation bad? No! But both are stepping stones that should lead to spiritual maturity expressed in Christ-like lifestyles. Godly influence and godly imitation lead to placing confidence in Jesus Christ. The root system that sustains faith in immoral floods and ungodly droughts is sunk deep in Jesus Christ. He sustains, and he leads to God.

His Power at Work Within Us

Posted by Chris on July 29, 2007 under Sermons

Ephesians 3:20

This text is a word of praise from the apostle. He is praising God for all the amazing and astounding things that God has done, can do and is doing. God is able, he affirms, to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine.

I think our imaginations are large enough to accept that. We can accept that God is able to do anything, yes? We can accept that God is able to do more than we could ever ask, yes? We can accept that God’s power and ability is “off the scale,” yes? I don’t think we are the sort of people who would dare to limit God’s power or somehow believe that there was something just too difficult for God.

But can we accept that God’s power works within us? Think about that. The God who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine is working among us, through us, within us. Will we accept that? It is part of the praise: “according to his power at work within us.” It’s one thing to sing out strongly that “God is so big, so great and so mighty, there’s nothing our God cannot do!” But to also contend that God is at work within me? That makes it personal and real.

We’ve been saying for some weeks now that God is doing great things among us. I, for one, have been telling you this. I believe it. I see it. I want you to see it as well. There are a couple of men I want you to hear from . . .

Lions, Leopards, and Bears, Oh My!

Posted by Chris on July 22, 2007 under Sermons

Features of the Apocalyptic Genre

1. Account of visionary, history on cosmic scale
2. Use of symbolism: animals, numbers, colors, metals, features (wings and horns)
3. Revelation of God’s involvement in history (re-interpretation of suffering)
4. Promise of divine intervention
5. Air of mystery

Themes of Apocalyptic

• The universe is divided into two forces: good and evil.
• These forces are engaged in a war. So choose sides!
• God will break into history and overthrow all evil. Even if the war seems lost!
• Faithful are encouraged to endure the struggle
• God’s victory is certain.
• Punishment of the wicked is assured.
• Appeal to the senses: sight & sound
• Not reasonable approach to truth, emotional & imaginative approach

Numbers in Apocalyptic

1. The numerical value is not always significant
2. The “mystique” of the number is what counts
3. Consider how we regard the number “13” or “7” – on 7/7/07 lottery ticket sales were at an all-time high. Why?

Apocalyptic Numerology

Daniel 7: Three Scenes

1. The History of the World: Four Beasts and Four Kingdoms
2. The Court of Heaven: The Throne of the Ancient of Days
3. The Son of Man Arrives!

The History of the World

1. Lion = Babylon
2. Bear = Media
3. Leopard = Persia
4. Terrible Beast = Greece
   1. Jaws and Horns = Seleucid Rulers
   2. Boasting Horn = Antiochus IV Epiphanes

The Son of Man

• Four Kingdoms come and go on earth
• The Ancient of Days holds court and judges the earth
• He invests eternal authority in the Son of Man

So What?

1. Imagine you are a suffering saint in the exile
2. Imagine you are a suffering saint in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes
3. The Son of Man is coming! Be faithful! Have hope!

Submitting Ourselves to One Another – part 2

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Read Ephesians 6:1-4.

Any parent is going to have to contend with children asking “why?” It’s sort of cute when they are very little and they ask questions such as “Why do people have eyebrows?” However, as the child gets older the question can become sort of argumentative. So when a parent suggests that a child brush her teeth, she says “Why?”
Of course parents do the same thing. The child asks us to borrow $10 and we say, “WHY?”
In this game of asking why, parents have a trump card to play: “Because I said so!”

Maybe its because of this that I think preaching and instruction of God’s word should be much more than a divine “Because I said so.” Thankfully, God’s word specializes in giving good answers to “Why?” (And sometimes it even raises the question.) This Scripture read today does not disappoint. It makes a special effort to spell out why children ought to obey and honor their parents and why parents ought to raise their children right.

Recall that this is the second part of the household codes we discussed last week. Verse 21 establishes all the relationships in the household. We all submit to one another out of respect for Christ. People who are filled with the Holy Spirit (v. 18) are going to be submissive to one another. That submission takes on different characteristics and in the case of children and parents there is a way each submits to the other.

