The Lasting Power of Casserole
What images come to mind when you hear the word “church?”
If you’re like most people, you probably think of a building with a steeple on top and a cross towering high overhead. You might picture stained glass windows or pews or a preacher. Maybe pulpits and potluck dinners. A lot of things with the letter “p.” But none of those things are “church.” Church is another “p” word – people. The church is a people instead of a place. The word “church” comes from the Greek ekklesia or “assembly.” It has nothing to do with a building and it doesn’t have any special definition beyond that….until Jesus gave it one. When Jesus asked Simon who he was and Simon said, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God,” Jesus responded, “…I tell you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my ekklesia… my church…” In that moment, the word ekklesia gathered a new meaning, because Jesus wasn’t talking about any assembly of people. He was talking about HIS assembly – the children of God.
But before you let that go to your heads, think about this.
Being the children of God and acting like it are two totally different things. It goes back to what we’ve shared before, “Being in church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than being in a garage makes you a car.”[1] So what does it actually mean to be the church? When we recite the Apostles’ Creed, we say we believe in the “holy catholic church” and the “communion of saints” but it doesn’t take a long, meaningful look at church history to realize there were plenty of times we didn’t act very holy or saint-like. Those words meant something different when the creed was written. Back then, “Holy” simply meant “sacred to” or “set apart for” and in our case holy means we are people who recognize we are set apart for God. That doesn’t mean God has a gold star next to our name and it certainly doesn’t mean we are perfect. It is just our recognition that our lives are devoted to God and not the other way around. As Adam Hamilton wrote in his book, Creed, the church is holy “when those who consider the church home don’t ask ‘What do we want our church to do for us?’ but rather ‘What does God want his church to do for him?’”[2] The same thing is true for the word “saint.” “Saint” is derived from the Greek hagios which is often translated as “holy.” It simply refers to a person who acts as if their life belongs to God.
That is the work God calls on us to do as his people.
To be devoted to God. We are supposed to be the people of God in the world, but even our perception of “church” has evolved over the years. It’s flipped from its original meaning. Today it’s more about a place than a people. But that’s not at all the way God meant for it to be. Back in the days of the disciples, they didn’t have a regular place of worship unless it was the temple. Interesting note: Today we define a “regular churchgoer” as someone who attends more than once a month but back then they would go twice in one day! First to the temple and then to the gathering of God’s people, usually in someone’s home. God’s idea of church was something inside of us. His ekklesia was wherever they were gathered not in a location as Peter wrote in his first letter to the church.
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. – 1 Peter 2:4-5, 9-10
YOU are the church!
Like the words to that classic hymn, “I am the church, YOU are the church, WE are the church together.” And that’s what Peter was trying to make clear to the Christ followers of his time. He told them God was building them up not from the outside but from the inside. He was telling them, yes, God is building his church, but it isn’t a place but a people. The spiritual house God is building starts with Jesus as the cornerstone and each one of us are the brick and mortar of this never-ending structure known as the people of God. In my head, I picture a sort of Winchester House for Jesus, a building always under construction, shaped by the people who comprise it. If you’ve ever been to the Winchester House, you know Sarah Winchester had the superstitious belief that construction on the house must be never-ending to appease the spirits of those killed from the rifles made by her husband’s rifle company. Legend has it that Mrs. Winchester never stopped adding to her house, constantly adding new features, rooms, and adornments throughout her life. That sense of never-ending construction of God’s house is how I picture each of us being worked on all throughout our lives; to become better disciples of Christ and to add to the beauty of the spiritual house we call the church.
Too often church becomes simplified to a building.
And we forget that WE are the actual church. How we act, how we behave, says more than the building itself. When I was in seminary, one of my fellow pastors told us about a congregation he knew of that split over a couch. By all measures, it was an ugly couch. It was lopsided. It had lumps. It was an eyesore to most. But it was donated by a beloved member who had a lot of family who came to that place. For years, no one said anything but finally someone suggested they replace it with a new couch and almost immediately people took sides – those who wanted to keep it and those who wanted to get rid of it. In the end, they couldn’t resolve their differences and they split the church in two. Over an ugly couch. It’s one of the reasons why I am opposed to putting plaques on things. I don’t know why we feel the need to memorialize someone by putting a metal plaque on some object. It just makes it five times harder to get rid of when it’s time. You know the old saying about not naming your food? It’s doubly true for the church. We just can’t let it go if it has a name on it.
For me, church became real in the power of a casserole.
For all the knowledge I had gained about what it meant to be a follower of Christ, it took on new life in a casserole dish. When Cassie gave birth to Emma, the families belonging to our Sunday School group all took turns and brought food to us for the entire week. THE ENTIRE WEEK! And there was always enough for leftovers so I pretty much didn’t have to cook or make anything at all. And they didn’t just bring casserole, but chicken and spaghetti and lasagna and other dishes so we had a variety every single day. And it wasn’t just the main course either. They brought salads, veggies, and even dessert. Pretty much all I supplied was the milk. We hadn’t asked for the help, but that made it all the more meaningful. They anticipated our need before we even expressed it. It gave me more time to dote on Cassie and our new baby girl, Emma. It gave me time to make sure Eve was doing okay and to spend time with her, too. It was just a tremendous blessing to our family. These people not only WENT to church, but they WERE the church. And that’s what I believe God calls on all of us to do – to be the church in the world today.
What we do every Sunday is important.
And it is such a blessing we get to gather in as nice a place as this. Worship is the heartbeat of what we do. It sets the tone for the week. It’s a time to draw closer to God. And if it wasn’t for a worship service that touched my heart, I don’t think I would have stayed around long enough to know the God that loves me the way I do today. Good sermons teased my brain about who God was and gave me the confidence to keep asking questions. Incredible music uplifted my spirit and revealed God to me in a new and different way. Praying, giving, helping out in worship, all of it helped me to know God in a deeper more meaningful way. But it wasn’t the building that did those things. It was the people. The building was simply the place we did it. What we do as a church is important. But never forget this. Jesus didn’t give his life for us just so we could GO to church. He wanted us to BE the church, too.
[1] I wish I could claim credit for that snappy line, but I heard it from someone else and if I ever figure out who, I will give them full credit!
[2] Adam Hamilton, Creed, p. 108.
Happy Puppy Sermon
Jesus can be such a downer.
Not that it’s his fault. He led a pretty tragic life. Died at 32 for a crime he didn’t commit. Executed in the most brutal way possible at the time. Forced to carry the instrument of his own death. Mocked and ridiculed by the very people he tried to save. And even his closest friends abandoned him when things got tough. When a sliver of hope opened up and Pontius Pilate offered the people the chance to free one of the prisoners from death, the crowd chose Barabbas, a man condemned for murder and insurrection. As we come up to the Easter season, we tend to talk a lot about the death of Jesus and our own broken nature. About how horrible we are to one another. About how petty and small we can be. I look at the story about the crowds wanting to stone to death the adulterous woman and Jesus saying to them, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone,” and realizing none of us would qualify to do it. I would hope none of us would want to stone another living being but then I’m reminded of the hate crimes against the LGBTQ community, the Muslim community, and the Asian community for just being who they are. Or how Joseph’s own brothers were so jealous of him that they first plotted to kill him and then instead sold him into slavery and profited off his misery. And talking about being petty, I remember the story of the guy in the temple talking about how he is so much better than other people while disguising it as a prayer. And while each week, I hope you walk away feeling inspired and empowered to do amazing things in the name of Christ, it can be depressing to see how hurtful, petty, and selfish we can be. Every once in a while, we just need a reminder we are worthy of being loved. That God don’t make no junk.
Sometimes we need a sabbath day even in worship.
A day where we can simply rejoice in being the Children of God and remind ourselves of the God who loves us. We don’t want church to become a chore or a task – we have enough of those days during the week. The idea of constantly pushing yourself without taking a break is a part of our culture, as if taking time off means we aren’t committed or that we don’t have the same effort as someone else. But would you be surprised that idea isn’t something new? The Romans used to bad mouth the Jewish people for taking a sabbath day, characterizing them as lazy for doing so.[1] But today we know so much more about the idea of rest – rest from work, rest from computer screens, rest from social media[2] – the prescription is clear; we need rest. Normally when we talk about needing a break it usually is a reference to work life, and the statistics are clear. Men who don’t take a vacation are 30% more likely to suffer from a heart attack than men who do.[3] Working long hours in general increases mortality by 20%. There have also been associations between long work hours and type 2 diabetes, weight gain, and increased alcohol use.[4] But we need rest in other areas of life, too. Today’s message is just a happy puppy. It’s a message where the only purpose is to fill you with happiness and love. To remind you of the God who loves you. To walk away feeling as if you were surrounded by puppies.
