Fruits of the Spirit: Peace

Today, we come to the third fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23: peace.

As we discovered when dealing with the word: love, there are also several meanings to the word peace.  There is the kind of peace that a mother of three young children longs for.  Some of you understand this kind of desire.  It’s the kids are jumping around the house on a rainy day, screaming and yelling, knocking over furniture, asking for juice and snacks, putting all kinds of demands on you, lock yourself in the restroom for five minutes so you can get away kind of peace.  This kind of peace is the absence of any distractions or demands on your time or person.

But that is not the only kind of peace we know and long for.  There is also the absence of conflict kind of peace.  I had an interesting discussion with a World War II veteran this week who shared with me what it was like to find this kind of peace.  His unit had been assigned to go after the Eagle’s Nest in Germany.  For those of you who might be unfamiliar with that term, the Eagle’s Nest was the place where Hitler was supposed to be holed up–a last stronghold.  This veteran had faced the daunting task of fighting to capture this fortified, dangerous position.  But before, they moved out, they received word that the war was over.  Peace had been declared.  “The feeling was unimaginable,” this man said.  The absence of what had been brutal conflict was overwhelming.  We long for this kind of peace.

There is also the feeling that we experience in the midst of conflict and strife that all will be okay.  We tend to call this inner peace.  I know this feeling well because I have had it numerous times in my life.  The most vivid one was when I was working for the YMCA summer camp program.  We had taken a group of children to a park in northwest Austin, TX.  It was June of 1996, and we received word that the town of Jarrel, TX had been hit by tornadoes, and they were headed our way.  Complicating matters was that the Y had hired school busses to shuttle us and several other groups to the elementary schools which served as our home bases.  Those busses were busy shuttling another group, and we were without transportation. The skies darkened, and we took the kids to a ravine hoping that the storms would pass over us.  I climbed to the top of a small hill and looked northward and saw a funnel cloud heading toward us.  Yet, in the midst of all of this, I was strangely calm.  Deep down, I knew everything was going to be okay.  And sure enough, a local family saw our plight and urged us to take shelter in their house.  The storms passed us by while we huddled safely there–in peace.

It is quite interesting that in all of these circumstances, we often talk about working for peace. We talk about trying to make peace happen.  We broker treaties, schedule retreats, go to counseling, and all sorts of other things to generate peace.  But Paul, in this list calls peace a fruit of the Spirit.  This means that for a Christian, peace isn’t something that we manufacture as if we can find and assemble the pieces to make something come together in perfect harmony; instead, peace is something that naturally flows from us as individuals and is found in our congregations and churches.  In a real sense, peace just happens.  How can this be?

Well, it all begins with Jesus.  Jesus makes a very interesting comment in the book of John.  27"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  When Jesus says these words, he is tapping into his Jewish heritage and talking about Shalom–a deep sense of well being; a sense of being in harmony with God.  This is not a simple, fleeting feeling.  It is a true gift.  And what is that gift.

First, let’s examine what Jesus means when he says, “I do not give to you as the world gives.”  What does the world give?  Remember, Jesus is saying these things in the midst of the Pax Romana–the peace of Rome.  It was a grand narrative that the Roman Empire proclaimed.  They were bringing peace to the world.  But how?  How did the Roman Empire bring their peace?  How has peace been brought to the world for countless generations?  Through violence.  The Romans established peace by stomping out anyone who opposed them.  They viciously put down any opposing army or insurrection.  They crucified thousands of people.  They rendered swift and merciless judgement on criminals.  Their violence established peace.  This is how the world establishes peace.  The biggest kid on the block gets to call the shots, and if anyone dares to oppose him or her, then the consequences are severe.  There is no conflict because no one wants to take on the big kid.  Everyone fears reprisal.  Everyone walks in lock step because to do so means one will endure the wrath of the one in charge.  This is the peace that the world gives.  Jesus says his peace is not like this.  Not by a long shot.

So, what kind of peace does Jesus bring?  Let me begin to flesh this out by reminding you of an older story–a story that is found at the very beginning of the Bible.  Some of you may remember the story of Noah’s Ark.  You know that it rained for 40 days and 40 nights and Noah and his family and a bunch of animals were saved by being on a giant boat.  And you may remember that the boat came to rest on top of a mountain and stayed there until the water subsided.  Now, I would like to read to you the ending of that story.  Genesis chapter 9 starting at verse 8:

8 Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him, 9‘As for me, I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendants after you, 10and with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the domestic animals, and every animal of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark. 11I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of a flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ 12God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: 13I have set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.’ 17God said to Noah, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.’

Now, most of us were taught that this bow is the rainbow.  The rainbow is often seen as a sign of peace.  Why?  Well, please note that in the lesson from Genesis, the word “rainbow” is not used.  The word bow is.  Do you know what a bow is?  No, not the bow that is put in someone’s hair to make it look pretty.  This is a bow, the kind that is used to shoot arrows. The kind that in that day was used to make war.  God hung up his bow after the flood.  After God punished the sinfulness of humankind, there was peace.

Now, let’s fast forward thousands of years.  Let’s fast forward to another hill, this one outside the city of Jerusalem.  On that hill stands a man, hanging and dying on a cross.  But he is more than just a man.  He is also God incarnate.  He is the creator and sustainer of the universe.  He is one person of the Holy Trinity who took on human flesh to live among us.  He lived the perfect life, following every command of God the Father, and because he was spotless and blameless, he became the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  That man, hanging on the cross has taken the world’s sin upon himself.  He has reached into you and into me and taken our unholiness upon himself.  He has reached into you and me and taken our brokenness upon himself.  He has reached into you and me and taken every evil thought, word, and deed upon himself.  And he is dying in our place.  He is suffering the torments of hell in our place.  He is taking the punishment of the world’s sin so that we might never have to face it.  He is redeeming us and offering us forgiveness of sin.  And not only is he doing this.  No, this is just one half of the equation.  The other half is what Jesus is giving to us.  He is giving us his righteousness.  He is giving us his blamelessness.  He is giving us his spotlessness.  He is making us holy so that we can stand before God Almighty acceptable in His sight.  He is transforming us into his brothers and sisters so that we may receive the promises of God.  He is giving us the same status that he had as sinless.

Instead of washing the world clean by a flood and destroying once again the wickedness of humankind and punishing us for our sin, God pays the price himself and washes us clean by His blood on the cross of Calvary.  Instead of hanging a bow in the sky, God hangs himself on the cross in a declaration of peace.  Why?  Because, when you hang a bow up, the bow is still there and it can be used later.  War can be re-declared.  This time, the bow is broken, shattered, and a lasting peace is established between God and humanity as God pays the price once and for all!

St. Paul wrote about it this way in the book of Romans, “6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. 9Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. 10For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more surely, having been reconciled, will we be saved by his life. 11But more than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Through Jesus Christ, we have peace with God.  A right relationship with God has been restored.  We have been justified.  We have been made right with our creator, not by any action we have taken, but by the actions that Jesus Christ has taken.  And God announced this new status with the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  God declared that everything Jesus said and did was true; and God showed that what happened to Jesus will also happen to us.  Death will not touch us.  We too will be raised to eternal life.

And when we put our trust in this action; when we stop trying to make ourselves right and throw ourselves on the mercy of God and God’s action, something happens deep within us.  Something happens that brings us a sense of overwhelming peace and comfort.  We know that we are right with our Creator.  We know we stand in God’s love–a love that will never go away.  And we know that God will act to bring us through whatever trial or tribulation we will face.  Even death cannot have the last say.  God will work to bring all things toward the good.  Such things bring us an overwhelming sense of peace deep within our hearts–even when the world rages around us.  Such is the fruit that grows within our hearts.

But it does not stay within our hearts.  These fruits of the Spirit also begin coming forth in our lives.  Peace begins emerging in our relationships–particularly in the relationships between those who believe in Jesus.  For you see, as our hearts change, we too understand that peace is not given as the world gives.  We begin to understand that peace is not brought about by being the top dog and strongest, mightiest person who can call all the shots.  No.  Instead, peace begins to emerge when we, like Jesus take on the pain and suffering of offering forgiveness.  Peace begins to emerge when we are willing to pay the price for someone else wronging us.  Remember our sermon series on forgiveness not too long ago?  See how the two are inter-related?  When a community of such like minded people gather, there are problems.  There are issues.  Our human natures still bring about conflict, BUT because our hearts are willing to absorb the cost; because our hearts have the peace of Christ within, reconciliation and forgiveness rule.  Reconciliation and forgiveness take center stage.  The same reconciliation and forgiveness God through Jesus extended to the whole world emerges within a community of faith bringing peace between brothers and sisters in Christ.

