WRESTLING WITH THE BIBLE

Sermon Summary (3/517) “Wrestling with the Bible”  2 Ti 3:16-17; Gen 3:1

Bibles were sacred in my Grandma’s house.  I have her Bible.  It is a treasure.  I have to admit that the one she game me for Christmas when I was eight was not that well read.  I came to love the Bible 40 years later as a lay speaker.  It nourished me, it filled me in ways that I cannot explain.  I loved the book of Genesis.  “In the beginning God…” Stories about God, about us, about our relationship with God.  It fits together.  And the whole of the Old Testament (OT) too , so much so that the first Christians say Jesus on nearly every page.  Remember the disciples on the way to Emmaus? (Luke 24: 13-35)  Jesus came along side them, “Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”  The Old Testament points to Jesus.

But today I read the stories differently than I heard them in Sunday School.  In the Noah story, instead of thinking of the animals in the ark, I think of the horror of those outside.  When Moses came down the mountain and say the golden calf, he not only broke the tablets but proclaimed, “Who is on the Lord’s side?... Put on your swords...kill your brother, your neighbor, your friend.”  And 3000 died.  It doesn’t sound like Jesus.  Then David, in a prideful act against the will of God, conducted a census, and it says that God sent, yes God sent a pestilence that killed 70,000 people.  Again, it doesn’t seem like the God of the rest of the Bible.

Then there are passages about stoning your children, the four corners of the earth, the doors of heaven, an understanding of the cosmos that is foreign to us.  What are we to do?

We are meant to wrestle with the Bible.  Jesus wrestled with the Bible.  We are followers of Jesus.  When we wrestle we need to view the stories of the OT through the lens of Jesus.  When it says, “Stone adulterers,” we remember Jesus and the woman caught in Adultery.  (John 8)  He wrestled with Moses when he said, “But I say to you.” 

The OT was the Bible he knew.  He quoted from or referred to 23 of the 39 books there.  He took the Great Commandment (Loving the Lord your God…. And your neighbor as yourself) from Deuteronomy and Leviticus.  The Great Commandment is not only our rule for conduct, but a great lens to use to view the teaching and acts in the OT. We are called to wrestle with it.

The Bible was God-breathed, but written by men, inspired men, good men and their personalities and cultures showed through.  Jesus wrestled with Moses.  With Jesus’ help, we can wrestle too.  Amen.

TRANSFIGURATION SUNDAY: "LISTEN TO HIM!"

Sermon Summary (2/26/17, Transfiguration Sunday), “Listen to Him”  Matthew 17:1-9; 16:13-28

What did Jesus know and when did he know it?  Did Jesus come on automatic pilot from Bethlehem to the cross?  Or was there a time that Jesus chose the cross, chose to die for you and me?  Would we respond differently if we knew it was a choice? Would we “Listen to him”?

What did Jesus know?  You remember Paul (Phil 2:5-11) tells that Jesus emptied himself of his divinity; Jesus even tells us that only the Father knows the time or the day.  Jesus was not omniscient, did not know everything.  But he knew the stories of his birth, his mission was to be the Messiah, to reconcile the world to himself, to save the world.  His name was Jesus after all, “One who saves.”  But when did he choose?  When did know that his ministry was the cross? 

Did God say, “Jesus, it is your task to live with my people, experience what they experienced, be tempted as they are, then choose how you will draw them to yourself.  I’ll let you know what I think.”  Is that what happened at the Transfiguration?

Jesus has chosen.  He takes his disciples on a retreat to Caesarea-Philippi, high up in the mountains.  You remember.  He asks, “Who do people say that I am?” and “Who do you say that I am?”  Peter says, you are the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” 

Then Jesus begins to teach them that “he must go to Jerusalem, be handed over to men, undergo great suffering, be killed and be raised on the third day.”  And what were the implications for the disciples, for us, if they, us, chose to be his followers?  “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”  Wow! We have a ministry of denial and sacrifice, too.

