One Gospel (Galatians 1) 7/1/12

Remember when you left home; when you went off to college or the military or that first job? Remember when you started sowing some oats or getting in with the wrong crowd? Remember that letter or phone call from your mother or father? You know, the one that reminded you who you were and where you came from. We all have memories like that. My parents saw where I was headed and they loved me enough to try to re-point me in the right direction. Thank God for parents who don’t meddle, but never leave us completely alone.

Several of Paul’s letters are like that, trying to re-direct his followers down the right path. Galatians is perhaps the most pointed. Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia is not an exercise in tact and diplomacy.  It is, rather, an indictment of his flock for their poor judgment.

  Galatia was a region that Paul visited during his first missionary journey. These were Gentiles brought to the saving knowledge of Christ by Paul himself. Paul loved these people and felt directly responsible for their conversion to Christianity.  The book of Galatians is an appeal to these same people to take a hard look at what, and whom, they are following.

Paul wastes no time. He states his credentials in the very first line of the letter, saying that he is an apostle called not by men but by Jesus Christ and God the Father. He says that he speaks from personal revelation, the same as the twelve apostles. He offers grace and peace to the churches on behalf of God. Having observed the niceties, Paul then skips the thanksgiving that we customarily see in his letters and goes immediately to the heart of the matter. His agitation and alarm are more apparent as the letter unfolds.

Astonished, deserting, turning away, distort, accursed. These are some of the verbs that Paul uses next to describe the state of affairs in the churches of Galatia. He is angry and hurt and perhaps even more, he is anxious for his flock. He knows that their decision to follow the Judaizers takes them away from the real gospel. To do so is a breach of faith. Paul is passionate here. He realizes that the future of this church hangs in the balance.

The Galatian churches had been infiltrated with Judaizers; people who told them they were welcome to worship with the Jews if they would submit to circumcision. Apparently, there was some merit for these so-called church leaders to bring Gentiles into worship with the Jews. On its face, that didn’t sound so bad, but the Gentiles had to submit to Jewish ritual, including circumcision, in order to come in to the church.

Perhaps these leaders actually believed what they were selling. Perhaps they were only courting the favor of the religious establishment. Either way, this infuriated Paul. Paul saw the gospel as God’s promise of justification by faith alone. For Paul and for us as well, this was the whole point of the atonement of Jesus. The thought of circumcision was to him a departure from faith. It was a return to the law, to a faith that depended on works of some kind. This was nothing short of apostasy, of betrayal of the very heart of the gospel message.

The Judaizers thought that Paul had made it too easy to become Christian. Where were the rules? Where were the rituals and regulations that set them apart from pagans? As Paul begins to speak to the issue, he first addresses his converts, the members of the Galatian churches. He calls them deserters, accusing them of turning to a different gospel.  He reminds them that there is only one gospel. He reiterates in the strongest possible terms that the only acceptable gospel is the one they received from him, the one that he received from Jesus himself.  Understand that it is not Paul’s gospel. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of Jesus Christ, to which Paul is referring.

          Paul says there are those who trouble and want to distort. Do you know anyone like that? The bookstores and newsstands are full of peddlers of half-truths. Today, the prosperity gospel is preached and hawked as though it will transform our lives to material wealth and prosperity. Others preach equally distorting messages far from the real truth of the gospel. The gospel to which Paul refers is not composed of observance of a set of don’ts. It is one of love returned for love; servanthood practices and redemption received. The grace of the Lord supplies all the entrance requirements. We have only to accept the love that has been offered.

          But what if the gospel proponents are famous politicians or university professors? What if they are religious leaders? What if they are the teacher of your class or your favorite writer? Paul says that if they say something different from what Jesus has handed down, then they are frauds. Does that happen? A seminary friend of mine told me of being welcomed into her Presbytery not too long ago. An area religious leader and Presbyterian minister called himself “Christian,” but said he didn’t believe in the resurrection. And Paul says “even if an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.”

We don’t have to worry today about being circumcised. We don’t even consider that as a religious act. We look at it rather as a medical procedure routinely performed on infant males. But we are constantly barraged in our culture to be self-reliant, to look after number one, to save for a rainy day. Sometimes our religious practices run afoul of others’ freedoms. Sometimes democracy or science or relativism seem to become the new religion. The voices of many teachers echo through our classrooms and living rooms as we seek to find the filter that will bring us in line with the truth.

Is there still truth in the world? Of course there is. The great truths of this world are changeless and timeless. Paul reminds us the greatest truth of all is the gospel. He reminds us that while there may be many wanna-bes, there is only one gospel. The gospel is not about rules and regulations. It’s not about observation of all the ways to do wrong. It’s not about debits and credits. That’s accounting. If that is what we must do to get to God, we are lost before we start. The gospel is not really about restraint at all. It is much, much more about empowerment.  The gospel is servanthood. It is the good news of Jesus Christ, not the good news of Paul or the Pastor, and the good news of Jesus Christ is that he has already saved us if we will believe that he is who he says he is.

The Judaizers and the apostle Paul had something in common, though it was hard for them to see it at the time. They both were talking about what it takes for us to form lasting relationships between ourselves and God. How can you find peace with God? How can you live in harmony with him? The answer, as Paul correctly discerned, is through faith, not through an additional layer of  man-made requirements. The message of the gospel is simple, but the practice of it is far from easy. Which would you rather do? Be circumcised and observe a list of requirements, through which you can grade yourself and present your report card to Jesus? Or live by faith, all day, every day, never knowing what God will have you to sacrifice in his name, never knowing where he may send you, to what lengths or depths you will be called in his name. No, the gospel of which Paul talked has but one requirement, but it is far from easy. Take it from a lawyer. Legalism is not the way to God. It appeals to pride, and that gives us something to crow about. Faith, on the other hand, gets self out of the way. Then, the glory of the gospel can shine right through the cracked vessels that we call our lives.

