“Post Christmas Blues?”

The following message is based on Psalm 90 and discusses our God’s eternality and humankind’s mortality, as we see in another year.  It was given on December 30, 2012.

This week I had the pleasure of having family in from California and Missouri.  We had a great time with our favorite foods, playing games, opening presents, touring Philadelphia, etc.  They all left yesterday and I have to admit, it was a bit of a letdown.  Life must return to normal.  Everybody must go back to work; kids must go back to school.  Reality sets in.  When all of this fun, goodwill and joy come to a screeching halt, if you’re like me, you could experience Post Christmas Blues.

Although we love these things, like food, family and fun, we are also reminded that the true meaning of Christmas is something that should last long past the holiday.  Jesus gives us reason to celebrate with those things we count as blessings.  He is life’s main blessing: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life.”

One of the methods in dealing with post Christmas blues is by having a plan, goal or direction for the new year.  As a new year dawns, what do we want for 2013?  What is life all about?  What direction do we want for our lives?  What is our vision as individuals and as a church?  For part of that answer, we turn to Psalm 90, which speaks of the eternality of God and the frailty of man.  It reminds us that the years are given to us as a gift.  Each one is precious.  We must make the most of them.  How do we do that?

Let’s consider some observations from Psalm 90.  Thought to be written after the tragedy at Kadesh- Barnea, when God denied the Israelites entrance into the Promised Land because of their lack of faith, it is the oldest psalm in the book of Psalms.  Even though the Israelites had to wander in the wilderness, they needed to be reminded of some important lessons.  Man is limited in many ways.  The first of which is…

WE ARE LIMITED BY SPACE, WHILE GOD IS OMNIPRESENT.

This psalm forms the start of book four of the Psalms.  Psalm 90 is entitled: “A Prayer of Moses, the man of God.”  Interesting to note that this is the only psalm that is ascribed to Moses.  It “contrasts God’s eternity and human mortality.  Moses seems to pray for God’s blessing on his own generation, doomed to wander in the wilderness.”[1]

Notice verse one: “Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. 2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.”  Ironically enough, Moses wrote this psalm during or around the time of the exodus and wilderness wandering.  At a time when the people of God did not have an established home or a place where they could literally “hang their hat,” the prophet sang of how God was their dwelling place, “throughout all generations.”  In His character, in His love and in His identity as their Creator and Father, the Israelites did not have to have an established place, at least for the time being.  This led them to depend on God for everything.  Egypt was a source of food, even though the labor was harsh.  Now, God would be their source of sustenance.

There were several reasons why God took His people through the wilderness.  Consider the following:

  • He would lead them with the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.  Exodus 13:21-22
  • He would part the Red Sea for them on their way into the wilderness journey. Exodus 14:13-14
  • They would experience the bitter waters of Marah and then the 12 springs of Elim. Exodus 15:22-27
  • He would show them his provision through the manna and quail.  Exodus 16
  • He would give them the 10 commandments at Mt. Sinai as well as other laws I call “respect and responsibility” laws. Exodus 20

Some people are nomadic by nature.  The Kurdish people in the Middle East have no country to call their own.  They have been pushed out of countries such as Turkey and Iraq, so they live in pockets wherever they can.  Others have to leave their homeland because they are forced out.  Maybe it is religious reasons, maybe it is economic reasons.  I remember meeting a man named Abraham from Egypt.  He had made his way to Greece. I asked him why he left his home country.  He said it was because he could not find work.  He was trying to support his family.

This reminds us that sometimes we can get too attached to what is around us.  We don’t stop and consider that the only source of real stability in our lives is God.  It is only through a relationship with Him that the fear about the future can be taken away.

I was reminded of the reason why I celebrate Christmas in the words of Norval Geldenhuys: “Without the coming of Christ we should have no assurance that God really exists as a personal God, perfect in love and mercy, and we should still have been overcome with fear as regards the invisible, the hereafter, the divine and eternal. But thanks be to God that His Son gave Himself to the world in condescending love and became Man, bringing a perfect revelation of God as the Holy and Merciful Lord.”

God is our dwelling place.  Therefore Jesus must be our focus.  Jesus said in John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”  WE ARE LIMITED BY SPACE, WHILE GOD IS OMNIPRESENT.  Secondly…

WE ARE LIMITED BY TIME, WHILE GOD IS ETERNAL.

This passage also reveals how mankind is incredibly finite.  Notice verse three: “You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning– 6 though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.”

Compared to God, our existence is limited by time and ability.  The book of James describes us as a vapor that is here only for a short while.  James 4:14 tells us: “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”  Psalm 90:10 says: “The length of our days is seventy years– or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.”

In contrast, God is unlimited by time and space.  Notice the way that Peter puts it in 2 Peter 3:8: “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”  Keil and Delitzsch put it this way: “He is however exalted above all time, inasmuch as the longest period appears to Him very short, and in the shortest period the greatest work can be executed by Him. …A whole millennium appears to God, when He glances over it, just as the yesterday does to us… .”[2]

In other words, adopt Paul’s statement in Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, to die is gain.”  Paul saw His life as a commodity for Christ.  He wanted to live on for the sake of his spiritual children, for those in Philippi.  But he knew with these imprisonments, he could, or maybe even would lose His life.  Joy is mentioned in this letter no less than 13 times.  His focus was ministry; ours should be as well.  Tim Tebow recently put things in good perspective when he said: “Your character is who you are as a man and that’s a lot more important… “It’s a football game. That’s one thing, if you’re good or bad at football, but your character and integrity, that’s who you are as a man. That’s a lot more important. … I take that way more serious than I’ll ever take a football game.”[3]  Since our lives are short, how should we make the most of it?  Consider our church’s mission: To love God, serve others and grow disciples.  So I invite you this year to…

 

  • Make the glory of God your goal.
  • Make the love of others your mission.
  • Make your spiritual growth and that of others your passion.

 

This morning, we are limited by space, but God is omnipresent.  Secondly, we are limited by time, but God is eternal.  Consider the following poem as you prepare to start off this year:

 

Another new year now awaits us,

A page that is spotless and white;

New grace, dear Lord, wilt Thou give us,

To watch each new day what we write

Thine all-seeing eye is upon us,

Thine ear hears the words which we speak,

Thy heart knows the impulse which moves us,

Thy mind knows the object we seek.

The days Thou shalt give us in mercy,

We promise to spend to Thy praise;

And may honor, and power and glory

Be Thine, O Thou Ancient of Days![4]

 

 

[1] NGSB, 854.

[2] Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, Volume 5: Psalms.

[4] —Author Unknown, Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations: Signs of the Times.

 

A Series of Gifts: Worship

The following message is based on Matthew 2:1-11 and presents the subject of worship, taking the example of the Magi.  Their example reminds us that worship is an action of adoration directed to Jesus Christ, God’s only Son.  It was delivered on Christmas Eve, 2012 at the Central Schwenkfelder Church.

When we reflect on the original Christmas story, many images come to mind.  We think of the manger or stable, because Mary and Joseph could not find a room at the inn.  We think of the shepherds who obeyed the call of the angels to come and find the Christ child.  And of course, there are the wise men.  Magi, as they’re known, with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

During this season of Advent, we have been studying those gifts which money cannot buy, that cannot be secured with a credit card or purchased online; those things that are spiritual in nature, which God affords us through Christmas.  Not meant as an exhaustive list, we first looked at forgiveness of sins, then joy; and yesterday assurance.  Tonight we look at a special gift as we focus on Matthew’s account of these men from the East, the Magi, as they are known, to see the significance behind their visit.  Let us look at the gift of worship.

What is worship? Is it a noun?  Is it a service with an organ, hymn books and such on Sundays?  Or is it a verb, an action word?  Maybe most people would assume the former.  But  A.W. Tozer, popular 20th century pastor and writer, defined worship as something that we do when he said this: “Worship is to feel in your heart and express in some appropriate manner a humbling but delightful sense of admiring awe and astonished wonder and overpowering love in the presence of that most ancient Mystery, that Majesty which philosophers call the First Cause, but which we call Our Father Which Art in Heaven.[1]  My aim this afternoon is to remind us of what worship is and why we are here.  It centers on the gift of Jesus.  We see a great example of worship in the actions of the Magi.

These were a group of men that traveled from far away.  They came from the East.  They probably traveled from lands as far away as Babylon, Persian or the Arabian desert.  These Gentile men were influenced by the Old Testament prophecy that a star shall come forth from Jacob, and a scepter shall rise from Israel (Numbers 24:17).  From the Jews in their land and their own interest in the stars, they knew that they must follow this star that had been so prominent in the night sky.  After days of traveling through the Middle East, they finally reached the birthplace of the king. This particular star would later rest above the town of Bethlehem, where they were probably met by the shepherds, telling them of the angel’s message.  So when they saw the star they knew they had arrived and “…rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”

Now look at what these sojourners do when they come upon Christ who was just days old at this time.  Verse 11 tells us that “…they came into the house and saw the child with Mary His mother, and they fell down and worshipped Him and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  Mary and Joseph had moved from the stable and are now in a much more comfortable place.  The Magi are let in and they pay their respects to the baby Jesus.  Now we are not to think that they worshipped Jesus like Christians worship Him today.  The NRSV simply says that they “paid homage to Him.”  They certainly recognized him as a monarch.  They knew this little one was the sovereign of Israel, but did they know that His reign occupied the kingdom of God?  God uses their gestures to show us the significance of Christ.  These gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh, were no doubt signs of respect and reverence in the ancient Near East.

