Submit and Follow

    How many of you here this morning have ever heard the alarm go off on a given day and said, “I really don’t want to go to work today.  I just want to sleep.”?  How many of you have sat at work on Monday morning and thought, “I can’t wait for the weekend.”?  How many of you have gone on vacation only to return more tired than when you departed?  How many of you have ever felt the tinges of burnout?  How many of you who are retired find yourself busier than when you were working?

    If anyone here this morning didn’t answer yes to any of those questions, I want to offer my congratulations because the reality is, most of us fall into those categories at some point and time.  Most of us have felt the tinges of burnout, stress, worry, fatigue, and the like.  Most of us are worn to a frazzle and seem to have little energy for doing all the things we are supposed to be doing.  I ask you this morning, “why?”  Why do we find it so hard to find the energy and drive to do what needs to be done?  And if we are finding the energy, why does it seem like we have little or no happiness in doing such things?  Why is the mood of our nation and state and county, and perhaps even our church–especially on the denominational level so somber?

    You may have started to put two and two together at this point.  You may have started thinking about the line of questioning I am offering up and our Gospel lesson this morning where Jesus, after a long night of healing folks in Capernaum, gets up before the first rays of light and heads out to a deserted place to pray.  You may be thinking that I am going to put these things together and argue that you need to spend more time in prayer–that you need to take the time to recharge your batteries by connecting to your heavenly Father so that you can find the strength and energy to do everything that you need to do.

    I’ve done it before.  There are plenty of pastors who do and who continue to do such things.  But I’ve realized something. #1. I’ve realized that maybe two or three of you would take such a thing to heart, but you’d basically think to yourself, “Geez, now I have to try and find time to pray.  I have to try and carve out another space in my busy schedule to connect with God.”  For a time, you might be able to do it, but the odds are, within a couple of weeks, that prayer time will be cut shorter and shorter and shorter until it disappears.  The rest of you will either sit happy and content with your prayer lives or won’t even attempt it.  That’s the first thing I’ve realized.  The second thing I’ve realized is that admonishing you to do such a thing just reinforces the main problem.  Telling you, “pray to recharge your batteries so that you can accomplish all you need to do,” does not address the state of your heart.  It doesn’t delve down deep into the recesses of your soul to address the real issue.  And what is the real issue?

    Let me start in a rather intriguing place that doesn’t seem to have much relevance to our discussion so far.  I am going to start with the Sealy News’ story from a week or so ago about the Greater Church of Lucifer filing to do business in Austin County.  You may be scratching your head right now wondering how this fits.  Gimme a minute or so. 

    In the article, the founders of the “church” wanted to let everyone know they weren’t Satanists and that their intentions were purely benign.  They even said, and I quote, “There is a problem in following through blind faith. This is about self -empowerment and seeing oneself in a positive way.  The goal is to usher in a new age for the progression of mankind without the slavery of dogmatic thought.  We are all gods and goddesses of our own life. We are the captains of our own ship and have the right to control our actions.”

    Now, I know that these folks aren’t claiming to be Satanists or anything, but I will have you know this morning that there were some very similar words once uttered, and they came out of a snake.  But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ –Genesis 3:4.  You see, the serpent says, in not so many words, “Eat of the fruit so that you can be your own god.  You will know good and evil on your own.  You will have no need of the true God.  You can do it all yourself.  Be self-empowered.  Be self-reliant.  Control your own actions.”

    We know the man and woman ate of the fruit, and it has been downhill ever since.  Be reliant upon yourself.  Control your own actions.  Do all the things you want to do.  Why are you so tired?  Why do you burn out?  Why do you continually fill your lives with busy-ness refusing to say no to your work; to your family; to advertisers; to friends and others who put demands upon you? 

    Let me jump in with my own experience here, for it is no secret that not too long ago I faced the reality of burnout.  I will not say I wish I never went through it, for it taught me much, and led me to understand the Gospel.  However, I know now that it could have been prevented.  And no, I don’t mean by carving out time to pray.  I don’t mean by making sure I took my day off and used my vacation days.  I did all those things.  Really, I did.  So, why did I burn out?

    I remember sitting down with the council during that time.  I was asking for a sabbatical, and I can remember plain as day one of the things I said during that meeting.  I said, “I feel like I have been carrying this congregation for the past year.”  Along with the arrogance displayed in that statement, do you see who I thought was responsible for the life and ministry of this congregation?  Do you see who I thought was supposed to make everything work?  Do you see who I believed was the one who made or broke this church?  It was all up to me.  It was all about me.  It was all on my shoulders.  And if prayer was all about recharging my batteries so that I could keep carrying this congregation and making it work and what have you, prayer was just a means to me doing what I thought I needed to do.  Prayer was about me trying to get God to do what I wanted Him to do.  Prayer was about me trying to impose my will upon God.  And if I stand up here this morning and tell you, take time to pray so that your batteries will be recharged and you can continue the frantic pace you have set, then I am simply being part of the problem.  So, this morning, I am not going to tell you to be like Jesus and rise early before you head to work to go get your batteries recharged.  That won’t change a blasted thing and you will still be tired.  You will still burn out.  You will still have no joy in your life, and you will still be somber and angry and upset.

    So, what will I do in this sermon this morning?  Well, actually, I’m going to press further through this biblical text and show you something very interesting.  Jesus goes off to pray, and His disciples have a freak out.  Literally, they wake up the next morning to find Jesus gone, so they go hunting for him.  Yes, that’s the word that is used.  They have to track Jesus down.  We get a sense of their motivations when they finally find Jesus, and they tell him, “Everyone is seeking you.”

    Now, most of us might take this to be a good thing.  Most of us would think, “Man, if only everyone would seek Jesus.  If only everyone would search for Him to find Him, everything in this world would work out.”  We hear these words of the disciples in a similar fashion to Jeremiah 29:11-13, “11For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. 12Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. 13When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart.”  Who wouldn’t want this?

    Well, Mark is actually telling us something very different here.  Let me read to you what I found in one of my commentaries, “When the disciples find Jesus, they announce, “Everyone is looking for you.”  The language is deceptive.  The Greek word behind “looking for” (zetein) occurs 10 times in Mark, and in each instance it carries negative connotations.  Its first two occurrences refer to interference of Jesus and obstruction of his ministry (1:32, 3:32); its next two refer to disbelief and faithlessness (8:11,8:12); and the remaining occurrences refer to attempts to kill Jesus.  “Seeking” connotes an attempt to determine and control rather than to submit and follow.  In this respect, seeking for Jesus is not a virtue in the Gospel of Mark.  Nor are clamoring crowds a sign of success or aid to ministry.  Here, as elsewhere in Mark, enthusiasm is not to be confused with faith.” (Edwards: Pillar New Testament Commentary on Mark)

    Seeking connotes an attempt to determine and control rather than to submit and follow.  Isn’t that how we tend to want Jesus?  Isn’t that how we tend to want God to operate?  Give me strength to do what I want to do.  Give me the joys of life and minimize my sorrw.  Give me insight to make the right decisions so that life will be wonderful and grand.  Prayer oftentimes becomes just this as we go to God and say, “MY will be done.”

    But Jesus looks at his disciples and says, “Let us go to the surrounding towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.”  Jesus won’t be bound by claims on Him.  Jesus won’t allow everyone, including us, to determine and control.  That is not what He is here to do.  He is here to proclaim the Gospel–God’s kingdom is arriving in Him.  And He is inviting us to be a part of that Kingdom not by determining and controlling Him, but by following and submitting to Him.

    At this point, some of you might be getting a little twitchy.  Some of you might be thinking, “Does this mean I have to give up control of my life?  Does this mean I might have to change my ways?  Does this mean I might have to think and be different?”  The answer is, well, yes.  It’s nothing less than an entire change of your entire being.  It’s nothing less than an entire change of your attitude.  It’s nothing less than an entire change of your person and being as you relinquish control.  And you may ask me, “Now, why in the world should I do that?”