During my sermon series on forgiveness, I told the joke about the preacher who preached on loving one’s enemies.  Remember that joke?  A pastor preached a sermon to his congregation on loving and forgiving one’s enemies.  After 30 minutes, he asked his congregation, “Who believes we should love and forgive our enemies?”  About half of those in attendance raised their hands.  The preacher wasn’t satisfied with this, so he preached another 30 minutes.  He then asked again, “How many of you believe we should love and forgive our enemies?”  About 3/4 of the congregation raised their hands.  So, the preacher preached another 45 minutes.  He then asked once more, “Who believes we should love and forgive our enemies?”  The whole congregation raised their hands except for 94 year old Mrs. Mabel sitting in the back of the church.  The preacher was astounded.  “Mrs. Mabel, how is it that all the rest of the church believes they need to love and forgive their enemies, but you don’t?”  Mrs. Mabel replied, “I ain’t got no enemies!”  The preacher was astounded, “You have no enemies?”  Mrs Mabel responded, “No.  Not a one.”  The preacher was then filled with excitement as he said, “Mrs. Mabel, please come down here and give your testimony.  Come down here and tell us how it is that you have no enemies.”  Mrs. Mabel shuffled up to the front of the church. She took the microphone in her hand and held it close.  Then she said, “It’s because I outlived all them hussies!”

I am sure Mrs. Mabel was at peace, but not because she was producing peace.  She was not bearing the fruits of the Spirit.  Imagine a place where such personal relationships were governed by the peace that forgiveness brings.  Imagine such a place governed by a group of people who were quick to bear one another’s burdens and realize how deeply flawed one another can be.  Imagine a community where the words, “I forgive you,” easily flow as they did from the lips of Jesus.  Imagine a community of people who know the peace of being forgiven by God and who then extend that forgiveness to one another.  Would you want to be a part of that community?  Could you stand being away from that type of community for a long period of time?  Would you want to stay in that community and experience it day in and day out?  At its best, this community would be called the church.  It would be called those who are forgiven and who forgive as Jesus did.  It would be called those who produce the fruit of Peace because they know the grace of God truly and deeply.  May we be such a community.  Amen.

Seeking Responsibility (Forgiveness Part 2)

We continue our sermon series this week on forgiveness.  Just to recap last week: we discovered that scientists have discovered many physical and mental benefits with forgiveness.  We also know that forgiveness is commanded by God and that the Bible tells us that if we don’t forgive, then we will not be forgiven.  Yet, despite all of this, forgiveness is terribly difficult for us to practice.  As we delved into the biblical understanding of forgiveness, we came to understand why: forgiveness means that we pay the cost when someone else wrongs us.  We would rather obtain justice, revenge, or restitution when someone harms us.  We would rather not pay that price ourselves.  We concluded with a working definition of forgiveness that will guide us through the next several weeks: the change in our emotional state when we choose to absorb the cost of someone else’s actions that have hurt us. 

Since we have a working definition of forgiveness, the next question becomes: how do we practice forgiveness?  How do we overcome our natural tendencies toward justice, revenge, and demanding retribution and instead pay the cost of others’ wrong doings?  Now, I am going to admit right here that I am working on the assumption that as Christians, you want to practice forgiveness; you want to follow the commands in scripture; you want to become better at practicing this common faith that we share.  If that is indeed the case, we will proceed.

I find it very interesting that for such an important cornerstone to the Christian life, there really isn’t a whole lot of emphasis on how to forgive in the Bible.  It is certainly commanded.  It is certainly expected, but there isn’t much teaching on how it is to be accomplished.  It would be nice if the Bible had a series of steps laid out: a three step program; a seven step program; a ten step program that would lay out the process of forgiveness so that we could simply walk step by step towards forgiveness.  Alas, but no such list is to be found.  The closest thing we get to a process can be found in Matthew chapter 18.  There is a series of teachings by Jesus that directly relates to forgiveness.

The first part of those teachings, ironically, is a process–although it is not a process of forgiveness.  Again, let’s go back to our working definition of forgiveness: the change in our emotional state when we choose to absorb the cost of someone else’s actions that have hurt us.  Absorbing that cost is very, very difficult.  It causes us hurt.  It causes us grief.  It causes us pain.  It is not something we want to do.  Furthermore, it seems to absolve the guilty party of responsibility.  That is not necessarily a good thing.

I can remember growing up and having lot of friends who were Roman Catholic.  Oftentimes some of them would go out partying on the weekends.  I’d ask them about how they squared their actions with their faith.  They’d usually say, “Well, I’ll just go to confession, and everything will be okay.”  Forgiveness to them was cheap.  It required nothing from them.  It absolved them of responsibility.  They simply continued their behavior.  I think that you and I can agree that this is not optimal.

And so, Jesus begins his teachings on forgiveness with a confrontation of the sin.  Jesus begins his teachings on forgiveness with the idea of getting someone who hurts you to take responsibility for his or her actions.  Jesus says, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have regained that one.”  Now, there are some important details to look at in this statement.  First, Jesus says, “If another member of the church sins against you...”  This is an important qualifier to this process Jesus is outlining.  There is a difference between someone in the church and someone outside of the church.  Within the church we are expected to take responsibility for our actions; we are expected to take responsibility for our sins; we are expected to make things right as best as we can with our fellow man.  Therefore, when someone in the church sins against us, rather than immediately try and bear the cost of forgiveness, we are called to seek them out.  We are called to try and clear the air. 

This is very practical advice on one level.  I mean, sometimes we hurt people without even realizing it.  Has that ever happened to you?  Have you ever done or said something with the best of intentions only to have someone become very upset with what you have done?  I’m reminded of the story of the Polish man moved to the USA and married an American girl.  Although his English was far from perfect, they got along very well. One day he rushed into a lawyer's office and asked him if he could arrange a divorce for him. The lawyer said that getting a divorce would depend on the circumstances, and asked him the following questions: “Have you any grounds?” “Yes, an acre and half and nice little home.”  “No, I mean what is the foundation of this case?” “It made of concrete.”  “I don't think you understand. Does either of you have a real grudge?” “No, we have carport, and not need one.”  “I mean what are your relations like?” “All my relations still in Poland.”  “Is there any infidelity in your marriage?” “We have hi-fidelity stereo and good DVD player.”  “Does your wife beat you up?” “No, I always up before her.”  “Why do you want this divorce?” “She going to kill me.”  “What makes you think that?” “I got proof.”  “What kind of proof?” “She going to poison me. She buy a bottle at drugstore and put on shelf in bathroom. I can read English pretty good, and it say: Polish remover.”

Okay, that’s a joke, and we all know it, but there is some seriousness to it.  It’s a huge misunderstanding, and such misunderstandings can be cleared up very, very quickly in a private meeting between two people.  In the church, this should be easier than it tends to be.  And I know at least one of the reasons why.  We’re afraid.  We’re afraid to go talk to someone because we don’t like confrontation.  We don’t like the thought that someone will be angry with us.  We don’t like the idea that if we confront someone, we might be caused even more hurt.  And so we let it fester.  We let it simmer.  We fail to confront.  And it is not only to our detriment; it is also to the detriment of our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

For you see, the translation that we have before us isn’t as accurate as it could be.  Perhaps a better translation would be this, “If another member of the church sins against you, go and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to you, you have won that one.”  Yes, regained should probably be translated “won”.  This indicates that your fellow church member might be in danger of being lost.  Your fellow brother or sister in Christ might be in danger of losing his or her salvation.  This should be a revolting thought to any Christian.  God desires no one to be lost, and Jesus is giving us the responsibility of restoring our brothers and sisters to faith.  This is much more important and takes much greater precedence than our fear!

So, go.  Speak privately with your brother.  Speak privately with your sister.  If the sin is named; if the air is cleared; you have regained your brother; you have regained your sister; and you no longer have to bear the cost of forgiveness.  Your brother or sister has taken responsibility.

That’s the ideal.  But you and I know that we don’t live in an ideal world.  Oftentimes, confronting our brothers and sisters in their sin does not work.  There is a huge tendency to justify our actions.  “Why did you hit your brother?”  “He was picking on me.”  See the justification?  “You just broke that picture frame by throwing the ball in the house.”  “I didn’t mean to.”  See the justification?  “You shouldn’t say those kinds of things about other people.”  “That’s just your opinion.”  See the justification?  Sometimes, our pride and arrogance gets in the way of us truly taking responsibility for our actions.  And if you experience this when you confront someone who has hurt you, there is another step in the process.  Involve others.  Take another person or two to serve as witnesses. 

