Is Barney Biblical?
Barney is BACK!
For fans of the big purple dinosaur, there is MUCH to cheer about. Slated for a 2024 launch, everyone’s favorite Tyrannosaurus Rex will be coming back to television on Max with his friends Billy and Baby Bop – this time as an animated adventure.[1] Also in the works is a Barney movie geared more toward an adult audience, those who fondly remember Barney as they were growing up.[2] But with the current political climate and the fierce backlash against…well, everything, will Barney even make it onto the screen? At a time when we’re banning books and letting people sue school districts and fire teachers for sharing ideas anyone finds offensive, will there be places where kids never hear about dinosaurs at all?[3] I wonder if there will be disclaimers at the beginning of every episode of the new Barney show that say evolution is “only one way creation might have happened.”
When did science and religion become enemies?
Turns out Darwin was responsible for more than introducing us to the idea of natural selection. Up until the 18th century science and religion were buddies. Often referred to as the “handmaiden of theology,” philosophical studies of the natural world were seen as a way to better understand God’s creation.[4] Some of the most brilliant scientific minds came from the halls of the Lord. Robert Grosseteste was not only a Bishop but also one of the first proponents of the scientific method. Roger Bacon, a student of his and himself a Franciscan monk, studied a wide variety of scientific fields including astronomy, mathematics, and alchemy. In fact, for a time he taught at the University of Paris and wrote some truly remarkable works including passages about flying machines and submarines![5] And this was in the 13th century! Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, and even Galileo were all devout religious men who saw their work as honoring God and exploring his wonder.[6] It might surprise you to know that the terms “science” and “religion” didn’t even come into common use until the 19th century.[7] Science was considered part of philosophy and was often referred to as the “natural law.” It was during the Age of Enlightenment in the 17th and 18th centuries that we see this split between science and religion for the first time. Those who focused more on theology started to push back against the findings of natural law. But it wasn’t until Darwin that religious people said, “That’s enough.”
What about Darwin’s discovery sparked the fire between these two camps?
To be fair to Darwin, it wasn’t him personally they were opposed to but his ideas about creation. If evolution was true, then where was God in all of this? But probably more than that, it threatened the church’s power over people’s lives. It threatened the power and influence the church had on society and we see this playing out more and more. As science becomes the new idol we worship, people outside our faith (and even some within) tend to look at religion as something at best behind the times and at worse denying the obvious. The more people of faith push back against the discoveries of science, the more we look out of touch, and it’s hard to reach people for Christ when we fail to meet people where they are. The thing is science is still regarded by the vast majority of Christians as being compatible with our faith. In fact, while 81% of all Americans believe in some form of evolution, 83% of White mainline Protestants and 86% of Catholics believe in it. Even among White evangelical Protestants, the Christian group least likely to believe in evolution, 62% believed.[8]
The debate often centers not on dinosaurs in particular.
But instead on the differences between the Biblical account of creation and the scientific version of it. According to Young Earth Creationists probably the most extreme view on creationism, the Earth is somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000 years old.[9] They even date it to around 4004 B.C.and they believe the Bible literally. God created the earth in six days. There were no dinosaurs. There was no evolution. They take into account the birth of Christ, the ages of his ancestors, and the genealogies described in the Bible and put the Earth at 6,000 years old. But that’s only one Christian account of creation. Most Christians don’t adopt a literal interpretation of the Bible. Instead, they believe the Bible accounts for evolution. These are Theistic Evolutionists and they make up the majority of Christian belief. Evolution is viewed by them as a tool God used to create the Earth; placing God still as creator, but not denying evolution. Instead of the literal six days of creation, they believe those “days” could actually have been thousands or millions of years like it says in 2 Peter 3:8 – “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” Theistic Evolutionists even believe that the Bible talks about the existence of dinosaurs and they point to the passage from Job 40:15-19 as proof, saying that the behemoth in the passage was actually a dinosaur. Now the Bible doesn’t reference dinosaurs by name because the word “dinosaur” wasn’t a word until 1842. 1842. Long after the Bible was written. But Theistic Evolutionists often point to the description of the behemoth as an indicator that it was more than just a hippopotamus or an elephant.
“Look at Behemoth,
which I made along with you
and which feeds on grass like an ox.
16 What strength it has in its loins,
what power in the muscles of its belly!
17 Its tail sways like a cedar;
the sinews of its thighs are close-knit.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like rods of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God,
yet its Maker can approach it with his sword. – Job 40:15-19
But here’s the thing.
The story of Genesis was never meant to be an historical account of the beginning of the world. When we spend time focusing on the details of creation, we miss the forest for the trees. The story of creation was not supposed to be a factual accounting of events, but was meant to point us toward God as creator; that God is in control, that God is trustworthy and praiseworthy. That’s what Genesis is about. The power of God. But we get stuck fighting about the first thing that comes up in the Bible. Can’t even get one chapter in without arguing. Now the Bible is vague about creation on purpose. Nowhere does it say how old the Earth is, because it doesn’t matter. You’ll find all throughout Scripture there are many details each author could have included. Like what color was Jesus’ skin? What type of material were his shoes made out of? But none of that is important. The point we’re supposed to come away with after we read Genesis is a deeper sense of awe about God’s might. We’re supposed to read it and realize that we exist because of the grace, mercy, and love of God and really for no other reason. And that’s what the book is about. If you come away with THAT understanding, you come away with a deeper love and appreciation of God than you’ve ever had before.
We get caught up in “foolish controversies” far too often.
And when we ignore the Word of God which tells us not to argue about these things, we end up at odds with one another instead of realizing that with God all things are possible. That we should concentrate on the things that DO matter instead of the things that don’t. It brings to mind for me an episode of Friends where Ross is trying to get Phoebe to believe in evolution and at the end of the episode Phoebe says to him, “Look Ross, I’m not DENYING evolution. I’m just saying it’s one of the possibilities.” And Ross says, “It’s the ONLY possibility.” And Phoebe gets up from her chair and says to him, “Ross, can you open your mind like THIS much. Okay? Wasn’t there a time when the brightest minds in the world believed that the Earth was flat? And up until like 50 years ago you all thought the atom was the smallest thing until you split it open and this whole mess of stuff came out. Now, are you telling me you are so unbelievably arrogant that you can’t admit there’s a TEENY tiny possibility that you could be wrong about this?” And Ross admits, there’s a TEENY tiny possibility he could be wrong. We all could be wrong. But that isn’t the point of the story of creation, and I hope you walk away today understanding that no matter which side of the argument you fall on, the story is about the power, love, and grace of God who created this world for us because he loves us. That’s the point of the story. And as to all opinions that do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think.
[1] https://variety.com/2023/tv/news/barneys-world-dinosaur-animated-series-max-cartoon-network-1235607348/
[2] https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/jul/04/barney-the-dinosaur-film-daniel-kaluuya
[3] Many states are enacting or attempting to enact legislation to ban the teaching of certain subjects instead of leaving it to professional educators and school board officials. See https://www.npr.org/2022/02/03/1077878538/legislation-restricts-what-teachers-can-discuss
[4] https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/christianity-history-science-and-religion
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bacon
[6] https://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/intro/histo-frame.html
[7] https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/religion-science/#BrieHist
[8] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/02/11/darwin-day/ Statistics were only for Americans who answered the question. Those who responded without an opinion or answered outside the accepted fields were omitted.
[9] https://www.gotquestions.org/young-earth-creationism.html
The Fundamental-List
We all have images of perfection.
The perfect career. The perfect school. The perfect spouse. I first met Anne while working at Disneyland. She was smart, funny, attractive, and sweet. She was a sweetheart to boot. It’s no wonder virtually every guy in our department wanted to date her. But I knew something most of them didn’t. She had never seen Star Wars. Not the prequels or the sequels. I’m talking the original Star Wars, the one without the any other words attached to it. It came up in some random conversation we were having when her, my buddy Mark, and I were all hanging out and the thought crossed my mind for the briefest moment – could I date someone who had never seen Star Wars? It was such a defining part of my childhood, what kind of relationship could we have? How would we raise our kids? Of course, all this was predicated on the small trivial detail that she would need to be interested in me. Minor stuff, I know. But we all have these images in our head of what we think things ought to be like. It informs how we look at the world, the relationships we develop, the careers we pursue and even our faith. And when reality doesn’t match our expectations, sometimes we react badly. But is it justified? How much heartache and pain could we avoid if we simply kept things in perspective? Because when we elevate the trivial to be on par with the essential, we often miss out on the richness and possibilities that life has to offer.
This morning, we’re opening with a passage from Titus.
In this letter from the apostle Paul to one of his emissaries, Titus, he spends most of it talking about how to live a Christian life. And even though it’s written in the words of an ancient culture, its lessons of humility, service, and honor are still values we hold today even if we look at the issues differently. It was also clear in this letter to Titus that Paul wanted him to model these expectations and teach those who would listen these lessons as well so they would become living examples of God’s love. In the passage we are about to share, Paul tells Titus to remind the people how to behave but also to remind them to be kind and merciful to those around them.