    Here is why.  There are three times Jesus prays in the book of Mark.  There is this one when the people are trying to determine and control Him.  There is the time right after he fed the multitude with five loaves of bread and two fish.  And then the final time in the Garden of Gethsemane.  It is no coincidence that Jesus faced His final temptation in a garden–just as man faced his first temptation in a garden.  It is no coincidence that Jesus prayed, “Father if it is possible, please take this cup from me, but not what I want but what you want.”  For it was the same struggle that man and woman faced when tempted to go their own way–to do what they wanted and not what God wanted.  But whereas man and woman failed in the first garden, Jesus succeeded in His garden.  Jesus accomplished what we could not accomplish by being totally and completely obedient to His Father–and our Father.

    And by accomplishing what we could not accomplish, Jesus became spotless, blameless, pure and holy.  He was sinless as He gave up control when we seized it.  If you read through Genesis chapter 3, you see the punishment man and woman received for seizing control.  You see that every good relationship established by God became broken, and the end result was death.  The end result of us seizing control of our own lives and our own fates is death.  It is grief.  It is burnout and weariness and anger and joyless living.  And Jesus took all of that upon His sinless self.  He took our grief and burnout and weariness and anger and joyless living to the cross where He faced the punishment we deserved.  He faced the wrath of God due to us for our desire to be in control of our lives.  He took our place because He loved us.

    For 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.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

    And to the extent you believe this good news; to the extent you trust in the saving action of Jesus; to the extent you understand what He has done for you, then you will understand the joys of submitting and following.  You will understand the joys of allowing Him to be Lord of your life instead of trying to satisfy your own desires.  Work will not become a burden.  Worship will be a joy.  Prayer will be sought after as you continuously seek to submit yourself to the One who died on your behalf to bring you abundant life both now and forever.  Amen.
   

Heroes with Clay Feet

  

 Do you remember the first time you discovered one of your heroes had clay feet?

    It’s a bit of a disturbing thing for many of us.  I mean, I think there is a part of us which constantly looks for another person to look up to and admire.  I think there is a part of us which seeks out examples and role models.  There is a part of us that desperately wants to see and know a real, life, flesh and blood person who has it all together; who is successful in all endeavors; and who lives up to the expectations we have within us for a hero.  I think everyone holds out hope to find such a person in life.

    Oftentimes, we find someone who seems to have all these qualities.  We latch onto that person.  We hang on their every word.  We follow their every action.  We start imitating the way they talk; the way they think; and the way they act.  If they are famous, we may buy their books; watch their television shows; or attend lectures or gatherings where they are in attendance.  We quote them in our conversations.  We strive to be just like them.

    And then we find out, they are only human.

    How many of you remember Michael Jordan?  If you grew up in the ‘80's and ‘90's and were a basketball fan, you know exactly who I am talking about.  Jordan was simply an amazing player.  Some would argue–and I personally think they are right–that he was the best basketball player to have played the game thus far.  He won numerous MVP awards and championships.  Advertisers cashed in on Michael Jordan.  Nike especially.  McDonald’s was another.  Gatorade was another.  Gatorade even had a slogan, “Be Like Mike.” 

    Oh and how many of us tried to be like Mike.  We wore long shorts.  We wore wrist bands in the same fashion.  We walked with a swagger.  We tried incomprehensible basketball shots.  We tried to air walk and make difficult moves as we flew through the air. 

    Of course, we failed, but that was minor.  We had a hero who almost seemed superhuman when he took to the basketball court.  If you want to know Jordan’s influence, know that nearly all my friends who were born and raised in Texas rooted for the Chicago Bulls without reservation or thought of the Spurs, Rockets, or Mavericks.  Jordan captivated us. 

    But as time passed, we found out even Michael Jordan had limits.  He retired three times.  He came back to play twice.  Does anyone remember when he came back and played for the Washington Wizards?  I do.  It was a miserable thing to watch.  Michael Jordan had grown old.  He no longer had many of his abilities.  Kids who never saw him play with the Chicago Bulls wondered what the fascination was with this old player who could no longer dominate games like he once did. 

    And then, there was Jordan’s attempt at team ownership and general managing.  Those were abject failures.  While Jordan the player was awesome; Jordan the general manager, owner, and even coach were awful.  Success in one area did not guarantee a golden touch in all other areas.  No one I know wanted to be like Mike once he became old and left the court for good.  He was only human after all–much to the chagrin of many who truly admired the man.

    Examples of this abound.  They abound everywhere.  Everyone has a skeleton or two in the closet.  Everyone has something in their lives that can be used against them in one fashion or another.  There have even been books written about Mother Teresa criticizing her for some of the decisions she made in caring for the poor and needy.  More than a few pastors and televangelists have been brought to their knees by scandal–monetarily and sexually.  Politicians are rocked by scandals on almost a weekly basis now.  And people who put their trust in these individuals find themselves disappointed and upset that their heroes are imperfect and not completely trustworthy.

    Sometimes, it shocks us.  And it really shouldn’t.

    I mean, I’m a pastor.  For as long as I can remember, I have learned, taught, and preached that we are all both saint and sinner.  We have both good and bad within us.  I know this cognitively, but there is still a part of me that longs to find someone to completely trust.  And I thought I had found someone I really admired in Timothy Keller.  I’ve quoted him a lot in sermons and in other places, and I will still quote him by the way.  But I couldn’t help but feel a bit of disappointment the other day when I was trying to find some sermons he preached.  I went to his congregation’s website.  I clicked on the links to find sermons and found that they were being sold for $5 a pop.  Five bucks for a sermon!!  Five bucks for what was preached as an exposition on God’s Word?  What happened to St. Paul’s statement, “I proclaimed the Gospel freely!”?  I was disappointed.  But I shouldn’t have been.  Everyone has clay feet.  Everyone.

    Of course, this is hard for us to admit.  It’s hard for us to look in the mirror and say, “Self, you are broken.  You don’t live like you should.  You don’t care for others like you should.”  We don’t like telling ourselves such things.  In fact, usually, we’d like to think we have it all together and that it is the other person out there who has the problem.  We are just fine the way we are.  We are good enough.  Sure, we might make a mistake here and there, but we are basically good.  We are basically upright.  We are basically okay.  Not like those people out there.

    Jesus had a word or two to say about such folks in our Gospel lesson today from the book of Matthew.  He says, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.”

    This is an interesting statement here.  Some have commented that Jesus is being sarcastic, but I don’t think so.  I think Jesus is serious in what He tells His followers.  Why?  Because the scribes and Pharisees are teaching the Law of Moses, which, of course, was given by God.  We are supposed to follow and do what God tells us to do.  When someone tells us to follow God’s laws and instructions, we should listen.  So, what is the problem and why does Jesus say, “But don’t do as they do?”

    Let me put it in this fashion.  Let’s say I get up on Sunday morning and I tell you, “We must love God with all our hearts and souls and minds, and we must love our neighbor as ourselves.”  And I preached a long sermon about such matters with all kinds of illustrations and arguments which urged you to do such matters.  You and I hopefully know Jesus said that all the commands of God are summed up in these two commandments.  They are Jesus’ instructions to all of us.  Of course, we are all supposed to do these things.  We are supposed to live them out.  This is why Jesus says, “Do what they tell you to do.” 

    But this is the problem.  Number one, no one fully loves God with all their heart and soul and mind and strength, and no one fully loves their neighbor as they love themselves.  No one.  Period.  You can try to argue with me on this one, but I think I could convince you in a matter of moments that none of us can implement this teaching at all.  We may not like hearing that, but it is true.  The second part of the problem would be this.  Let’s pretend, at the moment, that after preaching that sermon, I actually believed I was doing it.  Let’s pretend that Pastor Haug thought in his mind that he actually loved the Lord with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength and that he loved his neighbor as himself.  Let’s pretend for a moment that this gave Pastor Haug a deep sense of satisfaction that he could actually accomplish this faith thing, and because he believed he could accomplish this faith thing, he felt like people should look up to him.  He felt like people should honor his work.  He felt like people should admire him and do things for him because he was so good at following God’s commands.  Let’s pretend that Pastor Haug started wearing a very big cross around his neck and walking with his chest puffed out.  Let’s pretend he started wearing shirts saying, “Want to follow Jesus?  Just ask me how.”  Let’s pretend he tried to tell everyone at every moment what they could do better to be a better Christian and to improve their own lots in life as if he were some sort of expert in being a super-Christian.  What would you think of Pastor Haug?

    Some of you may be saying, “And in what way is this different than the way you really are?”  Duly noted. 

