The Map of Discipleship: Introduction, and The Bible

The Path of Discipleship                                                      2/22/15

Genesis 9:8-17, I Peter 3:18-22, Mark 1:9-20

We begin with the story of Gary Haugen:  He recalls a time when he was 10 years old and his father and brothers wanted to hike a daunting path up a mountain.  Gary decided to stay the visitors center and wait for his family to return.  They did, with an experience, while Gary had one boring day.

“One of the biggest regrets in life, I think, is a sense of having gone on the trip but missed the adventure.” ---Gary Haugen

Last week, we completed our 4 week teaching from Malachi on the theme of Stewardship.  During Lent and Easter, we will expand on the idea of Discipleship. 

Disciple originates from the Greek word for pupil.  Disciples are students of a master.  Discipleship is the act of following a teaching, or teacher.  In ancient Greece, the great philosophers like Socrates and Plato would gather students and walk along together, while the teacher dispensed his wisdom to the students.  Christians should be disciples of Jesus Christ.  When calling disciples in the Gospels, Jesus simply says:  Follow me.  This wasn’t simple to do, mind you, but the invitation wasn’t rocket science.  Today, we who believe in Jesus should follow him.  He is the master teacher, and we are the students.

Today, the words from Mark will ring true for us as a model:  Jesus taught, repent and believe the good news of the kingdom of God.  His next words to John and James were:  Follow me.

Today, the story of Noah is the Why of discipleship:  God makes promises.  His promises are seen within covenant, that is agreement.   Discipleship is the best hope for creation.

Today, Peter’s writing provides the How of discipleship?  Through Christ’s resurrection power, we are able to follow our Master.

It is not just the spiritually mature Christians, or just the leaders, that should be disciples.  Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus Christ, and believes him to be Lord, should be his disciple.  Jesus said ‘follow me’ to a tax collector, fishermen, a political zealot.  The religious and those frowned upon by religious leadership were called to follow.  Follow me.

There seems to be a wide diverse net cast by Jesus when it comes to who should be disciples, and he did not discriminate.  After all, as Dallas Willard writes, there is a cost of non-discipleship.  Humans will find their full humanity when lived with Jesus Christ.  There is a world-wide message here, and a universality that comes from Christ’s call.  When we think of world wide events that happened in Scripture, the flood comes to mind.  Out of the flood came a promise. 

Genesis:

God’s agreement was with Noah, with the generations that would follow Noah, and with all living creatures.  It is easy to ask ‘why’ when the flood story is brought up.  Why did this have to happen?  Why did the animals have to die?  Why does God seem so unfair at times?

Perhaps we are afraid to confront a more disturbing reality:  The story of sin and rebellion is a very serious story in God’s sight.  The human story could have ended with Genesis 9.  God didn’t have to rescue anyone.  God could have destroyed and moved on.

God speaks to Noah and offers promise.  He offers a covenant, for Noah and his family, throughout his generations, and all the living creatures.  The rainbow is the sign of this covenant.  When God sees a rainbow, “I will remember my covenant”.  God says, “I will remember”.     

I Peter

If we fast forward from Genesis to Jesus, Jesus comes from God and is the ultimate “I will remember”.  Jesus is the promise made human.  And as fully human, Jesus sacrifices himself so that humans can be forgiven.  He dies, so that we might not live in death.  He brings us back to God. 

There is this fascinating Peter passage, which alludes to a prison where people who lived before the time of Christ were trapped.  Peter writes that Jesus remembers them.  He goes and preaches good news to them, so that they will not be forgotten.

God made a promise to Noah, and he remembers it every time a rainbow appears.

God made a promise to you, and remembers it every time he sees his Son.  This promise from God, through Christ, has made its way to you.

The sign of the promise is baptism.  Just like the flood washed away the evil of the earth.  Baptism is a sacrament to us that Jesus died for us and rose from death, and that we follow him.  We die to ourselves and rise up to new life in Christ.  We belong to God.  We don’t belong to ourselves. 

In the early church, baptism was a public display of allegiance.  Discipleship was done in community, accompanied by confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by the baptized.  People proclaimed Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.  People believed upon Jesus and followed him.  Jesus rising from the dead allowed this confession to be possible.  We have lost that sense of the public nature of our confession.  We have falsely believed that faith is simply inward, personal, not something to be known or shared.  But people should know if you are a Christian.  No one should be surprised to find out you believe in Jesus.

Mark

Jesus was baptized:  He received God’s promise while here on his mission.  God confirmed his promise with his voice:  “You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”

Jesus, after his baptism, went through the wilderness.  He was our model even then.  The jackals howled and the darkness brought cold and the devil tempted.  But it was with he promise that he endured the wilderness:  You are my Son, whom I love, with you I am well pleased.

Enduring the wilderness solidified his message:  The time has come!  The kingdom of God is near!  Repent and Believe the good news!

These words were originally spoken throughout the towns of Galilee.  Today, it continues through villages and towns throughout the world.  It is the same Lord who speaks, who invites, who commands, who opens the door:  

The time is now!       The kingdom of God is near!     Repent!       Believe the good news!

