This morning, we come to the third mark of the church that is found in Romans chapter 15 verses 1-6. Verse 4 reads, “4For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and by the encouragement of the scriptures we might have hope.” This shows that one of the significant marks of the church is that it is rooted deeply in the Bible–it takes the scriptures very, very seriously.
Now, you may think at this moment, “Well, no kidding. Doesn’t every church take the Bible seriously?” The answer to that question is: yes and no.
You see, I remember one of the things I did my first week in college. I attended a Bible study slash gathering of college Christians. The group was called Koininia. For our first gathering, we sat in a circle, and we hand introductions and the like. Now, I can’t remember exactly what led up to the next moment, but I remember it vividly. There was a sophomore student sitting in our circle who was studying to be a pastor. I can’t remember if it was part of the introduction or part of the discussion, but he slammed his Bible on the ground and stepped on it. He said something to the effect of, “This book is just a book. I take what I need from it, and that’s it.” I was a bit shocked, and yes, this guy went to seminary. Now, you could argue that he did take the Bible seriously–but it was only the parts that he liked that he took seriously.
That’s not exactly being rooted and grounded in Scriptures.
Neither is simply randomly picking things out of the Bible as little inspirational quotes. This too is dangerous. There is the story about the guy who was looking through the Bible to find out God’s will for his life. He flipped through the pages, closed his eyes and put his finger down. The verse that his finger fell upon read, “And Judas went out and hanged himself.” The guy thought, “That can’t be right.” So he flipped through the pages once again, closed his eyes, and put his finger down. This time the verse read, “Go and do likewise.” The guy was thoroughly perplexed and knew this couldn’t be right, so he flipped through the pages one more time. He closed his eyes, put his finger down, and read the verse. This one said, “Whatever you are going to do, go and do it quickly.”
Okay, that’s a joke, maybe a really bad one, but there is a point to it. The Bible is not simply meant to be a book of advice telling you how you should live. Oh, many of us love that aspect of the Bible. We love to pull out quotes that give us inspiration–that give us joy–that give us a sense of power and hope in our lives. Some churches build their congregations on those sayings, and some of those churches do very, very well.
And why wouldn’t they?
• “And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three. And the greatest of these is love.”
• “But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
• “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
• “If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”
• “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”
• “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”
• For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Who isn’t inspired by such things? Who doesn’t feel those statements deep within their soul? They are heart warming. They are affirming. They make us feel really, really good about ourselves.
So, what’s wrong with simply quoting these things over and over and over again? What’s wrong with simply focusing on these quotes and others like them? Well, as the great Bible Scholar Dwight Moody said, “The scriptures were not given for our information but for our transformation.”
And that, my brothers and sisters and neighbors is why a church must be deeply rooted in the scriptures. That, my brothers and sisters and neighbors is why we must be deeply rooted in the scriptures. The Bible, with everything that is in it leads us towards transformation–it leads us to become different; it challenges us in our status quo, makes us see that we fall far short of what we should be, and then gives us the avenue towards becoming the people God has intended us to be. If we simply read the parts of the Bible that we like, we will never be challenged; we will never discover our sinfulness; we will never truly meet Jesus and find the fullness of His grace.
Consider this, my brothers and sisters and neighbors, the Bible consists of 66 books written by 40 authors over a span of 1500 years. In nothing short of a miracle, those 40 authors over all those years were telling one consistent story–the story of how God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. It is the story of how God could have condemned the world, but instead sent the Son to save it. Nothing must be read outside of the context of that story. Nothing must be omitted. Nothing must be cast aside as superfluous. This book is God’s revelation of Himself to us!
Last week, I told the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Some of you were here and remember. Others might not have been, so let me go through it once again. A group of blind men stumble upon an elephant in the jungle. They all want to figure out what the elephant is like, so they each touch a piece of the elephant. Afterwards, as the men continue their travels, they begin arguing what the elephant is like. One who touched the tail argues, “The elephant is like a rope, long and stringy.” One who touched the torso says, “The elephant is like a wall, solid and strong.” One who touched the tusk says, “The elephant is like a spear, long and with a sharp point.” One who touched the leg says, “The elephant is like a tree stump, short and stout.” And on and on it goes as the men argue with one another what the elephant is like. As I said last week, this parable is usually used to talk about religion saying that each religion has part of the truth, but none has the full truth. I also said, don’t get too comfortable with that conclusion–it’s easily refutable.
And for us as Christians, one of those refutations comes in what Pastor Kevin DeYoung said–the question he asked. “What if the elephant could talk?” What if God could talk? What if we didn’t have to wonder about who God was and what He could do? What if God could communicate with us?
Well, the answer is: God did. God communicated with us. God spoke to the people of Israel. God spoke as Jesus Christ. The writers of the Bible were so infused with the Spirit of God as they wrote it was as if God Himself were communicating with us. This book that we call the Bible is
nothing less than God’s revelation of Himself to you and to me and to the world.
