I was going to church last week and noticed a church sign I did not recall seeing before. It was a church called "Harvest Time Assembly of God." Harvest time I thought-- what an interesting name. I don't recall ever seeing a Presbyterian church named "harvest" anything. Somehow, it didn't fit to say "Harvest Time Episcopal Church" either. It's a good name, especially for a country church. But I wonder sometimes how an unbeliever might like being compared to wheat or radishes. We Christians know what it means, but does anyone else?
That got me thinking about church names. What do they say about the our congregations? We choose them because we want to say something about who we are and what we believe. But what are we saying?
Here are several kinds of church names:
Place names. This is by far the most common kind of church names, Oak Grove Methodist, Five Points Baptist, Grover's Corner Lutheran Church. These are "vanilla" church names. They can be used for any kind of church from Catholic to Jehovah's Witness. They are low profile names, sensible names, which say "Look, here is where we are. Other than that, we're not real sure what we are, either."
Number names. Every town has a First Baptist or a First Methodist. Usually a Second Baptist, too. Bigger towns may even have a third or a fourth, or maybe a tenth. I presume in most cases, they refer to the order they established, and not the quality of preaching or music. I wonder if first churches have big rubber hands in their pews so the congregants can hold them in the air and chant "We're Number 1! We're number 1!" I don't know, maybe the number refers to their flight order in the Rapture.
Biblical names. Most of them are pretty standard--Antioch, Smyrna, Shiloh, Bethany. Occasionally you run into a weird one. I have a friend who pastors Hephzibah Presbyterian Church. I'm not making that up. I wonder how many people ask what a "hephzibah" is.
Virtue names. "Faith", "Hope," "Fellowship," " Grace", "Peace." Of all the church names, these are my favorite. These names tell us what values they are attempting to display. When they work well, they give the outsider a little taste of what goes on inside.
This category of names does produce some of the funniest names. I once saw a church "Little Hope Baptist Church." What were they thinking when they named that one?
Some churches get carried away with this. They want to put their entire creed on their signs, such as "Fire-Baptized Church of he New Jerusalem and Eternal Security (Reformed)" There seems to be a rule somewhere that the length of the name is inversely proportionate to the size of the church. I can say this, being the pastor of Oak Ridge Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church.
Saintly names. These are church named after saints. "St Thomas" "St Catherine" "St Giles." These churches probably have a reason for naming them after these saints, but unless you happen to possess a fairly detailed book of church history, no one can figure out what it is.
Catholics have a peculiar way of naming churches after Mary--actually, after lots of Marys. For example-- "Our Lady of Lourdes" "Our Lady, Empress of the Americas." Isn't she the same Mary?
Incidentally, this category produced my all time favorite church name in Central Florida --"Mary, Queen of the Universe." It sounds more like an action figure than the Mother of God.
Memorial churches. "Rogers Memorial" "Grier Memorial" etc. These names carry the important and inspiring message "Some rich dead guy may or may not have gone here." As church names, these names are a bust. They do make impressive tombstones, though.
Cool names. These are the latest thing in Church names--the contemporary church names. These names seem to have been run by a focus group for maximum audience appeal. The one rule about these names is that they must not have the name "church" in them. That's a no-no, because the goal of these names is to conceal the fact that they are a church until the last minute, when the sinner is caught and cannot get out. They are Venus fly-trap churches, luring the unsuspecting sinner into their web of holy deceit.
These churches names appear to be named by randomly opening a dictionary and pointing to a random word on the page. "Element" "Tapestry," Elevation," and "Communitas." Up the street from me is a church named "Five Smooth Stones." The biblically illiterate person who they are obviously trying to attract does not know if this is a church or a kidney.
Then there are a few churches with such totally weird and wonderful names, that they are in a class by themselves. There is one church in California which is actually named "The Scum of The Earth." One of my Friends wants to name his church "The Walking Dead." If that doesn't get your attention, nothing will! No one can accuse them of being stuffy and traditional.
The more I think about it, the more I think that "Harvest Time" isn't a bad name for a church. At least they show some interest in people outside their circle, or at least their crop circle.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Becoming Light
In his later years, Albert Einstein came to America, and lived near Princeton University. Once a young physics student was walking in a park near the school, and came upon Einstein looking over a bridge at a stream.
What a wonderful opportunity. Here was the greatest genius in physics the world had ever known. What secrets were locked up in that brain! He desperately wanted to have a conversation with the great man. So he came and stood on the bridge next to him, and looked down in the water.
There are two great relationships in every Christian’s life. The first is a relationship with God. The second is our relationship with others. Without both of these, then the Gospel will die.
The Devil attacks us on two fronts. First, he tries to destroy our relationship with God. If that does not work, then he tries to wreck our relationship with others. If we want to have a private relationship with God, the Devil usually leaves us alone. He has already neutralized us into having an ongoing relationship with others. But if we have a vital relationship with God along with openness to people inside and outside the church, then the Devil has something to fear from us.
We looked at the first relationship, that divine relationship with God through prayer last summer. We presented a series of prayer skills that enable us to have a strong relationship with God. For the next few weeks, we are going to work on developing our second relationship—the horizontal relationships we have with other people so that our relationship with God can have a real impact on the world, and the relationship that others have in God can have a real impact on us.
We are going to start our study in the first letter of John. Though it is a little book, it packs a powerful wallop. It can revolutionize our walk with the Lord and our walk with others. I know, because it has had a powerful influence on me.
We don’t know much about the circumstances of writing this letter. We do not know when he wrote it, or exactly to whom. It is a general epistle, which meant it was written to be the whole church, not just a part of it. We think it was written fairly late in John’s life, after the rest of the New Testament. Many of the apostles of Jesus were already dead. The church was falling into doctrinal disputes and organizational debates.
John saw his mission to restore and poetic and mystic side of the church. He was not mainly concerned with the fine details of what they should believed. As long as people accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, they were in. He was more concerned with how they believed what they believed. We can believe right and live wrong. We can have the right goal but have the wrong attitude. If all we do is to believe in Jesus, and do not believe on Him we have not understood the Gospel. Without a living relationship with Jesus and others, we are nothing.
John gets right into a discussion of relationships in 1 John 1:1-4
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
In verse 2 John tells us what he is talking about—the Word of Life. Not just the Word, but the life as well. The Word is not just propositional truth, but a living Person who we may know intimately. The word is Jesus, revealed by the Spirit in our lives.
John says four things about the word.
1. The Word has always been there. There is nothing new about it. The Word is like the stake you take out of your freezer and thaw for supper. All the ingredients are already there. It only takes the flame of the Spirit to bring it to life.
2. We have already heard the Word. Yes, the church already has its doctrine right. Christ is the God, the second person of the trinity. He died for our sins. John knew this, because he heard it from Jesus’ own mouth.
3. We have seen the Word lived before us. John saw this truth lived out by the Son of God. John did not have to wear a bracelet that said WWJD. He knew what Jesus would do, because he knew him personally.
4. We can still know the Word today. The eternal Holy Spirit is still with us, and is constantly revealing Jesus. John had the Holy Spirit with him constantly. His divine presence was revealed to him. He depended upon Him. He was his meat and drink.
So John intimately knew the Word of Life, and that life filled him with great personal joy. We write this to make our joy complete.
What do you do when you see a TV show or a movie you like, or hear a good song, or eat at a good restaurant? You can’t wait to tell someone about it. John is the same way. Once he has encountered the living presence of God in the Spirit, he wanted to share it with others, so that his joy—and ours—will be complete. Good things are so much better when there is someone we can tell about them.
John is not just joyful about the Word of Life—he is transformed by it.
In verse 5, John makes a “metaphorical leap.” He changes images. He no longer talks about the Word of life. Now he starts to talk about God as light. This is not really a change of subjects. A word is how we convey a thought or idea. The word we receive from God is more than a thought. It is a life. That life transforms us, and causes us to present a new word to others. The Word of Life becomes light not just to ourselves, but to others.
He has become a living container for the presence of God. Like electricity through a light bulb, the power of God was flowing through John, providing light to the world.
Who was John really? He was no one special. But the Word of Life in John was very special. God’s presence and power was inside of him. That made him very important indeed. He was part of God’s plan to occupy mortals, fill them with the Word of Life, until they illuminated the world.