What is their significance?  Gold has always been a very costly item, the most precious of metals, and at one time measuring the true value of any monetary system.  Frankincense was thought to have been a glittering odorous gum obtained by making incisions in the bark of several trees.  Myrrh was a much valued spice and perfume found in Arabia and a few other places.  Psalm 45:8 tells us of the dress of the king: “All Thy garments are fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia;”   In other words, all three of these gifts were expensive and given by the Magi to the newborn King.

Matthew 2:11 states: “And they came into the house and saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell down and worshiped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.” The Greek term is proskunew which means: “to fall down and worship, to prostrate oneself before, do reverence to, or welcome respectfully.  The Persians had a custom of prostrating oneself before a person and kissing his feet, the hem of his garment, the ground, etc. before their deified king.[2]

This reminds us that true worship involves self-abasement, self sacrifice, and self-denial.  It has nothing to do with the right genre of music or a sermon that happens to be entertaining.  Although God did not call us to be boring, we who participate in worship (the entire congregation) must keep in mind that God is the center of attention.  Worship is an action directed towards Him.  It is not an event that we attend like a football game or a hockey match.  It involves adoration, praise.  It is not entertainment.  It is more than just a service; it is a lifestyle.  The attention is on God!

Every person is religious; we all worship something.  For some, it may be an image; for others, it may be themselves.  Still for others, it may be a drive for success, the accumulation of wealth.  And there are those that worship pleasure, the satisfaction of our appetites, whatever that might be.  I recently asked a college-age friend of mine what were the idols on his campus.  He said: “gold, girls and glory.”  As I said yesterday, God has created each of us with a hole in our soul that can only be filled by Him.  We might try to fit other things in there, but we will never be truly satisfied unless we come to Christ and are reconciled to Him.

One of the interesting things in this story is that the title that the Magi gave Jesus, is what would later hang above Jesus’ head as He hung on the cross: King of the Jews.  As a type of irony, to prove God’s endorsement of His one and only Son, He was called “King of the Jews” at His birth and at His death!

In contrast to the Magi, you have Herod.  King Herod was not really concerned about the birth of Christ, as you can read later in his slaughter of the innocents.  He was probably disturbed out of insecurity and jealousy.  Herod was a ruthless king.  Josephus, the ancient Jewish historian writes this epitaph:  “A man he was of great barbarity toward all men equally, and a slave to his passions…”[3]

What can we learn from such things?  Certainly this: that those closest to the means of grace, and those that should have the best understanding of God, are sometimes far from Him.  And those that we might least suspect would have a desire for him, are sometimes the hungriest.  The magi, traveled from far away to worship the King of the Jews.  The whole of the Scribes and Pharisees were close by, yet showed no desire to investigate the birth of Christ.  And even when they were exposed to Jesus’ teaching, never responded in as much to leave their own comfort zone, and yet they knew the most.

Some of us who have attended church all of our lives run the risk of losing our passion for Christ.  We think that we’ve “heard it all before.”  We might be the most susceptible to “missing the boat.”  Then there are those that have lived apart from Christ all of their lives.  When they hear the gospel for the first time, it appears as how it was meant- revolutionary.  J.C. Ryle, English pastor of the late 19th century said: “Let us beware of resting satisfied with head-knowledge.  It is an excellent thing, when rightly used.  But a man may have much of it, and yet perish everlastingly.  What is the state of our hearts?  This is the great question.”[4]

Christ is worthy of our worship, just as He was worthy of theirs.  He is Lord and king and we must recognize Him as such.      Back then the Magi gave Him gifts.  Jesus then gave His life.  Today, He asks us if we would give Him our lives.  Communion is a symbol of that exchange, where we recognize His gift and we offer ourselves back to Him.  The bread represents His body.  The cup represents His blood.  This is why belieivers often recite the Apostle’s Creed on communion Sundays, a statement that provides a summary of what it taught in the New Testament.  Communion is also a time of confession and rededication.   As we partake of the symbols together, let us remember all that Christ has done for us.

[1] A.W. Tozer, quoted in D.J. Fant, A.W. Tozer, Christian Publications, 1964, p. 90.

[2] BAGD, 716-17.

[3] The Works of Josephus (Ant., XVII, viii, 1).

[4] J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Matthew, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1986), 11.

“A Series of Gifts: Assurance”

The following message is taken from Luke 1:26-38, the passage which tells of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary, telling her of God’s special plan for the birth of Christ.  It was preached on December 16 and 23, 2012.

 

What is assurance?  Webster’s uses such words as security, a being certain in the mind, confidence of mind or manner; easy freedom from self-doubt or uncertainty.  Today, people place their assurance in many places.  Some put their assurance in government, whoever holds office.  Some put their assurance in their education or career, their ability to make money. Others put their assurance in relationships- whether it is in a child or a spouse or a friend.  When these relationships dissolve, they feel lost and alone.  This past week, the parents of 20 children in Newtown, Connecticut, sent their children off to the Sandy Hook Elementary School, school fully expecting to see them at the end of the day.  Tragically, they could not be assured of this.

But do any of these destinations for our assurance please God?  At a strategic time in their history, Israel sought an unhealthy alliance with the Egyptians.  Isaiah 31:1 states: “Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the LORD.”  Before then; and since then, God has been showing man that He must realize his own self abasement and that He is desperately in need of God for his life to have meaning and purpose. God has created each of us with a void that can only be filled by Him.

This could have been the thoughts of the young Virgin Mary, before she was visited by the angel Gabriel to announce her role in bearing the Christ child. This morning, let us consider this event and see that yet another gift that Jesus came to give was and is assurance.  We first learn that…

ASSURANCE COMES ONLY FROM GOD.

Note Luke 1:26: “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming in, he said to her, ‘Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.’  “But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be.”  After the angel Gabriel approaches Mary, she was scared to death.  Fear is a real part of life.  Mary was afraid when she encountered the angel.  But notice that the angel dispels her fear by informing her that she is being picked for a very special role in the plans of God.  Verse 30: ‘And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.

This brings up the interesting roles of angels.  An angel tops some of your Christmas trees in your homes.  What place do they have in the Christmas story?  Last week, we saw how the angels appeared to the shepherds, announcing the birth of Christ.  “Do not fear, for behold I bring you good news of great joy that shall be for all the people….”  Here we see the role of Gabriel, one of God’s special angels.  Let us be reminded of the role of angels.  They are given the task of announcing, providing protection, and service. As Hebrews 1:14 teaches, they are ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation.

Here, the angel would tell Mary that she was a special individual in the plans of God.  She is not our co-redemptrixt, as some churches teach.  Nor is she to be the recipient of our prayers.  We pray to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; not another human being.  But Mary is the mother of the Lord Jesus and a willing servant to the things of God.  She was a woman of incredible faith.  Her statement in verse 38 is a statement we should all adopt for our lives: “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.”

Just as Mary needed God’s assurance, we do too.  Through a colleague of mine, he received this quote from someone in the ministry: “When bad things like this happen, people ask, “why doesn’t God do something?”  Well, He did.  He sent Jesus.  It is our job to let them know.” Not only do we find that assurance comes from God, next, we discover that…

REAL ASSURANCE IS FOUND ONLY IN JESUS.

What will happen is listed in verse 30.  This explains who Jesus is.  First of all, “He will be great.”  Secondly, “He will be called the Son of the Most high.”  Then there are two statements that attribute the office of the Messiah to Jesus.  “The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.  His kingdom will have no end.”  There is tremendous Jewish significance in this statement.  I mentioned last week that in the first century, there was a sense of anticipation for Jews surrounding the coming of the Messiah.  He was seen as a rescuer, a political figure that would come and crush God’s enemies, particularly the Romans.  But Jesus is a different type of Savior.  He saves from the guilt and power of sin.

This citation is a reference from the book of Daniel, 7:13.  It says: “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. 14 “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”  Many times, Jesus referred to Himself as the Son of Man.  That was because He fulfilled this reference in the book of Daniel as God’s unique Son.

Christians live with the knowledge that God is upon His throne.  He reigns perfectly.  He will right every wrong and bring justice to the earth one day.  Although I experience heinous crimes, disease, disappointment and stress in this life, God has so ordered my existence that my comfort is not the main objective, but that I may be formed to be more like Christ, so that I can live and reign with Him when He returns.  Paul wrote in Romans 7:24: “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God– through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

There are those things to be afraid of; but our fear should be diminished by the assurance that we have in Christ.  Listen to the following testimony by Subal Dang from India.  He writes of Bhubaneswar, a city in central India, where 1.9 million people live.  “Bhubaneswar is mostly Hindu.  Nearly 95% of the surrounding Orissa State is Hindu.  This perspective dominates the government, and it can make it difficult to be a Christian at times.  The radical Hindu groups are the most dangerous.  In 2008 there was some very significant violence directed toward Christians in my area. Some Christians were killed, churches were burned, and many lost their homes and property.

This continues in Orissa where Christians still live in a state of insecurity and danger.  Sometimes government food supplies that should be distributed among the poor are not delivered to the Christians.  In some villages Christian children are not allowed access to government schools.  The former archbishop of the Catholic Church in the Orissa region, Raphael Cheenath has said: “There is no violence, but there is no peace.  About 16,000 families have no homes and Christians are not allowed to return to 20 villages unless they convert to Hinduism.  In many villages in Kandhamal, Christians live with mistreatment and humiliation every day. They are not allowed to take water from the village well, collect firewood, or buy food from shops.  The authorities do nothing to prevent such abuse, even if we have made complaints. Their silence is disturbing.”

