Posted by Chris on June 12, 2005 under Sermons
John the Baptist said that the one coming after him was more powerful. His ministry would do more than just preach – the preaching would change the world.
Just as John said, Jesus does come with a powerful message. He announced the kingdom rule of God. There’s a hole in the heavenly realm and God’s spirit is pouring through it onto earth. Things are going to change.
Jesus is calling us to change and to believe the good news. Of course he is more than just a messenger. Jesus is the Son of God. He is the one who teaches and preaches with a heavenly authority. Like the heir to the throne, when Jesus says it, it is done!
Read Mark 1:21-27
The situation and setting: It is the Sabbath in the synagogue. In a holy place at a holy time, evil is present. How long had this man possessed by the unclean spirit attended the synagogue? How long did he maintain the evil spirit – or find himself troubled by it?
Perhaps he went to the synagogue often and was never challenged or given relief by the teaching of the scribes and scholars. Instead of hearing a word with authority he sat through their debates and arguments: What cannot be done on the Sabbath day, when one should pray, how long ones robe should be, when to swear and when not to swear. In their attempt to be "biblical" they had lost sight of what it means to be godly. The scribes and scholars had become less interested in BIBLE and more interested in BARRIERS.
According to Mark, their teaching had no authority. Their teaching started with "When is it right to . . ." or "What do the great teachers say about . . ." and you never got a clear answer. They could apply the law to hundreds and thousands of specific situations – really exceptional situations and conditions. But they could not speak with authority. Why? Because there was always an exception or their answer on one subject would undermine their answer on another. When you are faced with this sort of complexity you take the best option which is "Better safe than sorry." In other words, do everything you can to avoid doing what is wrong. So, is healing on the Sabbath wrong? Well, you could help someone in an emergency on the Sabbath, but what if the sickness isn’t life-threatening? Well, perhaps we should just pray and wait until Sabbath is over – after all, we do not want to offend God and healing just might be considered work.
If you help a leper, do you become unclean? Well, it is right to help people. But it is also true that leprosy makes someone unclean before God and his holy things. You should try to find a way to help without being contaminated by the leprosy. It is a risk and you certainly shouldn’t help a leper on the Sabbath because it would be wrong to be unclean on the Sabbath and leprosy is not life-threatening.
Isn’t it blasphemy to claim that someone’s sins are forgiven? Oh of course. Only God can forgive sins and who are we to presume that he has forgiven any of us. I mean we just do not know. In fact we may have even committed a sin and we do not know it. Well, then why do we offer people cleansing or healing? Isn’t that sort of like forgiving their sins because sometimes their condition is a direct result of their sinfulness. Well, we should help but we probably ought to make it clear that our aid is no guarantee that God forgives them and maybe we ought to always say "May God forgive you – but don’t assume it."
Can you imagine how this man whose life was invaded by an ungodly spirit could not find any help from this sort of dialogue? How disappointing to think that a man with evil dwelling within him and making a wreck of his inner life can enter freely into a sacred time and sacred space and not be challenged by the word of God. It is so unauthoritative. As long as one doesn’t offend the "barriers" one can live an unchanged, unredeemed life.
Jesus has authority and the crowds are amazed at his teaching. Every word he spoke had the razor’s edge of the Holy Spirit. I am weary of commentators who say that Mark doesn’t give us the teaching of Jesus. Of course he does. He tells us in a nutshell what Jesus was teaching:
The Kingdom of God Is Near! In other words, God isn’t up there disinterested or waiting to be offended when we take a wrong step. He is not an old doddering fool that we can manipulate with words. His authoritative rule is busting through the barriers of heaven and earth and he is getting involved! You cannot contain him or cage him. He is breaking in and every other rule that sets itself up will have to give way for the way of the Lord.
Jesus’ authority is real. His teaching is not just ethical or conceptual. He heals sicknesses. Sicknesses that lead to death (Simon’s mother-in-law) and exclusion (the leper) And Jesus is concerned that the leper enter into community. He commands evil spirits because he is the one who is stronger than the evil one. He is the Holy One of God. And he has authority!
He even forgives sins and in doing so risks the charge of blasphemy. He does not pay attention to the barriers because he has authority. He has privilege. He has the master key. (How would we counsel Jesus? Take your time, change things slowly)
Repent and Believe the Good News! Before he ever displayed any power, they were amazed at the authority of his teaching. His message calls for a change in light of the good news being announced. It is a demanding word. If we believe the good news, then the response is to repent! When confronted with such authority, we cannot help but respond.
Repent: Not the old gloomy and frightening definition of repent. Jesus is not saying changing your ways or you will end up roasting in hellfire. Jesus is saying turn and experience something better than hell. This is a word of hope. It invites us to a new option and a new reality. Rend believe is an invitation to trust in the one with authority. We are not stuck forever living with the evil spirits. Now there is a new authority! We can repent and Be amazed! Be amazed by news – good news.
Mexico 1991: I don’t claim to be an expert on evil spirits. I have difficulty with stories about actual demons that haunt and possess people. It just doesn’t appeal to my scientific mindset. (A woman once told me that she was visited by a demon. He was a short squat figure that stood on the edge of her bed and counted backwards from 10 – that doesn’t sound like a demon. It sounds like a muppet.) Despite my scientific mind set I know it would be falling into the enemies hand if we decided that there was no such thing as evil and spirits. The devil’s greatest weapon is convincing us that he is not real. I don’t claim to understand how evil works, but I do know that it wrecks lives. My scientific mindset was challenged by the man I met on the streets of Mexico. He was hungry and wild eyed. He came up babbling in Spanish and asking for food. I was there with a mission group and our translator Sam and I began speaking to this man. When he found out we were Christians he began telling us his story. He went so fast that Sam couldn’t translate it all for me. Sam had a stunned look on his face. Then the man pulled up his sleeve to reveal a horrible scar that gouged his meaty arm from wrist to elbow. What is it Sam? I asked. "He says that he has been possessed by demons and he cut his arm open to release them but he is afraid they will return. What do I tell him?" Sam asks me.
Here I was two years into graduate studies. I knew Greek and the historical critical method. I had read sociological studies and missiological reports about animism and cultural beliefs. What do I say. What do we say? Oh, this is just mental illness. This is just cultural superstition. Maybe it is. And maybe the 12 inch scar on this man’s arm is a figment of my imagination.
Years later a young man selling magazines came to our church office in Texas. I could tell he was troubled so we sat in the hall and talked. He looked at me with eyes that were tinted with an angry gleam and he got a far away look on his face. As if his personality changed. Sometimes, he said, I just hate people. Sometimes I get the urge to load my pistol and turn on music and just shoot people. But I don’t want to. How do I make the feelings stop? What do I say? What do we say? Oh this is just the product of poor parenting. This is the failure of our school system. Maybe he needs counseling. Maybe he does. And none of that made me feel any safer if this scrawny kid had pulled a 9mm out his pocket right then.
However you describe these problems and explain them, they are part of the same thing – evil. I told the kid what I told Sam that night in Mexico. "Tell this man that Jesus is stronger!" Tell him that Jesus has authority. Tell him that Jesus is stronger and more powerful than any evil and not even death is more powerful than Christ! Sam told the man with the disfigured arm and he started to cry. We introduced him to God’s people in Mexico.
I will say to all of you what I said then and what John the Baptist proclaimed – Jesus is more powerful. Whatever power, unclean spirit, sociological development or cultural baggage has you in its grip – Jesus is more powerful. He is one who has authority. What ever illness or weakness tortures you makes your life unbearable – Jesus is more powerful. Listen to what he says – The Kingdom of Heaven is near! The rule of God overrules evil and death! Hear his invitation – Repent and believe the good news. Do you believe that he is able to handle what concerns you today? Then make a change.
Posted by David on June 5, 2005 under Sermons
I used to be a serious hunter–as much as my schedule would permit. As my life continued, I especially enjoyed deer hunting. The attraction was not in killing something. Had that been the attraction, I would have quit when I was a novice–the deer fooled or detected me far more often than I detected the deer.
The attraction was being in the woods. I loved the quiet. I loved the beauty. I loved seeing creatures that never saw me. Two of the most beautiful things I have ever witnessed are sunrise in the woods and sunset in the woods. I love to see God’s creation wake up and God’s creation go to sleep.
Once I was slipping, scouting, and just generally observing in some woods when I suddenly realized I did not know where I was. With the fear of being lost instantly came everything taking on a strange appearance. The familiar became unfamiliar. Immediately I had no clue about direction.
I was less than 50 yards from being out of the woods–and did not know it! I almost headed in the wrong direction, back deeper into the woods. When I came to a fence and instantly knew where I was, I marveled at how close I was to being out of the woods and how easily I could have gone deeper into the woods wandering aimlessly around. If I had made that mistake, I could have wandered a long, long time.
Getting back to where I started could have been a long, long journey–simply because I did not know where I was or where I was going.
This evening I want to make a simple comparison between the garden of Eden in Genesis 2 and the new Jerusalem in Revelation 21, 22.
I want to make a single point: it has been and is a long journey to get back to our beginning.
- I would like to begin by reading Genesis 2:7-9 and then 2:15-17.
Genesis 2:7-9 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. The Lord God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 2:15-17 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
- Let me call some things to your attention.
- God provided the human being he brought into existence with a home and placed him in that home.
- In that home there was beauty.
- In that home there was security–there was no need for fear.
- In that home there was no need–never was there anxiety of starving.
- In that home there was responsibility–Adam was cultivate and keep the garden (scripture does not say what was involved in doing that).
- There were also prohibitions: there were tragic consequences to eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
- In that early existence there was no knowledge of evil.
- Having the knowledge of evil was not a good thing.
- To understand evil only as it contrasts to good was a destructive understanding.
- People did not have to know evil to appreciate God.
- The foundation of evil is deception, deception about who you are, deception about what life is about, deception about God.
- Now read with me as I read Revelation 21:1-5; 21:10-14; 21:22-27; and 22:1-5.
Revelation 21:1-51 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
Revelation 21:10-14 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Revelation 21:22-27 I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Revelation 22:1-5 Then he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
- Again, let me call some things to your attention.
