Repentance (part 3)

Posted by David on April 16, 2006 under Sermons

Romans 5:1-11 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

1. If Christ had not died for us, each of us would be in an extremely awkward (impossible) position.
   1. Speaking for myself, life would be running out quickly.
      1. What I was capable of doing would lie primarily in my past.
      2. When your past 65, what you have to offer society diminishes very quickly.
      3. For many of us, opportunity begins to vanish rather quickly long before 65.
      4. No matter what you think of yourself or your abilities, there would not be many options for using yourself.
   2. If for some reason I believed in God but Jesus Christ had not died for me, I could not be in a relationship of peace with God.
      1. As I saw the physical realities of life coming to a close, I would be filled with anxiety rather an expectation.
      2. There would not be a way to make my life longer.
      3. Yet, there would be a certain understanding that my life was mostly over and I could not productively expand it.
      4. Even if I were confident God existed, the prospect of meeting Him would increase my anxiety instead of giving me hope.

2. Because Jesus Christ died for me, I can repent and through repentance let God redirect my life.
   1. However, there is a problem with repenting we have never faced and rarely discuss.
      1. There are at least six situations that confront repentance [and I have no doubt that some of these could be properly subdivided].
         1. There is the adult who knowingly lived a wicked life and brings that wicked life to God in repentance.
         2. There is the adult who has lived a good moral life, but has never been a Christian.
         3. There is the child who is growing up in a home that never worships and is in no way religious.
         4. There is the child who is growing up in an abusive situation–physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, neglect abuse–and knows evil at a very early age.
         5. There is the child who is growing up in a home that goes through the religious motions, but has little relationship with God.
         6. There is the child who grows up in a genuinely godly home with a mother and father who in genuine honesty is devoted to God.
      2. Those are radically different situations.
         1. Repenting means something quite different in each situation.
            1. The situation of the person who lived a wicked life and the person who lived a good moral life have little in common. Both need Jesus, but their repentance needs are quite different.
            2. The situation of the child who develops in a home that “goes through the religious motions” and the child who has been abused is quite different–their repentance needs are quite different.
            3. The repentance needs of a child who is blessed with a godly environment and examples is different in significant ways from all the other situations.
         2. They all need Jesus, but their needs are quite different.
            1. God loves everyone of them, and none more than the other.
            2. God wants a relationship with each of them.
            3. Yet, their repentance needs are distinctly different in becoming a Christian [I am discussing conversion repentance].
            4. The same [identical] repentance message will not fit all those situations.
            5. For every person in every situation, repentance needs to be real life and personally meaningful, not merely hypothetical or theologically based in abstract concepts that are not meaningful to the person.
   2. To me, the situation becomes more complex as we look at scripture.
      1. Every case of conversion in the New Testament is a first generation conversion.
         1. Whether Jew or gentile, the people who came to Christ were the first people in their families to be Christian.
         2. All the New Testament congregations, as far as we know, were composed of first generation Christians.
         3. The New Testament says nothing about people who became Christians in the second or third generations–we cannot give book, chapter, and verse because there are none.
         4. What happened when a person who grew up in a godly home with devoutly Christian parents chose to become a Christian? How did he or she repent?
      2. There are some situations that we understand what needs to happen when a person repents.
         1. We understand what needs to happen when a person turns from a Christless religion to a Christ centered life and community of Christians.
         2. We understand what needs to happen when a person turns from an evil lifestyle to a godly lifestyle.
      3. However, some situations that are not so clear.
         1. For example, if a child grows up in a godly environment as a sincere, God focused child, what needs to happen when that child repents?
         2. How is there to be a redirection of life when you grow up in a home that is focused on godly living?
         3. When a person needs to continue his or her past focus, what is involved in conversion repentance?
      4. We might be tempted to ignore the situation by saying, “It does not matter–it is not something to be concerned about.”
         1. Yet, it does matter, and it is something to be concerned about.
         2. There is an existing segment in most Christ centered congregations who have never knowingly or willingly repented but declare themselves Christians.
            1. Some in that situation are filled with guilt and do not consider God’s promises concerning forgiveness and its blessings as applying to them.
            2. Some in that situation are totally apathetic and are quite content to go through the motions of coming to church as they “play religion.”
            3. Most any preacher or any eldership will acknowledge that much of the church’s time and ministry focuses [in some way] on those two groups.
            4. I am not saying ministering to such people is a meaningless effort; I am saying that is an unnecessary problem.

3. It seems to me that biblical repentance must involve (1) a redirection of life for those who need redirection and (2) a commitment to redirection as the person lives in Christ.
   1. Surely we do not want to redirect the lives of people who are moving to God.
      1. Such people need encouragement to continue living for godly values and purposes.
         1. We do not wish to discourage such focus.
         2. We want to encourage such focus.
      2. Just as certainly we want to encourage those who need to redirect life to do so.
         1. People who need to change focus need to be challenged to change focus!
         2. Those who do not understand that belonging to Christ includes allowing Christ to define our purpose of life and the lifestyle we need must clearly understand that.
         3. Being a Christian does not involve living as you please.
   2. We need to do a much improved job of helping people understand what repentance is.
      1. It is NOT a one time act that only occurs in conversion.
      2. It IS a lifetime commitment to a constant redirection of life toward God and His purposes and ways.
      3. Repentance begins as a part of conversion, but it continues throughout the life of the person in Christ.
   3. We need to do a much improved job of making repentance relevant to each person’s need or situation.
      1. We all need to repent.
      2. Repentance should be at the core of who we are in Christ.
      3. However, the focus of repentance for the person who has behaved in a manner that cooperates with evil and repentance for a person who is the product of a godly environment may take very different forms.
         1. If what we call repentance makes us arrogant because “I don’t do that,” then what we call repentance defeats the Christian attitude.
         2. Repentance should increase our humility, not make us judges.
   4. Allow me to call your attention to some biblical illustrations.
      1. Consider Luke 1:5, 6 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah; and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and requirements of the Lord. [This was John the Baptist’s parents.]
      2. Consider Luke 2:25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
      3. Consider Luke 2:36,37 And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers.
      4. Can you image people like these four righteous individuals rejecting Jesus as the Christ? I cannot!
         1. I realize the four mentioned in the passages I read might have been dead by Acts 2.
         2. There were others who were righteous, blameless, devout in Israel–those four were not the only four.
         3. Consider Luke 2:38 and Matthew 9:13.
      5. When such people became Christians, of what did they repent? What form did their repentance take?

