Fruits of the Spirit: Goodness

Today, we come to the sixth fruit in St. Paul’s list of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: agathōsunē.

Now, there is a reason that I spoke the word in Greek instead of giving you an English translation.  Because when I started work this week, I realized that different Bibles translate this word differently.  Most of the Bibles translate agathōsunē as goodness–like the NIV, ESV, and King James Bibles, but the NRSV, which is the Bible we have in our pews as well as the Bible from which we print our bulletin readings translates the word generosity. 

And so, I very much felt like the two moving men who were struggling with a big crate in a doorway.  They pushed and pulled until both were completely exhausted.  Finally, the man on the outside said, “We might as well give up.  We’ll never get this thing in.”  The man on the inside yelled back, “What do you mean get it in?  I thought we were trying to get it out!”  You know, which way are we supposed to go?  Which translation is most accurate?  It was also like someone coming up to me and asking me: where do you want to go eat: at your favorite Mexican food restaurant or your favorite steakhouse? I’m like: do I really have to choose?

I’m giving you this background information for a reason, because I think it relates to something that most of us experience from time to time.  I mean, I’m not the only one who has had to make a difficult choice, am I?  I’m not the only one who has had two paths before me, and both look to be correct?  I’m not the only one who has had to wrestle with having to choose one or the other of those paths knowing that once I started down one of those paths, I was committed?  Have you ever been there?  Have you ever had to make that choice and have it effect everything else that you would do?  Have you ever studied it and thought: well, either way seems good, but I’m not sure which one would be better?  Don’t get me wrong, some of those decisions are much more important than how you translate the word agathosune, but the experience rings true for just about everyone.

So, here is how I chose to resolve the problem that I had before me.  When you are studying language, you can oftentimes learn more about the definition of a word by studying the root words, and in the case of agathosune, there is a definite root word: agathos.  Now, agathos is normally translated as “good.”  And I thought to myself, “Well, that might be helpful in helping me to figure things out.”  There was one particular story that crept into my mind immediately, and that was the story of the rich, young ruler.  We have that story before us from the 10th Chapter of the book of Mark.  A young man comes up to Jesus and bows down before Him.  This is a major show of honor and respect.  Some might even call it worship.  But what is then striking is what the young man says.  He says to Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Now, the question isn’t necessarily striking: it’s how the young man addresses Jesus.  He calls Jesus “good teacher.”  This was a huge no-no in that time and place.  The Jewish rabbis had argued greatly about whether or not anyone should be called good, and they had come up with a resounding, “NO!”  It was unanimous as far as we can see from the literature.  Jewish rabbis believed that only God was good.

And that’s exactly what Jesus says to this young man.  “Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone.”  Now, some scholars believe that Jesus is somehow indicating that he isn’t good; that he is somehow less than God, but I don’t think so.  I agree with other scholars who think that what Jesus is doing here is telling the young guy, “Be careful in what you say.  Do you really want to call me God?  Because by falling on your knees and calling me God, you are saying that you will follow everything I say.  Do you really want to go there?”  The implications of those questions are still quite staggering for anyone who calls Jesus Lord and Savior of their lives.  But that is for another sermon.  What we must take away from this teaching right now is the fact that only God is considered good.

Now, for some of you, this might settle what the translation should be.  It should be goodness; however, I did discover why the translators of the NRSV used the word generosity.  And I think it also helps us shed some light on what this fruit of the Spirit truly is. 

I’d like to ask you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 20. (It’s on page 19) We are going to read the first sixteen verses of this chapter.  ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; 4and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. 5When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” 7They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” 8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” 9When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” 13But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

Now, please pay particular attention to the end of verse 15.  Do you see the tiny v in italics at the end of that verse.  If you drop down to the bottom of the page, you will see the footnote which says that the literal translation of the Greek is “is your eye evil because I am good.”  Generosity seems to fit the context of the parable, and this is why they use it later on.  I’m not convinced they were right because if we remember that Jesus says, “No one but God is good,” then this parable is saying, “Are you envious–do you have an evil eye–because I am good–because I am like God?”

After I put these two things together–these two parables, I stopped and thought about it for a moment and realized just what this fruit of the Spirit is.  Generosity doesn’t cut it; neither does goodness, in my estimation.  Agathosune, seems to mean godliness–showing forth the nature and person of God; imitating God; being like God.

It’s no wonder then, that Paul pens the opening words of our second lesson this morning from the book of Ephesians, “Be imitators of God.”  In other words, produce agathosune!  Produce goodness.  But how easy is this?  How easy is it to show forth the nature and person of God?  I mean, don’t we tend to be more like this little anecdote that Mark Twain shared? 

Twain writes, “When I was a boy, I was walking along the street and happened to spy a cart full of watermelons.  I was fond of watermelon, so I sneaked quietly up to the cart and snitched one.  Then I ran to a nearby alley and sank my teeth into the melon.  No sooner had I done so, however, than a strange feeling came over me.  Without a moment’s hesitation, I made my decision.  I walked back to the cart, replaced the melon–and took a ripe one.”

Oh, and even when we aren’t falling to temptation, do we not find ourselves much like the young pastor who, while spreading the good news, was making hospital rounds for the first time.  Visiting an elderly parishioner, he walked in and plopped himself down on the side of her bed.  He began aggressively questioning her about her surgery.  Before leaving, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”  The sweet old lady replied, “Well, if you don’t mind, would you please take your foot off my oxygen hose?”

It is extremely difficult to produce goodness.  It’s extremely difficult to be like God.  And I used to think that getting people and churches to be like God–to produce goodness–was just a matter of explaining to them the command.  I used to think, “You know, if I get up in front of the church at explain why this is commanded; if I put together a few cute stories and give a bit of reassurance, then people will go out and try to be like God.  The church will work together to be like God.  People will begin producing love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, etc.”  Of course, I assumed that I was already doing such things–certainly not perfectly, but I thought I at least was on the right track.

But then reality smacked me in the face.  Then I came face to face with what often happens in churches and with pastors.  After our congregation experienced a time of rapid growth, we stagnated.  We didn’t grow, and we started declining.  Oh, I was still preaching the same sorts of sermons.  I was still putting together cute stories and words of inspiration, but we stopped growing.  And this made me take a hard look at myself.  A real hard look at myself, and what I saw wasn’t pretty.

Sure, I was preaching God’s word.  Sure, from time to time, there were some fruits of the Spirit present, but deep down in the bottom of my heart, I found that God was not at the center.  I found that I was working for what I wanted in my life.  I was striving after the things of this world.  Confronted with this, I realized that not only did I simply commit some sins, but that I was a sinner.  I needed a Savior, and I found myself looking up at the cross at the One who bled and died for me.

And suddenly, the goodness of God became real to me.  The goodness of God shined deep within the recesses of my heart.  I knew that I deserved condemnation for trying to use God to get what I wanted.  I knew I deserved God’s anger and wrath for not putting Him at the center of my life, but instead of getting that wrath, I received mercy.  The God in flesh, Jesus, took my sin upon himself, and he paid the price for that sin.  He died for me.

And then He gave me a new status.  He gave me a new position.  He gave me his righteousness when I did not deserve it.  He gave me His blamelessness when I didn’t deserve it.  He clothed me with Himself so that when I stand before the Father in Heaven, I am deemed worthy; justified; a child of the most high God.  “For I have been crucified with Christ, and yet I live, not I, but Christ that lives within me.”

And things started to change in my life.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I’m far from being a perfect imitator of God.  I’m far from producing goodness in total.  I’m still growing and learning and being transformed.  But I know that I don’t get as upset as I used to.  I’m much more slow to anger.  I laugh more.  I see the goodness in others more.  I’m quick to give to those in need, and I don’t need anyone to know about it.  I’m more grateful for the little things.  I appreciate the people who are in my life, and I don’t expect them to live up to my expectations of how they should act.  I’m quicker to forgive because I have been forgiven. 