- Just as the garden of Eden, the new Jerusalem is God presented, not man made.
- Just as in the garden of Eden, there is no tabernacle or temple to represent God’s presence–God Himself manifest Himself there.
- Just as in the garden of Eden, there are no tears, no death, no grief, no pain.
- Just as the garden of Eden, the heavenly Jerusalem is beautiful.
- Just as the garden of Eden, the heavenly Jerusalem is totally secure–no harm can come there–it is so secure there is never a need to shut the gates.
- Its security and protection are built on the efforts of angels, of Israel, and of the apostles.
- It is a place of healing, a place of plenty of water and food, a place free from curses.
- I also want you to see the contrast between the garden of Eden and the new Jerusalem.
- In Eden people did not know how horrible evil was.
- In the heavenly Jerusalem those people know how horrible evil is.
- In Eden people did not know how great and deserving of praise God is.
- In heavenly Jerusalem those people know God’s greatness and praise worthiness.
- In Eden deception began because of poor human choice; in the heavenly Jerusalem, deception is destroyed through the efforts of a tireless, patient God — God reversed the problem we are responsible for.
- It will take a long, long time for a patient God to return us to our beginnings.
- If I asked each of us to make a list of all the things that would disappear if evil as defined by God disappeared, I suspect we could do it without difficulty.
- We could rattle off some things without even thinking.
- Divorce.
- Abuse.
- Every form of crime.
- Addictions to drugs and to alcohol.
- Pornography and all associated with pornography.
- War.
- Think with me a minute.
- Wonder how many industries would disappear if there was no evil? Would you regard that as good or bad?
- Wonder how many jobs would disappear if there was no evil? Would you regard that as good or bad?
- Wonder how ‘good business’ practices would change if there was no evil? Would you regard that as good or bad?
- Wonder how entertainment would change if there was no evil? Would you regard that as good or bad?
- Wonder how advertisement would change if there was no evil? Would you regard that as good or bad?
- Wonder how your daily life would change if there was no evil? Would you regard that as good or bad?
- My point: you and I have become so accustomed to living in a world of evil that we cannot imagine living in a world without evil as being a good thing.
- We would like for all evil to disappear that troubles our lives or the lives of persons we love.
- We are (at best) hesitant for any evil to disappear that would affect our existence in what we perceive as an adverse manner.
- So a patient God nudges us in the direction of an existence of no evil, and we often resist Him every step of the way.
- Read with me Ephesians 2:1-10.
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. 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), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Life without evil will be possible only:
- Because God loved us, not because we humored God.
- Because God is merciful, not because we are deserving.
- Because God did for us what we could never do for ourselves in Jesus Christ.
- Because God is rich in grace, not because we are rich in goodness.
- Because of God’s accomplishments, not because of our efforts.
Notice we are God’s workmanship. Notice we were created in Christ Jesus for good works. Notice those good works were NOT God’s afterthought.
The privilege of living in the new Jerusalem will mean we, by God’s mercy and grace, have come full circle. With patience, God led us back to a world without evil. The difference: (1) this time we know the horror of evil; (2) this time we understand the praiseworthiness of God.
Posted by Chris on under Sermons
Who is Jesus? What was he like? Was he serious and grim? Was he dashing and self-confident? Was he tall, short, or average? Do we think of him as child in a manger or crucified savior? Is he the suffering servant or the risen lord? Is he the worker of miracles or the teacher with authority? If we say all the above, then which is most important?
What does it mean to accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior when we have so many questions about who he is? What do we mean when we say he is the Son of God? What do we mean when we call him Lord?
Thomas Jefferson wanted to know the "real Jesus." Jefferson was concerned that the teaching of Jesus had been contaminated over the centuries by Christians who had buried the words of Jesus. The pollution of ancient cultures and superstitions drove these early Christians into "sophisticating and perverting the simple doctrines [Jesus] taught by engrafting on the mysticisms of a Grecian Sophist, frittering them into subtleties, and obscuring them with jargon, until they have caused good men to reject the whole in disgust, and to view Jesus himself as an imposter." [For the following information and outline I relied on Stephen Prothero, American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon, 2003.]
So, in the winter of 1804, President Thomas Jefferson sent off for two identical copies of the New Testament from a Philadelphia bookseller. He sat in his White House study, with his razor in hand, and began to set right what 18 centuries of Christian perversion had created. The finished product contained only a tenth of the original gospels. There is no account of the beginning and the end of the Gospel story. There is no story of the annunciation, the virgin birth or the appearance of the angels to the shepherds. The resurrection is not even mentioned.
Some call this the Jefferson Bible. It was actually titled "The Philosophy of Jesus" (1804). It was followed up 16 years later by "Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" (1820). Jefferson didn’t actually discover the "real Jesus." He simply polished the lens through which he viewed Jesus. Jefferson’s knew which sections to cut with his razor because he had already concluded that Jesus was a great Teacher of Common Sense. In his own words, Jefferson saw Jesus as: "a man, of illegitimate birth, of a benevolent heart, (and an) enthusiastic mind, who set out without pretensions of divinity, ended in believing them, and was punished capitally for sedition by being gibbeted according to the Roman law." Oddly, Jefferson’s Jesus, who was so focused on reason, philosophy, and common sense, bore a striking resemblance to Jefferson himself.
Of course there were those who focused on one aspect of Jesus and his story over all others before Jefferson. And in our own nation we have certainly done what Jefferson did many times. Perhaps most haven’t had the gall to edit the four gospels, but through our preaching, teaching, music and artwork we project a certain "type" of Jesus.
For instance, Thomas Jefferson’s ethical and moral teacher without passion or miracles did not suit everyone. In the mid-19th century, church leaders realized that church memberships were mostly made up of women. So, the image of Jesus that prevailed in preaching, songs, and artwork was a compassionate, touching Jesus. He is the sympathizing Jesus, the lowly Jesus. And of course women enjoy baby pictures so there was plenty of his sweet baby pics made into cards.
But by the late 19th century and the early 20th century, people had enough of Jesus’ feminine side. One commentator of the period said that the Jesus presented in the churches was a bearded lady. So the culture, under the influence of the likes of rough-riding Teddy Roosevelt, war reporter Wm Randolph Hearst, and cowboy artist Remington, began looking for a rugged Jesus: the Jesus who hammered nails and sawed wood in his dad’s shop, the Jesus who punched the lights out of thieves in the temple.
By the mid 20th century Jesus was showing all sides of his character and showed up just about everywhere. Warner Sallman was an advertising executive in the 1950’s. He was also a born-again Christian and he tried to depict a very human and real Jesus. This started a trend of depicting Jesus as a sort of "average Joe" Savior. Jesus stops by to talk to his pastor or stockbroker just like everyone else. When he comes by to see you at your office you happily want to introduce him to your clients. ("Jesus, this is Bob, he’s in accounting. Bob, this is Jesus, savior and creator of the universe.") Jesus is imagined as a good neighbor and he might be sharing a big fish story with his neighbor Joe on the way to pick up the morning paper. You just don’t know where Jesus will turn up! He might be leading a Scout troop or giving directions to wayward travelers looking for the way to the interstate. That Jesus, he’s just so friendly!
Of course this seemed a bit silly to some and like Jefferson they wanted a Jesus that made sense. In the 20th century a group of scholars started the Quest for the Historical Jesus and their work continues in the Jesus Seminar that strives to determine what the actual Jesus of history would have been like. They do have the gall, like Jefferson, to edit the New Testament. Yet, even those who don’t want to chuck out portions of the Holy Bible have an interest in historical reality. Recently some forensic experts and archeologists worked with the skull of a 1st century man in Palestine to create a model of what Jesus might have looked like. It was announced as astonishing that Jesus was probably a very Semitic looking man. Well that makes sense, but throughout the ages, artists, poets and preachers have not been stopped from depicting Jesus with their own racial and cultural features. Jesus has been portrayed as Asian, African, and quite often as a blue-eyed European.
But Jesus shouldn’t be reduced to a single race or nationality. Some want Jesus to be bigger than life. And so in the late 20th century and early 21st century our consumer, market-driven culture has made Jesus a celebrity- or a rather flexible commodity. Jesus will make special appearances and endorse your cause. His image has appeared in a PETA ad campaign. He has his own chain of gymnasiums – really. He has at least two Broadway musicals in which he is the star (Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell). He has action figures and cartoons. He has been on Time and Newsweek. And yes, Jesus is proud to be an American – in America of course.
There’s not just one single Jesus anymore – now you too can have your own personal Jesus … someone to say he cares, someone to answer your prayers. Just reach out and he’s there. Do you like to play softball? Guess what, so does Jesus? He is always around. He sees you when you’re sleeping. He knows when you’re awake. He just wants to be your Jesus.
Yes, we have many lenses through which we choose to see Jesus. Everyone does some of this, not just liberals and progressives. Conservatives do too. Even if we say that we should look to the Bible and the whole Bible, we may have a tendency to emphasize some stories and scenes over others. Some pay attention to the stories of his birth, and others to his teachings. And others focus on the miracles. Some are glad to know that he went to a wedding. Others place a lot of weight on the fact that he dealt out serious hurt to the money changers who were walking on his fighting side. Even if just limit the story down to the gospel, some have a tendency to focus on the death and crucifixion and others rush right to the resurrection.
Even in the first century, Jesus was misunderstood. Not just by his enemies, but also by his disciples. They had preconceived notions of "the Christ." And those lenses and filters kept them from hearing and seeing Who Jesus Is. Even after his death, burial, and resurrection, a generation came along with their own set of lenses and filters. The Gospel of Mark was written as a message to open our eyes and ears and confront us with Jesus. In Mark, Jesus asks us "Who do you say I am?" and tests us to live out our answer to this question. In Mark, we are called once again to follow Jesus … Read Mark 1:1-12
John’s Message
- The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. Jesus is one who is greater and more powerful than John. He isn’t just the messenger who prepares the way for the arrival of the Lord. He is the Lord.
- I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit." – John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, but Jesus’ baptism is effective. It is more than just a symbol or sign – it participates in the reality of forgiveness. Jesus is one who is greater and more powerful than John. His forgiveness and his baptism in the Holy Spirit creates the reality that John’s baptism prepares for.