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said “You are the salt of the earth.” Their salt was mined from the Dead Sea in blocks. It was not pure salt, but had many inert materials in it. The substance the Bible calls "salt" is actually a complex substance, which contained salt, among other things. If the salt was not in the grain, then it was useless. If Christ is not in our hearts, we are no good to God.
In Matthew 5:14, Jesus said “you are the light of the world.” What good is a lantern without a flame? A light bulb is garbage when it no longer can burn. It is no good without a glow. It is God’s light inside that is important. That is why John says in verses 5-6
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
Did you know that race cars have no headlights? They don’t need them. Some race cars have fake headlights, but they do not work. They are fake. Many Christians are fake, too. The light inside of them has grown dim. We do not see unbelievers converted, nor do we experience genuine spiritual relationships with other Christians. We are just pretending to have a fake light inside of us.
How do we really show others the Word of Life? There are only two things we need to do. First, we must have a clear relationship with God. Then we must have a clear relationship with other people. We have to be real and transparent.
God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. God hides nothing. He pretends to nothing. His is honest and true.
Somehow, we think that witnessing is something we must work at. We treat Jesus like a product to be sold. We treat Christian fellowship the same way. We dress up to come to church, put on a churchy way of talking and acting, because we are afraid to be ourselves. But if the Word of Life is really inside, we do not have to pretend. All we will need to do is to be Christian. We don’t have to hide our doubts and deficits and put on a pretend piety. If the light of Jesus is in us, we just need to get out of the way and let the light shine through. John says in verse 7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
“Walking in the light” is how John describes our relationship to each other. All we have to do is to be honest, and we will win the world for Jesus.
Why is it so hard to have real Christian fellowship or witness? There are several obstacles that to being real with others. In upcoming weeks, we are going to look at five of them.
1. Distance—before we can be real with others, we must physically be with them.
2. Dishonesty—we must trust that God can use us even when we are not perfect He will shine as brightly through our failures as through our successes.
3. Rejection—we need to learn to accept people who are different, and who do things that are sinful, without judging them.
4. Resentment—it is hard for us not to want to hurt back but we must learn to forgive people who have hurt us. We cannot be salt and light to people we resent.
5. Indifference—the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. We cannot be salt and light without also being lovers of those whom God loves.
In order to answer these five blocks, we are going to offer five answers—hospitality, honesty, acceptance, forgiveness, and love. These traits are not something we learn one time. They are skills to be honed and practiced. The more we practice, the more we become the Word of Life in the world. It is not easy to do any of these things, but the closer we draw to Jesus, the easier it can become.
Come back next, week, and we will begin to learn what it means to walk in the light.
What a wonderful opportunity. Here was the greatest genius in physics the world had ever known. What secrets were locked up in that brain! He desperately wanted to have a conversation with the great man. So he came and stood on the bridge next to him, and looked down in the water.
There are two great relationships in every Christian’s life. The first is a relationship with God. The second is our relationship with others. Without both of these, then the Gospel will die.
The Devil attacks us on two fronts. First, he tries to destroy our relationship with God. If that does not work, then he tries to wreck our relationship with others. If we want to have a private relationship with God, the Devil usually leaves us alone. He has already neutralized us into having an ongoing relationship with others. But if we have a vital relationship with God along with openness to people inside and outside the church, then the Devil has something to fear from us.
We looked at the first relationship, that divine relationship with God through prayer last summer. We presented a series of prayer skills that enable us to have a strong relationship with God. For the next few weeks, we are going to work on developing our second relationship—the horizontal relationships we have with other people so that our relationship with God can have a real impact on the world, and the relationship that others have in God can have a real impact on us.
We are going to start our study in the first letter of John. Though it is a little book, it packs a powerful wallop. It can revolutionize our walk with the Lord and our walk with others. I know, because it has had a powerful influence on me.
We don’t know much about the circumstances of writing this letter. We do not know when he wrote it, or exactly to whom. It is a general epistle, which meant it was written to be the whole church, not just a part of it. We think it was written fairly late in John’s life, after the rest of the New Testament. Many of the apostles of Jesus were already dead. The church was falling into doctrinal disputes and organizational debates.
John saw his mission to restore and poetic and mystic side of the church. He was not mainly concerned with the fine details of what they should believed. As long as people accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, they were in. He was more concerned with how they believed what they believed. We can believe right and live wrong. We can have the right goal but have the wrong attitude. If all we do is to believe in Jesus, and do not believe on Him we have not understood the Gospel. Without a living relationship with Jesus and others, we are nothing.
John gets right into a discussion of relationships in 1 John 1:1-4
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched — this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.
In verse 2 John tells us what he is talking about—the Word of Life. Not just the Word, but the life as well. The Word is not just propositional truth, but a living Person who we may know intimately. The word is Jesus, revealed by the Spirit in our lives.
John says four things about the word.
1. The Word has always been there. There is nothing new about it. The Word is like the stake you take out of your freezer and thaw for supper. All the ingredients are already there. It only takes the flame of the Spirit to bring it to life.
2. We have already heard the Word. Yes, the church already has its doctrine right. Christ is the God, the second person of the trinity. He died for our sins. John knew this, because he heard it from Jesus’ own mouth.
3. We have seen the Word lived before us. John saw this truth lived out by the Son of God. John did not have to wear a bracelet that said WWJD. He knew what Jesus would do, because he knew him personally.
4. We can still know the Word today. The eternal Holy Spirit is still with us, and is constantly revealing Jesus. John had the Holy Spirit with him constantly. His divine presence was revealed to him. He depended upon Him. He was his meat and drink.
So John intimately knew the Word of Life, and that life filled him with great personal joy. We write this to make our joy complete.
What do you do when you see a TV show or a movie you like, or hear a good song, or eat at a good restaurant? You can’t wait to tell someone about it. John is the same way. Once he has encountered the living presence of God in the Spirit, he wanted to share it with others, so that his joy—and ours—will be complete. Good things are so much better when there is someone we can tell about them.
John is not just joyful about the Word of Life—he is transformed by it.
In verse 5, John makes a “metaphorical leap.” He changes images. He no longer talks about the Word of life. Now he starts to talk about God as light. This is not really a change of subjects. A word is how we convey a thought or idea. The word we receive from God is more than a thought. It is a life. That life transforms us, and causes us to present a new word to others. The Word of Life becomes light not just to ourselves, but to others.
He has become a living container for the presence of God. Like electricity through a light bulb, the power of God was flowing through John, providing light to the world.
Who was John really? He was no one special. But the Word of Life in John was very special. God’s presence and power was inside of him. That made him very important indeed. He was part of God’s plan to occupy mortals, fill them with the Word of Life, until they illuminated the world.
In Matthew 5:13, Jesus said “You are the salt of the earth.” Their salt was mined from the Dead Sea in blocks. It was not pure salt, but had many inert materials in it. The substance the Bible calls "salt" is actually a complex substance, which contained salt, among other things. If the salt was not in the grain, then it was useless. If Christ is not in our hearts, we are no good to God.
In Matthew 5:14, Jesus said “you are the light of the world.” What good is a lantern without a flame? A light bulb is garbage when it no longer can burn. It is no good without a glow. It is God’s light inside that is important. That is why John says in verses 5-6
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
Did you know that race cars have no headlights? They don’t need them. Some race cars have fake headlights, but they do not work. They are fake. Many Christians are fake, too. The light inside of them has grown dim. We do not see unbelievers converted, nor do we experience genuine spiritual relationships with other Christians. We are just pretending to have a fake light inside of us.
How do we really show others the Word of Life? There are only two things we need to do. First, we must have a clear relationship with God. Then we must have a clear relationship with other people. We have to be real and transparent.
God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. God hides nothing. He pretends to nothing. His is honest and true.
Somehow, we think that witnessing is something we must work at. We treat Jesus like a product to be sold. We treat Christian fellowship the same way. We dress up to come to church, put on a churchy way of talking and acting, because we are afraid to be ourselves. But if the Word of Life is really inside, we do not have to pretend. All we will need to do is to be Christian. We don’t have to hide our doubts and deficits and put on a pretend piety. If the light of Jesus is in us, we just need to get out of the way and let the light shine through. John says in verse 7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
“Walking in the light” is how John describes our relationship to each other. All we have to do is to be honest, and we will win the world for Jesus.