And I now know that I can’t simply tell people to be like God.  I know I cannot stand up here and tell you, “The Bible says, be imitators of God; here’s why you should be an imitator of God; it’s hard; you will likely fail; but just try harder.”  That didn’t work for me.  It will certainly not work for you.  If we truly want to be imitators of God, we all must experience the love of God in Christ Jesus.  We all must experience standing at the foot of the cross.  We all must experience being forgiven of our sins.  We all must experience being clothed with the righteousness of Christ.  We all must experience the grace that is poured out through the blood of the Lamb of God.  For it is grace alone that transforms us. 

A desert wanderer found a spring of cool fresh water.  It was so pure he decided to bring some to his king.  Barely satisfying his own thirst, he filled a leather bottle and carried it many days in the desert sun before reaching the palace.  He laid his offering at the feet of his noble king.  Over time, however, the water had become stale in the old container. But the king wouldn’t let his faithful subject think his gift was unfit to drink.  He tasted it with gratitude as he sent his loyal servant away.  After the servant left, others sampled it and were surprised the king had pretended to enjoy it.  He said, “It wasn’t the water I tasted but the love that prompted the offering.”

That is what comes forth from us when we are producing goodness–when we are imitating God.  We don’t act the same.  We drink bitter water with gratitude.  We look upon others with different eyes because God has looked upon us with different eyes.  We have tasted the goodness of God, and it has transformed us from within so that we may offer that goodness to the world.  Amen.

The Fruits of the Spirit: Kindness

Today, we come to the fifth fruit in St. Paul’s list of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.  Today’s fruit is kindness.

And most of us, I think understand what it means to be kind.  When we think of kindness, we think of friendliness, generosity–of being considerate.  We think of stories like this one which appeared in Reader’s Digest: Leaving a store, I returned to my car only to find that I’d locked my keys and cell phone inside. A teenager riding his bike saw me kick a tire and say a few choice words. “What’s wrong?” he asked. I explained my situation. “But even if I could call my wife,” I said, “she can’t bring me her car key, since this is our only car.” He handed me his cell phone. “Call your wife and tell her I’m coming to get her key.” “That’s seven miles round trip.” “Don’t worry about it.” An hour later, he returned with the key. I offered him some money, but he refused. “Let’s just say I needed the exercise,” he said. Then, like a cowboy in the movies, he rode off into the sunset. (https://www.rd.com/true-stories/inspiring/kindness-strangers/)

We admire the people who do such things.  Our hearts become warmed when we hear stories or see actions of kindness.  When we receive such acts of kindness, our hearts melt and we react with overwhelming gratitude.  I remember not to long ago, I had taken my family to eat in Bellville at Galileo’s.  We enjoyed our meal and prepared to go only to find out that someone eating in the restaurant that evening had paid for our entire family.  The next time we saw this person, we thanked her profusely for her generosity and gave her plenty of hugs to show our gratitude.  Kindness has this effect upon us.

And conversely, when we see cruelty, our hearts harden.  We get angry at the perpetrators.  We decry their actions and how they handle themselves.  We prefer kindness and want it to rule the day!  And so, we make bumper stickers that say, “Practice random acts of kindness.”  We initiate anti-bullying programs in school.  We post memes on Facebook that say, “It is better to be kind than right.”

And honestly, I only disagree with one of those things: I disagree with the meme that says “It’s better to be kind than right,” because the right thing is the kind thing.  Some may disagree, but let me explain.  Let's say that your kid comes up to you five minutes before dinner and says, "Mom, dad, I'm really, really hungry.  Can I please have a bowl of ice cream?"  Now, one might say that it would be the kind thing to give her the ice cream, after all, she is hungry.  Even though you might be right that it would be better to make her wait until dinner.  But is it really kind to give her the ice cream?  No.  It isn't.  That's not the nourishment that she needs.  In this case, and in others, the right thing--making her wait for dinner--is the kind thing.  And that brings us to the heart of what kindness is as a fruit of the Spirit.  For you see, kindness can be practiced by anyone.  Anyone can be compassionate.  Anyone can be generous.  Anyone can bring a smile to another person’s face by an act of kindness.  But what Paul is talking about here is not simply a pleasant disposition or a nice deed or action towards someone.  It is much deeper.

You see, the Greek word used for kindness here, xrēstótēs, doesn’t have a good English equivalent.  I think one of the commentaries I consulted this past week said it best when it said the word could best be translated as “useful kindness.”  Now, what does that mean?

Let me illustrate with the following two stories.  Three boy scouts were asked by their scout leader to do an act of kindness one day.  Later that afternoon, they returned with news of great success.  They told their scout leader they helped an old woman cross a street.  He said, “It took all three of you to help an old woman across the street?”  “Yes,” the boys said, “She didn’t want to go!”  Now, helping an old lady across the street is certainly an act of kindness, but helping here when she doesn’t want to go isn’t.  The act isn’t useful.  In other words, it is not what is needed.  The old woman didn’t need help crossing the street.  While the scout’s intentions were honorable, the action was not helpful.  It was not xrēstótēs.

On the other hand, this story, I think, comes much closer to the meaning of this Greek word.  A little girl was sent on an errand by her mother.  She took much longer than expected to come back.  When she returned, the girl’s mother demanded an explanation.  The little girl explained the reason.  On her way, she met a little friend who was crying because she had broken her doll.  “Oh,” said the mother, “then you stopped to help her fix her doll?”  “Oh no,” the little girl said, “I stopped to help her cry!”  This little girl was able to see beyond the broken doll and see into the depths of another’s grief.  She was able to see a heart that needed someone to grieve with her.  The little girl addressed a deeper need than simply trying to piece together a broken doll.  That’s xrēstótēs.  That’s the kindness that St. Paul lists as a fruit of the Spirit.

Interestingly enough, this term does not appear a whole lot in the Bible.  It has only scattered references, and Jesus doesn’t use the word kindness at all.  There is only one time when he uses the word in its shorter form which is translated kind.  But that reference is an important one in helping us understand the kind of fruit we produce.  We have that lesson before us today from the sixth chapter of the book of Luke.

Jesus is teaching to a great crowed gathered on a plain, and very much like the Sermon on the Mount found in the book of Matthew, Jesus is laying out the ethics of a Christian life.  The teaching he gives here is quite difficult.  “Give to everyone who begs from you.” That is no easy task at all, especially knowing that many who beg these days take advantage of people’s generosity–and I am specifically talking about those folks standing on the street corners holding signs.  Jesus says, give to them.

He continues, “And if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.”  Yeah, you know that guy you lent your favorite tool to.  Don’t ask for it again.  Let him have it.  Does anyone practice this?  Really?

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” This is a saying found in every world religion and ethical system.  It sure would be nice if we actually did it.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return.”  Are you really listening to what Jesus is saying here?  I mean, really listening?  In Jesus’ day, it was common place to give to someone expecting that the other person would give in return to you.  By giving to another, you put someone in your debt.  So, if you invited them to a dinner at your house, they were now obligated to invite you to their house.  If you loaned something to a neighbor, it was expected that if you asked for something, it would be loaned back to you.  If you gave a gift to someone, it was expected that they would give a gift in return.  There was an entire system built upon this kind of exchange.

And really, is it so different today?  Not really.  If we get a loan from the bank, are we expected to pay it back?  Absolutely, and with interest.  If we work to get a politician elected, do we expect him or her to enact the laws that we support?  Absolutely.  If we give our time to someone, do we expect that he or she will respect our time and our person as we are doing that?  If you don’t think so, let me ask you this: do you get angry when you are trying to talk to someone and they look like they are ignoring you?  If we go into a restaurant to buy a dinner, do we expect to be waited on promptly and cared for by the wait staff?  And if we are not, what do we do?  You see, this system of exchange and indebtedness is still in place today.  It may look a little different, but it is still there.