The ultimate contrast in belonging to God through Christ is the contrast between self and God. It is from this contrast between the unholiness of self and the holiness of God that repentance arises.

I Want to Remind You of the Gospel

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

This time of year is fascinating. Spirituality and faith are being talked about everywhere – not just in church …

Even the news acknowledges faith.
Signs of spirituality abound without the level of commercialism that we see at Christmas.
And one may encounter spirituality and faith in the strangest of places – my boys were watching Nickelodeon and an icon appeared during one of their shows that said “Happy Passover.” Happy Passover from Spongebob Squarepants! That’s what is fascinating about this season.

Two years ago, it was the Passion of the Christ.

It was controversial.
It was transforming. People left theaters silent, sobbing, and some of them changed!
If the trend two years ago was to be passionate about our beliefs, the trend now is quite different …

Now the spirit of the culture has become one of spiritual suspicion and secrecy. What if everything we have been taught is a lie? What if the gospel we always took for granted is not the truth? What if the story of Jesus was very different from what we have always known …

No one has captured this spirit within the popular culture as well as Dan Brown in The DaVinci Code. The movie is to be out in May and it will be better than the book. It may disturb or upset some that the premise of the The DaVinci Code is all the talk during the season of celebrating Christ’s resurrection, because The DaVinci Code suggests that something very different happened with Jesus.

These ideas did not originate with Dan Brown. Two other popular books, not claiming to be fiction like The DaVinci Code, claim that the Jesus of history is not the Jesus we thought we knew.
• Jesus Dynasty, James Tabor
• Jesus Papers – claim of secret documents that show Jesus survived the cross and raised a family.

The Jesus Seminar has been doing this for years – claiming that only a small percentage of the gospels are authentic – and the part with the resurrection does not make the cut. (But the Jesus Seminar is a bunch of boring scholars. Ron Howard and Dan Brown have Tom Hanks in their corner! No wonder it is so popular!)

But none of this is new. You may have noticed the news this week that another “secret document” has been released to the public: “The Gospel of Judas.” The Gospel of Judas has been around since the second century. It, too, claims that the Jesus we thought we knew is not the true Jesus – and even more so, Judas was someone different.

And ever since the Gospel of Judas and even before there have been “other” Gospels. There have been other claims about Jesus. That he wasn’t really human, that he wasn’t really divine.

The common denominator between the Da Vinci Code, the Jesus Papers, the Jesus Dynasty, the Jesus Seminar, and the Gospel of Judas is that they have no place for the Resurrection. It isn’t as important or it never happened.

At worst it is a lie (a con – One of the clues in DaVinci Code is “So dark the Con of Man.”).
At best, the dominant tradition made a “wrong turn” and bought into those who had an agenda with the resurrection (when we should have bought into one of these other branches of Christianity – because they of course had no such agenda).

So what if? What if it isn’t true? What if the Code, the Papers, the Seminar, and Judas and the Gnostics are all correct?Perhaps we might say that even if it isn’t true, then this Christian life is still the best life. Perhaps we might say that we would still follow Jesus anyway because Christianity is still the best way to live – just on moral and ethical grounds.We might say that … but a word of advice: Don’t let the apostle Paul hear you say that! He gets rather testy when people say that …

And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless …

You see, Paul – and lot of the people he knew – risked everything to follow a RISEN Christ. Paul took all the things he had built up for himself in this world to gain prestige, wisdom, and security and tossed it into the dumpster because he encountered a RISEN Christ.
Don’t tell Paul that it would be better even if it weren’t true. Don’t tell Paul that this is the safest bet.

If it isn’t true – if Christ isn’t RISEN – then people ought to feel sorry for us and recognize us as a bunch of losers! Why? Because we have been duped by a big fat lie!

This is why Paul calls the Gospel — of the death, burial, and resurrection — something of first importance!

They’ve got secret documents? Fine says Paul, I have documents that I freely disclose to the public! I have witnesses! I have a petition with over 500 signatures! I have a bruise where I landed when the RISEN Christ knocked me down to get my attention!

But the fact is that Christ has been raised from the dead!

This is what we preach. This is what we believe. This is what we welcome everyone to believe! It’s no secret. It’s a wonderful mystery that has been revealed by God.
Because Christ is RISEN, death is not the last word. With every death – not just death of the body – with every death there can be a resurrection.
Because Christ is RISEN, there is hope! We can face the future because we know that Christ is risen and he is just the first.
Because Christ is RISEN, he lives – he has not left us – he shall return (not to catch us off guard) but to catch us up in his arms.

Throughout the ages someone has always tried to reveal a new secret or a new document or new research. And yet for thousands of years in places all around the earth, a simple meal of bread and wine has sustained believers. “Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Lord’s death – until he comes!” How can you proclaim someone’s death until he comes? You can only do that if that person is resurrected!

1 Corinthians 15
¹Now let me remind you, dear brothers and sisters, of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then and still do now, for your faith is built on this wonderful message. ²And it is this Good News that saves you if you firmly believe it–unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.

Pointing Toward the Reign of God

Posted by Chris on April 9, 2006 under Sermons

How many of us have looked over our schedule and our vacation plans and thought, “I would really like to go to Alpena.” Unless you have family in Alpena, Arkansas, I would be willing to guess that there are not many of you making plans to vacation in Alpena.

What’s great about Alpena is that they know they are “on the way” to Branson. So there’s a few decent service stations in Alpena. There are restaurants in Alpena. And there are signs everywhere. Signs that point to Branson. You can buy your tickets and take care of reservations in Alpena before you get to Branson. It is really the first sign of what Branson is going to be like for the person on the way to Branson.

I love the church. I love this church. It’s great. But the church isn’t the final destination “on the way” in life. It’s a sign. It’s the first sign of how things are going to be in the kingdom. In the church you live under God’s kingdom rule, you can even enjoy the benefits and blessings of God’s rule, but the church itself is not the whole kingdom of God. The church is a people who are “on the way” to the kingdom.

These patterns are patterns of people who are pointing toward the reign of God.

Repentance (part 2)

Posted by David on April 2, 2006 under Sermons

Genesis 15:1-6 After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” Abram said, “O Lord God, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house is my heir.” Then behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who will come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Psalm 32:1-7 How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance.