There are so many inspirational passages in the Bible.
So many stories of hope and encouragement. If you have a Bible or a Bible app on your phones, please go to the book of Acts in the New Testament, chapter 4, verse 8. Acts 4:8. All throughout the Bible are stories of people coming from different circumstances who are given another chance, who are filled with doubt, and who are put into unusual positions. Gideon and Moses both doubted where God was leading them, but when they put their trust in the Lord, he turned them into powerful leaders. Deborah was lifted up as a leader of the Israeli people in a time when women were looked down upon but was so blessed by God even the men in her army bowed down to her. And the story of the criminal who was crucified next to Jesus might be the most inspirational of all. A man who led a life of bad enough to be sentenced to a horrible death, but who recognized Jesus as savior and Jesus offers him salvation. “You will be with me in paradise.” No one is past redemption. And everyone has hope for something better. Then we hear this story about Peter and John. Let me set up the story. Peter and John are passing by the temple telling everyone they meet about the glory of Jesus, and they see a beggar in front of the temple gate. The beggar, who was born unable to walk, asks for money, but instead Peter and John give him something more valuable, they heal him! The priests had Peter and John arrested and thrown in jail hoping to stem the tide of people who are coming to faith in Christ, but word spreads and the number of followers keeps growing. The next day they bring Peter and John in front of the temple leaders and ask them, “By what power or what name did you do this? (Acts 4:7)” And this is what happens next.
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. – Acts 4:8-22
How great would it be to know you are so loved you felt able to do anything!
Here they are, standing in front of the religious leaders who literally hold the power of life and death in front of them. They could have succumbed to pressure and just said or did what the priests wanted. But instead, they boldly proclaim that all they have done was in the name of Christ. And it works. The leaders are trapped. They can’t deny the miracle these two men have performed. The evidence is right there in the room with them. And so many people saw it. The courage of Peter and John inspires those who are witnessing these events, too. In the end, they just let them go. Peter and John were so filled with the Holy Spirit, they were so confident that they had a God who loved them, they were emboldened to do what most people would have been afraid to do. That’s what it is like to know you are loved by God.
I had a friend who thought she was unworthy of God’s love.
Maybe you know someone like that. Maybe you are that person. She thought she had done too much wrong in her life to ever be forgiven by God. And I’m not talking murder, theft, kidnapping or anything she would be arrested for. She just felt she had made too many mistakes in life and there was no hope for her and my pastor at the time reminded her, as I am reminding you, that you are worthy of God’s love. That you are worthy of God’s forgiveness. And that we all have a chance at redemption and salvation. When we realize this is true; when we understand deep in our hearts that Jesus loved us so much he gave his life for us, when we internalize the great love of God, we become as confident and bold as Peter and John.
Sabbath means rest, and we can all use that from time to time.
Even in church. As Ferris Bueller said at the end of his movie, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” In a way, that’s true in church, too. We need to stop occasionally and just reflect on how much God loves us. And how much we love God. It’s a different kind of sabbath but an important one. Not every message needs to remind us what we could be doing better or challenge us to do more. Sometimes we need to step back and simply know we are loved. And if you need a reminder, go hug a puppy.
[1] https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-quiet-revolution-of-the-sabbath
[2] https://summer.harvard.edu/blog/need-a-break-from-social-media-heres-why-you-should-and-how-to-do-it/#content
[3] https://www.howwegettonext.com/the-ideal-workweek-according-to-science/
The Blind Spot
Did you know you have a blind spot?
I don’t mean the area of your car you can’t see in your side view mirrors. I mean a literal blind spot right in front of your face. Apparently, everyone has one in each eye. It’s the spot where the retina and the optical nerve are joined together. Normally, you don’t notice because your other eye fills in the information to your brain, so you think you’re seeing everything, but literally there is a blind spot right in front of your face. You can find a simple experiment online so you can see this for yourself.[1] There are two spots on a piece of paper, a dot and a cross. If you cover your right eye and focus on the green dot and move your face toward the screen, there’s a certain distance where the red dot simply vanishes! Move just a centimeter closer or farther away and it reappears. Go to that one particular spot and the dot disappears. Because your mind can’t “fill in” the information for you, it appears white like the color surrounding it. Even though you KNOW it’s red, it fills it in with white. Your mind makes the best guess possible given the information it has. Even when reality is staring us in the face, there are times when we can’t see reality for what it is but instead what we perceive it to be.
We all have blind spots. And not just in front of our eyes, but in our hearts and minds as well.
If we can have literal blind spots, is it hard to believe we can have intellectual and emotional blind spots as well? Most of us have had a friend or family member who was dating someone they shouldn’t have. We could see it. Everyone around them could see it. But no matter what was said or done, they were blind to it. The same thing with ideas. I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the idea that Pluto is no longer a planet because that’s the way I grew up. It just became part of “the things we know.” There are nine planets in the solar system – not eight! When we believe in something – whether it’s a person or an idea, it’s tough to let it go, even if the evidence is staring you in the face. We will defend it even beyond reason, and faith is one of those hardcore beliefs. At some level, we realize how hard it is to convince people to abandon their faith in favor of another. Hinduism and Buddhism both began long before the birth of Christ and their vision of faith is radically different than our own. People of Islamic faith are a little bit closer. We at least share some of the same fundamental roots of our faith, but there are foundational differences where we can see why it would be hard for someone to suddenly believe Jesus was their Lord and Savior. But Judaism? What happened there?
Why didn’t Jews believe in Christ?
Of all the religions we’ve looked at, Christianity and Judaism have the most in common. In fact, we believe in the same God, we have the same ancestors, and up through the Old Testament, we even have the same Scripture. So why did the people of Israel not believe Jesus was the Son of God? First, we have to dispel that notion because obviously many of them did. There would be no Christianity if the Hebrew people didn’t believe in him. In fact, Hamilton estimates that 1/3rd of all Jewish people during that time came to faith in Christ. 33%! When you think how we were just talking about how hard it would be for someone to change their mind about faith, it’s a miracle in itself so many people believed Christ was the promised savior.
Put yourself in the shoes of an average, everyday Jewish person at the time of Christ.
You are not a free people. You have been conquered by the Roman Empire. And if it wasn’t the Romans, it would have been somebody else. Over the course of the history of your people, you have been conquered time and time again. Your kings have often failed you. But the one hope you cling to is God’s promise that one day…ONE DAY…your people would lead a Golden Age of the world. The prophets speak about a savior who would come and raise the banner of Israel high! He would lead them to become the powerhouse of the world! One day the people of Israel would defeat every enemy and all the people of the world would recognize that only Israel followed the one true God. In your head, you’ve grown up with the image of a savior who was this charismatic, brilliant, military leader, so when this young carpenter comes to your temple in Nazareth, reads the words of the great prophet Isaiah, and proclaims that the Scriptures are fulfilled in him, you’re probably thinking, you’ve got to be kidding! Isn’t this Mary and Joseph’s son? Who does he think he is? He doesn’t seem to be some brilliant, charismatic military leader. He’s just a carpenter’s son. Even if you had kept up with the goings on of Jesus, even if you had heard about some of the miracles, you probably would have dismissed them as being made up unless you were there. Think about the feeding of the 5,000. It’s not as if people saw this mountain of bread and fish fall from the skies. If you were in the crowd, you probably would have just seen these baskets being passed around and just assumed they had more than you thought. Only a very few saw the water turn into wine. Only those present saw Lazarus was actually dead and rose again. Sure, Jesus was a great teacher, but THE savior? He couldn’t even save himself! We often talk about the radical nature of Jesus’ ministry, but this is how radical it was. It defied nearly everything they believed in. Their understanding of good works, their understanding of the law, their understanding of God, and most importantly their understanding of their savior. Nearly everything Jesus taught was different from what they believed.