Do you believe? Do you believe in the one gospel? It’s right here. You can read it for yourself. The message is strong and powerful and as new today as it was at Pentecost. There is but one gospel. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him---should not perish---but have everlasting life.”     

Equipped for Good Work (2 Timothy 3: 14-17) 6/24/12

          Looking for a “pass it forward” message? Maybe a good locker room speech for halftime? Need to challenge your child or student or young friend before you retire? You could do worse than the letter of 2^nd Timothy as the source of your inspiration. Paul pours his heart out to his young protégé. 2^nd Timothy is perhaps the last writing that Paul sent before his appointment with the Roman justice of Nero and the axe of his executioner. The book is one of a small collection of three letters that we call the “Pastorals,” two to his young friend Timothy and one to Titus. They are mentoring letters. They are both witness and guidebook to these young men. In that sense, they are instructive to us as we endeavor to find our way through the maze of life’s decisions. It’s always nice to have a GPS when you’re trying to find your way home.

          St. Timothy is an interesting character. He was the son of a mixed marriage. His father was Greek, his mother Jewish. Eunice, Timothy’s mother, is mentioned kindly by Paul in his writings and is thought to have converted to Christianity. Timothy accompanied Paul on his second missionary journey, replacing Barnabus. Paul saw to it that Timothy was circumcised in order to be more acceptable to the Jews. Timothy was probably with Paul at Caesarea and Rome when Paul was imprisoned. He was later sent to Ephesus, where legend has it that he became its first bishop. Timothy remained in Ephesus for some fifteen years until he was stoned trying to stop a pagan parade. Paul was very fond of Timothy, referring to him as his son in the faith.

Today, we recognize several young men who have come of sufficient age to determine for themselves to join the church. Like Timothy, they have “from childhood…been acquainted with the sacred writings.” For Timothy, it was probably the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament) into Koine Greek. For us and these young men, it is the Bible, both Old and New Testament. For some weeks, we have met and talked about what it means to be Christian; what is means to be Presbyterian. We have talked about lots of things, but we have focused on the Apostles Creed because it is a shorthand version that embodies much of what we hold dear as the sacred tenets of our faith. There are other creeds and confessions that are of equal weight in our church and we have taken a brief look at them as well. We have used the Apostles Creed because it is perhaps the one with which they had the most familiarity.

Those of you who are older have had more occasion to have those significant conversations with someone for whom you held great value. We tend to receive such advice on graduation from high school or college, prior to marriage, on going off to serve in the military or moving away from home---or perhaps at the imminent passing of a loved one from this life. These are the times when those precious nuggets of wisdom flow from the lips of those whom we love and respect. Such is the occasion for which Paul wrote his young friend and such is the occasion in which these young men find themselves this morning.

Joining the church is a right of passage. As infants, our parents brought us before this throne of grace and promised to raise us in the nurture and admonition of God. The members of the church made a similar vow. That has been the task of both family and church. But today, you are taking a step on your own. We in the church have tried to make it an informed step for you, but now you step out from under the care and protection of that umbrella where you had no decisions to make. Today, you say to yourself, your family, this church and God that you choose this, that you choose him; that you of your own choosing turn to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. And so, it is fitting that you be armed with some advice with which to carry out your decision.

          Paul tells Timothy to continue. Timothy is charged to continue in what he has learned, in what he has believed, in what he has been acquainted with since childhood. Paul is talking about the Scriptures. Paul says that through faith in Jesus Christ, Scripture can make us wise for salvation. You, like Timothy, are privileged to have been brought up in Christian homes, in a church community. You are already prepared much more than many young men and women all around the world who have not been so lucky. The writer of Proverbs 22 tells us to “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (v.6). You already have tools in your spiritual belt that will stand you well for the many tests that lie ahead. ]

          When I was eighteen years old, I went to work in the cotton mill for the summer before I went off to college. I worked in a shop where I learned how to install gauges and instruments on machinery. In order to do the work, I needed a number of tools which I was to wear on a tool belt. I can remember showing up early into the job and being asked where my tools were. My supervisor told me very matter of factly that I would never be able to fix or install anything if I didn’t bring the right tools to the job. I never forgot that. To this day, the back of my car has a toolbox which goes everywhere with me. It still has tools in it which were purchased forty five years ago. They still work as good today as they did so long ago. They have stood the test of time. The Scriptures are like that. The Bible is timeless. Give it high priority in your toolkit of life and you will come to your job equipped for the work God has planned for you. 

          Paul reminds Timothy that he knows from whom he learned these things. This could have several layers of meaning, including faith in Christ and dedication to Scripture. It might also mean family. In Timothy’s case, it is Eunice, his mother and certainly Paul, his father in the faith.  Understand this in your own context. Look around at who is here for you today. You have parents and grandparents, maybe even uncles and aunts. You have church family. In Paul’s words, understand from whom you have learned how to be the person you are—how your value system has been shaped to this point in your life.

          Paul ends this passage to his pupil by focusing on the source of true knowledge. It is Scripture. Paul says that all Scripture is God-breathed. Think about this. All Scripture is God-breathed. Scripture can be confusing. Scripture can be complex, even apparently contradictory. It was written by men, copied by men into additional manuscripts. It was written in different times, in different places, by men with different backgrounds. But…taken as a whole, the message of the Scriptures is breathed from God himself. Believe it! Believe it as Paul did and let it be your map from now on. Paul says the Scripture is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and…and this is the biggest one of all…for training in righteousness. The Scriptures are all these things and so much more. They are God talking to you. Are you listening?

          What is the result? Paul starts out by telling his student to continue, to continue doing what got him there to begin with. How many times have you heard a coach or player interviewed before a big game as to strategy and what is the typical response? Consistently, they say the same thing: they’re going to continue to do the things that got them there. They must have read 2^nd Timothy 3.  The result is that you will become men and women of God. What better aspiration could there be? And Paul says that if you have continued to read and practice what you learn from Scripture, then you will be competent, able. You will be equipped. You will be equipped not just for some good work, but for every good work. That is the advice of the old teacher Paul to his young student Timothy. He gave it when he knew he was out of time. He gave it when he waned to give Timothy the absolute best advice he could, for he knew it might be the last advice he would ever give him. That is the advice that I give you today on behalf of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and on behalf of your families and your church. Continue. Read the Scriptures. Learn God’s Word. Become equipped for every good work!