    You probably wouldn’t like Pastor Haug very much.  You would probably think he was an arrogant you-know-what.  You probably wouldn’t have much nice to say about him because there are very few who truly admire someone who is self-righteous.  Very few.  And those who do usually admire them until something happens which exposes them in their hypocrisy.  

    “Do what they teach you, (about following the commands of God),” Jesus says, but don’t do what they do.”  What are the Pharisees and scribes doing?  Exactly what our hopefully hypothetical Pastor Haug is doing.  They are being self-righteous.  Listen to what Jesus says they are doing, and this comes across plain as day.  “4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi.”  All of these things smack of self-righteousness.  All of these things smack of people who have inflated thoughts of themselves.  And when someone is so full of themselves, they have no room for God.  They do not believe they need God.  And so, they break the first and most important commandment–even though they think they are following it.

    Now, listen as Jesus wraps this little segment up.  He says, “8But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. 9And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted. “

    Let’s unpack this because I think it’s crucial.  Who does Jesus want us to focus on?  In these three statements, where does Jesus want each and every one of us to place our trust, our hope, and our view of a role model?  “You have one teacher...You have one Father–the one in heaven...You have one instructor, the Messiah.”  Jesus wants us to focus on God the Father, and on Him as the Messiah.  He wants us to look up to them and them alone.  No one else.  Why?

    Here’s why.  Every single role model you choose; every single instructor you view as great and fantastic; every single father figure you look to on this earth will let you down.  That is simply the reality.  Every single hero; every single pastor; every single professional athlete; every single parent; every single teacher; every single astronaut and politician and police officer and the list goes on will let you down.  They are not perfect.  They are not blameless.  They are not free from selfish motivation.  They will do something or say something which will hurt you.

    Not only this, if you allow yourself to have everyone look up to you and think you are an awesome role model, you will eventually become self-righteous, and you will let down others.  It’s a horrible, double edged sword.

    Not only will you be disappointed in others, others will become disappointed in you.  Why?  Because they cannot be perfect; and neither can you.  They cannot live up to your standards, and you can’t live up to someone else’s.

    There’s only One who can.  There’s only One who can live up to the standards of perfection and serve as the perfect role model.  There is only One who, when you point the way to Him will not disappoint others.  His name is Jesus.

    For it is in Jesus that we find the cure for self-righteousness.  It is in Jesus that we find the perfect role model.  It is in Jesus that we find humility and the strength to try to do what we should do even though we stumble and fall time and again.

    How does Jesus do this?  How does Jesus keep us from becoming self-righteous?  By dying for us.  By giving us salvation when we didn’t deserve it.  By granting us grace when we had clay feet.

    For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him will not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be save through Him. 

    When you realize your salvation did not come from anything you did–from your own ability to please God and love your neighbor and follow all the rules; when you realize your salvation was given to you precisely when you were not pleasing God and loving your neighbor; you can’t get a big head.  You can’t become arrogant.  You can’t walk around looking down your nose at others–like the Pharisees and scribes.  You are humbled.  You realize you have clay feet and are not worthy of what Jesus did for you.  But you also do not become self defacing.  You don’t feel like a horrible piece of dirt because you were valuable enough that Jesus died for you.  You realize you are indebted to Him for what He has done for you, and so you seek to follow Him; to learn about Him; to have Him instruct you and show you how to live in this world.  You realize He places upon you a burden, but He does more than lift a finger to help you with it.  He willingly dies to lift it.  He does not wear any special garments, He hangs on a cross.  He does not demand to sit at the head of the banquet; He invites you to come and dine with Him. 

    And when you realize this about Jesus, you are filled with thankfulness and joy.  You are filled with satisfaction.  Deep within, you know the sinner you are is transformed into a saint by what Jesus has done.  And you become a role model–not in pointing to what you do, but what God has done.  And this precisely one of the main reasons we celebrate All Saint’s Sunday.  We remember those who have gone before who also pointed to Jesus.  Amen.

There is No Other God: A Letter to My 2014 Confirmands

October 19, 2014

Dear Confirmand,

            This letter is based on Isaiah 45 verse 5.  “I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me, there is no god.”

    I wanted to write this letter to you on the day you are being confirmed.  I wanted to spend a little while letting you know what you are doing today and how important it is.  When I was your age, I didn’t think confirmation was all that big a deal.  It was something we Lutherans did–like the Catholics and others, but I personally didn’t see much significance in it.  It was one more hoop I was supposed to jump through to be an adult member of the church.  And that is exactly what you will be after today, but the focus of confirmation isn’t just about this.  It’s much, much more.

    For today hearkens back to the day you were baptized.  You were much smaller than you are now.  You couldn’t make any decisions at all.  You didn’t ask to be baptized.  You didn’t ask to be a Christian.  You didn’t even know God or Jesus.  Yet, your parents wanted you to be a Christian.  They wanted you to have a relationship with Jesus Christ.  They wanted you to follow Him throughout your life.  They promised to raise you to become a Christian.  It was their promise; not yours. 

    Today, that changes; however.  Today you are going to stand before this congregation and say, “Today, I affirm what my parents did years ago.  It’s no longer their promise which holds me to the church–it is my own promise.  I now want to follow and serve Jesus Christ.  He is my Lord and Savior.”  This is a very important stand you are taking–a very important stand.   You may not quite understand this now–in fact you might not have thought about what I am going to tell you at all.  It’s okay, though.  It’s only been recently that I have really come to start understanding just what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus.  It’s only recently that I really and truly understood what the Gospel meant.  It’s only recently that I have come to see just how different the Christian faith works in this world.

    You see, for the longest time, I wanted to be important.  I wanted to be valued.  I wanted what I said and what I did to count.  I wanted people to tell me what a good job I was doing.  I wanted people to like me.  And I wanted to make a name for myself.  As a pastor, you get this one of two ways: either by growing a church bigger and bigger and bigger to the point where people can’t help but see what you do or you toe the party line and suck up to the power structure so that they will bring you up through the ranks.  I’m not one to suck up to people in power and authority.  I never have done well with that, so the other alternative was to make a church grow–and grow big.  Do you know what this caused me?

    It ended up causing me a lot of grief.  For you see, when things were going good at church and people were joining the congregation, I was happy.  When everyone was getting along and our pews were full of people, I was all smiles.  Everything was wonderful.  But, you know, things do not always work out in the way we want them too.  Our church hasn’t grown as fast as I wanted it to.  There were some people who left the church for various reasons, and it hurt me.  It hurt me a lot.  I thought I had to make everyone stay because my value and my worth came from whether or not this church grew and grew and grew.  And when it didn’t grow and grow and grow, I became angry and tired and frustrated.  It was my own fault really.  I was simply doing what the world had taught me to do.  I was following a lot of false gods.

    You see, the world teaches us from the time we are born that our value; our worth; and our happiness comes from what we do.  You all know this very well by now; so well you probably think this is how everything works in life.  You know this very well as you go through school.  If you want a good grade, then you have to study and prepare and do your homework and school work.  You know that if you want to participate in athletics or cheerleading or any extra-curricular activity, then you have to keep your grades up.  You also know that in order to fit in with a particular group at school, then you have to dress a certain way or act a certain way.  If you don’t do those things, you will not be accepted.  You have also reached that age where designer labels matter.  It’s not enough to buy a pair of blue jeans; they have to have the right label so that no one will judge you or laugh at you.  You also know that your value in sports and in activities is directly linked to how well you can perform.  If you can hit a baseball well, you will be in the starting line up.  This is just how the world works.

    And it won’t change much as you grow.  More and more you will find things telling you that if you want value; if you want happiness; if you want some sort of worth, then you will need to do certain things.  If you want a good job, then you will have to get an education.  If you want to be happy, you will need to buy a certain type of car. If you want to experience peace, then you will have to give up money to travel to a certain vacation spot.  If you want your children to be happy, if you are blessed with children, then you will have to buy them a particular toy.  Over and over and over again, you will be told this.  Just about everything in the world operates this way.

    And if you believe this; if your mind and heart is captured by this, then you will find yourself just like I was: tired, worn out, angry and burned out.  You will find yourself wondering if you really have worth and value.  You will wonder if you will ever find true happiness and joy.  And whether you know it or not, it will be your fault because you will have spent a lifetime pursuing a lot of false gods instead of the One True God–the God who says in our first lesson this morning–there is no other God, except Him.