As if that wasn’t enough, his disciples began accepting Gentiles into the faith.
If Israel was God’s chosen people, then what does it mean when you let in a group of people who don’t follow the law, who aren’t circumcised, and who don’t study the Torah? The passage we’re about to read takes place after the Roman centurion Cornelius sends for Peter to come visit him. Cornelius is a man who despite being a Gentile was a devout follower of God. He obeyed God’s commandments and lived a life that honored God. So God sent an angel to Cornelius’ house to share with him how his actions have proven his faith and he tells Cornelius to send for Peter the Apostle. So he does. He sends two servants to ask Peter to come to his house. Before Cornelius’ messengers arrive at the place Peter is staying, Peter receives a vision from God making it clear that only God has the right to judge what is pure and impure. So when the messengers arrive, Peter who normally would refuse to be in the company of Gentiles agrees to go with them. When he gets there, it’s obvious why God sent him and he begins to tell Cornelius about the truth of Jesus. This is where we pick up in our reading this morning.
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45 The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Then Peter said, 47 “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days. – Acts 10:44-48
For us, when we hear this message, it seems obvious that God is reaching out to the Gentiles.
But this was a huge revelation for Peter and the other disciples. This was groundbreaking. It meant Jesus had come not just for the Israelites, but for the entire world. God’s message of salvation was meant for everyone. Even among the Jews who were followers of Christ, this was astonishing because it went against everything they had believed for so long. Jesus did not herald a Golden Age for Israel the way they imagined it. He did not raise the banner of Israel as they expected. And now God was telling them salvation was meant for everyone? As Hamilton pointed out, this likely alienated most of the Jewish community. If there was a chance of some of them being brought to Christ, this would have shoved them the other way. So, when we wonder why it is that the early Jewish people didn’t all believe Jesus was the Savior, this can explain it. Jesus upended their entire concept of salvation. He came for a spiritual conquest not a military one. He defeated his enemies with love instead of a sword. And Jesus promised salvation in Heaven, not on Earth.
We all have blind spots.
They just take different forms. Even today there are some bizarre ones that stand out. At last count there were still 420 people who belonged to the Flat Earth Society, including the famous rock musician Thomas Dolby.[2] As late as 2009, between 6% of Americans still believe the Apollo moon landings never happened.[3] That would be over 20 million people. Twenty million people who believe we never landed on the moon. And there are actually people who believe that the Holocaust never happened. You and I live in a world where these things are a reality. We can prove the Earth is round. We can prove we landed on the moon. And we even have first-hand accounts of the horrors of the Holocaust. How people can live in such a state of denial is unfathomable. So, to think there are people who didn’t and still don’t accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior isn’t a stretch of the imagination. But that doesn’t mean we should stop trying to share God’s love with them. All roads do not lead to the same God. Some roads don’t lead to God at all. But most people are trying to find answers to life’s deepest questions – Why is there suffering? What’s the meaning of existence? Who am I and do I matter? I want to challenge you to go deeper into your own faith and find these answers for yourself. Come to one of our Bible studies. Pick up one of the books we offer. Pray daily and ask for answers. But actively engage in your faith. We become the best witnesses for Christ when we know what and why we believe. As Peter writes, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have (1 Peter 3:15).”
[1] https://www.exploratorium.edu/snacks/blind-spot
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flat_Earth_Society
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon_landing_conspiracy_theories
A Few Bad Apples
A few bad apples ruin the bunch.
Isn’t that the truth? You find a few and it’s easy to assume the whole bunch is like that. We tend to define people by the lowest common denominator. Instead of looking to the best and the brightest as examples of a group of people, we tend to take the worst of them and then lump them all together. Think of the stereotypes that define you. Male, female. Young, old. White, Asian, Hispanic, African. Gay, straight. There are tons of them out there. I don’t know about you, but I cringe every time I see a bad Asian driver. There’s a stereotype out there that we’re all horrible on the road, so who needs another guy to mess that up? The truth is Asians are among the country’s best drivers! According to a study by the American Council on Science and Health, Asians had the lowest number of fatal car crashes by far compared to other ethnicities. White people had a rate of about 12 car deaths per 100,000 while Blacks had a rate of about 13 and Native Americans had the worst rate at 17. Asians on the other hand only had 5 deaths per 100,000.[1] How do you like them apples? But the stereotypes get perpetuated by what we choose to notice rather than what is real. You know who else are really good drivers? Women. The fatality rate of men and women in car accidents favors women over two to one.[2]
After 9/11 there was hatred in the air toward anyone who even LOOKED Arabic.
Even though the attacks were brought about by a small, militant, terrorist group of jihadists from across the globe, suddenly anyone of Middle Eastern heritage was suspect. I can’t even say Muslim, because the prejudice went beyond that. If you wore a hijab and looked Arabic, people would suddenly become nervous around you. You were the target of law enforcement all over the country. People of Arab decent were pulled aside in airport security lines routinely and inspected. There were even suggestions of “rounding up all of the Arabs” and locking them behind barbed wire fences “for their own safety.” Nightmare flashbacks to the internment of the Japanese population sprang immediately to mind. It’s sad to think that in all of these intervening years, in all of the speeches, movies, shows, and educational programs we’ve had about the internment, there are still people who haven’t learned that a person’s gender, faith, or ethnicity does not define who they are. Even today violence and discrimination against people of the Islamic faith continues. In 2023, the Council on American-Islamic Relations reported the highest number of hate crimes against Muslim people with over 8,000 incidents.[3] So that distrust and rage hasn’t gone away over time. But we allow ourselves to be convinced that every Muslim person is suddenly suspect, even though the Islamic faith has been in existence for centuries, even though there were mosques before 9/11. It’s as if we suddenly took notice and in an awful way. We allowed our perception of Muslims be tainted by a few bad apples.
I can understand that fear.
I can understand why we revert to a protectionist mode when we feel endangered or when our loved ones are in danger. And it’s easy to let that fear grow into blind hatred, but if it means anything to be Christian, we can’t allow ourselves to do that. We have to step up and embrace with love even those who might be our enemies – real or imagined. Because we are called upon by God to do more. This is from Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth. He may have written many more, but this is the second of the letters we have collected in the Bible and in this particular passage, he’s writing to the church about how Christ’s death and resurrection has changed how we look at the world and here he defines that for us.
16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:16-21
We are Christ’s ambassadors.
And Paul tells us that we aren’t just trying to convince people for our own sake. We’re trying to bring them to Christ “as though God were making his appeal through us.” Paul tries to convince us that just as we see the world differently because of Christ in our lives, we also have to act differently. Not because God is forcing us to, but because if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we can’t help but be transformed by his life-giving message. We can’t help but be motivated to show others the love of Jesus. And in one line, Paul makes it abundantly clear what Christ expects of us: “he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” We must do whatever we can to heal the rift between humanity and God. And that means we need to bridge the gap between us. We are called to make the first step, to make the first move, to be the ones to show humility and love before anyone asks us to. That is our role as Christians, to show the abundant love of God to others..
This is the role we are meant to play, not only with our Muslim friends but all of humanity.
To be certain there are wide differences between us – between Christians and Muslims, but there are many similarities as well. Both consider Abraham as one of the fathers of our faith. In fact each religion traces it’s roots back to Abraham’s two sons, Ishmael and Isaac – Ishmael is considered to be the ancestor of Mohammed and Isaac the ancestor of Jesus. And contrary to some popular belief, we worship the same God. Muslims refer to God as Allah, but that difference is in name only. Just as French use the word Dieu to refer to God or Japanese say kami-sama or people who speak Spanish say Dios people who speak Arabic refer to God as Allah. Allah is to Arabic as God is to English. Both faiths believe that salvation comes by submitting to God. In our Western culture, we tend to downplay the role of submission in our faith, but we shouldn’t. It’s that unwillingness to submit that brings pride, arrogance, and self-reliance upon us and makes it difficult for us to fully rely on God. In Islam, submission is at the heart of their faith. In fact, it’s even part of their very name. The root word “slm” means “to submit.” So the word Islam is roughly translated as “submission to Allah.” And a Muslim person is defined as “one who submits to the will of God.” A Muslim person is “one who submits to the will of God.”
There are differences to be sure. Differences that cannot be overlooked.