And so, the more and more we study the Bible, the more and more we know who God is. The more and more we study the Bible, the more and more we understand who we are. The more and more we study the Bible, the more and more we see that there is much more than information and trite sayings that make us feel good about ourselves. No. Instead, we are led to admit as St. Paul did in Romans chapter 3, that all–meaning everyone, including ourselves–all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. This is terrible news. This is awful news. We have not done what we should have done. We have not become who we should have become. Yet...yet, the news does not stop there. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but we are now justified–made right; declared innocent–by grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forward as the sacrifice of atonement effective through faith. God has acted through Jesus Christ to bring us into a right relationship with Him. God has acted through and in Jesus Christ to bring us forgiveness and wholeness. God has acted through and in Jesus to ensure that even though we die, we will live with our heavenly Father forever. This is the good news!! To quote Dr. David Jeremiah, “The Bible began with God, and it solves the human’s most pressing need: how to know God and be reconciled unto Him.”
The Bible is God’s love letter to you. A love letter that tells you how much He loves you and what He is willing to do to make things right between you and Him. This letter is meant to transform your heart and soul so that you find joy in Christ. It is a letter to be read over and over and over because the more you read it, the more deeply in love you fall; and the more and more Christ-like you become. And if this is the goal of the Christian life, the church and we must be deeply rooted in the Bible. Amen.
Showing posts with label Blind men and elephant. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blind men and elephant. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Mark #2: Building Up our Neighbor Spiritually
Today, we come to the second mark of the church presented in Romans chapter 15 verses 1-6. Verse 2 reads, “Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor.”
On the surface, this looks to be rather simple. Most world religions and philosophies teach that we should be kind and compassionate. Most world religions and philosophies teach us to care for those in need and ease the needs of the poor and downtrodden. Nearly every world religion and philosophy has some form of the teaching, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” So, we as Christians are supposed to be nice people. We are supposed to be kind people. We are supposed to treat others with such niceness and kindness. That’s it, right. End of sermon. Done. Let’s call it a day.
You knew it wouldn’t be that simple, didn’t you? The Greek wording of this sentence adds a little bit of nuance. A better reading would be this: Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor spiritually. One of the marks of the church that first falls deeply in love with Jesus is the deep desire to build up our neighbors spiritually.
Now, first off, let me say that this does not excuse us from helping those who are in need. There is wisdom in the statement that it’s awful hard to hear someone saying, “God loves you,” when your stomach is rumbling; you’re cold and shivering, and you have no place to sleep. Furthermore, Jesus is very, very clear that when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned, we are feeding, clothing, and visiting him. We must care for our neighbor’s physical needs, but we are called to care for our neighbor’s spiritual needs as well–to build up our neighbor spiritually. This is where things can become complicated.
How do we build up our neighbor spiritually? It’s easy to give someone something to eat when they are hungry. It’s easy to give someone a drink when they are thirsty. It’s easy to give someone clothing when they are naked. It’s easy to visit someone when they are sick or in prison. These needs are visible. We can see them without difficulty. But how do we build up our neighbor’s spirituality? How do we help them grow in their relationship with God–and in particular grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ? That’s not so easy, not so easy at all because we cannot see where people are at. We cannot see if they even believe in God. We cannot see how deeply they believe in Jesus Christ. We don’t know where their faith is at; if they have faith at all; or even if they want to grow in their faith. How can we begin to build up others spiritually if we cannot see where they are at?
Some of you may have heard the parable about the blind men and the elephant. For those of you who haven’t let me tell it once more. A group of blind men stumble upon an elephant in the jungle. They all want to figure out what the elephant is like, so they each touch a piece of the elephant. Afterwards, as the men continue their travels, they begin arguing what the elephant is like. One who touched the tail argues, “The elephant is like a rope, long and stringy.” One who touched the torso says, “The elephant is like a wall, solid and strong.” One who touched the tusk says, “The elephant is like a spear, long and with a sharp point.” One who touched the leg says, “The elephant is like a tree stump, short and stout.” And on and on it goes as the men argue with one another what the elephant is like. Now, this parable is usually used to talk about religion saying that each religion has part of the truth, but none has the full truth. Don’t get too comfortable with that conclusion–it’s easily refutable.
But I don’t want to use that conclusion today. What I would like to comment on is that oftentimes we do such things with one another when it comes to the faith life of another person. We observe from afar. We see someone going to church, and we assume that their faith is very strong and that they are a Christian. We observe someone staying home every Sunday, and we infer that they have no faith. We observe someone covered with tattoos and body piercings, and we think they are an atheist. We observe someone clean cut and wearing a suit on Sunday morning, and we assume they are a deacon in a congregation. Oh, this is just a short list. We could add many other observations. And oftentimes, we base our conclusions on just these observations. Meanwhile, others make different observations and come to different conclusions. Then, we end up like all of those blind men arguing on the roadside.
But here is a revolutionary thought–it’s not mine. I actually heard a pastor by the name of Kevin DeYoung use it. What if the elephant could talk? What if the elephant could express itself? What if the elephant had the capability of describing itself to you and telling you exactly what it was like? How would that change the parable?
Well, if you refused to talk to the elephant, it wouldn’t change things much at all. You’d still be left guessing, but if the elephant could talk, and you actually engaged the elephant, you might find out some very, very interesting things. You might find out a whole lot more than you ever thought you knew.
