PRAYER: THE KEY TO GOD’S MUCHNESS
James 5:13-16
Sermon by Judy Turner
Our Abundant, Generous God
Occasionally John and I have had dinner in a fancy restaurant, enough to form the impression that the pricier the menu, the smaller the quantity of food. You pay for all that empty space on the plate, with small dabs of food artistically arranged, so that you can hardly recognize what they are, with a sauce dribbled in a design -on that mostly empty plate. No, when we go out to eat, we want abundance. The word “buffet” captures our attention. I’ve recently been introduced to the word “muchness”, and I like that word. What comes to your mind when you think of muchness? Do you think of hitting the accelerator and feeling the muchness of the horsepower in a powerful engine? Do you think of a summer garden that has not been discovered by Japanese beetles or squash bugs- with every plant and vine laden with colorful flowers and succulent vegetables? Do you think of big crowds and stadiums and a last second field goal by which your team wins the Super Bowl? Do you think about having the whole family home for a holiday meal?
God is the God of much- lavish, abundant, overflowing. One of the reasons we love the Psalms is that they paint such beautiful pictures of God’s abundance. Pslam 36 says, “both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings, they feast on the abundance of your house, you give them drink from you river of delights.” The most loved of the Psalms, 23, begins with, “The Lord is my shepherd, I have everything I need. (the timely provision from God’s abundant supply). Even facing the threat of enemies, “you spread a feast before me in the presence of my enemies.” And from the New Testament, Philippians 4:19, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” God has abundant resources, and God is generous.
Deception: God is Stingy and Withholds Good Things From Us
The first deception of the enemy of our souls is recorded early in the Bible- when the serpent suggests to one of the first human beings, Eve, that God is stingy and wants to withhold something desirable from her. The serpent whispers, “Did God say that you could not eat of every tree in the garden?” Actually what God said to her was: “You can eat of every tree in the garden…except for one. And that restriction was because God wanted to keep his children from evil, not because He wanted to keep back any good thing from them. But that remains a favorite deception of the enemy of our souls- to make us doubt the goodness and the generosity of God. Then we start thinking we need to take control of our lives and grab whatever we can however we can because we know better than God what will fulfill us and make us happy. Part of our maturing in faith is not to fall for that one!
Accessing God’s Muchness Through Prayer
Our text this morning is about accessing God’s muchness through prayer. James 5:13-16
13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.
A Continual Conversation With God
According to this passage, when do you pray? When you’re troubled or in trouble, when you’re happy, when you’re sick, when other people are sick. I think James is giving these specific situations, but in essence is saying, if you want to live with a lifeline to God’s abundance, pray continually, anytime, in all circumstances. Have a continual conversation with God. Sometimes that conversation is more focused and intentional, but we can talk with God anytime, anywhere. My definition of prayer: a conversation with God in which God does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
Prayer and Sickness
Sickness is an occasion for prayer. All healing comes from God, from the way He has created our bodies to fight illness and recover, to what He has given us the minds to discover through the practice of medicine, to the flow of supernatural healing power that is released through prayer. Particularly when a sickness is caused by sin, spiritual honesty and prayer is prescribed. You’ve looked at that banner for a long time now that says, “Spiritual Honesty”. Have you thought about that as a prescription from the Great Physician for your well-being? Sin in our lives affects our health. And agreeing with God concerning our sin, which is confession, and particularly when we confess in the hearing of trusted Christian friends who pray with us, releases healing power. Let’s quickly say that not all sickness is caused by sin. Think of what Jesus says in John 9 when the disciples see a man born blind and ask, “Who sinned?” Jesus said, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in his life.” But sin negatively affects every aspect of our lives, including our physical health. There is a connection between the health of our souls and the health of our bodies. I’ve witnessed people’s health improve when they stopped doing something they were ashamed of. I’ve witnessed people’s health improve when they forgave someone. I’ve experienced the power in getting past sin in my life that comes from asking trusted Christian friends to pray with me. And the freedom from sin results in feeling better in every way. The point is, whether the needed healing is physical, emotional, spiritual, or relational, the muchness of God can overflow into us through prayer, bringing spiritual and physical healing.
Prayer Is Powerful and Effective
James says prayer is powerful and effective. Do we believe that?
It seems that in a town a man opened the first pornography store, not far from a church. The members of that church were strongly opposed to this store, and began to pray that God would intervene. A few days later, lightning hit the store and it burned to the ground. The people of the church were surprised but very pleased until they received notice that the owner of the pornography store was suing them. He contended that their prayers were responsible for the burning of the building. In a strongly-worded deposition the church denied the charge.
At the conclusion of the hearing, the judge wryly remarked, “At this point I don’t know what my decision will be, but this appears to be the situation. The owner of the pornography store believes in the power of prayer, and these church people don’t.”
The Fervent Prayer of a Righteous Person Triggers the Muchness of God
James says that the fervent prayer of a righteous person triggers the muchness of God. A “righteous” person is not a perfect person, or even a super saint. A righteous person is committed to doing God’s will and to cultivating a relationship with God that knows God’s heart. Very ordinary people can be righteous because of the grace of God that covers us. This powerful force of prayer is available to us. “Fervent” means energy and passion directed at accomplishing something. This is not ritual. This is not a rote, “Thank you God for the food. Amen.” It’s an energetic prayer- prayer of passion, boldness, and persistence from the heart.
When I was working with the new church ministry of the Disciples of Christ, I’ll never forget a conversation with a Korean new church pastor. He was starting the Evergreen Christian Church. I asked about the name. He explained that in Korea a common practice among Christians is when God invites you to a time of extended prayer for something only God can do, you hold onto a small evergreen tree as you pray for hours. You keep praying until you receive an answer from God. You might receive a “yes” that God is already at work to answer that request, or that the nature of the request needs to be changed so that God can answer it, or that you need to wait, and receive the patience from God for the waiting, or that the answer is no, and receive from God the trust that He is still in control and is at work for good in all things. You pray fervently until you get an answer from God. And the intensity of your prayer will actually bend that tree. And whenever you see that bent tree it will remind you of that conversation with God and God’s faithfulness. “We want to be a church that gives witness to the world of the greatness of God and through whom God demonstrates what only God can do. So we must have people who are devoted to prayer and persistent in prayer,” he said. “That’s why we have named our church “Evergreen Christian Church”.
The Sin of Self-Sufficiency
You often hear how passionately Christians pray in countries where they are oppressed and persecuted. Perhaps some of us are thinking, “Well, of course. If I were a persecuted Christian, my need would drive me to trigger God’s muchness by prayer. But I’m an American Christian. I earn a good salary. I can pay all my bills. I have good health. I’ve got good friends. I take vacations. I’m not in need.”
Dr. Joe Stowell says, “Do you really think it’s compatible with being a Christ-follower to think like that? The darkest moment in a Christian’s life is when he looks in the face of God and says, ‘I have no needs.’ It is the worst self-deceit. In Revelation 3, Jesus says to the church at Loadicea: ‘You make me sick because you say, I am rich and have need of nothing.’ They were guilty of the sin of self-sufficiency. Christ tells them that in reality they are wretched, naked, poor, and blind. The letter concludes with the graphic picture of Jesus standing outside the door of the self-sufficient heart, knocking and wanting to come in. The muchness of God is triggered by the prayers of people who know how much they really need Him.”
Prayer Changes Us
Perhaps what we most need is something we don’t think of right away when we list the benefits of prayer. In fervent prayer we spend a great deal of time with God. We get to know God, know His heart. That is our greatest need, to know God, personally, intimately. I watched a video filmed at the National Prayer Breakfast this week. The keynote speaker was a Hollywood screenwriter named Randall Wallace. He did the writing for movies like Braveheart and Secretariat.
He is known for something unusual in Hollywood. It is known that he prays. The focus of his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast was why prayer is important to him. Toward the conclusion of his speech he said, “I don’t know if prayer changes the mind of God. But I know prayer changes me.”
Somebody has likened prayer to an anchor. My life is a boat at sea. God is the safe harbor, the land. When I pray, I cast my anchor, and I am attached to the eternal, the enduring. As I continue in prayer, I am drawn closer and closer to the land. One of the wonders of a life of prayer is that by spending time with God, talking with God, I actually become more and more like God. I become a person of muchness, gracious and generous. How amazing is that!!
Showing posts with label Sermons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sermons. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Monday, December 13, 2010
Good News Of Great Joy Sermon
Sermon by Judy Turner
Luke 2:8-15
WE ALL WANT JOY
I’m going to start with a statement that I don’t think anybody will disagree with: we all want to be happy. We all want that inner state of well-being, with accompanying feelings of pleasure and delight, good fortune, blessing. Particularly at this time of the year, we want to be happy. If you asked people what their ultimate goal in life is, they might say, “To be happy.”
GOD IS JOY AND WANTS US TO BE JOYFUL
But I believe that even more than happiness, we want joy. Joy is that inner sense of well-being and gladness that is not dependent on what’s going on around us, or on our circumstances, but is the gift of God that nobody can take away from us and nothing can diminish. The source of joy is God. We were created in the image of God, to share Godness. God is joy, and wants his human children to share his great gladness. In fact, He commands it. Just start looking through the Bible for joy, and you see in both the Old and New Testaments an astonishing number of references to delight, joy, bliss, exultation, merry-making and rejoicing. So, joy is a characteristic of the life of a child of God, flowing from God into us who are made in His image. In Galatians 5, joy is included as part of the fruit of the Spirit- something that should grow out of our life, just as clearly as apples grow on the apple tree.
CULTIVATING JOY
But those apples require some cultivation. One of the real estate ads that caught my eye describing the property that became the Christview Ministries Center where John and I have the privilege of living, was “variety of fruit trees”. Oh, I had visions of our own cherries and pears and apples we could pick right off the tree. What were those little hard, green wormy things that appeared on the tree that first fall? I talked with a man who has an apple orchard. He told me what you have to do to cultivate apples: all the pruning and spraying and fertilizing. My eyes started glazing over as I realized I was not going to do the work to help the tree produce the apples. I would just buy them- locally if at all possible!
WHAT LUKE’S STORY OF THE ANGELS AND SHEPHERDS TELLS US ABOUT JOY
So, the Bible indicates that joy is a gift, part of God’s own nature shared with us, what grows in us as we continually make choices to cooperate with God. Let’s explore what the story in Luke 2 of the angels and the shepherds tells us about joy as God’s gift and what we do to cultivate it.
Luke 2:8-9
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.
JOY IS BEING CAUGHT UP IN THE BIGNESS OF WHAT GOD IS DOING
One of the things I love about this story is that it is about ordinary people going about their daily lives, when suddenly they are caught up in something huge! The best thing I’ve seen sent over the internet in a long time is a video of what happened Saturday Oct. 30 at the Center City Shopping Mall in Philadelphia. The video starts with shoppers in Macy’s, looking at the clothes on the racks, handling the merchandise, making their purchases. They are completely unaware that something big and unexpected is about to happen. 650 singers from the Philadelphia Opera Co. and numerous choirs of the city are stationing themselves at various places in the store and on the balconies at the center of the mall. Then at noon, there is the sound of an organ, and all the singers burst into singing the Hallelujah Chorus. The video shows people looking up, startled, stopping what they’re doing, looking around, puzzled looks turning to smiles of amazement. Some shoppers start joining in the song, whether they know the words are not, some people pull out their cell phones to capture the moment in pictures, children are lifted to the shoulders of their parents to get a better view of what is going on. When the final “Hallelujah” sounds, people burst into applause that lasts very long time. People just stand there, like nobody wants it to be over. The video pans to one of the organizers on the balcony holding up a sign, “You’ve just experienced a Random Act of Culture”. I thought, “No, it’s more than that. It’s more like, “You’ve just been caught up in a moment of holy joy.”
The spiritual writer Stephen Mitchell once described a holy joy as “so large that it is no longer inside of you, but you are inside of it.” That’s the feeling we get with the shepherds in the fields, suddenly caught up in this huge joy. The curtain that usually separates the seen material world from the unseen spiritual realm was lifted. And mortals were able to see and hear the angels rejoicing all around them. It was radiant, terrible in the most beautiful way, a Huge Holy joy they were inside of. That was the gift part of the joy. The Greek word for the good news of great joy the angel announced is “chara” (Khar-ah’) which comes from the Greek word “charis”, grace. Just out of His loving goodness and the overflowing muchness of His being, God gives humans the opportunity to share in His joy, not because we deserve it, but because that’s the way God is.
THE CHOICES WE MAKE TO RECEIVE JOY
But the shepherds have to make some choices to be part of God’s joy. By their choices they receive and cultivate this great gift of God’s own joy.
Luke 2: 9b-10 And they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
DON’T GIVE IN TO THE JOY-BLOCKERS. ASK GOD TO BE IN CONTROL.
The angel tells them, “Don’t be afraid.” Of course, they feel afraid, terrified, like they want to run and hide. But the choice is not to let feelings of fear control them. Let God be in control. There are some joy-blockers. Fear and anxiety are big joy-blockers. If we want to experience more joy in our lives, I suggest we adopt a zero tolerance policy toward the joy-blockers in our lives. Maybe you can’t help feelings of anxiety. But are they going to limit your life, control what you do and don’t do, or are you going to choose not to give in to fear, but instead surrender to God? “God, I’m feeling afraid, but I don’t want to be controlled by fear. I surrender my fear to you and ask for deeper trust in you.” We don’t like to admit how totally dependent we are on God for everything. We’d sometimes rather hang on to our anxiety and our small, scared lives, and our misery than give up control and ask God for the trust we need. What do you need to live in the big Joy of the Lord? Ask for it. If you don’t have much joy in your life, don’t settle for such a weak, shriveled life. Ask for the joy of the Lord, which the scripture says, is our strength.
SAY “YES” TO GOD’S INVITATION AND SEE FOR YOURSELF
Then, the angels invite the shepherds to go see for themselves.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
They angels give directions (perhaps not as detailed as Mapquest, but more accurate) by pointing the shepherds to Bethlehem and they will know they have found the right baby when they see him wrapped in cloths and lying in a feeding trough for animals. This is the One, the baby who is God with us, Christ the Lord.
Now, at this point, the shepherds have a choice. It’s a kind of a risky, silly thing to do to go wandering around Bethlehem looking for this baby. They could convince each other this was just a wild dream, just go back to sleep and promise each other they would never say a word about this to anybody. After all, people might question their sanity if they followed up on this. But they chose to risk it, to see for themselves.
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.”
GOD IS INVITING EACH OF US TO JOY
God is always inviting each of us to see for ourselves, to experience in our own lives who He is and what He is doing. How is God inviting you this morning? Maybe you’re not even sure God is real. Are you willing to find out? Are you willing to start talking to God and holding out the possibility that God might communicate with you, start reading the Bible, start hanging out regularly with Christians?
Maybe you know God is real, but He is remote. He hasn’t come close and personal. You don’t see Him doing anything in your world. Are you willing to see for yourself? Are you simply willing to pray each morning, “God, open my eyes, I want to see what you’re doing all around me.”
But even if you see God at work around you, you don’t fully experience the joy until you ask to be part of what God is doing. “God, I don’t want to just be a spectator. I want to be a player on your team and join you on the field. I want to serve you every day.” Maybe there is some particular step God has been inviting you to take: from forgiving someone to taking a new direction in your life. Whatever the invitation, saying “yes” to God brings joy. Because God’s desire for you is also your deepest joy.
THE FULFILLMENT OF OUR LITTLE LIVES IN GOD’S GREAT WORK
The stories Luke tells us in Chapters 1 and 2 are about ordinary people caught up inside this big cosmic thing God is doing. But they have the choice whether they will say “yes” and take part in God’s redemption of the world. When they say “yes”, not only are they inside God’s Great Cosmic Joy, but their little individual lives are fulfilled as well. Both the Big Story of the salvation of the world, and the smaller human stories of Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary and a bunch of shepherds matter to God. Zechariah and Elizabeth, the old, childless couple who have prayed for years, now miraculously have a child. Mary, a young person, really wanting her life to count, now finds a purpose for her life far beyond anything she could imagine. Shepherds, nobodies, stuck on the hillside with sheep night after night, longing for significance, something more, now become part of the Adventure of the Ages.
It just may be that the fulfillment of your heart’s truest desires and your deepest longings for joy are just beyond that step of saying “yes” to God. Are you willing to see for yourself?
Luke 2:8-15
WE ALL WANT JOY
I’m going to start with a statement that I don’t think anybody will disagree with: we all want to be happy. We all want that inner state of well-being, with accompanying feelings of pleasure and delight, good fortune, blessing. Particularly at this time of the year, we want to be happy. If you asked people what their ultimate goal in life is, they might say, “To be happy.”