In the Islamic faith, Jesus, while thought to be a great prophet, second only to Mohammed himself, is not considered divine. He is not the Son of God, but merely a man favored by God. He did not die on the cross and was not resurrected, and these are essential elements of our faith. We believe Jesus is the savior precisely because he DID die on the cross and in that act of sacrifice covered the stain of sin on our lives so we could be reconciled to God. In his resurrection, we know that he truly is God because only God could conquer both death and sin. In Islam, they confirm the life of Christ and even the virgin birth, but deny that Jesus sacrificed his life on the cross. They also believe that the Quran is the final revelation of God. Unlike the Bible which was written by human hands that we believe was inspired by God, the words in the Quran are thought to actually be God’s words. In fact, they are written as if God is speaking. Mohammed’s followers would in fact write down the visions God revealed to him using the first-person vocabulary. As Hamilton wrote in his book, for them the Quran is the equivalent of Jesus because it is thought to be his final word. As we worship Jesus, God made flesh, they worship the Quran as God himself being revealed through Mohammed. It is also why to followers of Islam that the Quran is only to be read in Arabic because it is the language through which God revealed himself to Mohammed.
But what does that mean for us as Christians?
It’s true we have our differences, differences which divide us from being able to agree, but how is that any different than being fans of the Dodgers or Giants? UCLA or USC? Chocolate or vanilla? Does that mean we have to hate one another? God calls us to be ambassadors for Christ, but who are we being an ambassador to? Christ himself said, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that (Matthew 5:46-47)?” We need to reach out to people who are not like us. We have to show people the love of Jesus through our actions. Not by beating them over the head with Bible verses but turning the other cheek, giving to those in need, welcoming those who are different. In the beginning of the Christian movement, people didn’t come to Christ because of what we taught, but because of how we acted. People were astonished by the loving kindness of this group of people who called themselves the followers of the Way. And they saw a love and peace about them that convinced them to give their lives to Christ. Application comes before education. Showing others the love of Christ can lead them to seek out Christ. And it must be so again. Challenge yourself to exhibit this radical love Christ had for others be they Muslim or Jewish or Buddhist or Hindu or even atheist. Let the love of Christ shine within you by your actions. Show kindness and even interest in others’ beliefs. Be willing to talk to them about their understanding of God and show respect for them even if you disagree. Make new friends. Keep reaching out to old ones. But always remember that you are an ambassador for Christ. Don’t let the few bad apples convince you otherwise.
[1] https://www.acsh.org/news/2018/08/10/most-dangerous-drivers-ranked-state-age-race-and-sex-13300
[2] Ibid. Women’s fatality rate is 6.6 per 100,000 while men are an alarming 16.8!
[3] https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-anti-muslim-incidents-hit-record-high-2023-due-israel-gaza-war-2024-04-02/
All About Me
Let me tell you a story.
Once upon a time, there was a prince who was sheltered all his life from the outside world. His father the King sought to protect him from the suffering and pain he might encounter, hoping that would be enough to insure his son would inherit his throne. Prophets had come to him and predicted that the young prince would either one day become a great king or a great spiritual leader and the king wanted his son to follow him on the throne. So he gave his son everything any man would want and more. But the son became more and more curious about what was on the other side of the wall and one day he decided to go and explore. He took his charioteer, Channa, with him and together they rode through the countryside. As they were riding, they encountered an old man. The prince was shocked, having never seen an elderly person before and he asked his charioteer, “Is this the fate of all people?” “Yes,” Channa replied. “All people suffer from aging.” The prince had much to think about. On their second journey, they encountered a man who was ill and sickly. The prince asked his charioteer again, “Is this the fate of all people?” “Yes,” Channa replied. “All people suffer illness.” And again, the prince had much to think about. On their third journey, the prince saw a funeral procession. It was the first time he had looked upon the body of a person who had died and he asked his charioteer, “Is this the fate of all people?” And Channa replied, “Yes, all people eventually suffer from death.” This created a lot of angst in the prince and he began contemplating the meaning of all this suffering. He went out once more with his charioteer and on the way they encountered an ascetic monk who seemed quite at peace with the world and it gave the young prince hope. He decided to leave his life of luxury and pursue the answers that would bring him the peace he saw in this monk and eventually became the great spiritual leader the prophets had predicted.
It sounds like a fairy tale, but this is the traditional story of how the Buddha began his quest.
Siddhartha Gautama was a great spiritual leader born about 500 years before Christ. He was the son of a wealthy man. Most say he was a king or at the very least a tribal leader. But in the caste system of his day, Siddhartha was born into the warrior class, ranked just below the priests and holy men and in comparison he indeed led a life of luxury. However, after venturing out among the people, Siddhartha was disturbed by the suffering he saw and felt compelled to find the answers to some of the questions we still seek today. Why is there suffering in the world? What purpose does it serve if any? And so on the night of his son’s birth, he gave his newborn the name Rahula (which means “fettered”) and left his family for his spiritual quest. He named him Rahula because he felt his son would become an attachment that would prevent him from understanding suffering. Those journeys in the story that propelled him on his quest are called the Four Sights[1] and they were the beginning of what would eventually become Buddhism. One common misconception is that the Buddha is worshipped by Buddhists. He is not. He is revered for his work and for his insight and he is thought to be a spiritual model for his followers, but he is not worshipped. Buddhists do not worship anyone or anything. It’s part of the centrality of their belief system. Buddhism is the only major religion that is non-theistic meaning they neither confirm or deny the existence of God. Buddhism is the only major religion that is non-theistic meaning they neither confirm or deny the existence of God. Whether or not God exists is outside the scope of Buddhism because in the Buddhist scheme of things God doesn’t matter. There may be a God, there may not be a God, but God has nothing to do with enlightenment. Enlightenment comes from within one’s self.
Despite their differences, Buddhism and Christianity share a lot in common.[2]
The Buddhist way of life is very similar to the Christian way of life. They believe you shouldn’t lie, cheat, or steal; you shouldn’t covet what someone else has; and you shouldn’t take a life. They believe you should be compassionate and kind. That you should think before you speak to avoid saying something you would regret. They believe human beings become too attached to the things of this world – money, fame, power, objects – and that by ridding ourselves of these things we can become the persons we were meant to be. But there are some very big fundamental differences as well as we will see in our passage this morning. If you have a Bible or a Bible app on your phone, would you please go to Matthew 19 beginning with verse 21. Matthew 19:21. This is the story of the rich man who comes to Jesus and asks him, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” And Jesus responds by saying he must keep the commandments. And the man says, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” And then Jesus responds with what we hear in our passage today.
21 Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[e] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. – Matthew 19:21-30
“With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
This is the key phrase for us this morning and it’s what differentiates us the most from our Buddhist friends. Humanity is not able to save itself. We rely on the grace of God through the actions of Jesus Christ. Buddhists believe that by meditation, following a series of precepts and paths, you can attain enlightenment by yourself and be free of the eternal cycle of samsara – life, death, and rebirth. Christianity focuses on “He” and Buddhism focuses on “me.” Christianity focuses on “He” and Buddhism focuses on “me.” In this passage, there is much that both religions would agree on. Jesus tells the man to sell his possessions and give it to the poor. He implies that it is his attachment to these material things that is holding him back and the Buddha would agree. The Buddha would say that it is the attachment to things – all things – that holds us back. When Jesus says that everyone who has left houses, family, and fields for the sake of Christ will receive a hundred times as much, the Buddha would agree, again saying that our attachments are what get in the way. But in the way of what? For us as Christians, the material things of this world keep us from really understanding God, and we see this as an essential part of our faith lives. We believe as we grow closer to God, we are better able to live to our potential and be the kind of people God hoped for. It’s not that God wants us to abandon our family and friends. On the contrary, God calls us to live in community. But in this passage, God is warning us that there will be many obstacles in life as we journey in faith and if we are unwilling to leave them behind, we’ll never receive the full reward that God has in store for us. Not as punishment, but simply because there will always be a part of us that relies on something other than God. For the Buddhist, the things of this world, ALL things including family and friends, can be impediments to our journey toward enlightenment. Our fallacy, according to the Buddhist tradition, is that our faith on anything is false because all things are transient. God. The world. Even the concept of “you.” “You” do not exist. “You” are simply a consciousness residing in a body that has experienced the world in a certain way based on your previous life experience. But there is no real “you” out there. Enlightenment comes from learning these things and accepting them as part of life. Christians and Buddhists hold something in common. We are both searching for the truth. We are both searching for the Truth. But we see truth very differently. Buddhists believe that the only truth is impermanence. Impermanence. That nothing lasts forever. But isn’t a belief in the permanence of impermanence itself a contradiction? Christians, however, believe truth lies in Jesus Christ who is the “same yesterday, today, and forever.” We believe God is eternal. Many people believe Christianity and Buddhism are very much alike, but our concepts of the world are very different. Buddhists believe in self-reliance. Christians believe in reliance on God.
