A New Openness to God

A New Openness to God                                                      3/6/16

Hebrews 10:19-39

 

BOOK OF ORDER:   A NEW OPENNESS TO GOD

F-1.0404 Openness

In Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all creation, the Church seeks a new openness to God’s mission in the world. In Christ, the triune God tends the least among us, suffers the curse of human sinfulness, raises up a new humanity, and promises a new future for all creation. In Christ, Church members share with all humanity the realities of creatureliness, sinfulness, brokenness, and suffering, as well as the future toward which God is drawing them. The mission of God pertains not only to the Church but also to people everywhere and to all creation. As it participates in God’s mission, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) seeks:

a new openness to the sovereign activity of God in the Church and in the world, to a more radical obedience to Christ, and to a more joyous celebration in worship and work;

a new openness in its own membership, becoming in fact as well as in faith a community of women and men of all ages, races, ethnicities, and worldly conditions, made one in Christ by the power of the Spirit, as a visible sign of the new humanity;

a new openness to see both the possibilities and perils of its institutional forms in order to ensure the faithfulness and usefulness of these forms to God’s activity in the world; and

a new openness to God’s continuing reformation of the Church ecumenical, that it might be more effective in its mission.

 

Are you Open to God?  Today, we talk about a new openness to God.

 

OPEN Definition

Adjective   Allowing access, passage, or a view through an empty space, not closed or blocked up

exposed to the air or to view; not covered.

 

Antonym:   closed, shut

 

Verb   move or adjust (a door or window) so as to leave a space allowing access and view.

 

In our relationship with God, the definition of “open” is very helpful:

Do we allow God access into our hearts and souls?  (He already has it, for the record, Psalm 139 teaches us this…but from a human perspective). 

Have we closed God off from any part of our existence?  Heart, mind, soul, strength, words, thoughts, deeds?

Have we lived with an understanding that everything we are is clear and known by God?  Nothing is hidden.  Nothing is covered up.  The Spirit of God can transform the heart that is exposed before God.

When open is used as a verb:  Do we move our hearts and minds toward God, so that God can help us see more clearly?  Do we let our perspectives be opened to how God looks at the world, existence and life?

The Book of Order calls for a new openness to God.  It calls us to make sure we are always letting God have first place in our lives.  Not second, not third, not last or left over.  First.  It calls us to display openness to the Lord in four specific ways:
 ·       Openness in our relationship with God.

·       Openness to how we see the community of faith

·       Openness to looking at how we structure ourselves for effectiveness in God’s kingdom

·       Openness in how we relate to God’s work throughout his Church

 

Are you closed?  Or are you open?  What is the Holy Spirit saying to you in this moment?  Closed?  Open?

Is our spiritual life reflected more in the Pharisee, or the tax collector?  Before God’s presence, do you feel entitled or self reliant?  Or humble?

 The Letter to the Hebrews gives us Biblical thought on Openness to God

 What does Being Open to God Mean?  Vs 19-25

 What is the Alternative to Being Open?  Vs 26-31

 Recalling when we have been open to God in our past.  Vs 32-39

 

What Does Being Open to God mean?  Vs 19-25

Jesus has opened the door for you and I to have a right relationship with God the Father.  The imagery from Israel’s Sacrificial system is drawn upon here.   In the temple, the curtain separated people from the Most Holy Place where God dwelt. The high priest would offer the animal sacrifice, whose blood was an atonement for the sins of the people..  Some of the blood is sprinkled throughout the temple furniture to remind all of the cost of sin.  Water was always present to wash and make clean after the sacrifice.

Christianity teaches us that Jesus Christ is the sacrifice for our sins.  It is the blood of Christ that allows us into the Holy Place to meet God.  Jesus bodily sacrifice tears down the wall of separation that distanced humanity from God.  Jesus is the priest, who rather than offering a sacrifice of an animal, offers himself. Jesus, our high priest then speaks on our behalf before God. Our hearts are cleansed by the sprinkled blood, and allow us to be pure, washed clean.

The imagery of Christ as sacrifice shows us the open door to the Lord.  Being open is being in a right relationship with God.  Our life is rooted in Jesus Christ.  He is the Lord.  He is our Savior.  No one else, including ourselves, can rescue us from the stain of our sins.  In Christ, we can have confidence, that Jesus has opened the way. We can live life sincerely, and with assurance from God.  In Christ we can draw near, we don’t have to be distant anymore.  In Christ, we can have hope, and hold onto that hope without swerving or wavering.  In Christ, we can encourage our family of faith.  In Christ, we should never give up on one another, and not give up the practice of being together. 

Is your spiritual life confident in what Scripture says Jesus did?  Is your life sincere, assured because of God’s promises?  Are you open, or closed?  Do you have hope?  Do you encourage one another?  If you are open to God, these descriptions should be true of you.

