Reflexion Connexion

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today.
It is enough that you know our name
It is enough that you call us
Each of us
To you

It is enough that you hold us close
Walk us along
That you meet us in our loneliness
Our disappointment
Our fading hopes
Our burning anxieties
That you restore us
Make us whole
Bring us to life

It is enough that you invite us to
Work with you
Alongside
Together
In the little things
On the margins
In the world as it is

Protect us from our desires to be big
Great
Important.
From our desires to dominate
Control
Impress
From our need to be the center
The people of power
People of wealth
People of influence

It is enough to be great
As you have described greatness
To serve
To give
To sacrifice
To love
All who come into our lives

Lord it is enough that you know our name
It is enough that you call us
Each of us
To you
Because then,
we are yours.
It is enough
It is more than enough
It is everything
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy Galatians 2:11-16

Intro: If you remember from last week, Paul is telling his story

Now, at the end of his autobiography he mentions Peter (Cephas)
– this is the only record of them ever having a personal encounter
• as Paul approaches the primary purpose of his letter
• he uses this story to illustrate his central point
– the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem recognized
the difference between his ministry and Peter’s
“they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted to the circumcised” (v. 7)
• he used those “circumcision” terms to distinguish between Gentiles and Jews, because he wanted to make a point
• they all belonged to Jesus, but Jewish believers had an obligation that did not apply to Gentiles
◦ circumcision is shorthand for all the laws of Moses

There’s a chapter from life Peter that is relevant to Paul’s theology

It’s a tale of two visions, both received in seaside cities
– the Romans had a garrison posted in Caesarea
• Cornelius was the centurion in charge of the troops there
◦ after being exposed to Judaism, he became a God-fearer (though not a proselyte)
• he was devout, generous with charity to needy people, and prayed continuously
– one afternoon an angel appeared to him in a vision
• he told Cornelius to send messengers to Joppa (a few miles south of Caesarea)
◦ they were to inquire for a man, Simon-Peter
◦ and bring him to Caesarea – that was the angel’s message, nothing more

The next day, Peter, who was staying in a home in Joppa,
– went up on the roof to pray, while a meal was being prepared in the house
• he fell into a trance, and saw a vision in which the sky opened
◦ a landscape appeared as if spread across an enormous sheet
◦ a voice told him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat”
• but instead, Peter argued that he did not anything unkosher (unclean or common)
◦ the voice answered,
“What God has made clean, do not call common”
◦ this was repeated two more times
(significant things happened for Peter in threes: his denial of Jesus, his reconciliation with Jesus, and now this)
– while Peter was trying decipher the meaning of his vision, Cornelius’ messengers came to the home,
• they asked if a man named Simon-Peter was there
◦ at that moment, the Spirit told him to go with them
“without discrimination”

Cornelius had invited all of his relatives to be there,
– and we’re given a vivid sense of what Peter felt entering his home.
• as he stepped into a room crowded with Gentiles
◦ immediately Peter began to explain and justify his presence there
“You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with or to visit anyone of another nation”
◦ that wasn’t in the law of Moses, but for the devout believer, Jewish tradition had become law
◦ what Peter says next solves the puzzle of his vision
“but God has shown me that I should not call any person common or unclean” (Acts 10:28)
• Peter then told them the story of Jesus
◦ and while he was still talking, the Spirit fell on all of them
“And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles” (Acts 10:45)
– afterward, Peter returned to Jerusalem and we’re told,
“the circumcision part criticized him, saying, ‘You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them’”
• so Peter had to tell them the whole story
“When they heard these things the fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life’” (Acts 11:18)|
• Peter witnessed with his own eyes God’s merciful acceptance of Gentile followers

Now we can catch up on what Paul tells us about Peter

First he says Peter had come to Antioch
– we’ve seen that this was the first Gentile mega-church
• in fact, we learn something important about this church
“And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians” (Acts 11:26)
◦ what is the significance of that statement?
• a new spiritual movement was collecting many people
◦ but what were they?
◦ they were none of the Roman religions and not the Jewish religion either
• so the people in Antioch labeled them by what they heard from them
◦ and what they heard from them was Jesus the Christ
◦ “Christian” became the name for members of the new Gentile church
• this was the formation of a new identity
◦ now Jesus’ church consisted of two distinct cultures

When Peter first arrived in Antioch, he mingled with Gentiles

This is what he had learned from his vision
– but visitors came from Jerusalem,
• and they happened to belong to “the circumcision party”
◦ that means they imposed the law of Moses on Gentile Christians
• if the believers in Antioch weren’t circumcised,
◦ then “religious” Jews could not have close association with them
◦ last week I read to you from Acts 15
“But some men came down [to Antioch] from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’” (Acts 15:1)
– what happened to Peter? Paul says,
“he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party”
• perhaps afraid of their criticism or judgmental nature
◦ perhaps he assigned them too much respect
• so he separated himself from the Gentile believers
◦ an interesting side note is that the word Pharisee means “separate” (one)
◦ and, sadly, Peter’s actions influenced others

Peter had to be corrected, and it had to be in front of the community
But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Justified by Faith

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified Galatians 2:14-16

Paul put a label to Peter’s actions: hypocrisy
– he was acting like one kind of person around Gentiles,
• and another kind of person around the ultra-rigid believers from Jerusalem
• it was alright for the ultra-rigid to maintain their Jewish identity,
◦ but there were two problems:
they were not to force Gentiles into a Jewish identity
their strict behavior was not their salvation
– Peter’s actions are an illustration of what salvation is not

Which brings Paul to what was for him the central message of gospel
“yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Christ Jesus”
– in his letter to the Romans, he explains this in detail
• to be justified means to be made righteous
◦ this is the central requirement for finding acceptance with God
◦ we’ve seen that righteousness is not ethical, but relational
• in two verses, Paul uses word “justified” three times
◦ and his emphasis is on how it replaces “the works of the law”
◦ for both Jew and Gentile, this meant freedom!
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1)
– Paul said that Peter “drew back and separated himself”
• in other words, he knew better – he had that awesome vision
• sometimes we feel like returning a rigid religious regimen because we thought it was “safe”
◦ if we become afraid and have doubts about God’s acceptance of us,
◦ we might be tempted to draw back to a do-it-yourself salvation
◦ the benefit: it creates for us the illusion of certainty
• sometimes old people panic over all the changes in the world
◦ then they’re tempted to return to a previous rigidity that made them feel more secure
– I saw this happen in the ministry of two men I greatly respect
• during the period of Calvary Chapel’s greatest growth, the theme of my Dad’s ministry was grace
◦ but in the last period of his ministry, drew back to fundamentalism
• in John Wimber’s early ministry, mercy was his key theme
◦ that brought me much needed healing from my damaged past
◦ but later on what I heard was a persistent emphasis on repentance
and exactly the condemnation that was rife in my Pentecostal upbringing

Conclusion: There is much about Judaism that is attractive

Some people assume that Messianic Christianity is the authentic brand
But referring to Jesus as Yeshuah Messhiach doesn’t bring anyone closer to God

I can tell you from my childhood in a legalistic religious subculture,
trying to make ourselves holy, only makes us weird
Don’t go backwards – don’t doubt God’s love for you
Trust his grace and mercy – and continue to be a good person

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Parable inspired by Megan McKenna:
There was a woman out shopping
Who came across a store
she had never seen before
Inside she found all sorts of lovely things.
As she looked closer she even found such rare
Items like hope
and forgiveness
and patience
on the shelves.
She desperately wanted these things
And so sought the shop keeper.
Behind the counter she found Jesus
He said, “Make a list of all you want
And give it to me.”
She made out her list with things like
“Peace on Earth and peace with my sister,”
And “To lose a few pounds and
to end starvation,”
And plenty more
Until she had run out of room
on her piece of paper
She handed the list to Jesus
Who went to the back of the shop.
In a few moments he returned
And handed her many packs of seeds
She looked confused and said,
“Don’t I get to take the things on my list with me?”
And Jesus said, “Oh, this isn’t a gift shop,
it’s a gardening center.”

Let’s pray
Come Lord and join us here today
Give us the good grace
And the good sense
To be your soil.
Break up our hardness
Clear away the rocks
Cut off the dead wood
Make us a place that
Is nutritious, fruitful.