1 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.
3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone.
9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned. – Titus 3:1-11 (Old Testament)
These words are as important today as they were back then.
“Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone.” Sounds like a great way to live, right? Things we should aspire to. It’s also a living testimony to a loving God. But I can think of recent examples by people who claim to be Christian where that hasn’t happened. The way we behave IS IMPORTANT. It reflects not just on us but the God we say we follow. And as important as that is, the next bit Paul shares is vital to our reflection today. “But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because they are unprofitable and useless.” This is where we mess up the most. This is why people call us hypocritical and judgmental and closed-minded. Too often the people of God don’t ACT like the people of God.
Do you know how many different denominations there are in Christianity?
45,000. 45,000 Christian denominations in the world today.[1] And growing. Are there REALLY 45,000 things to fight about? And not just fight about but fight about so badly that we would turn our backs on one another. We’re about to enter into another season of that right now. There are those in the United Methodist Church who feel like they can no longer share a table with us. That there is just too much separating us to work it out. But are these arguments essential to our faith or trivial? Of course, to the people in the middle of it all it FEELS essential. When does it not? When you’re in the middle of a heated argument with someone, doesn’t it ALWAYS feel like you had no other choice? But you do. You always do. You always have a choice. That’s one of the great gifts of God, the freedom to choose. And yet, here we are. On the precipice of another break in the church. But is it a break over something essential or something trivial? Maybe we would do well to listen to John Wesley.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, had a saying – “Think and let think.”
Think and let think. Even back in Wesley’s time, the church had an issue with fissures and splits. To be fair, Methodism was never intended to be a split itself, but a revival – going back to the roots – within the Episcopal Church. John Wesley is famously known for never leaving the Episcopal Church even though he is credited (rightfully) as the founder of Methodism. To Wesley, Methodism was a way of being, of living out your faith and not a separate religious movement. But even so, Methodism came under attack and in part as a response to these attacks, Wesley wrote the tract called “The Character of a Methodist” where he sought to define the fundamentals of Methodist belief. He wrote, “the distinguishing marks of a Methodist are not his opinions of any sort. His assenting to this or that scheme of religion, his embracing any particular set of notions, his espousing the judgment of one man or of another, are all quite wide of the point. Whosoever, therefore, imagines that a Methodist is a man of such or such an opinion, is grossly ignorant of the whole affair; he mistakes the truth totally. We believe, indeed, that “all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God;” and herein we are distinguished from Jews, Turks, and Infidels. We believe the written word of God to be the only and sufficient rule both of Christian faith and practice; and herein we are fundamentally distinguished from those of the Romish Church. We believe Christ to be the eternal, supreme God; and herein we are distinguished from the Socinians and Arians. But as to all opinions which do not strike at the root of Christianity, we think and let think. So that whatsoever they are, whether right or wrong, they are no distinguishing marks of a Methodist.”[2] His point was that those things which are not essential tenets of our faith shouldn’t be argued over. We can debate them, we can talk about them, we can offer our opinions, but those things which are not central to who we are should not divide us which is exactly in line with what God tells us in the Bible; “avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because they are unprofitable and useless.”
These are the only three things Wesley called out that define us as Christians.
Scripture as the inspired Word of God, the sufficiency of Scripture to determine God’s will, and Christ as part of the Holy Trinity. I’ll add one more. Not that Wesley didn’t believe this himself, but because he would have believed it was covered by the other rules, but I think it’s important enough that we call it out. From John 13:34-35, 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Pretty much everything in the Bible can be summed up in this verse of Scripture. “Love one another.” These are the beliefs that define what it means to be a Christian. Anything else is simply a matter of interpretation. We don’t have to agree on everything to be united on the big things. We don’t have to adapt every belief someone else has to work together for the good of Christ. But it seems more than ever we cling to the unimportant and abandon what is essential to our faith. Is it any wonder more and more people are leaving the church? Is it that puzzling those outside the church think we’re so behind the times? If we abandon one another over the trivial, how are people to believe we will be there for them when things get tough? A friend of mine once served a church that threatened to split because of a sofa. Seriously. Somebody had donated a sofa that was sitting in the narthex or lobby area, and it had become an eyesore. At one time it was nice and in style, but over the years it had become beat up, the cushions were lumpy, the colors were garish, and half the church hated it. But it had been donated by a member of a prominent family so the other half for one reason or another refused to get rid of it. And in arguing over the couch, they threatened to leave the church. Over a couch. That’s how petty we can become when we forget what is essential to our lives as Christians. We need to keep our hearts focused on what’s important and let go of the rest. We need to focus on what is essential and ignore the trivial. Because when we do that, we can do so much more for each other and for the world – even for people who’ve never seen Star Wars.
Note: While the contents of the sermon are totally original, the sermon title is not. But it was so clever and fit our message so well I used it. I’d give credit to Andy Stanley, Lead Pastor of North Point Community Church, but in HIS message he ALSO said he borrowed it from someone else, too!
[1] https://www.gordonconwell.edu/center-for-global-christianity/research/quick-facts/
Maybe He’s In Here…
Have you ever heard of Bobbie the Wonder Dog?[1]
Bobbie was a mixed breed collie who hailed from the state of Oregon back in 1923. He lived with his people, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Brazier and their two daughters, Nova and Leona. Bobbie would love to run and play on the farm where he spent most of his time with the family. Eventually the family moved into town and concerned that the small confines of city life would be too much for a farm dog like Bobbie, the family sold him to the friend who was going to take over their farm. But Bobbie didn’t give up on his family and soon found them on his own, walking into town every weekend and returning to the farm by Monday. Eventually the family bought him back (at three times the price) and Mr. and Mrs. Brazier decided to take Bobbie with them on a trip back East to Indiana. While getting some gas, Mr. Brazier saw Bobbie getting chased by four other dogs. He was confident Bobbie would find his way back, but after an hour or so, Bobbie didn’t return. Pretty soon, the Brazier’s started to worry and went looking for the dog, but to no avail. They searched, made phone calls, even put in an ad in the local paper, but nothing. After three weeks of visiting in the area, they decided to head home, heartbroken over the loss of their dog. Six months later, while walking down the street, Nova, the youngest daughter spotted a mangy, grimy, lean dog walking along and noticing the similarities shouted, “Oh look! Isn’t that Bobbie?” At the sound of his name, Bobbie came running up to Nova and licked her all over. He had returned home. No one knows for sure how Bobbie knew the route to take or how he knew which way to even go. He had traveled over 2,500 miles to reach the Brazier home, but somehow, Bobbie had an innate sense of where to find home.
Bobbie’s story is incredible, but he is not alone in making miraculous journeys.[2]
There’s the story of Howie the Persian cat who crossed the Australian Outback to get back home. Misele the farm cat who traveled nine miles into town to find her farmer who had been taken to the hospital. Amazingly, she had never been there before but was still able to track him down. And Troubles, a scout dog for the military, who was flown into the jungles of Vietnam by helicopter and was abandoned after his handler was shot and taken to the hospital. Troubles found his handler after trekking through the jungle on foot for more than 10 miles in unfamiliar terrain and searching for him tent-by-tent once he made it back to camp. These are only a few of the seemingly amazing stories of animals able to find their way home despite all the obstacles. Yet if we can believe that God could create an animal that can find its way home despite all the odds, couldn’t we also believe in a God that would put it within us to find OUR way home as well? To find OUR way back to God?
He as much told us he would.
Our passage takes place in the time when the people of Israel are in exile. They’ve been taken over by the Babylonians and removed from Jerusalem by force and scattered throughout the land. God told them this would happen, but the people of Israel didn’t listen. Most of them had started to again follow pagan gods and had drifted away from their faith. Can you imagine how frustrating that must be? I know God’s above that, God’s better than that, but imagine if you were in God’s shoes how frustrating that must be? He makes this covenant with Abraham and again with Moses and again with David. I will be your God and you will be my people. And he does it. He is faithful to the people of Israel. But time and again they drift away. Then something bad would always happen. And they would come crawling back. And every single time God forgave them. But as soon as they were comfortable, they would drift away again. God warned them there were consequences for this constant drifting away, and eventually they become exiled from their own land. But in this passage we’re about to read God offers them hope and tells them about a new covenant that’s coming that would help them to always remember his promise. This is where we enter into the reading this morning.
31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,“when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband tothem,” declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
35 This is what the Lord says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar— the Lord Almighty is his name: – Jeremiah 31:31-35
God tells the people of Israel, “The days are coming…”
The days are coming when I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. And this day God talks about is the coming of the Holy Spirit. We know that because Jesus himself told us it would happen. He promised not to leave us alone. That when he ascended back into Heaven to be with God, he would leave behind the Holy Spirit to guide us and show us the way. And this is what it means to us when God says, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts,” that the Holy Spirit would come and be accessible to us always. That through the Spirit, we could know God. But if all that’s true, then why is it sometimes so hard to find God? I mean if God put it within us to know him, why is it so difficult? God may be everywhere, but sometimes it feels like God is nowhere. Like God is Waldo in a Where’s Waldo picture. We search and search, but we just can’t pick him out of the crowd. We might find the clock or the pen or the compass, but God? He seems almost invisible. We know he’s there because the book tells us he’s there. But if God is everywhere why is it so hard to find him?