God affirms the ministry of Jesus on the mountain, “This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Listen to him!”  Listen to him.  Disciples, would be followers, listen to him.

I saw Mel West at the Rural Ministry Training last Saturday.  If I could, I’d like to be like Mel when I grow up.  Mel is a follower of Jesus, one who denies himself, takes up the cross and follows.  I’ve known Mel for 20 years.  When I first sat down with him, he asked if I’d ever read In His Steps?  He said when he read it, it changed his life.  He said, “Rick, you must read In His Steps.”  I listen to Mel.

The story centers around a comfortable church that is challenged to ask “What would Jesus Do in my circumstance” in everything they do for the following year.  Ask, answer and do regardless of consequences.  The biggest thing they wrestled with was determining just “What would Jesus do?”  We can only do that by “Listening to Him.”  Listen to Him.  That is our task for Lent.  Amen.

AMAZING!

Sermon Summary (2/19/17), “Amazing”  Matthew 5:43-48; Romans 12:14-18

We’re in a sermon series, “Say and Do,” what Jesus said and did to better know what we are to say and do.  Last week, we looked at the radical teachings of Jesus, really about the absolute will of God.  One thing was clear, the absolute will of God is that we live in harmony.  We need to be thoughtful about “Do no harm” (Wesley’s first rule); and intentional about “Do Good.” (Wesley’s second rule.)

But we fail. We fail by what we do and by what we don’t do.  Fortunately, we have a God of grace, a God who forgives, a God who came in the person of Jesus saying, “Repent, believe the Good News, the kingdom of God has come near.”  And he led John to tell us, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleans us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)  We have a God of new starts!  In today’s jargon, we could say, “Repeal and replace.”

In Romans 12, Paul tells us we are to “repay no one evil for evil” (Do no harm), “take thought of what is noble in the sight of all.” (Do good.)  How is it that we become that sort of person?

Jesus sets the conditions for becoming that person at the close of Matthew 5, “But I say to you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you so that you may be children of your father in heaven.” (5:44-45)  “Children of your father” may be the centerpiece of the Scripture.  Children take on the attributes of the parent.  Our task is to become “Little Christs” as CS Lewis and Maxie Dunham put it.  “Little Christs” taking on the attributes of God in Jesus Christ.

Jesus closes by telling us “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect.”  The Greek word means mature, whole.  Become mature in our faith.  CS Lewis tells us “The command to be perfect is not idealistic gas.  Nor is it a command to do the impossible.  He is going to make us into the creatures that can obey that command.”

Lent is coming, a time of instruction, preparation, devotion, placing ourselves within the grace of God so that he can begin turning us into the creatures that can become mature in Christ.  Wesley’s third rule is to “stay in love with God,” using practices, means of grace, that will bring us to maturity in Christ.  I suggest that each of you commit to attending worship each Sunday of Lent and Easter even if out of town; that you find a devotional time and structure (books are available); and that you fast your time, replacing old habits with time for God.  Place yourselves in grace and let God begin remaking you.

“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me” was written be John Newton, a slave captain that was remade in Christ Jesus through grace.  So may we.  Amen.

BUT I SAY TO YOU

Sermon Summary (2/12/17), “But I Say to you”  Matthew 5:20-26

We’re in a sermon series, “Say and Do,” looking at what Jesus said and did to better know what we are to say and do.  Last week, “You are the light of the world,” and we said, “It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”  Today, we move further into the Sermon on the Mount, the centerpiece of Jesus’ teachings.

Jesus takes the teachings of Moses, reaffirms them, radicalizes them, and then gives concrete examples of living the new meaning.  He does an amazing thing.  He says, “But I say to you.”  Jesus is relocating the authority of the law within himself.  Later the crowds will be amazed because, they say, he speaks as one with authority!

It is easy not to kill.  But Jesus recognizes it is the heart that is the problem.  “But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother or sister, who ever says Raca (Aramaic term for contempt)… “  Anger and contempt, just like murder, have no place in human relationships.