Now, I am certainly not trying to call our neighbors elephants. God forbid! That might cause a bit of a stir, but what I am suggesting, rather strongly, that in order to truly build up our neighbors spiritually, we have to get to know our neighbors. I mean, really get to know our neighbors. This isn’t a superficial, “Hey how are you?” kind of knowing. This isn’t a, “I know your name, your address, and your phone number kind of relationship.” This is an engagement so that we come to know the height, depth, and length of our neighbor’s relationship with God or lack of it. For if we don’t know about our neighbor’s relationship with God, how can we even begin to build it up?
The answer is, “We can’t.” Before I continue just a moment, let me please dispel one thing that sometimes arises at this point. Sometimes, good intentioned people say, “But pastor, isn’t the church supposed to worry about growing the faith of its members?” The answer to that is absolutely, positively yes!! Indeed, the church is here to help the faith of its members grow, but let me add this note–Paul here is very intentional in his wording. He uses the term neighbors after a long stretch of using the word brothers. He changes the terminology because for him, brothers means fellow Christians. He intentionally indicates here that as your faith grows and deepens, you no longer just look to your own growth and building up; you no longer just look to the building up of your fellow Christians, you look outside yourself and outside your church into your community to help others come into a relationship with Jesus Christ and grow into that relationship.
And so, the mark of a church that is growing in its relationship with Jesus Christ is that its members seek out people in the community; seeks out their neighbors to get to know them; to learn about them; to understand them as people; to come to love and cherish their relationship, and then to lead them to Jesus Christ or help them deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ.
I am reminded about the story of two literary giants. Perhaps you have heard their names: J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis. Tolkein wrote The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, and a host of other well known Christian books. What you may not know is that C.S. Lewis was originally an atheist. He railed against Christianity and called it a myth like any Norse mythology. False. Untrue. For five years, J.R.R. Tolkein talked with his friend C.S. Lewis. For five years, Tolkein got to know Lewis; ate with him; drank with him; engaged him with conversation. Then, on September 19, 1931, Lewis converted from atheism to theism. Lewis came to believe in God. But, Lewis did not convert to Christianity. It was not until two years later that while staying up past 3 a.m. with Tolkein and another professor that C.S. Lewis came to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the world. For you mathematicians, you know that this took seven years. Seven years of investing in a friend. Of engaging. Of questioning. Of not becoming offended. Of caring. Of genuine concern for the building up of the neighbor.
The question becomes, are we as a church; are we as individual Christians willing to invest so much time? Are we willing to grow in our faith so that we can help others grow over such a long time? Are we willing to be long term people in a short term world? Are we willing to do what it takes to really and truly get to know our neighbors, understand where they are coming from, and truly seek their coming to know Jesus as Lord and Savior? Will we be willing to invest in our neighbors like Jesus invested in us and continues to invest in us to help us grow?
For Jesus sought to win our hearts by dying for us when we least deserved it. He did not coerce us with fear or anger, but with grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Yes, He confronted us with our sin, but he did not hold that sin against us. Instead, He took that sin upon Himself and paid the price for those sins by dying on the cross and facing hell for us. He then showered us with hope as He showed us what awaits for us when we trust in Him–resurrection and the reversal of all evil. And now, He walks with us daily living enthroned upon our hearts whispering to us of his love; whispering to us of his grace; whispering to us his guidance and continued support; whispering to us that no matter what we face in life, He will see us through and bring us to something glorious–the Kingdom of God. It is this love that we are called to share. It is this love that we are called to pass on to our neighbor. It is this love that will build our neighbor up. Amen.
On the surface, this looks to be rather simple. Most world religions and philosophies teach that we should be kind and compassionate. Most world religions and philosophies teach us to care for those in need and ease the needs of the poor and downtrodden. Nearly every world religion and philosophy has some form of the teaching, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” So, we as Christians are supposed to be nice people. We are supposed to be kind people. We are supposed to treat others with such niceness and kindness. That’s it, right. End of sermon. Done. Let’s call it a day.
You knew it wouldn’t be that simple, didn’t you? The Greek wording of this sentence adds a little bit of nuance. A better reading would be this: Each of us must please our neighbor for the good purpose of building up the neighbor spiritually. One of the marks of the church that first falls deeply in love with Jesus is the deep desire to build up our neighbors spiritually.
Now, first off, let me say that this does not excuse us from helping those who are in need. There is wisdom in the statement that it’s awful hard to hear someone saying, “God loves you,” when your stomach is rumbling; you’re cold and shivering, and you have no place to sleep. Furthermore, Jesus is very, very clear that when we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, and visit the sick and imprisoned, we are feeding, clothing, and visiting him. We must care for our neighbor’s physical needs, but we are called to care for our neighbor’s spiritual needs as well–to build up our neighbor spiritually. This is where things can become complicated.