What is the Alternative to Being Open?

Closed.  Verses 26-31 provide us with caution.  The sacrifice that Jesus made is the utmost serious and important event.  And to toss it out, or disregard its meaning for our lives has a costly consequence to our faith.  The author tells us if we deliberately keep on sinning and ignoring God after we have claimed Christ as Lord, that “no sacrifice for sins is left”.  May these not be haunting words for us:  Do not trample on Jesus Christ.  Do not treat as unholy that most holy sacrifice of Jesus.  Do not insult the spirit of grace.  It will be a terrible thing for you if you do.   The paragraph in Hebrews is not written to unbelievers, but believers who have discarded Christ. 

Recalling when we were open.  Vs 32-39

Presumably, there have been times when you’ve felt open to God, that you’ve felt close because you walked with the Lord.  Don’t forget those times.  What was it about those seasons in your life that was different?  Has it been so long that you can’t remember?  Maybe you’ve never been open to God?  Today, is the day that can change.  The righteous shall live by faith.  And faith doesn’t shrink back.  God takes no pleasure when your faith shrinks back and is destroyed.  He takes pleasure in those who have faith, and rewards them with salvation. 

If you can’t remember a time when you were open to God, and you want to be, then let today be the first day. Find out today what God’s will is, do it today, and then do it again tomorrow.  And then do it again the day after that.  “You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what God has promised.”

 Are you closed?  Or are you open?

 

NEW TESTAMENT REFERENCES TO GOD’S WILL

Matthew 7:21, Mark 3:35, John 6:40,  John 7:17, Acts 20:27, Acts 22:14

Romans 1:10, Romans 8:27, Romans 9:19, Romans 12:2, II Corinthians 8:5

Galatians 1:4, Ephesians 5:17, Ephesians 6:6, Colossians 1:9, Colossians 4:12, I Thessalonians 4:3-5, Hebrews 2:4, Hebrews 10:36, James 4:15,

I Peter 2:15,I Peter 4:2,I John 2:17

 

As well as when Paul references this phrase in his introductions:

I Corinthians 1:1, II Corinthians 1:1, Ephesians 1:1, Colossians 1:1, II Timothy 1:1

 

 

Big Important Words Notes

Big Important Words                                       2/28/16
I Peter 1:1-2

I've been lifting up the Biblical and Presbyterian understanding of membership (in that order).  This sermon lifted up the Marks of the Church.  The Book of Order (BOO) is referenced for the marks.

I Peter Introduction

Congregations where in the provinces of Modern day Turkey. They highlight the importance of place and geography.

God’s elect:  he has you in place for a purpose

God has purpose for the church in all places, and all times.

 

Chosen by God

Through the sanctifying work of the Spirit

For the purpose of obeying Jesus Christ, sprinkled with his blood

 

 

Unity:

Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God.

“unity is God’s gift to the church in Jesus Christ”  (BOO)

It is God’s call upon us that is our unity.  It isn’t the demonstration of being united.  We already are united in Christ.  We are a body, one.  If we don’t feel unity, we should look only to ourselves, what should I do to help affirm something that God has declared to be true. 

 

As a body, we are to care for our members, fellow parts of the body.

“to become priests for one another, praying fore the world and for one another and sharing the various gifts God has given to each Christian for the benefit of the whole community”  (BOO)

 

Holy:

The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit

“holiness if God’s gift to the Church in Jesus Christ”

holy means:  To be set apart

“Just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written, “Be holy, because I am holy”  (quote from Leviticus)

How are we made holy?  Sprinkled with the blood of Christ

 

Catholic:

“on the whole”

Universal, widespread

“the whole being represented in each local church”

A term of contrast to describe a faith that is not heretical.

“what is believed everywhere, always and by all”  ---Vincent of Lerins

          --often, scripture, creeds, sacraments, ministry

 

 (Catholic notes taken from Westminster Dictionary of Christian Theology)

 

 

Apostolic:

Christ sent his disciples,  Tertullian, “the churches come from the apostles, as the apostles had come from Christ and Christ from God”  (WDCT)

Continue the faithfulness of the witness to Christ first done by the Apostles

“sent”   Jesus said, “Peace be with you!  As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “receive the Holy Spirit”.

 

“For the purpose of obeying Jesus Christ”

 

 

 

The jobs of Members:   live the unity that is in Jesus Christ

To be holy, so that we also live as a holy congregation

Faith isn’t just our faith, we are part of a faith bigger than us

Message has made its way to us, who are we getting the message to?