God’s Message
- Jesus saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
- And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased." He is the Son of God.
Conclusion – The legacy of Thomas Jefferson’s pick-and-choose attitude toward Jesus, which many have followed, is that we can all have Jesus as our own personal Jesus; Jesus is friend to all, but lord of none. That’s not the Jesus John preached. That’s not what God the father declared when Jesus was baptized. Who is Jesus? He is the one who is greater than us. He is the one who changes us with the power of the Spirit – the Spirit given him by God. Jesus is the Son of God and has all the authority that title confers. This is just the beginning of the Good News of Jesus Christ. May God help us and open our eyes and ears so we may truly know Jesus Christ the Son of God.
Posted by Chris on May 29, 2005 under Sermons
Israel had sued God. They had taken Him to court. As is common with such breakdowns in arelationship, they dredged the past and brought a lot of old garbage to the surface …
Lord, where were you when the Edomites profited from our exile?
Lord, why haven’t you done anything about them?
Lord, you always say you are for righteousness and justice, but you really are not!
Lord, you said you would provide for us and protect us, but you don’t seem to be doing it!
Lord, we come to worship to give you what you have asked, but you never seem happy with it!
Lord, we might as well do what’s wrong because doing what’s right doesn’t seem to be any good!
Why don’t you keep your promises God? Why don’t you love us anymore?
God goes to trial and makes His defense. He has His own perspective on the matter.
I love you and I always have!
You have despised and dishonored me with your half-hearted, apathetic worship!
I am tired of your “by-the-book, rule-keeping” attitude when you really don’t care about me atall!
I am tired of you giving me your leftovers and your excess and walking away from worship proudof what you have done for me!
I am tired of you claiming that you are my people and talking about the privilege of knowing thetruth when you don’t live by it!
I have had it with the way you break your promises with one another so easily. I have had it withthe way you mistreat one another and betray each other!
I am so tired of the way you use words to excuse your motives and your actions! I am tired ofthe way you try to redefine what’s right and wrong so you can do what you want to do instead oftrusting in me!
I am tired of the way you claim everyone else does what you do but you won’t own up to ityourselves!
I love you and I always have, and it hurts me that you claim I haven’t!
And that’s how the trial with God has gone. God ended the trial and assumed the role of judge. He passed sentence: God’s people need to return to him. But how do you do that with all thisslimy, smelly garbage dredged up from the past and it fills the room?
Have you ever had one of those arguments that seems to leave an indelible mark on therelationship? You know the sort. Some word is used that can never be forgotten. A mistake ofthe past is brought up like case law to justify lack of trust. Old hurts are taken out of the damp,moldy box they have been stored in for just a time as this. Cruel jokes or unkind statementsbecome shields that protect us in our fear of being disappointed.
These sort of arguments that dredge up the past leave the room filled a silence in which wewonder if the relationship can ever be repaired. The unspoken question is “Well now what?” You know these arguments. They happen in friendships, in marriages, in the workplace, inchurches, and even among nations.
What do you do with the past that has been dredged up?
God takes the first step at reconciliation and restoration. He has faith that a better day is coming. He ought to, because it is they day he is working toward – the day of the Lord … Read Malachi 4
All through the preaching of the prophets, the day of the Lord is spoken of as great and glorious. It is a day to be feared and hoped for at the same time. On the day of the Lord, justice will prevail… “For the day of the Lord is near against all the nations. As you have done, it shall be done toyou; your deeds shall return on your own head.” – Obadiah 1:15 The day of the Lord is the turnof the ages. The age of corruption is burned up and the new age of righteousness begins.
For the wicked and evildoers who prefer the cover of night, it is the end of their rule. For thosewho welcome the dawn of the sunshine of righteousness, the day is the beginning of the world asit is supposed to be.
And for God, burning up the wicked isn’t as easy as scraping off old wallpaper … The destructionof the age of wickedness and corruption means that some of the people God loves who haveinvested themselves in the darkness are going to perish with it. Like a tree that is completelyremoved by a wildfire – neither root nor branch is left. It will be as if they never existed. Therewill be no future for the wicked in the home of righteousness, and there will not be a past todredge up.
God wants his children, all of them, to withstand the day of the Lord. He wants them to havedeep roots and strong branches. He wants to provide past and future for them.
Past – Remember the teaching of Moses. The commands and the law are a source of orientation. We have a great tradition of faith that nurtures us. They are deep roots that feed us and nurtureus and will nurture generations to follow. The speaker at the seminar I recently attended said hesat in a class and the speaker said “Forget everything you learned in Sunday school.” Heapproached her and said, “You didn’t really mean that, did you.” We don’t really mean it when wesay we need to chuck out the past and start over again, do we. We have learned some greatthings in Sunday school and when we were young. We have learned some important things fromour past – not just our past but THE past. We learn that God loves us, that Jesus is the Son ofGod, the Holy Spirit gives life and gifts for living to the people of God, that the church is thewitness of God is doing on earth. Where did we come up with this? When did we come up withit? This comes from a tradition of 2000 years, some of it even older than that. We dare notdispose of the past or tradition! It is our root system.
But when people say forget everything you learned in Sunday school, they do not mean tradition,they mean traditionalism. They mean the dead faith of living people, not the living faith of deadpeople. Traditionalism is the encrusted cake of ideals that cries out “The Old Paths are best” butinstead of walking the old paths into the future, they call a little cul-de-sac the Old Paths and theywalk around in a circle. That’s not the Old Paths; that is the Old Rest Home. The Old Pathscontinue into the future. The ancient commands are made new everyday by the mercy and love ofGod.
Notice that God calls up another figure from history – Elijah. Elijah is the prophet of prophets inIsrael’s memory. The prophet keeps the law of Moses from becoming old and tired. He brings itto life for each generation. Even in our time, we cannot rest lazily on the work of theRestorationists or of a generation ago. Every generation has the need to live out the word of God- right here and right now. We can look back and see what our parents did in their generation, orwhat the pioneers did 200 years ago, we can see what the first century church did and what Israeldid. But they will ask us, like good witnesses, now what will you do?
God is sending a messenger so that his people will be aroused from the idea that God did nothingmore than leave us a book. God is not interested in building a “by-the-book” bureaucracy. Hedesires a family in which the parents and the children, every generation, is connected with aheartfelt faith that keeps alive the message of the messenger.
This is the hope for the future that God gives us after the past has been dredged up. The day ofthe Lord is yet to come, but the messenger has arrived. If the folks who put the books of theBible together in their current order had been paying attention, the first gospel would be Mark,not Matthew. Mark’s gospel opens where the last book of the Old Testament leaves off … “See, Iam sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying outin the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight,’ “
The messenger, the Elijah, was John the Baptist and his message was about the one who cameafter him, Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh come to save us, but also to form a relationship with us. We are called to know Jesus (not just know about him, but know him). Jesus, the Son of God,can turn our hearts back to our heavenly Father as he himself is the turning of Father God’s heartto his children.
Posted by David on May 22, 2005 under Sermons
Read Matthew 8:5-12.
One of the hardest, most demanding challenges in life is to love another person. Love opposes selfishness, arrogance, pride, and self-centered existence. Love champions kindness, placing self second, valuing someone else more the you value yourself, and service. We Americans often find love extremely challenging.
The more an adult child differs from Mom or Dad’s values, the more obvious the demands of love become. Quickly we learn we can love the child and reject the values.
One of the hardest, most demanding challenges among Christians is to love another Christian who differs from you. Among Christians, love makes our personal selfishness very evident. Love makes our personal arrogance very evident. Love makes our personal pride very evident. Love makes our personal self-centered existence very evident. When we need to be kind, caring, encouraging, and to value a Christian with whom we disagree, love becomes extremely challenging.
The more Christians differ with each other, the more the demands of love become evident. Quickly we learn (or need to learn!) that we can disagree significantly, but still love each other.
As a companion reading to Matthew 8:5-12 that we read at the opening of our assembly, I want us to read together John 10:7-16.
So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd.”
- Several times Jesus declared plainly that simply being an Israelite was not enough to make a person a part of God’s kingdom.
- Often those statements slide by us because we are not first century Jews.
- I seriously doubt that Jesus’ statements slide by his Jewish audiences.
- On several occasions, like the limited commission in Matthew 10, he referred to the first century Jewish people as “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
- In the two readings we shared this evening, Jesus said:
- A gentile Roman solder demonstrated more faith than he has seen in anyone in Israel.
- Non-Jews would come from all over the world to share the eternal feast (their understanding of what we refer to as heaven) with the Jewish forefathers while those Jewish people would be rejected.
- He had sheep who were not Israelites that he would bring to himself.
- If you would like to get a “taste” of what Jesus said, consider this.
- That is like Jesus saying to us that he has seen more faith in a Muslim than in any member of the Church of Christ he has met.
- That is like Jesus saying to us that people from denominations will enter heaven, but the Church of Christ will be rejected.
- That is like Jesus saying that he has disciples who never heard of the Church of Christ that he will bring to himself.
- Do you think statements like that would slip by you?
- Absolutely not–that would get our attention fast!
- Those statements got Israel’s attention fast, also.
- How would you like for Jesus to refer to us as the lost people or say he found more faith among the people that we say have questionable spirituality than he ever found in us?
- Those Israelites were not stupid!
- When Jesus made statements like that, the statements either infuriated prominent people or confused many people.
- We should not have any problem understanding that!
- Those Jews could say (and likely did), does not scripture say, “God used His strong arm to deliver our forefathers from slavery in Egypt.”
- They could say (and likely did), does not scripture say, “God sustained our forefathers in the wilderness.”
- They could say (and likely did), does not scripture say, “God gave our forefathers this land.”
- They could say (and likely did), does not scripture call this nation the people of God?
- In Jesus’ declarations what he said in these matters simply did not make sense to them.
- Israel was synonymous with spirituality!
- God delivered them!
- God gave them the written scripture!
- God sent them the prophets!
- God called them the people of God!
- They were the people God promised Abraham!
- Surely some of their forefathers made horrible mistakes, but they had corrected the mistakes.