Jesus upends this system of how the world works.  Jesus throws it all out the window.  He says, “Don’t buy into this system.  Don’t expect rewards from others.  Don’t expect to give and then receive in return from them.  Don’t expect to lend and get anything back.  Don’t live by the “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch my back” axiom because even the sinners–those at the bottom rungs of society–do that.  You live differently.  You expect rewards differently.  You do not expect rewards from others–expect rewards from your Heavenly Father.  As Jesus says, “Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High.”

And here is the why.  Jesus lays out the why we act and move differently.  “For he–Your Heavenly Father–is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”

See, there is that word kind.  It’s the shortened version of kindness.  It’s what God gives to the ungrateful and the wicked.  He gives them what they need.  And what do they need?  Jesus says it: Mercy.  They need mercy.  But let’s get a bit more realistic.  Let’s drive Jesus’ point home into our own lives, because we shouldn’t use the word “they” in reference to the ungrateful and the wicked.  We should use the word “us.”  Now, I know that might be a bit unpopular to hear.  That might be a bit like nails on a chalk board.  We don’t like to hear that we are ungrateful. We don’t like to hear that we are wicked.  We don’t even really like it when someone has the audacity to say that we are sinners.

And, yet, that’s exactly what Scripture says we are.  You can’t read through Jesus’ teachings here and think that you follow them perfectly.  You can’t read through the Old Testament commandments and think that you follow them all.  You can’t read through the rest of the New Testament and come away with the idea that you have somehow satisfied what God demands of you.  This is why St. Paul writes in the third chapter of the book of Romans, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God!”  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  We stand condemned.  Indeed, we are wicked.

And being wicked, being condemned, we deserve God’s judgment.  We deserve God’s wrath, but instead, God gives us what we need.  God gives us what we need to change our hearts and change our minds.  God shows his kindness–his xrēstótēs by doing what is actually quite unthinkable.  “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but we are now justified by grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forward as a sacrifice of atonement effective through faith.”  That finishes out Paul’s statement in Romans chapter 3.  God took on human flesh and sacrificed himself on our behalf making payment for our sin; absorbing our debt; and declaring us not guilty–even though we were.  And as he pays our debt by hanging on the cross and facing the wrath we should have faced, he gives us his righteousness.  He gives us his sinlessness.  He clothes us with himself.  He gives us a new status and adopts us as His children.  It would have been easy for God to think that we needed punishment, but He knew that we needed a Savior.  And that’s exactly what He sent in the God made flesh–Jesus Christ.

And when we have encountered this grace; when we have met Jesus at the cross and seen the outpouring of His great love; when we feel the mercy he has extended to us–we become merciful.  We produce kindness.  Deep down, we long to discover the deepest needs of others.  We long to look deep into their hearts and find what will bring them the most joy; peace; and healing.  We no longer simply look at the surface, but we long to see with God’s eyes–so that we can address what is most needed.

A church began seeking one day to reach out into its community.  They began making plans to build a facility for youth complete with gymnasium and playground.  They were excited about the prospects, but some wondered how much use these facilities would get.  Would the community come and use these things?  The seeds of doubt were planted, and one day someone asked: how many kids are in the neighborhood around us?  That one question spurred a group to go investigate.  What they found was quite different.  Their neighborhood was not full of kids–not in the least.  The demographic was quite different.  In fact, the majority of their neighborhood consisted of retired adults, so the church shifted gears.  They talked with their neighbors.  They discovered their needs, and so they scrapped their plans for a youth facility and built a senior citizens center with full handicap access.  They put in an exercise pool and exercise room especially designed for older adults to help with therapy and rehab.  The church decided it would keep any necessary fees to a minimum so that the community–particularly those with a fixed income–could enjoy these facilities and benefit from their use.  And once completed, every day the facilities were in use.  The church addressed the community’s greatest need.  That’s xrēstótēs.

How do we know that we are producing this fruit?  How do we know that kindness is flowing out of us?  I think we must begin by asking ourselves if we are asking the right questions.  Are we asking ourselves: what is the biggest need that my friends have?  Are we asking ourselves: what is the biggest need that my family has?  Are we asking ourselves: what is the biggest need that our community has?  And are we listening to our neighbors?  Are we listening to our friends?  Are we listening to our communities?  Are we digging passed the superficialities and seeing their hearts?  If we are, we are practicing kindness.  We are producing the Spirit’s fruit.  May we produce it in abundance.  Amen.

The Fruits of the Spirit: Joy

We move today to the second fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23: Joy.

I will begin by letting you know that this is a fruit of the Spirit that I, myself struggle with.  I mean, I truly do want to be joyful.  I want joy to ooze out of all my pores.  I’ve encountered people who are full of joy, and they are a wonder to behold.  Perhaps you have met such a person before in your lifetime.  I am reminded of the story I heard about a man who was admitted to the hospital with a very serious illness.  After several days, one of the nurses wrote on his report, “This man suffers from too much joy given the circumstances around his illness.”  The world is bewildered by such joy.  Oftentimes, so am I.

Jesus once told the story of a woman who lost a single coin in her home.  The coin was a drachma, or the equivalent of one day’s wage.  She was probably rather poor since she had to light a lamp to try and find the coin–this means the house she lived in had no windows.  She swept the floor trying desperately to hear the clink the coin would make when hit.  In every nook and cranny she swept and looked until her efforts were rewarded.  She found the coin!  Now, here is where things get interesting.  Here is where things take a head-scratching turn.  The woman is so excited; she is filled to the nth degree by happiness.  She is so filled with this happiness, she calls all her neighbors to come and celebrate with her.  The nuances suggest that she literally throws a party for her neighbors to celebrate her finding this coin, and I guarantee you, the refreshments for that party cost her more than the coin she found.  Such was her joy.

Now, you see, I’ve got an awful lot of German blood running through my veins.  We Germans are not necessarily known for being demonstrative people.  Neither are we necessarily known for being lavish in our expenditures.  If I would have been the one who found that coin, yes, I would have been glad.  Yes, I might have been a bit excited, but probably I would have been more relieved.  I would have stuck that coin in my pocket and gone about my daily affairs.  I might have told my wife about it, but there would have been no dancing; no celebrating; no feasting or what have you.  I certainly would not have spent the coin to have a party in celebration. The response would have been quite different.  Why?

Oh, I have been thinking about that all week!  I have been mulling it over and over and over in my brain trying to wrap my head around this problem of joy.  And here are a few thoughts that have seemed to have settled.

First, I came to understand the difference between happiness and joy.  Happiness is a sort of fleeting thing.  It is dependent upon our surrounding circumstances.  It can come and go in a matter of moments.  Watch how it happens.

A pastor had just begun serving his congregation and had only been there a few weeks.  After worship one Sunday, an elderly woman approached him and said, “I’m deaf, and I can’t hear a word you say, but I still come to get my plate full.”  Hoping to console her, the pastor said, “Well, maybe you haven’t missed much.”  She replied, “Yes, that’s what they all tell me.”

As you laugh and smirk, please know that right now, you are experiencing happiness.

Now, did you know that in the next minute 14 people will die of preventable hunger?  And suddenly, your happiness is gone.

See how fleeting happiness can be?  See how it can be there one second, and then the next, it vanishes?  Joy is something different.  Joy is something that happens even when our external circumstances change.

A nine year old girl was diagnosed with leukemia, and she was given six months to live.  As the doctor told her parents the diagnosis outside the hospital room, she overheard his words.  However, she didn’t fully understand her condition.  To everyone’s surprise, her faith in Christ gave her an attitude of victory.  She talked freely and with hopeful anticipation about her death.  As she grew weaker, her joy became more radiant.  One day, before going into the final coma, she said to her family, “I am going to be the first to see Jesus!  What would you like me to tell him for you?’