    Now, this might sound a little bit arrogant.  I mean, aren’t there a lot of people who worship in other religions?  Aren’t they sincere in their faith?  Don’t they try to be devout people who do good things?  Why in the world should we say that the God we worship is the only True God and that they are not worshiping our God?   Shouldn’t we be respectful instead of thinking that we are better than them? 

    Here is the thing, if you are worshiping the One True God, then you will be respectful and humble.  You will care for people who you disagree with.  You will give people freedom to go their own way, and you will still love them even if you know that way is headed down the wrong path.  If you worship the One True God, then you will recognize that other people can be good and moral and nice–sometimes even being better and nicer and kinder and more loving than you.  But you will still realize that they are pursuing false gods.  You will still be able to recognize that the way of the One True God is vastly different than the way of every other god and especially the way of the world.

    I will try to show you how.  You see, last November, I went to visit my grandfather.  He’s 95 now, so he has a world of accumulated wisdom.  My grandfather was a pastor, and he and I talked a lot when we visited.  He talked a lot about the things he did as a pastor.  As he talked, I learned a lot.  He never served a large congregation.  He was a country pastor.  He never worked his way up into the higher offices of the church.  You could say that he never really advanced very far in his career if you wanted.  He never wrote a book or became a famous theologian.  He knew this, and he was more than okay with it.  I know this because as he talked to me, he said something that hit me to the very core.  He said, “You know, I didn’t accomplish much in the eyes of the world, but the Lord and I are on very good terms.”

    That stopped me dead in my tracks because up until that time I realized what I was trying to do.  I realized I was trying to accomplish a lot in the eyes of the world.  I was trying to get my value and worth and happiness from my accomplishments.  I was buying into what the world said, “Do this, and you will be loved and appreciated.”  But our Christian faith does not say this.  Our Christian faith says something completely and utterly different.  Our Christian faith says being on good terms with the Lord is the most important thing, and that does not come about from anything we do.

    And this is the most important point that I want you to hear this morning as you confirm your faith.  This is the central thing I want you to grasp and hold onto.  The world says, “Do this and you will be accepted.”  All other religions say, “Do this and God will love you.”  Christianity says the exact opposite.  Christianity says, “God accepts you; God loves you; now live into that freedom.”

    The world and every religion wants you to earn your own way.  The world and every other religion wants you to justify yourself–justify your value; justify your work; obtain your own happiness.  Christianity says Jesus gives you love and acceptance and value and true happiness without any work on your part.  It is the exact opposite of the world.

    And Jesus gives this all to you despite the fact that you are imperfect–despite the fact that you are a broken piece of this broken world.  I know I don’t have to tell you this too much.  I remember very well what it was like in school.  There were kids who used to pick on me all the time and highlight my imperfections.  You probably have that happen to you as well.  And the way I used to make myself feel better was to pick on others and highlight their imperfections.  I didn’t know any other way, but I do now.  I accept my flaws.  I accept my brokenness, and I ask Jesus to change me.  He’s got a lot of work ahead of Him in that regard, but He willingly works on me.  And on you.  And on everyone who calls upon His name.  Why?

    Because He loves us.  “For 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.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.” 

    Christianity is the only religion or philosophy in the world that teaches that God dies on behalf of the world.  It’s the only religion that says you are accepted before it ask you to do anything.  It is the only religion in the world that gives you value even when you really don’t deserve it.  And when someone gives you something you know you don’t deserve, you do not become arrogant.  You become humble.  You become thankful.  You become respectful of others, and you want them to know that God has done the same for them that He has done for you. 

    It is my sincere hope for you today that as you confirm your faith, you realize just how rebellious you are being.  You are turning your back on a world and on all the false gods who want you to earn your value and worth and to justify yourselves.  You are saying to them, “I wish to follow a different path.  I wish to follow the One who has already loved me; already given me value; and already given me joy.  I renounce all you false gods, and I place my trust in the One True God.  The God who died for me.  I put my trust in Jesus.”  May we all have the courage to do just that.

Sincerely,

Pastor Kevin Haug

Your Own Personal Jesus

(Note: the podcast on Youtube is a little different from the written text following.)

    Our Gospel lesson today is so rich, it’s so deep that much could be said about it.  Much could be written about it, and it has.  Volumes have been written about taking up one’s cross and following Jesus.  There is not enough time this morning to do justice to this text and its implications for our lives, but never-the-less, we are called to wrestle with it this morning, and we shall.

    This snippet from the Gospel of Matthew follows another very important snippet, and I think we need to visit it for just a moment as well.  Let’s look at the verses directly preceding our appointed text for this morning.  From Matthew 16:

    13 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that the Son of Man is?’ 14And they said, ‘Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.’ 15He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ 16Simon Peter answered, ‘You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ 17And Jesus answered him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.’ 20Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

    Now, immediately after this episode–immediately after Peter’s declaration, Jesus begins telling the disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, endure persecution, be killed, and be raised.  Peter is not happy with this.  Mind you, this is the same Peter who has just had loads of praise heaped upon him by Jesus just a few verses earlier.  I don’t exactly know what was going through Peter’s head.  I don’t’ know if Jesus’ praise earlier emboldened him or gave him the idea he could confront Jesus about what he was saying.  I’m not sure why he suddenly thinks that as the student he could correct the teacher.  But what I do know is that Peter takes Jesus aside and rebukes him.  Now, rebuke is the word used in English, but perhaps it doesn’t quite fit.  The Greek word is epitimao, which has as its basic meaning to properly assign value as fitting the situation.  I want you to think about this because Peter is doing exactly that to Jesus.  Remember, Peter had just said to Jesus, “You are the Messiah.”

    And what was the expectation of the Messiah?  You’ve probably heard me say this more than a few times in preaching here.  The Messiah, according to Jewish tradition, would be God’s representative on earth.  He would be an earthly king who would establish Jerusalem as the city of God.  The Messiah would establish Israel as the kingdom of God and wipe out Israel’s enemies–this particularly meant the Romans at the time.  The Messiah would then issue in a time of peace, prosperity, and justice for Israel.  All nations would look upon Israel as a place of power and prestige and honor.  This was what the Messiah was supposed to do, and yet, Jesus had just said, He would go to Jerusalem, be persecuted, die, and be raised.  This did not fit the Messianic narrative.  This was not what Jews expected of their Messiah, and Peter was taking it upon himself to “properly assign value as fitting the situation.”  Peter was letting Jesus know what He was supposed to do as the Messiah.  Peter wasn’t letting Jesus be Jesus; Peter was trying to make Jesus fit into a particular box.  Jesus isn’t too thrilled with Peter, but we will get to that in a moment.

    Because here we need to recognize something about ourselves.  Here we need to recognize our own desire to put Jesus in a box.  We need to recognize how we oftentimes construct our own, personal Jesus–with apologies to Depesche Mode.  We need to recognize that many times we construct and find a Jesus to suit our needs, our wants, and our desires.  We construct and find a Jesus who makes us feel good–who meets our expectations; who comforts us and makes us feel good about ourselves.  It is not Jesus who impacts and changes us–it is we who make Jesus in our own image to justify ourselves and our wants and expectations.

    As you can imagine, Jesus doesn’t exactly relish this thought.  Jesus doesn’t relish being turned into something to be used by others.  Jesus doesn’t like being told what He has to do and how He has to do it.  I mean, apparently, He doesn’t even let Peter get very far into the argument.  The text says, “Peter began–BEGAN, to rebuke Jesus, and Jesus turned his back on Peter and said, ‘Get behind me Satan.  For you are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”  We will come back to this in just a moment because it is important.  But let’s continue for just a moment with Jesus’ teaching because He then turns to His disciples and says, “If anyone wants to be my followers, let them deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.  25For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?”