- They knew the right God!
- They belonged to the living God!
- God is going to take people who are not Jews into heaven and leave first century Israel out?
- That cannot be right!
- In fact, that idea is just plain stupid!
- Jesus simply does not know what he is talking about in these matters!
- It was the unquestioned understanding, “God loves us best! God loves us too much to save people who are not Jews! God could never reject us! Look who we are! Look at our history!”
- They had thought for so long that they were God’s people that they could not think any other way.
- Yet, what Jesus told them was the truth.
- However, they were certain it was not the truth.
- Their problem: they placed their confidence in “who we are” and in their ancestry, not in the fact they followed God’s will and purposes.
- If we are not extremely careful, we can duplicate their problem: we can place our trust in our identity and our association with the American restoration movement.
- I hope you can see clearly one of the mistakes first century Israel made, and see how they were out-of-step with God’s purposes first promised to Abraham, “And in you all families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3)
- I want to challenge you to think with me.
- I have been preaching and teaching for over 50 years.
- In that time I have seen and experienced a lot of changes in the church.
- Most of these changes have been neither good nor bad.
- They have just been changes.
- Without doubt one of the biggest challenges I have faced in all the changes is learning that there are many different ways to learn, many different ways to spiritually develop–not everyone learns and grows in the same way!
- For example, when I began preaching, in my area most church buildings were just one room.
- There was no education department.
- There were no class rooms.
- There were no youth furnishings.
- In my home congregation, for a long time we divided everyone into three groups: adults up front, grades 1 through 6 in one back corner, and grades 7 through 12 in the other back corner.
- In contrast, it took me 3 months to learn my way around this building, and I may not have been to every room yet.
- With all that has changed, what is the goal?
- Why do we have class rooms? Youth programs? Teaching aids? Classes for age groups?
- Is it just to have them? Or to have a sizable building? Or to keep up with other religious groups? No!
- The purpose is spiritual growth.
- If a 7th grader was in a 1st grade class, he would be and should be bored.
- If a 1st grader was in a 7th graders class, he would be and should be mystified.
- No matter what the age, the goal is the same–spiritual growth and development.
- We are a congregation with lots of diversity.
- We have people with all kinds of religious and social backgrounds.
- We face all kinds of challenges each week.
- We face all kinds of temptations each week.
- Some by necessity work in environments that pretty well beat them up every week.
- When we assemble on Wednesday nights, several things occur simultaneously.
- In the Family Life Center, “Peak of the Week” meets–it is a singing, praying, discussion-oriented group.
- A large class meets in this room–it is a text centered class that is mostly lecture with some interaction.
- Typically there is an adult class upstairs–I think Gary Brown is leading that class this quarter on the Holy Spirit; it usually is a subject study.
- The youth group meets to address the challenges of teenagers today.
- The college group meets to address the challenges of the college student today.
- And it is all okay–we just want teens and adults to be somewhere that encourages them to grow and spiritually develop.
- We want the same thing to happen on Sunday evening.
- For the summer months, some of the small groups will combine here at the building and continue their discussion study until the fall.
- We will continue here in the auditorium to have a lecture focused on the text.
- Kids for Christ will continue to meet upstairs.
- The youth group will continue its classes and focus.
- The college group will continue its classes and focus.
- And it is okay–because the objective is spiritual development.
- Where people go is their choice.
- We just want everyone to go somewhere!
- It is not a matter of acceptance or rejection–it is a matter of growth!
- It is not a matter of faithfulness or unfaithfulness–it is a matter of spiritual development.
- Do not measure people by your personal preferences; encourage everyone to grow.
- Being diverse is okay! Encourage! Accept the challenge to love!
I want to issue a challenge to all of us. When we conclude on Sunday evening, do not rush off. Do not see how quickly you can leave. Circulate! Meet and talk in the foyer and halls. Meet and talk in the family life center! Make it your goal to help everyone feel loved, appreciated, and a part!
As we see people growing closer to God, rejoice! If you are growing closer to God, I am not going to complain!
Posted by David on May 15, 2005 under Sermons
This evening I want to attempt to do something that is quite difficult for the situation and for a thirty-minute presentation.
I need your help. I want you to stay with me, and I want you to think. I do not want your thinking to stop when we finish this lesson. I want you to think about this for at least several days.
I fully realize what I share with you this evening is an overview. In may ways it is an oversimplification. Hopefully, it is an accurate concept and continuum.
Let me begin by sharing a perspective. I think many in this audience know the basic Bible stories. However, I also think that we often have failed to connect the Bible stories we know to the overall story of the entire Bible.
Let me try to illustrate the problem and the need. I am not going to ask you to say anything, or share anything, or take a test. I just want you to raise your hand.
- Everyone who thinks you could tell the story of Adam and Eve, raise your hand. (Thanks!)
- Everyone who thinks you could tell the story of Cain and Abel raise your hand. (Thanks!)
- Everyone who thinks you could tell the story of the flood raise your hand. (Thanks!)
- Everyone who thinks you could tell the story of how the nation of Israel came from Abraham, raise your hand. (Thanks!)
Many of us could tell those stories. Now let me ask you more difficult questions. DO NOT raise your hands–just think seriously to yourself.
- How does the story about Adam and Eve connect to what God did in the cross of Jesus? Is there any connection? If there is, what is it?
- How does the story about Cain and Abel connect to God’s actions in the cross of Jesus? Is there any connection? If there is, what is it?
- How does the story of the flood connect to Jesus’ cross? Is there a connection? If there is a connection, what is it?
- What is the connection between the formation of the nation of Israel and Jesus’ cross? Is there any connection? If there is, what is it?
- I want to begin by giving you a real simple overview slide.
- There are two purposes to this simple overview slide.
- The first is to give you some idea of where we are going in the next few minutes.
- The second is to call your attention to the fact there is no change in God; we have the problem that needs fixing, not God. God is the same – from creation to the cross to the judgment.
- Let’s start where the Bible starts–with the creation, with the declaration that God is the origin of all things.
Genesis 1:31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.
- I have no idea of how long Adam and Eve lived in the ideal circumstances of the Garden of Eden.
- Genesis does not say.
- How long they were there is not really the point–the point is that there was a period when everything was ideal and human life dealt with nothing evil.
- However, when Adam and Eve were deceived by temptation and rebelled against God, everything changed immediately.
- Adam and Eve no longer could live an ideal existence.
- Their rebellion produced profound consequences.
- Their act did not merely destroy their relationship with God–their rebellion perverted God’s good creation.
- I do not know how many children Adam and Eve had–Genesis does not say.
- It just tells us that Cain, Abel, and Seth were three of them, and were quite significant in human history.
- In less than one generation people went from total good to murder!
- Seth is both the person and the symbol of people who were sensitive to God and wanted to listen to God.
- Cain is both the person and the symbol of people who wanted nothing to do with God.
- There was a group of people who were sensitive to God until the group intermarried with people who wanted nothing to do with God.
- After the intermarriage, the decline into the pits of evil continued until there was complete evil and the absence of good.
Genesis 6:5,6 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
- The flood occurred because God, Who is filled with grace and mercy, wanted to begin again with people who would listen to Him.
- It did not work.
- Nothing short of God sacrificing His own son would work.
- So God began preparing to send His son well over a thousand years (perhaps 2000 years!) before Jesus came to be the Messiah, the Christ.
- God began with these promises made to the man Abraham.
Genesis 12:1-3 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
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God started with the childless Abraham and brought into existence the nation of Israel by giving Abraham and Sarah a child named Isaac, the child of the promise.
- But the nation of Israel was a constant disappointment to God from the moment He secured their freedom from slavery.
- With the exception of the leadership and time of Joshua, the people of Israel struggled with two problems:
- Problem one: they gave credit for God’s acts to nonexistent gods, or idolatry.
- Problem two: they placed their confidence in their identity and traditions instead of placing their confidence in God and His purposes.
- With all God did for that people, things went from bad to worse.
- The Assyrian captivity did not end the problem.
- The Babylonian captivity did not end the problem.
- Yet, incredibly, God persisted.
- With all the discouragement and failures in Israel, God still sent the Messiah (Christ).
- God still provided all people [just as He promised Abraham] with a choice.
- The choice: continue the decline into the pits of evil or direct yourselves toward God’s acceptance in judgment.
- God could provide the world that choice because of what He accomplished in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
- Only because of what God did in Jesus Christ could the world be given a choice.
- Our salvation has never been based on humanity’s goodness.
- Our salvation always has been based on God’s goodness expressed in His mercy and grace.
John 1:17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.
- We must grasp and cling to a basic understanding.
- Grace and mercy are available to us in a form that will produce salvation because of what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
- Only because of what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection do people have a choice.
- Never should we be so deceived or so arrogant as to think that we can [through our own efforts] return to the goodness that existed when God created.
- Our goal is simple: we seek God’s acceptance in judgment.
- However, that can only happen because we accept God’s mercy and grace.
- It is only because of the death and resurrection of Jesus that we can choose to redirect our lives.
- Because of Jesus Christ we can be saved, but because of our sinfulness and weakness we can never be good.
- Left to ourselves, we plunge deeper and deeper into evil–and often do not even realize it!
- I want you to listen carefully to a statement made by the author of Hebrews in the last of Hebrews 7 and the first 12 verses of Hebrews 8.
- The statement is based on a comparison of the Jewish high priest and our high priest, Jesus Christ.
- The work of a high priest was to do two things:
- The first: to represent the people before God.
- The second: to offer a sacrifice for the forgiveness of the people he represents.
- Read with me, and listen with your heart as we focus on Hebrews 7:26 through 8:12.
For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever. Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. For finding fault with them, He says, “Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, When I will effect a new covenant With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah; Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers On the day when I took them by the hand To lead them out of the land of Egypt; For they did not continue in My covenant, And I did not care for them, says the Lord. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, And everyone his brother, saying, `Know the Lord,’ For all will know Me, From the least to the greatest of them. “For I will be merciful to their iniquities, And I will remember their sins no more.”