How do we build up our neighbor spiritually? It’s easy to give someone something to eat when they are hungry. It’s easy to give someone a drink when they are thirsty. It’s easy to give someone clothing when they are naked. It’s easy to visit someone when they are sick or in prison. These needs are visible. We can see them without difficulty. But how do we build up our neighbor’s spirituality? How do we help them grow in their relationship with God–and in particular grow in their relationship with Jesus Christ? That’s not so easy, not so easy at all because we cannot see where people are at. We cannot see if they even believe in God. We cannot see how deeply they believe in Jesus Christ. We don’t know where their faith is at; if they have faith at all; or even if they want to grow in their faith. How can we begin to build up others spiritually if we cannot see where they are at?
Some of you may have heard the parable about the blind men and the elephant. For those of you who haven’t let me tell it once more. A group of blind men stumble upon an elephant in the jungle. They all want to figure out what the elephant is like, so they each touch a piece of the elephant. Afterwards, as the men continue their travels, they begin arguing what the elephant is like. One who touched the tail argues, “The elephant is like a rope, long and stringy.” One who touched the torso says, “The elephant is like a wall, solid and strong.” One who touched the tusk says, “The elephant is like a spear, long and with a sharp point.” One who touched the leg says, “The elephant is like a tree stump, short and stout.” And on and on it goes as the men argue with one another what the elephant is like. Now, this parable is usually used to talk about religion saying that each religion has part of the truth, but none has the full truth. Don’t get too comfortable with that conclusion–it’s easily refutable.
But I don’t want to use that conclusion today. What I would like to comment on is that oftentimes we do such things with one another when it comes to the faith life of another person. We observe from afar. We see someone going to church, and we assume that their faith is very strong and that they are a Christian. We observe someone staying home every Sunday, and we infer that they have no faith. We observe someone covered with tattoos and body piercings, and we think they are an atheist. We observe someone clean cut and wearing a suit on Sunday morning, and we assume they are a deacon in a congregation. Oh, this is just a short list. We could add many other observations. And oftentimes, we base our conclusions on just these observations. Meanwhile, others make different observations and come to different conclusions. Then, we end up like all of those blind men arguing on the roadside.
But here is a revolutionary thought–it’s not mine. I actually heard a pastor by the name of Kevin DeYoung use it. What if the elephant could talk? What if the elephant could express itself? What if the elephant had the capability of describing itself to you and telling you exactly what it was like? How would that change the parable?
Well, if you refused to talk to the elephant, it wouldn’t change things much at all. You’d still be left guessing, but if the elephant could talk, and you actually engaged the elephant, you might find out some very, very interesting things. You might find out a whole lot more than you ever thought you knew.
Now, I am certainly not trying to call our neighbors elephants. God forbid! That might cause a bit of a stir, but what I am suggesting, rather strongly, that in order to truly build up our neighbors spiritually, we have to get to know our neighbors. I mean, really get to know our neighbors. This isn’t a superficial, “Hey how are you?” kind of knowing. This isn’t a, “I know your name, your address, and your phone number kind of relationship.” This is an engagement so that we come to know the height, depth, and length of our neighbor’s relationship with God or lack of it. For if we don’t know about our neighbor’s relationship with God, how can we even begin to build it up?
The answer is, “We can’t.” Before I continue just a moment, let me please dispel one thing that sometimes arises at this point. Sometimes, good intentioned people say, “But pastor, isn’t the church supposed to worry about growing the faith of its members?” The answer to that is absolutely, positively yes!! Indeed, the church is here to help the faith of its members grow, but let me add this note–Paul here is very intentional in his wording. He uses the term neighbors after a long stretch of using the word brothers. He changes the terminology because for him, brothers means fellow Christians. He intentionally indicates here that as your faith grows and deepens, you no longer just look to your own growth and building up; you no longer just look to the building up of your fellow Christians, you look outside yourself and outside your church into your community to help others come into a relationship with Jesus Christ and grow into that relationship.
And so, the mark of a church that is growing in its relationship with Jesus Christ is that its members seek out people in the community; seeks out their neighbors to get to know them; to learn about them; to understand them as people; to come to love and cherish their relationship, and then to lead them to Jesus Christ or help them deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ.
I am reminded about the story of two literary giants. Perhaps you have heard their names: J.R.R. Tolkein and C.S. Lewis. Tolkein wrote The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Trilogy. C.S. Lewis wrote The Chronicles of Narnia, Mere Christianity, and a host of other well known Christian books. What you may not know is that C.S. Lewis was originally an atheist. He railed against Christianity and called it a myth like any Norse mythology. False. Untrue. For five years, J.R.R. Tolkein talked with his friend C.S. Lewis. For five years, Tolkein got to know Lewis; ate with him; drank with him; engaged him with conversation. Then, on September 19, 1931, Lewis converted from atheism to theism. Lewis came to believe in God. But, Lewis did not convert to Christianity. It was not until two years later that while staying up past 3 a.m. with Tolkein and another professor that C.S. Lewis came to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of the world. For you mathematicians, you know that this took seven years. Seven years of investing in a friend. Of engaging. Of questioning. Of not becoming offended. Of caring. Of genuine concern for the building up of the neighbor.