That’s joy!  That’s something spectacular.  That’s something that comes from way down deep within a person–a person who has had their lives touched by the hand of God; a person who has experienced the transformation that the grace of God can bring.

Peter talks about this transformation in his book 1 Peter.  In fact, his opening words describe this transformation that leads to joy.  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Those of you who were here last week know that I started off my sermon series on the fruits of the Spirit by talking about how Scripture compares us to fruit trees–fruit trees that have a rotten core.  That rotten core taints everything about us including the fruit that we produce.  Peter begins with telling us that we have experienced a new birth.  We are made new.  We know where this new birth happens.  It happens on the cross when Jesus takes our sin upon himself.  When Jesus who was spotless and blameless before God becomes sin–He literally takes your sin out of you and takes it into himself so that he can pay the penalty for your sins.  And then in a wondrous exchange, Jesus gives you His righteousness; he gives you his blamelessness; He gives you his spotlessness.  You who were once tainted and sinful are now clothed with Jesus able to stand before God without condemnation.  Your status is changed from someone who deserves God’s judgement to beloved child of God.

And since we are now children of God, we becomes heirs to the promises of God.  This means whatever happens to Jesus happens to us, and Peter is quick to point out what that entails as he looks at the resurrection and says, “This is the hope that we all share.  It is a living hope that envelops us right here and right now and helps us to understand that God has prepared for us “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”  Since Jesus has been raised from the dead, we too will be raised from the dead.  Since Jesus’ unjust suffering and pain has been transformed into glory, so our suffering and pain will be transformed into glory.  We hold onto and grasp this by faith–we trust that what Jesus said was true.  We trust that what Jesus did on the cross was true.  We do not put our faith in ourselves or in any action that we can possibly do.  Instead, we trust in God and His action.

Peter then follows up with the results of this trust.  Peter then follows up and says, “If you trust in Jesus and His work; if you have faith in God and not yourselves, then ‘6In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy 9for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’” There’s not much I can add to these statements by Peter.  He’s pretty straight forward.  Even if you are in the midst of suffering, you stand on the promises of God.  This suffering is only temporary.  There is more to come.  Even if you are in the midst of trials, you stand on the promises of God.  There is more to come.  Even if you are hurting, you stand on the promises of God.  There is more to come.  There is hope.  A radiant hope.  A lasting hope.  A hope that does not disappoint.

And filled with that hope: filled with the knowledge of what Christ has done; what  Christ is doing; and what Christ will do–we begin to have something happen deep within us.  We begin to experience something that does not allow us to sink into the depths of depression.  Joy prevents us from ever going too low because we know that God is working.  Ah, but on the other hand, joy multiplies our happiness.  It makes us laugh louder.  It makes us sing with reckless abandon.  It makes us celebrate with more merriment.  It is why the woman in the parable was willing to spend more than what the coin she found was worth.  Her joy at finding the coin was worth more than the coin itself, and it demanded to be shared!  That joy made her happiness unbearable–she couldn’t keep it to herself.  She had to share it!

A little boy listened carefully one Sunday as his teacher explained why Christians give presents to each other on Christmas day.  She said, “The gift is an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our friendship for each other.”  When Christmas came, the boy brought the teacher a special seashell.  The teacher asked, “Where did you ever find such a beautiful shell?”  The boy said there was only one spot in a certain bay several miles away where such beautiful shells could be found.  His teacher said, “Why, it’s gorgeous! But you shouldn’t have gone all that way to get a gift for me.”  The little boy smiled and said, “The long walk was part of the gift.”

Oh, and church, does our joy come forth in such a fashion?  Is it overflowing so much that we cannot stand to keep silent?  When we think of all that Jesus has done for us in the cross, and when we think of all that Jesus will do for us as we see the proof of the resurrection, are we filled with a indescribable and glorious joy?  When we see others hurting; when we ourselves are hurting, do we sense hope?  Do we trust that God will turn things around?  Are we willing to live in joyful expectation of these things happening?  And when we hear things that bring us happiness, does that happiness overflow?  Does it erupt?  Does it come bursting forth in song; in praise; in merriment; in fellowship and laughter?  Oh dear church, I struggle with joy probably because I don’t stay focused on Jesus enough.  I don’t keep what Jesus has done and will do for me in my thoughts enough.  Perhaps it is one of the reasons I keep bringing them up Sunday after Sunday after Sunday as I preach.  Not only is it to proclaim them to you, it is also a reminder to me.  For to focus on Jesus and His mighty acts; to focus on Jesus and His glorious promises; changes a heart, and from that changed heart, joy overflows.  May we all produce such joy.  Amen.

The Fruits of the Spirit: Love

Today, we begin a new sermon series titled, “The Fruits of the Spirit: Responding to God’s Grace.”  It is based upon St. Paul’s teaching in the book of Galatians that we have in front of us this morning from chapter 5.  It reads, “22 By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, 23gentleness, and self-control.”

One of the things that has helped me understand the Christian faith more deeply is learning what the Bible tells us about ourselves.  In a very real way, the Bible says that we are like fruit trees.  And no matter how good we look on the outside–no matter how big our trunk, how long our branches, how colorful our leaves–deep within, there is a problem.  At our core is a rottenness that taints everything.  Therefore, when we start to bear fruit, the fruit carries that same taint.  It is not good fruit, and the bad news is we cannot do anything to fundamentally change this ourselves.  We cannot make ourselves into good, fruit-bearing trees.  However, the good news is: the core teaching of Christianity, the Gospel, tells us that God has acted in human history through the person of Jesus–who was both God and man–to change us; to transform our core being into something that is good; something that can and does bear good fruit.  Paul lists nine of those basic fruits, and those fruits should be prevalent in every Christian church and in every single Christian.  As Jesus said, “A good tree bears good fruit,” and if we do not find ourselves bearing these fruits, we must examine ourselves and our relationship with God.

So, with that background being laid out, let’s take a look at these individual fruits, and we begin with the most important one: love.  Almost everyone agrees “that what the world needs now, is love sweet love.” Some of you may remember that song.  Others of you may be more inclined to ask, “What is love?” and I’m going to try really hard to resist the temptation to add, “Baby don’t hurt me; baby don’t hurt me no more.”  For those of you scratching your heads, Google Haddaway or talk to anyone who was growing up in the early 90's.  Love is indeed the subject of song, of poetry, of books and literature.  Love is a deep need of each and every one of us, and I think we are extremely confused about just what it is.  Hence the wonderful 80's ballad by Foreigner, “I Want to Know what Love Is.”  Wouldn’t we all?

Now, by no means am I going to try and clear up all the confusion over love in our society and culture.  But I am going to point out that our language for love doesn’t help us in the least.  When we say “love” it can mean a ton of things.  It can mean a deep feeling that you have for another person.  It can mean a sense of friendship.  It can mean an ideal sense of how we should treat each other.  It can mean a sense of pleasure in an activity.  It can mean sex.  If you are watching tennis, it can mean zero.  There are a whole lot of nuances and understandings of this word in English that make things quite confusing at times.

Fortunately, the Bible was not written in English.  It was written in Greek, and Greek has four different words for love.  Eros–which is a sexual love.  Philia–which is a love that denotes friendship or brotherliness.  Storge–which is used to denote affection towards another person; particularly parents toward children.  And, agape.  Now, I’m not going to give you a quick definition of this word right here because I am going to take the rest of this sermon to define agape.  The reason for that is this is the kind of love that Paul speaks about in his list of spiritual gifts.  It is a very specific, special type of love.  It is so special and rare that it is hardly found in much of the Greek literature before Christianity came into being.  But in the New Testament, it is the dominant word used for love.  Why is it so dominant?  Because it is what Jesus showed to the world, and it then becomes the governing word for the life of the Christian and the Church.