Then he does an amazing thing.  He places human relationships above our relationship with God.  “If you are there before the altar and remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there… and first go be reconciled…’  It is the absolute will of God that we live in harmony with one another!

The Ten Commandments were given on two tablets, sometimes called table 1 and table 2.  The former dealt with our relationship with God, the latter, table 2, with our relationships with one another.  Jesus spends far more time with table 2 than the former.  It is the absolute will of God that we live together in harmony.  And all of them, all of them, fit within the law to “Love one’s neighbor as one’s self.”

John Wesley’s rules fit this bill.  He said, “First do not harm.”  First, because it is very difficult to undo harm.  Forgiveness, yes; consequences, very difficult.  How do we avoid anger, contempt, belittling, demeaning?  How do we avoid hurting one another?  First, do no harm.

“Then, do good.”  Just as Jesus calls us to positive action (go, be reconciled with your neighbor), Wesley tells us, “Do good.”  How is it that we can be a positive force in our neighbor’s life?  J. Ellsworth Kalas wrote a book, The Ten Commandments from the Backside,” in which he restates the commandments in positive terms.  Instead of just “Do not murder,” he says “Embrace life.”  How is it that we give life to another?  We need to be thoughtful, we need to be intentional to not just not harm but to do good.  Kalas says instead of not just coveting, be grateful for all that your neighbor has.  Grateful people do all the good they can.  So may we live in harmony!  Amen.

ONE CANDLE

Sermon Summary (2/5/17), “One Candle”  Matthew 5:13-16

Last week in prayer time we described the world as “crazy.”  It’s no less this week.  War between Ukraine and Russia; Iran testing ballistic missiles; arguments with our best allies; character assassinations and name calling in the halls of congress; civil war raging in Syria with refugees as the overwhelming problem in the world today, 60 million people without homes, 6 million from Syria alone.  The problems of the world are overwhelming.  What are we to do?

In this sermon series, we are looking at what Jesus said and do so that we can seek what we are to say and do.  Last week we looked to the mind of Christ.  Knowing the mind of Christ we can ask and answer “What would Jesus do if he were me.”  We could determine what to do in the midst of chaos.  What is it we are to do in the midst of darkness, in the midst of evil, in the midst of chaos.

In my search this week, I rediscovered “The Christophers,” formed in 1945 in one of the darkest periods of our national life.  Its premise was that every person has the positive ability to shape the future.  Its Scriptural basis is Romans 12:21, “Do not be overcome by evil, overcome evil with good.”  And its theme, motto, slogan is “It is better to light one candle than curse the darkness.”

And today, Jesus is saying to us “You are the salt of the earth.”  Salt does not exist for itself.  It exists to provide zest, preservation, to others.  What if we were to wake up each day saying, “My life is not my own.  It is for others.  I exist my others.” Would that change how we live?”

Then Jesus says, “You are the light of the word...let your light so shine before others that they can see your good works and give glory to your father in heaven.”  This word “good” is a special one in Greek meaning “beautiful” and “winsome” and “wholesome.”  “That they can see your beautiful works…” What if we were to say every day, what beautiful thing is there I can do that will give God glory? What if?

When the world is overwhelming, what beautiful thing, what one candle can I light instead of cursing the darkness?  In Syria, one of the darkest and most evil places I can imagine, a group called the “White Helmets” has emerged to run toward the explosions and rescue people from the refuse.  In three years 3000 White Helmet volunteers have saved the lives of 70,000 people by asking what beautiful thing can I do today, what one candle can I light today? 

When things are overwhelming, when things seem too complex, when things seem darkest, “It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”  So may it be with all of us.  Amen.

WHO IS BLESSED?

Sermon Summary (1/29/17), “Who is Blessed?”  Matthew 5:1-12

This week, give or take a week, I celebrated 30 years in Lay Speaking.  The class, in the winter of 1987, was one of my most spiritual experiences and changed my life.  During the course, the director gave a talk on Phil 2:5, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.”  Seeking the mind of Christ.  We do that in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew’s compilation of the highest teachings of Jesus.