Why is it so hard to have real Christian fellowship or witness? There are several obstacles that to being real with others. In upcoming weeks, we are going to look at five of them.
1. Distance—before we can be real with others, we must physically be with them.
2. Dishonesty—we must trust that God can use us even when we are not perfect He will shine as brightly through our failures as through our successes.
3. Rejection—we need to learn to accept people who are different, and who do things that are sinful, without judging them.
4. Resentment—it is hard for us not to want to hurt back but we must learn to forgive people who have hurt us. We cannot be salt and light to people we resent.
5. Indifference—the opposite of love is not hate but indifference. We cannot be salt and light without also being lovers of those whom God loves.
In order to answer these five blocks, we are going to offer five answers—hospitality, honesty, acceptance, forgiveness, and love. These traits are not something we learn one time. They are skills to be honed and practiced. The more we practice, the more we become the Word of Life in the world. It is not easy to do any of these things, but the closer we draw to Jesus, the easier it can become.
Come back next, week, and we will begin to learn what it means to walk in the light.
The True Gospel
Galatians begins with Paul losing his cool. He and Barnabas had just returned from a missionary journey through Galatia, where for the first time he preached directly to the Gentiles. God responded and they witnessed a great move of the Spirit.
Nevertheless, Paul and Barnabas wanted to be sure that what he had done was of God. So he went to Jerusalem and met with the disciples. When they heard about it, they rejoiced. The Holy Spirit witnessed that this was from God.
But the Devil is always stirring up trouble. He was already trying to undo what God had done in Galatia. A group of false Christians called the Judaizers had heard what had happened in Galatia and went to the same towns Paul visited, preaching a different message. They convinced these young new believers that they were not yet good enough to be accepted by God. These people old them that they should be circumcised, keep the Sabbath, and all the other Jewish laws. In short, they were turning these young believers into legalistic Pharisees.
This group had a different Gospel. To them, the Gospel Paul preached it was too easy. They believed that Christians were just Jews with extra laws tacked on. They did not understand that as Christians they were free from the Law. If anything, they were more bound to the Law than the Pharisees Jesus condemned.
It’s not surprising that a group of people who grew up in the Jewish Pharisee community might adopt this view. What is surprising is that these Gentile believers would so readily accept it, too. Why should Gentiles so quickly accept the restrictions of the Jewish Law?
This question has a direct bearing on us. Legalistic religion has always had a strong appeal. You only have to look around us, and you will see that churches which emphasize legalistic practices attract many followers. Some of the largest churches in town are also some of the most legalistic.
The Gentile environment that the Galatians knew also had much legalism. Some religions required that mark your body with tattoos or piercings. Others required that you wear special clothing or underwear. Others required that you join a temple and make regular sacrifices to a pagan God. Other religions required their followers to give up certain foods, or worship on a particular day of the week. So the message of the Judaizers had a great appeal to them. Paul’s Gospel seemed too easy to them, too. Legalism seemed more natural.
I am convinced that faith is an unnatural act. It is natural for us to want to do something for our salvation. After all, when we do something, we are in control. Works put us in control. We decide whether or not God is worth following, and whether we will adopt the symbols of that faith. Faith requires that we do nothing except believe what Jesus has already done.
Faith has always been strange to us, because it requires the surrender of our control of our own life. People would rather do almost anything than to feel as if they are losing control.
In Exodus, when Israel fled from Egypt and into the desert, God led them by day and by night. He provided miraculous food from heaven. But God’s miraculous provision and leadership had a down side. The people were no longer in control. Every day they had to get fresh guidance and fresh provisions from God. They could not even store manna for more than a day!
It did not take long for them to grow tired of being helpless. They wanted to be independent again. They wanted to be somewhere –anywhere—where they did not have to depend on bread falling from the sky each night. People would rather live caged in slavery forever, than to live with uncertainty and freedom. They would rather endure almost in any circumstance however bad than to face the discomfort of feeling helpless.
Faith is being willing to trust in only Jesus, and follow where He leads. God doesn’t tell us what is coming next. He only tells us what to do at the moment. God doesn’t give us what we need tomorrow. He only gives us what we need today. Those who want security and regularity ought not to try actually following God. They will be disappointed.
Let me make this clear. There is nothing you can do to save yourself—nothing. You are not saved by church. You are not saved by tithing, you are not saved by grace before meals, any more than our country is saved by a prayer at a football game.
Have you ever been with a person who had OCD—obsessive compulsive disorder? OCD people have what seems to others to be meaningless rituals which make them feel safe. They horde things, because they feel that someday they might need them, even though it is nonsense. They will not step on a crack in the sidewalk. They think they must wash their hands over and over, even when they are clean. They do this because they believe that these rituals cause them to be in control and save. If they can stave off bad luck by not stepping on cracks, they have some control over the universe.
These rituals seem strange to us but how much stranger are they than some things that are done in church every week? What about the people who say that you have to be baptized in a full tank of water or you are going to hell? Or the people who say that if go to confession and say six “Hail Marys” God will automatically absolve you of your sins? Does it make any more sense to say that if you join a Presbyterian church or give ten percent of your income, you will automatically get what you want from God? Yet I know Christians who believe all those things.
So the Judaizers fulfilled a need in their lives—a need for regularity, order and control. In responses, Paul wrote them a letter to the Galatians. Here is how it begins.
1:1-2 Paul, an apostle — sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia:
Paul’s letter begins by letting them know he really is an apostle sent from God. An apostle is a messenger. He is saying to them. “Look, I’m not making this up, It comes from God. Those who are with him are the other apostles—the disciples plus Barnabas and others who preached the Gospel to them. Paul s reminding them that the others agree. As crazy at is may sound, God wants them to do nothing but trust Jesus. That’s grace through faith.
I know how Paul felt. I’m not making this up, either. It may not feel natural to you—in fact, if probably doesn’t. But listen anyway. You must let go even of that sense of being natural, and embrace the message of the Gospel.
What do you do when you when your car starts to skid? Turn in the direction of the skid. It seems unnatural. It feels like you should turn in the opposite direction. But do that and you’ll have a wreck. If you follow your feelings and turn the other way, you’ll be wrong.
Salvation is the same way. Our instincts tell us that salvation lies in doing something. God’s Word is that salvation lies in simply trusting. That’s because Jesus has already done all that is necessary for you.
3-5 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Christ died for our sins to rescue us from hell. More than that, He died to rescue us from hell on earth, too. Paul calls that hell the “present evil age.” The Roman Empire days were truly hell, too. There is not one of us who would last a week in all the disease, injustice, superstition, and oppression that people endured in Roman times. They did not know this, of course, because the people of the time did not know any better. But Jesus came to be with people in the middle of that chaos. He gave these people His Presence to help them through the worst of times. Ours is also an evil age. The only hope we have is to depend upon Him utterly.
That’s what Paul told the Galatians. But they left that teaching very quickly, as we can see from verses 6-7
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
I once got an ad in the mail that said “congratulations! You have been named to be a member of Young America’s Who’s Who. Now you are entitled to all the rights and privileges thereof. For the live of me, I could not find what rights and privileges went with this high honor, except the privilege of buying a book for the low price of fifty dollars. Beyond that, I know no other right or privilege to being in their book. This was a false good news. There were no privileges.
What are the “rights” and “privileges” of fake churchianity? We have the privilege of going to church. We have the privilege of tithing. Without communion with God, there are burdens, not blessing. We have the “privilege” of cutting out what we enjoy and replacing them with things we do not enjoy. We have the “privilege” of managing on our own, without divine intervention. Then we wonder why no one wants to join our church!
The real good news is actually good. It actually gives them a new, clean life. It does not put extra burdens on us, but relieves us of the burden that guilt and the false gospels of the world pile on our heads.
Paul is serious about this, as he shows in verses 8-9
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
There is not another place in Paul’s writings where he is this angry. “Eternally condemned” in Paul’s native language was anathema maranatha—cursed until the end of time.
I am angry, too. I am angry with generations of people who have told the church one thing when salvation is another. Over and over again, in all the churches I have served, I have met people in the sixties, seventies, and even eighties, who still do not know that all they have to do is trust Jesus. They have been taught by preachers, Sunday school teachers, and even mothers and fathers that they are saved by following some rituals. They cannot conceive of God saving them without making them get baptized in a certain way, or joining a particular church. They live their lives in perpetual guilt, because they are afraid that there might be something they have left out.