So, let’s take a look at this type of love as shown in Scripture.  Jesus begins our putting together of this definition as he is talking to his disciples in John chapter 15.  We read it earlier, please hear it again, “9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.  12 ‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Let’s look at each point that Jesus makes without digging into them too terribly deeply.  Point 1: This agape/love is something that we abide in.  We rest in.  We stay in.  Point 2: When we keep the commandments, we abide in God’s love.  We rest in God’s love.  We stay in God’s love.  Point 3: No one has greater agape/love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  These points help flesh out our definition of love quite a bit, but they don’t give us the fullness of that definition.  So, we will turn to another portion of scripture.  This portion of Scripture, we did not read earlier, but it should be rather familiar to you if you grew up in the church or if you have attended multiple weddings.  It is the great love chapter from the book of 1 Corinthians.  Chapter 13.  You can turn to it now as I read it.

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant 5or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 9For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; 10but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. 11When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. 13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

This is a beautiful chapter of love, laying out what agape/love entails.  I challenge you to re-read this chapter and see if you measure up to this kind of love in your relationships.  I challenge you to re-read this chapter and see how well you practice this love in your everyday live.  I challenge you to read through this chapter and see how well any church practices this kind of love on a regular basis.  This kind of love is not easy.  It is terribly difficult.

And now, we get to the final piece which shows us the near impossibility of this agape/love.  1 John 4 spells it out in its ultimate expression.  7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

True agape/love is willing to die for someone when that someone does not love you in return.  True agape/love is willing to give of itself even though it receives only anger and hatred in return.  True agape/love is willing to sacrifice itself for those who do not deserve it.  This is the true form of this fruit of the spirit.

And now, can you see why this is a fruit that can only come when you are transformed from the inside-out?  Can you see why you cannot simply go around and say, “Oh, I will love everyone just like Jesus loved everyone.”?  To say this means you have to look at someone who hates you; who is wishing that you would be dead and be willing to die for them to save them.  Who is really, truly wanting to do that?  Lord knows, I don’t.  When I see what scripture says about this kind of love, I hang my head in shame because I know that this kind of love is very, very rare in my own life.

But Scripture does not leave us with our heads hanging in shame.  No.  Not by a long shot.  Scripture, in fact, gives us the key to actually being able to practice this kind of transformational love.  And it begins with an admission on our part.  It begins with us standing before the Almighty God and confessing the fact that we do not love as we should.  It begins with us standing before the Almighty God and confessing that we have not loved God and deserve His just punishment for our failure to love Him.

Oh, and I know how hard this is. I know how difficult it is to stand and admit that I am a failure.  I know how hard it is to admit that I am nowhere near the Christian that I should be.  I know how difficult it is to admit this in a society that tells you over and over and over that you are fine just the way you are and that you don’t need to change–everyone else may need to change, but you are fine.  Admitting that you are broken is one of the most difficult things you can ever do.

But then, in the midst of your brokenness; in the midst of your sin; in the midst of your humility before God Almighty, you will see what Jesus did for you.  You will find yourself looking up at the cross, and you will see Jesus dying for you.  You will see Him taking your sin and brokenness upon Himself.  You will see him paying the price for you.  You will hear him say, “Father, forgive him.  Father, forgive her.”  You will then find yourself experiencing something amazing.  You will find yourself clothed with the righteousness of Christ.  You will find that Jesus pours Himself into you through the Holy Spirit.  You will experience agape/love.  And your heart will burst.  Your heart will absolutely melt with a sense of awe and wonder.  And you will find within yourself a deep desire to love others in the same manner that you have been loved.  You will find yourself supernaturally changed so that every fiber of your being wants to give what you have received.  You will find yourself bearing fruit: agape/love because God Almighty has given you the ability to produce it.

Oh, that doesn’t mean it will be easy.  That doesn’t mean that people will necessarily accept it.  It doesn’t mean that people will get it.  They aren’t used to that kind of love.  A husband and wife were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary.  Having spent most of the day with relatives and friends at a big party given in their honor, they returned home.  Before going to bed, they decided to have a little snack of tea, bread, and butter.  The husband opened up a new loaf of bread and handed the end piece (the heel) to his wife.  She became furious!  She said, “For fifty years you have been dumping the heel of the bread on me.  I won’t take it any longer!”  On and on she vented her anger over the heel of the bread.  Her husband was absolutely astounded.  When she finished ranting and raving, he said to her quietly, “But dear, it’s my favorite piece.”

Trust me, that story is a much better one than that of the couple that was having a 50th anniversary party when the wife stood up and said, “My dear, for 50 years, I have found you tried and true.”  The crowed applauded.  But the husband who had become very hard of hearing responded, “Eh?  Well, after 50 years, I’m tired of you too!”

The point is, agape/love is difficult love.  Because of our continued imperfection, that love is not always received well.  Because of our continued imperfection, our intentions and our outreach may be misunderstood.  But, we do not cease in our efforts.  We do not stop striving day after day after day.  We do not give up or give in when our efforts are rebuffed, because we know what it is like to experience such love.  We know what it is like to have our hearts filled with the agape/love of Jesus.  We have become those who bear good fruit, and we will never, ever stop.  Amen.

The Lord: Forgiveness (Part 3)

Today, the rubber begins to hit the road.  Today we come to the pivotal biblical teaching on forgiveness.  This teaching is actually so deep and rich that we will spend three Sundays delving into it, and hopefully, at the end of it all, we will come to a deep and full appreciation of forgiveness and find out how indeed we can forgive.

But before we get there, let me take just a moment to recap where we have been so far for anyone who might have missed the first two sermons. First, we delved into what forgiveness is.  We found that it has scientifically proven health and mental benefits.  We also found that it is commanded by God.  We found that if we do not forgive, we will not be forgiven.  Yet, despite all of this, we also found that forgiveness is extremely difficult because it means that we pay for the wrongdoing of someone else.  We bear the cost of someone else hurting us.  Our working definition of forgiveness for this series then is this: the change in our emotional state when we choose to absorb the cost of someone else’s actions that have hurt us. 

Last week, we discovered that the Bible doesn’t give much instruction on how we can forgive.  We found that it commands forgiveness; that it expects forgiveness, but there is no direct process on how it can be accomplished in our lives.  Instead, Jesus begins his teachings on forgiveness with an emphasis on first getting those who have hurt us to take responsibility for their actions.  We are called to seek out those who have hurt us to win them back–win them because they are in danger of losing their salvation.  Jesus outlines a process in doing this, but if that process doesn’t work–if those who have wronged us fail to take responsibility, then we must move on to the hard work of forgiveness.  We must move on to shouldering the cost of how we were wronged.

This leads us straight to our Bible lesson this morning from Matthew chapter 18.  Peter, the spokesman of the disciples picks up on what Jesus is saying.  He understands what Jesus is saying about forgiveness.  He knows that Jesus is asking them to pay the cost of another’s wrong doing.  So Peter asks, “Lord, how many times must I forgive someone?  Seven times?”  Now, Peter thinks that he should receive a pat on the back or two for this question.  The religious teachers of his day had talked of forgiveness as well.  They had decided in their deliberations that one was obligated to forgive another person two times.  After the third offense, one was no longer obligated to forgive.  Does this sound like someone playing baseball?  Three strikes, and you are out!!  Peter is going well above what the religious authorities taught.  He has doubled their number and then added one: seven.  Seven is also considered the perfect number–the number of godliness.  Surely this is accurate.

Jesus actually will have none of it.  Jesus says, “Not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”  Now, the Greek is a little bit difficult to parse here.  You could also translate this seventy times seven–which some of you may have been exposed to in other translations of the Bible.  Either way, Jesus is purposely expanding the number greatly–so much so, that Jesus is truly saying, “Look Peter, you don’t keep count.” If you are keeping count; if you are keeping score; you have not yet understood the idea of forgiveness.