Kingdom Seeds (Mark 4: 26-34) 6/17/12

          My wife Cindy loves to plant. Every spring, she starts her exodus back and forth to Lowe’s and the Farm Fresh Market and various other stops to gather annuals and perennials for planting. I used to get after her about buying annuals because they don’t come back the next year. She finally made me understand that different flowers bloom at different times. She wants to have colors decorating our landscape as much of the year as possible and that takes annuals as well as perennials. So we have our share of azaleas and dogwoods and crepe myrtles and camellias and gardenias and hydrangeas and lilies to go with the pansies and snapdragons. We used to plant vegetables, but somewhere along the way the vegetables gave way to flowers. Cindy is a “plant it all and see what happens” sort of gardener. Being a much more dull personality than my wife, I thought you just plant one or two groups of things in a flower bed. That is not the way my wife plants. She wants things blooming all year long, splashing color as they come up in their season. She mixes the annuals in the beds for extra pizzazz. Every year, something different seems to be coming up in her flower beds. Funny thing about all those different flowers. They seem to live together just fine. Each comes up when it’s ready, stays for awhile and then makes room for the next show. But that’s another sermon.

          In the gospel of Mark, we are told a number of parables. The parable of the secretly growing seed is found only in Mark’s gospel. It is a short but powerful lesson about the kingdom of God, immediately followed by the parable of the mustard seed—another parable about God’s kingdom. Between the two, Jesus gives us a glimpse of some of the characteristics of the kingdom of heaven.

          Jesus says that a man scatters seeds on the ground. Without doing more, the earth by itself produces a harvest. The man does not know how it happens, but it happens. The man can contribute to that harvest by preparing the ground, by tilling the soil, by cultivation and watering and weeding. All these things will help the harvest, but the harvest will come regardless. Indeed, if the man does not scatter the seeds, perhaps the birds will do it for him. The seeds will be scattered and the harvest will come, for such is the nature of the kingdom of God. It is not created by man. It is not under the power of man. It is under the power of God. Man’s most clear duty is to be patient and wait for the harvest that God will bring.

          Perhaps you have heard the story of the kernels of wheat lying on the threshing floor. The farmer comes to them and offers them the chance to be planted. He tells them that they will be planted in the cold ground and covered from the sun, that they will have to die, but that if they do this, they will be reborn into many, many grains of wheat. The first kernel says to the other: “It is quiet and warm here in the barn. I am safe here. I think I would like to stay where I can be quiet and warm and safe.” The other kernel decides to take the farmer’s offer. He volunteers to be planted in a new field that has just been cleared. The kernel that stayed behind was warm and dry, but without any companionship. His life never changed. The kernel that volunteered to be planted was slipped into the cold ground and covered up. It was cold and lonely for awhile. He felt himself slipping away and he indeed died just as the farmer had promised. But soon, a new shoot poked its way through the soil. As the seasons passed, the whole field was populated by beautiful wheat crops that fed the people of the village. All those crops had descended from that one small volunteer kernel.

          The kingdom of heaven is like that kernel of wheat. God allows us to help with the planting and cultivation. He wants us to help, but understand, the kingdom is coming whether we help or not. The growth of something new often involves sacrifice. But is it really sacrifice to help harvest those whom we love, who God himself committed to be the harvest? Who will you be? Will you stay in the barn, safe and warm and left out of the cycle of life? Or will you take your chances for God?

          In the time of Jesus, a mustard seed was regarded as the example of the smallest seed to yield the biggest fruit. A mustard seed is about the size of a pinhead, and yet a mature mustard plant may reach a height of twelve feet and look more like a tree than a plant. It fact, it reaches such heights that birds nest in it and gather upon it to harvest the very seeds that gave it life. From the smallest, most unlikely of seeds comes the largest plant.

So it is with the kingdom of God. From the smallest gesture comes the greatest good. Two thousand years ago, the kingdom of God was re-introduced to God’s people by God himself in the form of a man names Jesus. He gathered a small band of followers to himself and instructed them and taught them the love he had in his heart for all God’s people. The Holy Spirit completed their revelation at Pentecost and the world was transformed by the message of the gospel.  It too began as nothing more than a mustard seed scattered on hard ground. But look at what happened. Today, the shade from that tree of Christianity covers our planet. While many have yet to hear or understand the power of that message, many others have heard and responded. The harvest continues for our God who continues to sow and save. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. We are the seeds of the kingdom of heaven. From a little can grow so, so much more!

I have another little story about my flower growing wife. We used to buy geraniums every spring. People tell me that geraniums are good for one season. We have geraniums that are five years old and blooming up a storm! Every fall when they are spent, Cindy cuts them back and puts them in the dark in an outbuilding. They have little sun and no artificial heat all winter. She waters them a little about once a month. In the spring, they begin to germinate. She pulls them out and they come out of hibernation and back into full flower. I think sometimes God works that way with us. It may seem like he has moved away from us when we face trials and temptations. It may seem that we have been separated from the light of his presence and thrown out into the cold to wither and die. Don’t believe it! Our God never separates himself from us. We separate ourselves from him! We may indeed be out in the cold and away from the light, but the kingdom is as close as our petition to belong to him. Bring the prayer and watch as God answers.

We live in a time which idolizes the power of science. It is called the Post-Religious Age. If it cannot be rationally explained and quantified, then it must not be real. This great age of information and its lightning dissemination of data fails to take into account the order of the Creator—the absolute truths upon which our entire existence is built. Among those are the revelations that we are created beings. Mankind did not make itself or spring from some chemical aberration. We are creatures carefully formed by our Creator God. Among the lessons that Mark’s gospel brings us are those of power—the power of God in all his glory to create from nothing, to shape the biggest from the smallest, to bring about the most unlikely of results to demonstrate his Godliness.