Let us be rooted and grounded
In your love
Cultivate us
Shape us
Train us

Help us become
The good in this world
We yearn for
The gentleness
The courage
The healing
The hope
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.
For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1:11-12

Intro: Last week we ventured into Paul’s letter to the Galatians

Right away we learned that he was not pleased with these Christians
– he accused them of deserting Jesus for “another gospel”
• but he hasn’t defined that other gospel specifically
• that’s what he does in the next section of the letter that we will cover today
– beginning in verse 11, Paul writes a brief autobiography
• he does this because his personal history tells a story
• as we make our way through this passage I’m going to include details supplied by the Book of Acts
◦ that will give us a fuller perspective of the problem in the region of Galatia

The preface: “I would have you know”

Paul informs us that he is about to present his next big idea
– it’s so important to Paul, he already spilled it in verse 1
• Paul had heard about Jesus–for instance, when Stephen was stoned (Acts 7)
◦ but he had not believed the testimonies about the Lord
◦ in fact, at one time he confessed,
“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts. 26:9)
• the great majority of Christians living in Jerusalem and Israel had:
◦ either been followers of Jesus
◦ or had come to know him through his apostles’ preaching
– not Paul! – for him it took a personal revelation to bring him to Jesus
• the Lord had to knock him down and appear in a blinding light
• and he had continued to receive revelations of God’s truth
“Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has become made known to all nations, according to the command of God, to bring about the obedience of faith . . . .” (Ro. 16:25-26)

Chapter 1 Early life: Before Paul became an apostle
For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. Galatians 1:13-14

Paul’s conversion was big news
– I think that Paul himself was fond of telling his experience
• you also have a story of turning to Jesus
◦ and it may be more important than you realize
◦ everyone’s story is surprising and beautiful
• Paul’s was unusual, because previously he had tried to destroy the movement
– he was a rabbinical student of the famous Pharisee, Gamaliel,
• and was making significant progress that caught the attention of others
• at that time, he was devoted to the traditions passed down by the fathers
◦ these were the very traditions Jesus ignored
“Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus . . . and said, “Why do your disciples break the traditions of the elders?” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Mt. 15:1-3)

Paul’s reference to “Judaism” is significant
– this is a specific religion that belonged to a specific ethnic race
• it was the religion of the children of Abraham,
◦ and followers of the teaching of Moses and the Prophets
• this is an important factor in Paul’s story

Chapter 2 The turning point (“But”) when Paul meets Jesus
But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. Galatians 1:15-17

Paul doesn’t tell the whole story here (they’ve heard it)
– he relates only the key features:
• he met his destiny, which was determined before he was born
◦ so this applies, not just to that moment on the road, but to his entire life
• God chose to reveal his Son “in” Paul – this was his life’s mission
– again, the big idea is that Paul did not immediately run to others
• having had a divine revelation, he did not “consult with flesh and blood”–that is, any human person
• and in particular, he mentions Jerusalem and those who were apostles before him

Chapter 3 The next stage of his life, when Paul began his ministry
Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas [Peter] and remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” Galatians 1:18-24

What happened to Paul in Damascus became a repeated pattern
“For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus. And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ . . . When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him, but their plot became known to Saul.” (Acts 9:19-25)
– Paul would stir up trouble in a city until his friends moved him along
• after he was gone, they enjoyed a period of peace and quiet
For instance: “And when the brothers learned this, they brought him [Paul] down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up” (Acts 9:31
• in Jerusalem, Paul was introduced to Peter (Cephas) and James
◦ this James was not the brother of John, but one of the Lord’s brothers
◦ James had become a leader and main spokesperson for the apostles in Jerusalem
• from there Paul traveled north into Gentile territory
◦ meanwhile, he was not well known in Judea
◦ people knew of him by reputation, but not personally

Chapter 4 A historic visit to Jerusalem
Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery—to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do. Galatians 2:1-10

Paul returned to Jerusalem with two companions
– Barnabas was already well-known with church there and its leaders (Acts 4:36-37)
• Titus was a stranger to them – and he was a Gentile (Greek)
◦ this troubled some of the believers in Jerusalem that Titus was not Jewish
• Paul had his own purpose for returning to Jerusalem
◦ he wanted to present to the leaders the message he preached to Gentiles
◦ their support was vital to his credibility in foreign countries
– something happened during that visit,
• and it brings us to the critical point of this whole autobiography
◦ none of the leaders were forcing Titus to be circumcised
◦ but there were people who weren’t pleased with that
• Paul calls them “false brothers” who crept in to spy on him and his companions
◦ what bothered them was Paul’s “freedom”
◦ and the freedom he gave to Gentile Christians
• if those people had their way,
◦ Paul and his Gentile churches would have become enslaved (v. 4)

I want to make a brief observation:
– Christians who spy on other Christians in order to find fault, have lost their way
• Paul told the Corinthians to examine themselves, not each other
◦ and he asked the Romans,
“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? . . . So then each of us will give an account of [ourselves] to God” (Ro. 14:10-13)
◦ be aware that there are people who do that, and avoid them

What we’re going to do now is probe deeper into Paul’s story

Paul mentioned his purpose for being in Jerusalem,
– but he didn’t give all the details – and they’re important
• a large church had emerged in Antioch (a large city in Syria)
◦ it was the first big church consisting of Gentiles; non-Jews
(and it was there that followers of Jesus were first called “Christians”; Acts11:26)
“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved’” (Acts 15:1)
(note that the threat was so great that their “salvation” hinged on it)
◦ Paul and Barnabas got into a heated argument with these agitators
• the leaders in Antioch decided to sent a delegation to Jerusalem
◦ they wanted to learn the opinion of the apostles
◦ the same argument erupted there
“some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and order them to keep the law of Moses’” (Acts 15:5)
– did you hear that? there was a “Pharisee party” within the church
• a few years later, the leaders informed Paul
“You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed. They are all zealous for the law” (Acts 21:20)
• previously, if a Gentile (male) wanted to convert to Judaism he had to be circumcised and keep the laws of Moses
◦ naturally, Jewish believers considered Christianity to be a branch of Judaism and therefore the same rule would apply to Gentiles who converted to the Christian faith
◦ that is what the issue with Titus was about
– those who added this requirement to Gentile converts
• were not helping people who wanted to become Christians
• but creating a deterrent

Three times Paul says Jerusalem’s Christian leaders “seemed” to be something
– “influential” (twice) and “pillars” — in which we pick up a tone of sarcasm
• they were obviously sensitive to the Pharisee party
◦ maybe also overly impressed with them and eager to please them
◦ it is possible they felt the Pharisees improved the status of Christianity in their culture
• I think Paul considered the leaders to be compromised
◦ for instance, he significantly “edited” the instructions he was to carry back to the Gentile churches
(compare Acts 15:28-29 and Galatians 2:10)
– but the point is, the teaching that the false brothers and Pharisee party were promoting was
• Christians are saved by grace plus something else!

Conclusion: The church in America today is plagued by spiritual illnesses

One of them is the implied (or asserted) claim that grace alone is not enough
We’re saved by grace, and something else
Perhaps it’s biblical inerrancy – or pro-life – or a political party
Our task is to discern the additives we’re being fed, and avoid them
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph. 2:8-10
And don’t make it harder for people to come to Jesus
Build bridges, not barriers

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Be with us
Present in our struggles
In our successes
With us in our sorrows and joy
Together, even in,
Maybe especially in,
The everyday
The commonplace
The ordinary
These unexceptional days
Most of us live
Most of the time

And join us together Lord
One body
One community
One family
Loving
Serving
And seeking you
To know you
To join in your work
To heal and repair
This world
With your love
Day by day
Step by step
Moment by moment
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead—and all the brothers who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:1-5

Intro: I’m going to make this simple, and show you what I see in the introduction to this letter

First, there’s something different about the way it begins
– in Paul’s usual typical greetings he identifies himself, his title, and whoever else is with him
• then, he greets and blesses his readers with, “grace and peace”
• but in this letter, before he mentions his companions, he takes a detour
◦ he turns this simple greeting into a strong assertion
– humans had nothing to do with Paul becoming an apostle
it was “not from man nor through man”
– this cuts to the heart of what Paul wants to say in this letter
• he’ll spend most of the first two chapters with autobiography
◦ how he was inspired and the revelations that came to him
• but that is because Paul is very upset, as will become obvious
◦ if you’ve ever been “lectured” by a parent, a police officer, or a teacher,
◦ you will recognize how Paul is dealing with the Galatians

In the next three verses,
– Paul turns a simple greeting into a theological lesson
• when he mentions God and Jesus,
◦ he also reminds us of our relationship to both of them
◦ the Father has adopted us, and our Lord guides and trains us
• working together, they “deliver us from the present evil age”
(which means we enter instead “the kingdom of his beloved son”–Col. 1:13-14)
◦ personally, I want to hang on to this word “deliver”
◦ I can discipline myself to break many bad habits but I can’t break them all – not on my own
Jesus gets us unstuck from what holds us back or drags us down
– “to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen” is a doxology – (Greek, doxa is “glory”–praise to God)
• doxologies are often read or sung in church liturgies
◦ every doxology has a theological foundation
• isn’t it lovely how Paul slides so easily into worship
◦ it’s like a second language to him
◦ he can be wading through profound truth,
or writing a simple greeting,
or telling the story of his conversion,
and praise flows naturally from his heart
• a bit later, I want to return to what worship means to us today

Paul jumps into the thick of his message
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. Galatians 1:6-7