Christmas remains one of the most exciting times for Christians even with threats in nearby regions.  It is a time to send cards or give gifts to friends and family.  On Christmas Day, almost all families will go to church services in the morning.  Afterwards there will be a time of feasting for the entire church.  In the evening on December 25, Christians will gather at the church and dance, sing, act our plays, or perform comic routines.  We will also act out Bible stories such as Jesus’ birth.

Christmas is also a time for more intense spiritual discipline in for Christian in my part of the world.  Some people like to fast during this time.  They may fast for 2-3 days around Christmas.  Others will devote themselves to special prayer times.  Some will pray for the gospel message to reach the world or for peace.  Others pray for the gospel ministry in India, especially since other religious groups are more open to the Christian message.

Fear and joy were a part of the very first Christmas.  The angel told (Mary) not to fear because she had found favor with God.  This Christmas, I hope that you, too, will seek favor with God.  If you are feeling fear, being in the center of God’s will is the best place to be.[2]

This morning, we have found that assurance is comes from God and found only in Jesus.  This means that assurance is possible, regardless of our contexts or the experiences we face.  God has created us in such a way that real assurance can only be found in knowing Him.  Augustine of Hippo, the 4th century church father, said: “…because you have made us and drawn us to yourself, and our heart is unquiet until it rests in you.”[3]

 

A Series of Gifts: Good News!

The following message is based on Luke 2:8-21, when the angels appeared to the shepherds, announcing the birth of Jesus.  It was delievered on December 9, 2012

An announcement is news made public.  Announcements are as useful to today as they were 2,000 years ago.  They come in varied mediums, whether they come across the ticker at the bottom of the television screen, over an intercom, or on the front page of the newspaper.  An announcement is meant to inform or prepare us. Some announcements are good; others are disappointing, still others are devastating.  In Brenda Warner’s book, One Call Away, the author writes of different times in her life when a phone call brought her to the brink.  For instance, a healthy baby tragically injured in the bathtub; a sudden end to a career she loved; betrayal and divorce; poverty; public humiliation; a deadly natural disaster that destroyed her foundation and shook her to her core. In response, she chose to rely on the Lord Jesus Christ and realized that He had a plan through it all.  Announcements can be life-changing.

Luke 2:10 contains most likely the greatest announcement of all time. “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.”  The scene takes place on the day of or shortly after Jesus is born in Bethlehem.  Some shepherds were in the field outside of the city, watching their flocks.  It is interesting that God chose shepherds to announce the birth of his Son. Shepherds were among the working class of the first century.  They were dirty and smelled of their jobs.  They were not necessarily a prestigious class.  Hard work and poverty can be depressing.  These were people that could’ve probably used some good news.

This announcement comes to them and at first, they are filled with fear.  Another translation states that they were “terrified.”  This was due to the awesome presence of the angelic majesty.  But the angel tells them “do not be afraid.”  For they are about to be given good news of great joy that shall be for all the people.  Shepherds were a good example of that inclusiveness that makes Christmas and Easter and Christianity so special.  The gospel is for every man, woman, boy and girl, regardless of background, skin color, vocation or caste.

The reason that they would not give way to fear is that this announcement was a source of good news that produced great joy.  Our world is desperate for good news.  If we pick up our local newspapers or turn on the radio, or watch the television, we find despair abounds.  Natural disasters, disease, and violence are common.  Love seems to be a premium in our world today. But the angels said this would be good news for all people.  Jesus would come as the world’s only Savior.

In the first century, there was a sense of anticipation for Jews surrounding the coming of the Messiah.  He was seen as a rescuer, a political figure that would come and crush God’s enemies, particularly the Romans.  But Jesus is a different type of Savior.  He saves from the guilt and power of sin.  Remember what the angel said to Joseph as we studied last week from Matthew 1:20: “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

In order to appreciate the good news, you must first understand the bad news.  Each one of us has disobeyed God from birth.  Since the fall of humankind, not one of us was taught how to lie, how to be selfish, or how to steal.  We do that naturally.  R.C. Sproul says: “We are not sinful because we sin; we sin because we are sinful.”  Since the God of the universe is perfect in character, all sin greatly offends Him.  But God, looking upon our plight, sent us one who would deliver us from such a dilemma.  This is why Jesus is called the Savior.

This message is becoming more dear to those who believe it and more repulsive to those who hate it.  Consider the words of the late new atheist Christopher Hitchens: “. . . I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.”

Do you need good news today?  Consider this!  God did something for you many years ago that you could never do for yourself.  He sent His one and only Son Jesus to this earth to save you from sin’s guilt and power.  When you could never erase the guilt of your disobedience, Christ did it for you when He died on the cross.  For those who would turn from their sin and put their trust in Him, Jesus not only forgives us, but grants us eternal life, regardless of your race, your gender or your assets.  Maybe you have no church affiliation, or at least you have not taken God or church very seriously. You may have even said: “That’s not for me; only for religious people.”Could it be because you’ve not looked at Christmas as good news?

Consider where Jesus was born.  Bethlehem is a humble place, a bedroom community of Jerusalem.  We are told of its modesty in Micah 5:2: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” Today, Bethlehem is small and relatively dirty.  There’s not much is taking place there.  But God often uses the small and insignificant to prove His incredible power.

The fact that Jesus was born in a manger would be a sign for the shepherds.  Why this sign?  Because not many babies are born in a manger.  A manger was a feed trough.  It was not a place to lay a child.  But because the accommodations were not afforded Joseph and Mary, they were born where cattle are kept.  This sign would be another indication of the humility of Christ coming to our world and identifying with us.

Consider Christmas in other parts of the world.  Hear this from Alta Mene, a young man from Albania.  He stated: “While there were many Communist countries surrounding us during the time of the Cold War, were unique.  We were the only one to declare publicly our country to be atheist.  We did so in 1971 under our leader Enver Hoxha.  He told us that Islam had been the religion of the Turkish occupier.  Orthodoxy was the religion of the Greeks, and Catholicism was the religion of the Italian invaders and Austrian imperialism.  It was better just to be Albanian, which he meant to be without any religion.

He did many other things in our country.  Besides declaring our nation to be atheist, he closed our borders.  As a result of his policies, my country became very isolated from other nations.  Nobody could enter or leave.

My father saw the effects of Enver Hoxha’s reign on the Christian community.  He witnessed many attacks on the church.  For example, as a ten year old, he witnessed the destruction of a Catholic Church in the city of Lac.  The local Communist party leader led a group of 200-300 people armed with sledgehammers to demolish the large Church there.  The leader whipped people into a frenzy, invoking nationalistic feelings leading to the destruction of the building.  My father heard stories from this time that some in the crowd were scared.  Others felt that the icons within the church were even shedding tears.  It was a sad memory for him.

My father served as a captain in the Albanian army.  His responsibility was to protect the borders of Albania.  His specific job was to listen for broadcasts indicating an American invasion.

While on duty listening to radio communications, my father came to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  Instead of paying attention to possible American messages about an invasion of Albania, he decided to listen to a radio broadcast from Trans World Radio.  This organization transmits the Christian message by radio into countries where it might otherwise not be heard.  The broadcast to which he was listening came from Monaco, a small country near Italy.

His decision to listen to this broadcast instead of doing his military duty could have put our family in great danger.  If my father had been caught listening to the TWR message, he could have been thrown into prison or he could have lost his life.  He was not caught, however, and after listening to several broadcasts, he eventually put his faith and trust in Jesus Christ.  This changed our entire family’s life and also the Christian community.

During the reign of Enver Hoxha, we could not celebrate Christmas publicly.  The government wanted all celebrations to be on the New Year.  For example, we did not have Christmas trees.  Instead, they were called New Year’s trees.

People were encouraged to gather with their families at New Year and have a family meal.  The government even doubled the meat ration for that week.  Christians, however, still celebrated Christmas.  We did so secretly with a family meal.

Now that Communist times are over, Christmas is a time of great celebration in the church in Albania.  On December 24, our entire church gathers for feasting, music, and dancing.  The following morning we have a worship service.  In the afternoon on Christmas Day, there is a time to spend with family.

God called the shepherds years ago.  They brought their sheep and lambs to Jesus and it reminds me of how the small and humble person can come and know Jesus.  When God acts and calls His people they will come, no matter what man may say.  For years our country refused God, but His call is stronger still!” [1]

[1] Drake Williams, Joy of the World, 45-48.

A Series of Gifts: Forgiveness

The following message is based on Matthew 1:18-25 which tells us of the angel’s message to Joseph.  It was delivered on December 2, 2012.

Christmas is the season of giving.  Some gifts are those we find in a department store, in a catalog or online.  Others are such that a pricetag cannot be placed upon them.  Consider the following story.

Louis Pasteur, the pioneer of immunology, lived at a time when thousands of people died each year of rabies.  Pasteur had worked for years on a vaccine.  Just as he was about to begin experimenting on himself, a nine-year-old, Joseph Meister, was bitten by a rabid dog.  The boy’s mother begged Pasteur to experiment on her son. Pasteur injected Joseph for ten days- and the boy lived.

Decades later, of all the things Pasteur could have had etched on his headstone, he asked for three words: JOSEPH MEISTER LIVED.  For Pasteur, it was just one physical life, who by the way, ended up dying of something else eventually.  But through the death and resurrection of Jesus, millions will be able to live eternally through faith in Him.

The highest honor of any believer is to bear the title: “Christian”, because it recalls the One who laid down his life for us.  But it is not just a name.  It is a name associated with a deed.  It speaks of what Jesus did for you and me.  Although much of America and the western world equates Christmas with materialism, I would like for us to consider the spiritual blessing we who are Christians have because of Jesus and His coming.  The one gift that I would like to elaborate on is forgiveness.  For that, we turn to Matthew chapter one.