Children are to obey their parents. Why? It is the proper way of things. It is natural. The family is designed in such a way that parents, who are supposed to be the mature ones, care for and develop the ones who are not yet mature, the children. So, the child needs to obey the parent. [Now if that’s not the natural, proper order of things we wouldn’t have Supernanny!]

Children should obey their parents in the Lord. Why? “That it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” Some translation say, so that you will live long and prosper. [This isn’t parenting by Dr. Spock, this is parenting by Mr. Spock!] The logic behind this promise is that good parents have a child’s best interest at heart and if you obey them then it is for your own good.

Parent’s also submit to their children. We might ask “How?” rather than why. The contrast in verse 4 spells out what parenting is and isn’t. Parents are not to exasperate their children or provoke their children to anger. Does this mean parents shouldn’t tell their children anything that will set off a fit? No, it doesn’t because this isn’t about the child’s reaction, rather it is about the manner of parenting and the development of a child’s character. Provoking a child to anger means instilling a legacy of rage and bitterness in a child. The same word used here is the one used back in 4:26 for the sort of anger that can control us. Abusive parents embed anger into the soul of a child. Adult children of abusive parents still harbor this anger. Abusive parents are also those who will take advantage of the instruction to children to obey their parents. They will use it like a hammer to force their will onto a child or in the worst of cases influence a child to do something ungodly. We could point out that children are to obey their parents “in the Lord” but we could also point out that the objective of parenting is not to develop cruel and broken character in children by instill anger and rage in them.

Rather, a parent has the God-given responsibility to develop and shape the character of a growing human soul. Parents should raise children in the nurture and instruction that comes from the Lord. I came across a statement in a book saying that we shouldn’t “count” the baptisms of our children as true evangelism. I strongly disagree with that on the basis of Ephesians 6:4. Godly parenting is a form of evangelism. When we raise our children in the teaching and instruction that comes from the Lord that means we raise them to have the character of Christ. It means we raise them to be Christian.

Whether someone is baptized at age 15 or 55, the goal of their life is the same. The character we want to develop in all of Christ’s people is described in the last three chapters of Ephesians. This is the godly character and holy manners that describe God’s household, and so it ought to be the same in our households.

What is parenting really? It is the passing on of the character, virtues, and manners that we’ve discussed in this series from Ephesians.

Into the Lion’s Den

Posted by Chris on July 15, 2007 under Sermons

Daniel 6: Four Moves

1. The Trap Set (1-9)
2. The Trap Sprung (10-15)
3. Into the Lion’s Den (16-24)
4. Darius Praises God (25-28)

The New Administration

• Oct. 29, 539 B.C. – Cyrus the Great assumes rule of Babylon – Babylon is no longer in control. The line of Nebuchadnezzar is over.
• Captivity of Judah ends
• Darius the Mede is either …
  1. Cyrus II (559 – 529 BC) – It could be Cyrus the Persian (the Great) who conquered the Median empire during his rule. He might have taken the name Darius as his Median title.
  2. Darius I (522 – 485 BC) – It could be Darius I who did organize the kingdom into provinces (satraps) ruled by officials. He was also a worshipper of Ahura Mazda, a Zoroastrian.

President Daniel

• The Persian rulers recognize Daniel’s wisdom
• He rises to high position
• This is good for all – except Daniel’s rivals
• They conspire to do away with Daniel

Law of the Medes and Persians

• The trick of the irrevocable law
• Darius is duped
• Daniel’s civil disobedience
• The Law of the Mede’s and Persians is now in a contest with God’s Law.

Hope and Prayer

• Why does Daniel have to pray?
• He is praying toward Jerusalem – Now that the Jews are free to return home he is praying for the restoration of Jerusalem and the homeland. Allowing the Jews to return is simple. Actually working to make it happen will be a massive undertaking.
• Jerusalem represents hope and the future – When the scheming counselors take away Daniel’s time of prayer, they are robbing him of his hope and future. Daniel will not allow them to take it away.

Into the Lion’s Den

1. Darius prays for God to save Daniel
2. The den is sealed with a stone
3. We are not allowed “in the den”
4. The story follows the anxious king from night to morning – King Darius is the dramatic figure in this story, not Daniel. Daniel is fine. He is content. Darius is conflicted and anxious.