And if that doesn’t work, bring it to the church.  Notice that making things public in front of everybody is the last step in the process?  Notice that talking about another person’s sin in front of everyone is forbidden until all other avenues have been exhausted?  How backwards do we often practice Jesus words!!!  How backwards do we often live this out!!!  Oh how many conflicts and trials and broken relationships could be saved were we only to follow the instructions of our Lord and Savior!!

But we do also see before us that there is a time and a place for the church to render judgment.  We also see before us that there is a time and a place for the church to draw lines in the sand between that which is right and that which is wrong.  “If they do not listen to the church, treat them as a Gentile or a tax collector.”  In the language of the day, this means treat them as an outsider.  Treat them as one who does not belong to the fellowship.  You have given them every single opportunity to repent; you have given them every single opportunity to admit their guilt; you have given them every single opportunity to take responsibility for their actions; and they have not accepted it.  It’s time to move on.  It’s time to move to the hard work of forgiveness–of paying for the other person’s actions toward you.  You tried.  You did what you could.  But sometimes, it just doesn’t work out as it should.

And so let us close with a prayer from Desmond Tutu who worked very hard on reconciliation and forgiveness after apartheid came to an end in South Africa

I want to be willing to forgive
But I dare not ask for the will to forgive
In case you give it to me
And I am not yet ready
I am not yet ready for my heart to soften
I am not yet ready to be vulnerable again
Not yet ready to see that there is humanity in my tormentor’s eyes
or that the one who hurt me may also have cried
I am not yet ready for the journey
I am not yet interested in the path
I am at the prayer before the prayer of forgiveness
Grant me the will to want to forgive
Grant it to me not yet but soon
Can I even form the words
Forgive me?
Dare I even look?
Do I dare to see the hurt that I have caused?
I can glimpse all the shattered pieces of that fragile thing
That soul trying to rise on the broken wings of hope
But only out of the corner of my eye
I am afraid of it
And if I am afraid to see
How can I not be afraid to say
Forgive me?
Is there a place where we can meet?
You and me
The place in the middle
The no man’s land
Where we straddle the lines
Where you are right
and I am right too
And both of us are wrong and wronged
Can we meet there?
And look for the place where the path begins
The path that ends when we forgive.  Amen.

The Tribal Brain Undone

    This morning we have the second feeding of a multitude found in the book of Mark.  Yes, you heard me correctly, this is the second time Jesus feeds a large group of people.  Mark records two feedings.  If you don’t believe me, you can look in your Bible at Mark chapter six.  That’s the feeding of the 5000.  This is the feeding of the 4000.  Some scholars, while looking at these two accounts think that Mark is simply telling a story twice–a doublet is what they call it.  They discount the historical accuracy of this second event.  Other scholars are quick to say that there are very different circumstances here–circumstances that say this is indeed another historical feeding with a very important point.  What might that point be?  Let’s begin our journey this morning together.

    In the July/August edition of "The Reader’s Digest", Chris Mooney writes an article titled, “Are We Naturally Born Racists?” It is a fascinating read about the nature of the human brain.  The writer, Chris, takes the IAT test, which is a test that seeks to measure your initial reactions to people of color.  Chris considered himself color blind, but the test revealed that he had an innate prejudice.  He was not happy about this.  But he asked numerous questions about this research, and it led him to write the following:

    Humans are tribal creatures, showing strong bias against those we perceive as different from us and favoritism toward those we perceive as similar.  In fact, we humans will divide ourselves into in-groups and out-groups even when the perceived differences between specific groups are completely arbitrary.

    Let that sink in just a moment before hearing the next one.

    In other words, if you give people the slightest push toward behaving tribally, they'll happily comply.  So if race is the basis on which tribes are identified, expect serious problems.

    What kind of problems?

    Lebanese-born French writer Amin Maalouf says this in his 1996 book In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong:

    People often see themselves in terms of whichever one of their allegiances is most under attack. And sometimes, when a person doesn’t have the strength to defend that allegiance, he hides it. Then it remains buried deep down in the dark, awaiting its revenge. But whether he accepts or conceals it, proclaims it discreetly or flaunts it, it is with that allegiance that the person concerned identifies. And then, whether it relates to color, religion, language or class, it invades the person’s whole identity. Other people who share the same allegiance sympathize; they all gather together, join forces, encourage one another, challenge “the other side.” For them, “asserting their identity” inevitably becomes an act of courage, of liberation.
 

    In the midst of any community that has been wounded agitators naturally arise… The scene is now set and the war can begin. Whatever happens “the others” will have deserved it.

    Think about such things deeply for a moment as you think about the culture that surrounds us.  Think about such things as you reflect on what took place and is taking place just down the road in Waller County surrounding Sara Bland.  Think about such things as you contemplate the shooting of Alison Parker and Adam Ward. Think about this as you ponder the execution of Houston Sheriff's Deputy Darren Goforth.  Think about such matters as you remember the cold blooded killing of nine church people in Charleston, S.C.

    In each of these situations, there is an us/them mentality.  There is the idea that a particular group is persecuted and then justified in its actions.  There is a great divide as tribal lines are drawn around the color of skin.  Ah, but if Mooney and the researchers at Harvard are correct, such tribalism doesn’t just take place around skin color, our brain naturally draws distinctions between male and female, German and Czech, black and white, young and old, liberal and conservative, Democrat and Republican, and so on and so forth.  Lines get drawn, sides get taken, and fights eventually erupt.  And sometimes we scratch our heads in bewilderment wondering why.

    And some of you might be wondering why I am even going down this train of thought when it looks like it has nothing to do with the feeding of the 4000.  Such matters seem to be completely absent from this text from Mark chapter 8.  And you would be right if you just look at this text at face value, but I don’t want to look at it on the surface. I want to dig into it and place it into context.  I also want to compare it to the previous feeding found in chapter 6 because there are some very important differences.

    First off, the location is important.  Mark begins this little segment with the words, “In those days...” which connect this story to the one immediately preceding it–the healing of a deaf, tongue tied, Gentile man.  This is important because Jesus is traveling through Gentile territory.  You might say He was in hostile territory given the Jew’s animosity toward Gentiles.  However, something very strange seems to be going on.  The Gentiles are very receptive to Jesus’ message.  A large crowd has gathered to hear Jesus preach and teach. 

    I pointed out last time with the feeding of the 5000 that you should be thankful that I don’t preach like Jesus.  I will reinforce this once more as I point you toward Jesus’ statement, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for...” how many days?   Yes.  Three days.  How many complaints do you think Jesus got about that sermon? 

    But let’s return more to the point.  I want you to take a moment to turn to the feeding of the 5000 that you find in Mark chapter 6, and I want you to look at something carefully.  I want you to look at the role of the disciples.  Who initiates care and compassion for the crowd in Mark chapter 6? 

    It’s the disciples.  The crowd has been there all day.  The crowd is getting hungry.  The disciples know they need to eat, and, knowing they could not provide for the crowd, they asked Jesus to send them away to get something to eat.  As we look at the feeding of the 4000, the crowd has been with Jesus for three days–three days!!!  How come the disciples didn’t say anything to Jesus about the people getting hungry?  How come the disciples didn’t ask Jesus to send them away to get their own food?  How come the disciples don’t show the same kind of concern?  I think there is a reason.

    Jesus is the one who begins the conversation and who has compassion.  He, again says, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way—and some of them have come from a great distance.”

    Verse 4 reads: His disciples replied, ‘How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?’

    Now, there are a couple of ways of looking at this.  First, we can wonder: are the disciples dense?  Don’t they remember Jesus feeding the 5000?  Don’t they remember His amazing miracle?  Don’t they realize that Jesus could do once again what He did before?  Do they truly lack faith in the one who fed the multitude before, walked on water, cast out demons, and then healed a man who was deaf and tongue tied? 

    I think the answer is no, and I base it on what I read in one of my commentaries.  It was a very intriguing quote, and I would like to share it with you now.  William Lane writes in The New International Commentary on the New Testament, “There is an indirectness in the response of Ch. 8:4 which is different in tone and function.  It serves to refer the question of procuring bread back to Jesus and is tantamount to asking, What do you intend to do?”