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATES THE GIFT OF JESUS.

Matthew 1 gives us the scene of Joseph, a righteous man, engaged to Mary.  Both are from the village of Nazareth.  Notice that verse 18 states: “This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.  His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.”

The fact that Mary was pregnant and was probably beginning to “show” should have bothered Joseph.  He was betrothed to Mary.  He was considered to be “her husband (verse 19).”  And yet, there was only one thing he could assume: Mary had been unfaithful.

Jewish betrothal was something serious.  The only way a betrothal could be disestablished was divorce.  To proceed with the marriage, would have meant Joseph was immoral.  To divorce Mary openly would have subjected her to shame, ridicule, and in the most extreme cases, possible death by stoning.  But Joseph was just and merciful.  He sought to do the most inconspicuous of things.  The Scripture says in verse 19: “Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.’”

The birth of Jesus tells us that at the heart of Christianity is a belief in the miraculous, that God can do the impossible.  It is truly supernatural that one could be born not from two parents, but through the power of God wrought upon a young woman of just 15 years of age.  That is the definition of a miracle: the author of creation intercepting the natural order to perform something that is truly supernatural. How did this happen?  It is unexplainable, as other miracles are.

And yet, it was something that was foretold nearly 700 years before Jesus came.  The prophet Isaiah foretold of a virgin that would bear a child.  His name would be Immanuel.  It took the angel to relate this to the skittish Joseph, as he told of the special circumstances surrounding our Lord’s birth.  Then he gave the reason:  “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”  What we have in verse 22 is a fulfillment formula that Matthew uses 12 times, to specifically state that the life of Christ fulfills what God promised hundreds of years before.

The virgin birth is more than just a theological tenet.  Rather it speaks of God who came to us as one of us.  I’ve heard it said that Jesus was the missionary “par excellence.”  All missionaries leave their home country, travel to a distant land, learn the language and the customs of its citizens before they start to minister to the people and spread their message.  Jesus set the standard of such activity, when He left throne in heaven and came to dwell among us.  Paul wrote in Philippians 2:6 that Jesus: “…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!”

What is your response to such a gesture?  Does it inspire you?  Does it humble you?  The fact that God became one of us, to minister to us- does that not do something for you?  Is that not a loving thing to do?

CHRISTMAS ALSO CELEBRATES THE GIFT OF FORGIVENESS.

Notice how the angel instructed Joseph to name Mary’s son.  Matthew 1:21 “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”  The meaning of Jesus’ name ties into His ultimate mission.  The meaning of that term is Savior.[1]  Jesus’ name is a Greek equivalent to the Hebrew name: “Joshua.”  Although many were called “Joshua,” which means “The Lord saves,” only Jesus was given the name with an Old Testament reference to Psalm 130:8: “And He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.” There is deep significance in the name “Jesus.”  Listen to what D.A. Carson says about the name of Jesus.  “It was no doubt divine grace that solicited Mary’s cooperation before the conception and Joseph’s cooperation only after it.  Here Joseph is drawn into the mystery of the incarnation.  Mary was told Jesus’ name (Luke 1:31); but Joseph was told both name and reason for it.”[2]

The reason for His name is given by the angel: “…for He will save His people from their sins.”  The Greek term is swzw which is put in the future form and means: “to preserve from eternal death and judgment.[3]  This is reiterated by Jesus Himself in Luke 19:10: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which is lost.”  And 1 Timothy 1:15: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

When we read what the Bible says about being “saved” we are to understand as a comprehensive process based on Jesus’ miraculous mission.  It involves a person recognizing the moral mistakes they’ve made in their lives; that such things have offended God, recognizing that Jesus came in order that we might be forgiven of those offenses and that by turning from our sin and placing our trust in Him, we are reconciled to God.  This is what the Bible means by being saved.

This is God’s plan for your life.  The Barna Research group revealed the results of a survey several years ago that found that 46% of all men and 40% of all women are still hunting for life’s plan.  Could it be that we are hunting and searching, for a needle in a haystack, while God has made it plain to us through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ?

The following is a testimony from one of Dr. Drake’s students from China, Keran Wang.  She writes: “I grew up in China without hearing about the Christian faith.  China has been influenced by Confucianism for centuries, and it still exerts influence today. This way of thinking has nothing to say about sin, wrong, or evil.  For the Confucians, each person is created good.  Someone becomes bad or evil only when that one comes into contact with evil things, but education in virtue can prevent evil.   Good education in virtue will create genuinely good people, and then in turn this will make a good society.”

“Confucian teachings, however, are not the only beliefs within China.  Communism now also exerts influence throughout my home country.  Communism encourages people to devote their lives to the state.  Christianity gets in the way.  Because Communists are fearful of the Christian influence in China, they try to control it.  Christians are advised to go to state registered churches, while other churches have to hide themselves to avoid possible persecution.”

“I became a Christian when I moved to the Netherlands.  At Christmas time in 2003 I realized that I needed Jesus as my Savior.  While I had been taught many other ways to believe throughout my life, I came to realize that my wrongdoing could not be excused by education or overcome by devotion to the state.  Instead, I needed to have my sins wiped away by Jesus.  He was the only one who could forgive me and grant me life.”[4]

Each one of us must know that forgiveness and transformation is found in a person- that person is Jesus.  It is not a philosophy or an ideology.  Forgiveness is one of the greatest gifts we could receive but it takes a formal reception, which is asking Christ to rule and reign in your life, turning from sin and seeking His forgiveness.

[1] New Geneva Study Bible, 1506.

[2] D.A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: “Matthew,” (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), 75.

[3] BAGD, 798c.

[4] Drake Williams, Joy of the World:31 International Christmas Devotionals, 8-11.

“Great Service”

The following message is based on Mark 10:35-45 and covers the topic of pride and service within the Christian life.  It was preached at the Palm Schwenkfelder Church in Palm, PA on  October 21, 2012 for Schwenkfelder Ministerium Pulpit Exchange.

How do we define “greatness?”  With any word, there is often the world’s definition, then the Bible’s definition.  According to Webster’s, greatness is defined as chief or preeminent over others —often used in titles.  We witness people striving for greatness and notoriety on such popular shows as “American Idol,” “Britain’s Got Talent,” and “The Voice.”  And then there are examples from history.  Take, for instance, Alexander the Great, who before his death at the young age of 32 conquered much of the known world, from Greece to the Himalayas during the 4th century B.C.  He was undefeated in battle and considered one of the most successful commanders ever.

Usually, we define greatness as having to do with money, power and accomplishment.  Mohammed Ali often referred to himself as “the Greatest.”  Coach Urban Meyer has referred to Tim Tebow, his quarterback at the University of Florida from 2006 to 2009 as “GOAT,” which stands for “Greatest of All Time.”  These definitions usually have to do with money, power and accomplishment.

Then there is the Biblical definition, which Jesus gives in our passage today.  His meaning will surprise you.  We first learn that…

GREATNESS IS NOT MEASURED BY POSITION OR POWER.

Earlier in chapter 10, Jesus discussed how hard it was for the rich to enter the kingdom.  It is a call to forsake all things for the gospel (verse 30).  Notice His words in verse 31: “Many who are first, will be last; and the last, first.”   Jesus tells of His impending death in 32-34.  He tells His disciples that He is headed to Jerusalem and that He will be brought trial, and that He will die at the hands of sinful men.  This is the third time that Jesus predicts His imposing death.  As His followers, we must know that Jesus’ death was something necessary and by God’s design.  It was according to the Father’s plan and foreknowledge (Acts 2:23).  The disciples failed to understand its necessity or its enormity.

James and John approach Jesus, asking to sit at places of honor and authority.  There is quite a contrast in the nature of the subject preceding and the question asked by James and John in verse 35: “Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You.” 36 And He said to them, “What do you want Me to do for you?” 37 And they said to Him, “Grant that we may sit in Your glory, one on Your right, and one on Your left.”  These were two men who walked closely to Jesus.  Peter, James and John were the threesome that Jesus invested the most time in.  They were the “Sons of Thunder.”  James and John were brothers, the sons of Zebedee.  It makes one think that what Jesus said did not sink in.

The disciples’ status and rank were discussed earlier in 9:34.  This is possibly a continuation of former times when they asked for special privileges when Jesus would rule, as was assumed that the Messiah would do after ousting the Romans.  When my child wants something, he or she asks me.  If he wants it more, he asks 2 or 3 times.  Or if they are really desperate, they can be downright incessant.  They envisioned an earthly kingdom that ran according to human norms.  David Garland notes: “The Zebedee brothers are not asking for the honor of being crucified with Jesus.  What they really expect is a kingdom for themselves, where they can impose their own will on others.[1]  They had it in their own minds what “greatness” was.

But Jesus turns their definition on its head by saying: “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” 39 And they said to Him, “We are able.”  Cup and baptism are used to represent experiences that qualify for this place.  The cup is a metaphor for suffering.  “The cup,” was a cup of wrath.  That’s why Jesus prayed in the Garden in Matthew 26:39:  “”My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”  What’s the talk of baptism?  Here the word is used as a form of identification, that with calamity.  Jesus would be plunged into adversity.  The way of Jesus is one of suffering.  Garland writes: “The way of Jesus is self-giving service.  They are not to be on the receiving end of service but on the giving end.”[2]

Verse 40- “But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”  These positions were not for Jesus to grant, but only the Father.  Only to those for whom it has been prepared.  Yet, many of the disciples would die a martyr’s death.  Peter would be crucified upside down.  James would be thrown off the temple roof.  Andrew would be crucified.  Paul would be beheaded.  The way of an apostle was hard and difficult.  And yet, all of them went down in the annals of history as being great men!  Greatness is not measured by position or power.  Secondly…

GREATNESS IS MEASURED BY ATTITUDE AND ACTION.