Nevertheless, Paul and Barnabas wanted to be sure that what he had done was of God. So he went to Jerusalem and met with the disciples. When they heard about it, they rejoiced. The Holy Spirit witnessed that this was from God.
But the Devil is always stirring up trouble. He was already trying to undo what God had done in Galatia. A group of false Christians called the Judaizers had heard what had happened in Galatia and went to the same towns Paul visited, preaching a different message. They convinced these young new believers that they were not yet good enough to be accepted by God. These people old them that they should be circumcised, keep the Sabbath, and all the other Jewish laws. In short, they were turning these young believers into legalistic Pharisees.
This group had a different Gospel. To them, the Gospel Paul preached it was too easy. They believed that Christians were just Jews with extra laws tacked on. They did not understand that as Christians they were free from the Law. If anything, they were more bound to the Law than the Pharisees Jesus condemned.
It’s not surprising that a group of people who grew up in the Jewish Pharisee community might adopt this view. What is surprising is that these Gentile believers would so readily accept it, too. Why should Gentiles so quickly accept the restrictions of the Jewish Law?
This question has a direct bearing on us. Legalistic religion has always had a strong appeal. You only have to look around us, and you will see that churches which emphasize legalistic practices attract many followers. Some of the largest churches in town are also some of the most legalistic.
The Gentile environment that the Galatians knew also had much legalism. Some religions required that mark your body with tattoos or piercings. Others required that you wear special clothing or underwear. Others required that you join a temple and make regular sacrifices to a pagan God. Other religions required their followers to give up certain foods, or worship on a particular day of the week. So the message of the Judaizers had a great appeal to them. Paul’s Gospel seemed too easy to them, too. Legalism seemed more natural.
I am convinced that faith is an unnatural act. It is natural for us to want to do something for our salvation. After all, when we do something, we are in control. Works put us in control. We decide whether or not God is worth following, and whether we will adopt the symbols of that faith. Faith requires that we do nothing except believe what Jesus has already done.
Faith has always been strange to us, because it requires the surrender of our control of our own life. People would rather do almost anything than to feel as if they are losing control.
In Exodus, when Israel fled from Egypt and into the desert, God led them by day and by night. He provided miraculous food from heaven. But God’s miraculous provision and leadership had a down side. The people were no longer in control. Every day they had to get fresh guidance and fresh provisions from God. They could not even store manna for more than a day!
It did not take long for them to grow tired of being helpless. They wanted to be independent again. They wanted to be somewhere –anywhere—where they did not have to depend on bread falling from the sky each night. People would rather live caged in slavery forever, than to live with uncertainty and freedom. They would rather endure almost in any circumstance however bad than to face the discomfort of feeling helpless.
Faith is being willing to trust in only Jesus, and follow where He leads. God doesn’t tell us what is coming next. He only tells us what to do at the moment. God doesn’t give us what we need tomorrow. He only gives us what we need today. Those who want security and regularity ought not to try actually following God. They will be disappointed.
Let me make this clear. There is nothing you can do to save yourself—nothing. You are not saved by church. You are not saved by tithing, you are not saved by grace before meals, any more than our country is saved by a prayer at a football game.
Have you ever been with a person who had OCD—obsessive compulsive disorder? OCD people have what seems to others to be meaningless rituals which make them feel safe. They horde things, because they feel that someday they might need them, even though it is nonsense. They will not step on a crack in the sidewalk. They think they must wash their hands over and over, even when they are clean. They do this because they believe that these rituals cause them to be in control and save. If they can stave off bad luck by not stepping on cracks, they have some control over the universe.
These rituals seem strange to us but how much stranger are they than some things that are done in church every week? What about the people who say that you have to be baptized in a full tank of water or you are going to hell? Or the people who say that if go to confession and say six “Hail Marys” God will automatically absolve you of your sins? Does it make any more sense to say that if you join a Presbyterian church or give ten percent of your income, you will automatically get what you want from God? Yet I know Christians who believe all those things.
So the Judaizers fulfilled a need in their lives—a need for regularity, order and control. In responses, Paul wrote them a letter to the Galatians. Here is how it begins.
1:1-2 Paul, an apostle — sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia:
Paul’s letter begins by letting them know he really is an apostle sent from God. An apostle is a messenger. He is saying to them. “Look, I’m not making this up, It comes from God. Those who are with him are the other apostles—the disciples plus Barnabas and others who preached the Gospel to them. Paul s reminding them that the others agree. As crazy at is may sound, God wants them to do nothing but trust Jesus. That’s grace through faith.
I know how Paul felt. I’m not making this up, either. It may not feel natural to you—in fact, if probably doesn’t. But listen anyway. You must let go even of that sense of being natural, and embrace the message of the Gospel.
What do you do when you when your car starts to skid? Turn in the direction of the skid. It seems unnatural. It feels like you should turn in the opposite direction. But do that and you’ll have a wreck. If you follow your feelings and turn the other way, you’ll be wrong.
Salvation is the same way. Our instincts tell us that salvation lies in doing something. God’s Word is that salvation lies in simply trusting. That’s because Jesus has already done all that is necessary for you.
3-5 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Christ died for our sins to rescue us from hell. More than that, He died to rescue us from hell on earth, too. Paul calls that hell the “present evil age.” The Roman Empire days were truly hell, too. There is not one of us who would last a week in all the disease, injustice, superstition, and oppression that people endured in Roman times. They did not know this, of course, because the people of the time did not know any better. But Jesus came to be with people in the middle of that chaos. He gave these people His Presence to help them through the worst of times. Ours is also an evil age. The only hope we have is to depend upon Him utterly.
That’s what Paul told the Galatians. But they left that teaching very quickly, as we can see from verses 6-7
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
I once got an ad in the mail that said “congratulations! You have been named to be a member of Young America’s Who’s Who. Now you are entitled to all the rights and privileges thereof. For the live of me, I could not find what rights and privileges went with this high honor, except the privilege of buying a book for the low price of fifty dollars. Beyond that, I know no other right or privilege to being in their book. This was a false good news. There were no privileges.
What are the “rights” and “privileges” of fake churchianity? We have the privilege of going to church. We have the privilege of tithing. Without communion with God, there are burdens, not blessing. We have the “privilege” of cutting out what we enjoy and replacing them with things we do not enjoy. We have the “privilege” of managing on our own, without divine intervention. Then we wonder why no one wants to join our church!
The real good news is actually good. It actually gives them a new, clean life. It does not put extra burdens on us, but relieves us of the burden that guilt and the false gospels of the world pile on our heads.
Paul is serious about this, as he shows in verses 8-9
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
There is not another place in Paul’s writings where he is this angry. “Eternally condemned” in Paul’s native language was anathema maranatha—cursed until the end of time.
I am angry, too. I am angry with generations of people who have told the church one thing when salvation is another. Over and over again, in all the churches I have served, I have met people in the sixties, seventies, and even eighties, who still do not know that all they have to do is trust Jesus. They have been taught by preachers, Sunday school teachers, and even mothers and fathers that they are saved by following some rituals. They cannot conceive of God saving them without making them get baptized in a certain way, or joining a particular church. They live their lives in perpetual guilt, because they are afraid that there might be something they have left out.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Living Water
Joy and I had dinner with some friends. They announced they wanted to share in a special occasion. When they were married some thirty years before, someone had given them a bottle of wine, made that year. They had been holding onto it for all that time, and had decided to uncork it that night. They wanted us to share in tasting it. Though we rarely touch wine, felt that it was important that we sample a glass.
Our friends uncorked the bottle an poured us each a small glass. Then-disappointment! It was not very good. It had not only fermented, but gone beyond fermenting. It was barely drinkable.
Think about that wine. For years it sat in their house, waiting to be uncorked, waiting for that special moment. In the bottle, the anticipation of it brought a special sense of joy. But they waited too long. The right time slipped into disappointment.
Don’t we behave that way when it comes to the Gospel? When we received it, it was the greatest gift we could imagine. God almighty wants to be our friend and give us eternal life. We always intended to share it. But we are too cautious. What if we don’t do it right? What if they laugh at us? There are a thousand reasons for not sharing the Good News.
The Gospel doesn’t change. But we do, and so do circumstances. We let opportunity slip though our fingers. There is never a better time to share than now.