Maybe it’s because we’re not looking in the right place.
Human beings since time began have searched for evidence of God in the world around them. From archaeological digs in the Middle East to scholarly dissertations on the mysterious Q source of the Bible, we’ve looked for God everywhere. And even though we can find evidence of God, it doesn’t seem to quell our search for him. We have this incessant need to find God. In fact, that is the whole basis for In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Sybok the Vulcan prophet has dedicated his life to finding God. But when he reaches the planet he believes God can be found, he ends up finding out God was never there in the first place. At the end of the movie, Captain Kirk notices Dr. McCoy and Mr. Spock are deep in thought so he says to them, “Cosmic thoughts gentlemen?” McCoy responds, “We were speculating, is God really out there?” That’s a sentiment we have probably all wrestled with from time to time. Is God out there? And Kirk pauses for a moment as if reflecting on the question before he says, “Maybe he’s not out there, Bones. Maybe he’s in here…the human heart.”
Leave it to Star Trek to come up with a Biblical answer.
When God tells us that he is going to write the law in our minds and on our hearts, perhaps what he’s saying is not that each human being would instantly and always see God in everything. But maybe instead, that God through the Holy Spirit, puts within us this very need to find him. This quest we have for meaning in life, for understanding our Creator, is in fact the gift from God that he has put on our hearts. This drive to understand God is the DNA of our being that came about with this new covenant God promised through Jeremiah. Most people have a sense there is a creator, that there is something greater “out there.” In fact, only about 4% of the U.S. identifies as atheist.[3] We just don’t all label it as God. Some people identify God as Mother Nature or Lady Luck or Fortune or Chance. Some people sense God can be found in other religions or in the stars. But nearly all of us have this identity with some kind of Creator. And it drives us to understand the meaning of life. Perhaps the best evidence that there is a God is this God “compass” that seems to be built within us.
Jesus promised us that we would not be left alone.
And we are not. We are not alone in this world. The Holy Spirit may not be something we can see, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t active and working in our lives. The very fact we search for God, for meaning, for something more than our mere existence, is itself evidence of God’s activity within us. Our challenge then is not to rest comfortably in this knowledge, but instead to share it with the world. Our challenge is to help others recognize the work God is doing within them, so they can come to know him like we do. And the challenge is also for us to know him better. We can grow closer to God through pray and study, by being in community with one another and by breaking bread together. And when we do those things, we will follow this homing beacon back to God and through Christ and the Holy Spirit obtain the peace of knowing who we are and to whom we belong. Follow the compass of your heart and find God at the end of it.
[1] Story from various sources on the Internet including http://www.silvertonor.com/murals/bobbie/bobbie_wonder_dog2.htm, http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/entry/view/bobbie_the_wonder_dog/, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobbie_the_Wonder_Dog#cite_note-oe-3
[2] https://animals.howstuffworks.com/pets/pet-travel/6-pets-that-traveled-long-distances-to-get-home.htm
[3] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/12/06/10-facts-about-atheists/
I NEED MY PAIN!
Pain stinks!
I’ve had to endure a bit of it this year and I’ve got to tell you, I’d rather do without. When pain hits, it’s hard to focus on anything else. It becomes consuming as we try to deal with it. To not have to worry about pain would be a blessing! Or would it? Maybe we should ask Steve Pete. He is someone who literally feels no physical pain. None. He has a rare condition called congenital analgesia. [1] When his body is injured, he can’t tell at all. When other kids would get a broken arm or leg, they would stop because of the pain, but Steve would just keep going and would cause even worse injury to his body. His condition meant that his body never gave him any signals that there was something wrong. Often that meant he would have to stay in the hospital. When he was young, he literally bit off his tongue and didn’t feel it. It was then when his parents discovered he had this condition. Because he has no way of knowing the damage he is doing, Steve has often caused far more harm to his body than others ever would and that damage has been so extensive that even though he doesn’t feel it, Steve still has to pay the price. He may not feel pain, but he still suffers from its effects. The doctors told him so much damage has been done to his left leg that eventually they will have to amputate it.[2] And believe it or not, Steve is the lucky one. Because of the damage done, people with this condition are reported to rarely live past the age of 30.[3] In fact, Steve’s brother, who also suffered from the same condition, took his own life. Steve believes it is precisely because of his condition that he did.[4]
What are we to do about the problem of pain?
Pain can be crushing. It can rob us of the joy of life. And it can wreck us – not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually, too. Pain hurts on many levels, not just one. Sometimes people wonder if pain is God’s punishment for doing something wrong. It’s not. I can tell you that now. But it sure seems like it sometimes. Especially, when we are in the middle of it. Losing a loved one brings an emotional pain that is hard to endure, and it’s one of the biggest reasons people lose faith. Where is God in the middle of this pain? Why did God take this person from my life? It’s hard to believe in a just and loving God when there is so much pain in the world. But a pain-free life? That has its problems, too. Just ask Captain Kirk. In Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, Sybok, the Vulcan prophet, has this unusual ability to help people release their innermost pain. And at first it seems like a blessing. Dr. McCoy had been carrying around this guilt about the death of his father for decades! And with just a touch, Sybok seemed to release him from that pain. When McCoy tries to convince Kirk to let Sybok take away his pain too, Kirk tells his friend, “…Bones, you’re a doctor. You know that pain and guilt can’t be taken away with a wave of a magic wand. They’re the things we carry with us – the things that make us who we are. If we lose them, we lose ourselves. I don’t want my pain taken away. I NEED MY PAIN!”
“I NEED MY PAIN!”
Kirk, who has been through a lot of pain – the loss of his son, the death of his best friend, the loss of his career – wants to hold on to those experiences BECAUSE of what he has endured. He shouts almost in desperation because he is afraid the only redemption that comes from experiencing those painful moments will be lost if they are simply taken away. These are events that have shaped his life and have made him the person he is. To steal that pain away, would rob him of the ongoing transformative power of that pain. And that’s what Paul is trying to teach us in our passage today. The idea of pain as punishment is not new. It is literally as old as the Bible. In fact, older. Ancient Judaism believed our favor with God was not part of some future promise in Heaven but was a very real part of our life now; we could tell whom God favored by how good their life was. The pain and suffering of Christians were just more evidence we shouldn’t follow Christ, because surely, if God had blessed this kind of thinking, these people wouldn’t be suffering. But Paul tells us in this short passage suffering isn’t something to despair over. Not that God CAUSES suffering, but God can transform it into something better. God can bring hope out of our despair.
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. – from Romans 5
Here in this passage, Paul puts a new spin on pain and suffering.
He’s not saying it doesn’t hurt. He’s not discounting the difficulties that come with pain, and let’s be honest – Paul knows quite a bit about it himself. He’s not only been a victim of it, but some of his friends and fellow disciples have been tortured and killed for their faith. Paul is no stranger to pain. But he wants us to look at it with a different perspective. In verse 3, Paul explains, “…we also glory in our sufferings (our pain, our affliction), BECAUSE we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Paul is making the connection that we can grow from our pain. It is the journey of enduring the pain where we come to understand the hope we have in Christ and lean more into our faith. Pain is often a crucible for our character. It’s a testing ground. It’s the kiln that refines and polishes the clay that is our life. C.S. Lewis, one of my favorite authors, wrote a book called “The Problem of Pain,” and in it he said this, “…pain insists on being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”[5] It is often in our pain, our suffering, and our trials that we draw closest to God, that we are most ready to hear him. Not that God causes pain, but in our pain, we are most ready to listen.
Pain is sometimes the catalyst we need to grow.
It is when we are most willing to make room for God. Lewis makes the counterpoint that when things are going too well, when our lives are free of trouble, free of pain, we have the tendency to shut God out, to forget we still need God. We look upon ourselves as being wholly sufficient without recognizing the need we have for Christ. We tend to make room for God only when we are in need. St. Augustine once said, “God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them.”[6] A human being’s natural tendency toward sin and pride and self-reliance too often wins out and only in our pain are we receptive to God. Maybe this is the point Captain Kirk was trying to make when he shouted, “I NEED MY PAIN!” The things he has suffered through are the same things that have transformed him into a better person. The ordeal, the battle, the struggle to endure – it is in these things that our character is shaped and formed.
But the hope Paul talks about comes from Christ himself.
When Paul talks about how character builds hope, he’s talking about the hope we have in Christ. When he says hope does not put us to shame, he means because we know Christ has suffered with us and for us. Jesus not only understands your pain but has felt it himself. In the darkest moment of his life, his friends abandoned him; his people demanded his death; and he was beaten, tortured, and humiliated – and that was before he was put on a cross to die. But the story doesn’t end there. If it did there would be no redemption, no transformation to speak of. A friend of mine put it this way, “God never lets human violence and sin have the last word. He transformed the worst that humans could do into the path of our own redemption.” That is why we have hope in Christ. Because even in this, God can transform and redeem us. It is in the resurrection of Christ that we find this hope that Paul is talking about and it is THAT hope which allows us to endure. As Richard Rohr once wrote, “Faith is not for overcoming obstacles; it is for experiencing them – all the way through!”[7]
It’s tempting for us to think that our life would be better without pain.