    What do YOU intend to do, Jesus?  Not, how can we help.  Not, should we spend a lot of money to provide food.  It’s all up to you Jesus.  Now, this could be seen as a statement of tremendous faith.  It could be seen as a statement of trust in the Lord, but it doesn’t fit the context.  It certainly doesn’t fit what will be happening in the next couple of texts.  In fact–here is a bit of a foreshadowing for you–as we look at the next couple of snippets in the coming weeks, we will see that the disciples don’t get it.  They don’t understand Jesus’ mission.  They are starting to understand that He is the Messiah, but they don’t yet realize, Jesus is here to save, not simply the Jews, but is here to save the WHOLE WORLD.  This means, I think, in the context of what is going on in this segment of the book of Mark, the disciples don’t want to feed this crowd.  They don’t want to have compassion on them.  They don’t like this crowd because this crowd is a Gentile crowd.  This crowd isn’t like them.  The disciples are being tribal.

    But Jesus won’t let them get away with this.  Jesus won’t let them keep those boundaries drawn.  Jesus asks them how much bread they have.  Seven loaves this time.  Jesus takes them and begins breaking them, and He makes the disciples distribute the bread.  Jesus finds that they have a few fish.  He blesses them and starts distributing them through the disciples.  Once again, the entire crowd is satisfied, and when all is said and done, seven baskets are filled.  This time, it’s not seven lunch boxes-the Greek word here connotes large baskets constructed out of rope.  Jesus dismisses the crowd, and everyone gets back into the boat and leaves.

    Again, as we shall see in the next Sunday or so as we continue our journey through Mark, the disciples don’t get what Jesus is doing.  They don’t understand this foray into Gentile territory.  They don’t understand the nature and reality of what it means that Jesus is God incarnate.  They don’t understand fully the nature of what it means that Jesus is the Messiah.  They are still caught up in the idea that Jesus is here for the Jews.  They are still caught up in the idea that this man who is full of power will restore the kingdom of Israel.  The other nations of the world–the Gentiles are to be subjects to rule over. They are outsiders.  They are those people over there.  It is all too easy to look at the world and think such thoughts.  The brain is hard wired to draw distinctions, and we are quick to act tribally.   Do you see now why I started as I did?  Do you see now how this ties to our present reality is a very real way?  Do you see how we still struggle with the same issues the disciples struggled with? 

    And what does Jesus lead us to?  What place does Jesus want us to arrive at?

    Let me read to you a snippet from the book of Ephesians chapter 2:

    3But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is, the hostility between us. 15He has abolished the law with its commandments and ordinances, so that he might create in himself one new humanity in place of the two, thus making peace, 16and might reconcile both groups to God in one body through the cross, thus putting to death that hostility through it. 17So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near; 18for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father.

    Did you catch that phrase in there?  Did you catch the fact that you were once “far off?”  Did you catch that through the blood of Jesus, a new humanity has now been created?  Did you catch that the world has been reconciled to God through Jesus’ body on the cross?  

    You see, Jesus is showing in the feeding of this Gentile crowd that He is the Messiah for the world.  He is not simply the Messiah for the Jews.  All are far off from God.  The Jews are far off because they do not follow the commands given to them by Moses.  The Gentiles are far off because the Jews have not taken the blessings of God and then sought to be a blessing to others.  All are separated from God. All.

    And we don’t like to hear that.  No.  We don’t like to hear that at all.  We like to think that God and we are like this (hold intertwined fingers up).  We like to think that God and we are on good terms.  We like to think that we have it all figured out and God is walking with us affirming us every step of the way, and the people with all the problems are those people out there.  If those people would just get their acts together then everything will work out.  And I will surround myself with people who think like me and act like me and look like me.  We will affirm each other and make ourselves feel good, and we can look down our collective nose at everyone else.

    But Jesus says, “I don’t think so.  You are not as good as you think you are.  In fact, because of your sin–you are apart from God.  You are out there.  And so is everyone else in the world.”  All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.  And there is nothing you can do to make it better.  Your brain won’t allow it.  You will always become tribal.  You will always try to think in terms of us versus them.  That’s how you are wired because of your sin.

    But even though we can’t do anything about this, there is one who can.  There is one who did.  For when Jesus stretched out His arms on the cross, He brought you close to God.  He brought me close to God.  He brought the world close to 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 into the world not to condemn the world, but that the world might be save through Him.”

    All who were once far off have been brought near.  All who have sinned receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ.  And even if a person does not follow Jesus, do we see them as less than ourselves?  Do we see them as unworthy of love and compassion and trust?  Of course not.  We see others as God sees them: as precious people who are in need of a Savior.  And how do we bring them to the saving knowledge of Jesus?  Do we do so with hatred, animosity, anger, frustration, and the like?  Of course not.  No.  We lead with the same things Jesus gave to us when we least deserved it: compassion, kindness, grace, and love.  Yes, there are differences.  Yes, there are divisions, but when we place our trust in Christ, we do not lead with blame, or hatred or animosity or drawing lines.  We lead with compassion, love, and reconciliation.  Amen.

Who do You Trust?

    It is little wonder to me anymore as to why we fail to see miracles.  It is little wonder to me anymore as to why the church continues to decline in the U.S.  It is little wonder to me anymore as to why there is a rise of those who call themselves spiritual but not religious or the “nones.”  When you believe that everything hinges upon what you do, things will fall apart.  When you fail to trust in Jesus, everyone walks away hungry.  I hope that caught your attention.  Let’s see why.

    Today we have the only miracle story other than the resurrection that is recorded in all four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John each record this tremendous act of Jesus, and each add certain details that flesh out the whole story.  Today, we focus on Mark’s version, but we will refer to the others as well as we walk through this event.

    It is important to note that the feeding of the 5000 men comes right after Mark tells us of the beheading of John the Baptist.  In that snippet, the events play out at a banquet full of depravity: drunkenness, gluttony, power, prestige, status, empty promises, child porn, premeditated murder, and disobeying God’s commands darken that story and lead to a horrible conclusion–a conclusion that leaves everyone empty.

    And then we arrive at the beginning of our text today as the disciples return from a mission Jesus had given them.  The disciples had been charged with going out in to the community and healing the sick, preaching the Word, and casting out demons.  They return and begin giving their reports to Jesus.  However, the disciples aren’t the only ones around.  There are many people gathering around as well.  Many are coming to be healed and to hear the preaching.  They know they are witnessing something tremendous, and they want to be a part of it.  This keeps Jesus and the disciples busy.  Very busy.  How busy?  So busy they do not have time to eat.  They are empty.

    This raises some very important points as it addresses life.  First, no matter how hard you work in helping people out, there will always be a need.  There will always be those clamoring for your services.  There will always be those clamoring for your attention.  As the singer for Confederate Railroad once sang in the song, “Daddy Never was the Cadillac Kind,” “It took a while but now I’m grown.  Settled down with kids of my own. The more I give them, the more they want.”  That is not only true of kids.  It’s true of humanity.  That’s point one.  Point two is this: if you try to satisfy everyone, you will run yourself ragged and be completely empty.  You can work to heal everyone and care for everyone, but in the long run, you will run out of time and energy.  The disciples had become so busy trying to meet everyone’s demands that they were not able to eat.

    Jesus assesses this situation and says, “Okay everyone, time for a rest.  Let’s go to a deserted place.”  Jesus and His disciples get into their boat and head across the lake to find a place of seclusion.  Jesus knows His closest friends desperately need some time away.  He knows they need a break, but they are not going to get it–at least not yet.

    People see Jesus and the disciples going around the lake.  They know what Jesus is capable of.  They want to continue to be a part of this ministry, so they begin spreading the word.  People run around the lake.  They tell others in the surrounding villages.  People begin gathering.  A crowd builds as they expectantly wait for Jesus.  And as the boat approaches the shore, Jesus sees that crowd.  I can see the disciples’ eyes grow wide at this point.  I can see them in the midst of their exhaustion thinking to themselves, “Didn’t we just leave this crew?  Not only that, did they go out and bring all their friends?  How are we ever going to take care of them?  Will we ever get any rest?  Will we ever get any food?  Will we ever be filled ourselves?”

    Jesus could have had the same reaction, but He didn’t.  He looked upon that crowd and thought, “They are like sheep without a shepherd.”  Now, this phrase is very important.  It’s not just an agricultural term.  It’s not just about how sheep desperately need a shepherd–which they do.  There are some Kingdom of God principles coming into play.  Throughout the Old Testament, there are many references to God sending His promised King who will shepherd the people.  Let that sink in for a moment.  Remember, Mark has just told us about Herod’s banquet–Herod, the puppet king who was supposedly ruling over the people–dare I say supposed to be shepherding them?  He’s obviously not doing a very good job.  As Jesus looks at the crowd, He sees them as members of the Kingdom who do not have a King.  They need a King.  They need one who will shepherd them; who will lead them in paths of righteousness; who will lead them to green pastures; who will let them sit down beside still waters.  Do you hear a little bit of Psalm 23 there?  You should.  You should also hear Ezekiel 34:23 which is a lesser known passage, but still rings loudly here.  That passage reads, “I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd.”