At this request, we read in verse 41 that the others felt indignant towards James and John.  Jesus uses it as a springboard to teach His disciples about greatness.  He says: “You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 “But it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

He says that greatness is measured by servant hood; by serving others.  A few years ago, Central Church adopted a mission statement.  This is a short, concise sentence that tells what we are about and what we aspire to be about in our world and community.  It is simply to Love God, to serve others and to grow disciples.  Compare this with the secular and pagan world:  Rulers of the Gentiles lord over their authority.  Some of you may have caught the recent program on Caligula, the Roman emperor.  He was a harsh ruler, suspected of being insane.  He would go after his own family members and had them executed if he suspected them of treason.  Caligula had his family members put to death.  He wanted to be worshipped; and he decided to rule ruthlessly, with an iron fist in order to be revered as a god.  Caligula believed that in order to be great, you must become a god.  Jesus taught, in order to become great, you must become a servant.

In this background, Jesus introduces a bit of an antithesis: to be great, you must be a servant; to be first, you must be a slave.  This mindset is also listed in Philippians 2:3.  Here, Paul writes: “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death– even death on a cross!”

Jesus is our ultimate example of service.  Here was the greatest, Who became the lowliest, for our sake.  Notice verse 45: “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Garland states: “Jesus has told his disciples that he must die, but this is the only passage in Mark that tells us why he must die: He ‘gives His life as a ransom for many. ‘The term ‘ransom,’ was used for compensation for personal injury or a crime, for purchasing the freedom of an enslaved relative.  And for the price paid as an equivalent for the sacrifice of the firstborn.  In extrabiblical sources, it referred to the amount paid to free a slave or prisoner, redeem a pledge, or reclaim something owned.

I was brought face to face with something extraordinary recently.  My wife and I visited the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Franklin Institute last weekend.  The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered by accident in 1947, is the single most critical literary discovery of our modern times.  Before the discovery, the oldest manuscript of the Hebrew Bible dated to around 1,000 A.D.  But the Scrolls uncovered portions of the Old Testament that predated Christ.  As I got in line to look at these darkened pieces of parchment under glass, one was a portion of Isaiah 53:11-12, dated to the year 1 A.D., around the time of Jesus’ birth.  It said: “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.”  Christ gave His life to ransom us from sin’s slavery.  He set us free to serve God.  Aren’t we glad that Jesus gave His life as a ransom for us!  Friends, that’s you and me.

What about us?  Are we making the most of the opportunities God places in front of us to serve others?

Today, we’ve been reminded that greatness is not measured by position or power, but by attitude and action.  In Christ, there was no polished rhetoric.  Only words backed up by actions.  Directly after this incident, Jesus heals Bartimaeus, Son of Timaeus.  This man, calls out to Jesus, saying, “Jesus, Son of David (anointed one, king of Israel, the heir of the house of David), asks: “What do you want me to do for you?”

It was the great Martin Luther King, Jr. that said: You don’t have to have a college degree to serve.  You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.  You don’t have to know Plato and Aristotle.  You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics.  You only need a heart full of grace.  A soul generated by love.”[3]

[1] David E. Garland, “Mark,” The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996), 411.

[2] Garland, 413.

[3] Garland, 417.

A New Identity

The following message is based on Ephesians 4.17-24 and deals with the change of lifestyle that a Christian encounters by grace through faith.  It was preached at the Central Schwenkfelder Church on Reformation Sunday, October 28, 2012

The United States Marshall Service operates what some of us know as the Witness Protection Program.  In this program, the Marshall Service would go to great lengths to protect valuable witnesses to key federal trials in the United States.  The Marshall Service would do everything from changing the person’s name to granting them a new place to live to giving them a new occupation to even giving the witness stories to tell their families if anyone should ask about their whereabouts.

Become a Christian involves a change in identity, a transformation from being one kind of person to another.  A person undergoes a radical identity change when he becomes a believer.  Everything about their old lifestyle is laid aside and a new manner of living becomes evident.  This is because of a new mindset they are given, as the Holy Spirit works in their lives.  On this Reformation Sunday, let us turn to Ephesians 4:17 and see about Paul’s introduction of “A New Identity.”

ONE CHARACTERISTIC OF AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN FAITH IS THAT WE ARE NOT LONGER TO BE INFLUENCED BY THE WORLD AROUND US.

Notice what Paul says in verse 17: “This I say therefore, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19 and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality, for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.”  Walking is a metaphor used to describe a lifestyle.  Paul lists several things here that are characteristic of the Gentile world of his day and are true of unregenerate people today.  As believers, we are not to walk (live and/or think) like this.  It is a constant casting aside of the old sinful nature.  Although we live in the world, we are not of the world.  First, they are known by their ignorance.  This is spiritual ignorance.  It does not have to do with social graces.  It does not imply money or etiquette.  A person can have those things, yet still suffer from being spiritually unaware.

It reminds me of the story of a pastor who minister in New Orleans’s French Quarter.  He made it his habit to walk down the street and speak to shop owners.  On one of his walks, he noticed a man who happened to be wearing a cross around his neck.  When asked why he wore such a piece of jewelry, the man said: “Oh, I just think it looks nice.”  The pastor went on to relate the gospel message to this businessman, much to his disinterest.

A week or so later a, violent hurricane was approaching the area and the pastor took another walk down the same street.  This time, he noticed everyone boarding up their storefronts and apartments.  The store-owner spotted the clergyman and rushed out to him quite nervously, gripping the cross necklace and asked: “Preacher, Preacher, how does this thing work again?”  Unbelievers sometimes don’t understand the gospel message because of a lack of interest and spiritual ignorance.  Some don’t accept the message of the good news because they do not know any better.  The Bible is quite plain in teaching that it takes the Spirit of God to affect a person’s heart and open them up to the things of Christ.  God has to illuminate the mind and the heart to be receptive to these things.

Another thing than characterizes an unregenerate person is their hardness of heart.  Paul lists this as one of the badges of the Gentiles in Verse 18.  What is a hard heart?  It implies that one is so callous to the things of God that they want very little to do with Him.  They are angry at God for not giving them what they feel they are owed.  Some have claimed agnosticism out of default.  These have said that they do not know if there is a god.  But if there is, they believe in a rather small god that only exists to do things for us; never to keep us accountable, or who could create the universe in six days.  And those that are hardened against God are usually hardened against people.  They become antisocial to the point that nothing can make them happy.  They don’t believe in anything except themselves; and even then they have their doubts.

ANOTHER CHARACTERISTIC OF AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN FAITH IS THAT WE ARE CHANGED.

To these things the Christian is encouraged to lay aside the old man; to leave the ignorance and hard- heartedness that can suck the joy and purpose out of life.  Notice what Paul says in verse 20: “But you did not learn Christ in this way, 21 if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, 22 that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, 23 and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind,”

All of us have behavior that we left at the time that Christ came into our lives, if Christ, has in fact, come into our lives.  Some of us still struggle with putting off that old sinful nature and completely laying it aside.  Some of us had behavior before we were saved that could utterly destroy our lives if we dove back in it today.  As born again Christians, we must continually put off the “old man,” that former way of living.  If I came to church wearing an old stinky sweatshirt and jeans that had dirt caked into the fibers, you would say: “Man, go change!  Go get a shower!”  In the nostrils of God, our bad behavior has a stench associated with it.  But thank God that He is able to constantly cleanse us and renew us according to the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 13:12 states: “The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.”

A key catalyst to this laying aside of the old and putting on the new is to be renewed in our minds.  Romans 12:2 states: “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is– his good, pleasing and perfect will.”  Some ways in which to be renewed in the spirit of our minds are to expose ourselves to those things which renew us.  Things like prayer, Scripture reading and serving others.  Anything that would encourage us to reflect on what it means to follow Christ.

Dietrich Bonheoffer was a Lutheran pastor and seminary professor that suffered imprisonment during WW II in Germany.  He started a seminary where the first two hours of every day was spent with students and faculty participating in spiritual exercise.  That in turn produced discipline and renewal that gave them stamina to persevere during the most difficult of times.

Today is Reformation Sunday.  This Protestant movement of the 16th century was a recovery of the authority of the Bible in all aspects of faith.  The five solas teach us that Christianity is a series of five “onlys.”  These are sola scriptura, which defined the Bible as the church’s only authority; sola gratia, which taught that one is saved by grace alone; sola fide, which said that faith is the only means by which one can be brought into relationship with God; solus Christus, which taught that Christ alone is the head of the church and the one in whom we must trust.  And Soli Deo Gloria- which said that we exist for the glory of God alone.

As the Reformation came and went, there is the ongoing need to pass on our faith to the next generation.  One thing that strikes me as odd about today’s culture is a do-it-yourself mentality to most anything.  People cannot pick and choose what they believe in and what they disregard.  The new self that God grants one who comes to Him newly, is a complete package, one that is created in the “righteousness and holiness of truth.”   The term “god,” means many things to many people.  While spirituality is popular, the church is losing many every day.  There is critical importance for dads, especially to take up the spiritual banner for your family.  We are to teach “these things” to our children, “when we lie down, when we rise up, when we walk by the way,” as Deuteronomy 6 teaches.  This may take the form of family devotions, Bible reading, praying for your family.  Over the past 24 hours, have I done something spiritual with my family?  James and Katie have taken special vows to promote the spiritual maturity of their family.  Our passage has to do with maturity, spiritual maturity.  Dads, it is your job to disciple your family!  Moms, if your husbands won’t do it, you do it!  May God help you.