I think we need to feel the force of the key words in verse 6:
– “astonished,” “so quickly,” “deserting,” and “turning”
• Paul is intentionally using strong language
◦ have you ever been reading a book when you realize
you have no idea what the paragraph you just read was about because your mind was elsewhere?
◦ Paul uses a shock tactic to guarantee he has the Galatians’ attention
• these verses in the King James Version contain an odd contradiction
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another“
◦ this is because the Greek language has two words for “another”
◦ allos means “another of the same kind” and heteros means “another of a different kind”
– the other gospel that came to Galatia wasn’t totally “new”
• it still contained elements of the life and teaching of Jesus
◦ but a twist had been added that “distorted” the gospel,
so that it was no longer the gospel Paul preached
• what did that do to the Galatians?
“but there are some who trouble you”
◦ “trouble” refers to a mental or emotional state of upset, agitation, disturbance–a kind of unhappiness

Some people had passed through Galatia preaching a gospel; supposedly the same as Paul
– but what they taught contradicted Paul’s teaching
• in my years of ministry, I’ve talked with many people who have goofy interpretations
◦ I can overlook the majority of them
◦ their relationship with God isn’t seriously threatened
• but there are other interpretations I can’t ignore or overlook because they’re patently wrong
◦ there are streams of doctrine that carry people away from Jesus
– we must take these things seriously

Listen to how Paul instructs the Galatians to respond to these people
But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8-9

What the Galatians had been fed was so wrong,
– that even if it Paul came preaching it or “an angel from heaven”
• the Galatians were to pronounce a curse on those people
• in fact, that is what Paul does in verse 9 where he says, “let him be accursed”
– this other message was not like a generic medication,
• a cheaper version of the same product
• it was something so warped it was no longer Christian
◦ it did not heal or cure anything
◦ it could only make them spiritually ill, or worse

As we go on in Galatians, we’ll learn the threat was severe enough,
– that it could have torn them away from Jesus
• it could have canceled the work of God’s grace in their lives
• they would have been deceived into believing they were still Christians,
◦ when in reality they had left the path of Jesus

Paul loved the people he introduced to Jesus,
– and whose faith he had nurtured
• he felt very protective of them
◦ when he heard they were buying into a different gospel,
◦ he reacted like a concerned parent or best friend
• he had to insist that they trust in Jesus and their relationship with him
◦ that they not allow anyone to turn them a different direction
◦ or judge them, or influence them to doubt their faith
regardless of how knowledgeable those preachers seemed to be
or how clever and impressive they were,
or how powerful their presentations
– whenever people commandeer Christianity, it turns ugly

Paul asks two rhetorical questions
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

This loops back to what he expressed in verse 1
– it was God who called him and equipped him to be an apostle
• he wasn’t worried if he angered the other preachers
◦ he wasn’t worried if they didn’t respect him
• if his life was driven by what others thought of him,
◦ God’s mission would have no longer been his priority
– today there are many people in every strata of society,
• who are scared to death to let their ideals and loyalties be known
Perhaps if all people who consider themselves believers,
– asked themselves a couple of questions, like Paul asks regarding himself
• the church could produce Christians with greater integrity and courage
– the first question might be:
“On what grounds do I consider myself to be a Christian?”
• let me give you a hint:
◦ if your answer is, “Because I was born in America,” your kite ain’t gonna fly!

Contemporary Christian worship has gone off course
(This does not apply to all churches, but more than I’d like to admit)

On Thursday I had a long conversation with a friend regarding worship
– we had similar experiences when for the first time our worship felt real
• maybe for you, the first time you experienced worship it brought tears to your eyes,
◦ was because you had found your way to your true home
◦ you had come out of the darkness and into the light
• you realized God’s mercy was setting you free
◦ and the love of Jesus was embracing you
◦ you were forgiven and God was going to make you whole
– that experience of worship was not a result of being hyped up
• it wasn’t sentimental or schmaltzy
• it was more like returning home from active duty in the army
◦ we were wounded, we had battle fatigue,
◦ we had fought for our lives and seen our companions die
– worship wasn’t entertainment then–at least not at first
• it was being rushed into the emergency room and receiving triage
• it was our first sensation of hope
◦ Jesus cam near to us and our hearts were singing to him, “You are awesome and I love You”
– but in the last twenty years, “worship music” has become a commodity;
and for the musicians and singers who take the stage, a performance
• it is loud and energetic, the lyrics have become formulaic,
◦ and instead of turning believers into worshipers, we’ve turned them into an audience
• many leaders have little experience of worship’s transcendence
◦ there is more froth than substance, more hoorah than hallelujah
and we don’t experience the closeness of Jesus in it like we once did
◦ but that’s just the tip of the iceberg of today’s troubled church

Conclusion: What Paul wanted is what we are also longing to see in our lifetime

To hang our heads for what we have been willing to swallow,
to drop out of pop-religion and just get back to Jesus
I’m hoping that going through Galatians will help us do that

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord, join us here today
Lord, protect us from our
Bitterness
Rage
And resentments

Hold us safe from our
Fears and our
Desires to
Dominate others
To retaliate
To lay waste

Focus us
And refocus us on
The intrinsic worth
The unending value
Of each person we encounter

Let this community
Be a place where
We practice loving
Our brothers and sisters
In you
In all of our messy contradictions
And in all of our shame and need

And from this community
Let us be
Those known to love
Our neighbor
In all their guises
Of poverty
Of anxiety
Of illness
And of belligerence

This love from you
An endless gift
This life you have brought us to
For healing and repair
Bringing peace to ourselves
As we bring peace
into the world around us.

And our love for you
Rising like incense
Full of gratitude
We thank you
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit . . . .” Galatians 5:16 and 25

Intro: For a few weeks we’ve been bouncing around in Scriptures

Next week we’ll settle into something more consistent,
– and I’ve chosen to hike through Paul’s letter to the Galatians
• but not today–
• my talk this morning will be another random meditation
– what I will say about this letter,
• Paul was not at all pleased with the churches in the region of Galatia
◦ he had introduced them to a life in God through Jesus
◦ but others had followed Paul with a “distorted gospel”
• so the Christian faith was represented by two different forms
◦ the distorted version emphasized a deadly legalism
◦ Paul’s version was a new life in the Spirit of God
“Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal. 3:2-3)
– I believe this letter identifies a problem that’s prevalent today

Paul keeps edging his readers toward a Spirit-infused life

We’ll learn more about what this means as we go along
– but in this chapter alone we learn that we read:
“through the Spirit” (v. 5)
“walk by the Spirit” (v. 16)
“the desires of the Spirit” (v. 17)
“led by the Spirit” (v. 18)
“the fruit of the Spirit” (v. 22)
“live by the Spirit” (v. 25)
“keep in step with the Spirit” (v. 25)
– a cliche entered our religious subculture maybe sixty years ago
• people started talking about “a Spirit-filled” life (or person)
◦ it was as if a believer could be “regular” or “spirit-filled”
• but the fact of the matter, there’s no Christian life without the Spirit
◦ the Holy Spirit is our new life in Jesus

We are dependent on the Spirit’s work in our lives

Like breathing, and eating, and movement, this is a real need
– and not only when we’re reading Bible, praying, or ministering to others
• in every situation of our daily lives
◦ whether I’m sick or in good health
◦ whether I have unpaid bills or I’m caught up on all of them
◦ whether the workload is overwhelming or I’m on vacation
◦ whether I’m walking on the beach or stuck in traffic

I wonder if we realize how busy the world keeps us
– having space for peace and quiet should not be a luxury, but the norm
• it is as important to our health as nutrition and balanced exercise
◦ our brains require a degree of tranquility to think deeply
◦ but our intrusive world won’t allow that;
◦ it’s always in our face and crowds out everything but itself
• the original purpose of cell phones was two-fold:
◦ convenience and emergency
(lots of people are conditioned to jump and answer their phone whenever it chimes)
◦ many of us think we need to be informed, minute-by-minute of every event as it develops
• or we have to be constantly entertained
◦ it’s too easy to plop down on couch, grab the remote, and get absorbed in whatever appears on screen
– so I ask myself,
“How can I become more aware of God’s presence?”
“How can his nearness be more real to me than each ‘breaking story’”?

A few years ago, a man walked into our meeting for first time

I introduced myself to him, and realized I knew who he was
– his wife had told me about him, and she was desperate to see him become a Christian
• he said,
“I’ve been practicing Eastern religions for thirty years and taken vows in a Buddhist monastery, but I’m looking for something more definite”
– I told him, “Jesus is definitely more definite!”
• you don’t get more definite than another human person
• I think “more definite” is a sincere spiritual need
◦ there will always be unsolved mysteries and wonders beyond our comprehension,
◦ but we also need solid footing for our walk of faith
– in English, the word “spirit” (if we’re not talking about “team spirit”)
• belongs in a dimension of intangibles and invisibility
◦ something insubstantial, vaporous like air or a fine mist that instantly evaporates
◦ to feel the presence of a “spirit” is spooky or frightening
• I wonder if the Spirit seemed more substantial to Paul than smoke or fog

How have you imagined the Holy Spirit?
– the biblical words for spirit are also used for breath and wind
• both the Hebrew (ruach) and Greek (pneuma) have the sense of “air in motion”
◦ it could be the air passing through your throat or stirring leaves in a tree
◦ Jesus also used the metaphor of “living water” for the Holy Spirit
• God’s Spirit is a vital force, a divine energy,
◦ present and active all the way back to when God created the heavens and the earth
– what Jesus made very clear, is that the Spirit is a person
• that “he” (personal pronoun) joins us, teaches us, and shares with us all that Jesus has for us
• how “real” is our conversation when we talk with someone on the phone?
◦ we can’t see them or touch them, but we don’t doubt their existence
◦ can it be like that with the Spirit? Can it be that real?