GOD IS JOY AND WANTS US TO BE JOYFUL
But I believe that even more than happiness, we want joy. Joy is that inner sense of well-being and gladness that is not dependent on what’s going on around us, or on our circumstances, but is the gift of God that nobody can take away from us and nothing can diminish. The source of joy is God. We were created in the image of God, to share Godness. God is joy, and wants his human children to share his great gladness. In fact, He commands it. Just start looking through the Bible for joy, and you see in both the Old and New Testaments an astonishing number of references to delight, joy, bliss, exultation, merry-making and rejoicing. So, joy is a characteristic of the life of a child of God, flowing from God into us who are made in His image. In Galatians 5, joy is included as part of the fruit of the Spirit- something that should grow out of our life, just as clearly as apples grow on the apple tree.
CULTIVATING JOY
But those apples require some cultivation. One of the real estate ads that caught my eye describing the property that became the Christview Ministries Center where John and I have the privilege of living, was “variety of fruit trees”. Oh, I had visions of our own cherries and pears and apples we could pick right off the tree. What were those little hard, green wormy things that appeared on the tree that first fall? I talked with a man who has an apple orchard. He told me what you have to do to cultivate apples: all the pruning and spraying and fertilizing. My eyes started glazing over as I realized I was not going to do the work to help the tree produce the apples. I would just buy them- locally if at all possible!
WHAT LUKE’S STORY OF THE ANGELS AND SHEPHERDS TELLS US ABOUT JOY
So, the Bible indicates that joy is a gift, part of God’s own nature shared with us, what grows in us as we continually make choices to cooperate with God. Let’s explore what the story in Luke 2 of the angels and the shepherds tells us about joy as God’s gift and what we do to cultivate it.
Luke 2:8-9
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.
JOY IS BEING CAUGHT UP IN THE BIGNESS OF WHAT GOD IS DOING
One of the things I love about this story is that it is about ordinary people going about their daily lives, when suddenly they are caught up in something huge! The best thing I’ve seen sent over the internet in a long time is a video of what happened Saturday Oct. 30 at the Center City Shopping Mall in Philadelphia. The video starts with shoppers in Macy’s, looking at the clothes on the racks, handling the merchandise, making their purchases. They are completely unaware that something big and unexpected is about to happen. 650 singers from the Philadelphia Opera Co. and numerous choirs of the city are stationing themselves at various places in the store and on the balconies at the center of the mall. Then at noon, there is the sound of an organ, and all the singers burst into singing the Hallelujah Chorus. The video shows people looking up, startled, stopping what they’re doing, looking around, puzzled looks turning to smiles of amazement. Some shoppers start joining in the song, whether they know the words are not, some people pull out their cell phones to capture the moment in pictures, children are lifted to the shoulders of their parents to get a better view of what is going on. When the final “Hallelujah” sounds, people burst into applause that lasts very long time. People just stand there, like nobody wants it to be over. The video pans to one of the organizers on the balcony holding up a sign, “You’ve just experienced a Random Act of Culture”. I thought, “No, it’s more than that. It’s more like, “You’ve just been caught up in a moment of holy joy.”
The spiritual writer Stephen Mitchell once described a holy joy as “so large that it is no longer inside of you, but you are inside of it.” That’s the feeling we get with the shepherds in the fields, suddenly caught up in this huge joy. The curtain that usually separates the seen material world from the unseen spiritual realm was lifted. And mortals were able to see and hear the angels rejoicing all around them. It was radiant, terrible in the most beautiful way, a Huge Holy joy they were inside of. That was the gift part of the joy. The Greek word for the good news of great joy the angel announced is “chara” (Khar-ah’) which comes from the Greek word “charis”, grace. Just out of His loving goodness and the overflowing muchness of His being, God gives humans the opportunity to share in His joy, not because we deserve it, but because that’s the way God is.
THE CHOICES WE MAKE TO RECEIVE JOY
But the shepherds have to make some choices to be part of God’s joy. By their choices they receive and cultivate this great gift of God’s own joy.
Luke 2: 9b-10 And they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.
DON’T GIVE IN TO THE JOY-BLOCKERS. ASK GOD TO BE IN CONTROL.
The angel tells them, “Don’t be afraid.” Of course, they feel afraid, terrified, like they want to run and hide. But the choice is not to let feelings of fear control them. Let God be in control. There are some joy-blockers. Fear and anxiety are big joy-blockers. If we want to experience more joy in our lives, I suggest we adopt a zero tolerance policy toward the joy-blockers in our lives. Maybe you can’t help feelings of anxiety. But are they going to limit your life, control what you do and don’t do, or are you going to choose not to give in to fear, but instead surrender to God? “God, I’m feeling afraid, but I don’t want to be controlled by fear. I surrender my fear to you and ask for deeper trust in you.” We don’t like to admit how totally dependent we are on God for everything. We’d sometimes rather hang on to our anxiety and our small, scared lives, and our misery than give up control and ask God for the trust we need. What do you need to live in the big Joy of the Lord? Ask for it. If you don’t have much joy in your life, don’t settle for such a weak, shriveled life. Ask for the joy of the Lord, which the scripture says, is our strength.
SAY “YES” TO GOD’S INVITATION AND SEE FOR YOURSELF
Then, the angels invite the shepherds to go see for themselves.
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
They angels give directions (perhaps not as detailed as Mapquest, but more accurate) by pointing the shepherds to Bethlehem and they will know they have found the right baby when they see him wrapped in cloths and lying in a feeding trough for animals. This is the One, the baby who is God with us, Christ the Lord.
Now, at this point, the shepherds have a choice. It’s a kind of a risky, silly thing to do to go wandering around Bethlehem looking for this baby. They could convince each other this was just a wild dream, just go back to sleep and promise each other they would never say a word about this to anybody. After all, people might question their sanity if they followed up on this. But they chose to risk it, to see for themselves.
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.”
GOD IS INVITING EACH OF US TO JOY
God is always inviting each of us to see for ourselves, to experience in our own lives who He is and what He is doing. How is God inviting you this morning? Maybe you’re not even sure God is real. Are you willing to find out? Are you willing to start talking to God and holding out the possibility that God might communicate with you, start reading the Bible, start hanging out regularly with Christians?
Maybe you know God is real, but He is remote. He hasn’t come close and personal. You don’t see Him doing anything in your world. Are you willing to see for yourself? Are you simply willing to pray each morning, “God, open my eyes, I want to see what you’re doing all around me.”
But even if you see God at work around you, you don’t fully experience the joy until you ask to be part of what God is doing. “God, I don’t want to just be a spectator. I want to be a player on your team and join you on the field. I want to serve you every day.” Maybe there is some particular step God has been inviting you to take: from forgiving someone to taking a new direction in your life. Whatever the invitation, saying “yes” to God brings joy. Because God’s desire for you is also your deepest joy.
THE FULFILLMENT OF OUR LITTLE LIVES IN GOD’S GREAT WORK
The stories Luke tells us in Chapters 1 and 2 are about ordinary people caught up inside this big cosmic thing God is doing. But they have the choice whether they will say “yes” and take part in God’s redemption of the world. When they say “yes”, not only are they inside God’s Great Cosmic Joy, but their little individual lives are fulfilled as well. Both the Big Story of the salvation of the world, and the smaller human stories of Zechariah and Elizabeth and Mary and a bunch of shepherds matter to God. Zechariah and Elizabeth, the old, childless couple who have prayed for years, now miraculously have a child. Mary, a young person, really wanting her life to count, now finds a purpose for her life far beyond anything she could imagine. Shepherds, nobodies, stuck on the hillside with sheep night after night, longing for significance, something more, now become part of the Adventure of the Ages.
It just may be that the fulfillment of your heart’s truest desires and your deepest longings for joy are just beyond that step of saying “yes” to God. Are you willing to see for yourself?
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Sermon Nov.14, 2010
BUT GOD MEANT IT FOR GOOD
Sermon by Judy Turner
Genesis 50:19-21
The Bible tells the stories of many people, and how God was in their lives, through good and terrible circumstances, so we can know how God will be for us, as we go through all the days of our lives. Let’s consider this morning one of the most intriguing characters of the Bible. I’ll start describing him, and you see when you recognize who I’m talking about. He started life with a lot going for him, the favorite son of a doting father. He knew he was destined to be a leader, and was perceived by those around him as an arrogant braggart. He experienced a great reversal early in his life, at the age of 17, an unspeakable tragedy. He was captured by his jealous brothers, thrown into a pit, and sold to some slave traders passing by. And it seemed to go from bad to worse. He was taken to Egypt, and bought by an Egyptian officer, but was falsely accused of sexual misconduct and ended up in jail. You probably know by now that I’m talking about Joseph, whose amazing story is told in Genesis chapters 37- 50. I read the story again in preparing for this sermon, and was still utterly taken with it, with tears in my eyes at the most tender, touching moments of the story. Read the details. You will be blessed.
But we’ll give a quick summary this morning. A line repeated throughout the hard years of Joseph’s life in slavery and prison was, “The Lord was with Joseph.” And his Egyptian master and the warden of the prison saw Joseph’s abilities and his integrity. And he was given responsibility. In prison, he was put in charge of the other prisoners. God gave Joseph the ability to interpret dreams, and he told two of the prisoners what their dreams meant. His interpretation proved to be right, and later, when the Pharaoh, the ruler of all Egypt had a dream, Joseph was brought from prison to interpret the meaning. Joseph said, “Pharaoh, this is what the dream means. There will be 7 years of great abundance in all the land of Egypt, then the land will be ravaged by 7 years of famine. And this is what you should do. You should put a wise and discerning man in charge of storing grain during the good years, so there will be plenty to keep the people alive when the famine comes.” Pharoah says, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom the spirit of God dwells?” And Pharoah made Joseph second in command in all the land, and put him in charge of this system of storing and then distributing the grain. Talk about a reversal! But still there had to be an empty, aching place in Joseph’s heart. He was separated from his family, not knowing even if his beloved father Jacob was still alive.
The seven good years came, then the bad years. The story then switches back to the land of Canaan, with Jacob and his family. Those years of famine affected a much wider geographic area than just Egypt, and people in other countries were going to Egypt to buy food. Things were getting desperate for Jacob’s family, so he sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain, and who did they encounter? None other than their brother, Joseph, who years earlier they had sold into slavery. Joseph immediately recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. He decided to test whether they had changed through the years, a test that involved bringing their little brother Benjamin to Egypt. When the brothers demonstrated that they would lay down their lives for their little brother rather than abandon him or sell him out, as they had Joseph, Joseph was convinced of their change of heart. In one of the most touching scenes in all human history, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and then arranges for his father and the whole extended family to move to Egypt so they can live. There is another very moving scene when Joseph is reunited with his father, Jacob. So the family prospers in Egypt, and Jacob dies there. Then the brothers become afraid again. Has Joseph only been kind to them as long as the old man was alive, and now he would get revenge for the evil they had done to him years ago?
Our text this morning is what Joseph says in response to their fear: (Genesis 50:19-21
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
This is certainly the story of an amazing man named Joseph, but it is more the story of an amazing God. As John Claypool says in God The Ingennious Alchemist, God can take the bad choices made in human freedom and somehow transmute them into experiences of growth and blessing. The book of Genesis begins with God, the being of ultimate goodness, love, and joy creating the world and everything that lives to share the sheer abundance of that goodness with those He created. But the Creator wanted children who could choose to love Him back and walk in His ways, rather than puppets. So he put in His human creatures the freedom to choose. Claypool says, “It is ultimate absurdity, but, tragically, this is the response that the earliest humans made to God’s primal generosity. They proceeded to unmake creation. God started with nothing and moved through chaos to form and beauty, but ungrateful creatures reversed that process and turned form and beauty back into chaos, toward the nothingness from which it all came.” This is how the book of Genesis begins, with creation, and then sin entering the world. But the book of Genesis ends with the story of Joseph. And Joseph saying to his brothers, “You chose evil, but God meant it for good. And all this has resulted in fulfilling God’s purpose of saving many lives.” So the book of Genesis ends with a powerful story of redemption, a marker along the way to what God was ultimately going to do in Jesus.
What an amazing God! Without robbing human beings of freedom, God has within God’s being the ability to take bad things or events and resourcefully bring good out of them. So what does this mean for us? It means first of all, that there is nothing bad that we have done and nothing bad that has been done to us that is beyond the power of God to redeem and somehow bring good. Of course, to personally experience that good, we need to repent of the evil we have done and forgive the evil done to us. Joseph had to repent of being the spoiled, arrogant child, and be willing to grow and change through the hard experiences. God was with him through it all, but Joseph had to choose each day in that prison to walk with God. His brothers had to repent of their wrong response to their father’s favoritism, and their brother’s annoying self-centeredness (both of which were wrong, but so was their response of resentment, and letting that resentment grow into taking action to destroy the favored one and then lie to their father about it.) Joseph’s brother’s had to repent of their wrong response to the evil done to them, and instead grow into people of Godly character who could love their father, even with his imperfections, and lay down their lives for their favored younger brother Benjamin. And Joseph had to choose to forgive, to let go of any desire to retaliate or get vengeance or harm the brothers who had harmed him. I think his reaction in first encountering them again after all those years said that he had forgiven them in his heart. He didn’t want to hurt them. That is forgiveness, to drop the charge we have against someone. We can always forgive, even if the other person has not changed. But, if they had changed, Joseph knew he could move beyond forgiveness to reconciliation, reestablishing relationship. He had already forgiven. He wished them no harm, only good. But he set up the tests to know if they had changed. And, by the grace of God, he saw they had changed. And God redeemed and healed the broken relationships in this family, making them better and stronger than ever before.
What we must do if we want to see how our amazing God can redeem absolutely anything? At any point in time, no matter how bleak things seem is never lose hope in God, never give in to despair. This must have been a choice Joseph made every day, even when there was nothing visible, nothing he could see on the horizon to give him hope. Claypool quotes a rabbi who says, "Despair is presumptuous. It is saying something about the future that we have no right to say. If God can make the things that are out of the things that are not, and can make dead things come to life again, who are we to set limits on what that kind of power might yet do with what we have done?" The scriptures invite us to get to know this Holy One who in the worst of times can do the best of things.
Gert Behanna lived a life of deepening despair. Although she was the daughter of a successful, wealthy man, and had lots of money, she had nothing to guide her life. She married three times, only to have each marriage end up in divorce. She had two sons, whom she had no idea how to handle and who wound up causing her all sorts of problems. In the midst of all this pain, she became increasingly dependent on alcohol until, finally, her life became so unworkable that she said, “I cannot stand it any longer.” One night she took a massive overdose of sleeping pills. Imagine her dismay when, eight hours later, she woke up in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital and had to face that fact that she was such an inept failure that she could not even succeed in ending her life. She lay alone in the darkness of the night and the dark despair of her soul. She looked up at the ceiling and stammered out, “God, I don’t even know whether you exist. I have never had anything to do with you, but if you do exist, and if you can help me, please, please come. I am absolutely at the end of my rope.” A warm light began to move toward her, enveloping her in a sense of love that she had never experienced before from anyone. She was given a sense that her life somehow mattered to the Source behind all reality and that there was a meaningful future for her in spite of her past. This healing embrace lasted for several minutes and, when the intensity began to subside, even though it was by then the middle of the night, she picked up her phone and called her business manager and said breathlessly, “Bring me a copy of the Holy Bible as quickly as you can!” Her manager knew her quite well and could not contain his shock. He blurted out, “My God, Gert, what has happened to you?” To which she replied, “My God has happened to me.”
At any point in our lives, especially when we come to the end of ourselves, our God can happen to us. And we discover a goodness much bigger than all the badness in this complicated world. And knowing this God and walking with Him day by day, we move from a life of fear and despair to a life of courage and hope.
May this amazing God who can redeem absolutely anything happen to us today!
Sermon by Judy Turner
Genesis 50:19-21
The Bible tells the stories of many people, and how God was in their lives, through good and terrible circumstances, so we can know how God will be for us, as we go through all the days of our lives. Let’s consider this morning one of the most intriguing characters of the Bible. I’ll start describing him, and you see when you recognize who I’m talking about. He started life with a lot going for him, the favorite son of a doting father. He knew he was destined to be a leader, and was perceived by those around him as an arrogant braggart. He experienced a great reversal early in his life, at the age of 17, an unspeakable tragedy. He was captured by his jealous brothers, thrown into a pit, and sold to some slave traders passing by. And it seemed to go from bad to worse. He was taken to Egypt, and bought by an Egyptian officer, but was falsely accused of sexual misconduct and ended up in jail. You probably know by now that I’m talking about Joseph, whose amazing story is told in Genesis chapters 37- 50. I read the story again in preparing for this sermon, and was still utterly taken with it, with tears in my eyes at the most tender, touching moments of the story. Read the details. You will be blessed.