Membership: the Church as Body

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made

Luke 15:1-7, I Corinthians 12:21-31

 

In Psalm 139, David sings

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in mother’s womb.  Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

 

Paul corrects the Corinthians Church in this way

Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God?  You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.   I Co. 6:19

Thinking about the organs of a human body and our passage about the church as body, the appendix is fascinating.   Despite centuries of research, the exact purpose of the appendix is still not certain.  It is sometimes said, perhaps as encourage a person who has had their appendix removed, ‘well, you don’t need that’.  What they really mean to say is “you can survive without it”.  But as Paul reminds us, it is against the rules to say, “we don’t need you”.

There are two examples of complaints that Paul uses in his teaching about the church as body.  The first complaint is “Because I am not”.  An imaginary hand might say “Because I am not an eye, I am not important”.   The second complaint is “I don’t need you” to another member of the body.  Appendix, you aren’t needed.  Begone.

 

“Because I am not…"

When a part of the body needlessly compares itself to another part in an inappropriate way, it rejects God’s part for them in the body.  How absurd that the stomach demand to see?  The body would die because it wasn’t doing the job it was called to do.

It isn’t inappropriate to see strength in another person and wish to emulate that.  But it isn’t appropriate to compare yourself to another part of Christ’s body when he has called you to your role.  Needlessly comparing yourself draws you away from God, while following God’s purpose for you brings health to the body.

 

“I don’t need you...”
The Scripture calls us to spur one another on to good deeds, to encourage one another as long as it called today.  Scripture also commands us to take sin and wrongdoing seriously enough to identify it and seek to leave it behind.  But the Scripture does not devalue humanity.  And it is wrong for us to say to another part of Christ’s body:  I don’t need you.

 Perhaps the biggest reason why is this phrase is an affront to God.  God has placed his body together.  So if someone judges a person as not needed, they make this declaration without all of God’s knowledge and will in view. 

Also, there is a finality to the phrase “I don’t need you”.  But the Scripture says that an eye saying to the head ‘I don’t need you’ doesn’t cease to make the head continue to be a head.

 

What is God showing us through the church as body image?

1. He has put his Son Jesus Christ in Charge, and Jesus is the head of the body.
2. God places emphasis on ‘senses’.  The body as a big eye would lose the majesty of the sense of smell.  A big nose would lose out on music.  The body losing their senses is a sick body, not complete, dysfunctional.
3. God wants his body to awaken to all that God has created it to be.
4. God has a specific intent for specific parts.  Scripture says that God has put each part exactly where it should be.  His will, not ours.
5. God looks at the parts of the body uniquely and purposefully.  He has good plans for all the parts of the body.

What Are We Supposed to Do?

What are We Supposed to Do?                                            2/7/16

Matthew 13:44-45, Ephesians 4:1-16

Tension is a stretching or pulling-apart force. 

Let’s do an experiment using an everyday object that speaks to the tension force in earth science, as well as our spiritual life together.   (Explanation of Janice VanCleave’s 201 Experiments)

The past few months have uncovered some feelings of tension among church members.  The ones that I hear of are related to financial anxiety, membership changes, declining attendance and the pastor’s handle on these dynamics.   But the simple truth of tension is helpful here.

Tension, when handled with care and skill, does not have to be harmful.  Let’s consider the three outcomes of the balloon experiment.

1.    The tension works negatively, and acts as a pulling apart force.  In this case, the balloon bursts and its life expired.

2.    The tension leaves negative effects…the original drawing is distorted.  You can still see what it was supposed to be, but it can never return to that shape.

3.    The tension works positively…God’s people are stretched and challenged, and out of that comes spiritual growth, as well as a return to the original design.

As I’ve heard of some of the feelings of tension by some members these past few weeks, none of the things sound to me, as something that should lead to the balloon bursting.  I do have concern or wonder about scenario two, that tension harming but not destroying can leave a mark, and distort the purpose for which we were intended.  But I also believe that if you really want to, you can choose to use tension redemptively.  But you need to look at it through the eyes of faith, and Scripture, and the Lord.

For example, tension doesn’t need to lead to anger.  The Scripture says,

“Anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires” (James 1:19)

 

Tension does not need to lead to anxiety.  The Scripture says,

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God”  (Philippians 4:6)

 

Tension does not need to lead to complaining.  The Scripture says,

“Do everything without grumbling and arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation” (Philippians 2:14)

Last week, we brought forth the question that all members must ask themselves:  Who is in charge?   The Book of Order (and Scripture, of course) answers this question:  Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church.  Jesus is in charge.

This week, the question is one church members must also engage:  What are we supposed to do?  The Book of Order, rooted in Scripture, provides the answer.

The Great Ends of the Church

The great ends of the church are

the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of

     humankind;

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the

     children of God;

the maintenance of divine worship;

the preservation of the truth;

the promotion of social righteousness;

and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the

      world.

