Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Unity or Mutiny in the Family of God

1 Corinthians 1:10-17

January 26, 2014


            We were a car full of preachers trying to find a movie theater in a strange town.  We had lots of opinions, but no map and no GPS.  We were all men so you know what happened.  Endlessly we wandered onto dead-end streets.  We drove past well lit gas stations and never once considered the possibility of stopping and asking directions.  Instead we kept driving each offering our own ideas, “Turn here”, “No that’s not the way we have to turn around”.  We never saw the movie.
            If you are traveling with someone and you want to get to where you want to be, you are going to need a map or directions and you are going to have to be in agreement, because none of us really flies solo.  We are all part of a family, a community, a church.
            In our scripture today we’re going to see what happens to a church where people disagree and where they want to be and how they expect to get there.  But, first let us pray:
            Risen Christ, you have prayed for us that “we may be one”, but in reality we are not one but many.  We come from different backgrounds, holding a variety of opinions about this and that and the other.  These convictions can drive us or they can divide us.
            Help us Lord as we seek the mind of Christ so that we might have the “same mind and the same mind.  Open our hearts to the unique gifts you have give to others and to ourselves.  Amen
            The city of Corinth was re-built and established as a Roman colony in the year 46 B.C.  So, its citizen spoke both Latin and Greek.  Its location was the key to its great wealth.  It was a city on the crossroads between east and wet, north and south; so it was cosmopolitan in every sense of the word.  People came from everywhere and they brought their religions with them.
            Michael Green wrote, “It was to this mixed community at Corinth, greedy for power, dedicated to pleasure, fascinated by rhetoric and knowledge, that Paul came and preached the gospel in the autumn of 50 A.D.”


            When he arrived there were already brand new Christians organizing.  Aquilla a Jew from Rome and his wife Priscilla had moved to Corinth because the Roman emperor Claudius began to persecute the Jews in of Rome.  They made their living making tents as did Paul.  With both vocation and faith in common they set out in ministry together.
            They built a church and then a year later Paul moved on, eventually beginning another church in Ephesus across the Aegean sea.  It was while he was there that word reached him that all was not well in Corinth.  Conflicts were heating up.  The divisions were theological and moral, ethnic and socio-economic.  They were related to age and gender and different tastes in worship style and practice.  In other words they made every molehill of difference into a mountain of conflict.
            They divided into four distinct groups.  Some said, “I belong to Paul” or “I belong to Apollos” or “I belong to Cephas”, or “I belong to Christ.”
            Those who identified with Paul were most likely charter members and probably gentile Greeks.  They were the first converts who remembered the exciting “good old days” when they first started out.  Although they never said so out loud there was still a feeling that their membership in the church counted a bit more than the membership of those who came later.  They may have been the very first Christian to say, “We’ve never done it that way before.”
            The group who identified with Cephas, which you more likely recognize as Peter were probably Christians who came from a Jewish background.  They claimed an even older heritage because they went back to Abraham.  They had a theological chip on their shoulder that came from pride which said their people knew God longer and so they figured better than these newcomers.  Their slogan was “God said it, I believe it, and that settles it.”
            The group who followed Apollos were those who those who are captured by a spell-binding preacher; always looking for the latest energetic and charismatic leader.  They were quick to bounce from church to church looking for the latest homiletic hot shot.  They didn’t have a slogan because they were more interested in the personality of the preacher than the person of Christ.