But we’ll give a quick summary this morning. A line repeated throughout the hard years of Joseph’s life in slavery and prison was, “The Lord was with Joseph.” And his Egyptian master and the warden of the prison saw Joseph’s abilities and his integrity. And he was given responsibility. In prison, he was put in charge of the other prisoners. God gave Joseph the ability to interpret dreams, and he told two of the prisoners what their dreams meant. His interpretation proved to be right, and later, when the Pharaoh, the ruler of all Egypt had a dream, Joseph was brought from prison to interpret the meaning. Joseph said, “Pharaoh, this is what the dream means. There will be 7 years of great abundance in all the land of Egypt, then the land will be ravaged by 7 years of famine. And this is what you should do. You should put a wise and discerning man in charge of storing grain during the good years, so there will be plenty to keep the people alive when the famine comes.” Pharoah says, “Can we find anyone like this man, one in whom the spirit of God dwells?” And Pharoah made Joseph second in command in all the land, and put him in charge of this system of storing and then distributing the grain. Talk about a reversal! But still there had to be an empty, aching place in Joseph’s heart. He was separated from his family, not knowing even if his beloved father Jacob was still alive.
The seven good years came, then the bad years. The story then switches back to the land of Canaan, with Jacob and his family. Those years of famine affected a much wider geographic area than just Egypt, and people in other countries were going to Egypt to buy food. Things were getting desperate for Jacob’s family, so he sent his sons to Egypt to buy grain, and who did they encounter? None other than their brother, Joseph, who years earlier they had sold into slavery. Joseph immediately recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him. He decided to test whether they had changed through the years, a test that involved bringing their little brother Benjamin to Egypt. When the brothers demonstrated that they would lay down their lives for their little brother rather than abandon him or sell him out, as they had Joseph, Joseph was convinced of their change of heart. In one of the most touching scenes in all human history, Joseph reveals himself to his brothers and then arranges for his father and the whole extended family to move to Egypt so they can live. There is another very moving scene when Joseph is reunited with his father, Jacob. So the family prospers in Egypt, and Jacob dies there. Then the brothers become afraid again. Has Joseph only been kind to them as long as the old man was alive, and now he would get revenge for the evil they had done to him years ago?
Our text this morning is what Joseph says in response to their fear: (Genesis 50:19-21
19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
This is certainly the story of an amazing man named Joseph, but it is more the story of an amazing God. As John Claypool says in God The Ingennious Alchemist, God can take the bad choices made in human freedom and somehow transmute them into experiences of growth and blessing. The book of Genesis begins with God, the being of ultimate goodness, love, and joy creating the world and everything that lives to share the sheer abundance of that goodness with those He created. But the Creator wanted children who could choose to love Him back and walk in His ways, rather than puppets. So he put in His human creatures the freedom to choose. Claypool says, “It is ultimate absurdity, but, tragically, this is the response that the earliest humans made to God’s primal generosity. They proceeded to unmake creation. God started with nothing and moved through chaos to form and beauty, but ungrateful creatures reversed that process and turned form and beauty back into chaos, toward the nothingness from which it all came.” This is how the book of Genesis begins, with creation, and then sin entering the world. But the book of Genesis ends with the story of Joseph. And Joseph saying to his brothers, “You chose evil, but God meant it for good. And all this has resulted in fulfilling God’s purpose of saving many lives.” So the book of Genesis ends with a powerful story of redemption, a marker along the way to what God was ultimately going to do in Jesus.
What an amazing God! Without robbing human beings of freedom, God has within God’s being the ability to take bad things or events and resourcefully bring good out of them. So what does this mean for us? It means first of all, that there is nothing bad that we have done and nothing bad that has been done to us that is beyond the power of God to redeem and somehow bring good. Of course, to personally experience that good, we need to repent of the evil we have done and forgive the evil done to us. Joseph had to repent of being the spoiled, arrogant child, and be willing to grow and change through the hard experiences. God was with him through it all, but Joseph had to choose each day in that prison to walk with God. His brothers had to repent of their wrong response to their father’s favoritism, and their brother’s annoying self-centeredness (both of which were wrong, but so was their response of resentment, and letting that resentment grow into taking action to destroy the favored one and then lie to their father about it.) Joseph’s brother’s had to repent of their wrong response to the evil done to them, and instead grow into people of Godly character who could love their father, even with his imperfections, and lay down their lives for their favored younger brother Benjamin. And Joseph had to choose to forgive, to let go of any desire to retaliate or get vengeance or harm the brothers who had harmed him. I think his reaction in first encountering them again after all those years said that he had forgiven them in his heart. He didn’t want to hurt them. That is forgiveness, to drop the charge we have against someone. We can always forgive, even if the other person has not changed. But, if they had changed, Joseph knew he could move beyond forgiveness to reconciliation, reestablishing relationship. He had already forgiven. He wished them no harm, only good. But he set up the tests to know if they had changed. And, by the grace of God, he saw they had changed. And God redeemed and healed the broken relationships in this family, making them better and stronger than ever before.
What we must do if we want to see how our amazing God can redeem absolutely anything? At any point in time, no matter how bleak things seem is never lose hope in God, never give in to despair. This must have been a choice Joseph made every day, even when there was nothing visible, nothing he could see on the horizon to give him hope. Claypool quotes a rabbi who says, "Despair is presumptuous. It is saying something about the future that we have no right to say. If God can make the things that are out of the things that are not, and can make dead things come to life again, who are we to set limits on what that kind of power might yet do with what we have done?" The scriptures invite us to get to know this Holy One who in the worst of times can do the best of things.
Gert Behanna lived a life of deepening despair. Although she was the daughter of a successful, wealthy man, and had lots of money, she had nothing to guide her life. She married three times, only to have each marriage end up in divorce. She had two sons, whom she had no idea how to handle and who wound up causing her all sorts of problems. In the midst of all this pain, she became increasingly dependent on alcohol until, finally, her life became so unworkable that she said, “I cannot stand it any longer.” One night she took a massive overdose of sleeping pills. Imagine her dismay when, eight hours later, she woke up in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital and had to face that fact that she was such an inept failure that she could not even succeed in ending her life. She lay alone in the darkness of the night and the dark despair of her soul. She looked up at the ceiling and stammered out, “God, I don’t even know whether you exist. I have never had anything to do with you, but if you do exist, and if you can help me, please, please come. I am absolutely at the end of my rope.” A warm light began to move toward her, enveloping her in a sense of love that she had never experienced before from anyone. She was given a sense that her life somehow mattered to the Source behind all reality and that there was a meaningful future for her in spite of her past. This healing embrace lasted for several minutes and, when the intensity began to subside, even though it was by then the middle of the night, she picked up her phone and called her business manager and said breathlessly, “Bring me a copy of the Holy Bible as quickly as you can!” Her manager knew her quite well and could not contain his shock. He blurted out, “My God, Gert, what has happened to you?” To which she replied, “My God has happened to me.”
At any point in our lives, especially when we come to the end of ourselves, our God can happen to us. And we discover a goodness much bigger than all the badness in this complicated world. And knowing this God and walking with Him day by day, we move from a life of fear and despair to a life of courage and hope.
May this amazing God who can redeem absolutely anything happen to us today!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Sermon: Singing the Lord's Song
SINGING THE LORD’S SONG
Sermon by Judy Turner
I don’t know exactly when or how it happened that American culture changed so much, but it seems like we of the mainline church recently woke up to find ourselves in a “foreign land”. Wasn’t it just yesterday that American culture was “Christian”? Oh, we know everyone was not a committed follower of Jesus Christ by any means, but the culture was built on some shared values and standards. The first television shows I saw portrayed an Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best kind of world. And the mainline church with its white columns and tall steeple was the center of that world. People generally respected and supported the institutional church. Now we’re in a fragmented culture. Everyone seems to be defining their own center, and if there is an orientation point in communities, it’s Wal Mart, not the church. Church leaders are singing songs of discouragement, like “We’ve Been Working at the Church House, All Our Live-Long Lives” and “Where Have All the People Gone?” Shortages of people and money seem to be the common experience of churches of the old denominations such as Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Disciples of Christ.
And in the midst of all our discouragement and troubles, the secular culture is out there taunting us with their indifference. It’s as if unbelievers are saying, “OK, just show me what this God of yours can do for me. He doesn’t seem to be doing much for you.” Or maybe the taunt is, “Give me some reason I should even notice the church.”
God’s People in a Foreign Culture
But this is by no means the first time in history that God’s people have found themselves in a foreign culture, with everything changed. In the Sixth Century before Christ, the little kingdom of Judah had been invaded and destroyed by the powerful Babylonians. The conquering army destroyed homes, killed lots of people, and others they rounded up like cattle and herded them from their homes and relocated them in the foreign land of Babylon. Psalm 137 reflects the experience of God’s people in exile. Those exiles sat by the rivers of Babylon remembered- bitter, sad memories of loss and destruction. Saddest of all was remembering Solomon’s magnificent temple in Jerusalem, destroyed, nothing left but rubble, all the precious holy things of the temple carted away – just booty. The temple was the place where through the centuries God met His people, sacrifices were offered for sins, forgiveness was granted. It was the holiest place in all the earth, and now it was no more. The taunts of their captors, “Why don’t you sing one of the songs of Zion like Psalm 48 (“Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain…God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress”) made the pain unbearable. They couldn’t sing for the tears and the choking in their throats, when they remembered Jerusalem. They just hung up their harps on the nearby trees and wept for their homeland.
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill . 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!" 8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us- 9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
What is helpful for us in this Psalm, and in what way?
What do we do with a Psalm like this? It’s called a Psalm of Lament. No kidding! And it expresses a bitter vindictiveness that the New Testament makes clear is not to be the spirit of a follower of Jesus. But there is a reason this Psalm is included in among the divinely inspired scriptures, and as 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” So I think we benefit from prayerfully studying the Psalm to see what in it is helpful for us, and in what way.
1. In this real relationship we have with God, we must be real with God.
We can express to God our deepest anguish and our bitterest anger. We don’t have to put on a happy face or pretend with God. Straight to the arms of God is the safe place to go with our rage and despair. When life is hard, turning our backs on God is a temptation. Instead, we choose to turning toward God with our pain. Our honest openness with God gives God a chance to start redeeming and healing the pain.
2. Value our spiritual heritage, but don’t make an idol of it.
The first 5 books of the Bible are about God forming a people to represent Him in the world. He gave them a shared history, a culture, practices, that would remind them continually of who they were and why. It was a good thing for the Israelite exiles in Babylon to remember their spiritual heritage, to not forget their homeland and the temple and their religious practices. But what about considering Jerusalem their “highest joy”? Could that be a form of idolatry? Idolatry is giving anything other than God first place in your heart and in your life. If their trust was placed in their religious system or their religious traditions or a sacred building rather than in God Himself, then their trust was misplaced. So, here we start learning from the Psalm as a negative example. In the light of the whole counsel of scripture, we say, “Yes, we are to always remember what God has done in the past. Yes, we are to value our spiritual heritage, our traditions and our places where we’ve met God. But we can’t value any of that more than we value God Himself. And we can’t put God in the box of the past. The Prophet Isaiah wrote during the time Israel’s destruction as a nation started taking place. He saw the time when Israelites would be taken from their homeland and into exile. But just because the kingdom of Israel was no more didn’t mean the Kingdom of God was in trouble at all. Isaiah forsees how God will continue to work in human history until His purposes are fulfilled. In Isaiah 43:18-19, God says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” God’s people are always supposed to have a rear-view mirror so we can see where we have come from, but we need to have a big and clear windshield so we can see where God is taking us now! If all we have is a big rear-view mirror, we’ve got serious problems.
3. Choose to believe that God can empower us to be effective witnesses for Him now (even in this “foreign land”, our changed circumstances)
I think we can understand the choice reflected in Psalm 137: “things are so hard here, we’ve lost so much, we can’t give bold, joyful effective witness to the loving goodness of our God. So we’ll just give up. Literally, they hung their harps on the trees near the river and went silent. That was just a picture of the surrender in their spirits. They would have their religious memories, but they wouldn’t have a living, vital faith.
4. Repent and retrieve our harps
What about us? Are we singing the Lord’s Song in this strange land? Are we breaking through the darkness of our culture with a joyful witness to the love and power of God made known in Jesus Christ? Have we stopped trying to influence our culture toward God and become influenced by it? Have we lost our joy and confidence? Have we hung up our harps and gone silent?
Jill Briscoe reflects on this Psalm and suggests that if we suspect that we’ve lost our joy in the Lord, but want to rediscover it, it would be a good idea to look where we hung up our harps. Will each of you come with me into the realm of the Spirit and walk around for awhile and see if there’s a tree where your harp is hanging?
There is the grief tree. Some hurt or loss has taken your joy in the Lord, and maybe even caused you to doubt God’s goodness. God wants to heal the hurt and fill the empty places inside of you, but you can’t seem to let go of the sadness and the anger. You want whatever it was you lost more than you want God. Together as a church we often hang our harps on the grief tree. We’re focused on what the church used to be like and long for the good ol’ days. We forget that God’s name is “I am”, not “I was”.
There is the gripe tree. You take your focus off God and focus on what’s wrong- with the world, your spouse, the church, your neighbors, the country – never thinking something could be wrong in your own spirit. When your harp is hanging on the gripe tree, it’s easy not to thank God or praise God. And pretty soon you’re not thanking or encouraging anyone. In front of many churches (not this one, of course) we see gripe trees, just covered with harps! And chances are, there aren’t many people inside.
There is the fear tree. We’re so afraid of how people will respond that we don’t do anything. We want to share our faith with people outside the church, but we just can’t bring ourselves to risk rejection. So we never initiate spiritual conversations, never say anything about the Lord. As congregations, we’re afraid of failure. We’re afraid of not having enough money or people to extend our outreach, so we never try. Or, maybe we’re afraid of success. What if we really sang the Lord’s song and the pagans heard it and came? What if they came? They might change our nice little church! So, we hang up our harps on the fear tree.
There is the tree of unbelief. We really don’t believe that people today encounter the risen, living Lord Jesus, and that their lives are changed! We really don’t believe that God’s Spirit can empower us and that God will provide what we need and that we can live in the Kingdom of God. And so we live the Christian life as if it were a set of abstract principles instead of a dynamic relationship with the living Lord Jesus! We do church as if we were volunteer members of a charitable organization instead of the very presence of the Lord Jesus in the world today! We’ve hung up our harps on the tree of unbelief.
If we see our harps hanging on any of these trees, what do we do? We repent. Reverse direction. Ask God to change the focus from what we’ve lost to what lies ahead, to replace our griping with gratitude, our fear with faith, our unbelief with faith.
5. Ask God every day to see where He is at work and ask for the privilege of joining Him in that work
God is up to something here at First Christian Church. Can you see it? Can you perceive it? I heard we had very meaningful worship services the last 2 Sundays, even when our pastors weren’t here. Wednesday night we counted 65 people here. Someone who was so discouraged she could hardly get out of bed received new hope and strength as people prayed for her here. A teenage girl told John and me her life has been turned around since she has been coming to our church, and she had the privilege last week of leading a friend to the Lord. Let’s ask God to open our eyes to see what He is doing here, and ask for the privilege of joining Him in that work.
Every day as we live our lives, we are on a mission field. At the beginning of the day we pray, “Help me make your love real.” Even small things done with great love can be a big influence. We ask every day to have opportunities to influence people toward Christ with the way we live our lives, our loving deeds, and our words.
By the grace and power of God, we start singing the Lord’s song, even in this strange land.
RELEASE YOUR SONG by James Forbes
There’s a song inside of me, I can hardly wait to see What it is I have to say Or the music I will play. It’s been so long in coming, First the thought and then some humming. But before I find my key Something stifles it in me.
What keeps my song from being sung? Past hurts, deep fears, a timid tongue? What makes my freedom come so hard? A self-made, live-in prison guard. Meanwhile my song still groans in me. I can’t be me til my song is free. Debating, hesitating, getting ready to sing, My song could die, like a stillborn thing.
“Release your song,” said the Spirit to me. “Be free, be free. It’s Jubilee!” Cast out each fearsome song patrol; Proclaim deliverance to your soul.”