Something happened to me a few weeks ago

I had just set out for a walk,and turned my attention toward God
– I opened my heart and mind to God’s Spirit and presence,
• and suddenly I was aware of him–right there, in front of me
◦ he wasn’t visible, but he wasn’t ghost-like either
• the strong impression I felt from his presence is that he’s a person
◦ not a “universal mind” or impersonal “force”
– he is a rational person with whom we can interact as with other persons
• he was there and we could communicate with each other
• I felt he was there to listen to me and respond

Since then, I’ve experienced a keen awareness of his presence several more times
– but it isn’t constant – and it requires “priming” my heart and mind for his presence
• what I realize, is if encounters like this were a normal experience for me,
◦ I would find it much easier to follow Paul’s instruction to
“walk by the Spirit” and “keep in step with the Spirit”
– so here’s the question:
• How can we become more aware of the Spirit?
And more often?
Can walking in the Spirit become a normal activity?

Here is what I’m working on–so far

Close contact with the Spirit of God is something I need to feel
– I know there are people who react to this, but try to keep an open mind
• do you remember learning to ride a bike?
◦ the first time you were nervous and awkward
◦ what was it you had to learn?
You had to learn what it felt like to balance on a bicycle
• turning corners on a two-wheel bike requires leaning to the left or right
◦ it is not as much about turning the handlebars as shifting your weight
– it’s the same with skiing, swimming, tennis, etcetera, etcetera
• you have to feel your way into it;
◦ for instance the feel of swinging a bat and the feel of hitting the ball
• clumsy at first, but our brains create the necessary neural circuits to learn it
◦ and once you have learned to balance on a bike, you never lose it

Conclusion: One thing at heart of our Reflexion community,

Is cultivating a sense of God’s felt presence through silent prayer
Perhaps the most useful tool God has given us for this is our breath
We begin by taking control of it–slowing it, deepening it
We bring awareness to each breath,
allowing it to center our whole being in the here and now
Shifting our attention to the space around us,
our awareness moves from each breath to the presence of the Spirit
And since we take our breath everywhere we go, we can connect the Spirit anywhere, everywhere

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord join us here today

We are happy to be together again today
Happy to see each face
Giving hugs
Handshakes
Smiles and laughter
Thank you for this.

Grant us the gift of continuing to grow as a community
Engaged in each other’s lives
Pulling us together
Knowing and sharing each joy
Each fear
And every sorrow.

Help us to find ways to serve each other
And to serve others together.
Let this be our joy
And our shared life
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Intro: It’s STORY TIME

Pastor Allen was a preacher in Small Town, U.S.A. Relaxing at home one evening he settled into his recliner, pushed his reading glasses up to the bridge of his nose, and reached over to his side-table for something to take his mind off of work. He could have picked up one of the magazines lying there, or a novel with a bookmark where he left off, or if all else failed the TV remote. 

He accidently grabbed his Bible.
Normally, when worn out in the evening, all he wanted was a distraction; anything that didn’t require exertion. The Bible, however, was “work.” He was never able to read it in a light-hearted way  or for entertainment. The Bible required a serious attitude. One needed to come to it with reverence, humility, and focused attention.
His inner voice told him, “Read this.”  So he chose to glance at a couple verses and move on. Without looking for any particular place to begin, he let his Bible fall open wherever it would, only being careful not to land in the Old Testament. Looking down he found himself in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8. Skipping to the red letters, he began to read and heard Jesus saying,
    “I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
He stopped, closed his Bible over his index finger to not lose his place, and drawing a slow deep breath he stared into nothing. Pastor Allen allowed the verse to enter his mind and create its own impression. Then he read it again.
“Well,” he thought to himself, “this isn’t the first time these words have bothered me. The sons of the kingdom being the rightful heirs will be displaced in favor of outsiders.”
His thoughts then went to the many Christians he had known who boast with smug assurance that they will walk the streets of gold. “I take the promise of life after death as seriously as anyone. But it’s not something I worry about.” And after a brief pause:
“Perhaps I should  worry. At least a little.”
He continued his introspection, “There’s a faith that’s child-like, and a faith that’s childish. I’ve avoided the childish faith, because I find the beliefs and behavior of that type of Christian embarrassing. But maybe I’ve been mistaken. Maybe there’s a wholesomeness to a childish faith that doesn’t question Jesus, but places its complete trust in Jesus--always.”

That’s our story time for this morning – now this:
I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.
And what I am doing I will continue to do, in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:1-4 and 12-13

I’ve mulling over Paul’s letters to the Corinthians the past three weeks

This week it occurred to me that the church in Corinth,
– was a lot like what the church in America has become
• the Corinthians fancied themselves well-informed and independent thinkers,
◦ as if they didn’t need Paul’s help
• at the same time, they chased after new and exotic teaching
◦ as a result, they had no stable theology
• their sense of entitlement and egoism were undeserved and out of control
• they made bad choices regarding their loyalties,
◦ following whoever told them what they wanted to hear
• and they were more interested in charisma and unfettered zeal,
◦ than a life of solid faithfulness to Jesus and his teaching
– the culture of Corinth had a lot to do with shape of their church
• but how did we get where we are today?

I was raised in Christian Fundamentalism

From the start, Fundamentalism was a reactionary movement
– Bible-believing Christians felt threatened by three modern developments
• first, the rise of science during the Industrial Revolution
◦ Darwinian evolution challenged long standing notions of creation
◦ Freudian psychology challenged long standing notions regarding the human soul
• second, the sinfulness of popular forms of entertainment
◦ especially the saloons of the wild west, that included:
◦ burlesque shows, gambling, alcohol, dancing, and prostitution
• third, the rise of higher criticism in the study of the Bible
◦ especially in Germany, theologians were using new tools to research the Scriptures
◦ archeology and ancient Semitic cultures including their languages and religions

Conservative Christian scholars took a stand against these trends
– they stressed what they considered the fundamentals of Christian belief
• above all, they emphasized the reliability of the Bible
• not just on matters of faith, but science, societies, and just about everything else
– Fundamentalists saw themselves as the true Christians,
• the guardians of “the faith which was once delivered unto the saints”
• and, it became the most popular brand among low and middle class churches

Something that a lot of people miss

Fundamentalism in America is not just about religion
– it also became a subculture within larger national culture
• its tendency was to be combative, legalistic, and self-righteous
– Fundamentalism was defined culturally by what they opposed and did not do
• in our case, as children we weren’t allowed to: go to movies or dances, or play card games
◦ these were carry overs from the late 19th and early 20th century, as I mentioned above
◦ in the Fundamentalist mind set, these were related to burlesque, flirtations, and gambling
• and women weren’t allowed to wear slacks or make-up (like those “painted ladies” in the saloons)

By the mid-20th century, Fundamentalism was becoming irrelevant
– a new Christian movement rose out of it: Evangelicalism
• it loosened the legalistic emphasis
◦ and relaxed some of the doctrinal rigidity
◦ and it influenced a wider segment of the population
– it was named “Evangelical” because of its emphasis on “evangelizing sinners”
• by the mid-1970s Evangelicalism was becoming less relevant
• but as a subculture it had made significant progress
◦ it had built large and well-funded institutions that would be around for years to come
◦ but it demonstrated a shift in emphasis to increasing political influence
– in the 1980s I became disillusioned with Evangelicalism
• it’s not that I totally disagree with its theology,
• but the subculture has drifted from its spiritual center

This is what I hear in Paul’s message to the Corinthians

He worried that they were losing their spiritual virginity
– rather than having a “sincere and pure devotion to Christ,”
• they were being lured away to “another Jesus”
– how this very thing may be happening today is worth exploring

In our nation, “another Jesus” may be:
– a “marketable Jesus”
• an entrepreneur hears something about the Lord, and says,
◦ “This will sell!” – the marketable Jesus is useful make money
◦ books, music, a clothing line, jewelry, and other religious and nonreligious odds and ends
• related to a marketable Jesus, but not quite the same is:
– a “Hollywood Jesus”
• even if this is done well, is entertaining, and we enjoy it,
• this Jesus will always be a god we make in our own image
– a “conceptual Jesus”
• this is a thoroughly constructed theology of Jesus
• our “Christology” becomes a perfect idea rather than a person
(see “The Idolatry of Ideas” in John Mackay’s, Christian Reality and Appearance (John Knox Press)
– a “political Jesus”
Francis Schaeffer warned Christians of this danger in 1971. He explained how promoters have used Jesus as a symbolic figurehead to influence and manipulate people. “Words like Jesus are separated from all reason and have no real base. So what is the word Jesus? A [banner without content] which men take and say, in effect, ‘Follow me on the basis of the motivational force of the word Jesus.’”
– an “my imaginary friend Jesus” (a slight twist of this is a “storybook Jesus”)