            Finally, the group who claimed Jesus were those who said they needed no earthly teachers.  Their favorite hymn was “I come to the garden alone and he walks with me and he talks with me and tells me I am his own.”  They were tempted by a spiritual arrogance which excluded all others.  Their bumper sticker said simply, “I found it.”
            All four of these groups were in the same congregation so there were times when going to Church on Sunday morning was like going to a game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers.  You know they just couldn’t seem to get along.
            In other words the church in Corinth was a lot like the Christian Church today.  Everywhere believers find themselves on different sides of the fence.  Sometimes the fence is built with theological and moral questions.  Sometimes walls are constructed with bricks of personality.  Sometimes the barrier is built upon ethnic or economic differences.  Whatever building blocks are used; the end result is the same.  The Church is not one, but many; the Church is not whole, but divided.
            One preacher asked, “If Christ is divided, who bleeds?”
            So, the Apostle Paul wrote in verse 10:
            “I appeal to you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no dissensions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and with the same judgment.”
            This is the theme of his whole letter and why he is writing to them.  This is his hope and dream from the Corinthian Church and I believe for the Christian Church today.
            This is key, so I’m going to unpack it a little bit at a time.
            He begins with a reminder that they “are brothers and sisters in Christ”, so it is in Christ they are to find their unity.  The dissensions have lead to divisions.  The Greek word here is familiar, “schizmata” from which we get the word “schism”.  It literally meant to tear or rip a piece of cloth into pieces.
            So he appeals to them to be united.  Again the Greek word “kartizo” was a medical term to describe the healing that takes place when a broken bone mends.
            How can this mending take place?  Paul says it occurs as we are united in the same mind and with the same judgment.  And there’s the rub.  The church is supposed to draw people from every background, culture and race.  It is supposed to be diverse, so how can we possibly be united in the same mind?
            The answer to that question is determined by what you mean when you say the same mind.  If by that you mean that everybody is supposed to think the same thing about everything then you are looking for uniformity and not unity.  You are trying to make “cookie cutter” Christian where everybody dresses in the same manner, speaks with the same vocabulary, and thinks the same way.  And there are church that try to do just that. In those churches differences are not celebrated but punished.
            The Presbyterian Church in general and Eastminster in particular have never interpreted this passage in this way.  It has been our view that a band made up only of tubas is not as beautiful as an orchestra filled with strings and brass and percussion.  It is has been our view that we make better music when we incorporated the special and unique gifts that each individual brings.
            I believe that the Apostle Paul shared that view.  Later in this letter in the 12th chapter, Paul will develop an analogy comparing the church as the body of Christ to the human body.  None of us would ever say to a doctor since I don’t use my little toe very much, you can go ahead and cut it off.  Most of us see every part of our bodies as important and essential.  So it is with every member of the church.
            So, what did Paul mean when he encourages us to be united, healed really, with the same mind and judgment?  Look down the page a bit to the 1th verse I think you will see.  
            “For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, lets the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
            Unity in mind and judgment can only be found at the foot of the cross.  It is only achieved when each of us realizes we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God.  Unity of spirit only heals when each of us acknowledge that we are “justified by grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.
            Paul describes this at greater length in another letter he wrote to the church in Philippi:
            “So, if there is any encouragement in Christ any incentive of love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, and being in full accord and of one mind?”
            And what is that one mind?
            “Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourself.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
            And why should we do that?
            “Have this mind among you, which is in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped.  He humbled himself and became obedient unto death on the cross.”
            Being of the same mind cannot possibly mean that everyone in the church is to have the same opinion about every moral and theological question.  That has never existed in any church at any time, though some have made the attempt. 
            I remember a few years ago a pastor from a very conservative nearby church asked to visit with me.  He was for the first time struggling with his congregation’s discipline that required full allegiance and agreement on any number of Biblical interpretations and theological understandings.  Dissent was not tolerated.  The view of his church was our way or the highway, and he was beginning to wonder if that was right.
            I told him that in the Presbyterian Church diversity of thought was not only tolerated, but encouraged and that I thought this was a good thing.  The reason I think it is good is because if everyone thinks the same way and holds the same beliefs there is no one to challenge or even ask a question.  If there is no one to challenge or even ask a question, how can you grow?  He said he never thought of it that way before, and I told him that is exactly my point.  We need people to push our thinking and ask new questions if we are ever going to learn and grow.
When people gather at the foot of the cross and in the name of Jesus they must treat each other with love and respect and with a sense of humility because we recognize that we are not there because of our own wisdom, will, or good looks.  We are there because we have beheld the face of Jesus, have touched the scars, and experienced the power of the resurrection.
            When we fail to this the consequences can be severe.  One preacher put it this way, “Fractured fellowship robs Christians of joy and effectiveness, robs God of glory, and robs the world of the true testimony of the Gospel.”
            I can think of no better illustration of this than the church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.  This is the cathedral which has been built over what many believe to be the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, burial, and resurrection.  In other words, it is sacred ground.
            When I first saw this church I had just come from the Mosque at the Dome of the Rock.  This golden domed sanctuary is the most prominent feature in the skyline of Jerusalem. It is magnificent in concept, elegant in design, and reflects a real architectural unity throughout.
            Compare that to the Church of the Sepulcher which is a hodge-podge of conflicting design, poor maintenance and confusion throughout.  I thought it was a poor testimony to the glory of the resurrection.
            The reason for this chaos in this cathedral is because its ownership is divided and contested by no less than 6 Christian denominations.  When I was there scaffolding reaches to the ceiling and has been there for over 80 years because these 6 different Christian denominations cannot agree on what it is supposed to look like and who is going to pay for it.  I felt this robbed God of glory and diminished the testimony of the gospel.
            There are some who peak through the windows hoping that Christ is really here and that Christ makes a difference.
            Is he?  Does he?  Can Christ bring people in the church together?
            I believe he can.  I believe that the power of the cross is that strong!  I believe the love of God is that powerful!  That is the sacrifice God made for us; and that is the sacrifice we need to make for each other.
            Fractured bones can heal.  Broken spirits may be made whole by the grace of God and by the forgiveness of his disciples.  Come to the foot of the cross once more and experience God’s healing balm.
            Have this mind among yourselves, which you have in Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped…but humbled himself and became obedient unto death on the cross.  Amen
           