The courage of life now danced in my blood. I said “yes” to my song, and it came like a flood. Up from within and down from above, A Kingdom built on the power of love. Thank God my song has been set free. The rhythm and words are right for me. I’m finally ready to sing out strong. My soul is saying, “This is my song.”
Sermon by Judy Turner
I don’t know exactly when or how it happened that American culture changed so much, but it seems like we of the mainline church recently woke up to find ourselves in a “foreign land”. Wasn’t it just yesterday that American culture was “Christian”? Oh, we know everyone was not a committed follower of Jesus Christ by any means, but the culture was built on some shared values and standards. The first television shows I saw portrayed an Ozzie and Harriet, Leave it to Beaver, Father Knows Best kind of world. And the mainline church with its white columns and tall steeple was the center of that world. People generally respected and supported the institutional church. Now we’re in a fragmented culture. Everyone seems to be defining their own center, and if there is an orientation point in communities, it’s Wal Mart, not the church. Church leaders are singing songs of discouragement, like “We’ve Been Working at the Church House, All Our Live-Long Lives” and “Where Have All the People Gone?” Shortages of people and money seem to be the common experience of churches of the old denominations such as Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopal, and Disciples of Christ.
And in the midst of all our discouragement and troubles, the secular culture is out there taunting us with their indifference. It’s as if unbelievers are saying, “OK, just show me what this God of yours can do for me. He doesn’t seem to be doing much for you.” Or maybe the taunt is, “Give me some reason I should even notice the church.”
God’s People in a Foreign Culture
But this is by no means the first time in history that God’s people have found themselves in a foreign culture, with everything changed. In the Sixth Century before Christ, the little kingdom of Judah had been invaded and destroyed by the powerful Babylonians. The conquering army destroyed homes, killed lots of people, and others they rounded up like cattle and herded them from their homes and relocated them in the foreign land of Babylon. Psalm 137 reflects the experience of God’s people in exile. Those exiles sat by the rivers of Babylon remembered- bitter, sad memories of loss and destruction. Saddest of all was remembering Solomon’s magnificent temple in Jerusalem, destroyed, nothing left but rubble, all the precious holy things of the temple carted away – just booty. The temple was the place where through the centuries God met His people, sacrifices were offered for sins, forgiveness was granted. It was the holiest place in all the earth, and now it was no more. The taunts of their captors, “Why don’t you sing one of the songs of Zion like Psalm 48 (“Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain…God is in her citadels; he has shown himself to be her fortress”) made the pain unbearable. They couldn’t sing for the tears and the choking in their throats, when they remembered Jerusalem. They just hung up their harps on the nearby trees and wept for their homeland.
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"
4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land? 5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill . 6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth if I do not remember you, if I do not consider Jerusalem my highest joy.
7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did on the day Jerusalem fell. "Tear it down," they cried, "tear it down to its foundations!" 8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction, happy is he who repays you for what you have done to us- 9 he who seizes your infants and dashes them against the rocks.
What is helpful for us in this Psalm, and in what way?
What do we do with a Psalm like this? It’s called a Psalm of Lament. No kidding! And it expresses a bitter vindictiveness that the New Testament makes clear is not to be the spirit of a follower of Jesus. But there is a reason this Psalm is included in among the divinely inspired scriptures, and as 2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” So I think we benefit from prayerfully studying the Psalm to see what in it is helpful for us, and in what way.
1. In this real relationship we have with God, we must be real with God.
We can express to God our deepest anguish and our bitterest anger. We don’t have to put on a happy face or pretend with God. Straight to the arms of God is the safe place to go with our rage and despair. When life is hard, turning our backs on God is a temptation. Instead, we choose to turning toward God with our pain. Our honest openness with God gives God a chance to start redeeming and healing the pain.
2. Value our spiritual heritage, but don’t make an idol of it.
The first 5 books of the Bible are about God forming a people to represent Him in the world. He gave them a shared history, a culture, practices, that would remind them continually of who they were and why. It was a good thing for the Israelite exiles in Babylon to remember their spiritual heritage, to not forget their homeland and the temple and their religious practices. But what about considering Jerusalem their “highest joy”? Could that be a form of idolatry? Idolatry is giving anything other than God first place in your heart and in your life. If their trust was placed in their religious system or their religious traditions or a sacred building rather than in God Himself, then their trust was misplaced. So, here we start learning from the Psalm as a negative example. In the light of the whole counsel of scripture, we say, “Yes, we are to always remember what God has done in the past. Yes, we are to value our spiritual heritage, our traditions and our places where we’ve met God. But we can’t value any of that more than we value God Himself. And we can’t put God in the box of the past. The Prophet Isaiah wrote during the time Israel’s destruction as a nation started taking place. He saw the time when Israelites would be taken from their homeland and into exile. But just because the kingdom of Israel was no more didn’t mean the Kingdom of God was in trouble at all. Isaiah forsees how God will continue to work in human history until His purposes are fulfilled. In Isaiah 43:18-19, God says, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” God’s people are always supposed to have a rear-view mirror so we can see where we have come from, but we need to have a big and clear windshield so we can see where God is taking us now! If all we have is a big rear-view mirror, we’ve got serious problems.
3. Choose to believe that God can empower us to be effective witnesses for Him now (even in this “foreign land”, our changed circumstances)
I think we can understand the choice reflected in Psalm 137: “things are so hard here, we’ve lost so much, we can’t give bold, joyful effective witness to the loving goodness of our God. So we’ll just give up. Literally, they hung their harps on the trees near the river and went silent. That was just a picture of the surrender in their spirits. They would have their religious memories, but they wouldn’t have a living, vital faith.
4. Repent and retrieve our harps
What about us? Are we singing the Lord’s Song in this strange land? Are we breaking through the darkness of our culture with a joyful witness to the love and power of God made known in Jesus Christ? Have we stopped trying to influence our culture toward God and become influenced by it? Have we lost our joy and confidence? Have we hung up our harps and gone silent?
Jill Briscoe reflects on this Psalm and suggests that if we suspect that we’ve lost our joy in the Lord, but want to rediscover it, it would be a good idea to look where we hung up our harps. Will each of you come with me into the realm of the Spirit and walk around for awhile and see if there’s a tree where your harp is hanging?
There is the grief tree. Some hurt or loss has taken your joy in the Lord, and maybe even caused you to doubt God’s goodness. God wants to heal the hurt and fill the empty places inside of you, but you can’t seem to let go of the sadness and the anger. You want whatever it was you lost more than you want God. Together as a church we often hang our harps on the grief tree. We’re focused on what the church used to be like and long for the good ol’ days. We forget that God’s name is “I am”, not “I was”.
There is the gripe tree. You take your focus off God and focus on what’s wrong- with the world, your spouse, the church, your neighbors, the country – never thinking something could be wrong in your own spirit. When your harp is hanging on the gripe tree, it’s easy not to thank God or praise God. And pretty soon you’re not thanking or encouraging anyone. In front of many churches (not this one, of course) we see gripe trees, just covered with harps! And chances are, there aren’t many people inside.
There is the fear tree. We’re so afraid of how people will respond that we don’t do anything. We want to share our faith with people outside the church, but we just can’t bring ourselves to risk rejection. So we never initiate spiritual conversations, never say anything about the Lord. As congregations, we’re afraid of failure. We’re afraid of not having enough money or people to extend our outreach, so we never try. Or, maybe we’re afraid of success. What if we really sang the Lord’s song and the pagans heard it and came? What if they came? They might change our nice little church! So, we hang up our harps on the fear tree.
There is the tree of unbelief. We really don’t believe that people today encounter the risen, living Lord Jesus, and that their lives are changed! We really don’t believe that God’s Spirit can empower us and that God will provide what we need and that we can live in the Kingdom of God. And so we live the Christian life as if it were a set of abstract principles instead of a dynamic relationship with the living Lord Jesus! We do church as if we were volunteer members of a charitable organization instead of the very presence of the Lord Jesus in the world today! We’ve hung up our harps on the tree of unbelief.
If we see our harps hanging on any of these trees, what do we do? We repent. Reverse direction. Ask God to change the focus from what we’ve lost to what lies ahead, to replace our griping with gratitude, our fear with faith, our unbelief with faith.
5. Ask God every day to see where He is at work and ask for the privilege of joining Him in that work
God is up to something here at First Christian Church. Can you see it? Can you perceive it? I heard we had very meaningful worship services the last 2 Sundays, even when our pastors weren’t here. Wednesday night we counted 65 people here. Someone who was so discouraged she could hardly get out of bed received new hope and strength as people prayed for her here. A teenage girl told John and me her life has been turned around since she has been coming to our church, and she had the privilege last week of leading a friend to the Lord. Let’s ask God to open our eyes to see what He is doing here, and ask for the privilege of joining Him in that work.
Every day as we live our lives, we are on a mission field. At the beginning of the day we pray, “Help me make your love real.” Even small things done with great love can be a big influence. We ask every day to have opportunities to influence people toward Christ with the way we live our lives, our loving deeds, and our words.
By the grace and power of God, we start singing the Lord’s song, even in this strange land.
RELEASE YOUR SONG by James Forbes
There’s a song inside of me, I can hardly wait to see What it is I have to say Or the music I will play. It’s been so long in coming, First the thought and then some humming. But before I find my key Something stifles it in me.
What keeps my song from being sung? Past hurts, deep fears, a timid tongue? What makes my freedom come so hard? A self-made, live-in prison guard. Meanwhile my song still groans in me. I can’t be me til my song is free. Debating, hesitating, getting ready to sing, My song could die, like a stillborn thing.
“Release your song,” said the Spirit to me. “Be free, be free. It’s Jubilee!” Cast out each fearsome song patrol; Proclaim deliverance to your soul.”
The courage of life now danced in my blood. I said “yes” to my song, and it came like a flood. Up from within and down from above, A Kingdom built on the power of love. Thank God my song has been set free. The rhythm and words are right for me. I’m finally ready to sing out strong. My soul is saying, “This is my song.”
Monday, August 23, 2010
Jesus In Our Daily Living
JESUS IN OUR DAILY LIVING: The Incarnational Tradition
Sermon by Judy Turner
John 1:14,18; I John 1:1-3
Separating Our Lives Into Compartments
We tend to separate our lives into compartments. There is our Christian life we live at church on Sunday morning and maybe even with our families or Christian friends throughout the day on Sunday. But then comes Monday morning, and it’s back to the “real world”. Or, maybe we have times in our day we set aside for God, maybe 15 minutes in the morning or over the lunch hour, or before bed – time to read the Bible and pray. And that’s a very good practice. But does that time set apart with God seem disconnected with the rest of the day? A Christian businessman said, “During my lunch hour, I shut the door on the ‘dog-eat-dog’ world for a few minutes to pray, before I have to face the world again.” Praying during his day is a good thing the businessman does. But how much better it would be if he could find Jesus, present and real in the midst of the dog-eat-dog world? How much better to experience Jesus working through him in the way he responds to challenges, the way he relates to people, Jesus guiding his goals and influencing everything he does. If the businessman discovered that his life as a Christian was the presence and activity of God throughout every hour of every day of his everyday life, he would discover the joy and power of what we call the Incarnational Stream.
The Incarnational Stream Means Living Every Day So God is Made Visible
Today and next Sunday we conclude our sermons on the 6 Streams of Living Water. We have learned how a prayer-filled life lays the foundation for both the virtuous life and the Spirit-empowered life, and how these in turn give us the ability to engage in social justice and the proclamation of the good news of the kingdom. The one element remaining is to understand how all of these components function in ordinary life, which is the task of the Incarnational stream. Incarnation is God coming to earth and taking human form and living the life we live in a body like ours. That’s what Jesus did when He was born of Mary, lived as a child and a teenager in a family, learned the work of a carpenter, enjoyed the pleasure of a good meal with friends, developed a deep, intimate relationship with His heavenly Father through the practice of spiritual disciplines, discerned His personal mission and unique calling. In fulfilling that calling He saw bodies healed, crowds fed, people set free from all kinds of bondage. Yet Jesus suffered every difficulty and pain that we suffer. Although He attended synagogue and observed the religious rituals of the Jewish faith, His life was not compartmentalized into the sacred and the secular. Every moment of every day was about making the Kingdom of God, the loving rule of God, real for people, so they could live the same life He was living. He described that life as abundant and eternal. Jesus talked about something invisible, the Kingdom of God, but He lived every day in such a way that the character and love of God were made visible and real for people.
The Text
John, the beloved disciple, begins his account of the life of Jesus by trying to put into words the wonder of the incarnation. John 1:14, 18 : “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
John also wrote letters to the followers of Jesus, instructing them on how to live in the love of Jesus. He establishes at the beginning of his First letter to the churches that he is not just talking about ethereal spiritual stuff that has nothing to do with our material lives. He wants to establish that Divine Love was made visible and tangible in Jesus, and can also be made visible and tangible in our lives:
I John 1:1-3: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and our hands have touched- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared: we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.”
Just as Jesus, a person of the invisible God from all eternity, took on flesh in the incarnation and lived an everyday human life, so Jesus continues to live now in the bodily, everyday lives of His followers. And thus God remains visible in our world. Our job description as Christians is nothing less than making Jesus real and visible, devoting ourselves to Jesus living His life in our particular circumstances. In our marriage and family life the love of Jesus is made visible. In our daily activity, the character, the holiness and justice of God, is made visible.
Contemporary Example
But who today is living that kind of life? Many followers of Jesus in this community and around the world are living every day in such a way that the character and love of God are made real and visible. And many of these disciples are ordinary people, living what they would consider ordinary life. But God-ness is just all over them and shines through them. John and I have some amazing neighbors. We watched their house being built, with the upstairs as the living space for the older couple and the downstairs for their adult daughter. When they moved in, we got to know them. The daughter readily tells about the transformation and healing Jesus has brought about in her life. She was a successful attorney, operating in a law firm with many unethical practices. She was aggressively devoted to whatever would make the most money. She worked long hours and was ruthless. And she did make lots of money. But it was at the expense of her soul and her health. She had a breakdown and sunk into a deep depression. In the darkness of that time, she really met Jesus and turned the control of her life over to him. Her daily life now is so different than before she came to Christ. She delights in God’s creation and cares for her little corner of it. Then she goes to work in the motel her family owns in Eureka Springs. It’s called a motel, but I call it a Kingdom Hospitality Station. I have never seen strangers welcomed in such a way as this woman and her mother welcome. They pray continually that the love of Jesus will flow from them to the guests. They go out of their way to provide what will make their guests comfortable. Guests often come to the office and just talk. And often the conversation turns to questions of faith. These two women are bold in sharing the Love and Truth of Jesus, even as they listen with compassion to the stories of their guests. The dad is a new Christian, and he participates in this ministry as he maintains everything well at the motel, so it will be a good environment for the guests. His love for God and people is expressed as he does his maintenance work. Their hospitality continues after their working hours. We see a steady stream of cars and motorcycles at our neighbors’ house, and people of every description coming in and out of their home. Can you believe that those are guests from the motel? They have invited these people to their home so they can share the love of God some more. Who does anything like that? Only people who are powerfully experiencing the love of God and are compelled to share it. In seeing the welcoming of strangers that they do, I see the compassion and outreaching love of God. The invisible God becomes visible as I see the lives of my neighbors.
How We Live the Life of Jesus
So, let’s get down to how Jesus lives out his life in our circumstances, with our family and friends, with our jobs and recreating, and how Jesus makes the Reality of His love and truth visible through us. Ultimately, that is something Jesus does and not us. We can’t make ourselves into Jesus. And what we’re talking about is not just trying to be a nicer person. We’re not just talking about a worm pasting on wings and saying, “Now I’m a butterfly.” We’re talking metanoia, transformation, change at the very core of our being. That’s something only God can do. But we have a part to play in Jesus incarnating in our lives. What is our part?
1. Ask for the desire to more fully live the life of Jesus
We have to want the transformation. God does not force anything. We often have to start with asking for the desire, because truthfully, we’re not sure we want transformation. We’d prefer to say, “Jesus, you can have my Sundays and maybe my Wednesday nights, but my work life, how I enjoy myself when I’m not working, that’s mine.” Or, “You can influence how I am with people at work and when I’m out in the community”, but how I am at home, well, I have to be selfish sometime.” Selfishness is a basic human right, isn’t it? Often, what God has to change first is our desire. We may be pretty satisfied with our lives just as they are. We may not want to let go of whatever needs to change in our lives. But just maybe there is a nagging feeling that there just might be more, and we may be missing something really important or even really wonderful. So we start by asking for the desire to fully live the life of Jesus.