Conclusion: I worry that so many believers have lost their way

But we need to tend to our own garden
Let’s make certain we don’t fall for a knock-off Jesus
Let’s not settle for anything other than the original, one and only Lord Jesus Christ

Podcast

2 Samuel 13:30-36

Intro: In May we completed our trek through the Sermon On the Mount

Since then, I have not felt a strong direction toward bringing another series
– Nancy Lopez, whom I love and trust,
• suggested that we go through the Minor Prophets
◦ I’m still mulling that over
• meanwhile, I’ve been sharing on Sundays my own random musing from the past week
– today I’ve chosen an odd place to drop into the Scriptures
• and it will require some explaining,
• but I promise, the point I want to make is important

One of the biblical metaphors for right living sowing and reaping

God told the prophet Hosea, regarding Israel,
If they “they sow the wind,
. . . they shall reap the whirlwind” (Hos. 8:7)
– this was David’s situation in 2 Samuel 13, after he had abused his royal authority
• that wasn’t unusual for rulers at that time and part of the world,
◦ but it wasn’t something God allow his king’s to do
• this chapter charts the beginning of God’s discipline of David
◦ his family and his reign over Israel begins to unravel

Amnon was David’s oldest son, and under normal circumstances would have been heir to the throne
– he thought he was in love with his half-sister Tamar
• how the story plays out, his passion was more lust that love
◦ a first indication of his lust, is that he wanted her instantly (cf. Jacob in Genesis 29:30)
◦ not having a way to approach her, Amnon experienced “frustration overload”
• but he had a friend, Jonadab who is described as being “very wise”
◦ he suggested a plan that allowed Amnon to be alone with Tamar
◦ and when alone with her, he raped her
“Then Amnon hated her with very great hatred, so that the hatred with which he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her” (2 Sam. 13:15–another indication that his feelings for her were lust rather than love)
– devastated, Tamar went to the home of her older brother Absalom
• he took her in and cared for her, however his advice sounds terrible
◦ although it was typical for that male-dominated (misogynist) social structure
“Now hold your peace, my sister,” he told her, “He is your brother; do not take this to heart” (v. 20)
◦ this advice sounds cruel, but their hands were tied
• what did Absalom mean, “do not take this to heart”?
“Don’t let this ruin you”? – “Don’t brood over it?” – “Don’t retaliate?”
“Don’t risk making things worse for yourself, because he’s the king’s oldest son and possibly heir to the throne”
• perhaps Absalom was thinking, “Don’t you worry about this, because I’ll deal with Amnon”
◦ because a verse later we read,
“But Absalom spoke to Amnon neither good nor bad, for Absalom hated Amnon, because he had violated his sister Tamar” (v. 20)

Absalom did nothing about his brother for two full years
– then he approached his father with an invitation
• in Old Testament times, people raised sheep primarily for their fleece
◦ when it came time to shear their flocks, they made it a festive celebration
◦ the picture of those occasions we find in scripture is of wine, feasting, and good cheer
• though David resisted, Absalom insisted his brothers come and party with him, until his father finally relented
◦ in the compressed time of the story, where two years pass in between the space of two verses,
◦ it is pretty easy to see what Absalom had in mind
– Absalom commanded his servants to keep their eyes on Amnon
“when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say to you, ‘Strike Amnon,’ then kill him” (v. 28)
• when the brothers witnessed Amnon’s murder, they took flight
• other servants of David were present and were the first to arrive in Jerusalem
So “news came to David, ‘Absalom has struck down all the king’s sons, and not
one of them is left’” (v. 30)
◦ David was devastated and immediately collapsed, grieving
◦ that’s when Jonadab spoke up (we’ll soon come to his speech to David)

Now let’s break this down

Something had happened, and it was big
– it would affect the king and the entire nation
• those of us about my age remember the national impact
◦ of the assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy
◦ or the more recent shared tragedy that rocked the nation September 11, 2001
• what happened in this story was of the same magnitude for Israel
– there was an assassination and it was reported to David
• but the report was influenced by, at least, two factors:
◦ those who brought the news first had not witnessed the seen entire event
◦ they hysterical report to the king was grossly exaggerated
• strong emotions color our most intense experiences
◦ and it colors the story we tell about our experience
(this is one reason why the testimony of a witness sometimes changes weeks or months after the even)

David was given two different stories about what happened

Now, Jonadab’s story:
“Let not my lord suppose that they have killed all the young men, the king’s sons, for Amnon alone is dead. For by the command of Absalom this has been determined from the day he violated his sister Tamar. Now let not the king take it to heart as to suppose that all the king’s sons are dead, for Amnon alone is dead” (vv. 32-33)
– isn’t it interesting that the eye-witness story was distorted and wrong,
• but Jonadab, who wasn’t even there, gave the correct version
• how is that possible?
◦ first, Jonadab had a deeper understanding of the backstory
◦ second, he was wise and therefore able to read the situation more accurately

I’ve been told by more than one person,
– that when listening to me teach from the Scriptures
• they follow me to a point but then begin asking,
“Chuck, where are you going with this?”
• I never try to confuse you on purpose
◦ it’s just that my mind works this way
– when I’m learning something new,
• especially if it seems abstract
• I need to establish a reliable foundation to make sense of the material I’m going over
◦ most people catch on more quickly than I do

In the Bible God reveals himself and what he has to say to us

Moses explained it to Israel this way:
“The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law” (Deut. 29:29)

So we embrace the Scriptures as true for all time and everywhere
– yet something we may not realize, is that as we read the Bible we are interpreting it
• David heard two stories about what occurred at Absalom’s feast
◦ one story was partially accurate, but wrong overall
◦ the other story provided greater clarity and accuracy
– when we hear someone say, “The Bible says . . .”
• we have to remember they’re giving us their interpretation
◦ and no one’s interpretation is absolutely perfect
• Jonadab illustrates that we can get a truer meaning of scripture,
◦ when we have a fuller idea of the entire backstory
◦ and we read and interpret it wisely
• Jonadab proved to be right when the soldier on watch lifted his eyes and looked, and behold – (v. 34)
◦ we can improve our interpretation of scripture if we, too,
Read, Look Closely, and Take In what is there before our eyes

I wish that were enough for us to be able to say, “End of story”

But I learned a crucial truth years ago from a brilliant and gifted man
Chuck Kraft, “God’s word is inspired; our interpretations are not.”
– as we learn and understand more of what the Bible is saying,
• our interpretations deepen, become refined and purer

The the Bible is not static
– it has a vitality that’s powerful and sharp as a sword
• as cultures change and new discoveries are made
◦ we must return to the Scriptures for new interpretations that apply to those changes
◦ too often I hear Christians give old answers to new questions
– the Bible is not trapped in one time or culture
• in the late 1990s, Simon Chan published Spiritual Theology
• an interesting facet of his book is that he included Asian perspectives when interpreting the Bible
(for example, Asian interpretation is includes experiential facets of exploring the text)
◦ the cultures of Asia are closer to biblical cultures (both are located in the Orient)
◦ Chan provides keys to interpretation our western minds may have missed

Conclusion: It seems like we’re living in an age of nonsense

That includes the way people mis-use the Bible
Don’t take the word of others when they say,
“What the Bible says . . .” or “What the Bible means . . .”

On the other hand, I don’t want you to be afraid of reading and misinterpreting the Bible
Our best understanding will always have imperfections
It will help if we keep a humble attitude
Always the student, never the expert
Always the disciple, never the master

Podcast

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Luke 7:18-23

Intro: The way Luke introduces John the Baptist has a familiar ring:
“The word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (Lk. 3:2)

For example: “The word of the LORD that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri” or “The word of the LORD that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel”
– Luke is obviously forging a link between John and previous prophets
• Jesus will soon say, John was a prophet “and more than a prophet” (v. 26)
◦ John also appears as an eccentric character
• we usually focus on John’s wardrobe and diet
◦ but his message was edgy too – “fire and brimstone”
“He said to the crowds . . . ‘You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? . . . . His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.’ So with many other exhortations he preached the good news to the people.” (Lk. 3:17-18)
◦ was wrath and unquenchable fire John’s version of “good news”?!
– well, not really–his central message was that people needed to prepare for Jesus’ arrival
• I’m going to concentrate on John this morning,
◦ but first I want to say something about Jesus
◦ because each scene in this chapter is extraordinary
• Luke keeps Jesus at the heart of the chapter,
◦ even though every story is about someone else

In the breadth of fifty verses, we cross paths with:

• A Roman centurion whose faith greatly impressed Jesus
• A widow whose loss of her only son aroused Jesus’ empathy
• John, whose question revealed uncertainty about Jesus,
  but also inspired Jesus to explain John to the crowd
• A Pharisee, who invited Jesus into his home, but failed to show him customary curtisies
• A woman, “a sinner” Luke says, who found forgiveness in Jesus