The Bible is not a comprehensive declaration of all God did in ages past. It is the record of how the God of goodness would not allow human failure to destroy His purpose. It is a record of how the good God with great determination and sacrifice restored our choice. It is the record of how the good God who created all things good will return all who follow Him to that goodness.
Do not place your confidence in our religious identity. Place your confidence in the God who gave us Jesus as a Savior.
Posted by Chris on under Sermons
Last week a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette called me to ask if I ever thought about the words and phrases we use in the church. She wanted to know if I struggled to communicate when some of the language we use as the church seems like religious jargon. (The article was published in the May 14, 2005, issue of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette religion section).
I welcomed this conversation because it is something I have thought about for quite some time. The words we use and the way we define things matters. This isn’t just hairsplitting or quibbling over semantics; I do not mean the clever word-smithing or doublespeak of politicians. What I am talking about is something we all experience – words shape reality. They become ways of forming community and relationship. Naming things is important. Words that once meant one thing now mean something completely different. Words like "gay and queer" were once very common words but now they have a very specific meaning and the way they are used may define how one stands on the issue of homosexuality. Naming things is important and words create relationships. In the military, there are proper and improper ways to speak to one’s superior officer given the circumstances. Why? Words create relationships. They shape reality. Polls show that many Americans, an overwhelming majority in fact, believe in God. But what do they mean by God? Some may ask, "Does it matter?" Considering that God tells Moses that his name is "I AM," meaning that he defines himself, I would say it does matter.
Words are very important. We have the ability to use words the way God does. We have the ability to learn the Lord’s language. Or we can wear God out with our words. This is the charge that Malachi lays upon the people of Judah during their court case with God … Read Malachi 2:17 – 3:15
They have wearied the Lord with words. They have changed the "terms" of their relationship with God. Terms – in the sense of words! God is too nice to judge. God is not paying attention to evil and those who do what is wrong get away with it so there really is no point to doing what is right. Maybe what we have called "wrong" really is "alright" and maybe what we have called "right" is really "too strict." They have changed the terms. They are renaming things and reshaping reality on their terms – but not God’s terms.
"Yes, I’m on my way to visit you with Judgment. I’ll present compelling evidence against sorcerers, adulterers, liars, those who exploit workers, those who take advantage of widows and orphans, those who are inhospitable to the homeless-anyone and everyone who doesn’t honor me." God will use his words. He will announce his terms. He will speak up and be a witness. Those who engage in sorcery will hear God’s terms. Those who are involved in adultery will hear God’s terms. Those who lie and those who oppress the poor and their own workers will hear God’s terms.
But before that happens, God is going to send them a speech therapist. He is going to send them a translator. God is going to send a messenger who will teach the people God’s terms. It will be a process of purification and refinement. It will be hard, but if God arrives before they are ready then none of them will be able to stand up to the test.
God is now appealing the Case on behalf of Israel. He has moved from defendant to prosecutor to judge but now he becomes defense advocate. God the judge is withholding the sentencing to give the people time to change. He wants to delay so that they will return to him and learn how to speak of the world as he does. He wants to give them time to cease their sorcery and adultery and to reverse their oppression. 3:6 For I the LORD do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, have not perished. 7Ever since the days of your ancestors you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. But you say, "How shall we return?
Purification and Preparation – Isn’t this the question before us also? Isn’t this question before our culture?
- We don’t have too many sorcerers, but we do have our own techniques of gaining control. Sorcery and magic were ancient methods of influence with words. Think about the ways we try to influence others. We place our hope and trust in these methods of influence. And we justify doing so by changing the terms. How do we describe a successful person? With whose terms? We use words like secular to describe our finances and politics. Why are we doing that? Do we trust in God or do we depend on our party being in power or our business succeeding at any cost? Like the sorcery of ancient times, we have our science, wisdom, influence and resources that we like to control and we need to be careful that we do not rely on the language and the reality created by these words instead of learning God’s terms. Have we wearied God with our use of words?
- Perhaps adultery is more common to us. But how do we define it? How do we define all immorality? Do we look for strict definitions so that we can create loopholes? Pornography isn’t sinful, some say, it is just natural and normal. (Perhaps an initial curiosity is understandable, especially among the young; but a continued engagement isn’t). Really? How did Jesus define adultery? (Matthew 5) According to Jesus, isn’t adultery also a matter of the eyes and the heart and not just the reproductive organs? In our age we have defined sexual immorality with such strict definitions and particular words so that we excuse certain forms of physical behavior. Some say, "It isn’t really sex if we don’t take it to a certain physical level." Have we wearied God with our abuse of words?
- Consider how oppression takes place. Words are used to justify it. We choose to believe certain things about the poor and the weak so we can insulate ourselves from their world. There was a time in this nation when slavery was declared to be God’s will. The segregation of the church along racial and economic lines is still justified because of the way we use words. "Some people prefer church with their own kind." What does that mean? In Christ Jesus there is only one kind! One kindred people! (Galatians 3:28) Pay attention to the terms we use and pay attention to the language we are using – is it God’s language that creates our reality and relationships? Or is it our own corrupted language?" Have we wearied God with our abuse of words?
Returning to God – Learning the Lord’s Language (Living with God’s Terms)
Let’s be honest before God, living in a culture that is good at warping words it is easy to find ourselves speaking our own language and living on our own terms. That’s when we have to ask, "How do we return to God so he might return to us?" The simple answer is we need to trust in God and keep our covenant with him.
God called upon Israel to stop robbing him. They were withholding their tithes. Why? Because they didn’t trust him! They wanted to manage their resources on their terms. Notice that the people have said harsh things about God because to them keeping the covenant is all a matter of profit and gain. (3:14) What’s in it for us? Why serve God? It really seems like a waste of time because the people who really succeed are the proud, the arrogant, and the rich.
It is in the simple things that we return to God. That’s how we practice trust and covenant. How do we regard our resources? Even if we give 10% how do we use the 90%? Do we view that as the Lord’s money, (one of our church terms) or is the Lord’s money just the allowance we give him each week? How do we view our faith? How do we talk about it? Is it a means to an end for our spiritual life? Or is it all a part of who we are?
God Taking Names – Read Malachi 3:16-18
Here is hope at the end of this difficult trial when God was sued by the people he loves. Some of them listen to hims and try to imagine a new way. They love to think about God and the respect his covenant.
God takes down their names and then he names the people in the book. "They are mine!" he says. "These are my kids!" And that makes a difference. Words shape reality and create relationships. How you name things matters. And God is going to show us how that is done.
The article in the newspaper ended on a good note. I people will pay attention to it. I was talking with the writer about the fundamental teaching of the Scriptures that God creates the universe with words. It is a very important teaching and it is unique in creation stories. Here’s what I said: "God speaks and that sets the creation story apart. He allows man to name creations. And in naming them, we define them. We have this gift of speech and language and it is not unimportant."
Of all creatures in creation we are they only ones who use words in that way we share in Gods’ creative power. According to the traditional church calendar, today is the day of Pentecost. On the Pentecost Sunday after Jesus resurrection and ascension to heaven, God’s spirit enabled his messengers to speak and to be understood by the crowds in the temple. The miracle of Pentecost is not that the apostles spoke in tongues – it is that the people understood the word they were preaching. Instead of confusion, there was clarity and the world was learning to speak the Lord’s language. This is the dawning of the day that Malachi anticipates.
So, will we weary God with our abuse of words or will we learn to praise Him with our words/mouths? Will we let His spirit teach us how to use words and to name things and how to create relationships on God’s terms? Everything else in the universe speaks on God’s terms and praises Him. Can we, the creatures who use words, praise Him?
Posted by David on May 8, 2005 under Sermons
I want to begin by asking you to take a Bible and turn with me to two texts.
First I ask you to turn to Matthew 11:20-24.
Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles had occurred in Tyre and Sidon which occurred in you, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. Nevertheless I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. Nevertheless I say to you that it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for you.”
- Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum are Jewish cities.
- Tyre and Sidon are gentile cities noted for ancient idolatry.
- Sodom was a symbol of ungodliness and sexual immorality.
Now turn to Matthew 23:37-39.
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ “
- Jesus could not do what he wanted to do–the Jewish people in the Jewish capitol would not let him!
- The people of Jerusalem would endure the consequences of refusing to allow Jesus to deliver them.
Think very carefully about those two statements Jesus made. I want you to answer one question:
Why do you think Jesus made these two statements?
- May I suggest to you that in both statements Jesus is grieved by bitter personal disappointment.
- Jesus knew what would happen to the people of Israel because they rejected him.
- No, not every person in Israel rejected him.
- However, the greater majority did.
- They were going to suffer as a result of that rejection, and Jesus knew they would.
- Jesus did not speculate they would.
- Jesus’ statement was not a matter of conjecture.
- Jesus fully understood the consequences of their rejection.
- Let me ask you some questions I want you to answer silently in your minds.
- Did God with ten powerful acts rescue the ancestors of these Israelites from Egyptian slavery? [Absolutely!]
- Did God preserve these people’s ancestors in the wilderness? [Absolutely!]
- Did God give these people Canaan to be their homeland? [Absolutely!]
- Did these people have a correct understanding of who the creating, living God was? [Absolutely!]
- Did God give these people His written word? [Absolutely!]
- Did God send His prophets to these people? [Absolutely!]
- Did God promise to send His Messiah to and through these people? [Absolutely!]
- Did these people expect God’s Messiah to come to them? [Absolutely!]
- Now let me ask you to consider some statements made about Jesus’ ministry.
- Matthew 4:17 From that time [the beginning of Jesus’ ministry] Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
- 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.”
- Luke 4:42,43 When day came, Jesus left and went to a secluded place; and the crowds were searching for Him, and came to Him and tried to keep Him from going away from them. But He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”
- John 3:1-3 Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
- Now I want you to answer a question by raising your hand.
- The question: “Would it be better for these people to be a citizen in the kingdom of God than for them to be a citizen in the nation of Israel?”
- All of you who think it would have been a step forward for the Jewish people to be citizens in the kingdom of God, raise your hand.
- Did these Jewish people think being a citizen in God’s kingdom that Jesus spoke about was a step forward?
- No!