 Every single event, conversation, meeting, worship gathering, prayer should in some way fit into one of these great ends.  

So I look at Stockton’s Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner, and to me it is an exhibition to all who eat together that in the kingdom of heaven, we will eat together.  Brothers and sisters in the Lord can start an eternal celebration every time we gather to eat.  Inviting the community in is an invitation to each person to see a different way of life, beyond drudgery and isolation, into community and joy.   And as much as I joke, it isn’t about the pancakes.  And it isn’t about making people busy or worried.  It is about this event showcasing one of the great ends:  we exhibit the kingdom of God to our community.

It is about keeping these great ends on the forefront of our minds.  Why do you go to a meeting at church?  Why are you on a charity board in your neighborhood?  Why do you go to a group discussion or lecture about the dilemmas of our modern world?   All of it, everything done under our name “Christian” should promote one or more of these great ends.

Let us look a bit closer at each theme.

The proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind

Sometimes people in churches have been in churches so long that they forget.  They forget who they are.  We are not in the church because of our will, or our efforts, or our family history.  We are not in the church to keep a congregation surviving, or in motion, or programs continuing.  None of that.  The church exists in congregational form to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ died on a cross.  He rose from the dead.  He forgives our sins, calls us children of God and grants, through faith in him, eternal life.   That is the gospel.  The gospel is so profound and true and good, that is why we gather.  Let us never forget that.  And let us correct ourselves if we have.  And if we don’t believe, may we repent and believe the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God;

When we come together, you are invited to see yourself as shelter for someone in their storm, part of the nurture of one another’s spiritual life, and part of a fellowship, a gathering of like minded folk who believe Jesus is Head of the Church, and that he has given us work as well as rest. 

the maintenance of divine worship;

We gather to offer our worth giving to God, the creator of life, to Jesus Christ, Redeemer of creation and the Holy Spirit, the sustainer.  We gather to keep what and who is most important to the cosmos on the forefront.  We gather to give praise and love to God.  Scripture’s view is that this worship should take place at least once a week, as it keeps God first and life in perspective.

the preservation of the truth;

we are also invited to preserve truth, for society and human life, to live and preserve the wisdom from God for a good life, to be people fascinated by the world and existence, by science and beauty and history and mathematics, geography, culture, engineering and invention, art and language.  We are to be people of the truth.

When tension is present, it is very easy to trip up and create a false narrative, whether done out of anxiety, or sloppiness, or trying to create distance…but the truth is, that which is false does not endure.  It can’t.  Truth endures.  So as your pastor, I counsel you to speak with an integrity, and a care that honors what is true, and does not promote that which isn’t accurate, or based on conjecture and not facts, on opinions but not conversation.  Jesus is full of grace and truth.  And we are to be like him.

the promotion of social righteousness;

The church throughout its history has contributed to hospitals, schools, abolition of slavery and racial equality.  It has pushed the question of economic justice and appropriate labor laws.  The church, when showing Jesus, should point to a good life, to goodness itself, to peace and justice.

and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world.

We point people to Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life.  He said he was these things to his disciples after a conversation that he was going to heaven to prepare a place for them.  You know the way to where I am going, he told his disciples.  Christ is the way, the way to good and everlasting life, to feasting and joy and fellowship with saints throughout the ages, and heavenly creatures yet to be known.

As we walk through the challenges of life, our job is, to the best of our ability, to keep our shape and design, so that when Stockton/Titusville and surrounding neighbors see this congregation, they don’t see a burst balloon, not a balloon stretched too far, and as a result, has lost its shape and design.  But rather, they sees a people who love God, who follow Jesus, and who experience the Holy Spirit, so that even during those times when tension comes, we are shaped for good by God through them.

Who is in Charge?

Who is in Charge?                                                                               1/31/16

Psalm 2, Colossians 1:16-23, Mark 1:14-20

In upcoming sermons, I’m going to walk us through the classic Presbyterian understanding of membership. 

To do so, I’m going to call upon a distant friend.  Well, not so much a friend, but more so, a relative by way of ordination.  You have to love your relatives right?

Representatives from our Denomination meets every two years to add/delete/reshuffle the Book of Order, the rules that congregations within the denomination agree to live by, or at least acknowledge that they exist when they chose to ignore them.

But this relative of mine, this Book of Order, I haven’t given it all the attention it deserves.  While my perception is that our denomination has been struggling for a long time, if we open the beginning pages of this book, it becomes clear that we don’t struggle because the bones are bad.  We have a good skeletal system in place in the beginning pages of this book.

One of my mistakes over the years, one that has taken me years to understand more clearly, is that I have under-emphasized the importance of membership.  All around us, membership across our culture is de-valued, and declining.  This is as true for the Rotary Club as it is for the local church.  People don’t join things like they used to.  There is demographic evidence that supports this.