Jesus then goes to Peter, Andrew, James and John:  Follow me.  To the fishermen, he invites them to become fishers of men, of people who also should repent and believe.

“Follow me” is the most simple of commands.  And also the most difficult.  Because, the truth be told, it demands everything from us, but also promises everything to us.

And so, over the next 12 weeks, Lent and Easter seasons, we will be reviewing a Map of Discipleship.   Created by Rev. Merle Wilson, pastor of Mt. Airy and Titusville churches, this map will help all of us see classic Christian disciplines and allow us opportunity to embrace them, implement them and grow. 

Before we review this map, a few notes are in order.

This is not an exhaustive map for discipleship.  That is, you can follow our Lord Jesus Christ in many ways that are not listed here.  And if you are following Jesus in a way not listed here, please do not hear from me that you should only use what is on this map.  Your additional service to the Lord, if a call from God, is pleasing in his sight.  We don’t want to get in the way of that.

But the opposite also provides a warning.  The time is here!  The kingdom of God is near!  These words from Jesus should not be heard and then our response be:  nothing.   Americans have gotten a little lazy, many of us very lazy, in our discipleship.  So now is the time to take a step. The steps listed here will all prove helpful to you if you take them. 

Merle and I are inviting you to take 7 steps forward in 2015.  We are also inviting you to tell us the steps you are taking so that we can pray with you and support you.

The Horizontal Column provides 10 traditional areas of Christian expression that the church has kept throughout her history.  Over the next 10 weeks, a sermon will be devoted to each category.

The vertical column on the left provides two templates to look at discipleship.  There are familiar, even ‘churchy’ words like attend, participate, assist, lead, direct and outreach.  We’ve provided synonyms for these familiar words using the idea from Gary Haugen, that we aren’t just visitors in our Christian faith:  we are explorers. The Christian faith is travel to the city of God.  The biblical term is that we are disciples.

The map was not created with just Stockton in mind, so it might not reflect exactly where we are this moment as a congregation.  For example, we might need to create a small group or Adult Christian Ed opportunity.  But the list is wise enough to get us started.

The passage from Mark included a striking phrase:   Without delay Jesus called them.

Without delay they responded.

Will you also respond without delay?

Simplicity:  the Gift of Scripture                                3/1/15

Sermon 2 from A Map for Discipleship

Psalm 119:129-136, II Timothy 3:10-4:5, John 14:1-14

During Lent and Easter, our sermon series will be on discipleship.  A disciple is a pupil, a student.  The idea of the word originated in ancient Greece, when philosophers would gather students, walk through the streets and hills of Athens, and teach about life, their philosophy and worldview.  Jesus Christ also did this.  He went up to individuals and would say “Follow me”.  There were 12 who literally left jobs and families to follow Jesus.  There were also others who were less involved, but nonetheless considered Jesus their teacher.  The New Testament uses the word disciple over 200 times, and the church has kept this word as an important description for those who believe in Jesus Christ.

This Lent and Easter, the 3 churches that share staff will be using a Map for Discipleship.  The Map identifies 10 areas of practice that nurture our relationship with Jesus.  They aren’t the only 10, but are the ones that most Christians would identify as core.  Each week, we will look at one of these practices.  Pastor Merle and I are challenging every worshipper to engage with this map and pick out 7 steps to take in the coming year, and to talk with one of us about the steps you choose.  We want to cheer you on as you step out in faith. 

The vertical column reminds us that we are not meant to be tourists in the Christian faith, but actively engaged and growing up in our love and following of Jesus Christ.  You can watch from a distance, or you can live the adventure. 

Today’s topic is the Scripture, or the Bible.  The word means “book” and “papyrus”.  It contains two testaments, or covenants:  the Hebrew Scripture of God’s Covenant with Israel of a Coming Messiah, and the New Testament, the story of God’s work in Jesus Christ.  Self-Descriptions within the Book include the scriptures, Scripture, Holy Scripture and sacred writings.

Simply put:  the Scripture is a tool of the Holy Spirit to fulfill the Spirit’s mission of lifting up Jesus Christ.  Christians believe that God has spoken through this book, and that it is helpful and authoritative for the Christian life.  

There is a paradox here, the outward and the inward.  The outward is the Book itself, and the community that reads it when together.  The inward is our personal reaction to the story, and what the Holy Spirit within us teaches us about the Bible.  Scripture says that

when people believe in Jesus Christ, that “God sets his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit into our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come”.  We could imagine the outward and inward forming a triangle.

                                                            Book

                                    Community                     Individual with Holy Spirit

The Book speaks to the community, and the individual.  The community exists because of the book and by the individual.  The individual interprets the Book, and is supported and held accountable by the community.  In this way, the inward and outward work together to the glory of God.

There are two important words that we often hear when talking about Scripture.  They are inspiration and illumination.   Inspiration speaks to the Spirit’s work in the creation of the Book.  It is a completed work.  A wide cast of characters wrote in different ways through the work of God’s Spirit.  Sometimes it was ‘God says write this down’, other Scripture comes out of deep emotions, while others from travel and discipleship experiences.  Yet, despite a wide variety of writings, it was one Spirit driving the writing of the story:  the story of Jesus Christ as Lord (Messiah) and Savior.  And so we should be able to say that the Bible is inspired.  Illumination speaks to the Spirit’s work in the unfolding of the story in human history, including today:  it is a past, present and future work.  It is one of the more fascinating things about Scripture:  how it speaks to us throughout the generations.

