A Sermon on the Gospel

I don’t normally post transcripts of my sermons because they can be quite lengthy but I think this one is worth the read. Enjoy!

Acts 8:26-40

Would you agree with this statement? Often our view of God, Jesus, and the Gospel is too small. Somehow we have taken this message that “God so loved the world,” and we’ve changed it to fit an individualistic outlook. How many of you have heard it presented that in John 3:16 just substitute the word “world” and put your name in there? While it is true that God loves individuals just as much as he does the world we’ve allowed this individualism to run amuck within the church. In many cases, we have a: me-and-my-personal-Jesus kind of religion. We pull Jesus out of our back pocket just like a Jeanie in a bottle when we want things to go our way while in the mean time we often ignore Jesus and his teachings. Everyone enjoys their own personal view of Jesus. In fact, there was a movie that came out a few years ago that portrays a family gathered around the dinner table discussing which view of Jesus that they liked better: a little 8 lbs 4 oz baby Jesus or a Jesus who wears a tuxedo t-shirt that says “I like to be formal but yet I am here to party” kind of Jesus.

 Often we present Jesus as the guy who wants to get into your heart. Why would Jesus want to get into my blood bumping muscle? Jesus is about as interested in getting into your blood pumping muscle as he is your bladder. I thought Jesus was concerned with the whole person. In some ways our understanding of the Gospel is way too small and too individualistic. We present the Gospel as Good News for you which it is but that is not the thrust of the Gospel. The Gospel is the Good News of Jesus Christ. You see often our focus has been misplaced.

 Today we are going to revisit the encounter with the Ethiopian Eunuch to discover more about the Good News that Luke, the writer of Acts, is attempting to portray. Last week we learned that the central concept of the Good News was being a NEIGHBOR. Last we discovered that the Ethiopian was a eunuch in charge of the treasury in the court of Candace the queen of Ethiopia. He was a very prominent man but he was a man who was discriminated against. He was thought of as neither male nor female. He was not allowed to convert to Judaism because there were provisions in the Law that stated that he could not enter the temple as a person in his disposition. He was a man who experienced deep prejudices because of his castration. We are going to learn that his entire nation experienced discrimination in the eyes of the world.

 The first thing that we learn about the Gospel is that the presentation of the Good News of Jesus is a matter of obedience not the audience (vv. 26-27). The Holy Spirit told Philip to go out of his way to meet with this Ethiopian. Philip was to the north of Jerusalem in the region of Samaria and he was told to go about 150 miles south to the region of Gaza. This was not just a little journey. This would have taken several days for him to catch up with the Ethiopian. The Ethiopian, if you remember, was heading back to Ethiopia from Jerusalem. Ethiopia was south of Egypt. It was about 1500 miles from Jerusalem to Ethiopia. It would have taken him 5 months journey to go one way. We are told that the Eunuch was reading a scroll from Isaiah 53:7-8. He did not understand what he was reading and Philip explained it to him. As a result of his explanation the Ethiopian accepted the message of Jesus and was baptized. There is evidence from history that there was a prominent church in the region of Ethiopia. One can infer that it was the Ethiopian that took this message back to his country and many were converted. This is how the Gospel went to Africa.

 If Philip had not been obedient to the Holy Spirit then the opportunity for such a high-powered person to accept the Good News would have been missed. If this did not happen who knows how long it would have taken for the Gospel to be preached in Ethiopia.

 Who is the Holy Spirit prompting you to talk to about the Good News of Jesus Christ? Has he laid anyone in particular on your heart? Are you being obedient to his direction? If you are not…Why not? You might be saying, “Pastor Brian, the person the Holy Spirit has laid on my heart is weird, or ugly, or smelly, or crazy, or has a bad reputation.” You know what? So did the Ethiopian. I am not talking just about the fact that he was a eunuch but the fact that he was an Ethiopian. This leads me to my second point about the Good News of Jesus Christ…

 The Gospel breaks down racial prejudice. You are probably thinking, “Where did you get that from this text?” That is a great question and I am glad that you asked. Where did we say that this person is from? He is from Ethiopia. Where was Ethiopia? It was on the continent of Africa south of Egypt. This region has an interesting history. According to your Bibles who lived in this region? It was the Cushites. Who was the father of Cush? It was Ham. Who was the father of Ham? It was Noah. Something very traumatic happened in the history of the Ethiopian people that made them one of the most despised people on the planet.

 In order to get the scoop we need to go back to the second beginning: Genesis 9. In Genesis 9, God had just flooded the earth and allowed Noah and his family to survive the great flood. They have come out of the boat and God blessed Noah and his family telling them to be fruitful and multiply the earth. This is the part where God establishes a covenant with Noah that he would never again flood the earth. This is where we pick it up: Genesis 9:18-27.