    Lots to unpack here.  Lots.  First, let’s start with Jesus’ response to Peter.  “Get behind me Satan!”  This is a harsh word–a very harsh word.  “For you are a stumbling block to me.”  Why is this reaction so harsh?  Do any of you remember the story of when Jesus was tempted by the devil in Matthew chapter four?  Do you remember when the Devil took Jesus to a high mountain, showed Jesus the kingdoms of the world and said, “All these I will give to you if you would bow down and worship me.”?  Do you remember this episode?  You might not, but I am sure Jesus heard those echoes coming through Peter’s voice right here.  I am sure Jesus heard the exact same temptation He faced when the Devil came to Him in the middle of the desert.  Same temptation.  Different voice.  And Jesus responds appropriately.  “I told you once, Satan.  I tell you again.  No.  You are a stumbling block to me because you are setting your mind on earthly things and not on divine things.”  See how that ties together?

    And Jesus nails not only Satan, but He nails Peter–and all of us.  For you see, most of us like to use Jesus as a means to an end.  Most of us like to use Jesus as our ticket to the things we think will make us happy.  I am sure you have heard one or more preachers proclaim that if you believe in Jesus, you will have all that you desire.  You will have health, you will have wealth, you will have victory in your finances, in your life, your relationships will be perfect, and you will be completely happy.  You see, if you adhere to this kind of belief, you really don’t want Jesus.  You want health; you want wealth; you want happiness; you want the perfect family; you want all these things, and you want Jesus to give them to you.  You want your own personal, Jesus.  And Jesus says, “No.”  “Get behind me.”  “You are setting your mind on earthly things, not divine things.”

    Which begs the question, how do we set our mind on divine things?  Jesus says, “If anyone wants to follow me, let them take up their cross and follow me.  For if anyone wants to save their life, they must lose it; and if anyone loses their life for my sake, they will find it.” 

    Now, it is at this point where those of us who are pastors and preachers usually start talking about what it means to live a Christian life.  We start telling you that taking up your cross means doing all the things listed in our second lesson from the book of Romans.  I will not read this text in its entirety, but I will read a couple of verses, “9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.”  That’s four verses.  There’s a lot more.  Let me ask you this: have you managed to do those things listed in those four verses very well?  Have you managed to let love be genuine?  Love one another with mutual affection?  Outdo each other in showing honor?  Probably not.  None of us do–at least to the extent we know we should.  In fact, if we focus on trying to do all of these things.  If we try to follow the Law in order to please God as if this will save our lives, we will actually lose them.  How, you might ask?  Aren’t we supposed to do these things?  Aren’t we supposed to love and honor and be generous?  Yes, we are, but if you place these things as the ultimate things in your life, it will lead to despair and death.  What do I mean by that?

    Just this: you are not trying to get Jesus–you are trying to save yourself.  You are trying to achieve perfection. And when you put anything other than Jesus as your ultimate goal, you will not have life.  You will find death.  And I am not simply talking about hell.  No.  I am talking about this life right here and right now.  You will spend your entire life in frustration becoming angry and bitter and upset and burned out and tired because you will be chasing a rabbit down an endless hole–never catching that rabbit; never feeling like you have accomplished enough.  If you believe in Jesus so that you can get wealth; you will never get enough wealth.  If you believe in Jesus so that you can get health; you will never find yourself healthy enough, and when you start declining, you will become bitter.  If you believe in Jesus so that you can get happiness; you will be miserable when bad things happen to you.  If you think Jesus makes you try to be perfect and do all the works of the Law, you will tire yourself out trying to follow them; you will never think you’ve done enough; and you will become resentful toward God and toward those who aren’t trying hard like you.  In all of these instances, and many more, divine things have been shoved out, and earthly things have consumed your mind.  And you’ve lost your life.  You aren’t really living.

    “If anyone wants to save their life, they will lose their life. And if anyone loses their life for my sake they will find it.”  How is this possible? 

    If we follow Jesus, where will it eventually lead?  If we follow Jesus where does He take us?  To the cross.  Not where we die, but where Jesus died.  Not where we earned our salvation, but where Jesus stretched out His arms and bought it for us.  Not because we lived the perfect life and did all the right things, but precisely the opposite–because we were constantly setting our mind on earthly things and neglecting the things of God. 

    For 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.  For God sent the Son not to condemn the world but so that the world may be saved through Him.

    This was the divine mission of Jesus.  This is what He came into the world to do.  Anything else was a stumbling block.  He came to reconcile the world unto God–to die for you because He loves you.  Set your mind on this.  Let it be at the center of your heart.  It will change you.  You will die to yourself, and you will find abundant life.  Amen.

What is Your Definition of a Christian?

A Facebook friend asked this question in her status. 

It made me think.

Hard.

I mean, at one level, the definition of a Christian would seem to be very simple: one who follows Christ.  But is that the sum and substance of what it means to be a Christian?  I mean, I know of quite a few folks who follow Jesus, but they are not professing Christians.  There are may who profess to be Christians--they say they follow Jesus, but they do not worship or receive the sacraments.

And it goes further. 

In the intramural debates within Christianity, there are many who point fingers accusingly in our culture.  Those on the "right" hand side of the squabble point to those on the "left" hand side and say, "You aren't following Jesus because your morals are out of whack!  You support gay marriage; the ordination of practicing homosexuals; legalized abortion; the legalization of marijuana; banning prayer from schools; the promotion of safe sex; and so on and so forth.  You are not true Christians!!!"

Those on the "left" are just as vociferous toward those on the "right."  "You aren't following Jesus because you don't care about justice.  You care more about your pocket book and supporting the rich and do not want to fight for health care; to ensure those in poverty are not kept there; to end racism, sexism, ageism, and whatever other ism is out there!   You don't care about the environment!  You don't care about the structures that cause poverty!  You are not true Christians!!!"

The truth of the matter is--no one follows Jesus correctly.  No one.  None live up to His standard, and the self-righteous finger pointing that we do only serves as an illustration of this fact.  When we, as Christians, act in such a fashion, are we no different than the disciples who argued about who should sit at Jesus' right and left hand as they walked along the road?  Jesus had a few words of chastisement for such behavior. Yet, we cannot seem to escape it.  We cannot seem to get passed arguing about who follows Jesus "better." 

And so when we try to say a Christian is one who follows Jesus, we inevitably find ourselves in a conundrum.  For who really follows Jesus by Jesus' standards?

But that is just the tip of the proverbial ice berg.  There is even more to this because there are quite a few doctrinal concerns to deal with as well when it comes to defining what it means to be a Christian which are not tied to simply following the commands Jesus offers.

• Can a person be defined as a follower of Jesus--strictly speaking--who does not believe in the Trinity?
• Can a person be defined as a follower of Jesus--strictly speaking--who does not believe in Jesus' divinity?
• Can a person be defined as a follower of Jesus--strictly speaking--who does not believe the Bible is inerrant or infallible?
• Can a person be defined as a follower of Jesus--strictly speaking--who does not believe in the resurrection?
• Can a person be defined as a follower of Jesus--strictly speaking--who is not baptized?
• Can a person be defined as a follower of Jesus--strictly speaking--who rejects the miraculous?
• Can a person be defined as a follower of Jesus--strictly speaking--who rejects substitutionary atonement?

Oh, and there could be quite a bit more things added to this short list.

As I reflected upon such things, I realized how much emphasis was placed on how WE acted and what WE believed.   The definition of a Christian centered on us, but Christianity isn't about us, is it?  Christianity isn't about our actions and our beliefs.  It's about God's action through Jesus Christ.  It's about God's grace bestowed upon the world through the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

Shouldn't the definition of a Christian center upon God and His work and not our own?

Using this as the starting point, I propose the following:

A Christian is one whom God views as redeemed by what Jesus has done.

I invite your thoughts.

No, Dammit, That's Not How God Works!

It's four hours I will not soon forget.

The County Sheriff is a member of my congregation, and he asked me to visit a local family who suffered a tragic loss.  In a small community like the one I am a part of, when tragedy strikes, everyone is affected.  When that tragedy involves horrific death and suspected murder, folks get sent reeling--especially in a place where "that kind of stuff doesn't happen."

As the pastor of the only congregation within a radius of 11 miles, essentially, I am the community pastor--not just the pastor of St. John Lutheran Church.  Sure, not everyone in the community is a member of my congregation, but I serve this community, and we are charged with reaching out into this community to deal with its needs.

The Sheriff sensed a need, and he asked me to go.

I went.