The question becomes, are we as a church; are we as individual Christians willing to invest so much time? Are we willing to grow in our faith so that we can help others grow over such a long time? Are we willing to be long term people in a short term world? Are we willing to do what it takes to really and truly get to know our neighbors, understand where they are coming from, and truly seek their coming to know Jesus as Lord and Savior? Will we be willing to invest in our neighbors like Jesus invested in us and continues to invest in us to help us grow?
For Jesus sought to win our hearts by dying for us when we least deserved it. He did not coerce us with fear or anger, but with grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Yes, He confronted us with our sin, but he did not hold that sin against us. Instead, He took that sin upon Himself and paid the price for those sins by dying on the cross and facing hell for us. He then showered us with hope as He showed us what awaits for us when we trust in Him–resurrection and the reversal of all evil. And now, He walks with us daily living enthroned upon our hearts whispering to us of his love; whispering to us of his grace; whispering to us his guidance and continued support; whispering to us that no matter what we face in life, He will see us through and bring us to something glorious–the Kingdom of God. It is this love that we are called to share. It is this love that we are called to pass on to our neighbor. It is this love that will build our neighbor up. Amen.
Monday, October 19, 2015
Peace in a Pluralistic World
One of the major issues confronting our world is its shrinkage. You may scratch your head for a moment on that comment thinking, “Isn’t the earth the same size as it has been for billions of years? There aren’t parts of it eroding into space, are there?” No. That’s not the kind of shrinkage I am talking about. It’s the shrinkage that has been ongoing since the development of more types and faster types of travel and communication. It is in this regard that I think the world is getting smaller.
Consider this, 150 years ago, if you wanted to know what was going on half-way around the world, you had to wait days, if not weeks or months to find out. Letters from overseas were carried upon horseback to an awaiting boat–most probably a sail boat although steam engines were beginning to arrive on the scene. The letter would arrive and be delivered on horseback to its location, but if you were very lucky, the railroad might be able to carry it a bit faster to your location. Communication took time–a long time. Travel took time–much longer than it does now. Today, we have instant communication anywhere in the world by satellite phone or internet. We can board an airplane today and in less than 24 hours can be sitting on the other side of the world. We can drive down to Katy in under an hour’s time whereas 100 years ago it would have taken half a day. The world has shrunk because of technology, and that has had some consequences.
Among those consequences is that we are now forced to rub shoulders with people who are vastly different than we are. We are now coming into contact with people of all sorts of races, religions, worldviews and identities. If you engage this world in any way, you will run into people who do not look like you, think like you, or act like you. Amazingly enough, we are doing a pretty good job of coexisting in this world without destroying each other; but there is quite a bit of tension–quite a bit of tension.
We see that tension rear its head in politics; in spirited debate; in the various wars around the world. There is heightened tension right now between Israel and Palestine. There is heightened tension between Democrats and Republicans. There is heightened tension between conservatives and liberals. There is heightened tension between those who believe in God and those who are atheist. There is heightened tension between Christians and Muslims. Various worldviews around the world are in a constant struggle to interact and offer people a sense of belonging and sense of understanding about the nature of reality. And there is a struggle for truth–which worldview is true and leads us to respect and honor one another?
Some have argued that no one worldview can have a hold on the truth. No one worldview or religion can grasp ultimate truth if that ultimate truth even exists. In fact, some use a rather fascinating illustration to show this. It’s an illustration called the “Blind Men and the Elephant.” Perhaps you have heard it. Depending on the version, five or six blind men encounter an elephant, and each of them touch a different part of the elephant. After their encounter, the men argue about what the elephant is like. One argues the elephant is like a rope–long, narrow, and stringy, because he touched the tail. One argues the elephant is like a wall because he touched the torso. One argues the elephant is like a tree truck as he touched the leg. One argues the elephant is like a hose because he touched the trunk. Another argues the elephant is like a spear, long and sharp because he touched the tusk. Round and round and round they argue–all of them, in one way right, and all of them in one way wrong. And, some argue, that’s the way with religions and worldviews. All of them get something right. All of them get something wrong. Leslie Newbigin gave a rebuttal of sorts to this parable as he realized something: you cannot say that all worldviews have something right and something wrong unless you can see the entire perspective of reality yourself. You cannot possibly know all worldviews have something right and something wrong unless you yourself know the truth! Therefore, people who try to tell you that reality is this way are simply trying to convert you to their way of thinking! They have no idea if it’s true or not. It is just another competing worldview.
The Christian worldview offers a particular way of looking at the world, and it is a way that unabashedly claims to know the truth while honoring and respecting those outside its belief system. It seeks converts but does not seek to harm or hurt those outside the faith. Now, that has not been the case because there are those who have warped Christianity’s teachings, but this morning, I would like to show you what Christianity teaches using this little snippet from Mark chapter nine.