“Where the heart is willing it will find a thousand ways, but where it is unwilling, it will find a thousand excuses.” We have to want it.
2. Decide to make changes
Then we decide to do what it takes to start living more fully the life of Jesus. I know a couple who want to live closer to God and to each other and their children. They made a decision this week to turn off the tv in the evenings, to help the kids with homework, then to have a Bible study together. That’s a decision that will move them forward in their discipleship and help fulfill their desire to live the life of Jesus more fully.
3. Devote our Work to God
“Work” is what we do to produce good in our world. Your work right now may be your studies. Your work may be your job, your work may be what you do with your retirement years. In my growing up years in the church, I heard the phrase “Full time Christian service”, and those called into “full time Christian service” were the pastors. They were a different level of Christian than the rest of us. But, “full time Christian service is not just a clergy vocation, but any vocation. As Richard Foster says, “The really crucial decision comes, not when we decide to be a pastor rather than a biologist, (or a priest rather than a plumber, or a chaplain rather than a computer technician) but when we decide to allow our entire life to be a channel of divine love. “ You may have heard that the great composer Johann Sebastian Bach penned at the beginning of his compositions the initials JJ, representing the Latin words, “Jesu Juva, Jesus, help!” and at the end, SDG, which represent the Latin words “Soli Deo Gloria, to the glory of God alone. “ When we undertake any work, we ask for Jesus to help us, guide us, direct us, empower us. At the end of the day, or the end of the project, we rejoice in whatever good has come into the world through the effort, and we say, “May this work enhance your reputation, God. May more people come to know how great and loving and good and just you are. It’s not about me. It’s all about you, God.”
Richard Foster describes a Christian spirituality of work: “We have a sense of calling, a God-given ability to do a job linked with a God-given enjoyment in doing it. We have a sense of responsibility to do something in our own time that has value. We have a sense of freedom from the burden of the workaholic, for we are not asked to do more than we can. We have a sense of creativity that enables us to place the autograph of our souls on the work of our hands. We have a sense of dignity, for we value people over efficiency. We have a sense of community, for we know that our life together is more important than the end product. We have a sense of solidarity with the poor to empower them to do what they cannot do by themselves. And we have a sense of meaning and purpose, for we know that we are working in cooperation with God to bring the world one step closer to completion. “
4. Ask for opportunities to make the love of God real for the people around us.
I was really struck last Sunday when Teresa came for the first time and participated in the Christian Basics Sunday School class. I was so glad she felt at home enough to participate. And then there was something she said which I’ve continued to think about through this week. Teresa said, “Just drive around Berryville on Sunday morning. Look at all the cars in the church parking lots. If all those people just influenced the people around them, this would be a transformed community!” A year ago in this congregation we started our small group conversations, prayerfully seeking God’s vision for the future of this church. It became apparent that as we looked at the needs of this community- the low incomes and high stress people live with, the forces that tear families apart, the numbers of children being raised by single parents, the unemployment – this is a community that needs hope! We stated our mission as “Building a Community of Hope Through Jesus Christ, drawing people to Jesus, becoming more like Jesus, doing the work of Jesus.” We envision making an impact on the Berryville area and the whole of Carroll County by addressing the needs of families (parents, children, youth) and encouraging local, community-based economic development with job creation and income enhancement. I find that vision so exciting, but it’s big. And this little group of people are stretched and tired. So, how in the world are we going to become God’s force for transforming our community? But maybe I’m trying to make it harder than it is. Maybe the way is for each of us to pray every day that we can make the love of Jesus real for the people around us, in our homes, at school, at work, at Wal Mart, wherever we are. We can make the invisible Jesus real and visible to the people in our circle of influence. What a difference it would it make if just the people whose cars are parked outside FCC and are sitting in this sanctuary devoted ourselves to influencing our circle with the love of Jesus!
5. Trust God for the transformation
Stuart Briscoe tells of his own experience of coming to Christ, as he heard the message of grace and forgiveness of sins. At first he thought, “This is easy.” Then, as he found that being Jesus’ follower meant living the life of Jesus each day, he thought, “This is difficult.” Then, when he found that he couldn’t follow perfectly even in one day, he thought, “This is impossible.” Then, when he discovered what Christ could do in him, he said, “This is exciting!”
A father once made footprints in the snow with wide strides and challenged his children to walk in them. They couldn’t do it. Then he took the littlest child, and put the child’s feet on his. He held the child’s hands and together they did it!
Sermon by Judy Turner
John 1:14,18; I John 1:1-3
Separating Our Lives Into Compartments
We tend to separate our lives into compartments. There is our Christian life we live at church on Sunday morning and maybe even with our families or Christian friends throughout the day on Sunday. But then comes Monday morning, and it’s back to the “real world”. Or, maybe we have times in our day we set aside for God, maybe 15 minutes in the morning or over the lunch hour, or before bed – time to read the Bible and pray. And that’s a very good practice. But does that time set apart with God seem disconnected with the rest of the day? A Christian businessman said, “During my lunch hour, I shut the door on the ‘dog-eat-dog’ world for a few minutes to pray, before I have to face the world again.” Praying during his day is a good thing the businessman does. But how much better it would be if he could find Jesus, present and real in the midst of the dog-eat-dog world? How much better to experience Jesus working through him in the way he responds to challenges, the way he relates to people, Jesus guiding his goals and influencing everything he does. If the businessman discovered that his life as a Christian was the presence and activity of God throughout every hour of every day of his everyday life, he would discover the joy and power of what we call the Incarnational Stream.
The Incarnational Stream Means Living Every Day So God is Made Visible
Today and next Sunday we conclude our sermons on the 6 Streams of Living Water. We have learned how a prayer-filled life lays the foundation for both the virtuous life and the Spirit-empowered life, and how these in turn give us the ability to engage in social justice and the proclamation of the good news of the kingdom. The one element remaining is to understand how all of these components function in ordinary life, which is the task of the Incarnational stream. Incarnation is God coming to earth and taking human form and living the life we live in a body like ours. That’s what Jesus did when He was born of Mary, lived as a child and a teenager in a family, learned the work of a carpenter, enjoyed the pleasure of a good meal with friends, developed a deep, intimate relationship with His heavenly Father through the practice of spiritual disciplines, discerned His personal mission and unique calling. In fulfilling that calling He saw bodies healed, crowds fed, people set free from all kinds of bondage. Yet Jesus suffered every difficulty and pain that we suffer. Although He attended synagogue and observed the religious rituals of the Jewish faith, His life was not compartmentalized into the sacred and the secular. Every moment of every day was about making the Kingdom of God, the loving rule of God, real for people, so they could live the same life He was living. He described that life as abundant and eternal. Jesus talked about something invisible, the Kingdom of God, but He lived every day in such a way that the character and love of God were made visible and real for people.
The Text
John, the beloved disciple, begins his account of the life of Jesus by trying to put into words the wonder of the incarnation. John 1:14, 18 : “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known.”
John also wrote letters to the followers of Jesus, instructing them on how to live in the love of Jesus. He establishes at the beginning of his First letter to the churches that he is not just talking about ethereal spiritual stuff that has nothing to do with our material lives. He wants to establish that Divine Love was made visible and tangible in Jesus, and can also be made visible and tangible in our lives:
I John 1:1-3: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and our hands have touched- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared: we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete.”
Just as Jesus, a person of the invisible God from all eternity, took on flesh in the incarnation and lived an everyday human life, so Jesus continues to live now in the bodily, everyday lives of His followers. And thus God remains visible in our world. Our job description as Christians is nothing less than making Jesus real and visible, devoting ourselves to Jesus living His life in our particular circumstances. In our marriage and family life the love of Jesus is made visible. In our daily activity, the character, the holiness and justice of God, is made visible.
Contemporary Example
But who today is living that kind of life? Many followers of Jesus in this community and around the world are living every day in such a way that the character and love of God are made real and visible. And many of these disciples are ordinary people, living what they would consider ordinary life. But God-ness is just all over them and shines through them. John and I have some amazing neighbors. We watched their house being built, with the upstairs as the living space for the older couple and the downstairs for their adult daughter. When they moved in, we got to know them. The daughter readily tells about the transformation and healing Jesus has brought about in her life. She was a successful attorney, operating in a law firm with many unethical practices. She was aggressively devoted to whatever would make the most money. She worked long hours and was ruthless. And she did make lots of money. But it was at the expense of her soul and her health. She had a breakdown and sunk into a deep depression. In the darkness of that time, she really met Jesus and turned the control of her life over to him. Her daily life now is so different than before she came to Christ. She delights in God’s creation and cares for her little corner of it. Then she goes to work in the motel her family owns in Eureka Springs. It’s called a motel, but I call it a Kingdom Hospitality Station. I have never seen strangers welcomed in such a way as this woman and her mother welcome. They pray continually that the love of Jesus will flow from them to the guests. They go out of their way to provide what will make their guests comfortable. Guests often come to the office and just talk. And often the conversation turns to questions of faith. These two women are bold in sharing the Love and Truth of Jesus, even as they listen with compassion to the stories of their guests. The dad is a new Christian, and he participates in this ministry as he maintains everything well at the motel, so it will be a good environment for the guests. His love for God and people is expressed as he does his maintenance work. Their hospitality continues after their working hours. We see a steady stream of cars and motorcycles at our neighbors’ house, and people of every description coming in and out of their home. Can you believe that those are guests from the motel? They have invited these people to their home so they can share the love of God some more. Who does anything like that? Only people who are powerfully experiencing the love of God and are compelled to share it. In seeing the welcoming of strangers that they do, I see the compassion and outreaching love of God. The invisible God becomes visible as I see the lives of my neighbors.
How We Live the Life of Jesus
So, let’s get down to how Jesus lives out his life in our circumstances, with our family and friends, with our jobs and recreating, and how Jesus makes the Reality of His love and truth visible through us. Ultimately, that is something Jesus does and not us. We can’t make ourselves into Jesus. And what we’re talking about is not just trying to be a nicer person. We’re not just talking about a worm pasting on wings and saying, “Now I’m a butterfly.” We’re talking metanoia, transformation, change at the very core of our being. That’s something only God can do. But we have a part to play in Jesus incarnating in our lives. What is our part?
1. Ask for the desire to more fully live the life of Jesus
We have to want the transformation. God does not force anything. We often have to start with asking for the desire, because truthfully, we’re not sure we want transformation. We’d prefer to say, “Jesus, you can have my Sundays and maybe my Wednesday nights, but my work life, how I enjoy myself when I’m not working, that’s mine.” Or, “You can influence how I am with people at work and when I’m out in the community”, but how I am at home, well, I have to be selfish sometime.” Selfishness is a basic human right, isn’t it? Often, what God has to change first is our desire. We may be pretty satisfied with our lives just as they are. We may not want to let go of whatever needs to change in our lives. But just maybe there is a nagging feeling that there just might be more, and we may be missing something really important or even really wonderful. So we start by asking for the desire to fully live the life of Jesus.
“Where the heart is willing it will find a thousand ways, but where it is unwilling, it will find a thousand excuses.” We have to want it.
2. Decide to make changes
Then we decide to do what it takes to start living more fully the life of Jesus. I know a couple who want to live closer to God and to each other and their children. They made a decision this week to turn off the tv in the evenings, to help the kids with homework, then to have a Bible study together. That’s a decision that will move them forward in their discipleship and help fulfill their desire to live the life of Jesus more fully.
3. Devote our Work to God
“Work” is what we do to produce good in our world. Your work right now may be your studies. Your work may be your job, your work may be what you do with your retirement years. In my growing up years in the church, I heard the phrase “Full time Christian service”, and those called into “full time Christian service” were the pastors. They were a different level of Christian than the rest of us. But, “full time Christian service is not just a clergy vocation, but any vocation. As Richard Foster says, “The really crucial decision comes, not when we decide to be a pastor rather than a biologist, (or a priest rather than a plumber, or a chaplain rather than a computer technician) but when we decide to allow our entire life to be a channel of divine love. “ You may have heard that the great composer Johann Sebastian Bach penned at the beginning of his compositions the initials JJ, representing the Latin words, “Jesu Juva, Jesus, help!” and at the end, SDG, which represent the Latin words “Soli Deo Gloria, to the glory of God alone. “ When we undertake any work, we ask for Jesus to help us, guide us, direct us, empower us. At the end of the day, or the end of the project, we rejoice in whatever good has come into the world through the effort, and we say, “May this work enhance your reputation, God. May more people come to know how great and loving and good and just you are. It’s not about me. It’s all about you, God.”
Richard Foster describes a Christian spirituality of work: “We have a sense of calling, a God-given ability to do a job linked with a God-given enjoyment in doing it. We have a sense of responsibility to do something in our own time that has value. We have a sense of freedom from the burden of the workaholic, for we are not asked to do more than we can. We have a sense of creativity that enables us to place the autograph of our souls on the work of our hands. We have a sense of dignity, for we value people over efficiency. We have a sense of community, for we know that our life together is more important than the end product. We have a sense of solidarity with the poor to empower them to do what they cannot do by themselves. And we have a sense of meaning and purpose, for we know that we are working in cooperation with God to bring the world one step closer to completion. “
4. Ask for opportunities to make the love of God real for the people around us.
I was really struck last Sunday when Teresa came for the first time and participated in the Christian Basics Sunday School class. I was so glad she felt at home enough to participate. And then there was something she said which I’ve continued to think about through this week. Teresa said, “Just drive around Berryville on Sunday morning. Look at all the cars in the church parking lots. If all those people just influenced the people around them, this would be a transformed community!” A year ago in this congregation we started our small group conversations, prayerfully seeking God’s vision for the future of this church. It became apparent that as we looked at the needs of this community- the low incomes and high stress people live with, the forces that tear families apart, the numbers of children being raised by single parents, the unemployment – this is a community that needs hope! We stated our mission as “Building a Community of Hope Through Jesus Christ, drawing people to Jesus, becoming more like Jesus, doing the work of Jesus.” We envision making an impact on the Berryville area and the whole of Carroll County by addressing the needs of families (parents, children, youth) and encouraging local, community-based economic development with job creation and income enhancement. I find that vision so exciting, but it’s big. And this little group of people are stretched and tired. So, how in the world are we going to become God’s force for transforming our community? But maybe I’m trying to make it harder than it is. Maybe the way is for each of us to pray every day that we can make the love of Jesus real for the people around us, in our homes, at school, at work, at Wal Mart, wherever we are. We can make the invisible Jesus real and visible to the people in our circle of influence. What a difference it would it make if just the people whose cars are parked outside FCC and are sitting in this sanctuary devoted ourselves to influencing our circle with the love of Jesus!
5. Trust God for the transformation
Stuart Briscoe tells of his own experience of coming to Christ, as he heard the message of grace and forgiveness of sins. At first he thought, “This is easy.” Then, as he found that being Jesus’ follower meant living the life of Jesus each day, he thought, “This is difficult.” Then, when he found that he couldn’t follow perfectly even in one day, he thought, “This is impossible.” Then, when he discovered what Christ could do in him, he said, “This is exciting!”
A father once made footprints in the snow with wide strides and challenged his children to walk in them. They couldn’t do it. Then he took the littlest child, and put the child’s feet on his. He held the child’s hands and together they did it!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
A Life That Works
THE HOLINESS TRADITION and A LIFE THAT WORKS
Sermon by Judy Turner
Sermon by Judy Turner
If this church were to offer a seminar on “holiness”, guaranteeing that anyone who participated would become “holy”, how many people do you think would sign up for it? Even church people probably wouldn’t come. What does holiness have to do with real people and our everyday lives? We’re not even sure we’d want to be “holy”. Who would want to be around us? Wouldn’t holiness just slip into “holier than thou?” But what if the seminar was titled, “The Life that Works?” What if these were the guaranteed results? You will have more joy and less stress in your daily living, there will be more harmony in your relationships with others, you will become more loving and wise, you will have a positive influence on others, you will make progress in fulfilling your God-given purpose. Wow! If people really believed we could deliver on those promises, we’d have people lined up waiting for the doors to open. We might have to turn people away.
Where does the life that works start? It starts when the Spirit of God goes to work inside of us, changing the way we think, what we love and value, how we act, even how we feel. There are “divine infusions of grace”, totally sovereign acts of God that we have nothing to do with. But usually, spiritual growth is an ongoing process where we actively cooperate with what God is doing in our lives. We have a part to play in this “growing in Godliness”. We have work to do. Graciously God invites us to work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit through the choices we make and the habits we develop. The holiness stream in Christian history is about developing habits that cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he changes us into Christ-likeness. God’s goal isn’t simply to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us!