           

 







Thursday, January 23, 2014

Answering the Call Part 2

John 1:35-51

January 19, 2014


            I was seventeen and living in York, Pennsylvania.  One day my friend John called, and he was very excited. This was in his first year at Gettysburg College and he had seen the night before a production of a new musical neither one of us had ever heard of.  It was called, “Jesus Christ Superstar”.  The students at the Lutheran Seminary which was attached to the college got together and put this show on in the chapel.  John said, “Greg you won’t believe it.  They were singing about Jesus, but they were using electric guitars and drums and they danced…right there in church they danced.”  He said, “You’ve got to come and see.”

            So I did.  That night I drove to Gettysburg and found the chapel packed.  People were standing in the aisles.  They were sitting in the windows.  They were gathered outside of the windows.  This was one of those occasions when being six foot four inches tall was a big advantage.  I stood at the door unable to get in, but still able to see over all of the shorter people in front of me.

            When the band opened with that first hard rock riff I thought to myself, “I didn’t know you could do that.  I didn’t know you could use guitars and drums to sing about Jesus.  I thought all the music ever written about Jesus ended in the nineteenth century because we never sang any songs in church that were written any later than that. 

            But, here they were.  Long haired seminary students wearing tie-dyed t-shirts, jeans and sandals were singing new songs about Jesus, and dancing in a sanctuary that looked a lot like our own.  At the end of the show the audience stood and cheered.  In fact they stood on the pews and cheered.  John was right.  This was the most excitement I’d ever seen in a church.

            So, I went back to York and called all the kids in my youth group at Eastminster and told them about the show and said, “You’ve got to come and see.”  The next night - they did.

            In our scripture today, you see that phrase “Come and see” a couple of times.  It is our natural response whenever we find something exciting or meaningful.  We tell our friends, “I’ve just see a terrific movie; you’ve got to come and see.”  Just back from vacation we tell anyone who will listen about how beautiful we found the Greek islands and then say, “You’ve got to come over and see the pictures we took.”  If we buy a new car or a really big screen T.V. we tell our friends, “You’ve got to come and see the Steelers play on a sixty-inch plasma.” When a baby is born parents will call up grandparents and aunts and uncles and say, “She’s just the cutest thing, you’ve got to come and see.”  They do.

            I believe we are all natural born evangelists.  We talk about those things we find interesting and exciting and meaning. It is natural.  It is spontaneous. We tell our friends, “Come and see”.  The only time we’re really bashful it seems is when it comes to our faith.  Then our tongues get tied and our palms sweat.  We don’t know what to say or if we do we’re afraid to say it.

            This morning we’ll follow a couple of disciples who didn’t seem to have that problem and maybe pick up a couple of lessons for ourselves.  First, let us pray:

Prepare our hearts, O God, to accept your Word.  Silence in us any voice but your own, that hearing we may also obey your will through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

            John the Baptist was out in the wilderness. One day Jesus came to be baptized. John picked up something special about Jesus – sometimes you just know these things.  Anyway, he said “I am not worthy to tie your shoes.”  Jesus gently insisted and asked to be baptized for reasons John would not understand.

The Bible tells us that as John baptized Jesus, the Spirit of God came down on Jesus in a special way. We don’t know what happened exactly but something did happen. And what did John the Baptist do afterward? He went and found his own disciples and said, “Come and see. Come and see the Lamb of God.”

One of those disciples was named Andrew. Scripture is very specific here. It says, “Andrew and his friend came at 4:00 in the afternoon to meet Jesus.” Andrew stayed with Jesus until the next day.  If you were there; if you were Andrew’s unnamed friend what would you have asked Jesus? What would you have talked about?  What would you have told him about your life, your hopes, or your dreams? What do you think Jesus might have said to you?

            What they spoke of we’ll never know.  What we do know is that Andrew's heart was captured that night by Jesus of Nazareth.

So, Andrew did what people do when they encounter something or someone who stirs their souls.  He had to tell somebody, so he went and found his older brother. Andrew said to his older brother who was named Simon, “Simon, you’ve got to come and see. Simon, you are my older brother. We were raised together.  We work the family business together.  You are part of my life so I’m telling you, “You have got to come and meet this Jesus.” So Simon came and met Jesus. Simon spent time with Jesus. There is no record of what was said in that conversation or how long that it lasted. But Simon’s heart was transformed, and Jesus gave him a new name to mark that moment. He became Peter.  