This little piece begins with the disciple John coming up to Jesus and saying, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” Now, keep in mind the following points: first, remember that just a few verses earlier Mark recounted how the disciples were UNABLE to cast out a demon. So it is with no great irony that John is trying to stop someone else from successfully doing what the disciples were unsuccessful at accomplishing. Secondly, immediately preceding John’s statement was Jesus’ teaching on greatness. “Whoever wants to be first of all must be last of all and servant of all.” Does it strike you how John, who is speaking for the rest of the disciples as well, doesn’t quite seem to get humility? Finally, consider this last point which was rammed home to me by James Edwards in his commentary on this text. I never even considered this point until I read it, and it makes absolute sense to me now. Edwards says, “John’s report that the independent exorcist ‘was not following us’ is depressingly ironic. We should expect him to say ‘because he was not following you.’ Is it not a little presumptuous at this stage of discipleship for John to think himself and the other disciples as worthy of being followed?” I hope you caught Edwards’ gist there. John and the disciples are still quite consumed with themselves. They think they are something special because they follow Jesus. They rank themselves with Jesus, but in reality, it’s not about them!!! It’s never supposed to be about them or us!! It’s always supposed to be about Jesus!!!
Which is why Jesus replies to them, “‘Do not stop him [and the Greek gives you the sense of “do not stop him or anyone like him now or ever]; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.” Now, I want to point out quickly here that the other exorcist was not casting out demons in the name of any other religion or in the name of any other god. Some might like to take Jesus’ words and expand them to all religions here. You cannot do that. Jesus said plainly and clearly that this was being done in His name. When someone does something in Jesus’ name, we are called to humbly step back. We are called to celebrate what they are doing. For anyone who does something in Jesus’ name is not against us. We are working toward the same goal and purpose–if we are working in. Jesus’. Name.
Of course, that now raises the question of, “Well, what if someone is not doing anything in Jesus’ name?”
Jesus continues, “41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” Some have massively misinterpreted this verse. They have suggested that if we are doing even the littlest of actions, then we will be rewarded. They suggest that Christianity is about doing all sorts of little things with great love, but you need to look very, very carefully at what Jesus says here. This is not about the actions of His disciples. This is about the actions of those who are outside the circle of Christianity. This is about those who are not following Jesus. “Whoever gives YOU a cup of water to drink BECAUSE YOU BEAR THE NAME OF CHRIST will by no means lose the reward.” If there are those outside the faith who welcome you; who embrace you; who are kind to you, Jesus sees that as a welcoming of Himself. Try to wrap your head around that for a moment. Even if someone does not believe in Him or trust Him, when they care for you, they are caring for Jesus, and Jesus honors that. Which means, if Jesus is honoring the actions of those who care for us in such a manner, should we not do the same? Of course we should, and I will return to this in just a minute after dealing with the final verse.
Jesus finishes, “‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.” This comment would have called up historical precedent because the Roman army had inflicted this exact punishment some Jewish Zealots who had tried to rebel against them under Judas the Galilean (Lane 346)1. Again, let me point out that Jesus is reinforcing the idea that we should not inhibit someone who is striving to do good in His name. In our zealous nature to make sure everyone does everything “right” we may cause others to stumble. We may cause others to fall. We may cause others to walk away from the faith, and Jesus says this would be cause for us to have a millstone hung around our necks and us be cast into the ocean.
Again, the problem confronted throughout this particular teaching by Jesus is the problem of self-righteousness. John and the other disciples thought they were better than this other exorcist because of their close association with Jesus. Humility was severely lacking. If we look down our noses at those who are outside of the Christian faith and treat them as less than those created in the image of God, this again is self-righteousness. If we go around criticizing others for trying to follow Christ in a manner that we think is wrong or undignified or less than perfect, then we are being self-righteous. And this self-righteousness comes from thinking that religion and following Jesus focuses on our actions.
This is exactly where Christianity diverges massively from the rest of the world’s religions. For the rest of the world’s religions focus on what we do. They say we must do the right things to be accepted. We must accomplish good works or the deity will turn against us. This leads us to either despair because we do not believe we can accomplish those works or it leads us to become self-righteous because we think we are accomplishing those works and others should do like we do.
But Christianity says we are not saved by our works. We are not saved by casting out demons. We are not saved by bringing cups of water. We are not saved by living perfectly, morally, and uprightly. We are not saved by telling everyone else how they should or should not act. We are saved totally and completely by sheer grace. Let me repeat that again, you are only saved by sheer grace. You are saved only and completely by Jesus and His actions on your behalf. You are saved only by what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross by dying the death you deserved. You have no righteousness to stand on.
St. Paul put it this way in the third chapter of the book of Philippians, “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through trust in Christ, the righteousness from God based on trust.”
You see, Paul had every right to think that his works had guaranteed him righteousness with God, and Paul was indeed self-righteous. He persecuted the church because he thought he could accomplish the works of the law. But Jesus appeared to Paul and radically changed his worldview. Paul knew that Jesus came into the world and saved him by sheer grace. No longer could Paul trust in himself. Paul knew he must trust in Jesus.
And when you trust in Jesus, when you trust in His work on the cross, several things become abundantly clear. First, you know that you have seen God. You have seen the Truth. For you have seen the God who became flesh. Secondly, you are humbled because you know that you did nothing to deserve what you have been given. Your heart is no longer hardened because you know that Jesus died for you when you least deserved it and were living in sin. And finally, you have a heart for others. You cherish those who work in Jesus’ name, and you see those who do not work in Jesus’ name as those created in the image of God who God longs to bring into fellowship with Him. You long to bring them the news of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. For even though Jesus indeed died for you, you remember John 3:16 and 17.