At its core, the Scripture is a very simple story:

·         Creation:  God creates the heavens and the earth

·         Covenant:  God chooses Israel to bring about the Messiah

·         Jesus Christ:  the Messiah

·         The church:  People of the Way, the Truth and the life

·         The New Creation and everlasting life

Also at its core, the Scripture is a very human story:

·         Sin and Salvation

·         Forgiveness and Righteousness

·         Struggle and Endurance

·         Death and New life

Psalm 119 speaks to the Book.  The Psalm is a devotion to the importance of God’s Word, and it has 22 clusters with 8 verses each.  Each cluster calls upon one letter of the Hebrew alphabet.  In the midst of this complex structure, a very simple message exists:

• I obey God because it is right.
• God gives us his light.
• There is a longing for God.
• God has shown mercy.
• God helps me avoid sin.
• God redeems me to serve.
• I am sad when God’s law is broken.

II Timothy speaks to the Community.  Paul writes that believers should remember that they learned about Jesus from someone. They learned from infancy. Remember that person who helped bring you to faith.  Who are you teaching now?  For me, it was Mrs. Johnson, my 4^th grade Sunday School teacher who asked me if I wanted to follow Jesus.

It is the community that holds onto and passes along the wisdom that leads to salvation.  It is the community that upholds the truth that all scripture is God-breathed., useful and equipping.  Just as God breathed life into Adam and Eve, so the Scripture is God’s breath of life for you and I.  In a world full of myths, the Bible is the truth.

John’s passage speaks to the individual.  It is Jesus, that Word of God in flesh, attested to in the word of God in Book, which calls to each one of us.  He says, “I want you to be where I am”.  He says, “I am preparing a place for you.”.  He says, “You know the way:  I am the way, the truth and the life”.  What do you say?  Jesus is speaking to you.

It should not be taken from granted that we have access to God’s word in literal book form.  We live in a unique time in history where we have access to the book, freedom to read and discuss and proclaim it, and affluence enough to buy a copy for our home or for our neighbor.  Today, we look at the first column in our Map for Discipleship.  Perhaps this is where you will take one of your 7 steps during 2015.

In an information age, we need to be careful that we don’t create idols for ourselves.  It is easy to give too much attention to questions and philosophies that create more questions than answers.  There is the question of epistemology, that is the science of knowing,  How do we know for sure that this is God’s word?  There is the comparison of religions, both current and deceased, that birth seeds of doubt.  There is the question of why the Bible is a closed cannon, that is, not adding anymore books.  There is the question of textual criticism, surrounding specific passages of the Bible.   But all of these things can easily become all the excuse we need to not do anything.  The simplest way forward is to read the Scripture.  Not talk about why we might not be ready to read the Scripture.  Faith reads and listens.  Disciples learn about their Master.

Generally speaking, a good goal for you is to be a Christian who reads the Bible every single day of your life.

My last statement possibly evoked a response within you.  That instant reaction within you might have been “I don’t have time for that”.  Well then, make time.  Your reaction might have been, “I don’t want to”.  Why not?  You don’t want to learn about your Lord?   Your reaction might have been, “I can’t”.  What does that mean?  If you are a household of more than one person, perhaps you should read together.  The Bible would make great dinner conversation, far better than whatever is shouting at you from the tv.

The Exploring Phase of the Bible calls for a Bible reading plan.  You can find those online, google Bible reading plans.  I could help you find one upon request.  I also would recommend Biblegateway.com, which with the click of a button allows you to read the Bible in any translation that exists.

If you have never read the Bible before, I would suggest not starting in Genesis and reading through.  By the time you get to Leviticus, you might start to wonder what you’ve gotten yourself into.  If you’ve never read, I would start with one of the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.  They are the story of Jesus Christ.  I would then go the another book of the New Testament, which are mostly letters with instruction on how to be a disciple.  Then I would explore the Psalms, the songbook of God’s people, which includes a great variety of experiences and emotions from which people seek God.  Then, I might venture into the histories and prophetic books, which do require a little context.

I would suggest reading the Bible before you start your day, or together at a meal, or before you go to sleep.

The other steps on our map include some creative thinking that challenge the Christendom notion that the Pastor has to lead or be present for everything.  If you want to get a small group started, I am happy to help you find resources.  I would suggest 5-7 people in a group.  It could be a great outreach for church growth.  Find someone who has a question about the Bible and gather together to grow.

Lent is a great time to implement Bible reading, it fulfills the “r” words of repent, renew and re-order.

Psalm 1 speaks to us:

The One who delights in the law of the Lord is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.  Whatever they do prospers.

Malachi 3 The Lord's Blessing

The Lord’s Blessing                                                                                        2/8/15

Malachi 3, I Corinthians 9:16-27, Mark 1:29-39

Our Best Job Is…To Know and Believe…The Lord’s Blessing…Today and on that Great Day.