The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee.  He found Phillip.  The Bible says Jesus said simply, “Follow me”, but I’m thinking there was more to it than that.  There was some kind of history between the two or some time for conversation, or maybe there was just something about Jesus.

 What I’d like you to note is that Phillip went and found Nathaniel. He said, “Nathaniel, you’ve got to come and see this Jesus of Nazareth.”  The Bible doesn’t tell us who Nathaniel was.  Some speculate that he was a brother or friend, but we don’t really know.  What we do know is that Nathaniel was not going to be so quick to bite, because as soon as Philip tells him that Jesus is from Nazareth some old presumptions rise to the surface. 

“Nazareth?  Nazareth?  What good has ever come out of Nazareth?

Now, there is no historical evidence to support the theory that Nazareth was worse than other villages in the area. But, people don’t really need a reason to make fun of other people. 

Sometimes people say bad things about Christians as well.  And maybe that’s why we’re so shy about making our faith known.  We don’t want to be identified with the guy who shows up at football games wearing a multi-colored fright wig and holding up a sign that says “John 3:16”.  We don’t have much in common with folks who shout fire and brimstone warnings to people driving by on the street.  We don’t put “Honk if you Love Jesus” bumper stickers on our cars because we’re afraid of what people might think if they see us run a stop sign or speed or lose our temper because another driver cut us off.  Believe me, I’ve honked at people because their bumper sticker asked me to only to receive a hand gesture that doesn’t really reflect the good news of the gospel.

 We’ve all known folks who use the Bible as weapon and not as a “light for our path.”

We wonder if we do summon up the courage to invite someone to church or even a church picnic, will they respond with a story about some Christian they knew who didn’t walk the talk, whose life did not really reflect the faith?  We’re not sure if we can handle any tough questions they might have about our faith.  We’re not even sure what we’d say if they asked, “So, why do you go to church?”  So, we think better to be safe than sorry, we think, better to say nothing at all.  Better to be a secret agent Christian and hope that people see our faith expressed in acts of kindness and generosity.

Note Philip’s response to Nathanael’s resistance to Jesus because he is from Nazareth.  He doesn’t argue with him.  He doesn’t get mad.  He doesn’t criticize.  He gently says, “Why don’t you come and see for yourself.”  Instead of going on what you’ve heard someone else say about Jesus; instead of deciding on rumor and innuendo, why don’t you come and see for yourself and then you can make up your own mind.

Most people think they have an open mind about things.  Hardly anyone will admit to being closed minded, but in fact most people make up their minds about things by just getting in back of the longest line.  They listen to what their friends say and think, they watch what others do and so that’s what they’ll do and say.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone say something bad about Jesus or the Bible and when I ask them how they came to that conclusion they hardly ever respond by saying that’s what I read in the Bible.  Mostly it’s just here say.  They will say “someone told me” and so they pass that along.  They don’t come and see for themselves because that will take some effort.

Nathanael made the effort.  He came and saw Jesus and discovered that Jesus had seen him first. That’s where faith begins.  It begins with the understanding that God knows everything there is to know about you and me – the good and the bad.  It begins with the realization that we don’t run to God and much as God runs to meet us the very moment we turn to face him.  Everything that follows is exploration.  Who am I?  Who is God?  How do we connect? Everything that follows is an expression of faith.

Prayer is an expression of faith.  Worship is an expression of faith. Bible Study is an expression of faith.  Service is an expression of faith.  Stewardship is an expression of faith.  Even the conversations we have with family and friends can be an expression of faith.

I once saw a church slogan that said, “Each One Reach One”.  This is not a program.  There are no classes.  It’s not a project.  There’s nothing to build.  There is no budget.  What it is – is an attitude adjustment.  Recognizing that we are bashful about talking about our faith outside of these walls, we would just like to encourage you to invite folks to events that don’t seem so churchy.  Not everyone comes through the front door and straight into the sanctuary. 

While we see our building as beautiful, some see it as imposing.  While we are excited by the flurry of activity that fills hallways and rooms, some find it bewildering. While we are comfortable visiting with old friends around the coffee pot, others feel out of place as they sit alone in a corner.

So, we need to be intentional about inviting and welcoming people and creating different points of entry into the church.  That’s what “Each One – Reach One” is all about.

We know for some people church is like Nazareth and they wonder can anything good come from there?  All we can say to folks like that is what Philip said to Nathanael – Why don’t you come and see and then you can make up your own mind.  I’ll pick you up.  I’ll go with you.  I’ll stay with you.