Romans 4:1-1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, has found? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wage is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing on the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, And whose sins have been covered. “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will not take into account.” Is this blessing then on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say, “Faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness.” How then was it credited? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised; and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while uncircumcised, so that he might be the father of all who believe without being circumcised, that righteousness might be credited to them, and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also follow in the steps of the faith of our father Abraham which he had while uncircumcised.

1. One of the reasons we think religious acceptance is so tough today is this: We have a poor understanding of how tough religious acceptance was in the first century.
   1. Jewish Christians simply could not accept as truth and fact that God could accept idol worshippers in a forgiveness relationship without going through Judaism, the law, and proselytism.
      1. If you will consider a little insight into a huge problem, listen to the difficulty voiced in these three statements from the Bible.
         1. Acts 11:1-3 Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
            1. This was the manner in which Peter was greeted by Christians when he returned to Jerusalem after baptizing the non-Jew Cornelius.
            2. Cornelius was a god fearer–a devout man who feared God, gave alms to poor Jews, and prayed to Jehovah God daily. This was not a man who worshipped idols and did not know who God was!
            3. The issue was more fundamental than baptism: “You had table fellowship with him–you know no Jew can do that!”
            4. If Jews cannot even associate with them, how can God forgive them?
         2. Acts 15:1-5 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
            1. Paul and Barnabas returned from their 1st missionary journey [which God directed them to go on] in which they converted gentiles.
            2. They returned to a huge argument in the gentile church who sent them out: the argument was from Jewish Christians from Judea [likely Jerusalem] with Christians [the church] in Antioch [likely the first gentile congregation].
            3. Paul and Barnabas could not settle the argument!
            4. The matter had to be referred to the apostles in Jerusalem.
            5. When the matter was discussed, some Pharisee Christians said gentile Christians must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses! Such compliance was not an option!
         3. Acts 21:17-26 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.
            1. Paul and his company were well received by the leadership of the Jerusalem church–the leader obviously had an understanding of evangelism among gentiles that many of the typical members did not have.
            2. The leaders also had a problem: how were they going to dispel false rumors about Paul’s work among gentiles?
            3. They encouraged Paul to demonstrate his Jewish ways [which he did not bind on gentiles] to try to dispel false accusations believed by the Christian community among the Jews and in Jerusalem.
            4. Paul did as they requested, and there is no note of objection.
            5. Jews did not have to stop being Jews and gentiles did not have to stop being gentiles [culturally] for either of them to be Christians.
   2. In his letter to the Christians living in Rome, Paul affirmed there was [and always had been] a relationship with God in which God ignored some people’s sins.
      1. That had been the case in the lives of two of the most prominent Israelite ancestors the Jewish nation celebrated.
         1. It was true in Abraham’s life before he was circumcised.
         2. It was true in King David’s life when he had his affair with Bathsheba.
         3. It was true in David’s life when he had Uriah killed.
            • Leviticus 20:10 If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
            • Leviticus 24:17 If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death.
         4. Yet, the prophet Nathan told David:
            • 2 Samuel 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.”
            1. “Wait a minute! We are talking about adultery and murder here!”
            2. Yes, but it clearly stated God took his sin away, and he would not die.
            3. Were there consequences from his act? Absolutely! And they were severe!
            4. Yet, God forgave him.
            5. God can forgive an offense against Him [and does!] but the offense can set in motion consequences in the world that continue even when forgiveness is given.
         5. If you doubt God’s ability to forgive by refusing to acknowledge sin, take note of two facts.
            1. David kept Bathsheba as a wife.
            2. The next king of Israel was Solomon who was the son of David and Bathsheba.
      2. There is a relationship with God in which God ignores a person’s sins [which is what forgiveness is basically about!]
         1. Rules keeping is not relationship.
         2. Relationship is much deeper than rules keeping.
         3. Obedience involves much more than keeping some rules.
      3. Repentance is about relationship.
         1. Repentance involves the realization of an injustice that hurts and offends the God who loves you.
         2. Repentance involves returning love to Someone who loves you dearly.
         3. Repentance is not about ‘jumping through hoops’ to complete some divine obstacle course.
         4. Repentance is about loving enough to regret offenses, about redirecting life because ‘I have been offensive to Someone who has treated me kindly.’

2. Who needs this forgiveness in which God does not hold us accountable for a sin committed?
   1. We all do!
      1. Do you actually think you are aware, fully knowledgeable of every way available to you to offend God?
      2. Have you never learned something in which you did evil that previously you did not realize any evil was involved?
   2. John acknowledged God’s solution to our sinfulness in 1 John 1:5-10 when he declared that God cleanses us from ALL sin through Jesus Christ and cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness if we confess our sins (that which we know to confess).
      1. Who needs God’s solution?
         1. We all do!
         2. Thank God He forgives me of matters I am yet to realize! If He did not, none of us would stand a chance!
      2. Does that give me a license to knowingly be irresponsible in matters of evil?
         1. No!
         2. It gives me hope as I seek to follow God’s will.
         3. I cannot be perfect, but I can be honest when I fail God.
   3. To whom does God attribute righteousness?
      1. To the person who in faith repents!
      2. We do not live as we please deliberately remaining in ignorance so we can do as we please!
      3. We seek God’s will!
      4. Life for every Christian is a constant redirection as we understand more completely what a godly life is about.
      5. Only people who understand God brings the best out of them repent!

God has a special appreciation for the man or woman [Christian] who: (1) assumes a sense of personal responsibility when he or she fails [guilt]; (2) is honest about his or her failure [confesses the mistake!]; and (3) learns from the failure [redirects life, repents]. That special appreciation from God is expressed in His forgiveness that refuses to acknowledge the sin.

Our commitment must be to develop that type of relationship with God!

Depending on the Holy Spirit

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Prayer – what is prayer?
We don’t like to think that we are dependent. It doesn’t seem good to be a dependent. We don’t have any problems having dependents – especially at this time of year – but to be dependent means that we are a bit helpless.

And yet, the reality of life and especially the Christ-life is that we depend on much more than our own abilities.

2 Corinthians 4 – ⁷But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. ⁸We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; ⁹persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. ¹⁰We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.

Idolatry is so tempting because it puts us on a level playing field with God. We think that God actually needs us. We think that we sit at the table with our God and negotiate a contract. “So then God, we see that you have called us and we feel really great about that. We accept your gracious proposal and we would like to discuss some of our terms with you – just some things that we think are fair. Now in return for these blessings we promise to do the following.”