When I think of the emphasis on holiness across the centuries of Christian history, the first example that comes to mind is the Wesley brothers and the “holy clubs”. John and Charles Wesley, in the mid 1700’s, while students at Oxford University started regular meetings with fellow Christian students seeking to grow in Christ-likeness. The small groups of Christians met every evening to study and discuss the Greek New Testament and the Classics. They fasted until 3:00 PM two days a week, received Holy Communion once each week, visited the sick and the prisoners, and held each other accountable as they prayed for one another. “Holy Club” was the name given to John and Charles Wesley’s group by their fellow collegians in mockery of their emphasis on devotion to Christ, but these “holy clubs” were the beginning of a great movement that later became known as “Methodism” and still lives in the Methodist Churches. Other denominations and churches have benefitted from the Wesley’s model of intentionality about growth in Godliness, and a “method” for developing holy habits. The Apprentice Groups we had on Wednesday nights through the school year for adults flowed out of the holiness stream. As we practice these 9 ways, we are developing “holy habits”.
A book in the Bible that’s all about holiness is the book of James. James was the brother of Jesus, who perhaps did not believe in him as Messiah or follow Jesus as Lord until after Jesus’ resurrection. But James quickly rose to become a respected leader in the Christian community. He was known as “James the just” and his Godly wisdom often decided the course of events in the early church. He faithfully fulfilled the calling as leader of the Jerusalem church and was willing to die for the Lord He served. He had integrity, purpose, and Godly influence. His was a life that “worked.”
In preparation for this message, I turned to the book of James. The Lord started speaking to me in the first few verses of the letter! He starts with, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds”
And I’m already challenged. Do I do that? A trial comes, and I say to myself, “Ah, here is something beneficial through which I can grow in Godliness. Thank you, Lord.” No, I say, “O no! Why me? Why now? Didn’t I already have enough to deal with? How much more can I take?”
A trial is an unwelcome and unexpected experience. What is your first response to a trial? Whining, complaining, getting mad at whoever you think might be responsible for causing this grief, or raging at your spouse or the dog because they are available? Getting mad at God and pouting, refusing to speak to Him if He is going to let things like this happen to you? It was a new thought to me that how we approach trials is a choice. And those choices, over time, become patterns in our lives, or habits of the mind and spirit. And our particular habits regarding trials that come into our lives can either lead to our growth in Godliness, or lead us away from God. So, let’s explore what James has to say about how disciples of Jesus can learn to go through the junk that comes our way, the daily struggles, the pain, the heartache, even the tragedy. We don’t ask for any of it, we don’t want it, but it comes.
Where does the life that works start? It starts when the Spirit of God goes to work inside of us, changing the way we think, what we love and value, how we act, even how we feel. There are “divine infusions of grace”, totally sovereign acts of God that we have nothing to do with. But usually, spiritual growth is an ongoing process where we actively cooperate with what God is doing in our lives. We have a part to play in this “growing in Godliness”. We have work to do. Graciously God invites us to work in cooperation with the Holy Spirit through the choices we make and the habits we develop. The holiness stream in Christian history is about developing habits that cooperate with the Holy Spirit as he changes us into Christ-likeness. God’s goal isn’t simply to get us into heaven, but to get heaven into us!
When I think of the emphasis on holiness across the centuries of Christian history, the first example that comes to mind is the Wesley brothers and the “holy clubs”. John and Charles Wesley, in the mid 1700’s, while students at Oxford University started regular meetings with fellow Christian students seeking to grow in Christ-likeness. The small groups of Christians met every evening to study and discuss the Greek New Testament and the Classics. They fasted until 3:00 PM two days a week, received Holy Communion once each week, visited the sick and the prisoners, and held each other accountable as they prayed for one another. “Holy Club” was the name given to John and Charles Wesley’s group by their fellow collegians in mockery of their emphasis on devotion to Christ, but these “holy clubs” were the beginning of a great movement that later became known as “Methodism” and still lives in the Methodist Churches. Other denominations and churches have benefitted from the Wesley’s model of intentionality about growth in Godliness, and a “method” for developing holy habits. The Apprentice Groups we had on Wednesday nights through the school year for adults flowed out of the holiness stream. As we practice these 9 ways, we are developing “holy habits”.
A book in the Bible that’s all about holiness is the book of James. James was the brother of Jesus, who perhaps did not believe in him as Messiah or follow Jesus as Lord until after Jesus’ resurrection. But James quickly rose to become a respected leader in the Christian community. He was known as “James the just” and his Godly wisdom often decided the course of events in the early church. He faithfully fulfilled the calling as leader of the Jerusalem church and was willing to die for the Lord He served. He had integrity, purpose, and Godly influence. His was a life that “worked.”
In preparation for this message, I turned to the book of James. The Lord started speaking to me in the first few verses of the letter! He starts with, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds”
And I’m already challenged. Do I do that? A trial comes, and I say to myself, “Ah, here is something beneficial through which I can grow in Godliness. Thank you, Lord.” No, I say, “O no! Why me? Why now? Didn’t I already have enough to deal with? How much more can I take?”
A trial is an unwelcome and unexpected experience. What is your first response to a trial? Whining, complaining, getting mad at whoever you think might be responsible for causing this grief, or raging at your spouse or the dog because they are available? Getting mad at God and pouting, refusing to speak to Him if He is going to let things like this happen to you? It was a new thought to me that how we approach trials is a choice. And those choices, over time, become patterns in our lives, or habits of the mind and spirit. And our particular habits regarding trials that come into our lives can either lead to our growth in Godliness, or lead us away from God. So, let’s explore what James has to say about how disciples of Jesus can learn to go through the junk that comes our way, the daily struggles, the pain, the heartache, even the tragedy. We don’t ask for any of it, we don’t want it, but it comes.
James 1:2-8
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord. 7That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; 8he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.
“Consider it pure joy” doesn’t mean you have to feel happy about your circumstances. “Consider” is a verb of thought rather than emotion, so James is directing us in how we should think about circumstances. We choose to think something like this, “A good and loving God has allowed this circumstance in my life, and has promised to work for good in ALL things. Even though I can’t see the good that will come or how, I choose to trust God. That state of steady, thankful trust in God is joy.
Our youth pastors, Scott and Amanda Frame, recently shared with us a video of a man named Nick (with an unpronounceable last name) speaking to audiences of children and teens, and they listened spellbound and were deeply moved. Nick was born without arms or legs, but he speaks about how he has found purpose in life, following Jesus, loving and encouraging people. He tells the youth that it doesn’t matter what they look like. What matters is who they are. They are people with a purpose. He says he has struggles every day, and doesn’t always feel happy. But he sees it all in the big picture of God’s purpose for his life. He has learned to count it all joy.
James gives us some practical suggestions for how we pray when we face difficulties:
1. Ask for wisdom, which means ask for insight into God’s purposes and ways. We don’t naturally think like God does, but we can learn more and more how God thinks. We can ask for God’s perspective on the trial. God only allows in our lives that which He can use for our good. God can use trials to get our attention, draw us closer to Himself, and put His own qualities in us,
And even use the trial as a step in giving us our hearts desires. God reminded me of when I was pastoring a conflicted church, which wasn’t any fun. My heart’s desire was to travel around and be a consultant for churches. But for 5 years what God did was give me grace to persevere in that pastorate. I later saw that those years of persevering were necessary before God could grant that desire. God giving you the job of your dreams may be through giving you the grace to persevere in the hard job you have now. God giving you the marriage of your dreams may come through God giving you the grace to persevere with that difficult person you’re married to now!
Ask for wisdom, God’s own way of thinking and seeing things. God is glad to share His wisdom. He’s not like the one that says, “Well, don’t you already know?” God doesn’t expect us to know. He is delighted when we ask. This teaching of James reflects Jesus’ own counsel to ask, seek, and knock.
2. Ask for single-minded focus on the loving goodness of God
When we focus on our circumstances and look to them for our hope, we will be tossed about. One day things will seem better, and we’re all praise. The next day things will seem worse, and we’re all in the dumps again. That is one way of being double-minded. Another way of being double-minded is looking to God for direction one day, and the next day looking to the world, to Oprah, to the guru with the best-selling self-help book, to your friends on Facebook. Your friends may have some wisdom to offer, but only God can set the right direction for your life and get you through the trial in the way that your faith is stronger, your perseverance grows, God’s purposes are accomplished. We all have some doubts that cross our minds, particularly when we’re going through hard times. We can honestly express those doubts to God and to mature Christians and seek their counsel. What God is wanting from us is consistency of purpose and intent, spiritual integrity. Despite our doubts, we’re still moving consistently toward God. We want to love Him with all our heart and soul and strength.
3. Expect to receive the crown of life. In the midst of the trial, think of what God has promised – life with Him forever, which we can start experiencing now, in the present Kingdom of God. James 1:12 says, “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
One day a woman named Charlene heard the most dreaded news. She had incurable cancer. She panicked. She just didn’t know if she had what it took to die of cancer, though she knew she had no choice. She tried to run away from the challenge, even though there was no place to run. Finally her path led to a church where people prayed for healing. She had never asked for that kind of prayer, but she would try anything. She knelt. Christians laid hands on her. She was surprised. They didn’t pray primarily for healing, but for wholeness. They prayed that every day, especially the hard days, she would know God was with her. And when she got up, she had a peace, knowing that whether she lived or died, she would have what it takes. Charlene died within a year. Her pastor said, “She died whole.” During the last months of her life she made a banner. It was bright red with white cancer cells portrayed on it. But over them was a great golden cross. A memorial service was held for Charlene at her church. It was a joyous affair, a celebration of her victory in this life, and her life in the Lord that never ends. While the people sang a great hymn of faith, Charlene’s husband and son carried her banner down the center aisle of the church. “Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial. Such a one has stood the test and will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Sermons
I KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS
Revelation 3:7-13
Sermon by Judy Turner
Today we conclude a series of messages based on what Jesus says to the churches addressed in the second and third chapters in the Revelation. Today we hear what Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia. When we hear of a city called Philadelphia, what do we think of? The Liberty bell, the Phillies, brotherly love? But the revelation was given to John long before there was an America, about 90 AD. And the city referred to was in the geographical area we now know as western Turkey. I don’t know if I would have liked living in Philadelphia in 90 AD. It was a fairly prosperous city. It had a good location, you got to other important places through Philadelphia. It was called the “Gateway to the East”. They grew a lot of grapes in the area, and the city was a center of agriculture and industry. Yet, they frequently had earthquakes, and one earthquake devastated the city. They had to rebuild. I think if I lived in that city, I would feel insecure every time there was a tremor. Now, we’ve said that the letters to these particular churches were written to people in all churches in all times and places. So, what connection might we make with living in Philadelphia in 90 AD and living in Berryville, AR. In 2009? Hmmm – a center of agriculture and industry – there is a lot of agriculture all around us, and the town has businesses. We’re not exactly a crossroads, but our geographical location is good. We’re the Gateway to ..Green Forest? We don’t have earthquakes, but we have ice storms and floods. But perhaps our greatest insecurity is economic. Look around town. What do you see? I see signs of vitality, some prosperity, and I see signs of poverty and neglect and “don’t care.” These are hard financial times, and many people are struggling. Perhaps like the Philiadelphians, Berryvillians have both opportunity and threat.
And what about the church in Philadelphia? Jesus says to this group of little Christians, “I know you have little strength”. This is a weak church, probably small membership church. Maybe the Christians gathered in that little community were of the lower social classes, were just struggling to make a living and not feeling like they had much power or influence. And they were persecuted because they would not buy in to the culture of emperor worship, and the Jews in Philadelphia made sure the Romans knew that. Persecution meant more economic hardship, and even imprisonment or death. But Jesus has only good and encouraging words for this little struggling church. He knows their weakness, and He knows their faithfulness. Let’s overhear what Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia, and I think we’ll hear something for us as well:
Revelation 3:7-8
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts, no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
First, Jesus reminds us of who He really is: the ruler, the commander in chief of the church, who is holy and true. He is all good, pure, He wants only what is good for us and has the power to make it happen. He is true, and completely trustworthy. In a world where there is insecurity with earthquakes, persecution, ice storms, and economic recession, He is true stability. He stands forever at the head of the church and the center of the universe, and He can never be defeated. He holds the key of David. He is the promised Messiah who came and died, was resurrected and now holds the key to the Kingdom of God. And He opens that door for all His followers.
And He says to His followers, “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” What is the “open door” He has placed before you? Are you feeling stuck, trapped, dead-ended in your life? What are your spiritual gifts? What is God calling you do to do? There is nothing that can keep you stuck and defeated when Jesus has placed an open door before you into the future He has for you! He places the open door of witness and service before us every day. When we wake up in the morning, there is an open door to walk with Him. But we have to choose to pay attention to God, give Him priority, respond when He puts an opportunity in front of us to do acts of love, mercy, kindness, justice and to speak words of witness. There are recent examples in our congregation. Many of our youth worked the hay ride to raise money for Loaves and Fishes and raked leaves this week for the church. They went through that open door. Dan saw that Dave had expertise that would help people in Malawi Africa and placed an open door for Dave to go to Africa. Dave went through that door, and now some people in Malawi have hope for a better life through building windmills to move water – out of junk like bicycle parts! And drying ovens using available local materials will help them dry fish food and fish and mangoes. The open door was placed before Dave, and he walked through it. Jill has an open door every day with patients that come to get their teeth cleaned. She talks to them about Christ and invites them to church. Friends, each of us continually has an open door of opportunity to make God’s love real and invite people to enter the Kingdom of God. We have an open door before us with the upcoming Christmas season, a time when people who may not know Christ and don’t have a church are most likely to respond to an invitation to church.
Christ opens the door of opportunity for us, and nobody has the power to shut it. But we can fail to go through that door. Why? For me, distraction, busy with other things and don’t even see the opportunity. Or, afraid, timid – afraid of what people will think, afraid of rejection. But today I have another chance to go through that open door. And tomorrow! I have the opportunity to grow in faithfulness in walking with my Lord Jesus. Nobody and nothing that comes against me can shut that door of opportunity that my Lord opens.
We see in what Jesus says that He is not looking for success but faithfulness. The church at Philadelphia was not large and strong. Today the church growth experts would regard it as too small to be significant. It was weak, yet the members of the body were faithful to their head. He tells them to keep on and persevere, because He is with them in all their trials. There are more wonderful promises for this little weak church than for all the other churches addressed in Revelation.
Revelation 3: 9-10
I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars – I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
If they will stay steadfast and patiently endure, they will receive great reward:
(1)They will see how Jesus brings their enemies to bow at their feet. Some of those very people who are now opposing them will come to Christ because of their faithful witness.
Don’t give up praying for people who don’t know Christ. Don’t give up seeking to influence them toward Christ as He opens those doors of opportunity.
(2) They will experience the Lord’s presence and provision through their trials. Whatever difficulties you are facing, He will keep you through the trial. You won’t be defeated. You won’t be destroyed. You’ll come through it with stronger faith, and greater Christ-likeness.
What else does Jesus encourage them to do and promise?
Revelation 11-13
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus says He is coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. When you know your weakness as a Christian, when you see the weakness of our congregation, what do you have to hold onto?
1. You have the Lord’s power that is made perfect in weakness. You see, in the Kingdom, knowing your weakness can be a very good thing. Because weakness leads to dependence on God’s strength. God is especially near to the broken and humble, just as He is far from the proud and self-sufficient.
A young man went out to start a church, with a grand vision of influencing a large city for Christ. He had his vision, his plan, he worked hard. And at the end of 3 years, he had to close the church. It wasn’t viable. He had failed. Wounded and broken, this young man cried out to God. “Why did you let me down?” God spoke to his spirit, “You are my beloved son. I’m crazy about you. But I’m not crazy about your pride. Let’s try this again, my way.” And the second time the pastor started a church, relying on God’s strength and not his own, the church grew and was established. We must hold onto the assurance that in our weakness God can be strong.