- In fact, they thought the first and essential step in being in God’s kingdom was being accepted into the nation of Israel. To the vast majority of those people it was unthinkable that a person could be part of God’s kingdom and not be a part of Israel!
- Repent? They did not have anything to repent of–they were God’s people!
- Jesus’ teachings were different to anything they ever heard.
- What Jesus declared was not at all what they expected the Messiah to say.
- What Jesus taught simply did not meet their expectations!
- There was no way Jesus represented what God had in mind when He promised them a Messiah!
- These are the points I want you to think about.
- Because Jesus was not what they expected, they refused to listen to him.
- Because they refused to listen to Jesus, they missed the will of God.
- Because they missed the will of God, they brought great consequences on themselves.
- What Jesus taught would bring them great blessing, but they refused to believe that Jesus’ teachings represented spiritual progress.
- Because they rejected Jesus, Jesus could not help them.
- That rejection grieved Jesus because Jesus deeply cared about them.
- May I ask you a question that I just want you to think about?
- The question: “Why is it that we think [without doubt] it would be the progress of advancement for others to move close to an understanding of Jesus’ teachings and God’s kingdom, but it would be failure for us to move in any direction?”
- Do you think you totally understand and comprehend God’s mind? Then why would it be failure to move closer to God’s thinking?
- Do you fully comprehend God’s mercy and grace? Then why would it be failure to move closer to an understanding of God’s mercy and grace?
- Do you fully know all God accomplished in Jesus’ death and resurrection? Then why would it be failure to move closer to the knowledge of what God did in Jesus’ death and resurrection?
- If moving closer to Jesus Christ’s teachings destroyed your fear and anxiety, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?
- If understanding God’s love for you destroyed your fear and anxiety, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?
- May I anticipate a common response?
- A common response: “All my life I have heard and been taught that we must defend the faith.”
- Let me share with you what I have learned [often the hard way] about “defending” the faith.
- The more concerned we become about “defending the faith,” the less concerned we become about “sharing the faith.”
- The more concerned we become about “defending the faith,” the more exclusive we become in our fellowship.
- The more concerned we become about “defending the faith,” the less concerned we become about God’s priorities.
- The more concerned we become about “defending the faith,” the more we justify our ungodly acts against other baptized believers.
- Why? Defending:
- Is too often more about our history than our God.
- Is too often more about our preferences than our Savior.
- Is too often more about a cherished theological system than the will of God.
- May I make a suggestion?
- Our concern does not need to be focused on defending, but on pursuing.
- “Pursuing what?”
- A fuller understanding of the Bible.
- A fuller understanding of God’s purposes in Jesus.
- A fuller understanding of God’s mercy and grace.
- A fuller understanding of repentance.
- A fuller understanding of discipleship and service.
- Coming closer to God is a good thing–evil is not the product of closeness to God!
- If we are truly Christ’s church, we must be the center of hope for distressed people.
- Abused people should find hope in what we pursue in Jesus Christ.
- Addicted people should find hope in what we pursue in Jesus Christ.
- People consumed with and burdened with guilt should find hope in what we pursue in Jesus Christ.
- The gospel is not for people who think they have everything right and need nothing; the gospel is for people who know they have blown it and need a Savior.
- The whole point of baptism is a new birth, an opportunity to start over, to begin again.
The voice of the gospel is not, “Never make a mistake.” The voice of the gospel is, “Escape your mistakes by coming to Jesus Christ.” The fact that we can escape past failures is good news, the good news of Jesus Christ.
Moving closer to God should never be a matter of disappointment. It always should be moving toward something better.
Posted by Chris on under Sermons
I want to continue the legal drama we started last week. It is 450 B.C. and Israel has decided to sue God. They have taken him to court before the priests and the officiating judge. They want to know why God hasn’t fulfilled his obligations in their covenant. Why haven’t they prospered as he promised? Why haven’t their fortunes been restored? Why do their enemies continue to mock them? By bringing God to trial, it is Israel that ends up on trial. God defends his case by stating and proving that he has always loved Israel. But they have lowered their expectations. Their worship is a sham and God deserves to be honored as a mighty king. Instead they go through the motions and offer half-hearted, routine worship. Even still, they have the audacity to hold God to his covenant promises. God addresses the charge that he has not been faithful to covenant, and in doing so God moves from defendant, to prosecutor, to judge … Read Malachi 2:1-9.
God reads the verdict. Because the priests of Israel have made a mockery of the covenant God has put them out of his presence. In doing so he is the one who actually honors covenant. The covenant is that important. It is not a covenant of restrictive, rules. It is a covenant of life and well-being. It is good for everyone! The covenant is the social and spiritual structure that gives meaning and shape to the way God’s people live and order their lives. It determines not only how people worship God, but also how they should treat one another. It establishes how husbands should treat wives and how wives should treat husbands. It gives shape to the way one generation nurtures the next generations. By setting boundaries and lining out behavior it doesn’t seek to isolate Israel from the world, but it strives to order Israel’s life on display before the world.
The priests have a special place in the covenant. They are to teach the people how to order their lives in relationship to God and thus how to order their lives with one another. They are to be God’s messengers in this covenant relationship. But instead of speaking for God the priests have spoken against him. They have despised his name and they have dishonored him. Their disregard for God and his covenant has led to the malaise and discontent in the lives of the people of Israel. Instead of teaching people how to live, their dishonorable teaching has caused people to lose their way.
It seems contradictory that God who claims to love the people is also prepared to punish. How can that be love? It is love because God cares about the way people live. If the people do not live in covenant, then they will return to the egotistical pursuit of pleasure that hurts the innocent and disrupts the bonds of good society. God loves the priests and the people enough to care about what happens to them. God loves them enough to be intolerant of the lack of love and respect they show to one another because of the lack of love and respect they have for God and covenant. There are consequences of such behavior and those consequences bring curses upon the priests.
Now, God’s advocate speaks to the people of Jerusalem gathered to watch the courtroom drama. God has delivered his verdict and the people need to learn the lesson. They too have broken covenant like the priests and if they think it was just the priests who have a stake in covenant, then they need to think again. Malachi (whose name means God’s messenger) speaks to the people … Read Malachi 2:10-16 … To emphasize all of it, God himself speaks, “I hate divorce, and covering one’s garment with violence! So take heed to yourselves and do not be faithless!”
Malachi is telling the people that God is very much aware of what they’ve done – even if they are not. They have broken covenants with God and one another and the consequences have come back to visit them. The two covenants they have broken are related: In Israel, the men and women married young, often before the age of 20. Now after years of companionship with the wives of their youth, after building homes with them, after raising children, after worshipping with these women, they have discarded their wives to marry other women. There’s no mention of why the men were doing this: the women were often foreign women who brought with them knowledge of other cultures and gods. Perhaps it was just that the women were younger and no Israelite father would give his daughter to a man already married. Perhaps it is because the women were exotic and strange and had the allure of the forbidden. Perhaps it is because marriage to these women enabled the men to secure business relations with the men of other nations. We don’t really know and Malachi doesn’t bother to cite the reason because the reason for the divorce doesn’t concern God as much as the consequences of the divorce!
The consequences are 1) that the men are breaking faith with their ancestors who struggled to preserve their faith in God in the midst of a land full of idols. And now they casually bring idolatry into their society. 2) They are disrupting their society and creating hardships by turning out their wives who expected these men to care for them and provide for them. They have broken faith with their wives and God takes that seriously. 3) They are breaking faith with their children and not passing on the covenant to their offspring. When God speaks he speaks his hatred of the way the people of Israel have made a mess of covenant not only with him but with one another. According to God it is violence. He doesn’t care how spiffy a tuxedo they wear to their wedding, it might as well be covered with the spiritual and social blood they have shed. God hates this culture of covenant breaking Israel has created only because he loves his people so much.
I really don’t know if it is easy or hard to see how this text implicates all of us. Their culture of marriage and divorce is so unlike our own in many respects (women couldn’t initiate divorce, marriages were arranged by parents, the problem of foreign gods) and then in other respects it is so like our situation because we have created a culture of covenant breaking that ignores the consequences. In her book, The Divorce Culture, Barbara Defoe Whitehead surveys the titles of recent books providing guidance for divorce. These titles demonstrate that the consequences of divorce are being ignored. For men, the most popular titles appeal to male competitiveness and include titles such as The Fighter’s Guide to Divorce: A No-Holds Barred Strategy for Coming Out Ahead, The Lion’s Share: A Combat Manual for Divorcing Males, and How to Dump Your Wife. For women the titles include such upbeat and nurturing titles as: Divorce and New Beginnings, Growing Through Divorce, Our Turn: Women Who Triumph in the Face of Divorce, and The Best Is Yet to Come. But it is the children’s literature on divorce that is perhaps the most honest. It contains titles that speak of the loss and the anger. Titles such as Daddy Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Unfinished Portrait of Jessica, It’s Not the End of the World, and I Won’t Go Without a Father. Could it be that like Israel we have broken faith with one another and with our children?
Before I go any further I want to be clear … the divorce that God hates is not simply divorce in marriage, but the divorce that is the breaking of covenant which includes covenant with God and with one another. God’s charge is for his people to be faithful. We are all stakeholders in marriage and the other structures that hold us in godly relationship with one another.
I want to be clear. God loves everyone who has been divorced for whatever reason. There are no exceptions. God loves you. But I know form personal experience that divorced people haven’t always felt like the church loves them. That’s wrong. Divorced people in a church or people on the verge of a divorce sometimes feel like a football coach in a West Texas town: If you lose, we will give you your walking papers. We are not going to do that. We are going to love you. Just as we can forgive lying, gossip, and angry words even as we hold one another to the standard of maturity and speak plainly of the consequences of divisiveness; so also we can forgive the failure of marriage even as we hold one another accountable to covenant. To speak plainly of the consequences of breaking covenant, does not contradict love or forgiveness. And likewise, to love and forgive does not contradict the ability to speak plainly.
I want to be clear. I am not saying that we are going to be na?ve and pretend divorce cannot happen. Not even God does that. He hates divorce. Why? Because it tears up the people he loves. If you have been divorced you know what I mean. I went through a divorce with good friends and all of us felt the pain of it. One day we were discussing Malachi 2:14. My friend spoke, “God says, I hate divorce. Well, so do I.” I don’t think there is any better way to understand this text.