But the truth is pain serves a very useful purpose. In our physical body, it serves as a warning system. It gives us the opportunity to fix what’s wrong and to bring us more in line with our optimal selves. In our spiritual life, pain serves the same function. It tells us when something is wrong and gives us the opportunity to grow. As Captain Kirk said, we need our pain. We are so often surrounded by the immediacy of the moment, we cannot always see how pain can be useful. Our challenge is to understand the necessity of pain and have faith that even in this God can redeem our pain for his glory. And we rest assured that he can because he has already done so in the most difficult circumstances of all. Most of all, we can take comfort in knowing that we believe in a God who understands pain because he has experienced it first-hand. One thing we can be sure of in life is that we will experience pain, and when we do, let us pray to God to renew our faith, strengthen our resolve, and help us to grow and learn from the experience.
[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20239836
[2] https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18713585
[3] http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/overcoming-pain/201201/chronic-pain-s-parallel-universe-congenital-analgesia
[4] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18713585
[5] C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain, p. 91.
[6] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/75226-god-is-always-trying-to-give-good-things-to-us. Based on C.S. Lewis’ quote of St. Augustine from The Problem of Pain.
[7] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/556286-faith-is-not-for-overcoming-obstacles-it-is-for-experiencing
Are You Mad?
Does God exist?
Believe it or not, that is the central question in – get this – a Star Trek movie! If you haven’t seen Star Trek V: The Final Frontier… you’re not alone. Considered by fans the worst or second worst film in the original series franchise, it was also the worst of the original six at the box office.[1] But I love it. In it, Sybok is a Vulcan who has devoted his life to search for the answer to that question – does God exist? He believes God not only exists but is calling to him from the wellspring of creation, a place he calls Sha Ka Ree or what we would call the Garden of Eden and he executes an elaborate plan to hijack the Enterprise to prove it. Sybok thinks it exists beyond the Great Barrier in the center of the galaxy and when Captain Kirk tries to explain it’s impossible to breach the barrier, Sybok says to him, “But if we do, will that convince you that my vision was true?” Kirk looks at him, “Your vision?” Sybok responds, “Given to me by God. He waits for us on the other side.” And Kirk can only look at him and say, “You ARE mad.” And Sybok responds, “Am I? We’ll see.”
That’s the problem with people who claim to speak for God.
They ALL believe whole-heartedly in what they do. And that’s the case with Sybok. He honestly believes he has heard the voice of God and this place called Sha Ka Ree, this paradise from which creation began, is something that can be found. No one disputes Sybok’s brilliance, his gifts, or his devotion, but is that enough? Does that mean he is truly following God’s call and is that call right for us? That is the question we must ask ourselves. And we need to be cautious because if history is any indication, Christians have often gotten it wrong. We have believed without proper testing, the tall tales and complete falsehoods of leaders who claim to have support from God for their actions. There’s a reason the white supremacy movement is so closely linked to Christianity. It’s because Christians from the pulpit and the pews have long spouted their belief in it and justified it as God’s will. This quote was from a respected and influential pastor just weeks before the attack on Freedom Riders in Alabama back in 1961.[2] Henry Lyons, Jr., the pastor of a 3,000-member church in Montgomery, Alabama said this to the local white Citizens Council, “…I am a believer in a separation of the races, and I am none the less a Christian. If you want to get in a fight with the one that started separation of the races, then you come face to face with your God. The difference in color, the difference in our body, our minds, our life, our mission upon the face of this earth, is God given.”[3] And this guy wasn’t even considered an extremist. Today we have no problem seeing this for what it is – a white supremacy complex which sadly is alive and well in the world. But back then? People believed Henry Lyons, Jr. and thought he was sharing God’s word on the subject. We have the same problem in the church today. We have a solid group of people who believe whole-heartedly that people who identify as LGBTQ+ should not be preachers or teachers in the church and we have a group who whole-heartedly believe the opposite, and both throw around Scripture like its ammunition for a gun. How can we tell what path to follow?
Fortunately, like always, the Bible has a prescription for this problem.
And it can be found in the Book of Matthew in the Sermon on the Mount when Jesus himself addresses this issue. This isn’t the only place in the Bible where we are warned against false prophets, against those who would teach us things in the name of God that aren’t true. But this passage not only comes from Jesus, but he gives specific instructions on how it is that we, as ordinary, everyday people, can discern truth from untruth. Jesus’ words come near the end of his sermon to the people, and he closes with these words for a purpose. He wants the people to hold him to the same standard he is asking them to hold everyone else. In essence, he’s saying, “If everything I said is true, then judge me by these criteria as well, and then you will know who is speaking falsely and who is sharing the truth.” So here is what Jesus says:
15“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
Jesus warns us that it’s hard to tell the difference between one who speaks for God and one who does not because both drape themselves in the trappings of faith. They both play the part. It reminds me of a scene from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice where the character Antonio says, “Mark you this, Bassanio, The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose… what a goodly outside falsehood hath!”[4] So how can we tell the difference? Listen to Jesus, verse 16:
16By their fruit you will recognize them. (He says this twice in our passage. Right here and again in verse 20.) Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.
The fruit Jesus is talking about is the fruit of the Spirit and the Bible is very clear what that fruit looks like. Paul’s letter to the church in Galatia tells us, “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).” James, the brother of Jesus tells us, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness (James 3:17-18).” Notice what’s NOT in there? Anything about judgment or belittling others or forcing people to do your will. Christ believed, and his disciples believed, that love, mercy, and gentleness was the way to go. Not using the Bible as a weapon to justify your own behavior. And there are consequences to working against God’s will as Jesus shares in verse 19 and on:
19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
I love that Jesus uses the metaphor for fruit.
It makes me think of all the times my dad used to take me to Plowboys as kid. At the time, I thought it was BORING! I went to hang out with my dad (and because he always bought me this awesome gum called Adams Sour Apple). But looking back, I’m glad I went. Every week, we’d go down to the market together and Plowboys was sort of like the Whole Foods of its day. It was a fresh fruit and produce market where they got everything from local growers. It seemed like we spent HOURS there every weekend. But I learned a lot without even realizing it. I watched my dad as he would knock on a watermelon to see if it had the right sound or squeeze a tomato to see if it was ripe. I’d look at the kinds of apples he would pick and would taste samples of grapes to see if they were sweet enough and when they were too tart. He would show me how to tell if different fruit were good or not by using all of the five senses and these are still lessons I carry with me to this day. Now I bore Emma whenever she goes with me to the market, and I hope one day she finds those lessons as valuable as they are to me.
Spending that time with my dad helped me to discern the good from the bad.
Learning about which fruit were good and which were bad saved me so much grief over the years. In the same way, spending time with our heavenly Father can do much the same thing. Through prayer, worship, reading the Bible for yourself, joining a small group, and sharing the love of Christ with others, we begin to get a better idea which teachings are truly God blessed and which are just self-righteous. And in the long run, it will help us – no matter what – to be more Christ-like to one another. I mentioned at the beginning that our church is struggling with issues over the LGBTQ+ community and whether or not they should be teachers and preachers. I think those who condemn them are forgetting to apply God’s fruit test. Are they producing fruit? Are they showing the love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control of Christ? Some people get so hung up on what they consider “the law” or even the Book of Discipline, but we heard from Paul, those who exhibit fruit? “Against such things there is no law.” This week, I want to challenge you to spend time in prayer, read your Bible (or even listen to it on the Bible app), or find a podcast with sound teaching and dive deeper into God’s Word for yourself so that you might be better prepared for to see the wolves in sheep’s clothing. And if you’re interested in starting a small group or to be part of one, let me know so we can get you connected and start one up. We need to be prepared because there are a lot of false prophets out there, a lot of Sybok’s ready to lead you down a path that is anything but Christ-like, and if you’re not ready you’ll fall into that trap. Squeeze the fruit for yourself and see if it’s good. Learn what it means to bear good fruit. And you will be well-equipped to discern the truth always. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] https://www.the-numbers.com/movies/franchise/Star-Trek#tab=summary&franchise_movies_overview=od5
[2] This is one of the most disturbing examples of racism and attempted murder in the fight for Civil Rights and is only one of many horror stories. To find out more, read from this account from the Equal Justice Initiative. https://calendar.eji.org/racial-injustice/may/14
[3] https://www.npr.org/2020/07/01/883115867/white-supremacist-ideas-have-historical-roots-in-u-s-christianity
[4] Found this reference while doing research for our message from this website: https://www.theledger.com/story/opinion/columns/guest/2021/09/25/beware-politicians-quoting-bible/5820118001/
Amazing Grace
I’ll never forget the time I got to see Mikhail Baryshnikov dance in person.