God has a moment for us to share. That moment is now. If now now, when? Tomorrow is not as good as today.
Presbyterians are cautious people. We want to pick the best time and the best place, to minimize our risk. It’s amazing they ever get married. It’s even more amazing that we ever see anyone won to Christ, when we are so timid about opening our mouths.
Our Lord was not that way. Jesus was driven by an overwhelming desire to see others in the Kingdom of God. One place we see that is in John 4. 4-30. In this story, Jesus did not sit down and rationally plan a strategy for bringing the Gospel to the Samaritans. Instead He was compelled by the Holy Spirit that this was the right time, and he was compelled to do so.
The story begins like this--And he had to go through Samaria. Now why did Jesus have to go through Samaria? There were two other and better routes from Jerusalem to Galilee that did not involve going through Samaria. Both of them were safer and more comfortable.
Samaria was hill country. Anyone would get tired going up and down those hills all day.
But that wasn’t the real problem. Samaria was unsafe for a Jew. The relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans was very bad. No one wanted to go through there.
I read recently that the most dangerous neighborhood is in Chicago. That neighborhood t is so bad that there is a one in four chance for someone walking in broad daylight to be attacked. Most of us would not even think about going there. That was what Samaria was to the Jews.
But Jesus had to go through Samaria. Why?
He had to go through Samaria for one reason. It is where the Samaritans were. The Samaritans needed him, and somebody had to take it there. He had the Gospel, and it was time had to uncork it. If he waited the wine of the /Spirit might turn to vinegar.
Let’s set the scene. Samaria was, by the standards of the day, a slum. It had once been an important place, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. Jacob’s well was there, probably, covered with dirt and graffiti.
Even so, Jesus led his disciples there. They came to Jacob’s well about three in the afternoon. The disciples went into town to get food. Jesus stayed behind at the well.
The well was deserted. It was too late for the breakfast crowd, and too early for the supper crowd. But one woman did come--the kind of woman your mother warned you about.
In those days you did not talk to strange women. But Jesus did, breaking a social taboo.
“Give me something to drink.”
She looked at Jesus contemptuously. The probably assumed that this strange man was about to proposition her. These Jews were all alike, she thought. They pretend to be all high and mighty, but they are no different from other men.
She answered, “How is it that you, a Jew ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink? The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.”
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
“Living water” meant running water. It was not a stagnant pool, like this well. It was good, clean water like a mountain spring.
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Clean, clear water is symbolic of a Spirit set free by the Holy Spirit. It washes us clean and keeps us clean, so we can stay fresh in the world.
Wouldn’t any of them want some living water? Wouldn’t they want some joy that would keep coming even if everything else seemed to be falling in around them? That sense of resilient joy is what Jesus had to offer.
The Gospel is resilient joy. No matter how far you have fallen, no matter many times you fail, God forgives you. Even if you were the worst person in the world, you could be clean if you turn your sins over to Jesus, and experience His love and forgiveness.
Here’s the problem with us Christians. We have the Gospel but we don’t believe it. We say we believe that Jesus has the power to make a saint out of the worst of us. But then we have a whole list of people who we believe will never change. We’ve got whole classes of people that we think we don’t have to love or care for—other races, other nationalities, strangers, aliens, and so on.
We might come around to loving them eventually. But in the meantime, we hesitate too long. We can’t wait until they are gone, and then pretend to be looking for them. We might as well be fishing in a bathtub as to be seeking the lost only when they come to us.
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Jesus is not condemning this woman’s bedroom behavior, nor is He condoning it. He is demonstrating His knowledge and power. He knows her secrets but doesn’t care. He is not interested in her past, but her future. He wants her to have eternal life.
People look at our past. Jesus looks at our future. He loves us where we are. He wants to see them have that pure water coming up from inside us.
When do we truly walk like Jesus? When we know that we have to go through Samaria. We cannot be truly Christians and not love those whom Jesus loves. God despises our churchy pretensions and wants us to embrace his love for lost sinners.
This woman was impressed.
"I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
Incredibly, this was the first time Jesus told anyone He was the Messiah. He hadn’t told his disciples, but he told this woman He was the savior, because she needed a savior.
Do you need a Savior? Do you think your sins are bad enough to send you to hell? If you don’t need a savior, you don’t need Jesus, because that’s what Jesus is.
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"
There is no difference in God’s eyes between you and a bum on the street. You both need Jesus. Only by God’s grace and the accident of birth are you not a bum on the street, if you don’t know Jesus. He has come to seek and save the lost, and we are among their number.
The end of this story is inspiring.
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
"Come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
There is a moment when the Good News must be told. This woman told. When she told, they came. Hundreds, maybe thousands of Samaritans poured out of those hills to meet this man that the woman told them about. As they met him, they changed, too—lepers were cleansed, sick people were healed, the demon possessed were set free, addicts were made whole, all kinds of things happened, because this woman believed. The living water flowed from her, into the lives of so many other people;
I have always wanted to see one of those moments, like the disciples experienced in Samaria and elsewhere, where people came down of their own accord, looking for the Messiah. We can’t call it a revival, because there was nothing there to revive. It is a move of the Holy Spirit, where He reveals Himself through changed lives, answered prayers, and unusual power and love. I have spent my whole life trying to get people into churches. It would be nice just once to see people who didn’t have to be persuaded to come. These Samaritans experienced the move of the Spirit, and th came.
I attended a Methodist school in Kentucky which had experienced such a move of the Spirit. That move swept across this country in the Seventies. For thirty-five years, I’ve wanted to be in such a flow of living water. But I have never seen it in this denomination. I am convinced that is why we are so small.
We have the Gospel of Christ, but we have kept it to ourselves. We have put it on the shelf and left the cork in it. We keep saying one day we are going to let it loose, tell the world, but we do not. The time never seems ready. One day it will be too late. There are other believers who will be obedient and willing to be channels of the Spirit, if we will not. If we do not use what we have been given, God will give it to others. But if we are willing to turn the Spirit loose, God can do great and mighty things.
Our friends uncorked the bottle an poured us each a small glass. Then-disappointment! It was not very good. It had not only fermented, but gone beyond fermenting. It was barely drinkable.
Think about that wine. For years it sat in their house, waiting to be uncorked, waiting for that special moment. In the bottle, the anticipation of it brought a special sense of joy. But they waited too long. The right time slipped into disappointment.
Don’t we behave that way when it comes to the Gospel? When we received it, it was the greatest gift we could imagine. God almighty wants to be our friend and give us eternal life. We always intended to share it. But we are too cautious. What if we don’t do it right? What if they laugh at us? There are a thousand reasons for not sharing the Good News.
The Gospel doesn’t change. But we do, and so do circumstances. We let opportunity slip though our fingers. There is never a better time to share than now.
God has a moment for us to share. That moment is now. If now now, when? Tomorrow is not as good as today.
Presbyterians are cautious people. We want to pick the best time and the best place, to minimize our risk. It’s amazing they ever get married. It’s even more amazing that we ever see anyone won to Christ, when we are so timid about opening our mouths.
Our Lord was not that way. Jesus was driven by an overwhelming desire to see others in the Kingdom of God. One place we see that is in John 4. 4-30. In this story, Jesus did not sit down and rationally plan a strategy for bringing the Gospel to the Samaritans. Instead He was compelled by the Holy Spirit that this was the right time, and he was compelled to do so.
The story begins like this--And he had to go through Samaria. Now why did Jesus have to go through Samaria? There were two other and better routes from Jerusalem to Galilee that did not involve going through Samaria. Both of them were safer and more comfortable.
Samaria was hill country. Anyone would get tired going up and down those hills all day.
But that wasn’t the real problem. Samaria was unsafe for a Jew. The relationship between the Jews and the Samaritans was very bad. No one wanted to go through there.
I read recently that the most dangerous neighborhood is in Chicago. That neighborhood t is so bad that there is a one in four chance for someone walking in broad daylight to be attacked. Most of us would not even think about going there. That was what Samaria was to the Jews.
But Jesus had to go through Samaria. Why?
He had to go through Samaria for one reason. It is where the Samaritans were. The Samaritans needed him, and somebody had to take it there. He had the Gospel, and it was time had to uncork it. If he waited the wine of the /Spirit might turn to vinegar.
Let’s set the scene. Samaria was, by the standards of the day, a slum. It had once been an important place, the capital of the Northern Kingdom. Jacob’s well was there, probably, covered with dirt and graffiti.