These parables also bring us the lesson of patience—the patience that comes from our trust that God is in charge; that God will bring about all the change we need if we will but allow him to work in our lives and in the lives of our brothers and sisters.

God’s power can bring perfection in our hearts that can only come from God. It is a perfection wrought over time, carved out of the patience of lives made obedient to him. The kingdom of God is coming and it is here. You can replace those cold and damp and dark spots in your life with the peace that comes from turning over your life to him. When you have those feelings, you are already a step into the kingdom. It is a foretaste of the divine. Let go, be patient and watch those kingdom seeds at work.           

Our Many-Splendored God (John 14: 15-21, 25-27) 6/3/12 Trinity Sunday

          It is Trinity Sunday. Trinity. It is an interesting word with a long religious history. Although both the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed state our belief in Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and although these creeds reflect the belief of Christians from very early in Christian history, there is no mention in them of the word Trinity. The word is not used in the Bible. Yet the concept behind this word is foundational to much of what we believe as Christians.

          Christians have always believed in Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The problem was never whether they existed. The problem was more about whether they existed separately, whether there was a pecking order; a hierarchy. The problem was whether one came before the others, was superior to the others. Christians argued about this for several hundred years. Without getting into a big history lesson, suffice it to say that in the fourth century, a fellow name Arius came along. He maintained that Jesus came after God; that because of this, Jesus had to be in a secondary position to God. The early church fathers debated this and similar propositions for a long time. There were several major councils of church fathers that met, seven in all. They are often generically referred to as the Councils of Nicaea. It was from one of these councils that the Nicene Creed emerged.  They debated and debated. They ex-communicated each other. In the end, a series of statements arose that helped define what the Bible meant by the concept of Trinity. Today, it seems so simple, but it was not always that way.

          Forms of Arianism exist today. Perhaps the most familiar to us are Jehovah’s Witnesses, who believe the Holy Spirit to be the breath of God rather than a person, and who see Jesus as God’s Son who came after God and is separate from him. This is not the concept of Trinity that is accepted in mainline Christianity.

So what is the Trinity? It is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They are separate in their attributes. They move and exist separate from each other. Oh yes, and they are one. You can’t get there from here. It’s a God thing.

Is water ice? Yes. Is ice water? Yes. If you heat either one of them enough, they will turn to steam and evaporate. That’s three things from one entity. They have common characteristics and common chemistry. But are they three things in one? No. To change one into another, you must change its composition through temperature change. To change one into another, you must give up the one to have the other. Not so with the Trinity. It always exists and it always has.

In the fourteenth chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus is talking to his disciples. He is in the middle of his last discourse to them. He recites the new commandment to love one another. He deals first with Peter, then Thomas. Then he handles Phillip’s request to see the Father. First the impatient, then the skeptic, finally the realist. Then Jesus returns to the main question; preparation for his departure. He knows that his impending absence is of great concern to the disciples and his promises are meant to reassure them that they will not be alone. In giving them the reassurance they need, Jesus sheds light upon the concept of Trinity.  He promises them that he will appeal to his Father to send the Spirit of truth, the Helper, to be with them forever. Here in one sentence, we see the Trinity. God the Son is going to talk to God the Father about sending God the Holy Spirit to the disciples. The English translation here is Helper or Counselor. Other English translations include intercessor, advocate, and mediator. The Greek word is parakletos, which means literally “a person summoned to one’s aid.”

How far back does the concept of Holy Spirit go? Look at Genesis 1:2, where it says the “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” How far back does the God the Son go? In the first chapter of John, he pens the famous words: “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God,” and in verse 14 of that opening chapter: “and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.” How far back does God go? He is the author of creation. “In the beginning God,” read the first four words of the Bible. In the third chapter of Exodus, God tells Moses “I am that I am.” He is without beginning or end. God is outside time.  In the very first chapter in the Bible, God says “let us make man in our image.” It is no accident that the pronouns here are plural. Even from the beginning as we understand it, God was not alone. Even then, he was self-contained in the Trinity.

Other references to the three persons of the Trinity are around. One of my favorites in contained in the Great Commission in Matthew 28: “Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Another is found in the synoptic gospels in the account of the baptism of Jesus by his cousin John. As God the Father speaks from heaven, God the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove toward God the Son.

It is important to understand the concept of Trinity in the light of what was studied and fought for over many generations of the early church. It is important because to misunderstand it could be heretical. Heresy is one of those old fashioned. somewhat out of vogue, seldom used words. Even in religious circles it has more than one meaning. The definition of heresy that is intended here  is that heresy is a belief that results in one being unable to achieve salvation. That’s where the word Trinity becomes important. I have heard it said that if Jesus were not who he says he is, fully human, fully God, in the Father and the Father in him, then he could not do what he was sent to do. It took a man to feel the pain of men. It took God to deliver them from the sting of death. Jesus was both.

Jesus promised the coming of the Spirit. Come it did in tongues of fire at Pentecost. With it came the realization that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are united in purpose. God is Triune. He has one purpose, but carries it out through the manifestation of the Trinity. The coming of the Holy Spirit to the fellowship of the believers gives us an open door to the most intimate of all relationships, that which can now exist between us and our triune God of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

In The Shack, the best-selling book by William Paul Young, God is portrayed as a large, beaming African-American woman called Papa. Jesus appears as a Middle-Eastern laborer with a kind, but forgettable face, wearing a tool belt. He likes to use his hands. A small, Asian woman named Sarayu shimmers from place to place as the Holy Spirit, being felt as much as seen as she passes from here to there. Some have criticized Young’s theology. Some say he pokes too much fun at long accepted images of God. Like any work of fiction, he takes some license with his characters. But Young’s descriptions remind us that the Trinity is revealed in ways and means and images that take the form most likely to awaken our belief and faith, to break down our assumptions and help us see and understand. God is not confined to earthly forms or even one form.