That doesn’t sound right, but idolatry actually makes us that bold before God. We need to recapture the meaning of the word prayer. Rather than a list of wants, prayer once meant a request made by a person of lower social station to a more powerful person. Sometimes it was highly structured and carefully ordered, but sometimes it was less formal. One thing was consistent – it was an appeal. Luke 18 – ²“In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ “

The one who prays is completely dependent on the goodwill and the power of the one to whom the plea is addressed. When we bow in prayer it isn’t for the sake of meditation and focus. It is because we are expressing humility before a mighty and powerful God. He is the greater one to whom we appeal.

There are times in our lives when we feel this way about prayer, but how often do we come before God as a church with the same sense of dependence? Do we ever stop and realize how we depend entirely upon God’s goodwill and power for the determination and continuation of all ministry and mission?

Depending on God … Why this matters for the mission.
Unfortunately our prayer life and our participation in ministry and mission are sometimes fueled by contradicting assumptions. Privately and personally we may pray with a keen awareness of our weaknesses and limitations, but publicly and as a church we pray and act as if we are self-determining and as if we have all the resources and influence we need to effect change and respond to problems.

Case in point: Some of us remember the “if only everyone would save two” plan. The proposal was that if everyone would make two disciples, then in a very short number of years the entire world would be saved. It was sort of like compounding interest. It was an exponential accumulation. But what does the plan depend upon? Our efforts! It seems blasphemous to challenge this model of evangelism since many of us devoted so much time and passion to seeing it done, but we need to recognize the assumptions inherent in this plan …

1. It assumes that evangelism and salvation are ultimately dependent on our efforts.
2. It treats people as numbers rather than real people with real problems that seem to get in the way of mission – For example, What do you do when #48 starts drinking again? What do you do when #212 loses his job and his family (#213-#215) are in a financial crisis? What do you do when #457 gets frustrated with the congregation and its leaders and convinces #688-#773 to begin a new congregation? Do you keep telling them to “get their two”? This may work in door-to-door sales or mutual fund interest, but is this really how the mission of God works?

The mission is not about math or multiplication. It is about dependence on God and his Holy Spirit. It is about faithfulness and endurance through trials.

Read Matthew 10:1-16
Consider how Jesus sent out his disciples. What did they depend on? But what authority did they have?

Would we do ministry the way Jesus proposes? Doesn’t it just seem too risky? What and who do we have to depend on for this teaching of Jesus to become reality?

We can become so distracted by implementing our plans that we neglect to pray to God.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 2 April 2006

Repentance (part 1)

Posted by David on March 26, 2006 under Sermons

In the readings, pay special attention to the word ‘repent’ and ‘repentance.’

A statement about the ministry of John the Baptist:

Worshipping God for the Sake of the World

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Worship. Do we ever stop and consider the significance of this hour on Sunday? I know I do. I think about it quite a bit. And yet, I know that this assembly has significance – an importance – beyond anything I can plan. I have learned over the years that … Some Sunday’s will be very special. Some will be very ordinary. Some of you are uplifted and some of you will be discouraged. Some of you are about to hear something that may change your life forever – and some of you are just trying to calm a fidgety child.

Worship. It is the at times the most spiritual and transcendent event of our week, and at other times it is the most mundane and human. And thought we always want worship to be on the holy mountaintop, worship will sometimes take place in the ordinary spaces – in the halls of our schools, around the water cooler at work, in the shopping mall, downtown at the corner of forgotten streets.

Jesus met a Samaritan woman at the hub of her city – the local well. And in the midst of business and daily chores worship broke out. Jesus met an outsider to the house of Israel – a Samaritan woman – and they began to talk about eternal life, her life, and family and (wouldn’t you know it) they talked about worship. “So are we supposed to worship on the mountain or in the temple?” she asked Jesus.

Jesus answered, “²¹Jesus replied, “Believe me, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. ²²You Samaritans know so little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. ²³But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way. ²⁴For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4)

Worship in spirit and truth. Jesus invited the Samaritan woman – and all of us who hear his teaching – to understand worship in a new light. Worship isn’t the little “insider club” for the “saved.” But neither is it a recruitment rally to draw in the “outsiders” and get them saved. God is looking for anyone who will worship him in spirit and truth. What does this mean? Well, when you place this statement of Jesus in the context of God sending his son (John 3) and the life that we live as we participate in the life of the son, then worship has something to do with living the true life of a disciple and being a part of a people who are gathered together by the spirit of God.

It sort of turns worship “inside out” from the way we often think of worship because we see that worship is really at the center of God’s mission to turn the “inside” out. You see, God is the focus of the worshipper – of every worshipper and of course the focus of the whole worshipping community. And the focus of God is the whole world. He’s not just looking for his “core group” of insiders, no he wants the whole world to come to worship. So our worship takes place in a sort of “glass house” with wide open doors and everyone is welcome to worship.

That way of thinking of worship cuts against the grain of some of our typical assumptions about worship. We often think that worship is …

• Worship is private. Consider the language we use to prepare ourselves for worship. We often strive to “forget” the cares and worries of the world. I wonder if that is really what God intends? When Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman, he brings up all her cares and worries. He makes mention of her five husbands and he isn’t diplomatic about it – he’s really just abrupt about it. But maybe that’s because worship in spirit and truth isn’t about pretense dressed up as privacy. Worship isn’t a fashion pageant nicely divorced from the realities of the world we live in. When we encounter the God who is passionately trying to rescue the world we may find that he has little time for pomp and circumstance but like the awesome God he is he is engaged in a mission that calls upon all of us to be very serious and very genuine about the matters of life and death in which we find ourselves.

• Worship is personal. Of course when worship turns inside out – that is to say, when we become aware of the passion of our God who loves a lost world – it cuts against the grain of the assumption that worship is a user-friendly service “just for me.” This is the typical assumption that worship is personal. Consider the ways evaluate worship: Even if we are kind we might say, “Well it wasn’t what I was used to,” or “I didn’t really get anything out of it.” Now that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t have some high personal expectations of worship. There is no justification for defending pitiful, lazy, mediocre worship by saying “Worship isn’t about what you get out of it but what you put into it.” That statement may be true, but when no one wants to put anything into worship it suffers. We need high expectations, but not as critics of how others perform, rather we need to expect something out of one another. We need to work together to build one another up. If you witnessed any of the Air Show this weekend you saw aviation teams that demand the most of one another. Worship isn’t personal in the sense that we are spectators, rather we are all participants in praising God before a watching world.