Even so, Jesus led his disciples there. They came to Jacob’s well about three in the afternoon. The disciples went into town to get food. Jesus stayed behind at the well.
The well was deserted. It was too late for the breakfast crowd, and too early for the supper crowd. But one woman did come--the kind of woman your mother warned you about.
In those days you did not talk to strange women. But Jesus did, breaking a social taboo.
“Give me something to drink.”
She looked at Jesus contemptuously. The probably assumed that this strange man was about to proposition her. These Jews were all alike, she thought. They pretend to be all high and mighty, but they are no different from other men.
She answered, “How is it that you, a Jew ask me, a Samaritan, for a drink? The Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.”
Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."
“Living water” meant running water. It was not a stagnant pool, like this well. It was good, clean water like a mountain spring.
"Sir," the woman said, "you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?"
Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."
Clean, clear water is symbolic of a Spirit set free by the Holy Spirit. It washes us clean and keeps us clean, so we can stay fresh in the world.
Wouldn’t any of them want some living water? Wouldn’t they want some joy that would keep coming even if everything else seemed to be falling in around them? That sense of resilient joy is what Jesus had to offer.
The Gospel is resilient joy. No matter how far you have fallen, no matter many times you fail, God forgives you. Even if you were the worst person in the world, you could be clean if you turn your sins over to Jesus, and experience His love and forgiveness.
Here’s the problem with us Christians. We have the Gospel but we don’t believe it. We say we believe that Jesus has the power to make a saint out of the worst of us. But then we have a whole list of people who we believe will never change. We’ve got whole classes of people that we think we don’t have to love or care for—other races, other nationalities, strangers, aliens, and so on.
We might come around to loving them eventually. But in the meantime, we hesitate too long. We can’t wait until they are gone, and then pretend to be looking for them. We might as well be fishing in a bathtub as to be seeking the lost only when they come to us.
He told her, "Go, call your husband and come back."
"I have no husband," she replied.
Jesus said to her, "You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true."
Jesus is not condemning this woman’s bedroom behavior, nor is He condoning it. He is demonstrating His knowledge and power. He knows her secrets but doesn’t care. He is not interested in her past, but her future. He wants her to have eternal life.
People look at our past. Jesus looks at our future. He loves us where we are. He wants to see them have that pure water coming up from inside us.
When do we truly walk like Jesus? When we know that we have to go through Samaria. We cannot be truly Christians and not love those whom Jesus loves. God despises our churchy pretensions and wants us to embrace his love for lost sinners.
This woman was impressed.
"I know that Messiah" (called Christ) "is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."
Then Jesus declared, "I who speak to you am he."
Incredibly, this was the first time Jesus told anyone He was the Messiah. He hadn’t told his disciples, but he told this woman He was the savior, because she needed a savior.
Do you need a Savior? Do you think your sins are bad enough to send you to hell? If you don’t need a savior, you don’t need Jesus, because that’s what Jesus is.
Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?"
There is no difference in God’s eyes between you and a bum on the street. You both need Jesus. Only by God’s grace and the accident of birth are you not a bum on the street, if you don’t know Jesus. He has come to seek and save the lost, and we are among their number.
The end of this story is inspiring.
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,
"Come see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?" They came out of the town and made their way toward him.
There is a moment when the Good News must be told. This woman told. When she told, they came. Hundreds, maybe thousands of Samaritans poured out of those hills to meet this man that the woman told them about. As they met him, they changed, too—lepers were cleansed, sick people were healed, the demon possessed were set free, addicts were made whole, all kinds of things happened, because this woman believed. The living water flowed from her, into the lives of so many other people;
I have always wanted to see one of those moments, like the disciples experienced in Samaria and elsewhere, where people came down of their own accord, looking for the Messiah. We can’t call it a revival, because there was nothing there to revive. It is a move of the Holy Spirit, where He reveals Himself through changed lives, answered prayers, and unusual power and love. I have spent my whole life trying to get people into churches. It would be nice just once to see people who didn’t have to be persuaded to come. These Samaritans experienced the move of the Spirit, and th came.
I attended a Methodist school in Kentucky which had experienced such a move of the Spirit. That move swept across this country in the Seventies. For thirty-five years, I’ve wanted to be in such a flow of living water. But I have never seen it in this denomination. I am convinced that is why we are so small.
We have the Gospel of Christ, but we have kept it to ourselves. We have put it on the shelf and left the cork in it. We keep saying one day we are going to let it loose, tell the world, but we do not. The time never seems ready. One day it will be too late. There are other believers who will be obedient and willing to be channels of the Spirit, if we will not. If we do not use what we have been given, God will give it to others. But if we are willing to turn the Spirit loose, God can do great and mighty things.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Faith as an Unnatural Act
On Wednesday nights, we've been following the trip of the Israelites with Moses to Mount Sinai from he book of Exodus. When Moses went up on the mountain for forty days and nights, the people he left behind became nervous, then rebellious. They demanded a God they could see, who could be right in front of them to give them courage as they traveled through the desert. So they had Aaron make a golden calf on their behalf. The golden calf was most useful, not only because of his artificially comforting presence, but because he was a god who would always go exactly where they wanted, instead of the messy business of having to blindly following the God of Moses.
I can't say that I blame them. I would have probably done the same thing, giving the situation they were in at the time. They were a million and a half people on a barren plain in the middle of the desert. There was no natural source of food or water anywhere. would anyone in their right mind have recommended that they should stay in the middle of such a barren wilderness indefinitely? Even in a land where there was plenty of water and good grassland, it doesn't seem likely that they would survive. Common sense would have told them that this was a hopeless, untenable position.
Or think about the disciples on the day of Jesus' crucifixion. Many if not most of them seemed to have temporarily lost their faith. Wouldn't we? How many people do you know, get up and walk out of tomb after three days in an airless cave? In real life, people don't just get up and walk away after they've been buried. Common sense would suggest that when our loved on is out in the cemetery, we should let go and let the healing begin. Anyone with any common sense at all would not stand around waiting for a resurrection.
I want to be honest here, but I also want to be careful. I am not condoning their actions. The Israelite should not have built a calf. The disciples should have waited with hope. But these two examples illustrate an important lesson. Common sense is not always right when you are talking about heavenly matters. There is nothing common or sensible about the wisdom that comes from God. We serve a supernatural God, not a natural one. He doesn't have to play by our version of the rules, and neither do we when we are on His team.
"Faith," the writer of Hebrews said "Is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We cannot walk by faith and by sight, It has to be one or the other. It's fine to follow our own knowledge when we have not heard from Him, but we must do it tentatively, ready to change when He speaks.
We may wish that God would show us what is around the next bend, but if He did, we would not walk beside Him. We would run ahead, lag behind, and saunter at our own pace. Faith will never make sense to us. God's desire is to keep us walking right by his side, obediently looking to Him for guidance and direction.
Presbyterians like to think of ourselves practical people, doing things in a slow, conservative, deliberate fashion. We do this without thinking whether or not practicality and faith can walk together without contradiction. To be rational is to lean upon our own understanding. When we are being rational, we have to know before we do. Faith asks us to do before we know. When the Hebrews started into the desert, they were marching into certain disaster without divine intervention. When the Peter and John went to the empty tomb, they did so with no more evidence than one hysterical woman.
How can faith be practical? Sometimes it can't.
I'm not suggesting we all take foolish chances. We must make sure we hear the God's Word before we take a leap of faith. Moses certainly sought and received confirmation before he marched into Pharaoh's court and demanded he let his people God. The disciples followed Jesus because they had seen three years worth of miracles. They diligently sought to understand God and had proof of His existence, before they stepped out in faith.
Faith is more of a skill than anything else. It something we develop with practice. The more we practice, the more we learn to stand on the sometimes shaky ground of faith. If we are going to walk on water, it is a good idea to get out sea legs first. Unfortunately, we are too impatient to practice faith. We don't pray through our situation. We get up off our knees quickly so we can do something, anything, rather than to wait around for an answer. When our schemes for church ministry don't work, we quickly find somebody to blame scheme again, rather than ask the question "What is God telling me in this defeat?"
If we are going to be people of faith, being naturally wise is not enough. We must be unnaturally, supernaturally wise, walking with our eyes on Jesus, listening for His voice, and taking His advice.