So the chapter begins with a Gentile centurion with strong faith in Jesus
– and ends with a Pharisee who cannot believe Jesus is even a prophet
• in between the two we meet, a crowd who witnessed Jesus’ miracle and said,
“A great prophet has risen among us!”
• then immediately after that, the disciples of John arrive
◦ bringing a question from one who was “more than a prophet”
– it feels to me that Luke has built a lot of tension into this chapter
• and the most intense suspense comes with John’s question
• that passage spoke to me this week – and this is why I’m sharing it with you

John is certainly not an ordinary figure

The first mystery is how did he wind up in the wilderness?
– there is a famous site in Israel where Christians are baptized
• it is in the north at the Sea of Galilee and head waters of the Jordan River
◦ tourists are sometimes told Jesus was baptized there
◦ he wasn’t – Matthew says that John baptized in the “wilderness of Judea”
• the Gospel of John tells us, that the Baptist was baptizing “in Bethany across the Jordan” (Jn. 1:28)
◦ that is located today in the nation of Jordan, near the Dead Sea
◦ but my concern isn’t that we know the exact spot
– the unanswered question is, How did John end up out there?
• he was born into a priestly family in one of the towns of Judah
◦ but when he makes his first appearance,
◦ it’s in the wilderness, where he had been living
• even if his clothes and rations were sparse and simple,
◦ how had he survived in that desert region?
◦ for years I imagined he had lived a solitary existence

There was a settlement not far from where John baptized
– it was much like the monasteries that would dot desert regions 200 hundred years later
• it is believed that the men who lived there were Essenes
◦ we don’t read about them in the New Testament,
◦ but they were one of the three major religious divisions in Judah:
Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes
• the Essenes were the most rigid and devout of the three
◦ they didn’t marry, they were devoted to scripture, and they would not touch money
◦ it was this community at Qumran who wrote and preserved the Dead Sea Scrolls
(which have provided a major contribution to studies of the Hebrew Scriptures)
– among dwellings and other structures,
• excavations at Qumran have unearthed a communal eating area
◦ a large pool that stored water for ritual cleansing (“baptisms”)
• it’s possible that John visited that community or even lived among them for a time
(although they would have never encouraged or sponsored baptizing anyone outside their community)
◦ but this is part of the mystery of John
◦ another part is of his mystery is how so many people had heard of him and visited him in the desert

In this episode, Jesus asked the crowd what drew them to John?
After John’s messengers left, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear expensive clothes and indulge in luxury are in palaces. But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written:
“‘I will send my messenger ahead of you,
    who will prepare your way before you.’” (vv. 24-27)
– John wasn’t a weak person, a reed swaying with every gentle breeze
• and he wasn’t a pampered groupie
• he lived an independent and uncompromised life
◦ Jesus showed deep respect for John
◦ but now John was slipping

I imagine that I hear frustration in John’s question

Maybe even an implied insult, as if he were asking Jesus,
“Are You the Messiah or not? If You are, then get on with it!”
– John’s question suggests he was having doubts about Jesus
• as strong as he was, how could this happen?
• I’ll explain how
– if you’ve been in a dark place long enough, or pain long enough, or severe poverty long enough,
• you start to question God – you question his will for you; you question your status with him,
• you start to lose faith
William Barclay wrote, “John, the child of the desert and of wide-open spaces, was confined in a dungeon cell in the castle of Machaerus. . . . . Shut in his cell, choked by the narrow walls, John asked this question because his cruel captivity had put tremors in his heart.”

John was slipping
– he needed confirmation that he had not made a mistake regarding Jesus
• this can happen to anyone
◦ we find a classic example in Psalm 73 (see the entire psalm!)
“But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
For I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (vv. 2-3)
– I’ve told you before that I lived with depression for most my life
• after I began to practice contemplative prayer, the depression lifted
◦ for roughly ten years I felt freed from that misery
◦ but gradually I became less diligent with my daily practice
• now–well,
I wake up twice every morning
◦ first, I wake up in a terribly dark mood – it’s oppressive, hopeless, miserable
◦ then, after my meds and during my time in the Bible and prayer,
I wake up a second time in a better mood, ready for what’s next
I’ve recently returned to being more faithful and diligent in my daily practice

John did the right thing; he took his question to Jesus

Even if his reason for asking was asking his frustration and doubt
– Jesus sent his answer to John, in the eye-witness account of the messengers
• but the Lord tagged that message with a crucial insight
“And blessed is the one who is not offended by me”
◦ Jesus is saying,
“If I don’t meet your expectations, if I walk my own path, if you’re way is hard and you think I should change it, don’t be offended and give up on Me.”
– William Barclay says, “this is not the answer John expected”
• John wanted to see might, Jesus showed mercy
• John expected fire, Jesus brought healing

Conclusion: We have entered a dark period of history

Many people are struggling financially – barely getting by
– many of us feel caught in a riptide with complete loss of control
• we’re like John in his prison cell, uncertain and doubtful
◦ we need to take our doubtful questions to Jesus

Peter was once in a prison cell, assuming he was doomed
“And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell” (Acts 12:7)
Wonderful!
We need that slender ray of hope to beam into our dark pit
“For it is you who light my lamp;
the LORD my God lightens my darkness” (Ps. 18:28)

For me, returning to contemplative is like calling a time-out
We need to have those moments when we call time-out
Coaches will call for a time-out to get their team to settle down
when they’ve started to play emotionally rather than strategically
A time-out can be used to slow or stop momentum of the game,
if the other team has scored too many points in a row
A time-out can be used to change a strategy midway through game,
or to give the team a rest, or a chance to refocus

During our time-out
listening prayer awakens our awareness of God in the here and now
The light shines in our darkness
and Jesus has answered our question

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord join us here today
Grant us gratitude
Recognizing how you show up in our lives
Your great loving care
Your instruction
Your discipline
Your affection
Moment by moment abiding with us

And grant us hope
Knowing that what we do matters
And that positive changes are possible
That with you
And in you
All shall be well

And grant us compassion
The strength to confront suffering
The strength to care for others
The strength to stand up
And stand in for others
Like you have for us
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

Now concerning food offered to idols: we know that “all of us possess knowledge.” This “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up. If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist. 1 Corinthians 8:1-6

Intro: Thursday morning I was meditating on this chapter

It’s not one of my favorites, but this time something happened
– it was like I saw a glint of light sparkle from one of the verses
• so I started digging at it
◦ I took my investigation as far as I could,
◦ but when that wasn’t enough, I consulted a biblical scholar
• in a few minutes I’ll share with you what I discovered,
– but first, we’ll take a brief look at this passage

Paul stresses a key thought through repetition

Eight times in the first four verses he mentions knowing
– two different Greek words are translated as “knowledge”
• it seems to me that Paul used those words strategically
• first oidamen, then six times gnosin, then oidamen again|
◦ so he enclosed gnosin within oidamen
◦ I believe that was strategic
– when meat was sold in the Corinthian marketplace,
• it would have come from local temples where it had been offered before idols
◦ the ancient belief was that worshipers provided food for their gods
◦ this was a problem for some of the believers
• but there were those in the Corinthian who were not bothered by it
◦ they justified there freedom by saying,
“Now that we’re Christians, we know that Idols are nothing”

I think that Paul would agree with this group in general principle
– a couple weeks ago we learned that Paul identified to types of Christians in Rome:
• those who were weak in faith and those who were strong in faith
◦ those who felt free to purchase and consume meat from the marketplace were the strong in faith
◦ but in this instance, Paul wanted to modify their freedom
• here he uses the same argument here as he did in Romans 14
◦ “your convictions can’t be the only criteria for exercising your freedom”
◦ you have to consider how it might affect others
“For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died” (vv. 10-11; and notice the role “knowledge” plays in this argument!)
– so Paul begins his instructions by pointing to knowledge
• he says we already understand that we all know some things
◦ that was the argument of the freedom crowd — they knew some things
• but there was a drawback to using knowledge
◦ it inflated one’s ego, justifying their actions in spite of how it affected others
◦ his argument goes like this:
“If you assume you’re knowledgeable about something,
you really don’t know it as well as you think you do”
– what was missing in their education?
• the effect their well-informed freedom had on others
◦ or to put it more clearly: they failed to see the importance of love!
• this one line is powerful and we need to hear it
◦ no matter how much you think you know about God,
◦ it’s more important that God knows you
“if anyone loves God, [they are] known by God”
(do you remember when Jesus said in the Sermon On the Mount, “I never knew you”? Mt. 7:23)

Many Christians have been misled and it’s damaged their influence in the world

They’re convinced that learning correct doctrine is knowing God
– no one’s theology is perfect – its formation is ongoing throughout our lifetime
• and even if our concepts came close to the best information,
◦ God is not a concept!
◦ he transcends every idea we can possibly think
• biblical knowing is personal and experiential
◦ we know God by opening our hearts to him and others,
◦ by listening to him, and walking with him
– to know God requires an ongoing pursuit (Php. 3:8-16)
• but loving God is our natural response to him,
◦ and like a child’s love for its parents, it comes instantly