And yet, when Mack, the dad who lost his child to a kidnapper, asks of them: “Who is God?”, their answer comes in tripartite unison: “I am,” say they all. Indeed, when Mack asks Papa, or God, about the cross, the answer he receives is the answer we must hear and believe if we are to grasp this great mystery. God says simply: “We were there together.” In the book, Mack can see them, and the scars on the wrists of all three persons of the Trinity bear witness to their presence at the cross. Can there really be any doubt of that truth? Not for a Christian.

Yes, our God is a many-splendored God. He is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. He is three in one. He is one. He is three. He is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. We do not need the word Trinity in the Scripture to see its existence. He is our Father. He is our Brother. He is our fellow traveler and our Redeemer. He is in our hearts, each and every one. He is all that is good and perfect in us. How can all this be? That is the splendor of our Creator. That, friends, is the miracle of the Trinity.   

Fire In The Hole (Exo 19: 16-19, Matt 3: 10-12, Acts 2: 1-4, 42-47) Pentecost

Fire in the hole!  It is a phrase used to indicate that an explosive detonation in a confined space is imminent. The Army and Marines use it to give notice that a grenade has been tossed into a bunker or other enclosure. Fire in the hole! Look out! Something is about to explode!

In an upper room in Jerusalem, there were twelve disciples plus a few more loyals gathered and waiting. It was some fifty days after the Passover Feast in the year that our Savior went to the cross for us. They were waiting for the Comforter. They were waiting because He had told them to. They were scared for their lives, and they had gone underground, out of sight, but they were waiting.  They didn’t know what the Comforter was. They didn’t realize the power with which they were about to be vested. They didn’t see the fire coming, but they waited anyway.

They had seen Him. Several times. They had received the Great Commission from Him. In John’s gospel, Jesus asked Peter three different times if he loved Him. Peter said Yes every time, and Jesus had answered him with “feed my sheep” those three times. Peter was waiting. He had blown it once --and Jesus still loved him—still trusted him. He would not blow it again.  Besides, he and the others had seen the Ascension. They had experienced his ministry, survived his crucifixion, witnessed his resurrected presence. They had good news to tell. So they waited…for what they were not sure, but he had said to wait.

According to Luke, our faithful doctor/reporter/historian, as he records in the book of Acts, Jesus had appeared to this group prior to his Ascension and had given “many convincing proofs that he was alive.” He had done this over a period of forty days, so if we take Luke literally, and there is no reason not to here, then Jesus had made his Ascension about ten days before. One time when they were eating, Jesus gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about… in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” They asked him if then would be the time that he would restore the kingdom of Israel. He said God’s timing is not for you to know.  “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Then he was gone. Luke says that he was “taken up before their very eyes…”

Soon after, two angels of God appear to the Eleven. Remember, Judas is dead. They say “why do you stand here looking into the sky?” Compare this to the words of two angels to the women at the tomb in Luke’s gospel: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” First to the women at the empty tomb, later to the Eleven. Each time, it is a wakeup call that Jesus is still alive and busy elsewhere.

And then it came! But before we go there, let’s back up a millennium or two. Let’s go back…way back…to Mount Sinai. The children of Israel are about 50 days after the Passover that ignited the Exodus. They are camped out at the base of Sinai in the Desert of Sin. Mt. Sinai, the mountain where God lived! Moses went there to meet God. He stood on holy ground and looked into a burning bush that would not be consumed by its flames. The Bible says that Moses’ encounter with God that day forever changed his countenance.

And here were the people of Israel, led by Moses, at the base of the same mountain. They had grumbled their way from Egypt across the desert, but here they were. The Bible says that Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire…the smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace; the whole mountain trembled violently. The Bible says that when the people saw the thunder and lightning…and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They told Moses to do the talking. They said…”do not have God speak to us or we will die.” This was the God of Sinai.

Now fast forward now to a tranquil afternoon on the banks of the Jordan River many generations later. Matthew says it is three pairs of 14 generations, or six sets of 7 generations, from Adam to Jesus. Seven means perfect, mature. So this is really, really the perfect time. The scene is still a little wild because of the preacher. He is a strange looking fellow. His clothes are made of camel’s hair. He wears a leather belt to bind up his loose clothing, all very reminiscent of the prophet Elijah. He lives in the desert and his diet includes bugs. This is not your conventional Sunday morning experience, and that’s just the way he wants it.  His name is John and he baptizes. He says this is nothing but the opening act; that while he baptizes with water, he who follows will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.  Now John had the right idea, but the wrong time period. He was right about the fire, just a little premature about its application.

Fifty days. That’s what the word “Pentecost” means. Fifty days from Egypt to Sinai. Fifty days from Calvary to the upper room. In both cases, fifty days after the Passover. The Eleven were there, plus Mathias, who had been elected to take the place of Judas. Mary the mother of Jesus was there, as were the four half-brothers of Jesus. This would include James, leader of the church in Jerusalem and the author of the New Testament book by the same name. Luke tells us that the “women” were also there. He doesn’t further identify them. They might have been the wives of the disciples. They might also have been the close followers of Jesus, such as Mary Magdalene. We don’t know, but women were also present.   

At first they might have thought it to be a spring storm coming up. But the wind! Such a wind! It filled the whole house and shook it! And then it came! Fire in the hole! The Bible says that “tongues of fire separated and came to rest on each of them! All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit!” Can you imagine? Maybe it was seen from the outside. Passersby might have seen this strange, powerful spectacle from below as it entered the room. Did it come through a window? Did it look like lightning? From the inside of the room, it must have been incredible! Luke seems to say that the tongues of fire came to rest on the disciples, but again, it is hard to tell for sure. Perhaps it extended to every person in the room. At any rate, it was powerful to behold, and much, much more powerful in the effect! It was an explosion of the Holy Spirit into the minds and souls of those men and women!  