Making cold calls to a stranger's home is not the most comfortable thing in the world.  You never really know how you will be welcomed--or not welcomed for that matter.  Fortunately, the folks in this case were very receptive.  They had many within our community reach out to them during their time of trial.  At first, I was just one more in a long line.

But I am a pastor.  In times like these, whether or not I like it, I represent God.  I'm a messenger.  That can make a big difference.

Working through grief is an exhaustive process.  Working through anger and frustration and pain is an exhausting process, but you have to stick with it.  You can't just spend 15 minutes, tell folks we're thinking of you, offer further assistance if they need it, say a quick prayer and walk out the door thinking you've really dealt with things.  To really make any kind of impact, you've got to stay.

And I did.  The process was overwhelming at times, but there was a lot to work through.

The family was not only dealing with the grief of losing their loved one, but there was more.  Much, much more.  This death was not the only tragedy experienced.  A son/grandson had died while drinking and driving.  Years before rape had happened.  All of these wounds were touched by the tragic events of a few nights before.  Accumulated guilt, anger, sadness, and frustration bubbled--no, erupted--while I was there.

It didn't bother me to be a part of such an event.  Sometimes, the doctor has to lance the boil to get the infection out.  Only then, can healing salve be administered.

"I've spent the last two years angry with God.  I've cussed Him.  I was told He made my son die so that I would get my life straight.  Is that right?"

I hate it when folks say such things.

Don't get me wrong.  I know where it comes from.  I know in the Older Testament, there are numerous occasions of God punishing people for their sins.  There are numerous instances of death and despair and illness falling upon folks who disobeyed God's commands.  David had his son die.  The Israelites had serpents sent among them to bite them.  The ground opened up and swallowed those who sought to lead a rebellion against Moses.  And so on and so forth.  In the Newer Book, there is even a scene of God's vengeance poured out against Ananias and Sapphira.  One can create this image of God who punishes us for our sins and indeed sends us messages of death so that we get our lives straight.  I understand folks who make sense out of tragedy by saying such things, but this is not the narrative revealed through Jesus Christ.

"No," I replied.  "God didn't kill your son to get your attention so that you would become a better person.  God doesn't operate that way anymore."

Oh, the conversation wound around more and more.

"We are no longer under the discipline of the Law.  Mind you, the Law is still in effect, but we are no longer under its discipline."

"God was not responsible for your son's death.  The reason your son is dead is he drank, drove into oncoming traffic and hit an 18 wheeler."

"So, he's responsible for his own death?"

"It may sound harsh to say it, but yes.  I have to tell the truth.  Just like God is not responsible for your sister's death.  The person who killed her is."

"God does not make us suffer so that we 'get our lives together.'  God does not say, 'Get your stuff together or else you will go to hell.'  God says, 'I love you.  I died for you.  Now, become obedient to me.'  God's love always comes first.  He loves you now.  He always has."

"Thank you.  For the last two years, I've hated God."

"I bet you have.  But He's never hated you."

Enough said.

Have Christians Lost the Culture War?

Todd Starns in a Fox News Opinion piece asks this very question.

He begins:

The culture war may be lost and religious liberty might not be that far behind, according to a new survey from LifeWay Research, the research arm of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Seventy percent of senior pastors at Protestant churches say religious liberty is on the decline in the United States, and 59 percent of Christians believe they are losing the culture war. Eleven percent considers that war already lost.

 Some within some Christian denominations see this as a major, MAJOR problem.

It's actually long in coming.  The only question I have is: what took it so long?

The real "problem" in my estimation is not that Christians are losing the "Culture War."  There's a multitude of problems that Christians within the U.S. have just not dealt with very well.

#1. Complacency.  For a long, long time, Christianity held a privileged position as the religion of choice within the U.S.  With that privilege came certain "perks" among them that many were born into the church and expected to continue to attend church.  No more.  As secularism has continued almost unabated, this expectation fell by the wayside.  Fewer made the commitment to worship.  For the first few generations, this wasn't much of a problem because there were still sufficient numbers in pews.  Yet, as older generations died out, the younger folks didn't replace them.  The church suddenly could not rest upon the fact that they held a position of privilege.  You couldn't just build a church and expect people to show up.  Now, churches truly have to engage people and work at evangelism.  Simply running into someone on the street and trying to convince them to come to worship won't work.  Literal transformation of worldviews is now necessary.  Complacent churches aren't able or oftentimes willing to put in this kind of work.

#2. The rise of the "Spiritual but not Religious."  Most folks in the U.S. still self-identify as Christians, but a vast majority are almost non-practicing Christians.  Many are "spiritual but not religious."  Many are believers in the sense of ascribing to the belief that Jesus is a cool guy, maybe even the Son of God, but that belief rarely leads to visible transformation in a person's life.  Such folks often say, "I don't need to worship in church to worship God.  I can do very well under a tree in the middle of the woods."  Unfortunately, the church rarely has any response to convince a person to worship--which leads to transformation.  The church rarely has a good apologetic (outside of "churchy" language) to combat this rampant individualism of faith.

#3. The rise of religious pluralism.  Pluralism in and of itself isn't a bad thing.  A variety of views and understandings is a welcome thing as it prevents any one particular group from exercising evil.  Mutual respect is key, but the church hasn't handled such a thing well.  It has tended to vacillate between relativism (embracing various other religions as simply other paths to God) and religious snobbery (people of other faiths are completely wrong and not worth respect).  Neither of these are particularly palatable or particularly biblical.  It is extremely difficult to be comfortable enough in one's own Christian skin and still respect others.

#4.  (This one could get me in trouble.)  The Politicalization of the Faith.  Yes, I am speaking about the "Religious Right" and the "Christian Left."  These two political movements, in my estimation are deadly.  They each basically assert, "You cannot be a true Christian if you don't vote either Democrat or Republican."  They each assert their particular political party as more "Christian" than the other.  I personally believe this is not a good thing.  I personally believe such affiliations draw lines in the sand and lead to polarization--a polarization within the pews.  Both groups seek to exercise power to influence voters and government.  In their own ways, each group tries to establish God's Kingdom on earth through the passing of legislation.  Last I checked, the church sought to transform society through POWERLESSNESS, not through power.  Very bad things have happened in history when the church sought to use power in governmental rule.  The church needs critical distance from each political party to be able to call sin for what it is: no matter who is committing it.  When affiliating with a party, the church has lost its prophetic voice and alienated 1/2 of the people it is called to reach.

I could list more, but in my estimation, these things--these changes in society--have made folks in the church anxious.  Rather than deal with the change in society, many have battened down the hatches and sought to preserve their "turf."  They declared war oftentimes using the legislative process to accomplish their goals.  Last I looked, Jesus wasn't about that kind of stuff.  The only war He declared was against evil.  When it came to society and people, Jesus sought reconciliation, forgiveness, and love--even of His enemies.  He never attempted to change the laws of the Roman empire, but sought to change the hearts and minds of those whom He came into contact with through compassion.  With one caveat--He was quite vociferous toward those of the religious establishment who should have known better.

The church in America would do well to drop this pretense of culture war and follow the example of its founder.

I am Judas

Yeah.  I took one of those cute Facebook quizzes.  Which disciple of Jesus are you?  What did I get?  Judas Iscariot.  A pastor gets Judas Iscariot.  Wonder how long it will be before I get asked to tender my resignation?

Here was the caption underneath the pic:

Black sheep, loner, ne’er-do-well, rebel… You’re the kind of person who’s never really fit in with the crowd and you’re okay with that. You do your own thing and live by your own rules. (Also, people don’t really seem to trust you for some reason. You might want to work on that.)

Black sheep?  Maybe.

Loner.  Definitely.

Ne'er-do-well.  Not so much.

Rebel.  Probably.

"You're the kind of person who's never really fit in with the crowd and you're okay with that?"  To a tee.

"You do your own thing and live by your own rules."  Kind of.

"People don't really seem to trust you."  Not so sure.  It seems like most of my congregation members do, but do I really know what is going on deep within the recesses of their brains?

Jokes aside, and I know this is a pithy quiz, but I am Judas.

How could I say such a thing?  Why not a Peter: a leader in the Church?  Why not a Matthew?  Or a Bartholomew?  Or a Thomas?  Why say you ARE Judas?