Every time a poll is taken the statistic comes back the same.  Eighty five per cent of everyone who comes to Christ comes because they have been invited by a family member or friend. It’s not because they read an advertisement in the newspaper or saw a sign on the road.  It’s not just because of the preacher or the music program. This is how it happens. Someone they knew took the time and found the courage to say, “Come and See.”  Come and see what God has done and is doing through his Spirit and by his son Jesus Christ and with his people in this place.

Let us pray:

Lord, forgive us for being so bashful.  In this place we confess you are a Lord and Savior, but outside we treat this knowledge as if it were some kind of state secret.  Capture our hearts once more so that we may find the courage to simply say, “Come and see the one who has made all the difference in my life” for it is in his name we pray.  Amen.








Monday, January 13, 2014

Answering the Call: Part I

Matthew 3:13-17

January 12, 2014 at Eastminster Presbyterian Church


            “Open the eyes of our hearts Lord so that we might see the hope to which you have called us.”[1]  Let us your Word now through these words.  Amen.

In our scripture Jesus showed up at the Jordan River to begin his ministry when he was thirty years old.[2]  In Matthew’s Gospel we have not seen or heard from Jesus since he was a toddler exiled to Egypt because Herod had tried to end his life before it had even begun.[3] 

So, there is a frustrating gap of almost thirty years about which we know nothing. Later writers tried to fill this silence.[4]  Some of them made up childhood stories that were designed to answer the questions, “What did Jesus know and when did he know it?”  These were important questions for these early Christians because they spoke to the identity of Jesus.  Was he a man or was he God?

 If Jesus were God then he would have known who he was and what he was to do from birth. His hard drive would have been pre-loaded with all the programs and files he would ever need. He would have had no need for pre-school and Sabbath school or even advice from his mother because he was, after all, God who is all knowing and all-powerful.

We do read stories in the gospels that reflect this view.  Even Satan seemed to recognize Jesus’ abilities in the next chapter when he called him to turn rocks into bread and fly through the air with angels. Indeed in the gospels, Jesus often seemed to know what only God could know.  He made predictions none of us could make, most notably, the when and where and why of his own death.

If Jesus were human though, he would have come into this world as we all do, as a blank slate.  He would have had to figure out who is and what he should be doing the same way we do, gradually, by degrees, over time.  We get a hint of that in the Gospel of Luke after Jesus’ Bar Mitzvah in the Temple. At the end of this story, Luke wrote, “The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day he appeared publicly to Israel.”[5]  Growth and becoming is a very human trait.  It is something we all do.

In other words, Jesus in those growing up years went through the same wilderness wandering all adolescents go through as they try to figure out “who am I?” and “what am I are supposed to be doing?”

All that growing up work appears to be done when Jesus showed up at the river. He had come to some conclusions about who he is and what he is to do.  The Bible says, “Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.  John would have prevented this and said, “I need to be baptized by you…”[6]

Why did John protest? I told this story last year, but it bears repeating.  When my five year old son understood when we watched the movie “Jesus of Nazareth” years ago.  When Jesus walked in the water, my son said,

“Daddy, isn’t that Jesus?”

 I said, “Yes”. 

“Isn’t the other the baptism guy?”

  I said, “Yes”.

“I thought the baptism guy put water on the people to clean up their sins.”

 “Yes, that’s right.”

“I thought Jesus didn’t do anything wrong. Why does he need to get clean?”

            Five years old and he understood the problem better than his father understood the answer, so I said, “Would you like some Pizza?  Jesus said to John, “Let’s do this so that we can fulfill all righteousness.”[7]  What does that mean?

            The meaning is determined by what you think righteousness is and how you go about living righteously and this is where John and Jesus part company.  John’s Baptism was different from Christian Baptism.

            When people came to John they felt bad about the bad they did and wanted that feeling to go away.  So they came to John and hoped that when he poured that water over their heads he could wash their sins and that guilty feeling away. 

For many that worked - for a little while.  Then they sinned again and so they had to come back to be baptized again and again. It was up to them to get themselves to the river.

John’s religion was pretty simple, “Prepare the way of the Lord.  Make his paths straight.”[8]  This is something you can do.  This is something we can understand, because he was really saying, “You have to try harder because it’s all up to you.”  John’s religion fits in very well with the American dream.  It’s what we tell our children when they go to school and ourselves when we go to work.  Study hard, work long, and keep your nose clean and you will be successful.

That’s why John was so bewildered when Jesus showed up at the river.  Jesus had not failed, fallen, or sinned in any way.  John saw him as already completely successful in the thing that mattered most to him and that was his relationship with the Father in heaven.  No one was closer to the Father than Christ, and Jesus said as much, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”[9] “I and the Father are one.”[10]  John saw Jesus as the standard we should all strive to meet, so it made no sense to him that he should baptize Jesus so that Jesus might get better.  Jesus was already where we’d all like to be – resting in the arms of God.