He was with the White Oak Dance Project, a modern dance company he founded. The year was about 1995 and they were doing a series of four dances, only one of which Baryshnikov himself was in. He was already 47 or 48 years old at the time, and I wondered what I would see. Most of the dancers on stage were much younger than him, about 20 to 25. Would he be able to keep up with the other dancers, or would he be a pale version of his former self? I guess I was about to find out. The first three acts were admittedly kind of dull. Maybe if you were a modern dance enthusiast you would have appreciated the performance, but it was pretty boring for me. Had it not been for the fact that I had a crush on the girl who I was with, I probably would have fallen asleep. But then I would have missed Baryshnikov. When he took the stage, he completely captured the attention of everyone in the room. He danced circles around the kids who were nearly half his age. It was as if they were props in a dance routine made just for him. I’d never seen anyone move like that before or since. If there was anyone who epitomized grace, it would have been him.
Funny thing about that word “grace.”
It’s used in so many ways. When I share with you the grace Baryshnikov showed that night, you all know exactly what I mean. But if we were talking about Mark McGwire’s fall from grace over his steroid use, you’d know what that meant too even though they are completely different definitions. When we say grace over a meal we mean something different from both of the other meanings. The credit card company offers us a “grace period” to pay our bills. A person shows grace by admitting to their faults. So what does this word really mean? And what does it mean to talk about the grace of God? If you have a Bible or a Bible app on your phone, please go to John 1:9-18. In church, we constantly talk about God’s grace, but this is another one of those words that gets thrown out there without any real explanation of what it means. We don’t do a good job of letting people know what grace IS. So, what do we mean by it? Our passage from John will help us shed a little light on the subject.
9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) 16 Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known. – from John 1
The beginning of the passage helps us to understand the end.
John writes, “9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.”In a few words, John is describing Jesus as the bringer of hope and life – the “true light that gives light to everyone.” You’d think people would be thrilled about that, but John then writes, “the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own (the Jewish people), but his own did not receive him.” Despite the fact the Jewish people had been long hoping for a savior, few recognized him when he came among them. It’s hard to be tough on them because let’s face it. In our skeptical world, we would harbor doubts, too. And they didn’t have Instagram, Snapchat, or TikTok. Nobody did a choreographed dance to Jesus walking on water. If you weren’t there to witness it, you had every reason to doubt. Still, even though we failed to recognize Jesus for who he was, John tells us, “Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given.” We have all received grace in place of grace already given. God had given humanity the gift of life. God had given humanity relief in the desert when Moses led his people to freedom. God had blessed the people again and again, and then, to top it off, God gave us his son Jesus Christ. And that is what grace is. Grace is the unmerited favor of God for a group of people who didn’t deserve it. Even though we wander away constantly; that we turn to worshipping other idols like power, money, beauty, and fame; despite the fact we fail to give thanks to God for the life we have, God still sent Jesus to redeem us. God forgives us our sin. God still offers us salvation. That is the meaning of grace.
But grace and mercy, even though they are similar are two completely different things.
They often go hand-in-hand, but they as one writer put it, “Mercy withholds a punishment we deserve; grace gives a blessing we don’t deserve.”[1] Mercy withholds a punishment we deserve; grace gives a blessing we don’t deserve. That’s what makes the grace of God so amazing. It’s more than not being punished for what we’ve done, but then God elevates it to another level! God offers us salvation! He not only wipes our slate clean of sin but asks us to join him in Heaven when our time here ends. He asks us to reenter paradise even though we don’t deserve it. THAT is the God we follow. Everything else pales in comparison. I like what Andy Stanley, the lead pastor of North Point Community Church, said about grace, “To say that someone deserves grace is a contradiction in terms. You can no more deserve grace than you can plan you own surprise party…the minute you think you deserve it, the it you think you deserve is no longer grace. It is something you have earned. But grace can’t be earned.”[2] That’s the whole point. That grace can’t be earned.
The reason so many people are opposed to the church is not because of Jesus.
It’s not because of his message of peace and love. It’s because of us. We do a great job of receiving grace, but not a good job extending it. If you look at organized religion today, you’ll notice we tend toward becoming a “graceless religion.” Again to use Andy’s words, “Instead of defining itself in terms of what it stands for, the church often takes the less imaginative and easier path of defining itself in terms of what it is against.”[3] We like to tell people what we are against. Throughout the church’s history we have made bold statements about what we are against, only to later realize how wrong we were. We’ve stood against interracial marriage. For that matter we stood against racial equality. We’ve stood against women in leadership positions in the church. Again, we’ve stood against gender equality. But instead of focusing on the things we are against, why don’t we focus instead on the things we believe in. Instead of condemning people for being different than we are, why don’t we embrace them for the things we hold in common, like being human beings. Christianity didn’t become the world’s largest religion because of what we stood against, but because of what we stood for. We stood for caring for the sick, so we built hospitals. We stood for helping people get ahead in life, so we built schools and universities. We stood for people deserving affordable houses so we started Habitat for Humanity. We stood for helping the poor and the needy so we built shelters and food banks. We helped others, not because they paid us to. Not because they did something for us. But because there was a need and we filled it. THAT is what it means for us to extend the grace of God – helping others not because they deserve it, but because we want to show them the grace that God has given to us by offering grace ourselves. We can talk about grace in so many ways – in the arts like with Mikhail Baryshnikov, in finance where it’s really mercy more than grace – but this is the greatest grace there is.
One of my favorite stories of grace comes from Francis Chan.
He’s another pastor and writer and I was at a conference where he gave this tremendous story about grace. It was about his daughter. His daughter had done poorly on a test. She had gotten a “C” and I love the way he described it. He said, “It’s like getting an Asian ‘F.’ Asian kids aren’t supposed to get “C’s.” So his daughter’s friends were asking her, “So what’s he going to do to you?” “What’s he going to do to you?” as if he was going to take her out behind the woodshed or something. So when he picked her up from school that afternoon, she got in the car and told him about the grade. And instead of getting mad, or getting upset, or giving her a punishment, he said, “Okay. Let’s go get some ice cream.” Instead of punishing her or lecturing her as she felt she deserved, he not only forgave her, but then added on top of that the ice cream! The next day at school when she told her friends about what had happened, the other kids all said, “I wish I had your dad.” This week, I want to challenge you to show the grace of God to someone in your life. Someone who maybe deserves your wrath, your anger, or your justice, like the guy who cuts you off on the highway or the knucklehead who gets your coffee order wrong or maybe one of your kids or your spouse who makes a mistake that maybe they should have known better. Instead of giving them “justice,” not only show them mercy but extend to them God’s grace. Go above and beyond what’s needed or expected to do something out of kindness and love and thereby passing the grace of God forward. Sometimes we are like Francis Chan and we are put in situations where we can show justice, mercy, or grace, and it’s up to us to choose. Any of those things would be technically right, but only one is going to make people say, “I wish I had your dad.” Some times we need to share about the grace of God with others so that they CAN say that and realize that the Dad we have in Heaven is a pretty awesome dad indeed. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] http://www.gotquestions.org/grace-of-God.html
[2] Andy Stanley, The Grace of God, p. xiii-xiv.
[3] Ibid, p.xiv.
A Single Word
“What’s in a name?”
“That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” I had to memorize that passage from Romeo and Juliet for Freshman English in high school. I’m guessing I’m not the only one. And I understand the sentiment the great playwright is trying to make; that labels don’t change who we are, but I’ve got to say Shakespeare kind of got it wrong. A label can stick to a person for their entire life whether it’s true or not! The words we use CAN make a difference. Sometimes a huge one. They can build us up and tear us down. They can create division between friends, between lovers, between entire segments of society. A speech can inspire people to march for civil rights or incite others to riot against their nation. Words can unite or turn people against one another. Listen to these quotes and guess who they might be referring to. “They’re stealing our jobs!” “They’re stealing our women!” “They’ll change our culture!” “Why don’t they just go home?” Today, you might think these quotes are about Mexican immigrants or Muslim or even Jewish people with antisemitism on the rise once again. But these are the words said about the Japanese when they first started to immigrate to America. Ironically, it’s also the same words used about the Chinese when THEY first came to America. And believe it or not, it’s the SAME WORDS used to talk about the Italians, the Irish, the Germans, the Russians, and the Polish when THEY first started coming to America. And in each of those instances the public was turned against those groups and some of the negative stereotypes about each one still sticks with us today. Here are some of the headlines used when Japanese immigration was at its peak in the early 20th century.
- Japanese a Menace to American Women
- Japanese Throttle Progress in the Rich Fruit Section – Actually they didn’t use the term “Japanese.” You can guess what word they used instead.
- Brown Asiatics Steal Brains of Whites – That’s one of my favorites.
It’s ridiculous, but people believed it! And it created negative images of these new immigrants to our shores. Again, images that haunt us even now.
Words can hurt.