I can't say that I blame them. I would have probably done the same thing, giving the situation they were in at the time. They were a million and a half people on a barren plain in the middle of the desert. There was no natural source of food or water anywhere. would anyone in their right mind have recommended that they should stay in the middle of such a barren wilderness indefinitely? Even in a land where there was plenty of water and good grassland, it doesn't seem likely that they would survive. Common sense would have told them that this was a hopeless, untenable position.
Or think about the disciples on the day of Jesus' crucifixion. Many if not most of them seemed to have temporarily lost their faith. Wouldn't we? How many people do you know, get up and walk out of tomb after three days in an airless cave? In real life, people don't just get up and walk away after they've been buried. Common sense would suggest that when our loved on is out in the cemetery, we should let go and let the healing begin. Anyone with any common sense at all would not stand around waiting for a resurrection.
I want to be honest here, but I also want to be careful. I am not condoning their actions. The Israelite should not have built a calf. The disciples should have waited with hope. But these two examples illustrate an important lesson. Common sense is not always right when you are talking about heavenly matters. There is nothing common or sensible about the wisdom that comes from God. We serve a supernatural God, not a natural one. He doesn't have to play by our version of the rules, and neither do we when we are on His team.
"Faith," the writer of Hebrews said "Is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." We cannot walk by faith and by sight, It has to be one or the other. It's fine to follow our own knowledge when we have not heard from Him, but we must do it tentatively, ready to change when He speaks.
We may wish that God would show us what is around the next bend, but if He did, we would not walk beside Him. We would run ahead, lag behind, and saunter at our own pace. Faith will never make sense to us. God's desire is to keep us walking right by his side, obediently looking to Him for guidance and direction.
Presbyterians like to think of ourselves practical people, doing things in a slow, conservative, deliberate fashion. We do this without thinking whether or not practicality and faith can walk together without contradiction. To be rational is to lean upon our own understanding. When we are being rational, we have to know before we do. Faith asks us to do before we know. When the Hebrews started into the desert, they were marching into certain disaster without divine intervention. When the Peter and John went to the empty tomb, they did so with no more evidence than one hysterical woman.
How can faith be practical? Sometimes it can't.
I'm not suggesting we all take foolish chances. We must make sure we hear the God's Word before we take a leap of faith. Moses certainly sought and received confirmation before he marched into Pharaoh's court and demanded he let his people God. The disciples followed Jesus because they had seen three years worth of miracles. They diligently sought to understand God and had proof of His existence, before they stepped out in faith.
Faith is more of a skill than anything else. It something we develop with practice. The more we practice, the more we learn to stand on the sometimes shaky ground of faith. If we are going to walk on water, it is a good idea to get out sea legs first. Unfortunately, we are too impatient to practice faith. We don't pray through our situation. We get up off our knees quickly so we can do something, anything, rather than to wait around for an answer. When our schemes for church ministry don't work, we quickly find somebody to blame scheme again, rather than ask the question "What is God telling me in this defeat?"
If we are going to be people of faith, being naturally wise is not enough. We must be unnaturally, supernaturally wise, walking with our eyes on Jesus, listening for His voice, and taking His advice.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Born Again
“Born again” is not a term that is bandied about often in the Bible. In fact, it is only used twice in the New Testament, only once by Jesus. The first is In John 3, in a discussion with a man called Nicodemus.
“Nicodemus” is probably an alias. It means “ruler of the people.” He was one of the most powerful religious and social leaders in Israel, visited Jesus alone by night. He visited by night, because he did not want anyone to see him going to Jesus. He was an honest man, but not a brave one. He began with a startling admission. “We know you are from God, for no one can do the miracles you do if you were not from God.”
Notice he says “we” not “I.” Today, we would call him a whistle-blower. Some on the Sanhedrin secretly believed Jesus was from God—at least a prophet, possibly the Messiah.
Nicodemus did not ask for anything. Perhaps he was letting Jesus know that he could be of use. Nicodemus’ power and influence could keep Jesus out of trouble. It’s always helpful to have friends in high places.
Jesus is not impressed. Instead, he said, “You must be born again.” Jesus does not care that he is a ruler of the people. He does not care that he believed He was from God. Not even belief is enough unless we are born again.
People want change, but how much change do we really want? When a person sets out to change his or her life, there are three levels of change.
First, there is refocus and redirection. They don’t want to change much, just change a little. Most everything remains the same. They say, “You know, maybe I should pray more
or “Maybe I should start back to church,” or “maybe I should straighten up a bit.”
That’s how most people see religion--just cleaning what is already there. They get rid of their worst traits, treat each other nicer, clean up their language and kick nasty habits, but they don’t change much beyond that.
Or maybe it’s reformation we need—to reform or and rearrange. We rearrange the furniture of our lives, and things look new. But we are still made from the same stuff we’ve always been.
I knew a man once who had been a radical in the Sixties. He marched in the peace marches, demonstrated against the war, wore long hair and love beads—the whole hippy scene. Then he changed and became a conservative. He marched in antiabortion marches, demonstrated against high taxes, and wore short hair and a necktie. But he had not changed. He was the same radical he always was. He took the same pieces and reformed them into a different shape.
But Jesus did not talk about redirection or reformation. He talked about regeneration--a life change so complete that you are not the same person.
“Born again” was not a new term to the Jews. It was used for a Gentile but wanted to become a Jew.
Maimonedes, the twelfth century Jewish philosopher, summarized what the ancient rabbis said about this process.
“By three things did Israel enter into the Covenant: by circumcision, and baptism and sacrifice. When a gentile is willing to enter the covenant…He must be circumcised and be baptized and bring a sacrifice…And at this time when there is no sacrifice, they must be circumcised and be baptized; and when the Temple shall be built, they are to bring a sacrifice…The gentile that is made a proselyte and the slave that is made free, behold he is like a child new born."
There were three steps—circumcision, baptism, and sacrifice. It was only done to the male head of the family. He was baptized in the nude. Every hair of his head was shaved off. Then he was given a new name, to indicate he had become a new person.
John the Baptist redefined this Jewish ritual. He made Jews do it. John was saying that you can be religious and rotten at the same time. You must start all over again as a new person.
Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to be baptized, but to be born again. If he had asked Nicodemus to be baptized he would probably have done it. But it would just be one more expression of his “superior” piety. Jesus didn’t want him to simply be baptized a new person. He actually wanted him to be a new person.
What does it mean to be born again?
It means that we don’t want our old lives any more.
We are creatures of habit. We like things to remain the same. Old habits give us a sense of control. We like to know what’s coming. It makes us feel we are in control.
Because we like regularity, we learn to live with imperfection. If our lives are not what they once thought they should be, we don’t let it bother us. If our lives are less than perfect, we on’t care, as long as they are steady and predictable.
In the old days, when chickens were taken to the market, they tied their legs together. When they cut the chickens loose, they would lay on the ground as if their legs were still tied. They may not have liked having their legs tied, but once they got used to it, they thought itw as always supposed to be that way. Like those chickens, we have settled into habits and mindsets that do us no good. They may in fact be killing us, but as long as they are predictable, we don’t care.
It means we give up control to the Spirit.
When we are born again, the first thing to go is our sense of control. We have to rely on someone else to save us. We revert to being babies before God, A baby does not mind being controlled by others, as long that that other is a loving mother and father. We start over, nurtured by a new parental figure—God.
The enemy of our salvation is not the Devil but ourselves. True faith ends when we try harder or work harder, trying to master our own fate.
If someone asks you if you are a Christian, or if you are born again, how do you answer? Some say “I try to be,” Have you ever tried to be a puppy? You either are one or you aren’t-- trying has nothing to do with it. We must be born that way. Just so, you must be born again as a Christian, It is not something you aspire to. It is something that comes when we cease to try, and allow God full control.
Nicodemus could not understand this “How can a man be born again when he is old?” He took Jesus literally instead of figuratively. But Jesus corrected him
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth,no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
We are born of water--the waters of birth. We come out of our mother’s womb wet. When we are born again we are born in the Spirit. We come out wet with the Spirit.
Baptism is an act of the flesh, not the Spirit. Joining a church, quitting smoking and drinking, keeping ourselves pure are all good, but they are not the Spirit. They are byproducts of it. We need new birth in the Holy Spirit.