“For God so loved the world–the WORLD–that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world–THE WORLD–not to condemn the world, but that the world–THE WORLD–might be saved through Him.” If we know that Jesus came to save the WORLD, we know that means all of the people in it. If your heart is touched by this, I invite you to delve further into the Christian worldview, for I think you will find within it the Truth who brings peace to this shrinking world. Amen.
1. New International Commentary on the New Testament. “The Gospel of Mark”. William Lane.
Consider this, 150 years ago, if you wanted to know what was going on half-way around the world, you had to wait days, if not weeks or months to find out. Letters from overseas were carried upon horseback to an awaiting boat–most probably a sail boat although steam engines were beginning to arrive on the scene. The letter would arrive and be delivered on horseback to its location, but if you were very lucky, the railroad might be able to carry it a bit faster to your location. Communication took time–a long time. Travel took time–much longer than it does now. Today, we have instant communication anywhere in the world by satellite phone or internet. We can board an airplane today and in less than 24 hours can be sitting on the other side of the world. We can drive down to Katy in under an hour’s time whereas 100 years ago it would have taken half a day. The world has shrunk because of technology, and that has had some consequences.
Among those consequences is that we are now forced to rub shoulders with people who are vastly different than we are. We are now coming into contact with people of all sorts of races, religions, worldviews and identities. If you engage this world in any way, you will run into people who do not look like you, think like you, or act like you. Amazingly enough, we are doing a pretty good job of coexisting in this world without destroying each other; but there is quite a bit of tension–quite a bit of tension.
We see that tension rear its head in politics; in spirited debate; in the various wars around the world. There is heightened tension right now between Israel and Palestine. There is heightened tension between Democrats and Republicans. There is heightened tension between conservatives and liberals. There is heightened tension between those who believe in God and those who are atheist. There is heightened tension between Christians and Muslims. Various worldviews around the world are in a constant struggle to interact and offer people a sense of belonging and sense of understanding about the nature of reality. And there is a struggle for truth–which worldview is true and leads us to respect and honor one another?
Some have argued that no one worldview can have a hold on the truth. No one worldview or religion can grasp ultimate truth if that ultimate truth even exists. In fact, some use a rather fascinating illustration to show this. It’s an illustration called the “Blind Men and the Elephant.” Perhaps you have heard it. Depending on the version, five or six blind men encounter an elephant, and each of them touch a different part of the elephant. After their encounter, the men argue about what the elephant is like. One argues the elephant is like a rope–long, narrow, and stringy, because he touched the tail. One argues the elephant is like a wall because he touched the torso. One argues the elephant is like a tree truck as he touched the leg. One argues the elephant is like a hose because he touched the trunk. Another argues the elephant is like a spear, long and sharp because he touched the tusk. Round and round and round they argue–all of them, in one way right, and all of them in one way wrong. And, some argue, that’s the way with religions and worldviews. All of them get something right. All of them get something wrong. Leslie Newbigin gave a rebuttal of sorts to this parable as he realized something: you cannot say that all worldviews have something right and something wrong unless you can see the entire perspective of reality yourself. You cannot possibly know all worldviews have something right and something wrong unless you yourself know the truth! Therefore, people who try to tell you that reality is this way are simply trying to convert you to their way of thinking! They have no idea if it’s true or not. It is just another competing worldview.
The Christian worldview offers a particular way of looking at the world, and it is a way that unabashedly claims to know the truth while honoring and respecting those outside its belief system. It seeks converts but does not seek to harm or hurt those outside the faith. Now, that has not been the case because there are those who have warped Christianity’s teachings, but this morning, I would like to show you what Christianity teaches using this little snippet from Mark chapter nine.
This little piece begins with the disciple John coming up to Jesus and saying, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” Now, keep in mind the following points: first, remember that just a few verses earlier Mark recounted how the disciples were UNABLE to cast out a demon. So it is with no great irony that John is trying to stop someone else from successfully doing what the disciples were unsuccessful at accomplishing. Secondly, immediately preceding John’s statement was Jesus’ teaching on greatness. “Whoever wants to be first of all must be last of all and servant of all.” Does it strike you how John, who is speaking for the rest of the disciples as well, doesn’t quite seem to get humility? Finally, consider this last point which was rammed home to me by James Edwards in his commentary on this text. I never even considered this point until I read it, and it makes absolute sense to me now. Edwards says, “John’s report that the independent exorcist ‘was not following us’ is depressingly ironic. We should expect him to say ‘because he was not following you.’ Is it not a little presumptuous at this stage of discipleship for John to think himself and the other disciples as worthy of being followed?” I hope you caught Edwards’ gist there. John and the disciples are still quite consumed with themselves. They think they are something special because they follow Jesus. They rank themselves with Jesus, but in reality, it’s not about them!!! It’s never supposed to be about them or us!! It’s always supposed to be about Jesus!!!