When we speak of laying aside the old things and putting on the new self, what does that mean for us?  What do you and I need to lay aside?  What do we need to put on?  A few actions are listed in verses 25 and following.  Note Paul’s list.  Things like lying (verse 25) are replaced with truthfulness; anger is replaced with peace (verse 26), stealing (of all kinds, verse 28) is replaced with work, vulgarity (verse 29) is replaced with encouragement; and bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander and malice (verse 31) are replaced with kindness.  The wonderful thing about the gospel is that God is able to transform us through the power of His Holy Spirit.  We cannot do it on our own, nor does God expect us to.  God enables us as we avail ourselves to Him!

This weekend I attended a ministry workshop in Ohio.  The theme was on conflict, sponsored by Peacemaker ministries.  I was reminded how little I realized there was about peacemaking.  One of the things that the leader pointed out is that what we aren’t willing to cast aside, those barriers of peace, can become an idol.  We feel entitled to the anger, resentment, and slander because of what has been done to us.  That doesn’t make it right.  Such things are obstacles to personal and relational peace.  We must cast them aside.

This morning, we have studied Ephesians 4 and Paul’s instruction on the before and after of Christian transformation, “A New Identity.”  Some may say, that just isn’t practical.  That cannot happen.  To that I would disagree.  It happens every day and it can happen to you.  It is a mindset that brings about a new behavior that has God written all over it from beginning to end.

One of the people that this happened to is Brian Welch.  Dena Ross of Beliefnet.com writes: “On the outside, things seemed great for guitarist Brian Welch. He was a member of one of the most popular heavy metal bands of the ’90s, Korn.  He had lots of money, and he was partying with some of the biggest names in the music industry. But behind the fame, Grammy Awards, and Billboard hits, Welch was battling many demons–an addiction to crystal meth, depression, and what he described as evil of a spiritual kind. It was only after hitting rock bottom that he found what he believed was missing in his life–God.

Welch became a Christian, quit drugs, and dedicated his life to his faith and his young daughter, Jennea. And then he did the unthinkable–he left one of the most successful bands in music history.  Describing his departure, he said: ‘I really felt God helped me have the courage to quit. I wasn’t happy with Korn for the last few years because my heart was with my (child). She was with her nanny most of the time at home. I was always worried about her and wondering if she felt she was unloved because her mother left her [when she was a baby], and I was never home. It was just a constant battle.

But when I gave my life to God, I felt like He gave me the courage to say no to my rock-star dream, to say no to my own desires, and to look at her and say, “Yes, I’m going to be home, and I’m going to take care of you. It’s about you now.”  So, it wasn’t that hard. People think, “What about all that money and fame?” Well, I had that for 10 years, and it wasn’t making me satisfied. It was cool and everything, but it wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. It was like freedom when I quit Korn.’  Some might say that is a miracle- that God would change someone that dramatic.  The truth is that God does that every day.  He is able to grant that freedom to all who come to Him in sincerity and truth.

What are We Rallying For? by Rev. David W. McKinley

The following sermon is based on 1 Corinthians 3:1-9, and addresses the value of Christian Education programs in the local church.  It was preached at the Central Shwenkfelder Church in Worcester, PA on September 9, 3012.

This time of year is exciting for teachers, for they see the students come back into the classroom.  There are high hopes that this year will be a successful one; that many will expand their knowledge and learn much from the instructions, reading, and test taking.  Today is Rally Day.  It marks the beginning of another year of church activities and the formal beginning of our Christian Education programs such as Sunday School for all ages, small groups, and youth groups.  Rally Day is kind of like a back to school time.  It is a time when teachers begin with their new Sunday School classes.  When you’re away too long, it is hard to get back into the routine.  Rally Day reminds us that some routines are healthier than others, and that routines are easy to get out of.

Every Rally Day, we do two things that are very special.  First, you saw us give away a number of Bibles to 3rd graders.  It reminds us that we should be reading our Bibles.  How valuable is the Bible to us?  2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that it is the very word of God and is able to equip us for every good work God brings our way.

I am especially thankful for our dedicated our teachers, leaders and board members that work hard to facilitate our spiritual growth in this church.  Or rather, these have dedicated themselves to this noble task of instructing and facilitating spiritual growth for our congregation.  How important are these vows that they’ve committed themselves to!

On a day that we think about our spiritual growth, I would like to draw our attention to something that Paul states in his first letter to the Church at Corinth.  He puts Christian workers I proper perspective by stating in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth.”  This reminds us of a few things.

GOD IS AT WORK IN THE LIFE OF OUR CHURCH.

First of all, God is doing something in our midst.  The Christian faith is not to make your life easier.  It does not exist to make your life more comfortable.  Following Jesus does not give you a new psychology for your own benefit.  Rather, God is about the business of making His followers more like His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 8:29: “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son… .”

Even though God is the One who causes the growth, we must take the responsibility for our own growth.  The New King James states verse seven: “So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.”  These programs are designed to help you to Grow, to connect and to serve.  (See Central’s diagram)

Without them, the opposite can take place.  It is possible for Christian atrophy to occur.  That is what Paul was getting at here.  The Corinthian Christians had become carnal.  1 Corinthians 3:1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, 3 for you are still fleshly.”  It is not that they were void of God’s Spirit, but they had not availed themselves to His working.  They had remained babes, and had become carnal.  Note Ephesians 4:14, that we are to: “…no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.”

Christianity is made up of a series of graduations of spiritual maturity.  To those that avail themselves to God’s word and His Holy Spirit, He brings about growth.  Paul mentions God causing the growth twice in this passage.  Once in verse six and another time in verse seven.  It reminds us that God is sovereign over our spiritual growth. When we participate in a Sunday School class or a small group, there are lots of things taking place that contribute to such maturity.  There’s teaching, reading, study by students and instructor; asking questions. The goal is to withdraw the worldliness from your life and ingest some solid spiritual food.  This is what the Corinthians needed.   What is worldliness?  It is the jealously, the quarreling, the bad attitude, the racism, etc that keep us from moving on with God.  We must be challenged to get rid of those things; to let them go.  We all need an attitude adjustment at times. The Reformer John Calvin noted that: “So long as the flesh, that is to say, natural corruption, prevails in a man, it has so completely possession of the man’s mind, that the wisdom of God finds no admittance.  Hence, if we would make proficiency in the Lord’s school, we must first of all renounce our own judgment and our own will.”[1]

The popular British columnist, Christopher Hitchens was an atheist.  After he developed esophageal cancer, he remained a bitter atheist until the end, even in spite of his brother, Peter Hitchens, being a Christian.  This is what he said about prayer: “A different secular problem also occurs to me: what if I pulled through and the pious faction contentedly claimed that their prayers had been answered?  That would somehow be irritating.”[2]  What does God say about those that rebelliously deny His existence?  Psalm 14: “The fool has said in his heart, there is no god.”

We must not take ourselves out of the process. One can plant the hardiest seed that he can find; but without water, it will not germinate.  Or one can faithfully water a plot of land routinely, but it will not magically sprout tomatoes or carrots, if those seeds are not embedded in the ground.  And neither will happen if God does not bring about the miracle of germination and fertilization.  The point: God causes the growth.  The same idea is communicated by Jesus in John 15:5: “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”  Today, I want to encourage you to get invovlved.  It will make a difference in your life.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF STUDYING WITH GOD’S FAMILY, THE CHURCH?

When you participate in one of our Christian Education programs, whether it is a Sunday School class, a small group, there are many benefits.  For one, you open yourself up to learn by the teaching and the discussions that take place.  You develop a comfort level with others in the church.  You find your niche. In such discussions, you find that you are not alone in your feelings or in your questions.  We get meaning and purpose from what is said.  Strength and growth come from God.

We all have something to contribute.  One person noted that the parenting advice that came from a SS discussion years ago, still functions as a resource for her.  In her words, “It made an impact.”  That if you don’t attend Sunday School, you miss out on so much!  You also might be challenged.  Sometimes we need to hear the uncomfortable things in order to be stretched and to grow.

What you will sacrifice in a little bit of extra sleep or free time, you gain in making new friends while learning from God’s word.  In SS and small groups, relationships are formed.  Bonding takes place.  You discover that there are others to rely upon.  For instance, one family is dealing with a very difficult illness.  The person who organized meals remarked how she had to turn people away because there was such an outpouring of love.

Being a part of a Sunday School class or small group also gives you opportunities for outreach, that might not be as readily available.  As a church family, we must be open to strangers and seek those from outside.  We must break the barrier that is there by default.  But we create our own barriers. We must be looking for ways to “Love God, Serve Others and Grow Disciples.”

These programs are not about entertainment, but about praising God.  Getting the attention off of our own needs and giving something of ourselves.  If you teach, you get a lot out of it.  We should all be looking to do whatever God has called us to do.

But sometimes we fell like we don’t have the time or energy to prepare.  We don’t want to do it.  Carl Sensenig shared something that his dad used to say: “You will make time for those things that are really important.”  Serving has a role in your spiritual growth.  GOD IS AT WORK IN THE LIFE OF OUR CHURCH.  I hope that this fall affords you many opportunities to experience it.