I am quite sure that Peter was taken aback by Jesus reply.  I am quite sure that Peter looked at Jesus with those deer in the headlights eyes.  I’m sure Peter stood there for a moment with his mouth agape before trying to form the words, “But...how?”  How can I forgive someone like that?  How can I bear that much cost?  How can I bear that much pain?  How can I do such an impossible thing?

Like the Master Teacher he is, Jesus responds with a story.  It is a powerful story.  A frightening story.  A story packed with imagery and detail and a wallop of a punch.  And within this story, when we come to understand it. When we come to understand all that is being said.  When it clicks within our minds and our hearts, then, yes, then we will understand and know how to forgive. 

Oh but we need to spend some time in this story.  We need to examine it.  We need to see what this story tells us about God, about ourselves, and then about forgiveness.  And to do this, we will spend today focusing on the Master.  We will spend next Sunday focusing on the servant, and we will spend the last Sunday putting it all together.

As we look at the parable Jesus told, we first see that the Lord and Master in this parable is unimaginably rich.  How do we come to this conclusion.  Well, we come to this conclusion by seeing how much the servant owes him.  This servant is in debt to his master 10,000 talents.  Now, how much is that?  Anyone out there who is a mathematician will appreciate this.  One talent is worth 6,000 denarii, and one denarii is a day’s wage.  Day laborers generally work for $100 a day, so let’s do all the multiplication.  One hundred times 6,000 is $600,000. $600,000 times 10,000 is six billion.  The Lord’s servant owes him six billion dollars!!!  And this is not the only servant. There are more servants to go, and we know from the outset of this parable that they owe the master money as well.  Who has that kind of money to loan?  Only someone who is unimaginably rich! 

This is an important part of this parable because it leads to an important tenet of the Christian faith.  We believe and proclaim that all sin is a sin against God.  Yes, when we sin against another person, we wrong that other person, but we also wrong our Heavenly Father.  There have been a few folks in my time who I have heard who have a hard time wrapping their heads around this.  They will say, “Sure, I may have sinned against this person, but it wasn’t against God.”  I get that argument.  I understand it, but you’ve got to expand your thinking a bit.  For it’s like this: let’s say you drive down to Houston to do some shopping.  You pull into Memorial City Mall, and you see a parking spot open up–that’s a rare thing, you know!!  So you speed up a little bit, and you pull in just in time.  But another patron, who had also seen that parking spot bumps into your car and dents it.  You are not happy with the situation, and you confront the person who hit you.  You demand an apology and payment for the damages.  The person looks at you and says, “You know, I didn’t hit you.  I hit the car.  I don’t owe you and apology.  I owe the car an apology, and I don’t owe you damages.  I owe the car damages.  What is your car’s name so that I can make a check out to it?”  I know that sounds stupid. Why?  Because we all know, that if you own the car, you are due the damages.  If you are driving the car, they hit you. As the owner, you are the one who was sinned against!!! 

So here is the question: what does God own?  What belongs to God?  God is unimaginably wealthy.  God owns everything–including you; including me.  When we sin against one another, we are sinning against the one who owns us.  We are sinning against God.  We will need to remember this next week as well as we talk about the servant, but for now, let’s move on.

The second thing we see about the Lord and Master is that He is unimaginably compassionate.  He is unimaginably gracious.  The servant who owes him six billion dollars is brought before Him, and He demands payment.  The Lord has kept an account of everything owed to Him.  He knows every cent due.  He knows what is rightfully His.  Just like us when our car is damaged and we want things set to right; the Lord wants things set to right.  It is only just.  It is only fair.  You can’t have people squandering your wealth without an accounting.  You can’t have people causing damage without demanding responsibility!  Imagine the chaos such things would cause!!  Payment for the debt must be made!!! 

But how can $6 billion be accounted for?  The only way the Lord can recoup the debt is by selling the servant, his family, and all his possessions.  This is only a drop in the bucket, but the debt must be paid. 

Such a thing is devastating for the servant, so he pleads with the Lord not to do such a thing.  “Give me time, and I will repay everything!!”  We’ll talk more about this next week.

What is important to us today is to see the Lord’s response.  The Lord has compassion.  Literally, in the Greek, the Lord’s insides melted.  When the Lord heard His servant’s plea, He was moved deeply.  How deeply.  The Lord released the servant and wiped out the debt.  The wording here is very important–the slave was literally a prisoner.  He was in bondage, but he is now freed.  He is now released, and his debt is gone; wiped out; completely erased. 

But that forgiveness wasn’t cheap, was it?  Oh, it was cheap for the slave, but it wasn’t cheap for the Lord.  The Lord just incurred a $6 billion expense.  The Lord just had $6 billion erased from His net worth.  Can you imagine swallowing that much?  Can you imagine doing that for someone?  Can you imagine the generosity?  The compassion? The grace?  That is unimaginable.  No one does this.  No one. No one cancels that much debt.  No one pays that cost themselves.  Except for this Lord.  Except for our Lord.  Can you see the generosity of God?  Can you see the compassion of God?  Can you see what God is willing to do for His servants?  Oh ponder the depths of God’s grace and love and mercy!!!

Oh, and if the parable would have ended here, perhaps we could be happy.  Perhaps we could simply revel in the glories of God and His generosity.  But Jesus doesn’t simply stop with the forgiveness of the debt.  There is more.

The servant who was forgiven–who was released, seeks out a fellow servant who owes him money.  Using the mathematics of earlier.  This fellow servant owes the forgiven servant $10,000.  Not insignificant, but completely manageable.  But there is no scene of forgiveness to be played out.  There is no release. There is imprisonment.  We will speak of these things further next week, but for now, let us simply see that the one who was forgiven refuses to forgive, and that initiates another sequence of events–a sequence of events that takes us right back to the Master and Lord.

The Lord is told about the actions of the forgiven servant.  The Lord is told of how the one who was forgiven refused to forgive.  The Lord is told of how the one who was released turned around and made a captive.  And the Lord’s wrath is kindled.  “You evil slave!”  Yes, that’s the Greek word.  Wicked seems to tone things down a bit.  A judgment is rendered here, and it is not pleasant.  “You evil slave!  I forgave you because you pleaded with me.  Shouldn’t you have done the same?!” 

God is not mocked.  God’s forgiveness is not mocked.  God’s righteous anger burns against those who have been forgiven and who fail to forgive.  God’s wrath falls upon them with the heaviest possible consequences.

The $6 billion debt is reinstated.  The slave is thrown into prison.  And the slave is tortured.  That might make us squeamish hearing Jesus say those words.  That may makes our stomachs turn.  We like hearing about God’s love.  We like hearing about Christ’s love.  But judgement?  Torture?  Really?  Surely this is just over the top language.  Surely this is just an interpretation.  Surely this isn’t the “real” Jesus.

Yes. It is.  It is the real Jesus talking about the real God.  We must remember that God is a God of justice.  God’s anger and wrath burns hot against sin.  God will not let sin go unchecked.  And if you have been forgiven $6 billion dollars, it is unjust to demand payment of $10,000.  Look at it this way–if you were lucky and a hard worker, you could expect to make one talent in your LIFETIME.  This servant was forgiven 10,000 lifetimes’ worth of debt, and he refuses to excuse three month’s of wages!  Do you consider that just?  Do you consider that fair?  Do you consider that worthy of the one who forgave $6 billion becoming angry?  Of course you do.  At a deep level, you recognize the injustice.  You recognize that the punishment fits the crime.

And so, is this where we are left?  Are we left here looking at God who punishes if we do not forgive?  Are we left here now thinking, “Geez, I’d better think twice about holding onto my grudges.  I’d better think twice about not forgiving someone else.  I’d better start letting go of my anger towards others lest I end up in hell being tortured because I ticked God off.” 