2. We have the joy of knowing the Lord is coming. “Hold on, He says. I’m coming soon.” John and I were reading a book about life on the English Channel Island of Guernsey during World War II. The Nazis marched in and occupied the island. The Nazis threw people out of their houses and just took over. They required that most of the food grown on the island go to feeding German troops, and the islanders increasingly suffered from hunger. There were fewer goods available as the war went on, and there wasn’t even soap for bathing or salt to season the little food they had. And there was the constant fear. If you hid food for your family or tried to help some of the slave laborers who were terribly mistreated, you could be sent to a concentration camp. The occupation went on for 5 long years, with more and more hardship. But there was a hidden radio in the home of an islander named John, and he listened to reports from the outside world. And he knew when the allied forces were making advances. And he knew it was only a matter of time before the Nazis were defeated and the British troops would be arriving to reclaim their territory. And the terrible occupation would be over. Deliverance was coming soon. And, John said, the hardest thing was to keep his head down, not to walk with a spring in his step, to keep his eyes looking vacant and hopeless, lest the Nazis get suspicious. But brothers and sisters in Christ, we don’t have to keep our hope a secret. We can always walk head held high and joy in our steps. Christ is coming! He is coming at the end of time, we don’t know the time or season. But it is closer today than it was yesterday! And He is always coming. He comes into our lives every day to set us free and empower us to do His work! He is coming so hold on to the hope and joy you have in Him!
What is the reward of patient endurance and holding on to what we have? Those who run the race to the end, receive a crown of victory. For those who overcome, they will become a pillar in the temple of God. This is symbolic language for the secure and stable future of being forever in the presence of God.
God’s on name is written on them, they are citizens of the new heavenly city that can never be shaken by earthquakes or ice storms. Even now the faithful followers of Jesus have citizenship in the new heaven and the new earth that is most surely coming. And we have the assurance that Jesus has claimed us for His own! His own name is on us.
Revelation 3:7-13
Sermon by Judy Turner
Today we conclude a series of messages based on what Jesus says to the churches addressed in the second and third chapters in the Revelation. Today we hear what Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia. When we hear of a city called Philadelphia, what do we think of? The Liberty bell, the Phillies, brotherly love? But the revelation was given to John long before there was an America, about 90 AD. And the city referred to was in the geographical area we now know as western Turkey. I don’t know if I would have liked living in Philadelphia in 90 AD. It was a fairly prosperous city. It had a good location, you got to other important places through Philadelphia. It was called the “Gateway to the East”. They grew a lot of grapes in the area, and the city was a center of agriculture and industry. Yet, they frequently had earthquakes, and one earthquake devastated the city. They had to rebuild. I think if I lived in that city, I would feel insecure every time there was a tremor. Now, we’ve said that the letters to these particular churches were written to people in all churches in all times and places. So, what connection might we make with living in Philadelphia in 90 AD and living in Berryville, AR. In 2009? Hmmm – a center of agriculture and industry – there is a lot of agriculture all around us, and the town has businesses. We’re not exactly a crossroads, but our geographical location is good. We’re the Gateway to ..Green Forest? We don’t have earthquakes, but we have ice storms and floods. But perhaps our greatest insecurity is economic. Look around town. What do you see? I see signs of vitality, some prosperity, and I see signs of poverty and neglect and “don’t care.” These are hard financial times, and many people are struggling. Perhaps like the Philiadelphians, Berryvillians have both opportunity and threat.
And what about the church in Philadelphia? Jesus says to this group of little Christians, “I know you have little strength”. This is a weak church, probably small membership church. Maybe the Christians gathered in that little community were of the lower social classes, were just struggling to make a living and not feeling like they had much power or influence. And they were persecuted because they would not buy in to the culture of emperor worship, and the Jews in Philadelphia made sure the Romans knew that. Persecution meant more economic hardship, and even imprisonment or death. But Jesus has only good and encouraging words for this little struggling church. He knows their weakness, and He knows their faithfulness. Let’s overhear what Jesus says to the church in Philadelphia, and I think we’ll hear something for us as well:
Revelation 3:7-8
To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts, no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.
First, Jesus reminds us of who He really is: the ruler, the commander in chief of the church, who is holy and true. He is all good, pure, He wants only what is good for us and has the power to make it happen. He is true, and completely trustworthy. In a world where there is insecurity with earthquakes, persecution, ice storms, and economic recession, He is true stability. He stands forever at the head of the church and the center of the universe, and He can never be defeated. He holds the key of David. He is the promised Messiah who came and died, was resurrected and now holds the key to the Kingdom of God. And He opens that door for all His followers.
And He says to His followers, “See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut.” What is the “open door” He has placed before you? Are you feeling stuck, trapped, dead-ended in your life? What are your spiritual gifts? What is God calling you do to do? There is nothing that can keep you stuck and defeated when Jesus has placed an open door before you into the future He has for you! He places the open door of witness and service before us every day. When we wake up in the morning, there is an open door to walk with Him. But we have to choose to pay attention to God, give Him priority, respond when He puts an opportunity in front of us to do acts of love, mercy, kindness, justice and to speak words of witness. There are recent examples in our congregation. Many of our youth worked the hay ride to raise money for Loaves and Fishes and raked leaves this week for the church. They went through that open door. Dan saw that Dave had expertise that would help people in Malawi Africa and placed an open door for Dave to go to Africa. Dave went through that door, and now some people in Malawi have hope for a better life through building windmills to move water – out of junk like bicycle parts! And drying ovens using available local materials will help them dry fish food and fish and mangoes. The open door was placed before Dave, and he walked through it. Jill has an open door every day with patients that come to get their teeth cleaned. She talks to them about Christ and invites them to church. Friends, each of us continually has an open door of opportunity to make God’s love real and invite people to enter the Kingdom of God. We have an open door before us with the upcoming Christmas season, a time when people who may not know Christ and don’t have a church are most likely to respond to an invitation to church.
Christ opens the door of opportunity for us, and nobody has the power to shut it. But we can fail to go through that door. Why? For me, distraction, busy with other things and don’t even see the opportunity. Or, afraid, timid – afraid of what people will think, afraid of rejection. But today I have another chance to go through that open door. And tomorrow! I have the opportunity to grow in faithfulness in walking with my Lord Jesus. Nobody and nothing that comes against me can shut that door of opportunity that my Lord opens.
We see in what Jesus says that He is not looking for success but faithfulness. The church at Philadelphia was not large and strong. Today the church growth experts would regard it as too small to be significant. It was weak, yet the members of the body were faithful to their head. He tells them to keep on and persevere, because He is with them in all their trials. There are more wonderful promises for this little weak church than for all the other churches addressed in Revelation.
Revelation 3: 9-10
I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars – I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.
If they will stay steadfast and patiently endure, they will receive great reward:
(1)They will see how Jesus brings their enemies to bow at their feet. Some of those very people who are now opposing them will come to Christ because of their faithful witness.
Don’t give up praying for people who don’t know Christ. Don’t give up seeking to influence them toward Christ as He opens those doors of opportunity.
(2) They will experience the Lord’s presence and provision through their trials. Whatever difficulties you are facing, He will keep you through the trial. You won’t be defeated. You won’t be destroyed. You’ll come through it with stronger faith, and greater Christ-likeness.
What else does Jesus encourage them to do and promise?
Revelation 11-13
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Jesus says He is coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. When you know your weakness as a Christian, when you see the weakness of our congregation, what do you have to hold onto?
1. You have the Lord’s power that is made perfect in weakness. You see, in the Kingdom, knowing your weakness can be a very good thing. Because weakness leads to dependence on God’s strength. God is especially near to the broken and humble, just as He is far from the proud and self-sufficient.
A young man went out to start a church, with a grand vision of influencing a large city for Christ. He had his vision, his plan, he worked hard. And at the end of 3 years, he had to close the church. It wasn’t viable. He had failed. Wounded and broken, this young man cried out to God. “Why did you let me down?” God spoke to his spirit, “You are my beloved son. I’m crazy about you. But I’m not crazy about your pride. Let’s try this again, my way.” And the second time the pastor started a church, relying on God’s strength and not his own, the church grew and was established. We must hold onto the assurance that in our weakness God can be strong.
2. We have the joy of knowing the Lord is coming. “Hold on, He says. I’m coming soon.” John and I were reading a book about life on the English Channel Island of Guernsey during World War II. The Nazis marched in and occupied the island. The Nazis threw people out of their houses and just took over. They required that most of the food grown on the island go to feeding German troops, and the islanders increasingly suffered from hunger. There were fewer goods available as the war went on, and there wasn’t even soap for bathing or salt to season the little food they had. And there was the constant fear. If you hid food for your family or tried to help some of the slave laborers who were terribly mistreated, you could be sent to a concentration camp. The occupation went on for 5 long years, with more and more hardship. But there was a hidden radio in the home of an islander named John, and he listened to reports from the outside world. And he knew when the allied forces were making advances. And he knew it was only a matter of time before the Nazis were defeated and the British troops would be arriving to reclaim their territory. And the terrible occupation would be over. Deliverance was coming soon. And, John said, the hardest thing was to keep his head down, not to walk with a spring in his step, to keep his eyes looking vacant and hopeless, lest the Nazis get suspicious. But brothers and sisters in Christ, we don’t have to keep our hope a secret. We can always walk head held high and joy in our steps. Christ is coming! He is coming at the end of time, we don’t know the time or season. But it is closer today than it was yesterday! And He is always coming. He comes into our lives every day to set us free and empower us to do His work! He is coming so hold on to the hope and joy you have in Him!
What is the reward of patient endurance and holding on to what we have? Those who run the race to the end, receive a crown of victory. For those who overcome, they will become a pillar in the temple of God. This is symbolic language for the secure and stable future of being forever in the presence of God.
God’s on name is written on them, they are citizens of the new heavenly city that can never be shaken by earthquakes or ice storms. Even now the faithful followers of Jesus have citizenship in the new heaven and the new earth that is most surely coming. And we have the assurance that Jesus has claimed us for His own! His own name is on us.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
I Know Your Hardships
I KNOW YOUR HARDSHIPS
Sermon by Judy Turner, Oct. 11, 2009
Based on Revelation 2:8-11
The Revelation Was Given to Encourage the Church
Last week John started a series of sermons from the Revelation to John, Chapters 2 and 3. The Revelation opens with Jesus standing among seven churches in Asia, what is now western Turkey. These seven churches represent all the churches of Jesus in all times and places. Today we look at Revelation 2:8-10 and hear Jesus’ words spoken to His followers in a city called Smyrna. The Christians in Smyra are having a really hard time. Jesus reveals to John what He wants to say to this struggling church to encourage them in their suffering. As we said last week, the Revelation was given not to tell us exactly what will happen at the end of the world, or when, but to show us that Jesus is in charge and He is working in His church in all times and places to accomplish His purpose. The Revelation is to encourage us, in the midst of difficulties and evil in a broken world, to know it’s all going to turn out according to God’s wonderful plan. In the end, Jesus’ faithful servants will reign with him forever in a perfected universe. Revelation was not given so we would devote ourselves to trying to crack the “secret code” of its symbols, figuring out timelines or end-times scenarios. It was given so we can live faithfully and courageously for Jesus in our time, here and now! Even as we suffer.
Jesus’ Message to Us When We Suffer
What does Jesus say to the church in all times and places when we suffer?
Revelation 2:8b-11
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty- yet you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
False Teaching in Our Time
There is a false teaching we deal with in our time. Some very popular and prosperous preachers are teaching today that if as Christians we have enough faith, we will not suffer in any way. If we just follow their teaching (based on some scripture passages pulled out of context), if we just muster enough faith, we will be healthy, prosperous, and won’t have any problems. People like that teaching because it seems to put us in control and insure the good life we want. People flock to preachers and churches that teach the “prosperity gospel” or “name it and claim it” faith. People are also hurt by that teaching, because often life doesn’t work that way. Very devoted Christians suffer illness, struggle financially, have family problems, all kinds of problems. And their suffering is compounded by the false belief that it’s all their fault. Somehow they didn’t have enough faith. Sometimes they feel judged by their Christian friends who are into the “name it and claim it” teaching. Sometimes they feel abandoned in their suffering, and even turn against God.
What is true about suffering?
1. Sometimes we do suffer because of sin in our lives. We make choices contrary to the principles of God’s word and we are going to suffer consequences. But even then, God doesn’t give up on us. When we repent, God forgives and is there to help us as we struggle with those consequences and helps us establish new patterns and rebuild our lives.
2. But often suffering comes not because of anything we’ve done, but simply because we live in a fallen world. We suffer sickness, aging, death; we suffer from the bad choices of others. But God has promised to work for our good even in this suffering. So we’re told in scripture that in the midst of suffering we can rejoice! God is refining us, shaping our character, helping us become more like Jesus as we trust Him through our suffering.
3. Sometimes we suffer because we are faithfully following Jesus in a world that is still hostile to Him. As He suffered, so we suffer. And count it a privilege.
Suffering of the Christians in Smyrna
We need to know a couple of things about Smyrna at the time this was written. It was a prosperous city with an excellent harbor and beautiful civic facilities. It was a very patriotic city; it was unusually loyal to the Roman Empire. It was the law in Smyrna to worship the Roman Emperor. Christians had a problem with that law. They didn’t worship the emperor. They worshipped Jesus as Lord. The Jews were the only group who were excluded from the law of emperor worship. Now, as long as Christians were seen as Jews, they could be excluded from emperor worship. But the Jewish community in Smyrna was antagonistic to the Christians and made sure the Roman officials knew that Christians were not part of their synagogue and that they should be prosecuted for violating the law. In the city of Smyrna, where it would be the easy way to be “closet Christians”, Jesus’ followers were boldly giving witness to Jesus. In an environment where compromise with worldly ways and false worship would be the safe way to go, they courageously said “no” to compromise. They were suffering because they were faithful to their Lord.
Our Hardships
We of Christ’s body here in Berryville Arkansas, what are our hardships? How are we tempted to “go under the radar”, to be “closet Christians”, to compromise?
I wasn’t aware until recently how hard it is for Christian young people in this community. Talk to a teenager who goes to Berryville High about what it’s like if the other kids know you are a Christian. You may hear that Christians are looked down on and ridiculed. Some of us are in work environments where if we talk about Jesus, we are reprimanded, or if we refuse to be dishonest, we are criticized. Some of us fear we will be shunned by friends and colleagues if we refuse their ways and values, or if we are too obviously Christian. Going under the radar, compromise is tempting.
And right now, our church is going through some growing pains. God is at work here. We are feeling anxiety about changes. We are feeling the stress of trying to do a lot of ministry with a few workers. We talking big plans for the future, but we don’t see how we’re going to get there. We are seeing prayers answered in some amazing, powerful ways, but we are also experiencing the attacks of the evil one who does not want this church to move forward. The easy way would be to just go back to the way things were, not to dream big dreams for God. Not to try doing more to make His love real for the people in our community. Not to work through the irritations and hurts we experience with each other. The easy way would be to stop believing that God has a great plan for our future together, to drop out, to give up, to say “this is just too hard, Jesus.”
What Jesus Says to Us in Our Hardship
Bible scholar John Stott identifies in these words of Jesus 7 truths about himself:
1. He is eternal
He is the “first and last” The one we follow was there before the creation of the world, and will have the last word.
2. He is victorious
We live in the power of the One “who died and came to life again”. He has already defeated everything that comes against us. He has defeated even death itself. So we have nothing to fear.
3. He is all-knowing
He says, “I know your afflictions”. In our struggles, in our suffering it makes all the difference to know that Jesus knows. Jesus cares. Jesus is with us.
Did you see the movie, “Prince Caspian?” There is a scene from that movie I think about when I am suffering affliction and feel under attack. The scene is toward the end, where the armies of Aslan, the lion who represents Jesus, have been attacked by the evil forces trying to destroy all who follow Aslan. It looks hopeless. The forces of Aslan are outnumbered. The battle will soon be lost. They can’t hold out much longer. Their only hope is if Aslan will show up. The littlest girl, Lucy, who has never lost faith in Aslan, courageously goes out to find him. When she finds him, he responds to her cry for help. The tide of the battle turns. Then we see the evil forces with all their weapons retreating across a bridge. There stands little Lucy all alone blocking their way at the end of the bridge. A little girl, against the evil armies. But she has a confident smile on her face as she pulls out her little knife. Then we see why she is so confident as Aslan, the mighty lion steps out of the woods and comes by her side. He roars and the waters rise, and evil is defeated.
When we faithfully follow Jesus, we are not alone. He sees. He knows. He
is by our side. He has the power to defeat anything and everything that
comes against us.
4. He knows the Truth
Jesus sees from an eternal perspective. “I know your poverty, yet you are rich!” The world can look at us as poor, but if we are growing in God’s love and wisdom and power, then Jesus sees us as rich. We possess what ultimately matters.
5. He is in control
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.” The time of suffering will be limited. Jesus allows his followers to be tested, but not beyond our power to endure. Jesus says to evil, “This far, and no farther; this long and no longer.”
6. He is purposeful
Our adversary tests us in order to destroy. God allows us to be tested in order to refine and strengthen us. (James 1:2-4 and I Peter 1:7). Look beyond the trial to its purpose.