A church member wrote to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. “I’ve gone and done it for 30 long years now,” he wrote, “and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time and the preachers are wasting theirs too by giving lengthy sermons at all.”

This started a real controversy in the “Letters to the Editor” column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: “I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this… They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead.”

[1] Calvin, Commentary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2003), 123.

“Our Modus Operandi” by David W. McKinley

The following message is taken from Exodus 20 and deals with the subjects of work, rest and purpose in life.  It was preached on September 2, 2012 at the Central Schwenkfelder Church in Worcester, PA.

What is our Modus operandi?  Maybe you’ve heard of that term.  According to Wikipedia, Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, basically translated as “method of operation”.[1] The term is used to describe someone’s habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning. In English, it is often shortened to M.O.  The expression is often used in police work when discussing a crime and addressing the methods employed by the perpetrators. Today, I’d like to use that phase to talk about what we do with our lives.  What is our “Modus Operandi?”  Often times, I’m in the presence of other men, like at soccer practice or community functions where I’m meeting new people.  One of the first things out of a guys mouth is “What do you do?”  This morning, I would like for us to think about our purpose in life.  What is our motivation for living?  On this Labor Day weekend, let us think about our lives in relation to work, rest and purpose.

Some say that our work ethic in this country is wanting.  A recently article by Wayne Allyn Root stated that the work ethic in this country is hurting.  One seventh of our population is on food stamps.  20% of American children under 18 are obese.  Almost 11 million citizens are on disability.  In 1967, the ratio of able-bodied workers to disabled was 41 to 1.  As of June 2012, it is now 16 to 1.[1]  Now, a little over 8 % of Americans do not have a job.

Yet, we have the most opportunity of anywhere.  United States is often referred to as the “land of opportunity.”  James Truslow Adams coined the term “American Dream” in his 1931 book The Epic of America. His American Dream is “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.  I am convinced that we do not know how good we have it in America.

I was having a conversation with Clifford Liu, one of our missionaries.  He told me of the educational needs in China.  The average for the last five years has indicated that 9.5 million students graduate from high school each year.  Due to limited opportunities, only 5 million go to college.  That leaves close to five million students that have nowhere to study.  Many of them try to find jobs in China or study abroad.  Only 400,000 study abroad in places like Europe, Australia or the United States.  128, 000 students have come each of the last two years to the United States to study.  Last week, we met two such students: “Belle and Jimmie.”  That brings up the subject of work.  What is work?

 

WORK IS A NECESSARY ELEMENT OF OUR LIVES, BALANCED WITH REST AND WORSHIP.

In God’s moral law, what we know as the “Ten Commandments,” God instructs us in Exodus 20:8: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. 11 For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”

We must recover a balance between work and rest.  Some people call it rhythm.  The point is to not get overextended in one or the other, as you live your life for Christ. Many of us do not see work as a privilege, do we?  Your mind and ability are gifts.  Do you count them as such?  Laziness is our position by default.  A recent article from USA Today spoke of how college students are earning extra money by doing what their classmates should be doing for themselves.  For instance, consider the following entrepreneurs who have seized the opportunity to make money off of those who are lazy.

Clean rooms: Nate Andorsky’s own messy room at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., inspired the student cleaning service he founded with Mike Waterman, in April 2011. He says DC3 can do 60-70 cleanings a month because one crew can clean many dorm rooms in a single trip. Cleanings start at $39.

Clean laundry.  Jeremy Young helped found HillFresh Laundry in 2011 as a Hamilton College sophomore in Clinton, N.Y. He says students are too busy to do laundry. However, Wendy Leone pays $349 a semester for HillFresh to wash and fold her 19-year-old son’s weekly laundry, because he doesn’t know how to do it himself, she says.

Pack and move. Students at Cornell University pay $38 an hour if they miss the dorm move-out deadline. Can’t meet the deadline? Students can pay $67 an hour for student-run Big Red Shipping and Storage to box up all the items in their rooms and load them in the car. Bubble wrap is extra.

Laundry-free linens. No matter how gross sheets get, some students never wash them. College moms since 2009, Beantown Bedding founders Joan Ripple and Kirsten Lambert released a solution July 30: Bedsox, biodegradable sheets that go into the compost instead of the wash, available online at $25 a set.”Basically, what it boils down to is, college students are lazy. They’d like to have clean sheets, but their moms aren’t there to wash them,” says Lambert.

Indentured slavery constituted over half of the Roman Empire in Paul’s day.  Paul instructed Christian slaves in Colossians 3: 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

But if you found yourself in prison, a job within there is the most treasured privilege.  Not that the pay is good, but it gives you something to do, to pass the time.  I was recently told that at one of our state correctional facilities, there are 3,000 inmates, but only 300 jobs.  For some, picking up trash is a privilege to pass the time.  It doesn’t matter what the task is, it is a sense of duty and faithfulness that gives satisfaction.  It is not about what you are doing, but how you do it, and the gratitude to have the opportunity to do it.  The next time you feel like hating your job, imagine complaining to someone who has been unemployed for a year with no end in sight.

 

HOW MUST WE APPROACH OUR EXISTENCE AND PURPOSE FOR LIVING?

With such news, we wonder if we’ve maybe left out the notion that there is such thing as self maintenance and responsibility.  I visited with a mom recently who had to lay her mother to rest.  She did not know how to tell her 21 year old son of his grandmother’s passing.  She told me that he keeps odd hours, so I offered to join her in order to break the news. I asked if it was his job that caused him to sleep during the day.  She said “No.  He just stays up most of the night playing video games.”  Unfortunately, he did not attend his grandmother’s funeral.

Whatever we do, we must take an attitude of salt and light.  Jesus said in Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”  Our work ethic is our opportunity to witness.  Remember: “an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay.”  Andrew Carnegie once said: “The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work.”  Work is something that you did.  It was a part of life.  Today, people don’t want to work.  More toys equate to more laziness.  We need to “man-up,” as someone said.  We need to bring a work ethic to wherever we are employed.  We need to be a good steward of our time.  Maybe it means beginning our day with God.  Someone once said: “If you give God time at the start of each day, God will work out the rest of the time.”

Oprah Winfrey once said: “I don’t think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.”

What is our primary purpose?  The Westminster Shorter Catechism teaches that our primary purpose is, “To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”  From time to time, I hear from older adults that they lack purpose or direction in their lives.  Each of us is called to be a good manager of his time and resources.  Life is not defined by one’s sense of productivity.  If you cannot do “x”, you can still “y.”

It was said of Savilla Frye, a church member who recently moved to California, that she took it upon herself to be a friend to others, to help out, and to pray.

Now that a person is retired or elderly, what purpose do they serve?  Let me offer some things.  Regardless of what shape you are in, you are able to …

Pray: Philippians 4:6 states: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  One of the most loving things you can do for this church and this ministry is to pray for it.  Pray for the sick.  Pray for the lost.  In a day when so many are distracted from spending time with God, will you?  For the benefit of others?

Also, you are able to love.  Colossians 3:12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Some of us are closer to meeting the Lord than others.  Maybe there’s a relationship that needs work.  Maybe there’s some forgiving to do.  Maybe there’s some advice to give.

Mentor: What contributes to a good work ethic?  Some say good training.  Others say good parenting, or modeling.  Could you be a role model for someone?  Especially a father.  Many of us grew up watching our dads go off to work.  Sally House recently told me that she remembers when her father, Jack Gramm, a leader here at Central, would follow the snow plough to work.

When I entered the ministry, I wanted to spend time with an older minister, someone who would mentor me.  I spent seven years in the ministry before I had that opportunity.  Then I came to Central and met a man by the name of Dave Derstine.  Dave was the solo pastor at Blooming Glen Mennonite Church, then the first Director of Development for Dock Woods Community.  I spent a significant amount of time with him, asking him questions, probing his opinions.  I greatly valued my relationship with him.  Maybe God is calling you to mentor someone?

Lastly, maybe God has called you to encourage others.  Ephesians 4:29: “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”  Too often, we define ourselves by what we do; not by what we think and what we say.  Maybe we need to get the focus off of ourselves.  We need to see that every day is a gift.  IT is not a matter of being fulfilled, but what you do in dedication to God and others.

You never know when you will pass.  Recently, I have been made aware of young people who pass.  I traveled to the Flight 93 Memorial near Bedford, PA.  While there, it was revealed that  on September 11, 2001 that by 9:30, the crew and passengers knew that they had been hijacked.  They had under thirty minutes to figure out what to do.  Todd Beamer is the man given the credit with saying: “Let’s Roll,” and storming the terrorist, overtaking the cockpit and bringing the plane down.

But as I stood listening to a local tell the story, he said: “Do you see that woman’s name down there?  Sandy Waugh Bradshaw was a 38- year-old stewardess.  Shortly before the takeover, she was talking with her husband and said: “I have to go.  My water’s boiling.”  She then got off the phone and threw scalding water on the terrorists, disrupting them, just before Todd Beamer said: “Let’s Roll.”  Another 17 minutes in the air, the plane would have reached its designated target of Washington D.C.  Who would have thought that boiling water would save the U.S. Capitol building from being destroyed and many of our lawmakers, who were in joint session, from perishing?  From God’s perspective, nothing is insignificant.  Whatever it is, it’s important to do it well.

[1] Wayne Allyn Root, “Why we are on the brink of the greatest Depression of All Time,” found at http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2012/08/23/why-are-on-brink-greatest-depression-all-time/print.