    Mark is drawing a stark contrast here between the supposed king of Galilee who is seeking power and prestige and wealth and status, and Jesus who will feed His people.  There is a contrast between Herod who only thinks of those who will help him further his ambitions and Jesus who has compassion on the multitude.  There is a sharp division.

    And the first thing Jesus feeds is their soul.  He begins by feeding them with the Word of God.  He
begins teaching.  For those of you who might complain about my sermons, please take note, Jesus preaches all day–well into the evening.  Aren’t you glad I am not like Jesus?  The hour begins getting late, and the disciples begin to wonder about provision.  The people will be getting hungry.  They need food.  There’s a lot of people.  So, they come to Jesus and think of the most compassionate thing that comes to mind, “Jesus, send them away to the surrounding villages so that they can get something to eat.”  In other words, let them fend for themselves.

    This indeed is the easy way out.  Indeed, this is the path of least resistance.  Wash your hands of responsibility.  We will take care of our needs.  Let each person take care of his or her own needs.  We do the same thing today.  Let’s not fool ourselves.  Every time we point at someone who we think should be working instead of asking for help, we are doing exactly what the disciples are doing here.  Let everyone fend for themselves.  We have our own problems to worry about.

    But Jesus doesn’t let them off the hook.  He looks at the disciples and says, “You give them something to eat.”

    Now, here is a very interesting response.  Let’s dwell on it for a moment.  Philip responds, “Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?”  Now, this was just over half a year’s wages.  John records that this would barely give everyone gathered a bite of food–surely not enough to satisfy them.  And whether or not the disciples actually had 200 denarii is questionable as well.  For we are about to find out just how much food the disciples really had.  For Jesus brushes aside the question of paying for the food by asking, “How many loaves do you have?”

    They respond, “Five loaves and two little fish.”  Now, if you remember the parallel account from the book of John, where did these five barley loaves and two fish come from?   Were they the property of the disciples?  No, they were not.  There was a little boy who was among those gathered whose mom had sent a lunch.  The food didn’t even belong to the disciples.  It was someone else’s!  Which means this: the disciples had nothing.  They had no food at all.  And what they had appropriated wasn’t even enough to satisfy one of them.  For you see, the five loaves of bread were essentially flat biscuits.  Several could be eaten in one setting.  Five loaves of these and two fish were enough to satisfy one boy.  The disciples were young men, and this would barely touch their appetites. 

    Which means this: Jesus had given the disciples an impossible command.  Jesus had told them to give the crowd something to eat.  The disciples did not have the resources to do this.  The disciples did not have enough food to do this.  They didn’t even have enough food to feed themselves.  Remember the very beginning of the story?  They were hungry and tired themselves, and now Jesus is commanding–not asking–commanding them to do the impossible.  It’s not printed in Mark, but I am quite sure the disciples were saying to themselves, “We can’t do this.  It is beyond us.”

    And it is.  It was.  It was beyond anything any of them could do.  Remember, Mark records that this crowd is composed of 5000 men.  Matthew says, this excludes women and children.  This crowd could easily have been 17 to 20 thousand.  There is no way 12 men could feed that multitude.  No way at all...if they trust themselves to do it.  Let me say that again: if they trust themselves with the task.

    Jesus orders His disciples to tell the crowd to sit down into groups of fifties and hundreds.  This detail is more important than you think, for it hearkens back to the Exodus when Moses divided the people into such groups.  It hearkens back to the promises that the Messiah would so divide the people of Israel in His Kingdom.  Jesus is presenting Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep: the King in the Kingdom of God as the people are divided into these groups.

    Then Jesus looks up, blesses the loaves and fish, and keeps breaking them.  I use the term breaking purposely because there are some who say that the real miracle is that when Jesus started sharing the food, everyone else broke out their own food and shared with one another.  The text does not say that.  The text here indicates that Jesus kept breaking the bread and dividing the fish and the disciples kept distributing it.  Jesus broke and broke and broke and the disciples gave and gave and gave.  All were satisfied.  17 to 20 thousand people were completely satisfied.

    But that is not the end.  Mark records one more small detail.  The remains were gathered, and it was enough to fill 12 baskets.  Now, these baskets were essentially traveling baskets that one carried upon one’s person.  They were like lunch kits, and there were exactly 12 of them filled up.  For who?  Remember the one’s who had nothing at the beginning of this story?  Remember the ones who were hungry and had no time to eat?  Remember the ones who had to take a little boy’s lunch just to have a meager supply?  Yes, that’s right.  The disciples now also were filled.  They now had provision.  Jesus didn’t just provide for those gathered on the hillside; He provided for those closest to Him.  ALL were now satisfied and provision was now made–not by anything that the disciples had done, but through the work and person of Jesus.

    My question to you this morning is this: when you look at the world and everything that is in it; when you see the need of people who are hungry, who are homeless, who need clean drinking water, who live in poverty, who experience oppression and racism and sexism; when you see a church declining and hurting, who do you trust to bring healing and satisfaction?  Who do you trust to bring fullness and healing?

    Be careful here, because I am not suggesting that we simply put all the responsibility with Jesus.  No.  His command to the disciples is His command to us: you take care of it. You feed the hungry.  You provide clean drinking water.  You clothe the naked.  You heal society’s wounds of racism, sexism, and the like.  This is His command to you and me.  We are not off the hook.  We are on it and cannot get off, but here is the deal.  Do you arrogantly think that you can fix the problem?   Do you look at things and say, “We can do it!”?  Or do you admit, “We can’t do it.  It is beyond us and our capability.  It is beyond the scope of any person or human entity.”

    It has become the unfortunate tendency that we look only to ourselves to fix the world’s problems.  It has become the unfortunate tendency of the church to believe everything hinges upon what we do.  Now, why would I say this?  Because of the truth of the human condition.  We do not have a hunger problem.  Let me say that again.  We do not have a hunger problem.  We have a distribution problem.  We produce more than enough food for everyone in the world to have something to eat, but it doesn’t get to those in need.  Why?  Because some believe they need more than others.  We don’t have a homeless problem.  There are so many deserted houses and buildings that we could house every person without trouble, but we fail to send the resources that direction and make provision.  We don’t have a poverty problem.  There are ample resources in this world to give everyone a sustainable life, but we tend hoard our wealth and fail to share.  These are not problems that can be completely solved by law.   These are not problems that can be solved by people lobbying the government to change the way things are handled because governments are easily corrupted by that same power and wealth.

    What must change is the heart.  What must change is the selfish nature of humanity.  What must change is the understanding that our hearts are never satisfied with wealth, status, privilege, possessions, or any earthly thing.   What must change is our own sinful nature.  And God’s command to us; Jesus command to us is “Change it!!” 

    Now, are we so arrogant to think that we can?  Are we so arrogant to think that we can change our very nature to make ourselves do the right thing?  Are we so arrogant to think that it is within our power and capability to change our own hearts?  I say arrogant because history has shown that we are sorely incapable of achieving this.  No matter how hard we work to be good, oftentimes we look with contempt upon others who do not do as good as us.  Our hearts may be compassionate toward those in need, but they are hardened and contemptuous of those we think should be doing more.  We still are selfish.  No matter how hard we try, our selfish; self-centered; self-righteous nature will rear itself.  What can break us out of it?

    Not what.  Who.  Jesus.  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.

    You see, when Jesus looked at that crowd, He had compassion on them.  When Jesus looks at us in our selfishness, He has compassion on us.  He knows the hardness of our hearts, and He knows that breaking that hardness cannot be done by command.  Only love can break such a hard heart.  And so, He allowed His body to be broken as He paid the price of our Sin.  He became the bread of life which was broken and given out to each and every one of us despite our sinfulness. 

    And He says to us, stop trying to change yourself.  Stop trying to overcome your selfishness.  Trust in my work.  Trust in what I have accomplished on your behalf by dying for you.  Place your hope in me, and you will see something marvelous happen.  You will find yourself being satisfied.  You will find yourself being full.  To the extent you put your trust in me, your selfish nature will be overthrown, and you will find that you have in abundance. 

    It is my firm belief that if we admit our inability to accomplish such change on our own–whether in our personal lives; our church life; or in society–if we accept our failure and turn to Jesus, then and only then will the world’s hunger be satisfied, and our baskets will be full as well.  Amen.