Maybe part of the appeal of Buddhism, especially in America is the idea we can do it ourselves.
There’s an element of control that you are the master of your own destiny, which appeals to people. We like to feel in control. We like to feel like we determine what happens to us despite the changes that occur in everyday life. We have a hard time giving that up, to let go and to accept the fact that a great many things are out of our control. We struggle with change. We don’t like to rely on others. And it’s hard for many of us to admit that we need help or that we cannot do it alone. Think about all of the idioms we use in our lives. “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” “Look out for #1.” “To the victor goes the spoils.” And the erroneous, “God helps those who help themselves.” But we in fact believe the opposite. We believe Christ came to save those who needed it the most. He came for the lost, the sinners, and the hopeless. And we thank God everyday for that. Because we are those people. We are the ones who need God. And knowing God is in control and God has a plan for our lives gives us a peace and joy that can only come from Him.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_sights – this is only one of many websites with the retelling of this ages old story. A version of it appears in Adam Hamilton’s book Christianity and World Religions.
[2] Other than Adam Hamilton’s book Christianity and World Religions some websites that have produced useful background information are www.buddha101.com, www.buddhanet.net, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gautama_Buddha
Holy Cows
Could Robin the Boy Wonder have been Hindu?
Holy Eastern Religions, Batman! Robin used to call EVERYTHING holy. Holy cow, holy guacamole, holy hole in a doughnut, and my favorite – Holy Haberdashery! In fact, Burt Ward who played Robin on TV said he used the “Holy” phrase about 378 times which came out to around three times per episode.[1] And the belief that everything is holy or has part of the divine essence of God within it, is consistent with Hinduism. Like Christianity, Hinduism believes there is only one God. They call God, Brahman and Brahman to a Hindu person is manifest in every aspect of creation while Christians believe God is separate from creation. On TV and in the popular media, people joke about the Hindu worship of cows as gods, but that misrepresents the complexity of the Hindu religion. It would be like saying Christians are cannibals because we feast on the body and blood of Christ. It reduces something holy to be a mockery of those beliefs. Knowing what others believe helps us to become more understanding, more accepting, and more loving toward people of other faiths. And at the same time, it helps us better understand why our own faith is important to us.
Call it the Progressive Insurance Method of Christianity.
You’ve seen those commercials on TV where Progressive Insurance offers you quotes from other insurance companies. The person in the commercial always looks on in disbelief, as if Progressive Insurance is crazy for showing you what other companies offer. But they are so confident in what they have to offer, they are not afraid of the others. In a way, that’s what this is. We are exploring different faiths to come to a better understanding of our own, and through that understanding build a solid foundation for our own faith to rest upon (Matthew 7:24-29). Our faith is strengthened when we understand what others believe. Bad theology begins by an incomplete understanding of OUR faith, not the faith of others. Hopefully, our exploration of other faiths will help us grow even closer to God. Today, we’re going to explore the Hindu faith.
I need to preface this by saying I am not an expert on Hinduism.
These are some of the very raw basics about the Hindu faith and we need to realize there are many different variations in Hinduism just as there are different variations of Christianity. As the basis for our study together, we’re looking at Adam Hamilton’s Christianity and World Religions. In it Hamilton tells us that there are three fundamental characteristics of understanding the Hindu faith – dharma, karma, and samsara. Dharma, karma, and samsara. Dharma is the idea that good works coupled with spiritual knowledge sets us free. Hinduism teaches that dharma or “duty” is needed to be done to build up good karma. At the end of our lives if we have built up more good karma than bad, then we will be better off in the next life. If not, then we will be worse off and we will suffer more for it. Suffering, however, is not seen necessarily as punishment, but a tool to help us gain spiritual knowledge so we can obtain a state of self that frees us from this cycle of life, death, and rebirth. This cycle is called samsara. Samsara. And we are not free from this cycle until we have emptied ourselves of bad karma. When we do, we reach nirvana. But nirvana is not a place. It’s not like the heaven we often imagine in our Christian faith. Rather it is the condition of the divine within us rejoining with Brahman. We become part of the divine once again.
These concepts are part of what separates us from one another in our faith.
We’re going to take a look at a reading from Scripture that helps us better define our own faith. This passage captures the essence of our ideas of salvation and how we obtain it. When you read it, think about how our view of salvation is very different from the view Hinduism shares with us and think even about how our definition of what salvation is is very different from theirs.
As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. – Ephesians 2:1-10
As Christians, we believe we are sinners.
It defines who we are. It is the building block from which we understand our relationship to God. A fundamental aspect of who we are is that we are sinners seeking redemption. From Adam and Eve to the modern day, every aspect of our lives as Christians is to seek this redemption in the eyes of God. And we believe this is only accomplished by the life, death, and resurrection of one man – Jesus Christ. Not in the cycle of life, death, and reincarnation of all men, but by the life-giving actions of the Son of God. We don’t believe Jesus was just another human who was more in touch with his divine self. We believe that Jesus and only Jesus was fully human and fully divine. He truly embodies the name Immanuel – God with us. And only by the grace of a loving God are we offered salvation, “not by works, so that no one can boast.” We are saved by God’s grace alone.
This is one of the fundamental differences between Christianity and Hinduism.
We cannot save ourselves. There is no amount of “good karma” we can earn that will help us obtain salvation, because we believe humanity is inclined to sin. In Hinduism, we are not seeking redemption but awareness – awareness of the divine within us. In the Hindu faith, spiritual knowledge and karma help us obtain that awareness. But it is propelled by the individual. It is through the individual’s actions they break the cycle of samsara. As Christians, we need the grace of God – not the divine god within us, but the one who created us. We believe human beings are a separate creation from God, that each of us is unique. And while we do believe the Holy Spirit resides within us to guide us and journey with us, we are not the Holy Spirit ourselves. Our relationship to God is like our children’s relationship to us. Part of who we are goes into making them and we feel an instant connection to them because a part of us is within them, but they are not us. They are distinct, unique, wonderful creations separate from us. And when we die, we believe there is a place we go to be with God. We don’t believe we actually join with God. Instead, we get to ENJOY being in the presence of God.
There are a great many valuable teachings in the Hindu faith.
Most people who follow Hinduism are good, loving, interesting people who are out to make the world a better place. They have families they love and strive to take care of. They worship earnestly the revelation of God in their lives. But for us as Christians, what God has revealed to us through Scripture, the prophets, and ultimately through Jesus Christ himself, is at times at odds with the tents of the Hindu faith. This does not make us enemies. This does not mean they don’t earnestly seek God. It simply means our understanding of God is different. We believe that we are God’s creation, that we are his children. We are not part of the divine, but we live in a state of sin. We need the grace of God for our redemption and that is only possible because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We do not believe we can save ourselves or that any amount of good work can redeem us. We seek redemption through resurrection, not release through reincarnation. Those differences are why we view the world from a different perspective.
Something Hamilton wrote in his book made me think deeply.
He talked about how different it would be to approach a family with these two different faith backgrounds and as a pastor what you would say. In our faith tradition, we have hope for the life that comes after because of Jesus and the promise he shares of a home in Heaven. We can feel comforted knowing that our Creator waits for us with loving, open arms, and those we have cherished in this life who have gone before us will be there when we arrive. It wouldn’t be much comfort to me to think we simply come back over and over again, throughout time, hoping to do a little better each pass through this life. After centuries and millennia of existence, I can see why Hinduism looks at the ultimate goal of life not as a new beginning but as an ending. I can see the appeal of a release from suffering if you think you had to return to the grind and the pain of being in the world until you got it right. As Christians, we believe God is our Creator. That he is knowable. That he loves each and every one of us. And that in the end, we are saved because of the grace and mercy of our savior and for that we can truly be grateful. We are a people who live in hope for a brighter tomorrow. See you next week. Same Bat-time. Same Bat-channel.