 In this passage we have a situation that has baffled commentators for a very long time. Something very wrong happened. Noah became drunk and fell asleep. The problem was that he was naked and his son Ham saw him naked. The problem is not that he saw his father naked. The phrase, ‘he saw his father’s nakedness,’ is a euphemism. A euphemism is a nice way of saying something that is private or personal and usually has to do with something sexual in nature. Many commentators have suggested what may have happened in this situation. There have been some who have suggested that Ham violated his father’s honor by seeing him naked. This could be the case. However, the punishment that Noah issued by way of the curse does not seem to fit this crime. Other commentators have suggested that Ham had a homosexual encounter with his father and then invited his brothers to do the same thing as well. This explanation, however, does not deal with why Noah cursed Ham’s offspring, namely, Canaan. A final explanation seems to fit the crime and the punishment. There is a substantial case that can be made from Leviticus chapters 18-20 that the phrase ‘nakedness of the father’ also includes the nakedness of the mother. Noah, with his wife, drank too much wine and had sexual relations in Noah’s tent. Noah fell asleep after the sexual encounter. Ham proceeded to take advantage of the situation and had a sexual relationship with his mother. This same kind of scenario happened later in the Genesis narrative with Lot and his daughters. When Noah came to his senses, realizing that it was Ham that impregnated his wife, he pronounced a curse. The text does not tell us how much time had elapsed from the encounter to the time of the curse (it just says that he awoke and found out what his youngest son had done). As a result of this aberrant act Noah declares a curse on Ham’s children, namely, Canaan.

 Why doesn’t Noah curse Ham? There are a couple of possibilities to this question: First, God had already pronounced a blessing on Noah and his family and, so, Noah could not reverse that blessing. The second option is this: Ham was Noah’s youngest son. Old Testament passages often make lists based not on chronological order but rather least to most letters. If this were true then it opens the possibility that Ham was the baby of the family. Noah pronounced a curse upon all of Ham’s descendents but, especially, Canaan, Ham’s youngest son born of Noah’s wife. Even though Canaan is mentioned by name it is understood that all of Ham’s children experience the backdraft of this pronouncement. These innocent children have to suffer the consequences for their father’s sin. The sons of Ham settled in Africa away from all the other descendants of Noah because of the embarrassment caused by Ham.

 All throughout history the descendants of Ham has had to deal with injustice for which they were not responsible. Homer, the Greek poet and philosopher, called the Cushites/Ethiopians the most despised group of people on the face of the planet. In early American history it was this passage that was often utilized to provide support for slavery. The darkened color of skin became a symbol of aberrant behavior and those who participated in this behavior must be contained and forced into slavery.

 It is against this backdrop that people would have viewed the Ethiopian Eunuch. His skin color was a dead give away to his family history. The Jewish people who knew their Torah would have read this story and transposed its meaning onto people like the Ethiopian. He did not stand a chance for a good life outside of the Ethiopian region. This is why the story in Acts is so important: to demonstrate that the Gospel is not just for the religious elite but also for those who have experienced deep prejudice. Being neighborly or treating people the way you want to be treated is, again, at the heart of the Gospel. The Ethiopian was captive to his own culture.

 This brings us to our third point about the Gospel: The Gospel is not only concerned with spiritual matters but also social justice matters. Take a look at Luke’s portrayal of the Gospel as Jesus speaks in Luke 4:18-19. Those who have been captive are going to be set free. This is not just talking about spiritual captivity to sin but it is also talking about those who been oppressed and held captive by their own culture, status, lifestyle, and slavery. Look at the passage the Ethiopian Eunuch was looking at when Philip found him: Someone who was deprived of justice and held accountable for the sins of someone else. This was the story of the Ethiopians. The Ethiopian Eunuch is looking for someone to identify with.

 Did you notice what Philip did with that passage? He helped the Ethiopian see Jesus in this passage. Jesus was denied justice and was despised and was held accountable for someone else’s sin. The work of Jesus then transcends all racial and, as we will see later, religious barriers.