Babel Undone

    There is a short little snippet toward the very beginning of the Bible that I think takes on some significance today as we celebrate the day of Pentecost.  Now, if you were raised in the church, you probably know this story, but if you are new to Christianity or have not been at Sunday school, you probably haven’t heard it–at least you haven’t heard this story here.  To my recollection, I have never preached on this story nor seen it appear in the biblical texts appointed for Sunday morning.  What story am I talking about?  The story of the tower of Babel.

    This short piece is found in Genesis chapter 11 right after the great flood.  All of humanity is gathered on the plain of Shinar–not to be confused with Shiner, there is no beer in this story.  On this plain, humanity hatches a plan.  They begin to make bricks and mortar.  They revel in their creative ability.  And then they say, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the earth.”  I want you to carefully consider what humanity is saying in this.  It’s important.  For we see humanity completely consumed with itself.  A tower with its top in the heavens signifies a desire to supplant God.  Making a name for ourselves shows the desire for worldly fame and popularity.  Prevention of being scattered across the face of the earth shows a desire for self-preservation and isolationism.  All of these things are centered upon one’s self and the desires to act independently of God–the same sin which got Adam and Eve cast out of the Garden of Eden.

    God looks upon this self-centeredness.  He sees a future where humanity forges its own ways and own desires.  He sees a return to the days before the flood where humanity became completely wicked and self-centered, and God acts.  “Come let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”  This, God accomplished.  The building stopped.  Division ruled the day because no one could understand another, and people went their own way. 

    And we still cannot understand one another today.  We are still dealing with the consequences of self-centered hearts today.  More on this in a moment because I want to continue to set the stage for what happens on Pentecost.

    After the events at Babel, people went their own way, but God also knew the consequences of abandoning the world.  When He abandoned the world and let it go to its own devices after the Garden of Eden, the world turned to evil.  Self-interest became the rule of the day and everyone did what was right in his or her own eyes.  God promised to never destroy the world again by flood, so He needed a way to interact with the world.  He needed a way to show the world how to live with Him and with one another.  Therefore, He began that process by working through individuals.  He picked people to be His mediators.

    You may ask, “Why did God choose to pick mediators?  Why didn’t God simply interact with each and every one of us individually?  Wasn’t that within His power?”

    Certainly, it was.  But, there was a problem with this: the problem of sin.  For you see, God is holy and just.  God is perfect and blameless.  Imperfection and brokenness cannot stand in His sight.  His anger at sin would burn very, very hot against us were we to stand in His presence without being cleansed of that sin.  God could not engage the world on a one on one basis unless this sin were cleansed.

    Therefore, God began engaging the world through mediators–people He chose to bless that they may be a blessing to others.  God communicated with such people in many and various ways.  Interestingly enough, as you read through the biblical narrative, one of the ways God manifested Himself was through fire.  We read about Moses kneeling at a burning bush that even though it was aflame, it was not consumed.  We read about a giant pillar of fire that led the people of Israel through the desert–the very presence of God leading His people.  We read about this pillar of fire changing into a pillar of cloud, and this pillar resting in the tabernacle–the place of worship for the Israelites before the temple was built.  In every case, however, not everyone was allowed to come close to the fire.  Not everyone was allowed to come near the place where God rested in the tabernacle or the temple.  God worked through those who purified themselves or were purified by God Himself.  Anyone who came in direct contact with God died–because of their sin; because of their self-centeredness; because their hearts were tuned to themselves instead of tuned to God; because they sought the blessings of God but not God Himself.

    Let’s fast forward to the events recorded in our second lesson this morning from Acts chapter 2.  Let’s take a look at the imagery of this text and see how Scripture brings us full circle.  The disciples are gathered together, and as they are sitting and praying, a loud sound, like the rush of a mighty wind, happens upon them.  The lesson says divided tongues of flame rested upon each of them.  The English doesn’t quite capture what the ancient Greek captures.  For the Greek paints this image of a single pillar of fire–what does that imagery conjure up?–breaking apart and dividing and then resting upon each of the disciples.  Anyone with ties to the Old Testament got this visual.  Anyone who remembered the presence of God in the burning bush and pillar of fire understood what was going on.  No longer was there any intermediary between God and man.  No longer was a mediator necessary.  God now descended upon the disciples and dwelt within them!

    Oh, and there is more.  When the Spirit of God descended upon the disciples, they went outside.  A crowd had gathered because they too heard the wind.  The apostles began to speak, and when they spoke, all understood them.  Take a moment to let that sink in.  Everyone who was there–people gathered from all over the known world–understood what the disciples were saying!  It’s as if the tower of Babel never happened!   Something had changed.  Something had happened to allow God to dwell within each of us.  Something had happened to unleash understanding and reconciliation–to bring humanity back into one group; one family.  What?  What had changed?

    If we were to read through the entirety of Acts chapter 2 we would see exactly what that was.  We would understand what unleashed this new reality where God was now with in and in His people.  We would understand why the divisions were now being healed.  For Peter, the leader of the apostles stood up and after he talked about the prophecy foretold by Joel, Peter began to tell everyone about Jesus.  You see, Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit, is about each and every one of us receiving power to proclaim and point to Jesus who reconciled the world unto God; who became the atoning sacrifice for sin; who paved the way for God to live among and in us; and who brings reconciliation and understanding to the world.

    I would argue that the main problem with the world today is not a lack of laws.  The main problem with the world today is not that we don’t know what to do.  For heaven’s sake, most people know what they should do.  Most people know they should do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  Most people know that we should be compassionate and caring.  Most people know we should directly deal with one another instead of talking about each other behind our backs.  Most of us know we should be generous.  Most of us know we should work for peace and justice.  We know what we should do, but we don’t do it.  Why?

    Because our hearts are still dealing with selfishness; self-centeredness; and self-preservation.  Why do we lie?  Because at the moment we lie, something more important than God has captured our hearts.  Perhaps we don’t want our reputation damaged.  Perhaps we are afraid of punishment.  Perhaps we fear for our own life.  In all of these cases, some thing has displaced God as the most important thing in our heart.  Why do treat one another with hatred and contempt?  Again, something more important than God has captured our heart’s imagination.  When I treat another with hatred and contempt, I generally think I am better than that other person.  I think I do a better job of living and making my way.  I rest confident in my own laurels and abilities and think of myself instead of God.  Why is there poverty particularly in light of the fact that there are plenty of resources to go around?  There is poverty because our hearts are captured by wealth, possessions, and fear–fear that we won’t have enough in the future.  Instead of focusing on God and God’s abundance, we focus on the scarcity that might take place.  I could go on, but for brevity’s sake, I will not.  If need be, I will be happy to speak to you later about it, but I think I can safely say at the root of all of humanity’s relational problems is self-centeredness; self-preservation, and selfishness.

    So, what is the cure to such a thing?  What changes a heart?  Laws might change behaviors, but only because of a threat of punishment.  When we follow rules because we fear punishment, we are still acting in our own self interest and with selfishness.  We are still focused on ourselves, and biblically are still in our sin!!!    Only a complete change of heart gets us where we need to be, and if I say, “I will change my own heart so that I can be sinless,” guess what?  You are still acting in self interest.  A changed heart must find its initiation for change outside of itself. 

    That agent of change, Christianity proclaims, is Jesus.  Jesus is God who took on flesh, who lived the life we should live, who died the death that we deserved, and who was raised to eternal life that we might be reconciled to God.  Jesus did everything that we should do.  He loved His neighbor as Himself.  He fed the hungry.  He healed the sick.  He gave money away and lived in poverty.  He was perfect and blameless, and He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice and payment for our sin.  He became the perfect mediator on our behalf enduring God’s wrath for us 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 might be saved through Him.

    And once we understand this news.  Once it weasels its way into our hearts.  Once we understand the extent of our brokenness and the great cost Jesus paid on the cross, our hearts begin to change.  We no longer seek ourselves.  We no longer seek wealth and status and privilege as ultimate things.  We no longer seek peace and justice as ultimate things.  We seek God.  We desire God.  We hunger and thirst for Him.  And just as He descended upon the disciples at Pentecost, He descends upon us and lives in us and through us.  And when He lives in us and through us, we recognize that He desires to live and be in all people.  So we, like Peter stand and proclaim.  We tell of the mighty acts of Jesus.  We argue and exhort and urge people to trust in Jesus.  We feed the hungry and give drink to the thirsty.  We care for their physical needs so that their pain and suffering do not hinder their reception of the message.  We seek to understand others and be reconciled to them so that there is no barrier between us when we tell them about Jesus.  We do this because of what has been done for us.  Because Jesus died for us, God is with us.

    Let us pray.  Heavenly Father, on this day we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit.  A gift that was only made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross.  May we realize that you now live with us and in us.  May we realize you desire to live with and in everyone on earth.  May the Gospel change our hearts that we may proclaim Jesus and be reconciled to one another that You may receive glory.  Amen.