[1] https://www.cinemablend.com/television/1580210/the-crazy-number-of-times-robin-said-holy-something-in-the-original-batman-series
Tomorrowland
The Land That Time Forgot
That’s what they should call Tomorrowland, because it stopped being about tomorrow a long time ago. If you’ve been to Disneyland in the past ten years, you know what I mean. Take Autopia for instance. I used to love Autopia. As a kid, it was one of the rides I always wanted to go on, but even then, it seemed kind of odd to be in Tomorrowland. Now when Disneyland opened back in 1955, Autopia was cutting edge. At the time, there was no such thing as an interstate highway system.[1] Hard to believe but true. People didn’t drive on multi-lane highways that stretched across the country. This idea was so new to America that it made Autopia a natural fit in the land of the future. Today it makes no sense. In fact most of the rides in Tomorrowland make no sense. The monorail is an early predecessor of trams used in airports all over the world. Submersible vehicles are used by both the military and private owners. And the Orbitron is basically a carousel version of Space X. Over the years, Tomorrowland has become more and more obsolete, and while they have added new attractions like Star Tours, they’ve also let many things become outdated or simply disappear. The Peoplemover track lies empty and has for almost 30 years. The Magic Eye Theater which once housed state-of-the-art movies in 3D with actual physical special effects is now completely empty. And the Autopia? It’s still driving cars on highways from 1955.
The problem is Tomorrowland stopped being about tomorrow.
Walt always wanted to keep this area on the cutting edge of innovation, to give guests a glimpse into the future. But instead, you have gas-powered cars instead of solar cars, electric cars, or self-driving vehicles on the Autopia track. It’s fun, but they drifted away from Walt’s vision because it was “good enough.” People enjoyed it; they continued to make money from it; so they just stopped trying to make it better. But that is so short-sighted. If we simply wait for a need to arise, then by the time we can fix it we are already too far behind. Either someone else has met the need or we have to spend much more time, effort, and money to catch up. “Good enough” shouldn’t be our standard. Like Walt’s original vision for Tomorrowland, we need to constantly strive toward a better future, so we are prepared for what comes ahead. The writer in Hebrews said it so well that’s what we are going to read from this morning. If you have a Bible or a Bible app on your phone, find the letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament, chapter 11 beginning with verse 8. Hebrews 11:8. It is important to be future-oriented. Looking forward keeps us focused on how we can make the world a better place. It also keeps us from being complacent. And it drives innovation and creativity. When Walt Disney wanted to put in a Christmas parade at Disneyland, his financial advisors told him not to spend the money; that it would cost too much; that nobody would complain because they wouldn’t be expecting it and he said to them, “That’s just the point…We should do the parade precisely because no one’s expecting it. Our goal at Disneyland is to always give the people more than they expect. As long as we keep surprising them, they’ll keep coming back. But if they ever stop coming, it’ll cost us ten times that much to get them to come back.”[2] Give people more than they expect. Don’t just focus on what’s needed now, but plan ahead for the future. And he was right. Don’t settle for “good enough.” Figure out how we can do it better, even when (and maybe especially when) it’s going good.
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she[b] considered him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth. 14 People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. – Hebrews 11:8-16
They were longing for a better country.
These forefathers of faith trusted in the vision that God had presented to them and did what they knew to be right. And even though they never lived long enough to see it all come to fruition, they trusted that their efforts led them toward a brighter future.[3] The Scripture says to us, “they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance.” The things God promised to the people of Israel and by extension to all of us was not something they could tangibly touch or experience, but they honored God with their efforts even though they didn’t know how it would all work out and that pleased God. God is future-oriented. Think about it. It was the same in the Old Testament as it is in the New Testament. God promised Abraham that his people would spread throughout the Earth and even though as long as Abraham lived he didn’t see it, that promise came true. God promised Moses that he would lead his people to the promised land and even though Moses didn’t live to see it, that promise came true. Jesus promised when he returned to Heaven, he would send the Holy Spirit to be with us and guides us, and that promise also came true. God is always looking ahead to the future. Jesus trained up his disciples because he knew one day he would no longer be there, and he wanted to be sure the movement would continue long after he was gone. He pulled them aside and taught them. He explained the parables to them, knowing that eventually the lessons would sink in. And he had them do the work in the field. Jesus was constantly working toward a future he wouldn’t be alive to see.
As a parent, that makes sense to me.
Since Emma was born, I wanted to help build a foundation to support her in life. I want to support her dreams. I want to support her hopes. I want her to know she is loved. And I hope to help her be grounded in faith. I try to teach her the practical things that will help her out in day-to-day life. And although I hope and pray I’m here for a long time to come, I certainly hope I leave this planet before she does and that when that time comes she has what she needs to have a long and happy life. My actions now will hopefully lead to a brighter tomorrow. That’s why it is so important to keep striving to make things better. A better tomorrow. Human beings love the path of least resistance, so it’s tempting to stop when things are just the way we like it. After all, most of have seen what happens when people mess with a good thing. Sometimes it turns out disastrous. Like New Coke. That fear of failure prevents us from doing something amazing. We tend to look at failure as a waste instead of a learning opportunity. But failure is the greatest teacher there is. It’s only when we refuse to learn from the past that we truly fail. But when we succeed! We can make an impact that lasts for generations.
But what happens when we don’t?
What happens when we choose to stay still; when we choose the path of least resistance? When we stop looking to the future, we start looking to the finish line instead. We go into survival mode. We constantly try to extend the time we have, and we give up on the future. But that only delays the inevitable. It’s like a sinking boat. If we only concentrate on bailing out the water, we’ll stop from sinking for a while, but eventually the hole will get bigger and the water will overwhelm us. But if we let in a little water while we fix the boat, we can keep going for untold distances into the future. Keep focused on the future and always have hope for a brighter tomorrow. Will we always get there? Maybe not, but if we never try we surely won’t.
Jesus was a futurist.
Walt Disney was a futurist. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a futurist. Most of the great leaders and innovators of our nation and our world were futurists. They were always looking ahead to what was possible and trying to work toward THAT. How can we do anything different? As Robert Kennedy once said (paraphrasing George Bernard Shaw), “Some people see things as they are and say why? I dream things that never were and say, why not?”[4] What is your why not? What is something you have held back from daring to dream? What is something you would like to accomplish but haven’t done so? Now ask yourself, why not? The Autopia is great. But it’ll never be more than it is unless someone does the work to make it better. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autopia
[2] http://grumpymickey.com/tag/plussing-it/
[3] This section was inspired by Thom Rainer’s book Autopsy of A Deceased Church, Chapter 3.
[4] https://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/RFK-Speeches/Remarks-of-Robert-F-Kennedy-at-the-University-of-Kansas-March-18-1968.aspx
The Meaning of Christmas
Christmas is a big letdown.
Now don’t get me wrong. I love pretty much everything about Christmas. It’s my favorite holiday of the year. Singing “A Christmas Carol.” Telling “A Christmas Story.” Buying gifts at “The Shop Around the Corner.” My favorite part of the holiday is a new tradition we started after moving to California. Cassie knows how much time, energy, and effort goes into being a pastor at Christmas, so she started cooking Christmas dinner every year. And I don’t mean just any old dinner, but Christmas dinner with all the fixings and I don’t have to do anything other than pick out the menu and buy some of the groceries. It’s truly a Christmas gift I look forward to, and I don’t take it for granted. If she ever wanted to stop, I would totally understand. So, I just cherish it as long as she wants to do it. “It’s A Wonderful Life” at Christmas. And then…it’s over. That’s the letdown. It all comes to a screeching halt. You wake up the next day and realize it’s time to put away the decorations, take down the lights, and throw away the trash. Two months of being inundated with music and lights and commercials and TV specials and toys and gift-giving and parties and suddenly…it’s…over.
But does it have to be?