And words have power. With a single word, you can alienate someone, make them feel as if they don’t belong, or even reinforce age-old ideas about racial superiority based on nothing more than skin color. Words like “Oriental” and “Negro” while at one time common ways to describe people have become outdated and in their outdated-ness sometimes have negative connotations. When I hear the word “Oriental,” I don’t think of myself. I think of some caricature of a dude with slanted eyes, a triangular hat, wearing some gold-laced print shirt that’s too big with matching pants. So admittedly I’m offended when other people refer to me as “Oriental” because it reinforces this old stereotype and belittles me and people like me. Is it really that hard to honor how other people feel? Is it that big of a deal to use a different word than the one you’re used to in describing someone? Words have power and our passage today reinforces that idea. James, the brother of Jesus, was trying to warn the church not to take what we say casually. That we can cause far more damage than we realize when we aren’t careful with our words. This is how he put it.
Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.
3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.
7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.
9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. – James 3:1-12
Our praise is meaningless if we can’t control our tongues.
We can’t lift up praise to God and with the same mouth belittle others. Not if we want our praise to mean something. A salt spring cannot produce fresh water. The tongue might seem to be a little thing, but by itself it can be devastating. And it doesn’t even have to be intentional. Sometimes people can say things that seem innocuous but actually perpetuate systems of racial inequality. Being born Asian, I’ve had more than one person come up to me and say, “You speak really good English.” To this day, I don’t know how to respond to that. First of all, they should have said I speak English well, let’s be grammatically correct. But more importantly, they weren’t complimenting my use of grammar or my sentence structure. They were implying, “You speak really good English…for an Oriental.” People don’t realize how insulting that is or how it points out that somehow you aren’t normal, that being Asian somehow means not being a “real American.”
It’s called racial microaggression.
And it’s defined as “the brief and everyday slights, insults, indignities and denigrating messages sent to people of color by well-intentioned…people who are unaware of the hidden messages being communicated.”[1] Phrases like “What are you?” or “Where do you come from?” imply that you don’t belong. What’s worse is when you answer honestly and the person persists, “No, where do you REALLY come from? Where were you born?” It’s just a constant reminder that you aren’t one of us. These microaggressions don’t even have to be verbal. They can be non-verbal like when someone looks at you cross ways or clutches their purse more tightly as they walk by. They can be environmental like the flying of a Confederate flag or doing the tomahawk chop at a baseball game. You might think, “well those things are trivial. Stop being so sensitive.” And I’ve actually heard those types of responses, but microaggression is anything but trivial and people who don’t pay attention to it are being insensitive. In his research on racial microaggression, Dr. Sue, a leading expert on the topic, found that these tiny insults affect our mental health, create a hostile climate, perpetuate stereotypes, devalue people of color, and create inequities in education, employment, and health care.[2] And that’s only partially how they affect us and the world around us. We need to be alert to our own microaggressions and our own unintended biases. We all have them. We need to be open to hearing about them and doing something to correct it when we find out. We have to stop assuming the world around us is just “too sensitive” or “too PC” and instead do something about it.
What are you willing to do?
Change is tough. There’s no doubt about that. And people are more resistant to change than you might imagine. We like to believe we’re capable of it, but many people struggle with it. The same reason we have problems changing church culture is the same reason we are having problems changing systems of racial injustice. We don’t like to change. If church, if society, if LIFE is working for YOU, why bother? It takes brave people who not only have the courage to face their own shortcomings, but to work to do something about it. Who have to be willing to overturn the apple cart and sacrifice some of the privilege they have to make the whole world better. Dr. Sue wrote that it’s really hard to get people to correct microaggressions (racial or otherwise) because they are often unconscious of it. They don’t even think about it because it’s not overtly racist (or sexist or gender-centric), and often they believe they are good, moral people – which in general they probably are. When people point out these microaggressions, most of us react defensively because it creates a tension between this image we have of ourselves as a “good” person and one where we, even unintentionally, are contributing to oppressive systems.
But God gave you two ears and one tongue for a reason.
As the philosopher Epictetus said, it’s so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. And I can’t think of a more important time to remember those words. Whether its race, gender, gender identity, or sexual identity, we need to remember words matter. Words can have great power and as Spider-Man taught us, with great power comes great responsibility. And a word’s meaning changes over time. What might not have been offensive ten, twenty, fifty years ago, might be especially offensive now. In our day and age, we need to be cognizant of how we use them. We need to do some mirror-gazing and be willing to accept we still have work to do on ourselves. We’re going to make mistakes. But there’s grace and forgiveness for all. I’m still getting used to how best to use pronouns and hope someone comes up with a better system and quick! No one expects us to be perfect, but we should always be working toward perfection. It doesn’t matter how old you are, we all have room to grow. But to me, that’s what makes life exciting! There’s always something new to learn, always more that we can do, and always a way to make the world a better place. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] I did leave out the word “white” because I don’t think you have to be white to level a racial microaggression. But the article is very helpful and well-written. https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/microaggressions-in-everyday-life/201010/racial-microaggressions-in-everyday-life
[2] Ibid.
Good Things Come in Small Packages
Selections from Matthew 9 and 10
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
“He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.” – Matthew 9:35-10:7, 10:39-42
Twelve people. That’s all it took to change the world.
Jesus picked twelve people to deliver his message of hope and love and today more than 2.5 billion people consider themselves Christians.[1] Just twelve. He sent them out to minister to those in need without money, a suitcase, a change of clothes, or reservations at a nearby hotel. They didn’t have a support staff to help make arrangements for their arrival. They didn’t have a marketing team or social media to promote who they were or what they planned on doing. Literally, all they had were the clothes on their backs. This morning, I have with me my Bible, my iPhone, my laptop, a watch, pen and paper. And I just live down the street. Can you imagine trusting God so much that you would carry nothing with you but your clothes? Christ told them to trust in the Lord to provide for their needs because “the worker is worth his keep.” And so they did. Just twelve people. And it’s not like there were tons of Christians around that they could go and stay with. These were the FIRST twelve so they were pretty much on their own. Now, we have churches with anywhere from a handful of members to literally tens of thousands. But these twelve people stepped out in faith and were willing to do God’s work and together they changed the course of history.
I wonder if those early disciples could see some of our churches today what they would think?
Could you imagine being Peter or John and walking into a mega-church or a giga-church like Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church or Adam Hamilton’s Church of the Resurrection where literally thousands of people are all gathering together and worshipping God? I’ve been in places like that, and I have to tell you there is something incredibly powerful being in a room the size of a concert hall where everyone is singing, praying, and listening to the Word of God together. It makes you feel connected to a much bigger movement in the world and can make you feel Christianity is powerful and growing. But as many people in church circles are discovering, bigger isn’t always better. Bigger isn’t always better. Bigger doesn’t mean that you are more in touch with God. Bigger doesn’t mean Christ will come into your life in a deeper way. There is a reason why most of these mega-churches heavily rely on small group ministries. There’s a reason why they want you to get involved in Sunday School, in mission work, in local charities. It’s because God doesn’t appear to us in anonymity. God is reaching out all the time to you, to me, and to all of us, but if all you do every week is walk into a mega-church, pick up a hymnal, sing a song, and leave, do you know Christ any better than you know Paul McCartney or Beyonce? Christ walks with you every day and everywhere. He wants to have a deeper relationship with you beyond a once-a-week, 20-minute sermon. He wants you to know him and to experience His love for you firsthand. Big churches mean more people and more resources, but that doesn’t mean that small churches can’t do big things, too.
Size alone is not a measure of worth to God.
Size alone is not a measure of worth to God. If God only cared about size or wealth or prestige or any of the other things the world generally measures “success” by, he never would have chosen Israel to be his chosen people. Abraham and his children would have been just any family of Joe Schmoes wandering the desert. Moses himself told the assembled peoples of Israel in Deuteronomy,“The Lord did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8). We see in the Bible, time and time again how true this statement is; God does not pick the mightiest or the smartest or the strongest of people to be his messengers. Often, they are normal, flawed people like you and me. Take for example the story of Samuel. If you remember, God rejects Saul as King of Israel and tells Samuel to go looking for a new one. During his search he goes to meet Jesse of Bethlehem and immediately, he thinks he’s found the new king in Eliab, Jesse’s oldest son, but the Lord hears Samuel’s thoughts and says to him in 1 Samuel 16:7, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at outward appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.” So, in a scene reminiscent of Cinderella[2], Samuel asks to see each of Jesse’s other sons. But as each one walks by, God says “Nope, not the one.” And after all of Jesse’s oldest sons walk by and the Lord rejecting them all, Samuel asks “Are these all the sons you have?” and Jesse admits, “There is one more, but he’s out in the back tending the sheep.” Tending the sheep! Could there BE any clearer sign for Samuel? It was like the glass slipper fit right on this youngest son’s foot. And when the youngest son walks in, God tells Samuel, “That’s the one.” And so began the reign of King David, slayer of Goliath and long considered the greatest king of the Israeli people. David wasn’t the biggest or the oldest or the smartest nor was he free of sin, but God did say that David was a man after His own heart, and THAT’S what was important to God. His heart, not his size.