I'd like to think of myself more highly.  I really would.  I'd like to think of myself as one of the others who wasn't stealing from the community purse; or coming up with holy reasons for something (selling a bunch of perfume) when I am really self motivated (so I can have the profit); or who didn't betray the Lord for 30 pieces of silver.  I'd like to think that I'm better than that.  I'd like to think I would never, ever do such a thing.

But I betray Jesus each and every day.

Every time I sin in thought, word and deed, I crucify Christ once again.  And the Lord knows, I sin.  The Lord knows I like looking after myself.  The Lord knows I rebel against (not only those who want me to conform and toe any particular denominational party line) Him in the deepest recesses of my heart.  The Lord knows I oftentimes trust money over Him.  The Lord knows I want to come across as looking holy.

Yeah.  I am Judas.  Not proud of it, but I am.

And the question is: is there any hope for one such as I?  Is there hope for one scarred by sin, by selfishness, by rebellion?

I take great comfort in knowing that Jesus died for me while I was and still am a sinner.  I take great comfort in knowing His grace is sufficient for even me.  I take great comfort in the fact He who began a good work in me is not through just yet. 

I've got a long way to go.  Maybe one day I'll graduate up to Thaddeus or someone similar.

Freedom of Religion and Discrimination

Life gets rather messy when two incompatible objects butt heads.

Arizona has placed themselves right in the crosshairs with its bill to allow forms of discrimination based upon religious belief.

I am none too pleased with this particular bill as I believe it is a warping of the nature of religious freedom as preserved in the Constitution.  Not only this, I believe it flies in the face of Jesus' own teachings regarding how a Christian is called to interact in society.

First, let's deal with the issue of religious freedom.  I would like to make a distinction here between religious belief and religious practice.  It's not necessarily healthy to do such a thing because usually our practices flow from our beliefs.  Yet, there is a reason I want to make such a distinction at this time.

There are a lot of world religions.  There are the major five or six, but there are a host of others throughout the world.  Many of them have particular beliefs instilled in them--among those beliefs the secondary citizenship of women (many Islamic as well as Christian sects), the marginalization of the poor (the Hindu caste system), the severe punishment of homosexuals (many sects of Islam as well as some Christians).  There are other such beliefs to be covered, but I think these few are enough to highlight a substantial problem: when religious belief clashes with guaranteed rights endowed in the U.S. Constitution.  In our nation, we do not adhere to a caste system; we guarantee the rights of women and homosexuals despite what religions believe about them.  And since the U.S. Constitution is the highest law of the land, the Constitution takes precedence over religious belief.

There might be some who decry this, especially some of my more conservative brothers and sisters of the Christian faith.  YOU say that we should deny our religious beliefs and make them subservient to the U.S. Constitution?  Not your beliefs.  Your practices--especially ones which conflict with the basic understanding of human rights (more on this later as I will try to show that discrimination has no basis in Christian practice).  Why do I say such a thing?

Let's put it plain and simple.  What happens if a religion comes along that practices human sacrifice as per the ancient Mayan and Aztecs?  Let's just say theoretically a person comes along looking to re institute such a practice.  Because we have religious freedom, should we let that person go ahead with the plan?  Should we let the person claim that it is well in line with his religion to capture people and then sacrifice them to appease the gods?

I think most of us would revolt at the idea.  I also realize this is taking this to almost an absurd conclusion; however, complete and total religious freedom would allow for such a thing to take place.

On a more concrete note of possibilities, it would be quite easy for a store owner to put up a sign which said, "No blacks allowed.  It's against my religious belief."  Back to Jim Crow with legal underpinning.  Not good.  Not good at all.  On a practical level, this law has many, many problems, and while protecting individual freedom to believe is important--it should not trump the basic human rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

Secondly, from my own faith tradition, I do not think such a law is compatible with how Jesus taught His followers to act.  Yes, as Christians we are to stand against sin.  Yes, as Christians we are to strive for perfection.  Yes, as Christians we are not to condone sinful behavior.  But we are called to give people freedom to sin.  We are called to give people freedom to go against God.  We are called to give people freedom to reject our beliefs and practices and do their own thing.  And we are called to keep loving them no matter what they do.

My favorite illustration to show this is the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  I think we should rename it as the Parable of the Prodigal Father personally, but that is beside the point.  The Father in this parable is the main focus--particularly in how He acts toward His sons.

The first one would be considered the one living in sin.  The youngest son comes to the Father and demands his inheritance early.  Basically, he tells the Father, "I wish you were dead so I can have my money now!"

What does the Father do?  Does the Father do what most of us dads would do?  Does He scoff at His son and tell him to get back to work under threat of punishment?  Does the Father scold the son and make him feel two inches tall?

No.

With a radical love, the Dad gives His son the portion of the inheritance and lets him go make his own way.  The consequences are dire!  The son squanders his money and has to work at a degrading job not making enough money to feed himself.  The son "comes to himself" and says, "I messed up.  I need to apologize.  I can go work for dad as a servant."

The son heads home, but before the kid has a chance to apologize, the Father comes running to embrace His son.  Before the kid has a chance to grovel, Dad is exuding love once again.  Dad even throws a party, much to the chagrin of the older son.  This welcome; this party; is an example of pure grace.

Interestingly enough, the older son, gets quite upset with Dad.  The older son refuses to go to the party Dad is throwing.  This is actually an insult to the Father as well.  The son might not necessarily be aware of it, but he is sinning just like his younger brother does.  And what does the Father do?  He comes out to the son and invites him to come in.  Grace is extended once again.

Both sons are sinful.  Both need the Father's love.  Grace rules the day.

I think one of the greatest points to be made in this parable is the Father reaches out to both of His sons and extends them love--not by telling them what to do; not by discriminating against them; not by trying to make them conform to His will, but by giving them freedom to pursue their own course.  He counts on His love being the thing which will bring them back under His roof.

This tells me a couple of things.  #1. I am not the Father.  I don't have that kind of love.  #2. This means, in all reality I am like son number one or son number two.  #3. I am either a wayward sinner or a self-righteous sinner.  #4. I am in need of the Father's love to get into the party one way or the other.  #5. If I need the Father to come to me to get me in, then I have no business being self-righteous or haughty.  Grace brought me in, not my own actions.

As Christians, we should know we are not the Father in this parable.  We should know we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We should know we are still captive in sin and incapable of living the life God has called us to.  We should know we are no different than anyone else living in sin.

And what was Jesus' response to us when we were living in sin?  What did Jesus demand of us?  Did He say, "Get your stuff together, and then I will die for you?"  No.  He died for us while we were still sinners.

How many of us are willing to die for someone else we consider living in sin?  How many of us are willing to die to our own egos to show kindness to someone we disagree with vehemently?  How many of us are willing to be convicted by grace and humbled enough to serve someone who we consider to be breaking God's commands?

Jesus did that for us and then said, "Go and do likewise."  Through love people are brought to repentance, not through discrimination.

I, for one am hoping the law passed by the legislature in Arizona is vetoed.  I do not think it compatible with our Constitution or with Christianity.  I know others may vehemently disagree.  It's okay.  I still love you.

Striving for Perfection

    As per the church-wide email I sent out this past week, I need your help this morning as we begin into this sermon.  I asked everyone to consider what a perfect congregation might look like.  What are its character traits?  What are the things it does?  If you would, please share some of your thoughts this morning.  Those of you who did not get this email, please, off the tops of your heads, share your thoughts about what character traits the “perfect” church has and what things such a church would do.

(Other notables from the first service responses: freedom to express one's view without judgement; people pray for each other [response from a 9 year old], people listen to the contributions of youth; outreach oriented; no quarreling)

    O.K. So, these are the character traits and actions that those of us who are gathered here this morning see in a perfect congregation.  There might be a few more that we could add, but let’s say that this indeed represents a perfect congregation.  Now, let me ask you this: if this represents a perfect congregation, are there such things as perfect congregations around?  Has there ever been a congregation which in actuality meets this vision?

    Did you say no?  I’d be flabbergasted if you said yes.  You and I know there is no such thing as a perfect church or a perfect congregation.  You and I know that sin pervades every aspect of our lives here on this planet and is inescapable.  You and I know perfection is an unattainable reality until we pass the threshold of death.  This is something we cognitively know.  And so I must ask, if we know that we cannot reach perfection, why do we have a vision of it?  Why does such a vision even exist?  I mean if we can’t attain it, why even bother to think about it?