7. He is generous
Jesus says, “Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Jesus promises the most wonderful reward for those who endure, persevere, run the race faithfully. It is God’s nature to be generous with everyone. We can know His generosity in this life, and throughout eternity. But when we are willing to really commit to being a disciple, when we want with our whole hearts to love and serve Jesus, we will be drawn into the inner circle of his close friends. In that inner circle of fellowship we share His sufferings, but we also share His joy, peace and power. And we will receive the greatest blessings, which only His trusted friends know.
A Christian was dying, and his family was gathered around. This man had devoted his life to serving Jesus, and people, even his family, saw so many Christ-like qualities in him. His family was crying and grieving. The dying man suddenly looked up, was absolutely radiant, and said, “Don’t be sad. This is my coronation day!”
Don’t you want to know that after you take your last breath, the next hand you’ll feel in yours is the hand of Jesus? The next face you’ll see is the face of your Lord? And the next voice you hear will be the voice of Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?
Jesus says to us now, “Be faithful even unto death. And I will give you the crown of life.”
Sermon by Judy Turner, Oct. 11, 2009
Based on Revelation 2:8-11
The Revelation Was Given to Encourage the Church
Last week John started a series of sermons from the Revelation to John, Chapters 2 and 3. The Revelation opens with Jesus standing among seven churches in Asia, what is now western Turkey. These seven churches represent all the churches of Jesus in all times and places. Today we look at Revelation 2:8-10 and hear Jesus’ words spoken to His followers in a city called Smyrna. The Christians in Smyra are having a really hard time. Jesus reveals to John what He wants to say to this struggling church to encourage them in their suffering. As we said last week, the Revelation was given not to tell us exactly what will happen at the end of the world, or when, but to show us that Jesus is in charge and He is working in His church in all times and places to accomplish His purpose. The Revelation is to encourage us, in the midst of difficulties and evil in a broken world, to know it’s all going to turn out according to God’s wonderful plan. In the end, Jesus’ faithful servants will reign with him forever in a perfected universe. Revelation was not given so we would devote ourselves to trying to crack the “secret code” of its symbols, figuring out timelines or end-times scenarios. It was given so we can live faithfully and courageously for Jesus in our time, here and now! Even as we suffer.
Jesus’ Message to Us When We Suffer
What does Jesus say to the church in all times and places when we suffer?
Revelation 2:8b-11
These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty- yet you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.
False Teaching in Our Time
There is a false teaching we deal with in our time. Some very popular and prosperous preachers are teaching today that if as Christians we have enough faith, we will not suffer in any way. If we just follow their teaching (based on some scripture passages pulled out of context), if we just muster enough faith, we will be healthy, prosperous, and won’t have any problems. People like that teaching because it seems to put us in control and insure the good life we want. People flock to preachers and churches that teach the “prosperity gospel” or “name it and claim it” faith. People are also hurt by that teaching, because often life doesn’t work that way. Very devoted Christians suffer illness, struggle financially, have family problems, all kinds of problems. And their suffering is compounded by the false belief that it’s all their fault. Somehow they didn’t have enough faith. Sometimes they feel judged by their Christian friends who are into the “name it and claim it” teaching. Sometimes they feel abandoned in their suffering, and even turn against God.
What is true about suffering?
1. Sometimes we do suffer because of sin in our lives. We make choices contrary to the principles of God’s word and we are going to suffer consequences. But even then, God doesn’t give up on us. When we repent, God forgives and is there to help us as we struggle with those consequences and helps us establish new patterns and rebuild our lives.
2. But often suffering comes not because of anything we’ve done, but simply because we live in a fallen world. We suffer sickness, aging, death; we suffer from the bad choices of others. But God has promised to work for our good even in this suffering. So we’re told in scripture that in the midst of suffering we can rejoice! God is refining us, shaping our character, helping us become more like Jesus as we trust Him through our suffering.
3. Sometimes we suffer because we are faithfully following Jesus in a world that is still hostile to Him. As He suffered, so we suffer. And count it a privilege.
Suffering of the Christians in Smyrna
We need to know a couple of things about Smyrna at the time this was written. It was a prosperous city with an excellent harbor and beautiful civic facilities. It was a very patriotic city; it was unusually loyal to the Roman Empire. It was the law in Smyrna to worship the Roman Emperor. Christians had a problem with that law. They didn’t worship the emperor. They worshipped Jesus as Lord. The Jews were the only group who were excluded from the law of emperor worship. Now, as long as Christians were seen as Jews, they could be excluded from emperor worship. But the Jewish community in Smyrna was antagonistic to the Christians and made sure the Roman officials knew that Christians were not part of their synagogue and that they should be prosecuted for violating the law. In the city of Smyrna, where it would be the easy way to be “closet Christians”, Jesus’ followers were boldly giving witness to Jesus. In an environment where compromise with worldly ways and false worship would be the safe way to go, they courageously said “no” to compromise. They were suffering because they were faithful to their Lord.
Our Hardships
We of Christ’s body here in Berryville Arkansas, what are our hardships? How are we tempted to “go under the radar”, to be “closet Christians”, to compromise?
I wasn’t aware until recently how hard it is for Christian young people in this community. Talk to a teenager who goes to Berryville High about what it’s like if the other kids know you are a Christian. You may hear that Christians are looked down on and ridiculed. Some of us are in work environments where if we talk about Jesus, we are reprimanded, or if we refuse to be dishonest, we are criticized. Some of us fear we will be shunned by friends and colleagues if we refuse their ways and values, or if we are too obviously Christian. Going under the radar, compromise is tempting.
And right now, our church is going through some growing pains. God is at work here. We are feeling anxiety about changes. We are feeling the stress of trying to do a lot of ministry with a few workers. We talking big plans for the future, but we don’t see how we’re going to get there. We are seeing prayers answered in some amazing, powerful ways, but we are also experiencing the attacks of the evil one who does not want this church to move forward. The easy way would be to just go back to the way things were, not to dream big dreams for God. Not to try doing more to make His love real for the people in our community. Not to work through the irritations and hurts we experience with each other. The easy way would be to stop believing that God has a great plan for our future together, to drop out, to give up, to say “this is just too hard, Jesus.”
What Jesus Says to Us in Our Hardship
Bible scholar John Stott identifies in these words of Jesus 7 truths about himself:
1. He is eternal
He is the “first and last” The one we follow was there before the creation of the world, and will have the last word.
2. He is victorious
We live in the power of the One “who died and came to life again”. He has already defeated everything that comes against us. He has defeated even death itself. So we have nothing to fear.
3. He is all-knowing
He says, “I know your afflictions”. In our struggles, in our suffering it makes all the difference to know that Jesus knows. Jesus cares. Jesus is with us.
Did you see the movie, “Prince Caspian?” There is a scene from that movie I think about when I am suffering affliction and feel under attack. The scene is toward the end, where the armies of Aslan, the lion who represents Jesus, have been attacked by the evil forces trying to destroy all who follow Aslan. It looks hopeless. The forces of Aslan are outnumbered. The battle will soon be lost. They can’t hold out much longer. Their only hope is if Aslan will show up. The littlest girl, Lucy, who has never lost faith in Aslan, courageously goes out to find him. When she finds him, he responds to her cry for help. The tide of the battle turns. Then we see the evil forces with all their weapons retreating across a bridge. There stands little Lucy all alone blocking their way at the end of the bridge. A little girl, against the evil armies. But she has a confident smile on her face as she pulls out her little knife. Then we see why she is so confident as Aslan, the mighty lion steps out of the woods and comes by her side. He roars and the waters rise, and evil is defeated.
When we faithfully follow Jesus, we are not alone. He sees. He knows. He
is by our side. He has the power to defeat anything and everything that
comes against us.
4. He knows the Truth
Jesus sees from an eternal perspective. “I know your poverty, yet you are rich!” The world can look at us as poor, but if we are growing in God’s love and wisdom and power, then Jesus sees us as rich. We possess what ultimately matters.
5. He is in control
“Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days.” The time of suffering will be limited. Jesus allows his followers to be tested, but not beyond our power to endure. Jesus says to evil, “This far, and no farther; this long and no longer.”
6. He is purposeful
Our adversary tests us in order to destroy. God allows us to be tested in order to refine and strengthen us. (James 1:2-4 and I Peter 1:7). Look beyond the trial to its purpose.
7. He is generous
Jesus says, “Be faithful even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Jesus promises the most wonderful reward for those who endure, persevere, run the race faithfully. It is God’s nature to be generous with everyone. We can know His generosity in this life, and throughout eternity. But when we are willing to really commit to being a disciple, when we want with our whole hearts to love and serve Jesus, we will be drawn into the inner circle of his close friends. In that inner circle of fellowship we share His sufferings, but we also share His joy, peace and power. And we will receive the greatest blessings, which only His trusted friends know.
A Christian was dying, and his family was gathered around. This man had devoted his life to serving Jesus, and people, even his family, saw so many Christ-like qualities in him. His family was crying and grieving. The dying man suddenly looked up, was absolutely radiant, and said, “Don’t be sad. This is my coronation day!”
Don’t you want to know that after you take your last breath, the next hand you’ll feel in yours is the hand of Jesus? The next face you’ll see is the face of your Lord? And the next voice you hear will be the voice of Jesus saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant”?
Jesus says to us now, “Be faithful even unto death. And I will give you the crown of life.”
Monday, May 4, 2009
SUPPER WITH JESUS
Sermon by Judy Turner
Luke 24:13-35
This is a story of revelation where Jesus meets His discouraged, disheartened, despairing followers on the road. As He walks with them, He helps them see and understand what has happened. As a result, they step into a whole new Reality and start living with hope, purpose, joy, and excitement. The day began for these two disciples as a weary trudge from the city of Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus, 7 miles away. They started the day with their hearts heavy and their eyes downcast. They end the day with hearts filled to overflowing, eyes wide with wonder, getting back to Jerusalem as fast as their legs could go, so eager to share the good news of their encounter with the risen Jesus.
Understanding the Scriptures
What did Jesus do for them that made all the difference, not only in their day, but changed the course of their lives? First of all, He helped them see the scriptures in a whole new way. They had read the scriptures all their lives but somehow missed the central message. They knew the scriptures contained God’s promise to send a Messiah to redeem Israel. And everything Jesus taught and did seemed to point to the fact that he was THE ONE: “Jesus was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people.” But Jesus’ suffering just did not fit with their pre-conceived ideas of the Messiah. Their response to the crucifixion- disillusionment and confusion, “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.”
“But we had hoped”… Isn’t that a poignant phrase? “But we had hoped this marriage would work out, but we had hoped this business would succeed, but we had hoped our church would thrive, but we had hoped this child would live, but sometimes our hopes are dashed. We expect God to work in certain ways, and that usually doesn’t include any suffering. And we just don’t see God at work through our suffering. Even this morning, we might be right there with those disciples on the road, crying out in our pain, or simply expressing our confusion at what has happened to us, “But we had hoped..”
Jesus begins helping them see those Scriptures they were so familiar with in a whole new light. He helps them see that it was God’s plan from the beginning that the Messiah would suffer before he entered his glory. He showed them he is the prophet like Moses described in Deuteronomy, the royal Son of David described in the Psalms , the Suffering Servant described in Isaiah, the triumphant Son of Man described in Daniel. As Jesus helped them see himself throughout the Old Testament, it started all making sense. They saw how God works in a whole new way. They started walking in this new understanding. They later described the experience in this way, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us?”
Do such encounters with Jesus through the scriptures happen today? In his book, The Case for Christ, Lee Strobel interviews Louis Lapides. Louis was born into a Jewish family and studied 7 years in the synagogue in preparation for his bar mitzvah. He studied the Old Testament scriptures, but they didn’t mean much in his daily life. As a young adult Louis went to fight in the Vietnam War. He experienced the horrors of war, and came back home into drugs and Eastern religions. Louis encountered a Christian who challenged him to read the Old Testament again, and look for all the prophecies of a Messiah. “Pretty soon, “ Louis says, “I was reading the Old Testament every day and seeing one prophecy after another. One day I was stopped cold as I read Isaiah 53: ‘But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.’ Then I started reading the New Testament, and it all fit together. I realized Jesus really is the Messiah, and my Savior.”
Strobel says that scholars have identified 48 prophecies of Jesus in the Old Testament and asks Lapides whether it’s possible that Jesus merely fulfilled the prophecies by accident. “Not a chance,” is his response. “The odds are so astronomical that they rule that out. Someone did the math and figured out that the probability of just eight prophecies being fulfilled is one chance in one hundred million billion. The odds alone say it would be impossible for anyone to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies.” Lapides continued, “Yet Jesus – and only Jesus throughout all of history – did it!
Experiencing Jesus
But our questions may not be whether Jesus is the Messiah, the promised Savior. Our questions may have more to do with our own shattered dreams, disappointments, and suffering, or the pain of those people we know and care about . If God loves us, and God is good, why do we have to suffer? I think this takes more than an intellectual answer. It takes a continual experience with the living Christ. This is what we also see in the story of the disciples as they reach the town of Emmaus and they persuade this stranger to stay and eat with them. It was as they experienced Jesus with them around the table, as they saw him take the bread, give thanks, break it, and give it to them, that they fully knew who he was.
The Shack is a novel, a work of fiction, but it is striking a chord with a lot of people. It is a best-seller. Several women in our congregation read the book and asked if I would lead a discussion on it. Their request led me to re-read the book. On the first reading I was caught up in the story of an unspeakable tragedy. A 6 -year old girl is abducted and murdered. Her father, Mack, is devastated with the loss and is drowning in his grief. He was a church-goer, but did not have close relationship with God. But after the tragedy, he is so angry with God for letting such a thing happen to a beautiful, innocent child, he didn’t want to have much to do with God. God invites Mack to meet him at the shack, the very place where his daughter was murdered. But the ugly place of death is transformed with the presence of the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They appear to Mack in some very unconventional ways to break through his stereotypes of who God is. Then they give him some new ways of seeing the tragedy and seeing his life. He is given a vision of his daughter alive with Jesus in the spiritual realm. He catches a glimpse of the new heaven and the new earth and how God will ultimately fulfill his good purpose. He is not given all the answers. He is told there are some things we simply cannot understand from our limited human standpoint. During the encounter with God at the shack, Mack is invited into the circle of the love shared between Father, Son, and Spirit, and he realizes how in judging God to be unloving and untrustworthy, he has cut himself off from the healing and peace that is available to him to help him. Mack is put on a new path for living this life, in close, loving, trusting relationship with God. Although God deals with Mack’s questions, what changes his life is a profound experience of God’s presence and God’s love. The book is fiction, I have some theological differences with the author, but it is true to the fact that God’s love can totally change our lives.
Our Part in Experiencing Jesus
What totally changed the disciples lives at Emmaus was an experience of Jesus, real and alive and with them. But the risen Jesus no longer physically walks this earth. How can we experience him? Through his Holy Spirit who lives within us, we can have a real relationship with Jesus. Just as Jesus opened the scriptures for the disciples on the Emmaus road, his Holy Spirit teaches us, opens our eyes, makes the scriptures make sense and come alive for us. But our part is to devote ourselves to reading the scriptures and asking the Holy Spirit to teach us. Just as the disciples experienced Jesus present with them as they ate supper together, so the Holy Spirit makes us aware of Jesus with us in our daily living. We can discover him as a constant companion and totally trustworthy leader. But we need to continually turn to him throughout our days, seeking his direction, his wisdom, his perspective, his strength, and his love. When our hearts are broken and we have questions, we need to take those questions to him. It’s those times when we are most disappointed with God and most tempted to turn away that we must press in and pray.
And, if we really want to experience Jesus, we need to be faithful in coming together for worship and the Lord’s Supper. Jesus was made known to the Disciples at Emmaus when he broke the bread. Every week in this congregation we share together in the Lord’s Supper. Why do we do that? We have the Lord’s Supper because Jesus instructed us do this to remember him. We do it every Sunday because the first followers of Jesus observed his supper every time they gathered for worship. But most important, we do it often because it helps us grow closer to Christ.
Neither John nor I grew up in a church that observed the Lord’s Supper every week. In the churches we were raised in, it was usually a quarterly event. But now, having been in congregations that practice weekly communion, we miss it when we are in a worship service that does not include the Lord’s Supper. Why? We concluded that no matter what the worship theme or sermon text is, the communion service always puts the focus on the death and resurrection of Jesus. Often during communion we see a new dimension of the love of God. The cumulative effect of the frequent practice of communion is that we see Jesus in more and more parts of our lives - every day.
What does it mean for you?
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