Arguments and Exhortations

This Sunday is Pentecost Sunday--the day the Church remembers the bestowing of the Holy Spirit upon the disciples empowering them to go out and proclaim the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus' death and resurrection.

Pentecost is usually one of my favorite Sundays of the Church year.  There are no external trappings like Christmas Trees and presents or bunnies and eggs to deal with.  This Church festival has yet to be co-opted by society, and for this I am thankful.  I am also thankful for the opportunity to wear my red stole--it rarely gets used during the year.  I am thankful to preach about the power from on high that fell upon the disciples upon that day.

As part of my sermon preparation, I read the entirety of Acts chapter two.  There are 47 verses in the chapter, and we will only be publicly reading 21.  Chalk such matters up to time restraints and to those who pick out what texts constitute the Revised Common Lectionary.  I could add additional verses, but lengthy Bible passages plus lengthy sermons can equal mumblings and grumblings.  Better to keep things a bit shorter and sweeter.  :-)

Yet, there is so much in the second chapter of Acts which needs proclaiming.  There is so much which needs examining and revisiting as we see the empowerment of the Church and its initial proclamation as articulated by Peter.  Pentecost happened so that Jesus could be proclaimed!!!

It is worth taking some time to read through Peter's proclamation.  It cut many to their hearts, but I was also struck by another verse included by Luke in this text.  Verse 40:

⁴⁰And he testified with many other arguments and exhorted them, saying, ‘Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.’  (New Revised Standard Version translation)

"Intriguing," I thought to myself.  Arguments?  Exhortations?  Wasn't it enough just to proclaim the mighty acts of God in Jesus?  Apparently not. 

I decided to dig into the Greek to catch any nuances of the words:

The two words which most concerned me were διεμαρτύρατο (diemartyrato, translated as arguments) and παρεκάλει (parekalei, translated as exhorted). 

Diemartyrato has as its root word "witness."  The "die" adds emphasis, so there is often some wiggle room in translating this word.  Strong's Greek concordance translates it "solemnly testify." 

The King James Bible translates it testify and exhort.

The New International Version translates it warned and pleaded.

As I look at this particular statement, there is a sense of some strongly worded testimony by Peter.  There is a sense of urgency; a sense of working to convince the crowd; a sense of working hard to explain the new reality rooted and grounded in Jesus' death and resurrection.  There is not just a presentation of the events that occurred, but there is a need to explain the reasons for those events and their implications for life.

What is the take home point?

The Church cannot simply be nice to everyone and expect people to come to faith.

The Church cannot simply be engaged in doing justice and expect people to believe in Jesus.

The Church cannot simply say, "Jesus is risen," and expect people to come to faith.

The Church cannot simply say, "Follow these rules because God says so," and expect people to believe in Jesus.

There must be a willingness to engage, argue, exhort, explain, and so on and so forth.  There must be a willingness on behalf of the Church to present the Christian worldview from the beginning and show how that worldview addresses life's biggest questions.  There must be a willingness to show how various worldviews fall short in how they address those questions and exhort others to "save themselves from this corrupt generation."

There's nothing really nice about that last statement.  In fact, it can be seen as pretty arrogant.  It can be seen as pretty exclusive.  And if it is spoken without the proclamation of grace and mercy shown by Jesus on the cross; if it is spoken by someone who looks down one's nose at another while speaking it; if it is spoken in arrogance and self-righteousness, then the message will be lost as well.

The challenge, I think, is to engage the world with great love and compassion with absolutely no compromise in the belief that Jesus is the risen Lord who alone can offer salvation--not only for eternity, but for our world today.  Jesus is the risen Lord who can bring about abundant life--a life of joy, peace, and reconciliation now.  

If you think not, I'm ready to argue.  :-)

He Carried You

For the past several weeks, I have been leading a course on Timothy Keller's book The Prodigal God.  This book centers on what many call "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" found in the Bible; Luke Chapter 15.  In addition to the course I teach on Wednesday evenings, I have worked with the adult Sunday School class to delve deeply into Luke Chapter 15 to study the literary context of Jesus' parable. 

(Henceforth, I will be referring to the parable as "The Parable of the Two Sons" for, indeed, the parable isn't just about one son.  It's about both sons and their relationship with their father.) 

As I was preparing for the next adult class session, I focused my attention and study on Luke 15:3-7.  This is actually the first parable of two which lead up to the Parable of the Two Sons.  It's a familiar one to most Christians who grew up in the Church:

3 So Jesus told them this parable: 4‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.

I consulted four different commentaries and was pulling quotes from each that we might discuss said quotes this Sunday.  One particular quote grabbed me as I finished typing.  It was from Joel Green's commentary on Luke found in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:

Because sheep are gregarious creatures, a sheep lost from its flock becomes quickly agitated and disoriented and must be carried back to the other sheep; for lengthy journeys this is most easily accomplished by placing the sheep on one’s shoulders.

For a moment, I paused.  Yes, the imagery is touching when you imagine that Jesus was 1) talking about God's seeking out of those who have gotten lost from the fold and 2) Jesus was defending His ministry of "eating with tax collectors and sinners."  The thought of God seeking out the lost, and Jesus manifesting this has offered great comfort to many, many people throughout the years.  But this is not what caught my eye.  This did: for lengthy journeys, this is most easily accomplished by placing the sheep on one's shoulders. 

Have you traveled a great distance with a load on your shoulders?

When my children were younger, oftentimes I would hoist them on my shoulders to walk around the store or the zoo or some other venue.  Before too long, my back began to ache.  My shoulders felt the weight of the burden, and they began to protest.  My leg muscles began to let me they were not used to such added weight.  I know some people train for such things--for long hikes with backpacks and the like, but most folks I know aren't deliberately walking around with burdens on their shoulders.  Most folks I know begin to feel such burdens after only a few minutes.

The Good Shepherd puts the sheep on His shoulders and carries it long distances to bring it back into the fold.  If this is a full grown sheep...do you know how much that weighs? 

Now, if we are talking about a juvenile--that could be 20 lbs or so.  Not terribly heavy, but after a while, even that starts to hurt.  Minimum for an adult ewe is 90 lbs.  Minimum for an adult ram is 100 lbs.  Try carrying that for any distance.

Can you imagine the exertion?
Can you imagine the muscles crying out in pain?
Can you imagine trying to keep your balance and walk with this living thing on your back moving and perhaps struggling to get away?
Can you imagine the perspiration and heavy breathing?

All that work for the sake of a sheep.
To bring it back into the fold.
Without a second thought.
And then throwing a party when he gets back.

Oh, and it gets better.

For how is it that Jesus brings us back into His flock?
What burden did He bear on His shoulders?
What caused His muscles to cry out in pain?
What caused Him to perspire profusely and breathe heavily?

All for the sake of those who had rejected Him
Who had deserted Him
Who had mocked Him
Who had betrayed Him
Who had denied Him

So that even they might be united with the flock?

The cross.
God and sinners reconciled.

And a party is thrown!

Oh, I know that someone will point me toward verse 7.  Believe me I am not ignorant of it.  "7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance." 

"The party will only be for those who repent!" you might say.

But I remind you of what  John Nolland in his Word Biblical Commentary on Luke says:

The place of repentance here takes us right outside the framework of the parable, which focuses exclusively on the role of the shepherd.  Studies often protest that this verse obscures the fact that Jesus scandalized the Pharisees precisely by his failure to demand repentance in the normal way...

This is a very important point...one that I didn't quite realize until John pointed it out.  You see, Jesus' call for repentance comes as a response to what He has done.  Repentance, for a Christian, comes as a result of contemplating the nature of what Jesus has already done for you.  The cross leads to repentance.  It was contrary to what the Pharisees taught then.  It is contrary to what many, even within the Church, teach now. 

For when you see the pains that the Good Shepherd endured for your sake
When you see He carried you to God through the cross
When you see His nail pierced hands and feet
When you see His sacrifice on your behalf

It changes you deeply.
There is no way you could ever live the same.
Once the Shepherd, at great cost to Himself, has brought you home.
And thrown a party because you were there.

Why Abide in Jesus?

     Jesus says in our Gospel reading this morning “Abide in me as I abide in you,” and then He goes on further to give us the results of what will happen if we abide in Him.  This morning, I will attempt to do three things: 1) Answer the question of why we should abide in anything.  2) Show how abiding in anything other than Jesus will lead to disappointment and chaos.  3) Show why you should abide in Jesus above anything else.  It’s a rather large task before us, so let’s jump right in.