Our gospel reading reminds us that Jesus came to bring and to be the good news of salvation.  He came to bring back sinners, to make people, his children, right with God, ultimately, his work will restore order to the cosmos.

The demons know this.  There are a few places in the gospel where Jesus tells people to not speak about who he is.  In this story, it seems that Jesus wants humans to not rely on otherworldly sources to nurture their faith.  But make no mistake, the demons know who Jesus is.  Do you know who Jesus is?

Elsewhere in Scripture, Paul writes that “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow in heaven and earth and beneath the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.”

This passion for Jesus Christ is what Paul mentions in his letter to the Corinthians.  The specific context is a biographical paragraph where Paul tells why he must preach the good news.  He went to great lengths to help those who were Jewish and those who were gentile, those who had great knowledge of God’s law and those who did not know it nor feel bound by it, those who were weak and strong.  And to each audience he took special care so that they would have a clear way to understand God’s love in Christ.  In today’s language, he knew his audience.  But this passage isn’t just for preachers.  It is for all who believe in Jesus Christ.   The passion to know and love and spread the good news of Jesus Christ should fill us all.  Faith in the Lord is something that requires total effort.  Why claim belief in Jesus, if you aren’t really going to believe in him.  Why run aimlessly, when you can run purposefully?  Why waste time when there is the prize of everlasting life?

Which takes us to Malachi, containing the word from God to take him at his word, and see if he won’t bless the obedient.

Chapter 3 is broken into 2 parts, there is God’s weariness in hearing claims of his absence from justice, and there is the challenge from God to his people for him to be first.

Justice is such a tricky endeavor.  It is worth our attention and effort.  It is certainly a biblical attribute of God, and therefore something that his followers should seek to display.   Today’s reading shows the Lord seeming weary that people wonder if he is just.

Make no mistake:  The Lord is just.  He will send his messenger. He will right all wrongs.  He will set the right way for people to follow. He will stop sin.and will instill fear among the earth.  But I have this sense that we should be careful of what we ask for.  In today’s world, what would true justice entail?  Would it be to pay for all the sins of our history? ---the land grabs, the flexing of muscles when we need others resources?  Are we really prepared for total justice?

I can see why God wouldn’t want to hear “why do the wicked prosper?”  Are they really prospering?  Because if they aren’t doing justice, or following the Lord, they cannot be happy inside.  They might have outrageous checking accounts and even more outrageous egos, but would you really want to trade places with them, if it meant losing your soul?

Please do not misinterpret any sloppiness in my words:  God is just.  But God is also gracious.  And the second part of chapter three is fascinating.

It starts with justice.  God has established that people should bring their tithes and offerings to him.  God is Holy and All powerful and the Creator of the cosmos, and he has said that human beings should bring their tribute.  There is a powerful spiritual benefit when we take intentional steps to put God first.  Ultimately, it breathes health into our systems.

But grace also is evident in this passage.  The people had robbed God of what he said should be brought.  Robbery brought curse.  But justice would bring blessing.  And God says something astounding.

Bring your whole tithe, that there may be food in the storehouse.  Test me in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Or, in modern language:

Let’s make a deal.  You do the right thing, and I’ll knock your socks off.

The truth of the matter is that we have indeed seen the Lord’s blessings in so many ways.  If you pause and really consider the Lord, we have seen that food has been on the table, that heat has been in our homes, that we have homes, that we enjoy religious liberty and a government that relatively speaking has kept a freedom and way of life possible for the people.  We have stuff and opportunities and friendship.  All praise to the Lord.

But before Stockton is this idea of returning to the Lord, putting God first, listening to his word for our lives, and receiving that blessing from the Lord when we do what he says.

What I will be lifting up over the next 10 years is the movement of all members and worshippers becoming people who tithe, that will be the base from which we will launch in mission.  The church will move toward a return to tithing as well.  My suggestion is to do this thoughtfully and intentionally by increasing our giving by 1% of our income per year until we all arrive at 10%.  I am not the financial police.  I personally will not be roaming over giving patterns.  I will simply lift this up.  Because Malachi 3 fascinates me.  Please know it doesn’t fascinate me in a health and wealth gospel:  the ones who please God are known because they have material prosperity.  No, that is wrong and not validated by Scripture.  But the passage fascinates me.

I introduce here a chart that will be helpful to you as you consider your giving to God.  May it help you in the more fundamental matter of putting God first in your life, and finding the blessing that comes when he is first, and everything else is added unto him.

I also want to remind you that the end goal of tithing is not simply to meet a church budget.  That strikes me as too small a goal.  You’ve done that since 1867 without every member tithing.  If God wants you to meet your church budget in the future, it will continue.  If the congregation’s story ends at some point, then you won’t need a budget.

The excitement of tithing is that we can draw more close to our Lord.  He promises to bless.  And we can join in that work of blessing:   the church calls it Mission, and our contains our endeavors to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Last week, I mentioned an example of the congregation having $80,000 dollars to give to mission.  What would we do with it?  How would we invest in mission?

Malachi brings out an important lesson for us here.  We read this passage as individuals:  How will God knock my socks off?  I do the same thing.  But the passage is really to the community. How will God knock our socks off?