The rest is history. That day, Peter, the man who denied Jesus three times the morning after Jesus’ arrest, gave a sermon.  He gave a very public sermon in the town square, and 3,000 men were converted! Not only that, it was the Feast of Weeks, and people were there from all over. It was called the Feast of Weeks because it had been a week of weeks since Passover. It was in late May or June, so the weather was good. It was a holiday. It was at least as crowded as Passover would have been. The Bible says that people representing at least fifteen different languages were present.  And Luke says that they all heard the disciples and Peter in their native tongues! The people marveled that the disciples could communicate in such varied ways. Peter stood up and said, “We’re not drunk. It’s nine o’clock in the morning! This is the real thing.” And then he preached. He told the people about Jesus. He told them about the Holy Spirit. He quoted the prophet Joel about the coming of the Day of the Lord. He said that he and the others witnessed it all, and were there to call for repentance, for baptism in the name of Jesus and for the forgiveness of their sins.

Luke tells us that Peter said many other things that day, and that 3,000 men were added to the number of believers. Don’t you know that there was the fire of the Holy Spirit in the eyes and words of Peter! And on that day, the world began to change. On that day, twelve disciples, a number of women and the half brothers of Jesus began a witness that has changed the world. Many have called it the birth of the church. Today, about a third of the world’s population, or two billion people, identifies itself as Christian, and the church can trace its roots to that upper room so long ago and yet like yesterday.

What changed? It was the same Jerusalem. Many of the visitors there for the feast had also been there just seven weeks ago. It was the same Roman government. It was the same church leadership.  Except for Mathias, it was the same group of disciples that only fifty days before had hidden and run away…and even denied they knew Christ. What changed in these men that they now had courage to speak out regardless of the consequences. What changed?

The men and women in that upper room had a visit from the Holy Spirit, and it would change their lives. Luke goes on to tell us that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings, and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Look closely: Luke is not talking here about the people in that upper room. He’s talking about the fellowship of the believers. He is talking about you and me. Luke says they ate together in each other’s homes with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. They had the fire that comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Don’t think that the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the first time. Far from it. It was the first time that the disciples had personally experienced the life changing power of the Holy Spirit, but the Bible is full of references to people being filled with the Spirit of God, from Noah forward. But things did change at Pentecost. William Barclay, the great Scottish theologian reminds us that “From that moment the Holy Spirit became the dominant reality in the life of the early church.” He cites three ways. First, the Holy Spirit was the source of all guidance. Second, all the leaders of the Church were men of the Spirit. Thirdly, the Spirit was the source of day to day courage and power.

The early church was a spirit-filled church.  That was the source of its power. There are more than forty references to the Holy Spirit in the first thirteen chapters of Acts. There was fire in the lives of the leaders of the early church, and because of that there was a fire in the corporate life of the church itself.

Can you imagine the effect if the Holy Spirit were the dominant reality of this church? Can you imagine if the Holy Spirit were the source of all guidance? If all the leaders of this church were filled with the Holy Spirit? If the Holy Spirit were the source of our day to day courage and power? Can you imagine if your first thought of each day was to devote yourself to God’s teaching, to fellowship with other believers, to the breaking of bread with them and to prayer? Can you even imagine?

Let me close by sharing a story about a doctor in a small French village who was about to retire. He had cared for the villagers day and night for many years, despite their inability to pay him much. In appreciation, it was proposed that each family bring a pitcher of wine from their own cellars to pour into a large barrel in the village square. All day long, people poured their offerings into the barrel. In the evening, the barrel of wine was taken to the doctor’s residence. Then, the doctor was left alone with the memory of their love. Drawing a cup of wine, he sat by the fire to enjoy it. The first sip was a shock. It tasted like water. Thinking there must be a mistake, he sampled more. The barrel was filled with water. Everyone in the village reasoned, ‘My little pitcher of wine won’t be missed. I have so little for myself. The others will take care of it. The little water I substitute won’t be noticed.”

God save us from ourselves. Others won’t take care of it. It is up to us. Our participation in the life of God’s church is paramount. Our worship is the heart of the church’s life. When you are not here, when you do not participate, when you do not worship and pray and break bread with the fellowship of believers, you will be missed. Pentecost is history, but the Holy Spirit is here and now.  You can be blessed by the same fire that came to the disciples, but you have to be receptive. Open your hearts and experience that fire that comes from the Spirit…and cling to it as if your very life depended on it…because it does!                                     

Opening Your Mind (Luke 14; 44-53) 5/20/12

          I remember the look my mother gave me before her earthly body breathed its last. It is drilled into my memory in a way that is indelible, permanent. Do you have a moment like that with someone in your life? It could be a happy moment just as easily as a moment of loss. I have a few of both that stay with me.  Whatever it is, it changes us. Somehow, we are never exactly the same.

I think it must have been like that the day of the Ascension. Of course, the disciples didn’t know he was going to bodily ascend into heaven right in front of their eyes. According to the gospel of Luke, that is precisely what took place. Mark’s gospel is similar in its report. It was his last communication here on earth from the risen Son of God still in the flesh. It was instructive. Jesus was telling his disciples the “whys” that he had come and giving them their marching orders.

They had seen him a number of times since the resurrection. Over a period of about fifty days, the New Testament records eight different appearances, several of which were with the disciples. They were his favorites. He had hand-picked them over three years before and they had come to love him even though they did not fully understand what it was that they were to do. So Jesus instructed them for the last time. He told them he had fulfilled all the prophecies and all the law. Luke says he opened their minds. “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” He talked to them about the necessity for his suffering, the reason for his resurrection. He explained to them the need to proclaim the opportunity for sin to be forgiven, the sin of men and women and the sin of nations. He told them to start in Jerusalem and to be witnesses to these things. He said he was sending the promise of the Father upon them. Then they walked with him to Bethany, a couple miles outside Jerusalem. He blessed them. Luke says that while he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. The word “while” is one of those compromises we make in English to try to convey what is happening in Greek. Greek has more tenses than English. Here the aorist tense is used to transmit a sense of some continuing action that happened in the past. It might be translated more literally that as Jesus was parting, he blessed and blessed and blessed them until he was out of sight. I like that because I think that’s what he is still doing. He never stopped. He’s still blessing you and me and people of faith today. The only condition Jesus gave to the disciples was to stay in town until they were clothed with power. But he opened their minds. He sent them a promise from the Father.