“Membership Has Its… Obligations”

The following message is based on Luke 14:1-27, and covers the topic of racism and immigration, to some degree.  It was delivered at the Central Schwenkfelder Church in Worcester, PA on August 12, 2012

One week ago today, we heard of Wade Michael Page a forty-year-old white male who walked into a Milwaukee-area Sikh temple and opened fire, killing six before turning the gun on himself.  One news website stated that “Page was a white supremacist and leader of a band that spewed hateful lyrics… . Wade Michael Page was a man who harbored contemptible racist beliefs. He wore a tattoo that referred to white supremacy. He played in a skinhead heavy metal band. He once reportedly possessed an application to join the Ku Klux Klan. Some have said that he was confused; that he actually mistook Sikhs for Muslims.

It is sad, to hear of these situations, in a country that prides itself on welcoming all kinds within our borders- regardless of skin color or creed.  Such news stories remind us that hatred is alive and well.  A 2005 study by the U.S. Department of Justice estimated there are about 191,000 hate crimes incidents per year. The death of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin reopened painful wounds. It stands as the opposite to the life of love and tolerance that the gospel calls us to.

And there was Martin Luther King, Jr. who experienced repeated death threats he received.  His strength to persevere under trial is inspirational.  This need exists in a culture which can be hostile or apathetic to the Christian message.  Many of us have not experienced racism.  We might even struggle to define the term.  Webster’s defines racism as: “… a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.”

We want to assume that we are welcoming people, that America is a welcoming place.  But how do we look at foreigners?  Can we appreciate different cultures?  Can we share our privileges with others?  Or better yet, how should we look at our lives?  Are we grateful?  What is the church supposed to look like?  Being a follower of Jesus Christ includes renouncing of your place of privilege, as a white, as a Schwenkfelder, as a male, and the list goes on.

THE GOSPEL CHALLENGES US TO LOOK AT OURSELVES AND OTHERS FROM A PERSPECTIVE OF EQUALITY.

Luke 14 challenges us on a couple of different levels.  It speaks to us of how we look at ourselves and how we look at others.  The scene is where Jesus is called to eat at the house of one of the Pharisees.  It is the Sabbath.  They were all suspicious of Him and what He would do.  The NKJV says they were “watching Him closely.”  At the meal, Jesus is confronted with a man with dropsy.  He had a fluid problem; where large pockets would gather at different places along his body.  It was a humbling condition.  Jesus heals him; not to break the Sabbath, but to show mercy.  Acts of mercy were allowed on the Sabbath, but the Pharisees were predisposed against mercy.

He then spends time speaking on the subject of humility and how we ought to relate to others.  Jesus then embarks into the Parable of the Great Supper.  The man invited many to the supper, but there were those that gave different excuses.  All excuses were legitimate to a degree.  All had to be done.  No one buys a field or oxen without inspecting them.  Marriage is an obligation, which freed a man from military service for up to a year (Deuteronomy 24:5).  But notice that these obligations did not have a time constraint on them.  They had to do with priority.  So the servant went to the streets and lanes of the city and brought in those that would have been considered nonpreferred to the Pharisees: the poor, the maimed, the lame and the blind.  One commentator noted that such represent the despised Jews who were not able to observe the traditional laws of ritual purity.  Then those outside the city, in the “highways and hedges,” would no doubt be the Gentiles.

The point is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone who will listen; who will forsake those things which he loves to love God and His Son Jesus Christ more.  This is why Jesus states later in Luke 14:26: “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”  It is not that Jesus wants us to hate our kin, spouses, children or selves.  He just wants us to put everything in its proper perspective.  Jesus must be our first love.  Even our own race, must not come before our love for God and our love for others.  Self-abasement is key to being a follower of Christ.   One scholar noted: “Discipleship means love the Master so much that all other loves are hatred by comparison.”

I was raised in a setting that was in some ways, void of diversity, but not void of racism.  I grew up in a small town in Southwest Missouri.  Out of the 9,736 people in Nevada, Missouri, there very few minorities.  I did not realize how privileged I was to be born into a white, middle class family.  I am educated.  My name speaks of privilege.  My skin color stands for privilege.  I have no “cards” stacked against me.  I am not wrestling with stereotypes, for the most part.  The question is what do I do with that sense of privilege?  Do I use it to leverage against those that are different than me?  Or do I use it to bless others?

It was not until I went to college that my perspective changed.  In 1991, I became good friends with James Fields, an African American man from Memphis, Tennessee.  That same year, I met my wife, whose mother came to this country from Korea.  When in seminary near Boston, my best friend was Juan, a Puerto Rican man from Camden, New Jersey.  Since coming to Central, I have become friends with Revs. Ed Winslow and Alfred Duncan of the Schwenkfelder Missionary Church.  Earlier this week, I had the pleasure of interviewing these men.  In our time together, I’d like to draw from that experience.

One of the things that they pointed out was that an excessive amount of segregation contributes to racism, because you never get to know someone who is different than yourself.  Human beings are relational.  When you are not around a group, by default, you tend to be slanted in your opinion of that group.  Racism is really a matter of the heart and must be dealt with via the spirit.  It is important to get outside of our setting to dispel feelings of bigotry.

Another interesting point is that a low self esteem can contribute to a racist mentality.  If you do not believe that you’re worth much, you may transfer those feelings or feel resentment towards others who are better off than you or different than you.

Systemic racism is found in unsuspecting places.  Alfred has a family member who is a motivational speaker for inner city youth.  He knows of many a job application that got pushed aside because of an African name, or because of a persona presented. Preconceptions of who people are.  None of us have had to deal with changing our name in order to find a job.

Both men said that thoughts affect attitudes; and attitudes lead to actions.  The goal is education.  We cannot be afraid to teach the next generation how to treat others.  In MLK’s Strength to Love, there’s the story of a black basketball team whose bus accident left many injured.  Three young men needed immediate attention.  The ambulance came and said that they did not serve blacks.  Then when an alternate driver was found, the first hospital rejected them because their policy stated that it did not serve blacks.  Then by the time they reached the second hospital, all three young men had died. [1] With proper medical treatment in a timely fashion, all three would have lived.  You and I have never been subjected to such things.

Another friend of mine told me of his Irish relatives who came to this country after the potato famine in the 1850’s.  When they were scratching to survive, looking for work at the loading docks of Philadelphia, they would encounter the signs that read, “Irish Need Not Apply.”

One story is when my mother-in-law was working at a manufacturing job in Kansas City.  She was a divorced woman, raising her two daughters alone.  She spoke broken English.  It was a challenge to live in an English-speaking country.  Her coworkers once drew a cartoon character with squinty eyes and insulting captions. She recently told me that no matter how hard it got, she would not go back to Korea.

Very few of us know what it is like to have to survive in a strange place.  Here in America, we are accepted, welcomed, entitled. What are we proud of?  What do we have that we’ve not been given?

Other examples of racism around us are like those found in the movie, “The Help.”  Where young black women in the 1950’s cleaned homes for a living.  They had to use outdoor restrooms rather than those in the home.  This is an example of systemic racism.  Then there are examples of personal racism, when those who are of minority status are called slang terms, just because they are of a particular race. That leads us to another question…

WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO RACISM?

There is a Biblical response to racism.  From the Old Testament in Genesis 1:26, we know that man is created in the image of God; every human life is worth more than we can imagine, regardless of outward appearance.  God made the promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:3: “…in you all the families of the earth would be blessed.”  The good news of Jesus is for all, regardless of their skin color or background.

Or Ephesians 2:14 where Paul tells this racially divided congregation that

God has broken down the wall of separation and hatred between Jew and Gentile.  Or in Galatians 3:28 that those who have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ.  Therefore, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” All of this means that we are to love others regardless of their race, their socio-economic class, their home/family situation.  The gospel is good news to all.  And membership has its obligations!

Christianity is a faith that brings all peoples of the world together.  Revelation 5:9 gives the song that will be sung in heaven: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”With that in mind what is your view of minorities?  How do you look at people who come to make their home here in the USA?

Jesus calls us to be the light of the world.  Racism is part of the spiritual darkness around us.  It starts with a thought, then an attitude, which leads to a behavior.  Margaret Mitchell, President & CEO, YWCA Greater Cleveland, offers ten practical ways to stop racism.  Consider each of these:

  • Learn about other people and their culture but go beyond foods and festivals.
  • Explore the unfamiliar. Put yourself in situations where you are in the visible minority.
  • Be a proactive parent. Talk to your children candidly about race.
  • Don’t tell or laugh at stereotypical jokes.
  • Think before you speak. Words can hurt whether you mean them to or not.
  • Be a role model and help educate others regarding your own experiences.
  • Don’t make assumptions because they are usually wrong and stereotypes are destructive.
  • Consider how race and racism impact your life and those around you.
  • Don’t let others get away with biased language or behavior- speak up and out.
  • Take a position against hate and take a Stand Against Racism.

If you happen to be of a race that is privileged, use your privilege to bless others.  Realize that you and I have nothing that we have not been given.  We who are blessed need to be a blessing to others.  What would it be like to be a Middle Easterner living next door to you?  What would the experience be if I were from Iran or Iraq and living in your block?  Schwenkfelders, of all people, should appreciate those suffering displacement for the sake of emotional or physical well being.  This country was founded on such things.  Would you use your blessings to bless others?  Would you see yourself as a missionary to whoever comes your way?

Maybe you have heard of the statement: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” This quote comes from Emma Lazarus’ sonnet, New Colossus, which she wrote for a fundraiser auction to raise money for the pedestal upon which the Statue of Liberty now sits. The poem did not receive much recognition and was quite forgotten after the auction.[2]  It wasn’t until her death that it became synonymous with the Statue of Liberty.