• Worship is about preference. In America, we have all been told that you can worship at the church or synagogue of your choice. And choice is often the key word. We have heard of worship wars. These are often wars over preference in worship style and not really about doctrine or faith (after all, churches with praise teams and churches with shape notes all worship Jesus). Because we are such individuals and such consumers, we tend to think that worship is just another personal choice. Another pursuit that fits our preferences – and please understand that all of us have preferences. Everyone has preferences – except for me because my preference is the right way to do it. (Get it?). Two stories: 1) I spoke to an elderly woman who attended a church where the preacher wore khakis and a golf shirt. She said, “I just can’t used to a preacher not wearing a suit and tie.” I asked why and I appreciated her honest answer. “It’s just what I am used to I guess – that’s all.” 2) The custodian of one of my congregations would find cards that people had used to write notes during the less thrilling portions of worship. One card was obviously written by some teens that were visiting with their friends. It said: “This church’s style is so old-fashioned” “Yeah! It’s so 1990’s.” And this was in 1999!

We can get so distracted by these that we miss out on what worship in spirit and truth. Worship that participates in God’s mission is …

• Worship is proclamation – (2 Corinthians 4:5-6 – For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.) In worship we proclaim certain things. Whenever we eat and drink the Lord’s Supper we proclaim the Lord’s death and affirm our hope that he will come again. When we preach the word of God we are proclaiming that this is the truth that shapes our identity and shapes our community. The church in worship is the church in mission – “you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (1 Peter 2:9)

• Worship is political – Please pay attention to me on this one! It is ingrained in our culture that politics and religion do not mix. We are not comfortable with “politics in the pulpit.” I am not talking about using the worship assembly to advance political agendas. That is too mundane and mediocre of an agenda for worship. But worship is political in the sense that it participates in “kingdom politics.” In ancient times worship was viewed as politics. In the first century when Christians affirmed that there was no Lord but Christ they found themselves at odds with the Roman Empire. The governments of nations like Laos and Vietnam understand that worship is political. Their authoritarian rule is threatened by a people who pledge their allegiance to the Lord Jesus. (Read Acts 4:23-31.) Is our worship any less political because we worship in America? No, thankfully our nation allows us freedom to worship, but do we realize that our God calls upon us to place his rule above the rule of our government. We are pledging our ultimate allegiance to God and his kingdom when we worship.

• Worship is public – (ekklesia) – an assembly of the citizens regularly summoned, the legislative assembly. Why would the early church choose this term to refer to their assembly? Terms with a more religious connotation could have been used. I think they chose this term because their worship was not a mystery cult or insider club but a public assembly for the Kingdom of God and all the world is invited. Paul seems to understand that the worship of the church is open to the public. In 1 Corinthians 14 ²³So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? ²⁴But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, ²⁵and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

I recall a story a colleague told me about worship in India. They do not worship closed off from the general population in a place of comfort and privacy. Rather, they gather outside often around a tall tree where they can hang a lantern and the faithful gather to worship. And along with them come on-lookers and spectators who simply watch. No one can really tell where the “church” folk end and the on-lookers begin. And part of the reason for that is that the circle is ever widening because those who start on the outside looking in find their way inside as they too become disciples and begin to worship the God who seeks worshippers in spirit and truth.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 26 March 2006

The Christian Worldview (part 7)

Posted by David on March 19, 2006 under Sermons

THE CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW
part 7

In these readings, take note of the word “gospel.”

Matthew 9:35-38 Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

Mark 1:14,15 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Acts 8:25,40 So, when they had solemnly testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they started back to Jerusalem, and were preaching the gospel to many villages of the Samaritans. … But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to Caesarea.

Acts 15:6-11 The apostles and the elders came together to look into this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brethren, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, testified to them giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He also did to us; and He made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith. Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.”

Acts 20:18-24 “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.”

This evening I want to challenge you to think about something you likely are sure you understood a long time ago. In fact, all of us are sure we have a complete understanding of this subject. There has been no need to think about it, because we understood all there was to know about it. There was no need to discuss it because everything was settled about this subject a long, long time ago.

This evening I want you to think with me for a few minutes about the gospel.

1. The basic meaning of the word “gospel” is “good news.”
   1. Personally, I wish for our sakes today that the Greek word for “gospel” had been translated “good news.” The concept of good news is familiar; the word “gospel” is a strange word to most of us.
      1. Outside of a religious context, do you ever use the word “gospel” in any other context?
      2. For most of us, the word “gospel” is strictly a religious word used only when we use our “church language.” We just assume when we use the word other people know what we are talking about.
   2. When we tell someone we want to teach the “gospel” to them, many of them cringe. In fact, some people will do anything they can to prevent us from sharing the “gospel” with them. They may say, “I don’t want to talk about church things,” or, “I don’t want to talk about religion.”
      1. Do you understand the why of that?
      2. The word means good news, but many people do not expect good news when we tell them we want to discuss the gospel with them.
      3. The truth is that when people discuss the “gospel” with others, they might hear anything. Would you like to tell someone what to expect in such a discussion?
      4. Consider some of the ways we use the concept of gospel:
         1. Good news–you are going to hell!
         2. Good news–you are going to held accountable for every mistake you make!
         3. Good news–you cannot escape God’s judgment after death!
         4. Good news–you should be living in a sense of guilt and despair!
      5. Is there any way we would consider any of those statements good news?
         1. “Good news–God is going to stomp all over you, and there is nothing you can do about it because you are no match for God!” That is good news?
         2. “Good news–God is keeping a list of your mistakes, and you can never fool Him!” That is good news?
         3. “Good news–after you die you are going to suffer so much that you will wish you could die again–but you can’t!” That is good news?
         4. “Good news–there is coming a time when you are going to pay for every wrong you have done–without exception!” That is good news?