Can you imagine?  By now the disciples knew they were in the presence of the divine. He had died and was resurrected. They had seen him, touched him, eaten with him several times. Others had seen him as well. They were properly awestruck. He had defeated death, but that was only the beginning. Nothing could really have prepared them for what happened next. My family and I recently went to a movie; something we rarely do these days. We saw The Avengers, the tale about comic book super heroes saving the planet from evil aliens. It was great watching HULK, Ironman, the Black Widow, Captain America and Thor in action as a team. Great sci-fi action! But it struck me that even if all this were true, the exploits of the super heroes would pale in comparison to what the disciples witnessed that day in Bethany.  They watched their Lord and Savior as he bodily ascended into heaven, blessing them as they went. Death was no longer master. Jesus rose from the dead for himself and for us.

And the disciples went home and blessed him back! Luke tells us that they worshipped him with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Yes, the Ascension was a life changing event for the disciples. They were never the same. They waited until Pentecost, received the power to which Jesus had alluded, and they scattered over much of the known world bringing their witness of those things, and what those things meant to everyone who heard and believed that good news.

But, you say, we don’t have the Ascension to motivate us. Luke says that Jesus opened the minds of the disciples to the Scriptures. They understood! They got it! We can too. Today, we have not only the Scriptures that were available to the disciples, but also the four gospels and Acts and the letters of Paul, John, Peter and others to reinforce our faith and guide our actions.

But, you say, we don’t have the power of Pentecost to harness us and make us charismatic. Actually, that is exactly what we have. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. It is promised to every Christian. It is the only way we can hear and see the Gospel living and breathing. It is no different from that which was received by the disciples. The difference is that their hearts were wide open and they received the Holy Spirit in all its magnificent power.

That is our challenge today…to open our minds. It is only then that we can really understand. That is part of what we do when we come before the throne of grace and become baptized. We ask God to open our minds and let Him come in.

Only God can open our minds. What we can do is to be receptive. We can invite him. We can let him in. When we do, we too can understand the Scriptures. We too can receive the Father’s promise. We too can witness these things, these life-changing things. Remember your baptism. Remember why. Remember he was and is and always will be there…for you and for your joy and for your salvation.

Dont Let Religion Get in the Way of Your Faith (Luke 13: 10-17) 5/6/12

 If I do this a thousand more times, it will never get old for me, because every time I bring a message, there is a point when I become a listener, an observer, right in the middle of delivering the message.  As my heart opens, I can see it happening to others. There is a point where it does not belong to me. In every worship service in every church gathering, hearts open to God’s message. Lives change as the Gospel finds its way into our consciousness and miracles become a way of life. That is God in action.

 Look with me at a portion of chapter 13 of Luke’s gospel.  Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. By now he is being watched very closely by Jewish authorities. They are looking for an excuse to arrest him, for he is a major threat to their way of life. This man is preaching revolution, and the status quo is severely threatened.

Jesus is teaching on the Sabbath. A woman is there, and one would have to be blind not to notice her. One translation describes her as crippled and bent over. Another describes her as so twisted and bent that she couldn’t even look up. Luke tells us that she had been this way for 18 years. Jesus calls her over, and says: “Woman, you’re free! He lays hands on her, and suddenly she is standing straight for the first time in 18 years. Luke says she praised God. That has to be the understatement of the day. I bet she praised God, probably at the top of her lungs. Meanwhile, the synagogue president is indignant, furious, because Jesus has broken God’s law. Jesus is working on the Sabbath, therefore breaking the Fourth Commandment. You know, the one about remembering the Sabbath to keep it holy.  The Jewish leader says to come and be healed on the other six days, but not on the Sabbath. He does not confront Jesus directly, but rather quotes the law to the congregation. The Message says that Jesus “shot back” his answer. I get the impression that it was not done tactfully, but with force and even indignation. Jesus calls this man and his cronies “frauds.” He says essentially that if you can water an animal on the Sabbath, but you can’t help a person in distress, then the law values animals over people and any law that comes to such a perverted conclusion is just plain stupid. Jesus refers to the woman as a “daughter of Abraham,” meaning she is Jewish. Even so, his message is lost on the Jewish leader. He has a program to keep, a system to uphold. “come and be healed on the other six days,  but not on my Sabbath.”

Like most exaggerated claims, there is a grain of truth in the Jewish leader’s argument. In this case, Jewish tradition held that only life-threatening diseases could be treated on the Sabbath. Since the woman had had this condition for many years, the Jewish leader deemed it not life-threatening. It didn’t seem to matter that someone had been healed. A rule had been broken and that must be sin.

I’m thinking that the real law that was broken was the law of “Don’t Rock the Boat.” It comes in different versions, but the bottom line is always the same. “We’ve always done it this way” or “We might lose some financial support” or “How would that look?” are some of the most familiar.  

 Fast forward to present day. In session meeting after session meeting the worry is church growth. “We have to have more members in order to meet the budget.” Discussion turns to ways to attract people. Use door hangers. “Too impersonal.” Advertise. “Not enough money budgeted for that.” Go door to door. “People will slam the door in your face.” Invite people. “Everybody I know goes to church” and, of course, “We’ve never done it that way before.”

In a Sunday school class I once attended, there was an ongoing debate about whether it was appropriate to go to a bar with a friend to talk with him about Christianity. By bar, I mean a pub where you can buy beer, but not a meal. There was concern that the presence of a Christian in a bar would be sending the wrong message to those who saw him there. The class could never decide that it was okay. It was concerned with appearances. “How would that look?”