There are so many different ways to give.  There are so many worthy causes.  There is so much vying for our attention.  How do we begin to respond?  We know that the world has changed.  The churches used to support the missions, and now individuals can do it with the click of a button.  The church as the conduit seems to be a fading model.  The individual ways we can give certainly seem efficient.  Just write the check and cross it off your list.  Hold on, did you hear how outdated my last sentence was?  Just push a button on your phone or text a number and it is done.  I don’t think this is wrong.  But I am starting to wonder if it is best.

I think of the phone calls and the mail and the energy expended to grab our attention.  What if that was taken away?  What if instead we decided together where our mission money would go? 

The cons would be:

            That not everyone’s choices might be chosen.

            The instantaneous nature of giving is taken away, and there

               might be sometimes when instant is necessary.

The pro’s would be:

            --That we would talk as a community about what is

                important.

            --That our work together is always stronger than our

                individual work.

             --That together we would know the Lord’s blessing.

There is a sense of personal satisfaction when you right the check, but consider a case study.

Many people support a child through Compassion International, World Vision, or other worthy organization.  For a dollar and change a day, a child is fed for the year, and receives instruction and medical attention.  The opportunity to transform is obvious.  Let’s say for example that there are 20 children sponsored by people who worship in this place.  Jim hosts 2 and Jenny hosts 2 and Johnny supports one.  We each write out individual checks and make this happen.  Praise to the Lord.  This is good, transforming stuff!

But what if instead, we challenged ourselves as a congregation to support 25 children.  The church would take on the responsibilities initiated by individuals, and the individuals would give, as part of their tithe, to this goal.  How would the church know the Lord’s blessing?

By identifying child sponsorship as a priority, and providing our tithes creates more than enough mission money, we could challenge ourselves to do more together than we can alone.  But also, we might find that we start to relate to the child we support. Perhaps we take on a small town with 25 children.  That is, we endeavor to support every child in that village.  Our small congregation is supporting the children of another small village.  Perhaps we then invite the community to double what we sponsor?  Our children might take on the letter writing—well, we need to recruit some more children to write!  So let’s go do that.  Some folk might decide to visit the village themselves, and bring lollipops and notebooks and stuffed toys to bless OUR sponsored children.  One of our walls could be devoted to the pictures we receive.  In this scenario, when we give our tithe, part of that money is paying the fuel bill or the staff salaries, but it is also raising a village.   That is the type of blessing that knocks my socks off.  How about you? 

And that is the point:  who knows, when we really start to engage with tithing and mission, what stories the Lord will put on our hearts.  The concern about ‘my mission’ not being supported’ might just be a straw man, because if we are listening to the Lord, and he is in the center of our work, he’ll direct our hearts.

The chapter of Malachi ends with a delightful and amazing story:  that God directs a scroll of remembrance be written in his presence.  He makes the promise that they will be mine.  Who?

Those that feared the Lord talked with each other and the LORD listened and heard.

People will say, well it doesn’t matter.  The evil are prospering  God isn’t there.  

But Scripture says that when we gather and talk with each other about the Lord, he is there.  Ken---at 3pm today, the Lord will be listening to our conversation.  And he is giving a promise in that moment:  You will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.

Tithing is simple putting God first.  Watching as he directs our work, which, because the Lord is involved, will involve so much blessing that we will not have enough room for it.

If I Were a Puzzle now available

Excited to report that my first children's book If I Were a Puzzle is now available for purchase.










I have copies available, as does amazon and Christian book distributors.   My first book signing is Friday December 5 and Saturday December 6th, at Canterbury Tales Forever, located at Peddler's Village, Lahaska PA.


If you like to tweet, follow me @kenthepuzzle.

the Church Has Left the Building: Loving the Seeker

Love the World:  Loving the Seeker                                   9/21/14

Genesis 12:1-4, John 3:1-21, Romans 4:18-25

Last year, we participated in a program entitled “The Church Has Left the Building”.  We had a series of sermons that equipped us to go out on a Sunday and worship as we worked.  We had 33 participants, which was fantastic.  We ended the evening in worship at Flemington Presbyterian with a few hundred other brothers and sisters from various congregations.  My hope is that we will participate again this year in the Church has Left the Building program.

Why?  Because it is good to take a step of faith once in a while, to challenge ourselves, and to love our neighbor practically and without any thing given back to us.

This year’s theme is Love the World.   It is a command to be godly, to love the world that God loves, so much love that he gave us Jesus Christ, that whoever would believe will have everlasting life.  This fall, we will consider different types of people that God loves, and that we are called to love.  These include, the seeker, the rejected, discouraged, outcast, the invisible and dejected.  Today, we consider loving the Seeker.