2. Then what is the good news?
   1. The problem:
      1. All of us are very weak, and our own worst enemy.
      2. We–all of us–do a horrible job of distinguishing between right and wrong, good and evil, what is kind and what is mean, being compassionate and being judgmental, and showing mercy instead of demanding justice.
      3. So often when we face a complex situation we just do not know what to do.
      4. Yet, when we are in need, we all want kindness, compassion, and mercy.
      5. If we are compared to God in any way, we just do not measure up at all.
      6. We are trapped by our own mistakes, and there is nothing we can do of ourselves to get ourselves out of the trap we created as a consequence of our own mistakes.
   2. The good news:
      1. God is not our enemy! As undesirable and “yukkie” as we are, God wants us.
      2. God does not merely want us, but He loves us. And He has worked very hard for thousands of years and has been very patient to solve our problem.
      3. He loves us so much that He sent us Jesus to enable us to do all the things we could not possibly do without him.
      4. Jesus is the forever symbol of how real, how genuine, and how deep God’s love is for us. When you look at Jesus, you see in flesh and blood God’s love for us.
      5. God wants to forgive us and has done everything necessary for us to receive forgiveness.
      6. The good news: who we were does not have to determine who we are; we can be cleansed; we can start over; we can be released from the trap and be forgiven.
      7. This can happen for any one regardless of who they are or what they have done because a loving God is on our side and wants for us to be forgiven.

3. We need to be very careful not to give people the wrong impression of God.
   1. Are we ultimately responsible for our choices and behavior? Absolutely!
      1. Must we assume responsibility for the way we live our lives? Surely!
      2. Must we seek God’s will and obey him? Certainly!
      3. However, the truth of those statements does not mean that God is our enemy.
   2. Speaking as a parent, my children must be responsible for their choices and behavior.
      1. When they lived with me, I made it no secret that I expected obedience.
      2. After they leave home, I hope they will continue to make choices on the basis of the principles that I taught them
      3. However, in no way does that mean I did not love them as children or do not love them now.
      4. In no way does that make me their enemy.
   3. We are not declaring we do not need to obey God when we declare the truth that God is not our enemy.
      1. We really need to understand that stressing people’s responsibility to come to God is not declaring the core of the gospel, the good news.
      2. The core of the good news is that God loves us and wants to help us even if our lives are a mess.
      3. The proof of God’s commitment to us is Jesus Christ.

4. God specializes in what seems to us to be lost causes.
   1. The night that Jesus was tried by the Jews, Peter (Jesus’ most committed friend who vowed he would never deny Jesus) cursed and swore the he had never known Jesus (Matthew 26:74).
      1. If someone treated us that way, we would be very angry!
      2. Less than two months later (50 days), it was this same man God used to preach the resurrection of Jesus and the fact that God made Jesus Lord and Christ in the city he denied Jesus.
         1. People simply do not do things that way!
         2. Did Peter repent (turn himself around)? Surely!
         3. The man who was a fearful coward the night of Jesus’ betrayal, publicly in broad daylight stood up for God’s work in Jesus on the day of Pentecost.
   2. Let me call your attention to a statement Paul made (a statement very familiar to most of you).
      1 Timothy 1:12-16 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
      1. Prior to being a Christian, Paul was a very religious man, but a very mean man–his religious perspective made him mean.
      2. He said of himself when offering his defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26:9-11:
         So then, I thought to myself that I had to do many things hostile to the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And this is just what I did in Jerusalem; not only did I lock up many of the saints in prisons, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when they were being put to death I cast my vote against them. And as I punished them often in all the synagogues, I tried to force them to blaspheme; and being furiously enraged at them, I kept pursuing them even to foreign cities.
         1. By our standards, the pre-Christian Paul was an obsessed hate monger, not a nice man.
         2. He did many things hostile to the name of Jesus; he put Christians in Jewish prisons; he encouraged the executions of Christians; he used physical force (pain!) in his attempt to get Christians to blaspheme; he was furiously enraged at Christians; he was willing to go outside of Palestine to arrest Christians.
      3. In the statement to Timothy, he described himself at that time as a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a violent aggressor.
      4. To put his point in our words, Paul said, “If God could save me, God can save anyone.”
      5. He even said that this was one of the reasons God forgave Paul.
      6. That is how serious God is about saving people!

5. I want to share a biblical example with you that I have thought about for a few years.
   1. The example I call you attention to is found in a letter of Paul’s to Corinthian Christians we know as 1 Corinthians 7:21-24.
      Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free, rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.
      1. The slavery discussed in the New Testament and American slavery years ago were quite different in some specific ways.
         1. First century slavery was not racial–you did not have one race serving another race.
         2. A person could become a slave in many ways–failure to pay debts, birth, a P.O.W. in a Roman war are some examples.
         3. It was not unusual for people who were slaves to be well educated and from the highest levels of society.
            1. Such people were commonly bought to be household slaves.
            2. In a world that very much sanctioned fornication, adultery, and homosexuality, it was not unusual for slaves to be expected to serve in sexual roles.
            3. Slaves were property; to refuse a order from a member of the owner’s family could mean harsh penalties including death.
      2. Paul said if you are a Christian who is a slave, do not make the goal of your life escaping slavery.
         1. He said that your circumstances as a slave was not a hindrance to God’s purposes.
         2. He said you could be a Christian even if you had no control over what happened to you.
      3. That is how much God is on your side!
   2. “Does it make you nervous to realize how we today might misuse that example?” Certainly!
      1. Paul was not talking about justifying our behavior.
      2. Paul was talking about circumstances we have no control over.
      3. He said that even if a Christian was in circumstances he or she could not control, he or she had no choice in, he or she still belonged to God and could was useful to God.
   3. That is how much God loves us and wants to save us!

The issue is not and never has been, “Can God save me?” The issue is, “Do you want God’s forgiveness? Do you want to belong to God?”

Because of God’s acts in Jesus, it is every person’s choice! That is the good news!

Living Out God’s Intent for the World

Posted by Chris on under Sermons

Review
The treasure of the Gospel in Clay Jars. Patterns of Missional Faithfulness: Following God’s Calling, Being Shaped by Scripture, Taking Risks for the Sake of the Gospel, Living Out God’s Intent for the World.

The Story of EPCOT
The name Epcot derives from the acronym EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow), a utopian city of the future planned by Walt Disney. Walt Disney’s original vision of EPCOT was for a model community, home to twenty thousand residents, which would be a test bed for city planning and organization. The community was to have been built in the shape of a circle, with businesses and commercial areas at its center, community buildings and schools and recreational complexes around it, and residential neighborhoods along the perimeter. Transportation would have been provided by monorails and conveyor belts. Automobile traffic would be kept underground, leaving pedestrians safe above-ground. Walt Disney said, “It will be a planned, controlled community, a showcase for American industry and research, schools, cultural and educational opportunities. In EPCOT there will be no slum areas because we won’t let them develop. There will be no landowners and therefore no voting control. People will rent houses instead of buying them, and at modest rentals. There will be no retirees; everyone must be employed.”
This vision was not realized. Walt Disney wasn’t able to obtain funding and permission to start work on his Florida property until he agreed to build the Magic Kingdom first, and he passed away before its opening day. The Walt Disney Company later decided that it didn’t want to be in the business of running a town.