My theology also plays into my practice.  I’ve always been a tentative Presbyterian.  My allegiance has always been to the Lord of the Church, rather than the service to the denomination.  And when you serve a struggling denomination, it is possible to separate those two trains:  allegiance to God and service to denomination.   As a pastor, I’ve always been more concerned that people believe in Jesus, and find salvation, than become a member at a church, especially if that membership is not rooted in a faith that is alive and in Christ.

Yet, upon review, I think I went too far.  Not emphasizing membership has missed out on what these good bones of our denomination’s body teach us.  And the very first question that church members are reminded when they open up the rule book is this:  Who is in charge?

Fresh water on the soul.

A light that shines on a dark trail.

The Spirit of God awakening the pews and people within them.

 

Jesus Christ is in Charge.  And no one else.

Sure, some people have titles.  Some people take charge by force.  Others make it up as they go along, relying on their scheming and crafting and the gullibility of people.  Still others are assigned, elected or ordained to authority.  But let us not be like the kings of the earth identified in Psalm 2, and think for one second any human power is real power.

The One in heaven laughs.  The Lord scoffs at them.  Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them with his wrath saying, “I have installed my King on Zion, my Holy Hill”

Jesus Christ is in charge.  He is Lord.  He is Lord of heaven and earth.  And he is Lord of the Church.

The kings of the earth speak of God’s Anointed Christ in this way:  “Let us break their chains and throw off their fetters”.  As if God’s authority holds back humanity.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Jesus came, full of grace and truth.  God in human flesh.  He is the exact image of God the Father, but fully human so that humanity could see and feel and know.  And Jesus’ first command to his disciples was “Repent and Believe the good news”.

Repent means to turn around.  Believe the good news of God’s kingdom.  That is our command, and it continues today.

Paul lays the groundwork of early Christian understanding that Jesus was in charge. 

• Jesus is the image of the invisible God.
• By Jesus all things were created by him and for him.
• In Jesus all things hold together
• Jesus is the head of the church
• Jesus is the first to resurrect from the dead to show his supremacy
• Jesus reconciled all things through his blood on the cross

These biblical teachings answer why Jesus is in charge.

And these first paragraphs of the Book of Order affirm the Scripture.  So members, first and foremost, are people who acknowledge that Jesus is in charge of the church.  This is in addition to his being in charge of our lives, everyone else’s lives, of history, of the future, and of the cosmos.

If our Christian faith takes the attitude of the kings of Psalm 2, we will work hard at trying to overthrow Christ’s rule.  We will speak of His Lordship in terms of imprisonment.  But this ignores God’s intentions for humanity in the Bible.

If we repent of these unfulfilling paths, and believe God’s good news for us, we start to enter the life that God has for us.  Knowing Jesus alone is in Charge is the most liberating of teachings.  It frees us to be all that God wants us to be, and to let God be God.

I want to lift up three sentences from this first section:

1. (B)  Christ calls the church into being, giving it all that is necessary for its mission to the world, for its building up and for its service to God.

If we were to think about the church, just for a moment, as the (Stockton or Titusville) Presbyterian Church, the first sentence lifted up is incredibly liberating.  Christ calls us into being.  And in giving us life, Jesus gives all that is necessary.  What a comforting thought!
We are given all that is necessary for three things:

1. for mission to Stockton/Titusville, and neighbors near and far
2. for building up believers spiritual lives
3. for serving God, and God’s purposes.

Isn’t that amazing?  Everything that we need God will give.  Now, it doesn’t say everything we want, or everything that we perceive as important.  It does say everything we need.

It is safe to say that every member, and every worshiping friend of this place, as well as every community member, when we work together, we have everything that God wants us to have in order to do his work, to be strong in the Lord and serve God’s purposes.  That is amazing.

And what is even more amazing is that the Book of Order doesn’t speak to just our congregation, but to the Capital C, Church, the billion Christians in the world, and the believers throughout history that have come together as congregations to give praise to the Lord.  God has given the Capital C church all that it needs.  

In that light, Stockton and Titusville are also interesting.  Perhaps we tell a unique story to those around us.  Perhaps we exist to help other parts of the church learn, just as we learn from others.

2. (B)  It belongs to Christ alone to rule, to teach, to call and to use the Church as he wills

At Stockton’s Bible Study on Friday, I heard amazing stories of some of the previous pastors of the congregation.  But my favorite story was hearing of {Bill Jones}, who was sick with cancer when he was called here.  To hear on Friday that in hindsight, his call here allowed his wife to be near family in her time of need was an amazing story.  Christ uses the church for his purposes, and his people and people throughout time find the grace and mercy of God through his purposes.  Congregations, when open to telling God’s story, tell amazing stories!  And they all speak to the will of Jesus Christ, Lord of the Church.