We have no indication of what happened in the lion’s den except for Daniel’s comment afterward. Nevertheless, artists have tried to depict the interior of the den with varying views …

I’m not sure from where this picture came. It looks like a petting zoo. The lions seem friendly.

This is straight from Sunday School of yesteryear. Notice the lovely, feminine angel. Daniel is so young.

This is a well known portrait by Rubens from the early 17th century. This is as much a study in anatomy as it is anything else. Notice the musculature painted on the lions and Daniel.

This portrait has very Christological themes. See the skull at the bottom border and the blood red cloth.

Daniel looks scared and begging.

The artist for these next two paintings is Briton Rivi?re (1840-1920). What I like about Rivi?re’s painting: Daniel is old. The lion’s are kept at bay by an invisible force.
Daniel turns his back on the lions. He is at peace. Either God will spare him, or he will die. Daniel looks up into the light. It demonstrates hope.

Darius Pays Attention

1. He gets Daniel out – By drawing Daniel out he is changing the law of the Medes and Persians. He is acknowledging a higher law
2. He punishes the conspirators (and their families)
3. He issues a decree calling his kingdom to reverence God
4. He praises God!

So What?

1. God can change and challenge what we consider unchanging – We often don’t give God enough credit. We have to be bold enough to accept that God can do what he wills. We tend to think that the “Law of the Medes and Persians” is the way it always must be. We let people suffer because we are too afraid to follow God rather than “the way it has always been done.”
2. Civil disobedience – Civil disobedience doesn’t make much sense if you are the group in power. But when you are persecuted it is all you have. Daniel is the best public servant. He has done no wrong by honoring God. He is persecuted for it. The law is organized against him. He proceeds faithfully and without anxiety. How useful is that to us in a day and age when we grow anxious because Christian faith seems to be losing privilege. Let them change the laws. It shouldn’t sweat us. We don’t have to fight. (Daniel did nothing wrong or disruptive) We can protest and exercise our rights within the law – but above all else LET’S KEEP OUR FAITH. For instance, they can take the 10 commandments out of the courthouse and school, but they cannot take it out of our hearts!
3. The power to kill vs. the power to save/give life. Darius and the irrevocable law of the Medes and Persians has the illusion of final authority because it has the power to kill and destroy. That seems so final. But God alone has the power to preserve and make life. No king on earth has that power. No power or authority on earth can claim that.

Submitting Ourselves to One Another – part 1

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Read Ephesians 5:21-33. – I have read these words at dozens of weddings. It’s more than a habit or stock sermon. It’s a conviction that these words call us to live as a people filled with the Holy Spirit. It’s a conviction that walking worthy of our calling in Christ involves relationships.

I will always remember the first wedding service in which I used this Scripture. In a meeting with the bride and groom before the wedding I mentioned that I intended to use this Scripture. I asked them to read it and get back with me. A few days later she called me. She let me know that she had a problem with the language of wives being in subjection. She wanted me to know that she had felt that way for a long time and not just because of my request to use this text. For years she had heard the statement that a woman ought to be in subjection. She had a problem with the way that tended to be abusive and the way people used this Scripture as a “biblical law” to get their own way and to “put a woman in her place.”

I was surprised at this reaction. This young woman did not have an agenda by any means. She wasn’t trying to be difficult. She was simply being honest with me. I was stunned at that moment, but I will forever be grateful to her for making me go back and read the Scripture carefully.

I considered her experience with the language of “subjection” and “submission” and I could now see that what she heard from that language was the language of being a second-class person or a doormat. For a wife to submit meant she should shut up and behave.

The attitude she encountered is like that of a cartoon someone recently sent me. It depicts a very happy looking 1950’s era couple. The husband is standing by the fireplace with his pipe in his hand. He is addressing his wife and says: “I’ve been thinking … I’m the man of this house, so starting tomorrow I want you to have a hot, delicious meal ready for me the second I walk through that door … afterwards while watching ESPN and relaxing in my chair you’ll bring me my slippers and then run my bath … and when I’m done with my bath, guess who’s going to dress me and comb my hair?” The woman answers rather directly, “The funeral director.”