Jesus’ view of righteousness was different than John’s because he recognized our futility in trying to do everything right all of the time. He knew we are all where Agnes Rogers Allen was when she said:

I should be better and brighter and thinner,
and more intelligent at dinner.
I should reform and take some pains,
improve my person and my brains.
There’s a lot I could do about it,
But will I?....
            Honestly, she said, I doubt it.[11]

No one does, so obviously no one can do it.  We all make mistakes and worse yet we all sin which is not so much a mistake as it is a deliberate decision to do what we know we should not do or refrain from doing what we should.  That was the view of the Apostle Paul anyway, and that quite rightly prompted his question, “Who will deliver me?”[12]

 Jesus began to answer that question in his reformation of the meaning of baptism.  We are not made right with God by trying harder to reach up.  Rather, we are made right by recognizing that God has already reached down to help us up.

That’s why we need a Savior.  We need someone to lift us up.  It is as simple as the arms of a child reaching up to a parent, which may be why Jesus said, “whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.”[13]  That is the first step to answering the call of God.  You will never hear the voice of God if you spend all of your time telling God how well you’ve done or at least how hard you’ve tried.  You will only hear if you listen and lift your arms.

That’s what Jesus did.  What did he hear?  The Bible says, “When Jesus was baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heaven were opened to him and he saw the “Spirit of God descending like a dove and voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.”[14]

Some years back, I had the opportunity to visit the place, the exact place where many scholars today believe this happened.  It is a very pastoral setting unchanged since Jesus’ day because it occupies a demilitarized zone between Israel and Jordan.  No one goes through the barbwire gate to the baptismal site without permission, so there are not religious knick-knack shops or shouting tour guides. Demilitarized zones are very peaceful places because if you make a big noise someone may shoot at you.

When our group sat in a circle for worship, this passage was read and then we went into a time of prayer.  It was during this quiet time I noticed for the first time the cooing of doves all around us.  They seemed to be everywhere.  Now I’m sure they were there as we walked in and I’m sure they were there when we sang our hymns and the scripture was read, but it was only in that quiet time I heard the murmur of the dove’s song.

The second step to answer the call of God is to listen for the call of God.  You might be surprised what you hear.

What did Jesus hear?  “You are my beloved in whom I am well pleased.”[15]  I want you to notice something here and this is very important.  Up until this point, all that Jesus has done in Matthew’s Gospel was to be born. Not a single sermon has been preached.  No one has been healed and no miracles have been performed.  There is no record of God saying, “Because you have received straight “A’s” in school, I am pleased. Or, because you became the starting quarterback on the football team, I am proud. Or because you memorized the Ten Commandments and all the books in the Bible, or helped a little old lady across the street, I am satisfied with you.”

No!  What Jesus and John hear is, “You are my son and I am pleased with you for no other reason than you are.”  Hear that!  Believe that!  It will take your breath away.

There’s an old preacher’s ditty that says, “God loves you just as you are.  God loves you too much to leave you where you are.”  There will always be more growing and more becoming.  The Bible says, “Beloved, we are God’s children; it does not yet appear what we shall be.”[16]

That is God’s call to each and every one of us.  Our Presbyterian Book of Order puts it this way.

God calls a people to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior;
 to follow Jesus Christ in obedient discipleship;
 to use the gifts and abilities God has given,
 honoring and serving God
in personal life,
in household and families,
 in daily occupations,
in community, nation, and the world.

A person responds to God’s call to faith in Jesus Christ
 through Baptism and
 through life and worship in the community of faith.
Persons respond to God’s call to discipleship
through the ministries of God’s people in and for the world.[17] 

            We do this together.  In scripture we learn God does call people like Abraham and Moses individually, but the ministry is always for the people.

This is something we do together.  That’s the third thing I’d like you to remember.  Discerning God’s call is often done best in groups, because each of us may hear a little bit.  That’s why we have Bible Studies and small group ministries.  It’s why churches link together into denominations.  When we join together and add up those little bits we may often end up with something greater.

That’s what is before us.  Let us pray for God’s vision and power.

God you have called in the past those we honor today, Abraham, Moses, Peter and Paul; but we believe your Spirit still moves today and that you are calling each of us to follow and serve in particular ways.  Some of these ways are quite public and others as quiet as a prayer.  Help each of us to hear and see so that we may know what to do.  Through Christ, in whom you were and are well pleased.  Amen.