3. (D)  The Church is bound to Christ’s authority and thus free to live in the lively, joyous reality of the grace of God.

This is a delightful and wonder-filled phrase.  Humans think they want to be in charge.  Humans plow through attempting to tell themselves and all who will listen how they are in charge.  They fight and wrestle God and his authority, and his anointed Christ, in order to do such silly things as “find themselves”, or “work on who I am” or “live for my happiness” apart from Jesus Christ.  As if God is hindering them.  As if people cannot be free or happy if they have to serve God.

But the mystery is that if we embrace Christ’s authority, we find freedom.  In fact, it is the only way to find freedom.  If you cannot let God be in charge, your life will never be fulfilling.  It will be one vain, empty exercise after another.

If you embrace Jesus as the One in Charge, we learn that something fantastic happens:  we can enter into what God has wanted for his children all along:  to be free to live in the lively, joyous reality of the grace of God.

I testify today, that I have not always let Jesus be in charge (from my perspective mind you), but when I have:  I have found this statement to be true:  I have known a lively, joyous reality of God’s grace in Christ.  And you can too!

Who is in charge?  Is not a demand from an angry customer waiting to speak icy words of self-justice.  It is not an unanswerable question that wonders if there is order or any goodness in the world.  It is a question, that when answered correctly, brings life, abundant life, eternal life into view.

Do you see it?  To do so you first have to declare what is true:  Jesus Christ is in Charge.

 

He is Lord of my life.

He is Lord of all life.

He is Lord of the church.

He is Lord of heaven and earth.

He is Lord of History and the world to come.

He is Lord of the cosmos.

He is Lord of all.

 

And that is who you want in charge!

Traveling to the Hill Country

Traveling the Hill Country                                                   12/20/15

Micah 5:2-5, Luke 1:39-46

 

Background to Micah Reading:

          --his name means:  Who is like God?

          --prophesies during the Late 700’s, includes predictions of

                   Fall of Samaria in 722, and judgment of the people

                   during Hezekiah’s rule in 700.

          --3 Eras of Prophets:  Assyria, Babylon, Persia

          --Other Assyrian era prophets:  Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah

          --His 3:12 prophesy is quoted by people defending Jeremiah

                   (26:18)

During Advent, we remember two comings, that first coming of Jesus, when he was born in a cave outside of Bethlehem, as well as the second coming of Jesus, at the end of the age, when he reveals himself as King of kings and Lord of lords, glorious and One with the Father.

Bethlehem was a small city in the Hill Country of Judah, about 5 miles outside of Jerusalem.  Its original name was Ephrathah, given to it in the time of Jacob, with its meaning “fruitful”.  Bethlehem means “House of Bread”.  How fitting that the place where the Bread of Life was born was named the House of Bread, the place where the Vine of Life was born was named Fruitful.

Micah proclaims that it is this small clan of Bethlehem out of which the Messiah will proceed.  It is out of smallness that the ultimate power of God will come.  Strength comes not from the big city of Jerusalem, but rather, the small town of Bethlehem.

The Messiah’s lineage can be traced to this small town.  Bethlehem will be exalted because out of it is born the Savior.  The Messiah from Bethlehem will rule over Israel, and his origins are from eternity.  The modern translation says “from of old, from ancient times”, but it really means ‘before the creation’, and the same exact phrase is used in Proverbs 8:22-23, when wisdom proceeds to humanity from eternity.

C.F. Keil reminds us “man is bound to time and in his mode of thought, can only picture eternity as time without end”
(Keil, Commentary on the OT:  Minor Prophets.  Eerdmans, Grand Rapids.  1982.  pg. 480)
Eternity is not only time without end, but also time without beginning.  The Messiah that is comes out of Bethlehem is from eternity.

The Messiah enters human history by way of the small town of Bethlehem.

One thousand years before the Messiah came by way of this small town, a young shepherd named David watched over the fields outside Bethlehem.  He was destined to Jerusalem, anointed King by Samuel after being called in from the fields.

Bethlehem was on the highway.  It was a popular stop on the way to Egypt, and to the ancient city of Hebron.  There was an Inn there.  No, really, there was.

And there was also a cave outside the Inn.  This cave was used as a stable.

The Messiah would come to rule the world, by way of Bethlehem.  The Messiah would shepherd his people with strength.  The sheep would be secure.  The Shepherds greatness would reach the ends of the earth.  The Shepherd would be their peace.

The Messiah is from the family line of David the King.  David could not fulfill God’s justice, though he did love God with all of his heart.  The Messiah would come to rule the world; with truth and grace.  He would be our peace.