In our earlier reading, we heard about Gideon, one of God’s heroes.
In fact, I would say one of God’s first superheroes. If there were comic books back in those days, he certainly would have been up there with the Avengers and Batman. They would have called him The Amazing Gideon or The Incredible Gideon or something like that. Gideon is one of my favorite characters in the Bible because to me, Gideon is the everyman. He has doubts. His faith doesn’t come easy. He feels unworthy. And he’s afraid of failing. When the angel appeared, Gideon even said, “But Lord, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” But God tells Gideon, “I will be with you…” So God puts Gideon in charge of saving Israel from the Midianites, who are not a small clan and an incredibly violent one. By this time, the Israelites have had to hide out in caves in the mountains to try and avoid them. To make it worse, the Midianites teamed up with the Amalekites and a bunch of other people. The Bible says there were so many of them that they were “thick as locusts” and that “their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.”[3] So Gideon calls up an army of 32,000 men hoping that’s enough to defeat these overwhelming odds, and God tells him, “That’s too many.” Now if I were Gideon, I’d be thinking God was kidding. But instead, Gideon tells them if they have fear they may leave, and 22,000 go away. I wonder how many of us would have been in that 22,000. And then the Lord says, “Still too many.” And he tells Gideon to divide them up by how they drink at the river. In the end, Gideon is left with 300 men. That’s it. 300. To take on the grains of sand on the seashore. And you know what? He wins. Gideon, this guy who threshes wheat, who has doubts, and who is afraid of failing. This guy who is the least of his family in the weakest clan of Manasseh. Because it’s not size that matters to God, but your heart.
Inspiration doesn’t just come only from the Bible, though.
God gives us many real-life stories to learn from. too. When I was in seminary, there was a small-church of 86 members who started a program to feed every school-aged child during the summer for six-weeks. [4] St. Andrews UMC saw a need in the community and wanted to fill it. They petitioned for assistance from the county and were told that if they were willing to commit to the project, the county would, too. They did. And within a short time, St. Andrews was sponsoring 7 different food locations around one of the poorest counties in the state. Every child who needed a meal got one five days a week, for six weeks. Soon, other churches from all different denominations and even the local community center all pitched in to help out. And this little church of 86 people was able to pass out 6,000 meals to hungry children. They weren’t a huge mega-church or a giant corporation with millions of dollars, but a small family of God reaching out to the community. They didn’t have a lot of resources, but they had a heart for God and a desire to help their fellow human beings, and through their effort, they were able to bring the light of Christ to the lives of these children. Our God is a God of miracles and He lives in the world today. God can work wonders in you, too. If we keep God as the central focus of our lives and our church, He will help us grow and be effective stewards of His will in the world. You don’t have to BE big to do big things you just have to have a BIG heart. Just remember, every big thing started out small. Rick Warren’s church of 30,000 people started off with just him and his wife. Gideon had only 300 men and they took on an army! St. Andrews UMC had 86 members and passed out 6,000 meals in 6 weeks. And just remember, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, called to him only 12 people who forever changed the world.
[1] https://goodfaithmedia.org/global-christian-population-projected-to-reach-3-3-billion-by-2050/#:~:text=The%202%2C604%2C381%2C000%20estimate%20for%20mid,than%20the%202022%20report’s%20estimates.
[2] http://www.asails.freeserve.co.uk/King%20Eliab.htm. Rev. Andrew Sails used the Cinderella reference in a sermon on a completely different subject, but it was such a clever comparison, I wanted to use it.
[3] Judges 7:12
[4] Sybil Davidson, “Small-membership church leads effort to feed kids county-wide,” 8/18/2006.
Michael Jordan…A Failure?
How can failure make you great?
Michael Jordan is perhaps the greatest basketball player of all time. There are others you could argue might be better or at least on a level with him – Lebron, Magic, or Kobe come to mind, Steph is one who approaches that level – but Jordan is one of the best if not THE best of them all. He led his team to six world championships and a world record 72-game winning season at the time (now 73 thanks to Steph Curry’s Golden State Warriors). He has won the league MVP five times, been in 14 All-Star games, elected All-Star MVP three times, elected NBA Finals MVP all six times his team won, and led the league in scoring 10 times. Yet Michael Jordan has failed over and over again. The mistake that is easy to make is to think failing makes you a failure. Failing does not make you a failure. In fact, it can make you great. Jordan cites all those times he didn’t come through as the reason for his success. He once said, “I’ve missed more than nine thousand shots in my career. I’ve lost almost three hundred games. Twenty-six times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”[1]
Jordan is not alone in succeeding through failure.
Walt Disney was once fired from a newspaper job for “lacking imagination and having no good ideas.” Thomas Edison was told he was “too stupid to learn anything.” And a man named Akio Morita once made a rice cooker that couldn’t cook rice. He only sold 100 of them. But Akio didn’t give up. Instead he founded Sony, a company known for their high-quality work.[2] All of these men failed, yet all of them are considered unqualified successes because they didn’t let their failure impede their progress. To them failure wasn’t a limitation, it was an opportunity to find another way to succeed. We all have limitations.We don’t have enough money. We don’t have enough time. We don’t have enough resources. But the difference between success and failure is in how we perceive those limitations. Instead of looking at it as a barrier, those who are successful see it as a learning moment. They don’t see failure as a statement about their ability, but as a necessary step TOWARD success. Thomas Edison made the remark, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”[3] No matter what we do in life, whether it’s a new job, a new hobby, a new way of doing things, we are likely to bump into our fair share of failure. We only BECOME failures when we allow these bumps in the road to stop us from doing what we need to or should do.
The apostles didn’t allow anything to stop them in their mission.
They faced the same problems in THEIR ministry as we do in ours – a lack of money, a lack of resources, and a sense that time was running out. But instead of looking at these as limitations, they found a way to accomplish their goals despite them. This passage below takes place not long after Jesus has returned to Heaven. The Holy Spirit has descended upon the disciples and has empowered them. And with this newfound power, they go out into the world and begin to make new disciples for Christ. These new believers are so overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit that they form a fellowship that cares for one another and looks after one another in remarkable ways. So the passage we’re about to read is about the conversion of this beggar who sits at the gate.
One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. 2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. 3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. 4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” 5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” 7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. 8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. 9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. – Acts 3:1-9
The miracle is the first thing that stands out, but there is more to the story.
A lame beggar is sitting at the gate to the temple courts and as Peter and John are walking by he asks for some money. But instead of giving him money, Peter heals the man’s leg! This man who has never been able to walk before is able to get up and jump up and down. The man instantly praises God. His first act after receiving this gift is to praise God. Most of us would say THAT was remarkable. But consider this. In his book “It” Craig Groeschel asked this question: what if Peter and John DID have money? Peter says, “Silver or gold I do NOT have, but what I do have I give you.” If they had money, would they have given this man what he asked for instead of what was needed? Would they have been challenged to meet the man’s REAL needs? Perhaps THAT is the most remarkable thing, that it is sometimes in the limitations that we find the most blessing. Sometimes it is in the limitations that we find the most blessing. Peter and John didn’t give up trying to help the beggar. They didn’t ignore him or say “Sorry I don’t have any money to spare.” They gave him what they could and it turns out what he really needed – the healing power of Christ.
Do we challenge ourselves to overcome our limitations like Peter and John?
Or do we use them as an excuse for not doing what needs to be done? Limited resources, limited number of people, and limited in physical ability shouldn’t be impediments, but simply define for us our boundaries. It shouldn’t stop us from doing effective ministry, but instead give us a framework to do it in. The disciples certainly were poor and small in number. Maybe they had more physical ability than we do (definitely more than me), being mostly fisherman or people who did manual labor, but there are lots of things they didn’t have that we do today. A building for example. A piano or organ. Pews for sitting down. A stove for cooking food. Running water, air conditioning, a speaker system. There are lots of things they didn’t have and yet they changed the world. If our challenge is to fulfill the Great Commission then we have to challenge ourselves to ask what are WE doing to do our part? We cannot allow our limitations to prevent us from doing what needs to be done. We can’t allow our history, our personal preferences and our likes and dislikes hold us back from achieving for God what needs to be achieved, or we are guilty of being failures instead of people who fail. Because everybody fails. It’s what you do with your failure that determines your success.
It’s easy to make excuses. It’s better to find solutions.
We cannot afford to become complacent in our lives or in our ministry. We have to always do “the next thing.” Not the “popular thing” but the “next thing,” whatever that “next thing” is. For our church is the “next thing” that meets the needs of our community and allows us to show them the love of Christ. When Walt Disney created Disneyland, he wanted to create a place that families could take their kids that would be clean, fun, safe, and magical and where they could do things together. When Disneyland opened in 1955 it hosted 50,000 people on that first day. Certainly, most would have considered that a success. In fact, in it’s first operating year alone, Disneyland had over a million visitors. Walt could have stopped there. Certainly, people would have come for quite some time as people did. But Walt never stopped tinkering with the Park. He once said, “Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world.” He constantly challenged himself to do the “next thing” what he called “plussing it.” Last year, Disney theme parks had more than 157 million visitors.[4] It is too easy for us to settle into old routines and habits and call them traditions. We have to not only be willing to change, but be the catalysts for change in our communities. Like Peter and John, we have to figure what it is that people need and give them that, and in the giving show the love and power of Christ.