God’s City of Tomorrow, Today – God’s Intent for the World
Walt Disney wasn’t the first to have a hopeful vision of a prototype city. His vision isn’t the only vision to inspire us to think about the way it could be. Since God called Abraham, God has always intended for his people to be a prototype city of tomorrow. He intended for Israel to live out and demonstrate the shalom peace that he intended for all the nations. Jesus spoke of a city – a city on a hill that would serve as a shining example of righteous community. Matthew 5:14-16 – A city set on a hill. A light to the world. When Luke writes about the early church he describes it as the continuation of God’s Israel-dream. Acts 4:32-35. They were living out God’s intent for the world.
The church is a sign, foretaste, and glimpse of God’s kingdom rule. We are the prototype community. A people living now as if the complete and total reign of God has broken into this world. God has a vision for the world as it should be. God’s mission is for the world to he create and his intent for the world to be realized. So, living out God’s intent for the world is how we participate in God’s mission.

Living Out God’s Intent for the World
A prototype is more than an idea, it is a tangible example. It is not enough to know what God intends for the world. We have to live it out. God calls his church to practice habits and ways of living that embody his ideas. We see these most often in Scripture when we read texts that speak of the way we should treat one another.

Listening to One Another: The beginning of “one another” community is paying attention to one another. Sometimes church business is just “busy-ness.” I don’t think that’s how God intended us to live. How can we really help each other or love one another if we are not paying attention to one another? Listening is the beginning of unity … ¹⁵“If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.”
God intends for us to speak honestly and truthfully with one another. This is how we overcome anxiety and worry – by truly listening to one another.

Helping One Another: Acts 4:32 All 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. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales ³⁵and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
The people of God live in hospitality. Hospitality was a very important virtue in the ancient world. A traveler depended on hospitality not just for comfort, but for survival. We think of hospitality as something exceptional or special. We think of it as playing host or hostess at the Martha Stewart level, but consider how basic it is. My friend Jeff Christian told the story of an elder and his wife who invited others to their house for PBJ sandwiches and popsicles. This couple wanted to show everyone that hospitality was about love and fellowship rather than scoring social style points. 12:13 – Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bearing with one another – This involves not only bearing sorrows, but also (to put it quite bluntly) putting up with one another! Ephesians 4:2 – Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. ³Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. One of the ways we practice God’s intent for the kingdom is by enduring all the little things that could so easily cause us to divide. Romans 14:13-19 – Let us stop passing judgment on one another. . . ¹⁹Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

Loving one another – Some of us remember sermons that list the “identifying marks of the church.” The identifying marks are one of thinking about the practices that demonstrate God’s intent for the world. Jesus had one identifying mark that he considered to be the clearest in terms of identifying his people … John 13:34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. ³⁵Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Welcoming the other – We cannot limit love in the kingdom of God. We are not concerned about the boundaries or demographics this world uses to divide us (age, race, gender, etc.) We respect those differences, but they are not barriers to love in fellowship if all are in Christ (Galatians 3:28)

The world is watching … Dale Ziemer and Lois Barret (Treasure in Clay Jars, Eerdmans, 2004) tell the story of the Holy Ghost Full Gospel Church in Detroit. This church moved into a neighborhood that was run down and dominated by the problems of drug abuse and the attending evils of a drug addicted, hopeless class of people. One of the residents of this neighborhood was Luther. Luther described himself as a “big time drunk” and church members noticed that Luther was a sort of ringleader among those who sought solace with alcohol. All of the church’s programs and techniques to reach someone like Luther failed. But Luther was watching. We took notice of the people who gathered in the church’s building. In time, Luther took such an interest in this people that he started directing traffic in the evening. After all, they were in his neighborhood. Luther also began escorting the elderly women to their cars after the evening services, after all they were in his neighborhood and Luther would tell them that it wasn’t safe. Luther took notice of these very different people and in time he came and stood in the foyer during worship. Then he started to come in a bit closer and stand in the door to the auditorium. Then he stopped drinking so much. And eventually he was baptized.
At every stage of Luther’s journey, the people welcomed him. He was never told to go away, nor was he feared, neither was he ignored. He was welcomed. And the one who was once “the other” became one of the “one anothers.”

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 19 March 2006

Taking Risks for the Sake of the Gospel

Posted by Chris on March 12, 2006 under Sermons

Taking Risks
We are not accustomed to taking risks. About as risky as most of us get is managed risk. We devote so much to playing-it-safe. Every morning the talk shows let us know what we should fear and tell us how to be safe. I am glad that we have weather radar and as I was watching the reports of the storms last night I marveled at how the technology could pinpoint the action of tornadoes. I realized that this was a private company that owned this hi-tech. They invest in it because people are interested in being safe.
However, risk is part of life and especially life in Christ. As a friend recently said, “No one said this would be easy.” Remember the words I spoke to you: ‘No servant is greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. ” John 15:20.

Read 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, 8-9. Paul reflects on the life that follows Jesus and he acknowledges that the world resists the gospel even though it is good news. Why? Because the darkness has veiled their hearts. Their vision has been obscured. But when we have beheld the light of the gospel, we have a hope that allows us to take risks – not for the sake of being risky, but for the sake of the gospel.

Clay Jars That Shine Like Stars
Today our brothers and sisters in Vietnam and Laos worship. Worship is a very risky activity for them to do. But we admire them for taking the risk. Why do they take that risk?
What would you say about a group of believers that moved their worship out of suburban safety and into a neighborhood plagued by drug abuse and burglaries? Not an outreach, but they moved everything down there! They take it for granted that their building will be broken into and that equipment will have to be replaced. Would you consider them foolish? Bad stewards? ( Is Jesus going to get really upset over a stolen sound system?) Would you call the believers fanatics? Why do they take the risk?
Whether they are in Laos or the Southern United States, these risky Christians seem to be playing by a different set of rules. I suggest that they are simply taking their calling seriously. Why should it be any different for us – we are trying to conform to Jesus Christ rather than the surrounding society. Don’t we realize that that is risky?