 

The teenaged Mary meets older Elizabeth in the hill country.  She endured the difficult travel to meet her relative.  Elizabeth praises Mary, for being chosen by God, and for believing in God’s word and God’s promise.

Mary was blessed to be the mother of the Messiah. She was blessed because she believed what the Lord had said to her, and that the Lord, the Strong Shepherd of his people, had the power to do what he said.

Mary and Elizabeth become models for our faith.  Elizabeth, and John the Baptist growing within her, are filled with the Holy Spirit when they encounter Jesus.   They proclaim with loud voice the wonders of God, the blessing of living in his ways, and she blesses Mary.  Mary is a model because she trusts in God. She remains humble and glorifies the Lord, not herself.

Mary traveled to the Hill Country.  We too, travel there.  Hill Country provides several images for our faith:  hills are not without slippery slopes, and have an element of danger to them.  Their heights offer perspective, and a deep sense of beauty.  You need stamina to climb the hills.

As Christians, our lives, when lived faithfully, are not without potential difficulty and danger.  Christian faith does provide perspective and a sense of beauty not offered by godlessness and faithlessness.  And you do need to be strong to be a Christian, it requires endurance, perseverance, and courage.

Those who have faith enough to travel to the Hill country will meet Jesus Christ there.  Jesus’ birth and death, take place in the Hill Country.  The defining moments of human history take place on a hill.

Long ago, the hills surrounding Bethlehem hosted sheep, and shepherds, like David.  The hills watched throughout the generations as travelers passed by.  The hills welcomed the Messiah as he was born in that little town of Bethlehem.  The House of Bread gave the bread of life to the world.

 

Some 300 years after the life of Christ, a famous Christian named Jerome spent the last 30 years of his life in Bethlehem.  Living in a cave cell for most of that time, Jerome wrote extensively, including the Latin Vulgate, the Latin translation of the Scripture. He also served as a priest to a small number of followers there.  It is delightful to think that one of the church’s most important scholars had journeyed to many places and important cities throughout the world before traveling to the hill country of Bethlehem, to write near the place of his Lord’s birth.

Like Jerome, we should go to the place of Christ’s birth.  It is this wondrous story that leads us to salvation.

Like Jerome, we must spend time interacting with the Word of God, in human flesh Jesus, and in print, the Bible.  This word has the power to save and transform all human life, as well as all life throughout the cosmos.

Like Jerome, we should seek to understand God’s word in such a way that we can also translate to the common person.  Are we pointing people to the bread of life?  Do we walk alongside friend and neighbor and co-worker in order to point them to the Hill Country, where they too might seek and find Jesus Christ?

Are we traveling the Hill Country?  If so, we too will see and know the Messiah, Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, King of kings, Lord of Lords.

Mountains and Valleys: 2nd Week of Advent

Mountains and Valleys                                               12/6/15

Isaiah 40:1-5, Luke 3:1-6, Philippians 1:3-11

 

Slavery.  Freedom.   Look to your left and right, and each one stands opposed, both calling to you.

It is easy to say we would look to freedom, and easily choose her.  But the story of God’s people reminds us it isn’t always that simple. 

When faced with hunger, on the road to freedom, Israel recalled supposed ‘better days’.  The people recalled that in Egypt, “we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted” (Exodus 16:3).

God had provided his strong salvation in the Exodus story.  God’s mighty voice spoke through Moses, “Let my people go”.  The people left their slavery behind, and started the journey.  When brought to the Red Sea, with the repentant Pharoah having sent his army to right his wrong, God parted the sea, and sent the people on their way.  Egypt was judged.

It would be wonderful, if the Israelites had simply crossed and entered their new state of freedom. But in their preparing work, the false security of slavery beckoned with its reconstruction of the past:  You had all the food you needed, where are you traveling to?  Why not come back?

God had hoped the people would rely on his promise to bring them home.  If nothing else, the fire by night and the cloud by day should have served as a reminder that God would provide.

The people, in the wilderness, decided on a third option.  Recalling the supposed security that slavery had provided them, and not yet in the land of promise, Israel chooses to stay.  Israel chooses the wilderness. 

God’s offer of smooth paths, milk and honey, and a land for children and children’s children was rejected, for the wilderness.

Essentially, God, in his anger at the disobedience and shortsightedness of the people, gives them what they want.  They want wilderness?  You’ll get it.  None of the generation that led their children on the road to freedom would enter the land.

The New Testament Letter called Hebrews interprets this decision to choose wilderness:

⁷ So, as the Holy Spirit says:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
⁸     do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
    during the time of testing in the wilderness,
⁹ where your ancestors tested and tried me,
    though for forty years they saw what I did.
¹⁰ That is why I was angry with that generation;
    I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
    and they have not known my ways.’
¹¹ So I declared on oath in my anger,
    ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

¹² See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. ¹³ But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. ¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. ¹⁵ As has just been said:

“Today, if you hear his voice,
    do not harden your hearts
    as you did in the rebellion.”