In another church, a Sunday school class adopted a family at Christmas. The class was generous and opened its pocketbooks to fill the family’s stockings with food, clothing and gifts for the children. The family attended the church Christmas service. Their children were loud and unruly. They talked during the service and moved around noisily. It was hard for the people around them to hear. Finally, a couple members whose grunts and groans had failed to illicit the “proper” response, turned around and asked the parents to get better control of their children or take them out. They did, and they never came back. “They’re not our kind of people. They wouldn’t be comfortable here.” Can you imagine making those arguments at the feet of Jesus? Those pious church members were so intent on the ritual that they couldn’t apply the message.

 Jesus faced this kind of misplaced piety. Remember Jesus eating at the house of Matthew the tax collector; overturning the tables of the money changers in the temple in Jerusalem? And Jesus healed on the Sabbath more than once.  Jesus was not a person to stand on ceremony. Jesus ministered. He ministered to the outcasts, the strangers, the invisible among us. He had no temple; he had no home church; he had no central organization; no network; no website.  He went to town and found the tax collectors, the beggars, the paralytics, the lepers. He went down to the shore and found the fishermen and the net repairmen. He went for walks and talked to people he met. He went to where the people were. He didn’t wait for them to come to him.

If we’re not careful, we can be like the synagogue president; we can let ceremony dictate over circumstances; we can let religion get in the way of our faith. What is religion? Think about it. Religion is a diet, a steady stream of what you do regularly and to which you assign great priority. You’ve heard the saying: He or she does such and such religiously. Some people wash their hands religiously. Some people eat salad religiously. When we think about belief systems and religion, we think about what church we attend, what denomination we belong to. When we get involved with a particular church, we get involved with another system, a system of building maintenance, worship services, special events, budgets, grounds care and the list goes on. When we are elected to church office, we get responsibilities. We look at last year’s calendar to see how to build this year’s calendar. We go to committee meetings. We become managers.

What did I just describe? Was it your Personal Elder or the Secretary of the Chamber of Commerce? If one were to hear only the job description, one might think it had nothing at all to do with the church.  In Gilbert Rendle’s book Leading Change in the Congregation, he says that “congregations that have active evangelism committees tend to grow…at a slower rate and with more difficulty than congregations that do not have such committees.” Wouldn’t you think just the opposite?  The research proves that with a committee, the responsibility for meeting strangers, for inviting new people, has shifted. Everyone else in the church has lost their motivation. We have shifted the burden to a committee. Our desire to organize can be our undoing.  It’s not a bad thing to be organized, but you have to be careful. Otherwise, organization can become your goal, and that misses the mark entirely.

 George Barna conducts many surveys on trends in Christianity. His studies show that in the workplace, the great majority of people cannot tell Christians from non-Christians. We get very busy with this business of religion. It’s easy to develop a severe case of tunnel vision. We can’t see the forest for the trees. Our religion, more specifically our religious system, has gotten in the way of our faith. Theologian William Barclay says that the worship of systems (and that is precisely the problem the synagogue president had that Sabbath day with Jesus), commonly invades the church.  Tragically, more trouble and strife arise in churches over legalistic details of procedure than over any other thing.

In the Presbyterian Book of Order, the very first chapter outlines the Great Ends of the Church. Number One on that short list is “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind…” (F-1.0304). Even before that, the Church’s Calling is characterized by 4 tenets: to be a community of faith, hope, love and witness (F-1.0301). Membership is characterized as a commitment to participate in Christ’s mission (G-1.0304). The Book of Order is a couple hundred pages long and it has enough rules in it to choke a horse. But the major premises upon which it is built are the ones we just outlined. Don’t lose sight of the forest just because those trees are poking you in the ribs.

 Several years ago, one of our children, Emily, spent a year in Mombassa, Kenya as a missionary, where she established a youth center in an area where Christianity was in a heavy minority. Before she left for Kenya, she was advised to make her primary goal to “just be” a Christian. This advice seemed vague and without direction to our goal driven daughter. When she came home from that year and her story began to unfold, she realized it was the best advice she had received. She did make goals, and the people she served are the better for her having been there. But by her own admission, the programs she established there may not survive. PCUSA determined that the area had no support base and could not sustain a viable Christian mission presence, so she was not replaced. Were her efforts in vain? Hardly! Emily found out that she could “just be” a Christian and in doing so, her daily acts of Christianity had an effect on the lives of the youth she served. No hospitals were built, no schools were erected, no operations base may survive. But dozens, perhaps hundreds, of youngsters in Mombassa now look upon Christianity in a different light. For them, Christianity is the white American girl who just acted out her belief by giving them water, by administering first aid, by letting them talk, by hearing their voices and by not judging them.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus said he came not to abolish the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfill them. His fulfillment came in the form of love and servant hood. Jesus summarized the law as loving God our Father with all our heart and soul and mind, and loving our neighbor as ourselves.   Here’s the thing. Don’t hide behind the rules. Don’t distort that which we call religion, because religion is nothing more than the way that we practice our Christianity. John Bunyan, the author of Pilgrim’s Progress, called religion “…the best armor a man can have, but it is the worst cloak.” I think he was saying that we need to wear our Christian values like armor to fight off the sin in our lives, but not to provide us with warmth. That warmth comes from the spirit, not from the system.

I learned new terms this week for yesterday and tomorrow. For my three year old grandson, they are “last day” and “next day.” I like the way my grandson puts it. It makes sense to me. So the question today is the same question as “last day” and “next day” and next year. It is the same for you and me and for every church in God’s kingdom. What is the will of God for you? What is the will of God for this church? Each of you has to discern what your love act to God will be, what form it will take, the degree to which you will commit. That discernment must grow out of a continuous conversation with our Creator. It’s not about form or rules. It’s about substance, the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, as the writer of Hebrews so eloquently teaches us.  Act on your faith.  Each of you has different talents, different levels of energy, different seasons of life. Each of you has a ministry to fulfill, not just for this church, but for Jesus Christ. Never, never be like the church leader that dayin the synagogue.  Be like Jesus. Come, heal and be healed seven days a week. Healing never takes a holiday. In my daughter’s words, “Just be a Christian.”