Which is why Jesus replies to them, “‘Do not stop him [and the Greek gives you the sense of “do not stop him or anyone like him now or ever]; for no one who does a deed of power in my name will be able soon afterwards to speak evil of me.” Now, I want to point out quickly here that the other exorcist was not casting out demons in the name of any other religion or in the name of any other god. Some might like to take Jesus’ words and expand them to all religions here. You cannot do that. Jesus said plainly and clearly that this was being done in His name. When someone does something in Jesus’ name, we are called to humbly step back. We are called to celebrate what they are doing. For anyone who does something in Jesus’ name is not against us. We are working toward the same goal and purpose–if we are working in. Jesus’. Name.
Of course, that now raises the question of, “Well, what if someone is not doing anything in Jesus’ name?”
Jesus continues, “41For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.” Some have massively misinterpreted this verse. They have suggested that if we are doing even the littlest of actions, then we will be rewarded. They suggest that Christianity is about doing all sorts of little things with great love, but you need to look very, very carefully at what Jesus says here. This is not about the actions of His disciples. This is about the actions of those who are outside the circle of Christianity. This is about those who are not following Jesus. “Whoever gives YOU a cup of water to drink BECAUSE YOU BEAR THE NAME OF CHRIST will by no means lose the reward.” If there are those outside the faith who welcome you; who embrace you; who are kind to you, Jesus sees that as a welcoming of Himself. Try to wrap your head around that for a moment. Even if someone does not believe in Him or trust Him, when they care for you, they are caring for Jesus, and Jesus honors that. Which means, if Jesus is honoring the actions of those who care for us in such a manner, should we not do the same? Of course we should, and I will return to this in just a minute after dealing with the final verse.
Jesus finishes, “‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.” This comment would have called up historical precedent because the Roman army had inflicted this exact punishment some Jewish Zealots who had tried to rebel against them under Judas the Galilean (Lane 346)1. Again, let me point out that Jesus is reinforcing the idea that we should not inhibit someone who is striving to do good in His name. In our zealous nature to make sure everyone does everything “right” we may cause others to stumble. We may cause others to fall. We may cause others to walk away from the faith, and Jesus says this would be cause for us to have a millstone hung around our necks and us be cast into the ocean.
Again, the problem confronted throughout this particular teaching by Jesus is the problem of self-righteousness. John and the other disciples thought they were better than this other exorcist because of their close association with Jesus. Humility was severely lacking. If we look down our noses at those who are outside of the Christian faith and treat them as less than those created in the image of God, this again is self-righteousness. If we go around criticizing others for trying to follow Christ in a manner that we think is wrong or undignified or less than perfect, then we are being self-righteous. And this self-righteousness comes from thinking that religion and following Jesus focuses on our actions.
This is exactly where Christianity diverges massively from the rest of the world’s religions. For the rest of the world’s religions focus on what we do. They say we must do the right things to be accepted. We must accomplish good works or the deity will turn against us. This leads us to either despair because we do not believe we can accomplish those works or it leads us to become self-righteous because we think we are accomplishing those works and others should do like we do.
But Christianity says we are not saved by our works. We are not saved by casting out demons. We are not saved by bringing cups of water. We are not saved by living perfectly, morally, and uprightly. We are not saved by telling everyone else how they should or should not act. We are saved totally and completely by sheer grace. Let me repeat that again, you are only saved by sheer grace. You are saved only and completely by Jesus and His actions on your behalf. You are saved only by what Jesus accomplished for you on the cross by dying the death you deserved. You have no righteousness to stand on.
St. Paul put it this way in the third chapter of the book of Philippians, “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: 5circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. 8More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through trust in Christ, the righteousness from God based on trust.”
You see, Paul had every right to think that his works had guaranteed him righteousness with God, and Paul was indeed self-righteous. He persecuted the church because he thought he could accomplish the works of the law. But Jesus appeared to Paul and radically changed his worldview. Paul knew that Jesus came into the world and saved him by sheer grace. No longer could Paul trust in himself. Paul knew he must trust in Jesus.
And when you trust in Jesus, when you trust in His work on the cross, several things become abundantly clear. First, you know that you have seen God. You have seen the Truth. For you have seen the God who became flesh. Secondly, you are humbled because you know that you did nothing to deserve what you have been given. Your heart is no longer hardened because you know that Jesus died for you when you least deserved it and were living in sin. And finally, you have a heart for others. You cherish those who work in Jesus’ name, and you see those who do not work in Jesus’ name as those created in the image of God who God longs to bring into fellowship with Him. You long to bring them the news of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. For even though Jesus indeed died for you, you remember John 3:16 and 17.
“For God so loved the world–the WORLD–that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world–THE WORLD–not to condemn the world, but that the world–THE WORLD–might be saved through Him.” If we know that Jesus came to save the WORLD, we know that means all of the people in it. If your heart is touched by this, I invite you to delve further into the Christian worldview, for I think you will find within it the Truth who brings peace to this shrinking world. Amen.
1. New International Commentary on the New Testament. “The Gospel of Mark”. William Lane.
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