¹⁶ Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? ¹⁷ And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? ¹⁸ And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? ¹⁹ So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

(Hebrews 3:7-19)

 

The wilderness ways have continued throughout history, and we find ourselves still traveling through the wilderness, having found it comfortable enough even to make our spiritual home in the wilderness.  From the wilderness, we see two dominant features within the landscape:  We look around, and see mountains and valleys.  It is our God who calls to them to make way for the Lord.  We are to prepare a path for the coming of the King.

And while we might imagine the scenery and loftiness of the mountains, where hiking to stunning views sounds positive, mountains in Scripture spoke of boundary (they separated people from people), and idolatry (the mountains were used to offer the sacrifices to idols).  The Psalmist says:  I look to the mountains, does my help come from them, no, my help comes from the Lord (Psalm 121:1)

The valleys hold within them the floods and the fallen rocks.  The valley becomes symbolic of the anger and bitterness that stays in our life when we don’t send it away.  It stays with us, and keeps us from the path of the Lord.  

But rather than looking at what seems insurmountable, or being kept down by what has come to us, the Scripture invites a different way:

 

Prepare the way for the LORD.

In the wilderness make the highway out.

The straight path called for by God makes way for God, for movement, and for the glory of the Lord to be revealed, so that all mankind together will see the glory of God.

 

Scripture teaches us of one who understood the voice of one calling:  John the Baptist:

 

How did John the Baptist prepare the way for the LORD?

 

John is first mentioned following a list of several rulers of different layers of the Roman government.  Some of these names sound familiar to us, others have been dismissed by time.  But all human government is bound by time, and the rule of men is but second when standing against the eternal authority of God Almighty.  These names, the names that we are familiar with in our time, they don’t last:  the rule of men does not last.

 

It is after these names are listed, because they do provide historical context, that we find the Word of God making its way to John.  This is why it is important that we know John.  He has been lifted out of the fading, futile rule of men, in order to announce the reign and realm of God Almighty.

 

John is given an identity that resonates with us: John is identified as son of Zechariah, not citizen of Rome

 

It is while in the desert that God’s word comes to John.  He was in the desert, and from there, went out into all the country

 

--preached the baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins

--he challenged decision makers to share

--he challenged tax collectors to simply do their job

--he challenged soldiers to stop extorting and accusing, and to be content.

--He pointed people to the Way, our Lord Jesus Christ.

We find ourselves in a situation not that different than John the Baptist.

 

Like John the Baptist, we should be preaching repentance:  someone uses the name of the Lord in vain.  Do we say something?  After all, Jesus is our Lord, his name is important to us.  “excuse me, but the name you just took in vain is important to me, and I ask that you would chose different words to express your frustration”.  You are inviting someone to repent.

 

Like John the Baptist, we should be challenging decision makers to share:

You could write a letter to forsake to your congressman inviting our nation to forsake the sins of the fathers when it comes to helping those in dire situations.  I watched with fascination this week the PBS documentary: Roosevelt:  An Intimate History.  There was a section at the end of episode 5 which told of America’s hesitation to welcome jewish brothers and sisters who requested asylum from Nazi germany.  Though the historical contexts are different, should not we welcome Syrian refugees, especially mothers and children?

Like John the Baptist, we should encourage people to do their jobs.  Perhaps there is someone who might feel down, you can come alongside of them and encourage them to be diligent, and do their job.

Like John the Baptist, we should call people not to steal, but to be honest.

Like John the Baptist, we should point people to Jesus Christ:  This Christmas season, you could invite someone distracted or overwhelmed by the less important things of holiday season, and point them to the better gift of a grace-filled and simple life, and the best gift of Jesus Christ

 

Philippians:  How do we help prepare the way for the LORD?

 Thanking God for his goodness, the people we have had chance to walk alongside

To pray with joy because of how the gospel is at work, and when we are doing our job as a church—we are promoting the gospel.

To be assured of God’s completing work.

To have one another in our hearts, as we defend the gospel, regardless of circumstance

To long for what the LORD longs for.

That our love for one another may abound, and become more knowledgeable, have more depth of insight  (love isn’t just a feeling, it is a way of life, with a familiarity of the loved one based on knowledge)

To discern what is best

To be pure and blameless until the day that Jesus comes again.

To be filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes from Jesus.

To give glory and praise to God.

Today’s candle points us to peace.  Peace essentially means wholeness.  The wilderness can’t provide us peace, so let’s not choose to live there, when God calls us to his promise.  Living simply and boldly provides peace, John the Baptist modeled that to us.  And praying for the church, and loving our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ, that should bring us peace too.