Stop.  Breathe.  The long answer is no.  We do not forgive others because we are scared to death of God.  We do not forgive others because we fear ending up in hell being tortured for eternity.  There is no comfort in such forgiveness.  There is no peace in such forgiveness.  It is forced and compelled forgiveness, and it certainly is not from the heart.  We will arrive there, but today it is sufficient for us to ponder both the love and the justice of God.   Hold these two things in dynamic tension.  For to see God’s love and God’s justice in tension in this manner is an important step in the process of learning how to forgive.  Amen.

Mark #4: Living in Harmony

There is a deep desire within each and every one of us to see authentic community–to see and live in a place where we have peace with one another without strife and conflict.  You can see this longing throughout the history of humanity: in its songs; in its literature; in its artwork.

“Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me!” goes the great folk song.

“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” says the golden rule which is a part of every major religion and philosophy.

When we see senseless violence and destruction, we ask, “What’s wrong with people?”

And we say the immortal words of Rodney King who spoke in the early 1990's concerning the riots which bear his name, “Why can’t we just all get along?”

Why can’t we, indeed?

And such peace and harmony ideally should be one of the greatest marks of the church.  St. Paul lays it out for us this morning as the fourth mark found in Romans 15:1-6, “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus.”  Paul earnestly prays and admonishes the church at the same time with these words.  He prays and admonishes that we live together in harmony.

Yet...Paul had just finished chapter 14 in the book of Romans–and chapter 14 was all about a church that was not living in harmony.  In fact, if you read through Paul’s letters to the churches, you will find that most of them are dealing with churches who are experiencing some sort of conflict.  1 and 2 Corinthians deal with a church that is divided because of different pastors who have served it.  Galatians deals with a church that is divided because of misunderstandings of the Gospel.  Romans shows division over misunderstanding how the Gospel is lived out.  The Thessalonians are dealing with people who refuse to work.  And so on and so forth.

If you read the book of Acts, you will also see the church divided at times, culminating in the first great council of the Church in Acts chapter 15 where a division regarding whether Gentiles should be added to the church is addressed.  And this is just what is in the Bible.  If you read church history, you will find all sorts of divisions and arguments.  The church is just like the rest of the world when it comes to its divisions and sects and groups and denominations.  There are tens of thousands of different denominations within Christianity, and there seems to be very little harmony.

Just about every congregation knows this.  Just about every single congregation has experienced conflict in its lifetime.  Why can’t we get along?  Why can’t we concentrate on simply being the church; worshiping; reaching out with the Gospel?

Oh, we could spend a lot of time on this–a lot of time. There are many, many possibilities.  But let me read to you, this morning a particularly insightful word from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Bonhoeffer was a German pastor and theologian who was extremely bright and who died because he dared stand against the Nazi party in Germany.

Bonhoeffer wrote several Christian classics including a little book titled, Life Together, and in that book he says this:

Innumerable times a whole Christian community has broken down because it had sprung from a wish dream.  The serious Christian, set down for the first time in a Christian community, is likely to bring with him a very definite idea of what Christian life together should be and to try to realize it.  But God’s grace speedily shatters such dreams.  Just as surely as God desires to lead us to a knowledge of genuine Christian fellowship, so surely must we be overwhelmed by a great disillusionment with others, with Christians in general, and, if we are fortunate, with ourselves.

By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world.  He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over us like a dream.  God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth.  Only that fellowship which faces such disillusionment, with all its unhappy and ugly aspects, begins to be what it should be in God’s sight, begins to grasp in faith the promise that is given to it.  The sooner this shock of disillusionment comes to an individual and to a community the better for both.  A community which cannot bear and cannot survive such a crisis, which insists upon keeping its illusion when it should be shattered, permanently loses in that moment the promise of Christian community.  Sooner or later, it will collapse.  Every human wish dream that is injected into the Christian community is a hindrance to genuine community and must be banished if genuine community is to survive. He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.

I think Dietrich Bonhoeffer was writing those words about me.  Honestly, because I know that I have and had a dream about what a Christian community should be; should look like; should operate like.  I had a dream about how a church should function and how people should act within that community. 

But what Bonhoeffer points out is this: this is MY dream.  It’s not God’s dream.  And if we are to truly experience Christian harmony, we must give up our dreams and submit them to God’s dream and God’s will.  If we pursue our dream, the results will not be pretty, but if we submit to God’s dream.  If we submit to Jesus and His dream for the church, beauty will take place, and this is exactly what Paul tells us.  Hear that verse one more time and pay particular attention to the last part of the verse.  “May the God of steadfastness and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, in accordance with Christ Jesus.”

We must submit ourselves in accordance with Christ Jesus if we want to live in harmony.  Let me show you how this works.  Please remember, I am not a trained musician, and I don’t know music terminology.  I just play my guitar and sing, but here is what I know.  Each string needs to be in tune.  And each string sounds pretty good by itself.  Each makes a nice sound when it is picked.  But if you strum all six strings together, the sound isn’t exactly good.  It’s just some noise.
But, when different strings submit to the will of the musician, harmony appears.  Chords appear.  The sound comes together beautifully.  And as the musician begins pressing down on different strings in different sequences, music begins to appear.  The strings must submit to the will of the musician, or there is no music.  There is no harmony.  But when the Great Musician is working and His people are submitting, there is harmony; there is beautiful music that arises from His Church:

(Sing “Shout to the North)

Oh, my brothers and sisters, if we are going to make music that draws the world to Jesus, we are going to have to submit to Him.  We are going to have to be in accordance with Him.  We are going to have to be in harmony with Him!!  I mean, I am no big fan of T.D. Jakes, the televangelist, but he was absolutely correct when he said, “You can’t learn to be in harmony with other people until you learn to be in harmony with God.”

But here is the good news, God has acted so that we can be in harmony with Him.  God has acted through Jesus so that we may be brought into a right relationship with God.  Jesus has taken our disharmony–our sin–upon himself and put it to death with Him on the cross.  Jesus has taken our disharmony into Himself and tuned it to righteousness.  Jesus has taken our disharmony and transformed it into His beauty, not by any work of our own–not because we deserved it–or anything about us.  He did this through sheer grace; through sheer mercy; because of His great love for you and for me.  You don’t have to worry about tuning yourself.  You don’t have to worry about getting everything together.  Simply put your trust in Jesus, and He will bring you to the place you need to be.  Simply trust in Jesus and what He did on the cross and you will be led into a place of ultimate harmony; first with God, and then with your brothers and sisters in Christ.

As we submit to Jesus more and more in our lives; as we are captured by his grace and mercy; we begin to show this mark more and more as a church.  We begin to live in harmony, and we make beautiful music that proclaims Jesus to the world.  Amen.

The Embrace of the Father: Romans 7:14-24

The other night, I had just drifted off to sleep.  It had been a long several days, and my body was craving sleep so badly, that I was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.  But I awoke with a start as I heard someone moving in my room.  It was my oldest daughter.  She was breathing heavily, on the verge of tears.  “Daddy, I had a night mare.  I’m scared.  I can’t go back to sleep.”

I reached out and held her for a few moments.  I reassured her.  I sent her back to her room.  She left.  I looked at the clock.  Only thirty minutes had passed since I laid down.  I curled up, hoping to recapture the dreams that had held me captive and in restful sleep.

But sleep did not come because only minutes later, my daughter returned, this time in tears.  “Daddy, I can’t fall asleep.”  This time, there were no reassuring hugs.  I was stern, “Turn on you radio.  Go to sleep!”

She left, and once again, I pursued much needed rest.  It was not to be had.  Just a few minutes later, my other daughter entered the room.  “Daddy, I’m really scared!  I can’t sleep.” I hugged and reassured her. I told her, go back to sleep.”  As she exited the room, she said, “Kiera’s in her bed crying.”