I want to be clear. Divorce is not merely an individual choice. It isn’t limited to the private realm. We all have a stake in every marriage and every family bond. (This is why we demonstrate our commitment to young families!) You don’t hear that very much in our culture anymore and I think this has magnified the problem. God implores us to do more than condemn sin or take a stand against divorce, he warns us not to break faith, which is to say – Keep the covenant! Keep the covenant of marriage and the covenant of faith and the covenant of Christ-like love. Keep faith with one another! This is more than an attitude that says “Hate the sin but love the sinner.” No, it goes beyond that to say that you cannot truly hate sin until you first love the other sinner! And if we do not hate sin and the way it dehumanizes and wounds and de-spiritualizes, then in what sense do we truly love?
This has been a hard sermon to preach. It may have been even harder to hear. I offer no pat answers, quick-fixes, or three-step solutions. Such glib advice only feeds into the individualism that has distracted us from the harder, but more rewarding work of maintaining covenant. What we need to do – all of us, divorced, married, remarried, never married – is strive to keep the covenant and not break faith with our cloud of witnesses and with the generations we witness to. Most of all let us strive to keep the covenant that God made with us. He sent his Son to form a new covenant; if you have been baptized into Jesus then you are a child of that covenant. Live by it! The Son sent the spirit so that we might be able to live in covenant with one another. The spirit gives life and well-being. Let’s love one another according to the ethic of this spiritual covenant rather than the ethics of individual choice.
Posted by Chris on May 1, 2005 under Sermons
Part 1 – Naming the Change
There’s a lot of uncertainty and anxiety in our culture and it makes us feel like we are living in a foreign land. How do you follow God in a land that is changing? For some people the challenge is that they have left the land they knew. But what if the land you knew has left you? Where did it go? Whatever happened to home?
That’s the sort of feeling expressed in this popular song (Mayberry by Rascal Flatts)…
Sometimes it feels like this world is spinning faster
Than it did in the old days
So naturally we have more natural disasters
From the strain of a fast pace
Sunday was the day of rest
Now its one more day for progress
But we can’t slow down
Cause more is best
All in the process
But I miss Mayberry
Sittin’ on the porch drinking ice cold Cherry — Coke
Where everything was black & white
Pickin’ on a Six String
People pass by and you call them by their first name
Watching the clouds roll by
bye bye
Sometimes I can hear this whole world stopping
Through the trees as the wind blows
That’s when I climb up here on this mountain
And look through God’s window
No I can’t fly
I’ve got to be
To get me high up here
Far from the noise and city streets
My world receives the peace
chorus
Sometimes I dream I’m driving down an old dark road
Not even listed on the map
I pass a dad and his son carrying a fishing poll
But I always wake up everytime I try to turn back
What sort of feelings are being expressed in this song? How have you experienced any of this? That may be what it feels like to have the "land" you knew leave you.
Here’s how I want to frame this discussion:
1. Naming the Change
First, let’s name the change. If you know what you are up against that helps. The changes we are feeling all around us are both good and bad – they are a mixed bag. They present challenges and opportunities. The goal will not be to strategize but to simply attach some name to what’s going on.
2. Nomads and Exiles
Second, let’s learn some lessons from nomads and exiles. The Bible tells the story of God’s faithfulness with people who are always being uprooted, scattered and dispersed (Beginning with Abraham and continuing through to the persecution in Acts 8; and the churches in Asia were also unsettled) We even sing songs that say things like "This world is not my home, I am just passing through." Do we mean it?
3. Plans for the Future
Third, we’ll talk about plans for the future. But they aren’t my plans or your plans. They are the plans for the future that are a gift from God.
Naming the Change
(I am indebted to Alan Roxburgh for indicating many of the details of this section. I recommend his book: The Missionary Congregation, Leadership, and Liminality, Christian Mission and Modern Culture Series, Trinity Press International, 1997)
The "Land" We Knew was predictable and stable. Of course by land we do not mean a physical location. We really mean a culture situated in a particular time and place. For most of still alive that would be the America we knew during the 1950’s-1980’s.
We can recall some of the "landmarks" of that land …
- Nation States –
The keys players on the political scene could come to the U.N. and many of them were part of the Security Council. I remember that in movies and comic books the "bad guys" were the communists. They were just like us, except they were communist. Now, the political players are less obvious. Terror cells are more fluid and unbounded. Activist groups have influence on world politics.
- Social Institutions –
Social Institutions such as church, government, and other civic organizations gave structure to life. However, that has declined and now there is a sense of disconnection or disembodiment. Since Watergate, people have lost faith in government structure. Since the PTL scandal and the reports of abuse in the Catholic church, people have lost faith in organized religion. Instead of supporting local and community schools, the buzzword is now school choice. (For an in-depth treatment on this issue of change I recommend Robert Putnam, Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, 2000.)
- Experts –
In the land we knew, we called upon experts to help us figure out difficult situations. Experts were well-educated and had researched their material. Remember when 4 out of 5 dentists recommended Dentyne? We accepted that because the experts are right. Now Dentyne jokes about the fifth dentist. The attitude tward experts is less confident. In churches, the reliance on the expert led to the church growth movement. If we could just do what the expert did it would work in our situation, right? Well it didn’t work out that way is what discovered. More important than an expert is a facilitator who can help us dialogue because we all have something contribute – not just the expert.
- Managers –
Leaders were called upon to maintain what was. But now we look to innovators to reconstruct what was. The classic failure of the railroads was that they assumed it was their job to manage the railroads. But the land they knew left them and they were not the innovators of the automobile.
- Central Authority
– In the land we knew, leadership and authority were centered in a recognizable person or object. Recall the monopolies such as the phone company or the monopoly that the Post Office had on all deliveries. Now there is individual choice. We are given choices in even the most minimal details. Do we want paper or plastic? Do we want plan A or plan B? Do we want Coke with Vanilla or Cherry or Lime? This is one of the reasons why the Bible is not instantly accepted as "fact." After all, if I can choose perhaps I will choose the Quran or other spiritual teachings. Maybe, as Oprah and others have said, there are many paths to God and one only has to choose.
- Linear –
In the land we knew, cause and effect were linear and straightforward. The Surgeon General said that cigarettes caused cancer, so the solution is simple: Don’t Smoke. But now things are more complex. The Surgeon General wasn’t wrong, but maybe the surgeon general didn’t know everything that the Surgeon General should have known. Big Tobacco hid the facts, so Big Tobacco must pay. History and science are not regarded as simple, linear facts. For example, did Columbus discover America? Well, once we sang that Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 to give the answer. But that’s not as simple as what we know now. Vikings discovered it long before Columbus and the Indians were here long before that. Cause and effect has given way to a complex network of variable.
- Predictable –
Which means that this foreign land is lot less predictable than the land we knew. The city of Lake Jackson was built by the Dow Chemical Corporation. They built the town for their employees. They promised their workers and their families that they would be taken care of for their entire life. And many people did work until retirement. But now that has changed. Now the future is not so certain and the outlook for company and one’s job is less predictable. Now volatility in markets and career is assumed. Everything is more chaotic.
Consider how these factors have contributed to the change we are trying to name:
- Globalization – The world is a much smaller place and less isolated than in the past.
- Rapid Technological Change – Once computers filled an entire room, and now I wear one on my belt. It is millions of times more powerful than the huge computers that filled a room. In the life time of many of us we went from party line phones to cell phones. Many of these technologies have only mushroomed in the last 10 years. The growth is exponential.
- Staggering Need – We have always been aware of the needy. But now we see neediness in our own nation and among people who were once doing well. Recall the crisis of the homeless that came to our attention in the 1980’s. Presently there is economic uncertainty worldwide.
- Loss of confidence in primary structures & institutions – loyalty and commitment have changed because of a failure of confidence in the structures that once provided stability. This creates a dilemma in our mission: if people are losing confidence in primary structures and institutions then our efforts to build an institutional form of church are not going to be well received. But what if we let form follow faith? What if form made sense because it embodies the gospel?
During the opening theme song of All in the Family, Archie and Edith sang nostalgically of the past: "Those were the days" One line in the song hits home for everyone: "And you knew who you were then." The massive changes lead to an identity crisis.
Consider how the changes described above lead to these effects …
- Uncertainty –
Since everything we knew is changing, there is uncertainty about the future even as near as tomorrow. Who knows if tomorrow will be another 9/11? Can anyone say with any real certainty?
- Unending Work –
Rapid technological change and innovation in transportation have de-compartmentalized our lives. We just cannot leave work at the office. Our work never seems to end. In the 1950’s there was a real concern that Americans would have to figure out how to use leisure time. Now cell phones, Wi-Fi Internet and jet travel make it hard to "get away."
- Anxiety and Stress –
So of course this leads to increased anxiety and stress. It also leads to fear. Turn on the morning talks shows and see if they don’t offer you something to be worried about. The watchword these days is safety and precaution.
- Loss of Purpose and Meaning –
People feel dehumanized by work, they feel insignificant in the scope of the world and the universe and they feel disconnected from others. Who am I? Is a common question. How many people have struck off on strange quests to find themselves?
- Insecurity and Instability –
Without purpose and meaning, and with anxiety there is a real problem of insecurity and instability. Add to that the fact that people have loss confidence in primary structures. No wonder the security business is growing even as other businesses are suffering.
- Hostility and Fear –
Since we live in a "State of Fear" there is a great deal of hostility. Also, the fact that our culture is polarizing to the extremes creates hostility. We do not talk about differences. We live in red states and blue states and no one wants to be purple.
- Loss of Identity and Community –
And now no one knows who they are. The day of the rugged individual was a myth. The rugged individual was as connected to his/her community and surroundings as anyone else. But now we are disconnected and being a lone individual is not as wonderful as we once imagined. A phone company tells us that we are "singular" individuals, but we they are also buying up all the small phone companies to become a telecom giant. I can be singular, but I must choose Cingular.