 There are people in our society that are looked down upon because of the sin of their parents. For example, there are children who are born out of wedlock. They are labeled with the stigma of being illegitimate. In some of our more fundamentalist churches those kids are almost considered second class citizens. Instead of praising God that their mother decided to continue with the pregnancy church’s look down on both parent and child. Often those of a different skin color are stereotyped as living life this way as well. African Americans are labeled everything in the book and often looked down upon. This has been an activity that the church has endorsed and promoted. This is based upon poor theology and a wrong reading of Scripture. There are children who are born with disabilities. These children are often looked down upon because people think that the parents did something wrong. Rachel and I have experienced this kind of injustice. When Jonathan was born 15 weeks early we had Christians tell us that we had to repent of our sins because this is why this happened. Instead of looking at the situation from God’s view point where this may have happened so that God may be glorified we were unjustly judged by Christian people. If these were truly living out Gospel principles then prejudice and pre-judgment would be gone.

 We would do well to remember that social justice is also a concern of God. The Gospel is God’s way of undoing all the injustices in the world from the beginning to the end. We would do well to listen to the speech of a certain African American preacher given on August 28, 1963:

 I Have a Dream

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we’ve come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.

We cannot turn back.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, “When will you be satisfied?” We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: “For Whites Only.” We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”¹

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest — quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today!

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”²

This is our hope, and this is the faith that I go back to the South with.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

And this will be the day — this will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning:

My country ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing.

Land where my fathers died, land of the Pilgrim’s pride,

From every mountainside, let freedom ring!

And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire.

Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York.

Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.

Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado.

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California.

But not only that:

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee.

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

                Free at last! Free at last!

                Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

 Let us strive to be a church of men, women, and children, regardless of skin color and background can find love and acceptance. This does not mean that we excuse sin but we will seek to show people how to live out the Gospel in real and tangible ways which we will discuss in the days ahead.

 Let us be a church that accurately reflects this God who has revealed himself and show the world Jesus, his Son, so that the affects of the fall and of sin can be redeemed, bought back, reversed in their lives.

A Sample from Sunday’s Sermon

God exists in both the one and the many. We believe that there’s only one God, but we believe that the one God exists in three co-equal persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Unique in their personhood and personality, yet unified in their essence and their purpose. They function as one even though they are distinct in their personhood. The popular name for that is the Trinity. But God exists both as one and as many. The greatness of God is not merely in his singularity (there’s one God), the greatness of God is in collectivity. The tri-unity of God. Trinity. God not only is that way, God not only functions that way but when God wants to work in history he crafts history to work that way. Notice all the times in Scripture when God talks about things becoming one: marriage, church, one new man.

As an individual Christian you can experience God to a point, to certain level. God expects you and me to grow in our faith, in our maturity as individual people. However, there are some aspects of experiencing God that you cannot experience on your own. It is only as you are connected to his people and his purposes that he will let you see things that you will never see in your private Christian experience. Don’t misunderstand me, there are certain things that you will experience because you individually are a child of God. But there are many other things, greater things that God never limits to individual relationship. [for example you cannot have family vacation as an individual but only in connection with your family]

One of the things that we have missed and it has shown up in a multiplicity of ways is experiencing God collectively. There is such an emphasis on individuality and individualism—not all of it bad or wrong—but there is such an emphasis on it that you can easily forget God’s collective program and your participation in it or lack thereof in it and the implications of being disconnected.

I believe that it is the church’s job to accurately reflect and manifest the character of God to the world. We do this by celebrating our diversity, all the while, maintaining our unity. However, we cannot be unified if everyone as their own individual ideas of what church ought to be and ought to be doing. Just as in the Trinity there are a multiplicity of persons so the church has a multiplicity of persons; just as in the Trinity each person (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) maintains his own identity and individuality, so in the church each person maintains his or her own identity and individuality; just as in the Trinity each individual is in unison regarding the mission of God, so the church must emulate this unison in regards to the mission of the church.

We will be a much more effective church if we realize that we were never meant to do life alone. We were designed to live life in relationship to one another. I believe that the church should be the place where people discover who they are in Christ and collectively we become that person. It should be a place where each individual flourishes and contributes to the whole community of believers. I believe that the church is a place where everyone has worth and value. I have what is called a high ecclesiology. This means that the Spirit of God is manifested or his presence is known within community. When He is present it always results in unity. Not in ecstatic excitement, not in speaking in tongues, not in other weird things but in unity. There are times when I can tell that God is in a certain worship space by hearing the saints sing because they lift their voices in unison and the beauty of the sound that protrudes from this place is beautiful.

God designed the church to best reflect himself and the way we best reflect God is by acting in unity!

Walking in their Shoes

I had the opportunity and privilege today to volunteer all day at the elementary school where my kids go. I volunteered under the auspices of a nationwide organization sponsored by fathers.com called Watch D.O.G.S (Dads of Great Students). This organization seeks to promote a greater fatherly presence in the nation’s public schools. My day was very structured and organized. I spent time in classrooms with both my children’s classrooms as well as other classes. I assisted with reading groups, refereed improptu recess soccer games, and mentored kindergartners with math. This experience provided me an awesome opportunity to see first-hand what my kids do all day. They are busy! They deal with new concepts everyday and work very hard to learn these new concepts. Needless to say I am very proud of my kids!