[1] Ephesians 1:18
[2] Luke 3:23
[3] Matthew 2:20
[4] Gospel of Thomas is an apocryphal writing, which contains a lengthy childhood narrative.
[5] Luke 1:80
[6] Luke 3:13-14
[7] Matthew 3:15
[8] Matthew 3:3  Isaiah 40:3
[9] John 14:9
[10] John 10:30
[11] Preaching Values in the Epistles of Paul “Romans and 1 Corinthians”.  Harper. N.Y. 1959 1:44
[12] Romans 7:20-24
[13] Mark 10:15
[14] Matthew 3:16-17
[15] Matthew 3:17
[16] 1 John 3:2
[17] PCUSA Book of Order W.5.600

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

"Beginnings"

Genesis 1:1-5
John 1:1-5

A sermon preached by Reverend Greg Seckman at the Eastminster Presbyterian Church

January 5 , 2014


            A while back I read a fascinating article about the latest adventures of the Hubble Telescope and those who look through it.[1] They have focused this space-based instrument on the furthest known galaxies from our own.  In doing so, they literally look back through time because the light that we see today from those far distant places was created billions of years ago.  It is exactly because of the great distances it has traveled, that it has taken this long to reach our planet.

            For this reason some writers have exaggerated the power of this telescope to say that we may have the ability to see the beginning of time.  We don't.  But, we can see backwards further than ever before.

            What was interesting about this article was that the images they have received have raised more questions than answers.  There are unexpected phenomena that don't fit the current theories.  New theories will have to be developed to incorporate the new information.

            That is always the way. As our scientific knowledge increases more questions than answers are usually found.  I think it will probably always be so; as we continue to explore our universe we will in fact be exploring the mind of God, and the mind of God is infinite with infinite possibilities.  We will never have all the answers; there will always be more questions.

            The Apostle John began to explore the mind of God in the prologue to his gospel.  His knowledge did not come through a telescope but from revelation.  This revelation came from God himself.  "In the beginning was the Word."[2]  This phrase is reminiscent of the first verse in the Bible, "In the beginning was God."[3]  William Temple said this could be translated, "At the root of the universe is God."[4] 

            This is a faith statement.  It must be, for God cannot be proved or disproved.  The very nature of the definition of God determines that the created cannot prove the creator.  To do so would demand complete understanding, and this is not possible, for as I said the mind of God is infinite with infinite possibilities. This is what God said, "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”[5]

            The world is divided into those who believe God is, and those who believe God is not.  Both groups are making a faith statement.  But, for those who believe God is not, the next question becomes one of meaning and purpose.  If there is no God what is the point other than to "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we may die." (Ecclesiastes 8:15)

            This is why the discussion over the beginning of the universe is so critical.  If the universe and the life within it are created by pure chance and accident, then the only meaning we will find in it is the meaning we create ourselves.  And we have been woefully inadequate to that challenge.

            Macbeth, in Shakespeare's play reveals this philosophy:

            Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
            That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
            And then is heard no more.  It is a tale
            Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
            Signifying nothing.                                            (Macbeth, act 5, sc.5 lines 24-28)

            Many young people today carry that philosophy because they believe life is pure chance, an accident with no meaning; and so they try to create the meaning themselves, but it is only "sound and fury."  Many of the lyrics of the popular music echo that emptiness, what the Bible calls "vanity".

            Those who believe that God isn't have the tremendous challenge to find meaning and purpose only in themselves.  Even if they do, it is fleeting and will not last.

            Those who believe God is, are faced with the next question: What is God like?

            John offers an answer: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (John 1:1)  Remember John is here preaching to two distinct congregations.  The words he writes are being read by Jews, some of who are disciples of Jesus Christ and some who are not.  He is also writing to Greeks, some of who are disciples of Jesus Christ and some who are not.  And there are almost no cultural similarities between the two.  The Jews believed in one God, the Greek believed in many.  The Jews were tucked away off the beaten path and the Greeks were cosmopolitan smack in the center of things.

            The only thing that these two groups have in common is a high regard for the Word.  For the Jews, the Hebrew word “dabar”, translated as the Word conveys power. It is an action. It is creative.  God said "Let there be light" and there was light. (Genesis 1:3) The act of speaking and doing were seen as being the same.  In our best moments we feel the same.  We hope that "A man's word is his bond", or say that people are "only as good as their word."  Saying you will do something and then doing it are hopefully the same.

Isaiah spoke for God in that way, “So shall My Word be that goes forth from my Mouth; it shall not return to me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." (55:10-11) Knowing God depends on understanding the question "What?" We will understand God as we see what God is doing.

            For the Greeks, logos, translated as Word is less concerned with "what God does" than it is in "Why?"  "Why has God created the world the way it is?"  "Why has God created us the way we are?"  The Logos focuses on reasons and ideas, on the mind of God. "The Greeks  - through the philosopher Hearclitus - believed that the will of God could be known through the reason of every man, dwelling within him through the Logos." 2   For hundreds of years this had been the pursuit of Greek philosophy. Knowing God depends on understand the question "Why?" Why has God created the universe in this way?  Our reason should lead us to the answers.