The word seeker is word that the modern church has used to describe someone who is serious enough about establishing a relationship with God, or becoming spiritual, but not so serious that they are ready to commit to a local congregation as a member, or to the path of discipleship as a believer.  Admittedly, this is an unusual choice for the word from both a biblical perspective and plain definition of the word.  The definition of seek is to go in search of, to look for, to try to discover.  In the Bible, to seek is to display faith, not to wonder about entering faith. Jesus taught his disciples, Seek and Ye Shall Find, which echoes the Hebrew Scripture, where young Solomon is directed “If you seek God, he will be found by you”.  The Psalms teach us that to seek God leads to rejoicing, seeking is something done always, with all our heart. (105:3, 4, 110:2).  In fact, those who seek the Lord lack no good thing (34:10).  The Prophet Amos says “Seek the LORD and live”, and Hosea corals the sheep by saying “It is time to seek the Lord”.   Jesus says to seek first the kingdom of God.  

And so from the Biblical perspective, seeker is almost another name for Christian:  We are Christians, worshippers, seekers.  It isn’t about that person coming in close enough to see what Christ is all about before saying yes to God.  It is the person who sees what Christ is all about, and increases their devotion more and more because deep down they know.

Yet, there is this word, Seeker, and modern church sociologists have given it a certain nuance, to mean someone who is looking, who is searching and who is restless. It implies that the search has been long, and at times difficult.  Perhaps hurt and failure have weighed down that weary soul.  Perhaps harsh experiences and social rejection have caused a little wariness before jumping in with all one’s heart. 

And if that is the case, our job is simple; To love that person.  To love the seeker.  We are not to make demands upon them, or question why they don’t just believe more, or do better at seeking, or pick a church and stay there.  We love them.  That is the best gift.  That is the gift God gave all of us in Jesus Christ.

Our morning Scripture focus on two different people, who sought.  They were seekers in the classic meaning of the word:  They were people on a search.  They were willing to risk comfort to find meaning.  They saw the light of God and wanted more of it.  They tried to discover.  Neither were perfect in their seeking.  But both displayed a faith worth remembering, and imitating.

Nicodemus was a Pharisee who was a member of the ruling council.  This wasn’t a mere outsider.  He was without a doubt part of the inner circle of the jewish faith and power.  He was a representative of the largest party within the faith, the Pharisees, who strictly adhered to the Law, and the holiness of observing the law.  They were separatist when it came to a world that might tolerate Judaism as one of many options.  But their orders and devotion belonged to One much higher.   Now Jesus challenged the Pharisees.  So much so that a surface reading of the Bible it would be difficult to not have a negative image of the Pharisees.

And yet, there was Nicodemus.  He had heard Jesus teach, including the challenges to his party.  And while he might have carried the membership card, he was more interested in the beauty and holiness and truth and grace of Jesus.  Not yet ready to declare allegiance, he at least wants to meet with Jesus.  And so he goes at night to see him.  Jesus, you must be from God, because you couldn’t do what you are doing without being from God.”

To which Jesus replied to him, you can’t see God’s kingdom unless you are born again.  To a member of the Ruling Council of the largest party within Judaism, going back to birth must have seemed so foreign, perhaps even initially insulting.  He was grown and established.  Even if I could, why would I enter the womb a second time?

There is some back and forth, but essentially, Jesus teaches that we are born physically, but that we must be born spiritually.  And spiritual birth is the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus teaches the teacher, calling upon an old story from the time of Moses…the people had complained to God one too many times, and God sent some snakes to bite the people. The people realize they had pushed too far, and ask Moses to intervene.  God gives Moses a command to put a bronze snake on a tall pole. If the people looked up, literally, they would live.  They had to look up, they had to have faith.  There was no other way.

Jesus then shares that he is like the bronze serpent.  People will need to look to him, to be rescued from the poison of their complaining and the vanity of their life.  But do not worry, God had sent Jesus for this reason, that if you believe, you will not perish, but have everlasting life.

Nicodemus did believe.  He did receive eternal life.  Perhaps not that night, we don’t know.  Maybe he had to go home and chew on Jesus’ words a little.  Maybe it took him a couple of months of wrestling, or maybe over a year of vainly trying to fit Jesus’ teaching into his preconceived notions of the world.  But in John 20, after Jesus had died on the cross, it is Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, who risked everything to go to Pilate, and ask for the body of Jesus, and to give Jesus a reverent and proper burial.  Their devotion is remembered in Holy Scripture.   In the darkest moment in history, Nicodemus had remembered a dark night when he had encountered the light of the Savior.  His seeking a few years earlier equipped him to serve the Lord even if it meant the most powerful empire of the world would come after him, or even if life as he had known it, would not ever be the same.

The second individual from our morning readings is Abraham.  He is far more familiar, one of the great characters of Scripture.   

Abraham is perhaps the ultimate seeker.  Both in literal distance traveled and time allotted before he saw God’s promise to him.  In our story, Abram is 75 years old when he starts part two of the journey.

Part two?

Well, yes, part two.  In the last verses of Genesis chapter 11, we learn some details of the life of Terah, Abraham’s father.  Terah has three sons, Abram, Nahor and Haran.  Haran has a son, his name is Lot.  But Haran dies.  He dies in what is modern day Iraq in a city named Ur.  It was quite an important and successful ancient city, with lots of archeological evidence of a thriving place in the time of Abraham.  Terah suffered the death of his son while in this place.  His other two sons go on to marry, Abram to Sarai and Nahor to Milcah.  Nahor and Milcah have children.  Abram and Sarai do not.