Conclusion:
We are experiencing a barrage of changes (not just one change)
Personal Choice is god (pick and choose)
No central Authority
New insecurity (state of fear)
Hope for the Future in Deuteronomy 4:29-30
Deuteronomy means the second giving of the law. It anticipates the day when the people of God will be refugees and exiles in a foreign land. It speaks to the question raised in Psalm 137 – How do you sing the songs of Zion in a strange land?
There is hope in the message of Deuteronomy. It gets at the heart of what it means to have a covenant relationship with God. Even though they have lost their king, their land, and their connection with the temple of God they can still seek the Lord.
Many things change, but God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Part 2 – Nomads and Exiles
There is a theme to the stories of God and his people. The theme can be drawn as a pattern that shows how people leave the land they knew, go through an intermediate place or time (this is what Roxburgh refers to as liminality), and then arrive in the land/future that God provides. This is the story of nomads and exiles and the same God who carries all of them through their experiences.
Abraham:
This is first seen with Abraham (though an argument could be made for Noah being the first). See Genesis 12-13. When God calls Abraham he calls him out of the land he knew – the land of his ancestors. He promises to take him to a new land, Canaan. But along the way he ends up in Egypt. The bulk of the "adventure" in Genesis 12 is not in Ur or Canaan. It is in the in-between place, Egypt. This is where the important action takes place. It is a time of testing and faithfulness.
Jacob:
See Genesis 28:1-5 and the reason why Jacob is being sent out. Jacob leaves the land of his fathers and goes to his uncle Labans land in Paddan Aram. This is where the bulk of Jacob’s story takes place. Jacob’s time in Paddan Aram gets stretched out longer and longer. Why? What is God able to do with his in-between time in Laban’s land? God uses this time away from the land of promise to build up the population of the people of promise. How many make up Israel before Jacob starts having children in Paddan Aram? Not many. How many make up the people when Jacob returns. Jacob is able to divide his household into two camps!
There is change and renewal through the time of transition. Where was God in the midst of all this? He was working on Jacob. The wrestling match that ties it all up sums up the adventure and the transition. Jacob comes out of it with a limp, but he is also blessed and has a new name and a new future (he was not the firstborn).
Notice the pattern that there is an in-between place and an in-between time that is not the destiny or future for God’s person, but it is still a significant part of the story.
Israel’s exodus from Egypt and the Wandering in the Desert:
What is the identity of Israel in Egypt? Slaves. They were part of the structure of Egyptian society.
When did they learn about God and learn his ways? When did they get the Law and the covenant commands? (Ex. 19-20) (Ex. 24 – covenant) When were they fed with manna? Quail? (Ex. 16) When was water provided from the rock?
When did they fight the Amalekites? (Ex 17) When did real leadership in Israel form (ex. 18) When did they build the tabernacle? When did they develop the priesthood?
These great events that shape Israel’s identity do not happen in Egypt or in Canaan. The happen in the desert – the in-between place. The slaves of Egypt are formed into God’s nation before they enter the land.
Babylonian Exile:
Another important "in-between" event that will shape the identity of Israel is the exile. Consider the awesome loss that the people experience in 587 B.C. when they are invaded and overpowered by the Babylonians (see Lamentations and Psalm 137). This was not supposed to happen to God’s people. They lose the things they gained in the desert and after the arrival in the land – priesthood, temple/tabernacle, the land itself and the king. These became meaningless under Babylonian control. But in the exile they rediscovered the law and the prophets. This is what makes them God’s people. The promise of the prophecies is that God will write his law on their hearts. He will rebuild them spiritually and materially.
This is the setting for the Deuteronomy 4 text …
"But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him."
The word of the prophets go back to the law and through it proclaim a time of punishment but also the hope of renewal The great prophetic sermons come out of this time of tension and crisis
Lamentations 3
Ezekiel 37 – the dry bones
Ezekiel 36:24-28 – A new heart and a right spirit.
Jeremiah 29:11 – The plans I have for you. Seek me and find me!
Daniel 1 – Daniel is versed in the language and culture of the land of exile (v. 4-5); Daniel becomes an expert at this (v. 20) and gains the trust of the Babylonians. 2:46; 4:37 – Nebuchadnezzar honors God. Isn’t this God’s mission to the nations in effect? If not, then what is it?
The Persecution of the Church (Acts 8)
Lest we think this is some bizarre Old Testament phenomenon, there is a New Testament example of this. In Acts 8, Luke tells us that the church is scattered from Jerusalem after Stephen is executed. What must the people been thinking at this point? For most of us this would be the end. How can they remain faithful if their connection to Jerusalem is severed?
What do the scattered people do? They preach Jesus! What was Jesus’ agenda in Acts 1:8? That they would become his witnesses in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.
God is doing something with this in-between time and Judea and Samaria become the launching points for mission to the ends of the earth. (see 11:19) The scattered disciples go to Antioch and some of them start converting Gentiles! Antioch becomes the base for Paul and Barnabas’ journey. Who could have predicted that the persecution could lead to such an outcome?
What about Us?
So is this just the way God did things long ago but now he likes them stable and same? Did God pick the 20th century as the way to keep things? How do we lament change but also open ourselves up to what God may be doing during the in-between NOW?
Do we have the faith to discover what God is doing with us in the in-between time? The changes that are taking place are lamentable in many cases, but God may be working in them still. They also may be stripping us and cleansing us of so many sinful attitudes and habits we have picked up. These may be things that are keeping us from renewal and hope
We have to open ourselves to what God is doing among us in the "in-between" time and trust in him to provide the future. On another level, in this world we have no lasting city but we await the city to come and so what do we do? We leave the city of this world and join Jesus outside the camp …
Hebrews 13:12-14
Part 3 – Plans for a Future
It was 1991 and I had completed my first year of graduate school. The campus minister at the Razorbacks for Christ wanted me to come back to the RFC spring banquet and share my thoughts on what the RFC’s should do next. He wanted me to articulate a plan for the future. Thankfully, I felt very inadequate to the task. I struggled about what to say. Then I recalled something that Dr. John Willis had taught us in Old Testament. It was this text from Jeremiah 29.
"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
The future is a gift from God. This is the message from the prophet for the people of God captive in Babylon. They are in despair. They have lost their land, their king, their homes and their fortunes. Will God punish them forever? Has he abandoned them?
The message is gospel – it is good news. (Jeremiah 29:11-13)
- The future is God’s gift. He has good things in mind and has plans for hope.
- But the people are invited to seek God – to eagerly and earnestly seek him in prayer and worship.
- God promises that they will find him if they seek him with all their heart. He will restore their fortunes and return them to the land he had promised to them.
God made a promise to Abraham and he keeps this promise. God has saved these people – but not just for their own sake – it is for the sake of the world.
Is it any different with us? We also are saved – but not for our own sake, but for the sake of the world!
The captives in Babylon could dream of a hopeful future – if they sought after God. What about us? Can we dream again? Sometimes I fear we have lost our dream and our vision. Or we forget the reason for our salvation and our future. We do not secure the future. God does.
Can we expect our future – especially the future of the church – to be hopeful? I think we can, but we have to look beyond the two typical options we often assume are our only options …
Two Typical Options
The first option is Nostalgia –
Let’s return to what we knew! Go back to how it was!
This is impossible
The second option is the Restart
This is Reactionary Change – We will start over anew. But we are still in control. We attempt to jettison the past to get a new future. But this is really just rebellion controlled by the past or the present uncertainty. It is inattentive to history.
Even though these options seem to be different, they have some negative characteristics in common:
- They ignore the experience of the in-between place. They try to avoid the benefit of the trial. Leaving the land that is known is always an occasion for God to shape his people into a people especially prepared for his mission in the world.
- They are both attempts to make the future on our own power! They ignore the biblical theme raised in the question: "Is anything too hard for the Lord?"
Is Anything Too Difficult for the Lord?
This question begins with Abraham and Sarah – Genesis 18:14
Abraham and Sarah – God asks the question of Sarah because she laughed. Don’t be too hard on Sarah. If your 99 year old grandfather and his 90 year old wife who never had children told you they were expecting you would laugh too. The only future these folks have is buying a tombstone not buying pampers. Is anything too difficult for God?
Jacob Steals the Promise – Now what? Is that the end of the story? No future? Would you entrust the future to Jacob? Esau wasn’t too great either but at least he didn’t resort to tricks. Is anything too difficult for God?
Slaves in Egypt/The Desert – Who can stand up against Pharaoh? They are pushed against the Sea – trapped! They will probably die in the desert. Why continue with these people? Surely they won’t make it. Why not restart? Why not go back to Egypt? Is anything too difficult with God?
David and Goliath – Who would have bet on David? And he even refuses Saul’s armor. Oh, the good old days before the Philistines! Is anything too difficult for God?
Exile – What if you lost everything that communicated God’s blessings? Would you still believe God was able to deliver? What if foreign agents broke into God’s house and evicted him? Whose God is most powerful? [Exile – Jeremiah 32 – Buying the field with the imagination of a new future. God’s vision.]
Is anything too difficult for God?
Cross – What if your deliverer and Messiah were executed? How do you restart? How do you return to what was? Is there any hope for the future? Is anything too difficult for God?
Emerging future
Between the two typical options there is a third. It is the option of the emerging future that is a gift from God. To find it we must be willing to do the following: Dwell in this place without quick solutions and we will hear God’s solutions and hope for a possible future
Most models (Nostalgia and Restart) for change and response to changing circumstances begin with a conclusion and then suggest a strategy to get there. In reality, there is no quick-fix! This is hard work. Rather than quick-fix, instant-bake plans, we need to empower and release the people to use God’s resources. If we are attentive to God perhaps we can determine what he wants for our future. How can he redeem our experience? (Joseph, Genesis 50 – You intended this for evil, but God intended it for good).
Waiting on God to give us the future that is from him is always best. Do you recall how Abraham and Sarah tried to manage God’s promise of the future? The result was Ishmael. Abraham loved Ishmael and God blessed Ishmael, but Ishmael was not the future God intended and conflict came out of Ishmael’s birth. Don’t forget that Ishmael was Abraham’s first born son – but God has a way of determining the future on his terms, not ours.
Leaving the land that is known is always an occasion for God to shape his people into a people especially prepared for his mission in the world.