            Both questions are important, so what does John say about God?  He says, "In God was life, and the life was the light of men." (John 1:4)  God is not a dispassionate scientist running an experiment and making observations about the results.  God has not wound up the universe like a grandfather clock, only to step back and watch the time tick away.  God is involved.  God is for life.
           
The poet James Weldon Johnson took a tangy peek at God when he wrote:

            "God stepped out on space
            And He looked around and said,
                        I'm lonely -
            I'll make me a world.'

            And God looked
            On all that He had made.
            And God said, `I'm lonely still.'

            And the great God almighty,
            Who lit the sun and fixed it in the sky,
            Who flung the stars to the most far corner of the night,
            Who rounded the earth in the middle of His hand-

            This great God,
            Like a mammy bending over her baby,
            Kneeled down in the dust
            Toiling over a lump of clay
            Until He shaped it is His Own image;
            Then into it He blew the breath of life,
            And man became a living soul."

            I don't know if God gets lonely, but I do know that God does care and is involved with His creation.  The length to which God is involved is found in the fourteenth verse of this first chapter of John.  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father."

            Now if the Jews and the Greeks of John's day were in agreement about the power of the Word, they were equally agreed about the weakness of the flesh.  Both had a difficult time grasping the notion that God would come into the world in the form of a babe born in Bethlehem.  For Jews this spoke of having more than one God, for the Greeks it spoke of God in terms that were too personal, too intimate. 

            But, that is exactly why God came into our world in this way.  In this unique event in time, God stepped out of eternity and into our history.  The reason God did that was so that we could see God face to face, so that our relationship with God could be intimate, could be personal.

            Jesus said, "the one who hath seen me, hath seen the Father". (John 14:9  The Apostle Paul said, "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)

            Until Jesus Christ it was not possible to really see God.  God had said in Exodus, "You cannot see my face; for there shall be no man see me, and live." (33:20) This statement was a reflection on the holiness and awesomeness of God.  It was the Bible's way of speaking of God as the "other"; as one totally separate and different from us.  The theological word is transcendent.  God transcends our experience.

            The common image of God as transcendent is that of creator and judge.  For many people, this is their dominant image of God.  It is how they see God. God made us; God will judge us, so watch out.  God is "out there" or "up there" in heaven.  There is little comfort and much fear in this picture.

            For others the negative is turned around.  Black becomes white.  God is not see as being "up there", but rather is seen as being "in here".  The language is one of intimacy and immediacy.  Words like Father or parent are used.  The theological word is immanence.  God is as near as a baby.

            Well, I believe God gave us two hands for this reason.  On the one hand God is transcendent, "out there or up there"; is the creator and the judge.  On the other hand God is immanent, "in here"; is the Father, the one whom Jesus called "Abba".  God is both.   God is as near as a baby, and as far as the stars.

            And God becomes small when we choose one or the other.  If God remains forever stuck in our minds as a babe born in Bethlehem, then He becomes sentimental and seasonal.  If God remains forever stuck out there in the stars, then He endures distant from our lives and only a curiosity to look at with our telescopes.

            It is for this reason that Jesus taught us to pray, "Our Father".  This is an intimate and personal expression of a close relationship.  Then he says, "Who art in heaven."  Which is to say, "Remember always the transcendence of God."  "God is above us, beyond us, foreign to us, different from us and what we are."  (Guthrie, Shirley, Christian Doctrine, pg 112)

            When we remember what's on both the hands, then our understanding of God expands and we come closer to seeing God than we ever had before. 

            And when you are out for a walk on a starlight summer's night and see the thousand billion stars and realize they came to being by utterance of a single word from God - "Light"; maybe it will take your breath away and you'll whisper to yourself, "God is as far as these stars and beyond."

            Or when you go into a child's room early in the morning and the babe's eyes open with a smile that lights up a room; and you remember that snippet of a verse "a little child shall lead them", maybe it will take your breath away and you'll whisper to yourself, "God is as near as this baby."

            And if that happens to you maybe once a year, count yourself blessed.  For there are many who look to the night sky and see only stars.  And there are many who look at a child and see only a baby.  For them the world is an empty, lonely place. 

            Thanks be to God whose "Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have seen his glory."  Amen.

           

2.  Preaching Magazine.  November - December, 1991. pg 58.




[1] "Hubble Images Fill in Details of Creation." Washington Post, December 7, 1994. pg A20.
[2] John 1:1
[3] Genesis 1:1
[4]  Temple, William: Readings of St. John' Gospel. London 1947


[5] Isaiah 55:9