Maybe that joke works because the attitude displayed by the condescending husband is all too real. And that attitude has been around for a long, long time.

The arrangement of instructions to the members of the household that appears in Ephesians was not unique to the Bible in ancient times. Philosophers and politicians of the ancient world frequently commented on the way husbands and wives, fathers and children, and masters and slaves ought to conduct themselves in good society. The likes of Aristotle, Josephus, and Philo drew up their own codes of household conduct. And there are even other examples of this in the Bible in Colossians and 1 Peter (even though that one is interestingly incomplete). So, there’s nothing exceptional about the apostle instructing Christians how to behave in the household. What is exceptional is how the biblical code of contact differs ever so slightly – but oh so importantly, from the typical code.

For instance, the typical code is usually just aimed at the free men: husbands, fathers, and slave-owners. The duty of the men is to rule the household and the wives, children, and slaves are to be in servitude. Of course the men ought not to be cruel and violent, but the assumption is that the other groups require this sort of guidance. Josephus will even point out that the wife is inferior in all things to the man (Contra Apionem 2.24). It sounds patronizing to us. In fact it is patronizing. It truly is paternalistic because that’s the way these ancient societies were structured – the father, the pater, ran the show. He had all the authority and in that world the head of the household’s position was not just familial, it was also political.

And when Paul writes to the Ephesians, he knows that. Nevertheless, he aims his code of conduct at Christians who live within the pattern of these social institutions. And the all-important difference is tucked away so subtly in verse 21: “Submit yourselves to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Notice the difference …

First, submission is voluntary. The text says, “submitting yourself.” It is describing one of the results of being a Spirit-filled people (v. 18). [Note that the verb in 5:18 is the main verb. 5:21 is a participle and 5:22 doesn’t even contain a verb in the original language.] This is the way that God’s people live in community with one another – in the church, in the family, and in the world. We are the children of light, the imitators of God, the wise folk who make the most of the times. Being filled with Christ’s spirit and walking worthy of our calling means we submit ourselves (willingly, voluntarily) to one another.

Second, it isn’t just the wives who submit. Husbands also submit. They are to be like Christ who loved the church so much he gave his life for it. Self-sacrificing love! Husbands are to treat their wives as if they were their own body – and how does Christ treat his body (meaning the church)? Christ made his “bride” holy and cared for her.
        That submission language changes meaning in a context in which the submission is voluntary. Wives love their husbands and respect the authority that the first-century structures invested in the husband – not because she is being “put in her place” but because she is thinking of someone else. Husbands love their wives and will sacrifice and care for them in a way that imitates Christ. Not because they must, but because they willingly choose to do so.

Thirdly, can we see how Paul is addressing the social reality that husbands and wives in first-century Ephesus find themselves in, but at the same time he seems to be working from a higher standard. Some of the other philosophers who wrote up household codes of conduct attempted to preserve the status quo. A few others were cynically critical of the status quo. But there’s more going on in Ephesians 5 than a concern for or challenge of the way things are. Paul is looking “off the page” at a greater vision. One in which there is neither male nor female, slave or free, but unity in Christ (Gal. 3:28). Paul is looking at a new vision of humanity that has an attitude of humility and service. Like Christ, the new humanity doesn’t grasp at authority, but looks out for the interests of others rather than self. Paul is looking at the creation story and describes marriage as a mysterious unity in which two individuals become as one. Sort of like Christ and the church. It is a lot to take in, he admits. But for now, in his world, he simply asks them to love and respect one another.

Our institution of marriage in 21st America is only slightly similar to the first century institution. There’s probably more that is different than similar. And that not necessarily a bad thing, the bible doesn’t authorize or affirm any particular culture’s details about family relationships. But it does reference a higher vision. Can we also look off the page with Paul and consider how the influence of the Holy Spirit and the example of Christ and the church order our husband and wife relationship? Not stopping there, how shall we all submit to one another out of reverence to Christ?

That woman who helped me read this Scripture carefully told me that she could see the wisdom of this the way I explained it to her that day. She said that that was what she wanted in a marriage relationship. That’s what I attempt to preach at every wedding – a calling to be unified in Christ’s spirit; submission to one another in love and respect. That’s what I hope I have preached today.