The Bible says that Terah, the father, Abram, Sarai and Lot set out from Ur to go to Canaan.  To go to Canaan was the plan all along.  But when they came to Haran, they settled there.  Yes, the name of the city where they settled was the same name as Terah’s deceased son. (though it should be noted that some scholars believe the name of the city is actually Haranu, or Charran).  The name means road, because it was crossroad city for trade routes.  But if nothing else, it is interesting that the traveling family cannot get past Haran.  They settle there.

Terah lives the rest of his life in Haran.  Apparently, he becomes quite successful, if he hadn’t already been successful in Ur.  But after his death, Abram receives that call from God, leave here, and go the land I will show you.  Go to the promised land.

There I will make you a great nation and bless you. 

There I will make your name great and you will be a blessing.

I’ll bless those who bless you.

I’ll curse those who curse you.

All the peoples of the earth will be blessed through you.

So at 75, when I’m sure Abram had at least a slight level of personal satisfaction and contentment, He went.  He went with Sarai and Lot, and “all the possessions they had accumulated” and “the people they had acquired in Haran”.  One might have a mental image of Abraham and Sarah, riding a camel alone through the desert.  But that was not the case.  It was a large caravan, after a successful way of life at the crossroad city of Haran.

The Scripture says that they did arrive in Canaan.  The journey, though long, and including an extended, multi-year unplanned stay, was complete.  The seekers arrived.  And from that place, there are many other opportunities for Abram to seek.  The most obvious opportunity was for that hole in Abram and Sarai’s heart for a child.  But they were too old for that, weren’t they?

In the Book of Romans, Paul gives insight into Abraham, the great seeker of God.  The one who believed God, and that belief was credited to him as righteousness in God’s presence.

¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Today we think about seekers.  And we think about Nicodemus, seeking Christ in the darkness, and we think about Abraham, seeking the LORD throughout a long journey.  What should we do with these stories for our life and time?

First, we should love our neighbor as we would love ourselves.  This might include opportunities to walk alongside, or welcome, or converse with a seeker.  We should welcome people who stop in for a spiritual glass of water in their desert wanderings.  We might not see them again.  Or they might stay for just a short time.  Our job is to be respectful enough to meet that person where they are, and be confident enough to invite them to meet the one who will transform their life.

Second, as a congregation, if we have settled in Haran, and are really supposed to be in Canaan, then we should get up and seek God’s call upon us.  We may have even stayed in Haran long enough to be comfortable, perhaps successful, but where is God calling us:  that is the place we want to be.

Finally, let us be seekers, in the classic and biblical sense of the word.  Let us go in search of the Lord, let us go to look for Jesus in the darkness of our experience, let us try to discover once again, that love of our Lord.  For, if the Bible is true,

if we seek, then we shall find.

If I Were A Puzzle to be released next month

Well, my favorite pondering is not as a pastor, but as a parent.  I enjoy considering what comes out of our children's mouths, much like Mary treasured all the things said about her son.

While away on vacation, our eldest daughter and I worked on a puzzle.  She turned to me and asked, "Dad, what if you were a puzzle?"  She laughed, but an idea was born. 

I've written four manuscripts, with ideas for 13 other children's books.  But the first step, is that this October, my first children's book, "If I Were a Puzzle" is set to be released.

You can find it on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and soon enough, in a box or two in my living room :)

Before God

Before God                                                                            9/14/14

Exodus 14:19-31, Romans 14:1-12, Matthew 18:21-35

Next week, we will endeavor down our fall sermon series, tied to The Church Has Left the Building.  The theme this year is Love the World, based upon the classic Biblical proclamation:  God loved the world so much that he sent Jesus Christ that whoever would believe in him would have eternal life.

This week, a transitional week from a sermon sense, will call upon the lectionary passages.  Sometimes my first glance at the passages in the lectionary make me go, “huh”.  But they are worth the effort to piece together and see why they were put together.

Simply put, the three passages guide us to consider yesterday, today and tomorrow.  And we look at time in light of who God is.  We live before God. 

The word ‘before’ is a preposition which most of the time means “in advance, or ahead”.  You need to eat your vegetables before you get to eat ice cream.  But there are other uses of the word.  For example, it can mean ‘under the jurisdiction or consideration of’ (the case before the court).  Also, in a higher position than, (quality before quantity).  Also, it means ‘in the presence of’.  Life before God. 

These secondary definitions are very helpful in explaining our relationship with God.  We are before God, in God’s presence.  We serve God, who has jurisdiction over our lives.  We acknowledge God is in the highest position, before our loved ones, families, friends and neighbors.  Paul quotes the prophet Isaiah, “As surely as I live says the Lord, every knee will bow before me.”

The Exodus story roots us in yesterday.  The Gospel Parable becomes our story today.  The Romans teaching guides us into tomorrow.

The story of the Exodus is a universal and true story.  It happened to Israel, but it is attractive to us because we all have felt trapped, and wondered how we will be rescued, and at some point in all our stories, only God can rescue us. 