Sometimes we are our own worst enemies. We find ways to defeat ourselves before we even begin.
We imagine we can’t do something so we don’t even try. We imagine we won’t like something, so we don’t even give it a chance. But there’s more than one way to fail. Wayne Gretsky, perhaps the greatest hockey player of all time, said, “You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” How can we learn and grow from our mistakes if we’re too timid to make any? The fear of failure in itself becomes an impediment to our success. It becomes a limitation we put on ourselves. I want to challenge you as we reflect upon what it is that holds you back, in your personal life, in your career, in your faith. What is it that prevents you from doing the “next thing” and can you overcome that limitation? Because I believe you can. I believe we all can. I don’t think it’s easy and I do think it will likely take us failing a number of times before we find what works, but it is within you. The goal is to keep trying and IF we fail to learn from the failure. Michael Jordan failed making more than 9,000 shots. Walt Disney got fired for lacking imagination. And Thomas Edison had to discover 10,000 ways to fail before inventing the light bulb. And a man who made a rice cooker that couldn’t cook rice founded a company that made nearly 80 BILLION dollars last year[5] and employed over 114,000 people.[6] Not a bad way to find success in failure. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
[1] Craig Groeschel, It, p. 112.
[2] http://www.creativitypost.com/psychology/famous_failures
[3] http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/failure
[4] https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/most-popular-theme-parks-world-2018/index.html
[5] https://www.statista.com/statistics/279269/total-revenue-of-sony-since-2008/
[6] https://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/csr_report/employees/info/
Equal In All Things
23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.
26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. – Galatians 3:22-29
I want to share a little bit with you about my mom.
My mom is great. She was the “cool mom.” All the neighborhood kids knew her. Whenever we had study groups, she would always offer our home as base camp. When we were studying for the SATs, we pulled a couple of all-nighters, and my mom let my friends crash at our house. She would always bring out the popcorn, chips, and soda for everyone, and there were times I wondered if my friends actually liked me or just my mom. She listened to top 40 music, watched the movies we liked to watch, and followed along with all of our TV shows. But it was my mom who got me into the Beatles. She had both the Red and Blue albums and I’d listen to them over and over. She also introduced me to Star Trek, Tommy’s Hamburgers, Tagliarini Casserole, and so much more. She was so influential to my life, that it’s hard for me to understand there are people out there who think less of my mom, simply because she’s a woman.
Sexism is alive and well in the 21st century.
Even in the church. There are still people today who believe women should not be church leaders. They think women should stay silent. They don’t belong as pastors and preachers. And worse they use the Bible to justify it. It’s not enough they quote Ephesians to tell women they should be subservient to their husbands or how they’ve used the Bible to justify the physical abuse many women have suffered over the years. But they also use the Bible to tell women how to behave inside the walls of the church. 1 Corinthians 11 – women should cover their heads. 1 Corinthians 14 – women should remain silent in church and bow to the wisdom of their husbands. 1 Timothy 2 – women do not have permission to teach a man or to have authority over him.
But the author of those passages is the same one who wrote the letter to the church in Galatia.
This is the same guy who said we are all equal before God. That there is no Jew nor Greek, no slave nor free, no man nor woman in Christ Jesus. The Apostle Paul says very clearly that in all things we are equal before God. So how do we square these two versions of Paul? By understanding first what Paul did and then understanding the context of what he wrote.
We know just from reading Scripture that women were essential to Israel.
Many had high leadership positions and held great influence among the Israeli people. Take for example, Deborah from the book of Judges in the Old Testament. Deborah was favored by God and even spoke to her. It was Deborah who led the Israelites to victory against Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite armies. It was Deborah who gave Israel their freedom. And Barak, the leader of Israel’s armies, even bowed down in submission to her. The Bible tells us, “Village life in Israel ceased, ceased until you, Deborah, arose, arose a mother in Israel.” (Judges 5:7) Even Paul himself relied on women in his own ministry and they were instrumental in launching the Christian movement. Scholars believe Phoebe was considered a deacon in this new faith community and was likely the person Paul entrusted to deliver the letter to the church in Rome.[1] Priscilla and her husband would teach others about the fullness of God, and Priscilla even taught Apollos, a man who was considered a great follower of Jesus. And then there was Junia who was called an apostle of Christ. A woman on equal footing with the other apostles. Her name in the letter to the Romans (16:7) had long been translated as “Junias,” a male name until the correct translation was found in recently discovered documents. Scholars believe it was mistranslated out of prejudice against women. Early translators could not believe Paul would consider a woman to be worthy of being an apostle so they changed the name, much like you might have Roberta changed to Robert or Gabriela into Gabriel. For a woman to be called an apostle, especially by Paul, would have upset the entire structure of the church which relied on the weaponization of Scripture to suppress those they didn’t want in power. But if Paul did value women as leaders in the church, why did he go and write those passages that made it seem like he didn’t? Scholars today believe those negative passages weren’t mean to be a blanket statement against all women or even most women, but instead were meant to apply to specific churches at specific times. But for too long, we have taken his writing out of context and used it to suppress women as teachers in the church even when they have proven to have been effective in the role.
Speaking of which, there is an amazing woman who exhibited a gift for teaching God’s word.
Susanna Wesley, mother of all 19 children in the Wesley clan, was a person God used in a strong way to share the good news of Christ – especially in the life of young John and his brother Charles. [2] While her husband, Samuel was away in London she had begun to read to her children and teach them about the Bible as a supplement to what they heard in church. Her servants told Samuel’s parents about this, and they came to hear. They were so impressed with her lessons that they told their friends as well, and soon the number of people who came regularly to Mrs. Wesley’s lessons numbered in the hundreds. Over 200 to be exact which upset the curate to no end who had fewer people attending worship than Mrs. Wesley, a WOMAN, was receiving in her own home. He wrote a complaint to her husband, Samuel who responded by telling Susanna that it was his desire for her to stop. She wrote back, telling him “what good the meetings had done, and that none were opposed to them but Mr. Inman (the curate) and one other. She then concluded (her letter) with these wonderful sentences: ‘If after all this you think fit to dissolve this assembly do not tell me you desire me to do it, for that will not satisfy my conscience; but send your positive command in such full and express terms as may absolve me from all guilt and punishment for neglecting this opportunity for doing good when you and I shall appear before the great and awful tribunal of our Lord Jesus Christ.’” Needless to say, Samuel didn’t send any such command. You could say Susanna was Methodism’s first female pastor.
Anyone who reads the Bible knows women play an important role in the shape of our faith today.
Mary, mother of Jesus; Mary Magdalene; Ruth; Esther; just to name a few. But it doesn’t take much to also know that women were often mistreated, even by people we read about in the Bible. There are many stories that tell of horrible things having been done to women and how little society thought of them. But in none of those stories does Jesus ever support that kind of thinking, nor did he ever treat women in that way. In fact, Jesus treated women with dignity and respect which was a revolutionary attitude in his time. He was always progressive in his thinking compared to the world around him. He was constantly challenging the way things were for the way they should be. We need to carry on his legacy to make this world a better place for all of God’s creation. When one of us is diminished, we all are. And we would be fooling ourselves if we thought women were truly equal to men, even in America let alone the world. Let’s just look at one measurement of equity – the pay gap. Equal Pay Day this year was March 14th. That means on average, it takes a woman two and a half extra months to make as much money as a man. That number hasn’t significantly changed in 20 years. Even when accounting for variables like child care, flexible hours, taking time off for childcare, etc. women still make 8% less than men in the same job. According to the World Economic Forum, it will take 135 years for women to reach global gender parity. 135 years.
This isn’t a simple task.
But then nothing worthwhile ever is. We have to do better as a society in how we treat each other. And believe it or not, that begins with you and me. You might not feel like you’re in a position to do much to solve the world’s problems; you can’t solve the pay gap by yourself or stop every instance of gender discrimination that happens around the globe; but it takes millions of tiny steps, one at a time to make the world a better place. And that is something anyone can do. You can start by making sure to treat people with dignity. To value them, not to degrade them. To treat them as persons of equal worth as Christ would. And to make conscious choices to support women and women’s rights whenever you have the chance. By ourselves we barely move the needle, but together we can shove it to where it needs to be. Today, start with simply honoring the women in your lives – the daughters and granddaughters you hope will have the chance to live up to their potential, the wives and partners who face discrimination and lost opportunity just for being women, and of course the moms in our lives who nurtured and raised us just out of the love in their heart. Whether they are your biological mother, your adoptive mother, your grandmother, your friend who was like a mother to you, make sure you let them know how important they are and how much you love them. We can make a difference, one small step at a time.
[1] Archaeological Study Bible, p. 1860.
Craig's Corner 