Does it have to be over? Why can’t Christmas last all year? Maybe not the lights or the music or the weather; I mean I’m a pretty big fan of summer and a person can only take so much peppermint. But why can’t we hold on to that Christmas spirit all year long? It certainly seems to be Biblical. This evening, we’re going to read a favorite passage of mine from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. What I love about this letter is that it typifies God’s work in the world. As we heard in reading 1 Corinthians, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are.” According to a commentary, the house church at Colossae was “the least important church to which any epistle of St. Paul is addressed.”[1] Yet, this letter has become one of the most important and influential for us today. In the passage we’re going to hear tonight, Paul makes it clear how we should treat one another.
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. – Colossians 3:12-17
This is the life we are meant to live every day. A Christmas life.
A life that reminds us of who Christ was and what he believed in. It’s why Paul tells us to embrace compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. These are all qualities Jesus showed us during his time on Earth. They are also qualities we find in abundance during the Christmas season, and exactly the qualities Christ wants us to show one another. To bear with each other, forgive each other, and love each other are the ways we are supposed to behave all the time. We don’t need to wait until after Halloween to show this kind of “love. Actually,” we should be doing it every day. If every Sunday is a mini-Easter, then every other day should be a mini-Christmas. Because when we act as God wants us to, it not only benefits the world, but benefits us as well. Showing kindness through volunteer work can lower your likelihood of dying by 44%![2] People who express humility tend to be smarter and more successful.[3] Patient leaders increase creativity, collaboration, and productivity in the workplace.[4] And the list goes on and on. Embracing the Christmas spirit, improves our lives in both tangible and intangible ways and as Paul notes can bring about a peace to our soul we cannot get otherwise.
Sounds great but doing it every day isn’t easy.
But it can be done. It’s not about being perfect, because God knows none of us are. It’s about returning over and over to this life in Christ that leads us to a transformation of our inner being. It’s about becoming someone new by practicing over and over the kind of person we want to be until we become it. That’s what Paul means when he tells us to clothe ourselves in these things. Paul loved the metaphor of putting on clothes. To the church in Ephesus, he talked about putting on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6) and here he talks about clothing ourselves in these qualities. Because every day we must CHOOSE to be like Christ. We choose to be humble. We choose to be kind. We choose to be patient. These are things we have to make the conscious choice to do. Like getting dressed every day. And that’s why we can choose to lead a Christmas life. This Christmas spirit that seems to magically come around every year is something we can choose to continue even after tomorrow when it’s time to put away the lights and decorations. It’s a matter of making the choice to do it. Don’t let the Christmas spirit “die. Hard” to do, but it’s a choice we make every day.
The things we do during the season are what keep us grounded in its spirit.
So instead of waiting ten more months to do it again, let us continue to live as if every day was Christmas. Randomly send gifts to people simply to brighten their day. Send someone you haven’t spoken to in a long time a card and do it for no reason other than wanting to make contact. Don’t wait for their birthday, but simply drop them a note. Be randomly generous. Give an extra-large tip to your server at the restaurant. Leave something extra for the person who does your hair. Pay for the dinner of the person behind you in the drive-thru window of your favorite fast-food place. These are the kinds of things we find natural to do at Christmas. Why not make them part of simply who we are? The point is simply this: We are called to live a Christmas life. Not just during the month of December but all year round. We are often called an Easter people. Maybe we can be a Christmas people, too.
[1] https://bible.org/seriespage/background-colossians
[2] https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/the-science-of-kindness
[3] https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/science-shows-humility-makes-you-smarter-more-successful-here-are-8-types-to-cultivate.html
[4] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-of-the-manager/202303/patience-brings-tangible-benefits-to-management
And A Little Child Shall Lead Them
Close your eyes and picture in your mind the moment of Christ’s birth.
If you are like most people, you probably picture a stable with a wooden manger. In the manger atop a bale of hay is the baby Jesus. And surrounding Jesus are Mary, Joseph, a group of shepherds, and three wise men or kings – Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Around the open stable are horses, sheep, camels, and goats. And atop the stable shines a star so bright it led the wise men to this place surrounded by angels. It’s peaceful and calm and maybe you can hear the gentle cooing of the baby Jesus. This is the traditional Christmas picture we’ve been fed since we were little. You see it in books, on television, in movies. Almost assuredly, you’ll pass by someone’s house with a recreation of the birth of Jesus on their lawn with all of these things – right next to an inflatable Frosty the Snowman who was apparently ALSO present at the birth of Christ. The truth is, most of these images have very little to do with what really happened that night. We are going to be picking up the Christmas story after the angels proclaim the good news of Jesus’ birth to the shepherds in the fields nearby. But before that happens, many other powerful aspects of the Christmas story come into play. Perhaps the strongest of these images is the denial of Joseph and Mary at a local inn.
“There was no room at the inn.”
It’s hard to believe that some cold-hearted innkeeper wouldn’t make room for an obviously expecting woman! But what if we got it wrong? What if there wasn’t a cold-hearted innkeeper AND his wife (see, we’re just going to make the story even worse now, right?)? What if instead the Bible didn’t say “there was no room at the inn” and instead said “there was no guest room available for them?” Could that change the context by which we judge these people? Today, most versions (but not all) of the Bible have the word kataluma more accurately translated to “guest room.” And as Adam Hamilton pointed out in the book The Journey it made more sense that Joseph would have gone to a relative’s house to have the birth of their child, especially as they probably had little money to pay for a room at an inn.[1] Since he and Mary were returning to Joseph’s home town, he likely had friends and relatives living there he could have gone to stay with. But that only changes things slightly, maybe makes it worse! His own family and friends would send them out to a barn? The thing that’s missing here is context. For one, it was likely that every home would have had limited space since the census forced everyone to return. Every home would have been challenged for space as friends and family returned. But more than that, according to Jewish custom, a pregnant woman was considered ceremonially unclean, which made anyone or anything she touched unclean as well. Not just the people, but anything Mary touched, the walls, the floors, the bed would all be considered unclean. In those days, being unclean couldn’t be resolved simply by washing your hands. It took rituals and ceremonies and time spent in preparation. Cleansing a body or a house took a lot of effort and until you did it you couldn’t go to the temple. It might have been the only place their relatives could put them up was in a place outside the home. So there they are, Mary, Joseph, and little baby Jesus lying in a manger. And this is what happens next.
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived. – Luke 1:15-21
What is interesting to me about this story is as much what WASN’T said as what WAS said.
There was no reference to a brightly shining star. There was no reference to the appearance of three wise men or three kings or anyone other than the shepherds. The stable, which we generally imagine to be a wooden barn, is never described in detail. And there definitely wasn’t a little drummer boy present, at least not in the Biblical story. Today, we know it was just as likely, perhaps more so, that Jesus was born in a cave. During those times, it was common for animals to be kept in caves for shelter from the weather which would have provided better protection than a wooden barn. We also know that wise men, and not likely kings, eventually did come to visit Jesus, but Bible experts say it could have been as late as two years later![2] A far cry from the miraculous appearance of three kings with their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh on the night of Jesus’ birth. Most people believe we got the image of three kings based on the number of gifts that were presented to Mary and Joseph, but if you notice, it never says in the Bible how many people were there. The word used to describe the visitors is magoi or magician which could have meant they were priests of another religion or astrologers but not likely to be kings.
But the story as it is in the Bible is a richer story without these things.
A richer story by far than one we may have thought about before. In fact, when we look at Jesus’ birth as it is told in the Gospels, we find out God is counter-cultural. We find out that God is counter-cultural. He never did things the way people expected. God would flip expectations on their head and then exceed the imaginations of what people thought they wanted and did something even more amazing instead. This was the birth of the most powerful, most holy person in the universe, and yet look at the details of his story. They were not details you would expect of someone like Jesus. He was born to a father who wasn’t wealthy and didn’t hold a position of power. He wasn’t a holy man or spiritual leader but a carpenter. His parents were from the tiny town of Nazareth. And when I say tiny, I mean TINY. Hamilton said in his book the town was so small it wasn’t even mentioned among the 63 other villages associated with Galilee in the Hebrew Talmud or the 45 mentioned by the historian Josephus.[3] In fact, there were likely only 100 to 400 people in his entire town. 100 to 400 people. That’s it. You’d be lucky if they had a gas station and a grocery store if that town were around today. In fact, it was such a tiny little town Nathanael insults it when Phillip tells him about Jesus. He says in John 1:46, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” To which Phillip told him to “Come and see.” Three verses later, Nathanael sees the light and exclaims, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
In the passage we read today, God didn’t announce the arrival of Jesus as we would expect.