When we follow Jesus Christ, we have different priorities that may act against common sense. We are not going to conform to the dominant culture in every way. Are we okay with that? I don’t mean that we won’t conform to the things we don’t like, but we will also not conform to some of the things we do like! To be faithful to God’s mission we must often stand in contrast to the culture around us. (Read Philippians 2:12-18.)

Clay jars that shine like stars — the light of the gospel shining off the treasure. We are different. We are called to follow Jesus and we are shaped by scripture. And that means we will have to take some risks for the sake of the gospel. But what sort of risks?

What’s so risky about the Gospel?
God is calling us to take some risks, not risk for the sake of being risky, but for the sake of the gospel: [Note: I am indebted to Paul Clark and Jeff Christian for suggesting these three examples of how the church takes risks for the sake of the gospel. These points come from their unpublished sermons based on the Treasures In Clay Jars book edited by Lois Y. Barrett]

1) IT IS RISKY TO BE COMMUNITY: We live in a very individual age. Living in unity with one another in the church can be challenging.
I have never forgotten the story I heard Rick Atchley tell about an elderly sister who was walking into the foyer of her church house one Sunday. She looked over the bulletin board that featured pictures of the mission in Africa and she said softly, “I wish they would stop baptizing so many of those kind of people.” This sister’s version of heaven was segregated. A pearly gate with the banner “WHITES ONLY” above it and a back gates labeled “COLORED.” How can we be one in heaven if we cannot live as the community of Christ here? Do we think that Heaven will have high-rent and low-rent neighborhoods?
It is risky to live in community with others when we have a play-it-safe and build tall fences mentality. I think we would be more effective at sharing our faith if we would just simply be kind to people in the community and talk to them about God. What if we welcomed them to our home before we welcomed them to worship. I am convinced that people “go to church” with their friends. This risky living in community is how we unleash the treasure?
Christ took the risk of creating community. He wanted community and unity between us and God.

2) IT IS RISKY TO BE GENEROUS: It is risky to share with one another and with our community without expecting a return on our investment. We are generous with our wealth, but shall we also be generous with our love.

3) IT IS RISKY TO BE DIFFERENT: When the Christians of the second century were ridiculed and scorned by the society around them. They were called incestuous, cannibalistic, and atheistic. They didn’t overcome this by standing up for their rights or wielding their power to influence. They certainly didn’t overcome by conforming to the expectations of a dying culture. They overcame by kneeling in prayer in the arenas where they were slaughtered. And do you know who they prayed for? The Roman Emperor.

Taking Risks can be fearful – especially in church. That is because everything else in culture is changing so quickly. We want to have some place we can come that stays the same.
But the reason there are some things that do not change is not because someone opposed change. The reason is because some people did something to be faithful rather than do nothing because they were fearful. They took a risk for the sake of the gospel that does not change.

Chris Benjamin

West-Ark Church of Christ, Fort Smith, AR
Morning Sermon, 12 March 2006

Treasure in Clay Jars
Lesson Four: Pattern 3 – Mar. 12, 2006
“Taking Risks for the Sake of the Gospel”

What is this lesson all about?

1. You will examine ways in which scripture calls for Christians to exchange personal comfort and predictability for risk taking and dependence on God.
2. You will recognize the risks involved in being set apart from the world because of the gospel.
3. You will explore how the Spirit of God empowers believers to be risk takers for the gospel
4. You will gain understanding of the implications of personally becoming greater risk-takers in taking the saving gospel of Jesus to culture.

Getting Started:

1. When have you done something risky? How well did you come through the experience?
2. What would be the most difficult part about being a missionary in a third-world nation? What would motivate someone to give up the comforts of life in America for the sake of the kingdom? Offer a prayer of blessing for missionaries living in dangerous places.
3. What would be the most dangerous place to live in our community? How many children do you think live in that neighborhood?

Searching the Word:

1. Read Matthew 10:11-31 aloud. Who was Jesus speaking to? The twelve apostles, before he sent them out to preach. What kind of welcome did he expect that they would find as they talked about him? What were some of the risks the first followers of Jesus faced?
2. How did Jesus instruct his followers to respond to opposition? Generate a list. See verses 16, 17, 19, 23, 28. What kind of opposition have you faced because of your faith?
3. In what ways does verse 24 connect Christians’ persecution with Jesus’ suffering. How much do you think this helped? How do you feel when you hear of believers who suffer for Christ? Do you ever feel guilty for having it so easy? (See the attached Parable On Perspective).

Making It Real: Exploration and Response

1. Do we believe that Jesus is sending us into our community to call attention to the kingdom? If so, then what instructions do you think he would give us?
2. Where might be some neglected or dangerous neighborhoods in our community where Christians are afraid to go? Who is speaking for Jesus in such places? How could we help children in those neighborhoods? What do we have to risk?
3. Every church wants to recruit prosperous, educated, moral leaders as members. Who are some people that nobody is inviting to their church? How could we reach out to them? Why do we consider it risky to help these people?
4. Ask the group to identify ways in which they perceive Christians as being different or set apart from the world. Possible responses include how Christians use their time or resources, how they treat fellow workers, employees, how they speak, etc. In what ways are we reluctant to take risks because we are “captive to our culture?”
5. Taking the discussion one step further, ask the group to respond to this quote: “Some congregations seem to be living by a set of rules different from that of the dominant culture. Their priorities are different. They act against the “common sense.” They are trying to conform to Jesus Christ rather than to the surrounding society. (Treasure in Clay Jars, p. 75)
6. Creative Generosity — How does a church responsibly respond to needs, some of which are “spur of the moment,” such as a natural disaster, when those funds are not in the budget?
7. Invite the group to respond to these questions:
   • How can we encourage each other to be greater risk takers in taking the gospel into our culture?
   • In what ways does God’s Spirit empower and lead Christians when they are risk takers for the gospel?
   • How do we answer the question today, “Who is my neighbor?”

Prayer Time

• Pray for the lost
• Pull out a local map and pray for specific streets where there is little hope. (You could say, everywhere, but try and make it personal. Divide into prayer groups if that helps).
• Ask God for courage to take risks for the kingdom.

Kid-friendly Activity

• Read Luke 10:25-37 aloud. You might act it out (the story of the Samaritan). What risks did the priest and Levite avoid? What risks did the Samaritan take?
• Pair up kids with adults. Share about a kid you know who has a rough time behaving at school. Adults share with kids about a struggling kid you knew when you were younger. How could we as God’s followers help kids who are having a hard time?
• What would be hard about helping a kid who is having a hard time?