The Israelites were slave in Egypt for some 400 hundred years.  Just for context, The United States will turn 400 in the year 2176.  Throughout this story of slavery, they had heard that God would someday rescue the people, and bring them to a promised land.  The people held onto that promise and passed it along from generation to generation.  As the day hastened, there were stories of Moses returning with his brother Aaron to demand that Pharaoh let the people go.  There were miracles and plagues.  Something was happening. 

But then one night, it really did happen.  Pharaoh was fed up, and wanted the life that he had known before all types of struggle had come to him, and he tells the people to get out of the land.  Citizens give gold to the Israelites as they leave.  The people literally pay the Israelites to leave.  But as they travel, Pharaoh comes to his senses.  And he sends the world’s greatest army after the Israelites. 

Think about the emotions.  Imagine you are one of the people.  You had been slaves their whole life.  You had worked hard and were tired.  And then one night, you pack up your stuff and get your family in order and start walking.  Where would you go? Where are we going right now?  What was the next chapter?  Who cares…were leaving Egypt!  God’s promise had come true!  And then in the distance, you see the armies coming after you.  Terror strikes.  And before you is water.  How can you possible get across?

They most haunting verse is 30.  “That day, the LORD saved Israel from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore”.   The Israelites had been freed, the promise had been fulfilled.  They saw God act.  Oppressive Egypt was judged.  It must have been a sight that did not easily escape their minds.  But it happened.  The Israelites, whatever happened in their future, would always be able to remember the day that God saved them.

In the Bible, the exodus is Israel’s story.  The story for us is of Jesus Christ, who lived and died and rose to rescue us from spiritual slavery.  We look at his actions, and remember the sacrifice involved.  We live today, remembering that salvation act.  Or we live today, forgetting what God did in the past.

Jesus changed the story, he took care of the problem of human sin and the alienation it caused people before God.  Jesus’ work shouldn’t be kept under ‘yesterday’s file.  The story is real for today.  God’s saving forgiveness comes to us.  And Jesus taught that we should share it with others.

Reading the news, the numbers boggle the mind.  The nation’s debt spiraling into the trillions.  State budgets billions of dollars short.  How does this happen?  The Bible alludes that these types of insurmountable debt are no stranger to other generations.  He tells a story of a man who owed 10 thousand talents, that is millions of dollars.  A millionaire in Jesus time must have been like a billionaire today.  Imagine being forgiven a billion dollars in personal debt, only to be enraged at someone who had borrowed $5 from you.  Jesus invites us to forgive, as we have been forgiven.  In fact, don’t forgive someone 7 times (which was significantly more than Hebrew Law had commanded), forgive seventy times that!  Keep on forgiving.

Yesterday is the story of God’s work in Jesus Christ.  Today, we live before God.  We have been forgiven in Christ, we too are to forgive.  We are like the servant forgiven 10 thousand talents.  Will we now imprison that person who took a cup of coffee from us?

Doing so isn’t how Jesus desires us to live.

So what is the way?  What is the next step?  What type of life are we to build toward tomorrow?  The Apostle Paul invites us into strength and a strong faith. 

One of the biggest issues facing the early church was food.  It comes up in Acts and most of Paul’s letters.  Essentially, the Hebrew Scripture contained dietary and strict food laws.  Were people supposed to follow those in light of what Jesus had done?  Were people free because of Jesus, or were people suppose to build their faith in Christ in addition to the laws already taught? 

In addition, the world around the people of faith often ate and drank in honor of idols.  So if you were a Christian, and you were invited to eat dinner at someone’s house, and they offered a prayer to a false god before eating.  Did eating symbolize your acceptance of the idol?   It was a big teaching that confronted the church.  Ultimately, Paul says that idols are really nothing, that is, they ultimately do not exist.  God exists, therefore, honor God by faith.

In Romans 14, the position is that those able to eat foods because of their faith should not condemn those who are weak.  And those who viewed everyday as sacred should not condemn those who kept the Jewish feasts.  His stance is surprising, we might think that the stronger person was the one who didn’t eat meat, or that kept the feasts of Israel.  Paul’s main point is now that we are in Christ, don’t judge someone who is weaker, but run after strength.  If someone can’t eat the meat, fine, but you should seek what is good and true.   Speaking of the Apostle Paul, and his views of what was essential for the Christian faith, Charles Hodge writes, “Paul would concede everything, and become all things to all people where principle was not at stake; but when it was, he would concede nothing for a moment.”  This is a good reminder for us, that it is all about Jesus.  We live before God, that is, in the presence of God.

Paul teaches us how to build for tomorrow:

--God has accepted us in Christ, not because of how we handle

   issues of diverse opinion.

--We all serve God, and our first priority is our relationship with

   God.  We don’t live other’s relationship with God for them.

--The Lord is able to make us strong and able to make us stand.

--What we do, say, eat, pursue, should be for the Lord.

--We don’t live just for ourselves, we live and die belonging to

   God.

--We should devote energies to the day that we will stand before

   God to give account of ; the life that God has given us.

Yesterday reminds us of the God who works in our world  God has rescued us, both collectively and individually. 

Today is the chance to show how God has worked to others.

Tomorrow is what we build for, seeking God and a strong faith in God, and all of our life before God.