By that time, I had had it.  I was angry.  Not only had my sleep been interrupted, but so had others.  It was time for stern measures.  It was time to force the issue of sleep.  I headed to my eldest’s room.

“Go to sleep!” I said as soon as I entered.

“I can’t go to sleep!” my daughter said through tears.  She had taken all of her stuffed animals off her bed.  She had the bare minimum of sheets and pillows.  I reached for a blanket next to her bed to cover her with, and she cried, “I don’t want that.”  And then, she reached for me.  She stretched out her arms and wrapped them around me, and I did the same with her.  I laid my head next to hers, and I simply held her.  Her crying stopped.  Her breathing slowed.  In moments, her breathing was rhythmic, and she was fast asleep.  Whatever nightmares had haunted her, they had vanished in seconds.  They had vanished because of the embrace of her father.

I arose and walked out of the room, and I looked in my middle daughter’s room.  She had turned on her bathroom light, her closet light, and the light next to her bed.  She was laying in bed with the covers pulled up to her neck and eyes wide open.  I walked to her bathroom saying, “No.  No.  No.”  I turned off the bathroom light, the closet light, and the light by her bed.  “No.  No.  No.”  I sat down next to her.  Embraced her.  Laid my head down next to her and held her tight.  Within moments, she too was sleeping soundly.  The fears and anxieties that had haunted her were gone.  She was at peace all because she had been wrapped in the arms of her father.

I thought to myself at that moment, “That is what it is like to be embraced by the loving power of God.”  Whatever fears, whatever anxieties, whatever nightmares haunt you, they are erased in moments when you find yourself resting in the powerful arms of your heavenly Father–when you understand what grace is all about.

Unfortunately, today, most folks don’t understand grace because either they don’t believe in God or they have no fear of God’s anger toward sin.  There is a message seeping out into society that says, “You may make a few mistakes from time to time, but basically, you are a good person.  You are fine just the way you are.  Don’t get down on yourself at all.”  If you take God seriously, you simply cannot feel that way about yourself.  You can’t think that you are just fine.

The apostle Paul certainly did not feel that way about himself, and he is one of the greatest messengers of the Christian faith that walked the earth.  Last week, in out snippet from Romans Chapter seven, he laid out his case for how the law works–how it confronts us with our sinfulness.  If you were here last week, you were presented with a list of the demands of God.  I don’t think anyone in this room could fulfill even one of those demands.  If we use God’s standard for measurement, we are not simply sinful–we are sinners.

Paul knew this down to the very marrow of his bones.  He knew how he stood in comparison to the law.  He knew where he stood when it came to accomplishing following God, and it scared him.  It literally scared him to death.

Paul knows that there is a power at work within him.  He knows there is a power that is corrupting his body.  He knows that something is very wrong deep within him.  He knows that the law comes from God and is spiritual.  He knows that the law is holy and just and good.  But he also knows that he is fleshy.  He knows he is still under the influence of this world–sold into slavery under sin, as he puts it.  And he is not happy about this.  Because he wants to be good.  He wants to do good.  He wants to do the right thing at all times and in all places.  But he cannot, “I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing that I hate.”

Have you ever found yourself there?  Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I know what I should do...”  I know I should be more generous, but the economy looks shaking.  I know I should give my new neighbors a chance, but they have some weird ideas and don’t do things like I do them.  I know I should be forgiving, but the pain that person has caused me is so great.  I know I should talk about my faith in Christ to others, but I don’t think I know enough and people might get upset with me.  Can any of you relate?  Can any of you understand what it means to know what is right and yet fail to do it?

So, what is the problem?  Why is it that we know there is a standard that is good but fail to do it?  Why is it that we know that the law is good, but we fail to implement it?  Because, Paul now says, that deep within us–deep within him–is a power that is at war with the good.  There is a power that is moving deep within our members that is corrupting us and leading us astray.  There is a power that won’t release its hold on us.  A power that is subtle when it needs to be subtle; brutal when it needs to be brutal.  It is a power that will do whatever it takes to lead us away from what we know deep down in the innermost part of our being to be right.  That power, Paul says, is sin.  And it continues to corrupt us.  It continues to influence us.  It continues to work on us toward its purpose so that we do not become what God intends us to be.  “I can will what is right,” Paul says, “but I cannot do it.”  Sin dwells in me.  It corrupts me.

And so, I find myself at war, Paul says.  Deep within my heart, I love God and His law.  I love the commandments because I know that they are for my good.  I want to please God and honor Him.  I want to implement these things because they are given to me by God Himself.  Deep down, I know this.  Deep down, to the core of my being, I want to do this.  But, outside the core of my being, sin holds the rest of me captive.  I cannot escape it.  I cannot avoid it.  I cannot overcome it.  I am wretched!

What a horrible thing to say about one’s self.  What an absolutely horrendous thing to say.  When you call yourself wretched, you are saying that you are worthless, of no value, miserable, devastated, heartbroken.  None of us want to feel this way.  None of us want to go down this path.  But if we hold ourselves to the standard of God’s law and take God’s law in its entirety seriously, then this is exactly where we cannot help but end up.  Wretched.  Paul, when he gets to this point cries out, “Who will rescue me from this body of death?”  Paul is having a nightmare.  Paul is unable to sleep.  Paul is scared to death.

“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”  Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Who rescues us from this nightmare?  Who wraps His arms around us so that we can sleep?  Who brings us peace in the midst of this conflict?  Jesus.  Only Jesus.

“Not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy law’s demands”
Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone, thou must save, and thou alone”
Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling.
Naked come to the for dress; Helpless, look to the for grace;
Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me Savior, or I die.
Rock of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee.”

This hymn speaks deeply to what God has done in Jesus Christ.  It speaks of how Christ gave Himself up for us to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  It speaks of how in the midst of our sin, Christ washes us clean and clothes us with His righteousness.  We are indeed wretched, but we are cleansed.  We deserve God’s righteous anger, and we have received His marvelous love.  We are sinners who deserve just condemnation, and we are saints who have received salvation.

I wish I could convey to you better what this means.  I wish I had the ability to help you see this just like I had the ability to wrap my arms around my daughters in the midst of their fear and anxiety and bring them rest.  I wish I could convey to you the deep love of God for you–to show you the depths that He has gone to redeem you.  I wish I could make it tangible–to make it come alive within you so that each and everyday you might cry out, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”  I wish I had the ability to have this settle deep within your hearts because it was this Gospel that changed the world so long ago.  It was this gospel that inspired a small group of disciples to take this message throughout the world.  It was this gospel that transformed individuals and then societies.  It was this gospel that brought people to a place where they didn’t fear to die; they didn’t fear loving those who were different than they were.  They didn’t fear the future.  They were consumed with loving God and loving their neighbor.  They offered forgiveness.  They offered hope.  They were at peace.

This is desperately needed in our world right now.  The anger, fear, and anxiety in our society are palpable.  You need only to read the news and see how people are treating one another today.  You need only to turn on the television to see how the seeds of distrust have been sown–how we tend to walk on eggshells because we don’t want to cause someone to erupt with anger and hatred.   How we have to measure every single word that we say or type because of how it can be misconstrued and used against us.  How we cluster into our various groups: conservative, liberal, democrat, republican, men, women, race, color, creed and look at others as a threat to us.  How we worry about threat after threat after threat.  Sin is using these things to divide.  To scare.  To breed hatred.   Sin is still very much a disease that infects not only us, but the world.

Jesus is the cure.  Jesus can bring healing.  And it starts right here.  With us.  With our hearts being captured by His love.  With our being a community of people focused on Him.  I pray this day that we all may know the depths of His love for us, that we too might find peace and rest in Him; that we may be a community that lives in Him; that we feel His presence with us and that our fears and anxieties may cease.  May we all know the love of Jesus.  Amen.