He begins by telling us who God favors: “Blessed are the poor in spirit… Blessed are those who mourn… Blessed are the meek.”  We’re talking about the real destitute here, those who are continually in tears, the spineless who are walked on by society, what Simon and Garfunkel called the “sat upon, spat upon, ratted upon.”  Are they blessed because they are “sat upon, spat upon, ratted upon”?  No, they are not blessed by anything they do.  They are blessed by the divine activity of Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God breaking through in the person of Jesus Christ.

In both Matthew (the sat upon, etc.) and Luke (4:18) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,”  Jesus begins his ministry by declaring who God favors.  I can surmise that God is on their side because he knows we are not.  At least it is not in our nature until we take on the mind of Christ. 

The blessings of the marginalized are not because they are marginalized, it is grace.  They can do nothing to earn their blessings and neither can we.  It is Jesus’ intention to bring us all into the Kingdom of God, to have the mind of Christ, to live by the rules of the Kingdom, and that’s what he teaches in the remainder of the Sermon on the Mount. 

A preview of his teachings: It is not just adherence to the Law, our overt behavior that matters, it is our hearts that matter.  We are to be salt and light. We are not to get angry with our brothers and sisters; we are not to treat them as objects; we are to love our neighbor, pray for those who persecute us; focus on God; live by the Golden Rule.

We are to focus on life in the kingdom.  We are not called to be poor, unless, unless our wealth keeps us from focusing on the kingdom. Jesus told the rich, young ruler to sell all he had.  They were his focus.  We are to pure in heart.  Not just morally pure, but singular focused on the kingdom.  We are to seek the mind of Christ.  We find that by living in the kingdom.  Amen.

COME AND SEE

Sermon Summary (1/22/17), “Come and See”  John 1:35-49

This sermon is based on a wonderful presentation by Rev. Matt Miofsky and Annual Conference 2016 that can be view at https://vimeo.com/170466598  I highly recommend you take the time to view it.  In the verses from John above (read it too), Andrew, Peter, Philip and Nathanael all receive invitations and respond because of their relationships, not because they know or know of Jesus.

The premise that there is someone you know that you wish was in church with you this morning.  Without evoking the dreaded “E” word (“Evangelism,” that Matt says is really hospitality to those not here yet), Matt says, “Come and See.”  Eighty five percent of those who come to church do so because of Invitation.  Evangelism is about invitation.  Eighty two percent of those invited will come and see.

Matt points out that there is a difference between an announcement and an invitation.  An announcement requires no response.  An invitation requires a “yes” or a “no.”  My granddaughter announced that she love the move “La, La Land” and that we ought to go.  Had she said, “I loved that move so much that I’m going again tomorrow.  Would you come with me?”  That is an invitation.

All you need to make invitation is something you are passionate about and a few friends.  We ought to be as passionate about our faith and our church as “La, La Land” don’t you think? 

Evangelism is about relationship. None of the people who were invited knew anything about Jesus.  John the Baptist’s disciples knew nothing of Jesus but they had a relationship with John.  He invited them to follow Jesus.  Peter knew nothing about Jesus but he was Andrew’s brother and he went and say.  Philip did not know anything about Jesus but he was from the home town of Andrew and Peter.  Nathanael, the skeptic knew nothing of Jesus, but had a relationship with Philip.  The disciples who changed the world responded to their friends before they responded to Jesus. Evangelism is about relationship.  

Evangelism is about connecting people to Jesus.  We need to be doing the things that connect people to Jesus.  Worship is seldom enough.  That’s why we have Sunday School and Disciple Bible Study and Wednesday Night Worship and Study.  It’s about Jesus.

Lastly, evangelism is about changing lives in Jesus Christ.  Matt included stories of people whose lives were changed because friends or relatives or neighbors asked them to “Come and see,” with prayers and persistence.  Jesus says “Come and see, abide with me.”  Invitation begins with a passion and a friend.  Who is it that you wish was with you today?  Ask them to “Come and see, come with me.”