Now I want to get back to what sparked my curiosity on Thursday

In verse 6, Paul affirms our belief in one God
– we know him as our Father and through Jesus our Lord
• when I read that through Jesus “we exist,” I wanted to find out what was the Greek word for “exist”
◦ surprise! – there wasn’t any word translated exist in the Greek text
• the entire verse, in fact, is rather sparse – and more than one English word is implied rather than present
◦ but thinking about that sent me in another direction
– for several weeks I’ve been reading the Psalms
• all 150 of them are written as poetry
◦ most verses consist of two lines or, less often, three lines
◦ the thought in the second line runs parallel to the first
• the poetry is fascinating in how the parallel is worked out
◦ three examples:
– the first line is repeated, in the second but using different words
– the first line is repeated, the second line but in reverse order
– a statement in the first line is intensified in the second line

When I looked at the Greek text, it looked to me like four poetic lines
– the first line contained fourteen syllables
– the second line contained six syllables
– the third line matched the first line with fourteen syllables
– the fourth line matched the second line with six syllables
• reading it translated literally, Paul introduces it with “Yet to us”
“One God the Father of whom all things,
and we in him,
and one Lord Jesus Christ through whom all things
and we through him”
– the message itself is profound
• God is identified as our Father,
◦ and all things are of (or from ) him
◦ and we who are from him as well, are also in him
• Jesus is identified as our Lord,
◦ and all things come through him
◦ and we also are through him

This looked so much like the poetic form of the Psalms,
– that I had to check with a friend who is more knowledgeable than I
• he wrote back:
“Here is a quote from a Corinthians scholar:
‘Verse 6 also has a creedal sound to it (and is set off in poetic form in [one ancient manuscript NA27]), leading many to believe that Paul is citing (or slightly modifying) creedal material from the early church. [N.T.] Wright is not exaggerating when he asserts that the writing of this text ranks ‘as one of the greatest pioneering moments in the entire history of Christology.’”
– Paul may have been quoting an early Christian hymn
• or perhaps some believers had begun to write Christian psalms
• but why poetry? and why place it here in his letter?

When the human soul is moved by profound experiences,
– it’s not enough to try to describe it in words; our vocabulary fails us
• some experiences cannot be expressed in normal speech
◦ for instance the death of someone you have loved deeply
• if we’re going to try communicate at all,
◦ we want to communicate the powerful feelings within us
◦ and for that, we need the arts: paint, poetry, music, dance, woodworking, and so on
– that is why we sing our faith – and why Paul quotes a poem
• he wants us to feel this profound connection with God and Jesus

Not finding the word “exist” in Greek text sent me to Acts 17

“[God] is actually not far from each one of us, for
‘In him we live and move
and have our being’” (Acts. 17:27-28)
– “have our being” is not in the Greek text there either
• but the point Paul makes is clear God’s presence fills his universe
◦ we are surrounded by him everywhere at all times
“Am a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD (Jer. 23:23-24)
(I often remind myself of this when I settle into God’s presence)
• my desire is to increase, deepen, and maintain a constant awareness of his immediate presence
◦ and that’s what the poem in 1 Corinthians impressed on me this past week

Conclusion: I will close now with a bit of my meditation from Thursday

My med, “My present moment realization is that God brought me into existence, and that I can enjoy this here and now experience of him is possible through Jesus. There did not have to be a ‘me.’ I did not have to be brought into God’s universe to see the splendor of a sunset or the flight of twenty pelicans riding a thermal. I never had to feel minuscule while gazing into a star-studded sky, or fall in love, or hold my infant child in my arms, or hear a song that every time made me cry. Nor did I have to live these seven decades. I am only because God is. That I have this awareness in the space of each breath, is the gift of knowing Jesus Christ as my Lord, my Savior, my Brother, my Friend.”

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord join us here today

It is easy for us to be distracted
In truth much in our culture encourages it
Our massive entertainment industry pumps out endless distraction
To soothe us
Pacify us
Our news outlets often leave us in a swirl
Of frustration
Overwhelm
And despair
Looking everywhere
All at at once
Hope fading

If we are not careful
Our lives can be consumed
By big doings over little things
Of focusing on other people’s business
The ups and downs
The comings and goings
Of things we can’t influence

Lord, give us a way through these days
And the days to come
To find and focus
On what is essential
What is real
What matters
But above all lead us to you
Our hope
Our rock
Our life
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”

Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” John 14:1-9

Intro: Reading the stories of Jesus,

Have you ever wished you could hear the tone of his voice?
– for instance, I imagine a note of disappointment or sadness when says,
“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip?”
• Philip was one of the first disciples to follow Jesus
◦ so he’s traveled with him as long or longer than the others
◦ if anyone should know Jesus, it’s Philip
• Jesus has completed his work, and his time with his disciples is winding down
◦ now, near the end, Philip doesn’t know Jesus as well as the Lord desired
– bear with me as I read through statements Jesus made re: himself
“I am the bread of life” (Jn. 6:35)
“I am the light of the world” (Jn. 8:12)
“You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world” (Jn. 8:23)
“I am the good shepherd” (Jn. 10:11)
“I am the Son of God” (Jn. 10:36)
“I am the resurrection and the life” (Jn. 11:25)
“You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am” (Jn. 13:13)
In an ultimate statement regarding his person, “Truly . . . before Abraham was, I am” (Jn. 8:58)
And in this same conversation: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”
In a few minutes Jesus will say, “I am the true vine” (Jn. 15:1)
• the cumulative effect of these self-revealing statements,
◦ should have convinced Philip he’s seen the Father in Jesus
• one insight we can draw from this conversation:
◦ Jesus wants to be known by his followers,
◦ and in knowing him, he wants us to know God, his Father

To know Jesus, we must face the challenge he presents

In John’s story, people were constantly baffled by what Jesus said
– the crowds, of course, but even his disciples
• what did he mean, he was the bread of life,
◦ the light of the world, the good shepherd, the true vine?
◦ how were they supposed to know what he meant?
• the times the disciples tried to treat his words as a riddle,
◦ using logic and taking him literally, they got it wrong
– some folks won’t like me saying this, but Jesus forces us to use our imaginations
• he came to lead us into a realm that doesn’t exist in our world
◦ he came to change our lives into something we’ve never been
• the only way to envision that realm or our new selves is with our imagination

If you know anything about period of the Reformation in Britain,
– then you’ve heard of Thomas Moore – one notable quote:
Moore, “True change takes place in the imagination”
• a French philosopher in 20th century picked that up
Paul Ricoeur, “If you want to change people’s obedience then you must change their imagination.”
• an American theologian also grasped importance of this idea
◦ Walter Brueggemann observed how Christians were shaped by culture
◦ he realized, any significant change begins with imagination
• I want to honor his passing this past week with several quotes
Brueggemann, “So the first question is How can we have enough freedom to imagine and articulate a real historical newness in our situation? . . . We need to ask not whether it is realistic or [politically] practical or [economically] viable but whether it is imaginable.”
– in one of his books, he emphasizes the role of the prophets, The Prophetic Imagination
Brueggemann, “The prophet engages in futuring fantasy. The prophet does not ask if the vision can be implemented, for questions of implementation are of no consequence until the vision can be imagined. The imagination must come before the implementation.”
◦ he also stressed the role of artists
Brueggemann, In totalitarian states “imagination is a danger. Thus every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one.”
◦ in Finally Comes the Poet, he writes,
“The link of obedience to imagination suggests the toughness of ethics depends on poetic, artistic speech as the only speech that can evoke transformation. Even concerning ethics, ‘finally comes the poet.’”
• the biblical story of Samson begins with angel announcement
“he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines” (Jdg. 13:5)
◦ he wouldn’t finish the job, but someone had to start it
◦ that’s what defined his role as a judge in Israel!
• in one episode of Samson’s life, 3,000 men of Judah came to apprehend him and hand him over to the Philistines
They said to him, “Do you not know that the Philistines are rulers over us?” (Jdg. 15:11)
• they had surrendered to that situation as if it were an unalterable reality
◦ in Samson’s mind, he did not consider the Philistines as his rulers or being over him
◦ and in his own imagination of how things were, Israel’s liberation began

From the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, his message was:

“Things can be different! People can change. Religion can change”
Brueggemann, “Jesus is presented and trusted as the one whose very person made a difference”
– Brueggemann lists ways Jesus demonstrated this message
• first, his birth challenged the rule of Herod and of Rome
◦ then his ministry of forgiveness, of healing (and on Sabbath!),
◦ his acceptance of, and association with outcasts, and then,
Brueggemann, “Jesus in his solidarity with the marginal ones is moved to compassion. Compassion constitutes a radical form of criticism, for it announces that the hurt is to be taken seriously, that the hurt is not to be accepted as normal and natural but is an abnormal and unacceptable condition for humanness.”
(At this point we might be tempted to think of Senator Ernst’s heartless comment this past week regarding cut backs in Medicaid,
“We are all going to die” – like’s it’s an inevitability, so we’ll just let it happen)
Brueggemann, “Thus the compassion of Jesus is to be understood not simply as a personal emotional reaction but as a public criticism in which he dares to act upon his concern against the entire numbness of his social context. Empires live by numbness.” And further on, “Jesus’ compassion is not only criticism of what is deathly, for in his criticism and solidarity he evidences power to transform”

Someone might assume I’ve been talking politics

I haven’t (except for that one crack regarding Ernst) – I’m not political and I don’t follow politics closely
– what I am–or at least what I try to be–is Christian,
• a follower of Jesus – so it affects me to hear him ask,
“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me?”
• I have lots of questions and requests for Jesus
◦ I wonder how many of them he would give the same answer that he gave Philip
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”
◦ or as he said to Thomas, who complained,
“Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”
“I am the way . . . . If you had known me, you would have known my Father also”
• this isn’t political; it’s personal and relational
◦ it’s about knowing Jesus

Conclusion: I hope you find encouragement in this morning’s talk

That you’re not thinking,
“I’ve already learned this. And I already know Jesus.
I was hoping to hear something else this morning;
maybe something new, or more relevant or practical”

Okay, I get it. And maybe I’m only talking to myself
Like you, I’ve already learned this too
And I’ve shared the same message for years
But with all the energy and effort that I’ve put into knowing Jesus,
I still do not know him as well as I wish
And in this way, if not so much as in other ways,
I identify with St. Paul,
who after meeting Jesus for the first time,
and having served the Lord and his people for many years, wrote:
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things . . . in order that I may gain Christ . . . that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share in his sufferings, become like him in his death . . . . Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has ade me his own” (Php. 3:8-12)

Podcast

Welcome and Prayer: Jim Calhoun

Come Lord
Join us here today

In all things let us give thanks
Make our hearts sensitive to the good you bring to us.
Fill us with gratitude
Make us noticers of your presence
Your hand
Your loving care
Let us feel our contentment in you
And live truthfully before you
Without mask
Without pretense
Without shame

Help us step out of our defenses
Our roles and stances
Our postures and reputations
And help us to step into you
Our need of you
Knowing you are trustworthy
Knowing you are kind
Knowing you are making us new
Whole
And for this we give thanks again
And again
Amen

Morning Talk: chuck smith, jr.

“Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written,
‘As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to me,
and every tongue shall confess to God.’
So then each of us will give an account of himself to God Romans 14:10-12

Intro: For some theologians and many believers,

Paul’s letter to the Romans is the heart of the Christian faith
– but what they see as the central message isn’t my favorite part
• chapter 8 and this chapter speak directly to our need
• that is, our connection to God and life in the Spirit
◦ then chapter 14, where we learn what living our faith looks like in practice
– a natural division occurred in churches of the Roman Empire
• the split occurred along both ethnic and cultural lines
◦ they consisted of both Jewish and Gentile members
◦ Paul was clear re: his ministry, to Jews first and also to Gentiles
• in some churches, this became a problem – Galatians
◦ there is a hint of that same tension here (and in Colossians)
◦ only it has a slightly different look – based on practice

In verse 1, Paul introduces us to these two groups in Rome

He labels one group, “weak in faith”
– I think he’s being delicate by not labeling the other group as strong
• however, at the beginning of chapter 15, he does say,
“We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak”
• in what way were some Christians “weak in faith”?
– this where I think we can discern Jewish roots
• what “weak in faith” means
◦ they were uncomfortable with idea of right with God by grace
• they had learned that obeying the law was their salvation
◦ so for them, they were saved by grace + something else
◦ Sabbath-keeping, dietary restrictions, circumcision
• those, strong in faith, didn’t share those convictions

I’ll pause here long enough for us to realize,
– there are many Christians who still carry similar beliefs
• we are saved by grace plus something more
◦ grace + baptism, grace + their doctrine, grace + politics
• some people will always struggle with grace
◦ at the same time, we must be aware of the danger of what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called “cheap grace”
◦ grace that makes no demands
– grace is life-transforming–result: we live differently than before
• but even still, the essence of grace is relational not legal or doctrinal

Paul had many run-ins and conflicts with the promoters of legalism

The first significant Gentile church was in Antioch in Syria
“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ And . . . Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them . . . .” (Acts 15:1-2)
– in time, Paul reached the realization:
• he would never be able to change their minds
• they were as Christian as he was, despite their convictions
– so the challenge became working out a peaceful co-existence
• what he taught the Ephesians: Jesus is the bridge between the two groups
“For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility . . . that he might create in himself one new [people] in place of the two, so making peace” (Ep. 2:14-15)

So now Paul makes a similar appeal to these two groups in Rome

He tells each group what they need to hear:
– to the weak in faith”
“Don’t judge, criticize, or condemn the others who don’t share your opinions”
– to the strong in faith:
“Don’t despise or look down on the others as less enlightened, spiritual, or educated”

The information Paul provides in the first nine verses is thorough
– but I get the feeling that he didn’t think that was enough,
• that it was important that they take the message inside them
◦ he wanted his Christian readers to live this truth
• so he moves to another way of communicating to them
◦ he doesn’t pour more information into them
◦ instead he challenges the to do some soul-searching
“Why do your pass judgment on your [Christian brothers and sisters]?”
– sometimes a “why” question is rhetorical
• the person who asks, is convinced there’s no valid answer
◦ other times, the question is real,
◦ but the person asking has another purpose than to get an answer
• if a Christian community is divided over an issue,
◦ it can be a wise move toward resolve and reconciliation,
◦ if everyone involved asks themselves,
why they feel as they do, why they hold their ground, and why they allow it to lead to division
– whether the question is effective in repairing the division,
• depends on each person taking the challenge seriously
◦ “why” must be answered as truthfully as possible
◦ to do that requires deep and thorough probing of our hearts
• I confess, it isn’t easy for me to get to my truth
◦ I must include searching my mind and heart–i.e., reason and emotion
◦ facts vs assumptions, my prejudices and preferences
also, what personal and cultural influences play into this?

When Paul asks us, “Why?” we must answer on our own
– it won’t work to refer to general consensus or public opinion
• as in the final judgment Paul mentions,
◦ we will stand alone before God and answer for ourselves
• I think my intention for saying this is the same as Paul’s
◦ I believe we must take this interior exploration seriously
– everyone finds it difficult to admit that they’re wrong
• especially if the person we’re debating is belligerent and aggressive
• knowing that it’s our spirit or attitude that is wrong, makes it even more difficult

Let’s get out the magnifying glass and take a closer look at the text

Paul get’s personal – he’s not talking about an anonymous crowd
– he says, “Why do you pass judgment”
• and he doesn’t make it “us” and “them” or “you” and “them”
◦ he addresses one group, “you,” and says, “Or you!”
– I can’t remember if I’ve noticed this before,
• that he says, “why do you despise your sibling”
◦ that is to say, “treat them with contempt”
– this is a frustrating defect of our human nature
• we cannot simply disagree with someone regarding a serious issue
◦ we are gripped with strong negative feelings toward them
• “despise” is a strong word, but sometimes we have strong feelings
◦ and this person, Paul says, is my brother, my sister
◦ we share a familial bond in Jesus

There is a key phrase in this section of Romans I want to emphasize

It is found first in verse 1, where Paul says, “welcome him”
– “Don’t judge, don’t despise, don’t argue, just welcome them”
• to welcome someone is to receive them, open you heart and your arms to them
• Paul comes back to this in verse 3
• and then again in Romans 15:7 (where Jesus is our example)

If Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son had a longer ending:
– the Prodigal–the little brother–, would have told his father,
“Don’t invite my older brother to my party! He’ll ruin it. He’s always judging me. He’ll ask how much everything cost. He’s too uptight. He always has to be right. Father, I want to be with you, but not him.”
• and his father would have answered,
“Son, never forget how much I love your older brother. He, too, is my son. And he hasn’t caused me as much heartache as you. True, he has taken fewer risks, but he’s always been very careful not to offend me. You love me. I love you and I love him, and I want you to love him as well.”
• in the longer ending, the brothers would have been reconciled
– that was what the message Jesus wanted his audience to hear and put into practice

Conclusion: Several times, I’ve started to respond to someone on social media

But I felt the Lord telling me, “Don’t do that”
– people are already doing too much name-calling, derision, and throwing obscenities at each other
• perhaps he wants me to use the platform for good

It’s one level of relief when we realize we can’t “fix” others
but there’s even greater peace when we realize, we don’t have to fix anyone else
God hasn’t put that on his list of things for us to do

Paul says “each one of us will give an account of their selves to God”
So which case should I be working on?
prosecuting my neighbor’s case or preparing my own?
Regardless of what everyone else may be doing,
we are ambassadors of God’s love in the world
Let’s commit ourselves to working on that