    The first thing we’ve got to deal with is why we should abide in anything.  Well, really we don’t have a choice but to abide in something.  The Greek word used by Jesus here is μένω which can mean several things: “abide”, “remain”, “to remain in a place”, “to stay in the house”, or even “to stay alive” or “to stand fast.”  And we all stand fast; we all remain; we all stay alive in something.  However, most of us don’t really take the time to think about where we abide; where we stand fast.  We are kind of like fish who are surrounded by water.  It is so natural for a fish to live in water, he wouldn’t know what it was like to live in anything else.

    So it is with how we live.  We simply go through most of our lives believing certain things we have been taught–things which are deeply imprinted within our hearts.  For instance, most of us, since we live in the U.S. have a deeply imprinted belief that if we work hard, do the right things, then we will achieve some measure of success.  We have a deeply imprinted belief that all people are equal and have certain inalienable rights.  We have a deeply imprinted belief that we are free to do as we choose as long as we do no harm to anyone.  These are so deeply ingrained that if we were taken out of our culture, we would indeed be like a fish out of water.  Many of us would have a very difficult time adjusting to anything else.  Why?  Because we abide in this particular worldview.  We stand fast in this particular worldview.  And even if there are those of you here this morning who question this particular worldview, you need to realize, you have a worldview of your own.  You have a way of looking at things that help you understand reality.  You have a way of looking at the world and dealing with all the information in the world that helps you cope with life and make sense of things.  We remain or abide in those worldviews most of our lives.  And it is very hard to change them.  Very hard.

    But sometimes we run into things that force us to deeply consider why we believe what we believe.  We run into things that force us to ask ourselves, “Is this where I want to continue to live?  Is this where I want to continue to abide?  Do I need to shift my thinking or change how I view the world?”  I have run into this more than a few times with folks throughout my career as a pastor.  Usually, these times occur when someone experiences deep sadness or loss.  If someone loses a job or a spouse or is faced with cancer, such questions usually arise.  I mean, if you have been taught that if you work hard and do good things, then you should be successful, then what happens if you lose your job or fall on hard times?  Were you not working hard enough?  Were you not good enough?  Do you see how this affects such a worldview?  I hope you can, because now we are getting into territory number two: the vast majority of worldviews will lead to disappointment or a sense of superiority over others where you hold others in contempt.  Let me say that again: the vast majority of worldviews will lead to disappointment and a sense of superiority over others where you hold others in contempt.

    Let me try and illustrate this by turning to recent events in Baltimore, MD.  Many of us have seen the images of rioters destroying property and burning buildings.  Many of us have seen the video of the mother slapping around her teenage son.  Many of us know the reason the riots have occurred is a reaction to what happened to Freddie Gray in the back of a police van and the accumulated distrust of a community toward law enforcement officials.  Pundits are pointing a lot of fingers and spreading a lot of blame, but let’s delve deep, very deep.

    Let’s begin with looking at those who blame the police for the violent uprising.  In a very real way, they hold the police officers in contempt because they believe the police have used their power and authority abusively.  This side believes they are continually victimized, and they justify the actions of the rioters by saying, “At some point all the anger and frustration boiled to the surface, and they lashed out at injustice.”  The folks are disappointed in a system which seemingly keeps them burdened and heavy laden without allowing them the freedom to escape poverty.  Many become hopeless, and I think it’s why these communities have a prevalence of drugs.  A lot of folks in these communities only live for their next fix.  Disappointment reigns as does contempt for those who they see as oppressing and abusing them.

    On the other hand, there are those who blame the rioters themselves.  There are those who believe if folks just followed the law and obeyed the rules, then they could improve themselves.  They tend to say, “These folks are just looking for an excuse to get something for nothing.  They are just waiting for an opportunity to do whatever they want, and they have no regard for the law; they have no respect for officers.”  The folks on this side of the street believe they are morally superior to those who are rioting, and they are disappointed with a system who will not crack down on such lawbreakers.  In reality, there is very little compassion being shown by this group, in my opinion.

    Now, I will say that this oversimplifies things a bit.  For we could nuance things very easily and say that there are more groups involved in this whole ordeal, but to keep time in mind, I will only deal with these two groups.  Can you see how the two worldviews lead to disappointment and contempt for others?  Can you see how the two sides are at great odds with each other?  Can you see how there is very little room for compromise or agreement on anything?  When worldviews like this clash, enmity and strife become the norm, and inevitably, worldviews will clash. 

    The question becomes: what is the solution?  Can there be any sort of resolution?  Can we just agree to disagree?  No.  I don’t think so.  The stakes are very high.  We need law and order.  We also need freedom.  We need to deal with those who break the law, but we also need to deal with the injustice of they systems which have kept people in poverty.  And more laws will not do it.  You see, people know they shouldn’t be breaking the law.  Cops know they shouldn’t abuse criminals–the vast majority don’t.  People know they shouldn’t riot–the vast majority don’t.  I mean, why do you think some cops try to destroy or appropriate cameras which catch them abusing others?  Why do you think many rioters covered their faces and hands and ran from cameras?  They know they are doing wrong!!!  We know we are doing wrong, even when our worldview tells us we are wrong, we still break the law!!! 

    I’ve outlined the problem, I think.  Hopefully, I was clear.  So, what is the solution?  Jesus says, “Abide in me.”  You may try and stop me here and say, “Well, why should I abide in Jesus. Aren’t there Christians who fall on both sides of those worldviews?  Aren’t they divided on those lines as well?”  Yes, Christians are divided on those lines as well, but if they are abiding in Jesus, they will not hold others in contempt, and they will not be filled with disappointment.  What do I mean by that?

    Well, I need to do a little bit of work here because we have to get to the heart of Christianity.  We need to see what distinguishes Christianity from all other worldviews–all other religions–all other philosophies.  Every other religion and every other philosophy will look at what is going on in Baltimore and say, “We’ve got to try harder.  We’ve got to follow the law better.  We’ve got to love our neighbors better.  We’ve got to work to overcome this division.  We’ve got to follow the tenets of our religion better.”  The emphasis is all on us.  We’ve got to do it!!  But as I pointed out earlier, we already know what to do.  Trying harder isn’t going to get us there.  It hasn’t throughout history.  It won’t now.  So what will?  Only a change of heart.  And how do hearts change?  How do hearts lose their contempt for others?  How do hearts turn from anger and hopelessness and disappointment to love and hope?

    Christianity says: Trust in what Jesus has already done for you, and to the extent you trust in Him–to the extent you abide in Him–to the extent you make your home in Him–to the extent you stand fast in Him–you will begin to love others.  You will begin to erase the contempt you once had for them.  You will no longer see yourself as superior to them.  You will not be disappointed, instead you will have tremendous hope which will give you abundant life.

    How is such a thing possible?  How does abiding in Jesus do this? 

    You have to realize what Jesus did for you.  You have to realize that when every other worldview says, “Try harder to be good, and then you will receive the rewards,” Jesus says, “There is no way you can achieve the standard that my Father and I set.  There is no way you can ever work hard enough.  There is no way you can be perfect.  You are and always will be a failure in this respect.  But I love you even if you are a failure.  I accept you even if you fall short.  I will never stop loving or accepting you.”

    “How can I trust you on this?”  You might ask Jesus?

    And His answer is the cross.  His answer is, “I died for you.”

            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.

    You see, when you believe that Jesus died for you when you were a sinner; when you believe you were accepted when you least deserved it, you are humbled.  You cast aside your haughtiness and your self-righteousness because you know you didn’t measure up; but you don’t grovel in victimhood and self-hatred because you know you are accepted.  You can neither be too high nor too low.  And your heart finds peace.  Your heart finds itself longing to love even those whom hurt you.  Your hearts finds itself full of hope that there can be a better way and that reconciliation is possible.  And you have proof of that with the resurrection.  Because Jesus lives, you will live also–not only for eternity, but you will live with a lasting, assuring hope.  Nothing can ever take that from you.  There is never then an need to escape the world and live for the moment–you are now abiding in the True Vine.  You are now getting your identity from Him.  You are now getting your sustenance from Him.  You now have an unending source of love and hope and compassion flowing through you.  A love that makes reconciliation possible–not because of anything you have done or how hard you have worked, but because of what Jesus has done for you and even for the one who opposes you.

    Let us pray.  Lord Jesus, you abide in us even without us asking.  You died for us when we least deserved it.  You accepted us when we were failures.  You rose to give us hope.  May we abide in you.  May we trust you.  May we find our identity in you that our divisions will cease; that we may be reconciled to one another; and that peace may reign.  In your name we pray.  Amen.