    Last Sunday, our Gospel lesson began with these words from Matthew Chapter 5, Jesus said, “Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of heaven.”  Jesus then shows what it means to be more righteous than the scribes and the Pharisees.  “You have heard it said to those of ancient times, you shall not murder.  But I tell you if you are angry with a brother or sister, you are liable to judgment...You have heard it said to those of ancient times you shall not commit adultery.  But I tell you if you look at a woman with lust in your heart you have committed adultery with her.  You have heard it said you may write a woman a certificate of divorce.  But I tell you if you divorce a woman you cause her to commit adultery and if you marry a woman who has been divorced you commit adultery.  You have heard it said do not swear falsely, but I say do not swear at all, by heaven, by earth, or by Jerusalem.  Let your word be yes, yes or no, no.  Anything else comes from the evil one.”

    Today, Jesus finishes out His sayings about true righteousness.  It doesn’t get any easier.  “You have heard it said an eye for an eye; a tooth for a tooth, but I say if someone strikes you on the right cheek, offer them your left also.  Give your shirt as well as your cloak.  Go the extra mile.  You have heard it said you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say love your enemy and bless those who persecute you so that you may be children of your Father in Heaven.  Be perfect even as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

    There you have it.  This is true righteousness.  Perfection.  Just as God is perfect, you be perfect as well.  This concludes Jesus’ vision of what it means to be truly righteous.  As I said last time, true righteousness consists of having one’s heart in complete and total alignment with God’s heart.  True righteousness is a heart condition for out of one’s heart comes anger and lust and failure to commit and fear of saying simply yes, yes or no, no.  Out of the heart comes the desire for revenge and retribution.  Out of the heart comes the desire to hate one’s enemy.  Only a changed heart can defeat such things.  Only a heart that is completely and totally oriented toward God and toward what is good can accomplish what Jesus says in this Sermon on the Mount.

    And as I said last Sunday, so I say again.  We cannot do it.  We cannot willingly make ourselves good.  There is a part of us which seeks our own self-interest.  There is a part of us which continually seeks to take care of our own selves and those closest to us at the expense of others.  There is a part of us which puts our own ego; our own righteousness over others and sees others as less than us.  This part is constantly in rebellion against God and is constantly unleashing all those things Jesus warns us against.

    You know this.  You see it all the time.  You participate in it.  We all do.  None of us can escape it.  So if this is the case...  If we know we continue to have these things come out of our hearts despite our best efforts...  If indeed our righteousness cannot ever exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and the Pharisees and then therefore we cannot ever enter the Kingdom of heaven...then what’s the point?  If we cannot achieve perfection, then why does Jesus set it as the goal?

    I think there are at least two very good reasons for this.  The first reason is one I have articulated before, and it comes from sports.  The record holder for the highest career batting average is held by Ty Cobb.  His career batting average was, get this .366.  This meant, he got a hit generally 1 out of every three times he came to bat.  Mind you, he didn’t hit a home run every time he came to the plate–even though that would be the ideal.  He didn’t get on base every time he came to the plate to bat–even that would have been awesome.  He didn’t even get on base half the time he came to bat.  36% of the time he came to bat, he got on base.  And he’s in the baseball Hall of Fame.  Can you imagine giving a child a pat on the back for making a 36 on a test?  Yet, that’s what folks did with Ty Cobb.  They applauded him for his efforts.

    Now, do you think Ty became disgusted with the way he played by batting .366 for his career?  Do you think he became disgusted with himself because he couldn’t hit a home run every time he came up to bat?  Do you think he thought of quitting baseball because he wasn’t able to get on base every time he went to the plate to face a pitcher?  No.  Of course he didn’t because there was always the chance to hit the home run.  There was always the chance of achieving a little piece of perfection.  There was the goal, dangling out there begging to be reached.  Generally, we can approach humankind in a couple of fashions.  We can set the bar low, and believe me, folks will reach it and then stop.  Or, we can set the bar high and just see how close people come to reaching it.  One of these ways will unlock greater potential.  One of them won’t.  I’ll let you decide.

    The other reason for setting perfection as a goal is a little different.  It isn’t about unleashing potential–it’s about keeping a person humble.  You see, if God is the only one who can be perfect, and perfection is the only way to achieve true righteousness–true holiness, then I can never be holy on my own.  I can never be righteous on my own.  I will never reach the pinnacle of perfection.   Every time I try to reach it, I will fail.  By my own efforts I can never achieve it.  If I realize this, where does this leave me?  Where do I end up if I know I cannot achieve what is required of me?  Well, I will probably give up.  If it is something I want badly enough, I will probably get depressed and angry.  I will probably shake my fist and have tears well up in my eyes because I cannot get what I desire so badly.  And then I resign myself to my failure.  At this point, and only at this point am I willing to acknowledge my need for help.  At this point, God usually reveals to us something wonderful:

    For 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.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that the world may be saved through Him.

    My achieving righteousness does not depend upon my work but on God’s work.  My holiness does not come about because I am superhumanly good, but it comes about because Christ is superhumanly good.  My salvation depends not on my righteousness but on Christ’s righteousness.  Only in my humility can I recognize this. 

    When perfection is the goal, when the bar is set high, we reach for it and are challenged by it.  When perfection is the goal, we are humbled by it and recognize our need for grace.  We may never be perfect people.  We may never be a perfect congregation, but we need that vision before us to challenge us, to humble us, and to help us live God’s Word daily. Amen.

Love Thy _____________ Neighbor

Perhaps you have seen the viral pic going around Facebook:

I don't disagree with the pic at all.

It's true.

I mean, Jesus didn't put any qualifications on His definition of neighbor.

So, why do so many Christians seemingly come across as intolerant and nasty toward their neighbors?

I've heard several basic reasons:

1. "I am showing them love by helping them see how sinful they are and how much they need to repent.  They must be convicted by the Law!"

2. "They must be repentant first.  They receive God's love when they repent.  (And, then I will love them once they repent.)"

3. "It is not loving to allow someone to continue to live in sin.  They must be confronted."

I'd like to offer another reason. 


The shirt is quoting Jesus who quoted a part of Leviticus 19:18, "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.

Some might argue that Christians who aren't loving one's neighbor are guilty of loving one's self too much.  I won't belabor that point because sin is often seen as a curving in toward one's self.  So why would Jesus quote Leviticus 19:18 then?  If loving one's self leads to curving in towards one's self, why quote it?

I think there is a profound difference between a narcissistic love of self (sin) and a love of self because one is loved purely by the grace of God.

Let me try and explain as best as I can.

If I believe I am saved by my works--works/righteousness, then I build my own ego up.  I am repentant.  I put God first in my life.  I strive to love the Lord my God with all my heart and soul and mind and strength.  I have to do this, so everyone else has to do what I do!  If they don't do the things I do, then they aren't doing it right!

If I am saved purely by the grace of God, my ego is shattered.  I cannot follow Christ's commands.  I cannot fulfill the Law.  I cannot be righteous.  Only Christ's righteousness can save me.  Only Christ's death can atone for my failure.  I can't love my neighbor because I am unlovable.

And it is in the midst of my being unlovable that God acts and has acted.  "For God so loved the world..."

When I realize Christ has died for me in my unrighteousness--that He died for me when I was unlovable, I find compassion.  I realize my deep need for Him to save me, and I realize that my neighbor has that same need.  I realize that it wasn't the Law that brought me to faith but Christ's compassion.  I realize that I am still broken and in need of healing--a healing only Christ can bring.  I am broken.  My neighbor is broken.  Christ loves me.  Christ loves my neighbor.  Christ loves me in my brokenness.  I can love me in my brokenness and realize God can still use my brokenness to accomplish His purposes.  I do not need to grovel on the ground like a worm--for God's grace has been bestowed upon me.  No longer am I narcissistic, but I marvel that God has redeemed me, and I have confidence in God's grace.  This confidence allows me to love myself in humility.

Narcissistic, self-righteous love is not capable of loving one's neighbor. 

Love of a self that has undergone transformation through the grace of God is.

In my estimation, there is too much of the first kind of love, and a great need for the second.