The angels of Heaven, who did not likely float around in white robes with wings, came first to the shepherds to proclaim the birth of Christ. Shepherds! We just accept that as part of the story of Jesus today, but back then it would have been mind blowing! Shepherds were considered among the lower-class in Jewish society. They were located toward the bottom of the socio-economic ladder because they were “typically uneducated, usually poor,… and smelled like dirty sheep.”[4] They were often looked down upon because of this but also because they would often have their animals graze on other people’s land. Imagine how upset we get today when the neighbors’ dog or cat roams freely around our yard. Now multiple that by the number of sheep in a flock and you get the picture. So why on earth would God reveal himself first to the shepherds? Why not to King Herod or to the Jewish leaders or to the high priest? To us that would make more sense. People would have believed right away had the high priest of the temple proclaimed the birth of the savior!
Yet we see throughout the Bible God uses the meek and not the mighty, the lowly and not the luxurious.
God doesn’t go to the rich and the powerful. He goes to the weak and disenfranchised. But he also uses those who are most open, most willing, and most receptive to his message to share the good news. The high priest would likely have cast doubt about the authenticity of the birth of Christ and we already know how King Herod reacted – with fear, trepidation, anger and resentment. No, God went to the shepherds, to Mary, to Joseph, to a tiny town called Nazareth, and to a cave for a reason. If you look at 1 Cornithians 1:26-31 we hear the words of Paul who sums it up so nicely. “26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’” As we leave here this morning, let us take the time to reflect on the miracle of the Christmas story. Not just the grace and mercy of a God who humbled himself to be amongst us. Not just the astounding and incredible circumstances of Jesus’ birth to a virgin named Mary. But how God comes into our lives in ways we least expect it. God uses our weakness, our faults, and our imperfect selves to share his message of love to a broken world that seeks him. Our story of hope rests not just in the power of God almighty, but that God chooses to use us with all our imperfections and faults and mistakes to share his Word of Love. God knows it is within us to do this work, because after all, he created us in His image. How will you share His story, now and everyday?
[1] Adam Hamilton, The Journey: Walking the Road to Bethlehem, pp. 96-100.
[2] Stephen Miller, The Jesus of the Bible, p. 59.
[3] Hamilton, p. 15.
[4] Hamilton, p. 113.
The Sound of Music
To sing or not to sing – that is the question.
Whether ‘tis nobler to wait until Christmas
Or to dive headlong into temptation’s arms
Do we sing songs only of Advent subjects
Or do we dare to sing songs about Christmas? – inspired by Hamlet
That argument has been an ongoing question in churches all across America. Maybe all over the world. When do we sing Christmas songs? Outside the church, as soon as Halloween ends. You start hearing the first trickle of it in stores right as November rolls around. I mean, you have to play Christmas songs for all those pre-Black Friday sales, right? I’m old enough to remember when Black Friday WAS on the Friday after Thanksgiving. But this year, nearly every store was having an “Early Black Friday” sale or a “Pre-Black Friday” sale or a “Black Friday Two Weeks Early” sale. Seriously. Have you seen this? The Christmas season starts so early you can’t help but hear Christmas music everywhere. But there’s one place where you often don’t hear the sounds of Christmas during this time. Church. Isn’t that weird?
Tradition dictates that Christmas songs are reserved for the Christmas season.
Which for the church STARTS on Christmas Day with the birth of Jesus and goes for two weeks up to Epiphany. Many churches hold off on singing Christmas songs until Christmas Eve. But for the rest of the world, the Christmas season IS Advent. As Pastor Tom Hobson put it, “The average person walks into church on December 28 and is not expecting to hear Christmas carols, because in their view, the season has come and gone.”[1] That feeling is true for folks who have been in church all their lives and for those who only come on holidays. People CRAVE to hear those Christmas favorites! It helps put them in the Christmas spirit and isn’t that a good thing? Encouraging people to express love, joy, hope and giving are all Christ-like traits and if hearing a few songs like “Angels We Have Heard on High” does that, then why hold back?
You certainly can’t avoid hearing Christmas songs everywhere else.
We hear them on the radio, in shopping malls, in elevators; it is such a natural part of the holiday that for many it wouldn’t be Christmas without Christmas music. But did you know churches only began singing Christmas songs as we know them within the past 150 years? It wasn’t until the late 19th century when Christmas carols moved from the streets into the walls of the church, even though Christmas carols had been around for hundreds of years before that. Perhaps the most famous example is the “Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols” that began in Cornwall, England back in 1880.[2] 1880! It’s weird to think historians could trace something like that so specifically but weirder to think that for nearly nineteen centuries nobody sang a song like “The First Noel” inside of a church. Like most music today, the best songs were sung in the streets, at festivals, at parties, but not in worship. Even then the church was behind the times. If you heard music at all during worship, it would be some kind of somber tune, usually in Latin.[3] But there was a hungering among people, just as there is now, to celebrate the life of Christ through music, and so the Christmas carols we know and love sprang to life – outside of the church.
We can’t help but sing these songs.
People are wired to lift praise and thanksgiving for their blessings and for Christians we direct that praise and thanksgiving into the hands of God and of his son Jesus Christ. So, even when the church could not get with the program in those early days, the spirit of praise and thanksgiving could not be stopped, and people wrote these songs that we love today. For anyone who casually reads the Bible, that is no surprise. The pages of the Bible are filled with people lifting praise to God in song, in prayer, and in their actions. Paul wants to encourage that kind of living and he writes this letter to the church at Ephesus where he includes this passage.
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. – Ephesians 5:15-20
Singing is central to worship.
Singing is central to worship. Not a controversial stance, I know. It’s important to note though Paul doesn’t say what kind of songs we should sing or when we should sing them. He only has one guideline. “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord… (Verse 19)” I love that when they numbered the verses, they cut it off right there in mid-sentence. “Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” If it comes from your heart, that is what matters. My other favorite reference to singing? “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth (Psalm 98).” Because that’s what I do. Make a joyful noise. When we sing, you don’t have to worry about being in tune or having perfect pitch. It’s about the joy in your heart. Now the people around you might appreciate it, but God is pleased with what comes from inside.
The only “right way” to sing is with this in mind.
The early church would adopt customs and traditions of the surrounding culture to better fit in and appeal to the people around them. That’s how we got Christmas in the first place. Flexibility is our approach to the Gospel is a key component to reaching others for Christ. But that doesn’t always happen. Especially as Christianity has become more dominant, many have become more stuck in their ways, believing others should bend to our will instead of the other way around. One United Methodist minister was even quoted in USA Today as saying, “You would not sing ‘Christ the Lord is Risen Today’ on Good Friday…You don’t throw in Christmas hymns for the sake of appeasing people who want to sing.”[4] But do you think Jesus would care if we sang “Christ the Lord is Risen Today” on Good Friday if it brought someone to faith? Breaking with tradition is hard for some, but we need to remember what is truly important. Bringing people to faith in Christ.
There’s nothing wrong with tradition.
Only when it gets in the way of doing the work of Jesus. Traditions are important. They help to ground us. They help us to remember all that came before. But when adhering to tradition starts to get in the way of doing Christ’s work in the world., we need to remember to be flexible. While we should never compromise the message of Christ, we can alter the delivery if it helps others to see Jesus in a way that brings them closer to God. Singing Christmas songs during this season of Advent is not a compromise of our beliefs, but today it is a way for us to more easily get in the Christmas spirit, and shouldn’t we always be doing that? Keep in mind that almost all of the Christmas traditions we hold onto so tightly are human inventions. Advent itself was one of those inventions and has changed many times throughout the history of the church. But the message of Christmas, that God came to Earth to save us and bring us closer to him, is the truth of Christmas and the only one we need to hold on to. For those who believe, every day is Christmas. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[1] https://pres-outlook.org/2010/11/christmas-carols-during-advent/
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_carol ; http://www.whychristmas.com/customs/carols_history.shtml
[3] Ace Collins, Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas, p. 53.
[4] http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-12-13-column13_ST_N.htm
Craig's Corner 