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
We are reborn like a feather on the wind. We do not control, we are controlled by Him. We cannot tell the reasons why God puts us here—where the wind came from. Neither can we tell our destination—where the wind goes to. We ride the Spirit like a surfer on a wave or a gull on the air.
It is to be enfolded into the life of Christ.
"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?
1 tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
We die in Christ. This seems harsh, but we must understand. We are not the first to die. Jesus died before us. He went to the cross on our behalf. He lost his will, his power, his blood so that our birth might be possible.
Because we live, we can live with him.
When Jesus uses an illustration that he new Nicodemus would know. He referred to an Old Testament story—Num 21:4-9. The Israelites complained about the uncertainty and the quality of their food. God punished them by sending snakes to bite them. But as soon as the presented the illness, He also presented the cure. If they would only look up one more time at a bronze serpent on the pole, they would live. Some refused to look and died. But for every one who looked up, they were given a new life.
Jesus said He is the serpent on the pole. His own death would be the sign.
This is a difficult treacherous world. It is too treacherous, in fact for us to walk through u unguarded. We will all fall. In fact, we have all fallen. We are like pigs in a pig trough None of us can boast that there is no mud on us.
But if we look at Jesus, there is a cure. In Him, we can have new life, not be caught in an old one. He is the answer to all our needs and our longings. He is the bronze serpent put on a pole to remind us of the one who made the serpent.
But it is not a serpent on a pole. This a man on at cross. Our sins became His sins. His death became our death. His resurrection became our invitation to be born again. Jesus represented us in death so that He could represent us in live. In this ultimate act of sacrifice. He became our Savior and we became born again.
“Nicodemus” is probably an alias. It means “ruler of the people.” He was one of the most powerful religious and social leaders in Israel, visited Jesus alone by night. He visited by night, because he did not want anyone to see him going to Jesus. He was an honest man, but not a brave one. He began with a startling admission. “We know you are from God, for no one can do the miracles you do if you were not from God.”
Notice he says “we” not “I.” Today, we would call him a whistle-blower. Some on the Sanhedrin secretly believed Jesus was from God—at least a prophet, possibly the Messiah.
Nicodemus did not ask for anything. Perhaps he was letting Jesus know that he could be of use. Nicodemus’ power and influence could keep Jesus out of trouble. It’s always helpful to have friends in high places.
Jesus is not impressed. Instead, he said, “You must be born again.” Jesus does not care that he is a ruler of the people. He does not care that he believed He was from God. Not even belief is enough unless we are born again.
People want change, but how much change do we really want? When a person sets out to change his or her life, there are three levels of change.
First, there is refocus and redirection. They don’t want to change much, just change a little. Most everything remains the same. They say, “You know, maybe I should pray more
or “Maybe I should start back to church,” or “maybe I should straighten up a bit.”
That’s how most people see religion--just cleaning what is already there. They get rid of their worst traits, treat each other nicer, clean up their language and kick nasty habits, but they don’t change much beyond that.
Or maybe it’s reformation we need—to reform or and rearrange. We rearrange the furniture of our lives, and things look new. But we are still made from the same stuff we’ve always been.
I knew a man once who had been a radical in the Sixties. He marched in the peace marches, demonstrated against the war, wore long hair and love beads—the whole hippy scene. Then he changed and became a conservative. He marched in antiabortion marches, demonstrated against high taxes, and wore short hair and a necktie. But he had not changed. He was the same radical he always was. He took the same pieces and reformed them into a different shape.
But Jesus did not talk about redirection or reformation. He talked about regeneration--a life change so complete that you are not the same person.
“Born again” was not a new term to the Jews. It was used for a Gentile but wanted to become a Jew.
Maimonedes, the twelfth century Jewish philosopher, summarized what the ancient rabbis said about this process.
“By three things did Israel enter into the Covenant: by circumcision, and baptism and sacrifice. When a gentile is willing to enter the covenant…He must be circumcised and be baptized and bring a sacrifice…And at this time when there is no sacrifice, they must be circumcised and be baptized; and when the Temple shall be built, they are to bring a sacrifice…The gentile that is made a proselyte and the slave that is made free, behold he is like a child new born."
There were three steps—circumcision, baptism, and sacrifice. It was only done to the male head of the family. He was baptized in the nude. Every hair of his head was shaved off. Then he was given a new name, to indicate he had become a new person.
John the Baptist redefined this Jewish ritual. He made Jews do it. John was saying that you can be religious and rotten at the same time. You must start all over again as a new person.
Jesus did not tell Nicodemus to be baptized, but to be born again. If he had asked Nicodemus to be baptized he would probably have done it. But it would just be one more expression of his “superior” piety. Jesus didn’t want him to simply be baptized a new person. He actually wanted him to be a new person.
What does it mean to be born again?
It means that we don’t want our old lives any more.
We are creatures of habit. We like things to remain the same. Old habits give us a sense of control. We like to know what’s coming. It makes us feel we are in control.
Because we like regularity, we learn to live with imperfection. If our lives are not what they once thought they should be, we don’t let it bother us. If our lives are less than perfect, we on’t care, as long as they are steady and predictable.
In the old days, when chickens were taken to the market, they tied their legs together. When they cut the chickens loose, they would lay on the ground as if their legs were still tied. They may not have liked having their legs tied, but once they got used to it, they thought itw as always supposed to be that way. Like those chickens, we have settled into habits and mindsets that do us no good. They may in fact be killing us, but as long as they are predictable, we don’t care.
It means we give up control to the Spirit.
When we are born again, the first thing to go is our sense of control. We have to rely on someone else to save us. We revert to being babies before God, A baby does not mind being controlled by others, as long that that other is a loving mother and father. We start over, nurtured by a new parental figure—God.
The enemy of our salvation is not the Devil but ourselves. True faith ends when we try harder or work harder, trying to master our own fate.
If someone asks you if you are a Christian, or if you are born again, how do you answer? Some say “I try to be,” Have you ever tried to be a puppy? You either are one or you aren’t-- trying has nothing to do with it. We must be born that way. Just so, you must be born again as a Christian, It is not something you aspire to. It is something that comes when we cease to try, and allow God full control.
Nicodemus could not understand this “How can a man be born again when he is old?” He took Jesus literally instead of figuratively. But Jesus corrected him
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth,no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.'
We are born of water--the waters of birth. We come out of our mother’s womb wet. When we are born again we are born in the Spirit. We come out wet with the Spirit.
Baptism is an act of the flesh, not the Spirit. Joining a church, quitting smoking and drinking, keeping ourselves pure are all good, but they are not the Spirit. They are byproducts of it. We need new birth in the Holy Spirit.
8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit."
We are reborn like a feather on the wind. We do not control, we are controlled by Him. We cannot tell the reasons why God puts us here—where the wind came from. Neither can we tell our destination—where the wind goes to. We ride the Spirit like a surfer on a wave or a gull on the air.
It is to be enfolded into the life of Christ.
"How can this be?" Nicodemus asked.
"You are Israel's teacher," said Jesus, "and do you not understand these things?
1 tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony. I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven — the Son of Man. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
We die in Christ. This seems harsh, but we must understand. We are not the first to die. Jesus died before us. He went to the cross on our behalf. He lost his will, his power, his blood so that our birth might be possible.
Because we live, we can live with him.
When Jesus uses an illustration that he new Nicodemus would know. He referred to an Old Testament story—Num 21:4-9. The Israelites complained about the uncertainty and the quality of their food. God punished them by sending snakes to bite them. But as soon as the presented the illness, He also presented the cure. If they would only look up one more time at a bronze serpent on the pole, they would live. Some refused to look and died. But for every one who looked up, they were given a new life.
Jesus said He is the serpent on the pole. His own death would be the sign.
This is a difficult treacherous world. It is too treacherous, in fact for us to walk through u unguarded. We will all fall. In fact, we have all fallen. We are like pigs in a pig trough None of us can boast that there is no mud on us.
But if we look at Jesus, there is a cure. In Him, we can have new life, not be caught in an old one. He is the answer to all our needs and our longings. He is the bronze serpent put on a pole to remind us of the one who made the serpent.
But it is not a serpent on a pole. This a man on at cross. Our sins became His sins. His death became our death. His resurrection became our invitation to be born again. Jesus represented us in death so that He could represent us in live. In this ultimate act of sacrifice. He became our Savior and we became born again.
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