Today’s time with my kids gave me some great insight into what precisely God did for us in sending Jesus. The Bible tells us that God sent Jesus, his Son, into the world. Jesus, who is God, took on human flesh and lived the lives we live. He did the things that we do. Today, I entered into my kids’ world. I sat in chairs that were way too small. I read stories that were way too simple. I did math problems that were way too easy. It was my job to model and mentor these kids how to sit quietly, how to read and understand the stories that they were reading, and how to do basic mathematical addition. Jesus came to us, to sit in our classroom and to model for us what true life is all about. How ironic that the author of life had to come and live the very life that he authored so that we would know how to live it. Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus did not consider equality with God something to hold onto, in other words, he didn’t flaunt it. He did not say, “Hey, look how easy this life is!” Instead, he chose to suffer with us and for us. He did not count it a source of pride and hold it over the people to whom he came to minister. Walking in other people’s shoes necessitates that we lay aside our pride for the sake of others.

I had the opportunity to help a young man in kindergarten with basic addition this morning. I have been doing addition for thirty years and what I now take for granted this young man was learning. I had to speak his language. I had to discuss addition in concepts that he would understand. Just as Jesus did for us as he lived here on earth. The awesome thing was is that I had the privilege of helping him understand what was going on. I have at least a dozen stories like this where I was able to help. At the end of the day, I ran into this young man and he ran up to me and gave me one of the biggest hugs that I have ever received. I taught him a skill that he will use for the rest of his life and the hug he gave was the best thank you a person could receive. I wonder if Jesus feels the same way when people respond to him in faith? I wonder if it just warms his heart when we live a life of obedient faith in him? Really, it’s  the least that we could is live for him after all he’s done for us. Certainly, his coming to us and walking in our shoes is of greater importance than what I did today. But today taught me more about what it means to walk in other people’s shoes and, on a minuscule scale, I got to feel what Jesus feels when people respond to him in gratitude for walking in their shoes.

Darned if I Do; Darned if I Don’t

It is true! I am not preaching from a traditional Advent text this Christmas. Earlier this year, I believe God prompted me to preach through the Bible in one year. In that moment, when I accepted God’s challenge to me I decided that I lay out my preaching calendar a year in advance. This activity has proven to be quite freeing as I never have to guess what my text will be for each week. The challenge to this method, however, is it does not take into account the various holidays, Christian or otherwise. I made the choice before I began this sermon series not to jump ship on the particular book that needs to be preached in favor of a traditional holiday message.  In the case of Christmas this year, I am preaching on the book of Esther.

 You would not believe the kind of negative feedback that I have received from various people regarding this decision. I have heard comments such as, “If I and my family are going to come to your church on Sunday morning we expect to hear a Christmas message.” There are many things wrong with such a statement. The first wrong assumption is that they will not be hearing a Christmas message. As if the only texts in the Bible that speak to the birth of Christ or the incarnation are Isaiah 7 and the Gospels. The second wrong assumption is that the church is ‘my’ church. I may be the pastor but I do not make the claim that it is my church. The third wrong assumption is that people think that they can dictate to the preacher what ought to be preached on Sunday mornings. Many preachers let people dictate to them what ought to be preached. The preacher is the one who works during the week praying, studying, crafting, and delivering the sermon. The preacher needs to step into the pulpit with God’s message to the people not the people’s message to the people.

I believe that the book of Esther really does speak to our time and proves to be most appropriate during this Christmas season. Many in this culture seek to hide God and not acknowledge his presence among us. So, too, in the book of Esther, God is hidden either by his own choosing or by the exiles who have remained in Persia. However, God’s hiddenness does not point to his absence. You cannot hide something that is not absent. In the book of Esther, God quietly works behind the scenes through, can you believe it, a woman. This is just like God to work in unexpected ways to save his people. The parallels between the story of Esther and the birth narrative of Jesus are numerous. I’ll list only one here: In both cases, the God who seems hidden works through unexpected means to bring about his purpose. In the case of Esther, God used Esther to save his people from genocide. In the case of Christmas, God used a tiny baby (when the Jews were expecting a military conqueror) to save all people from our sins.

May we never forget that even though God seems hidden from our view that he truly is “Immanuel” God with us!

 

[If you would like to participate in this non-traditional Christmas message, then join us at Compass Point Church this Sunday at 10 AM--4915 Eastern Ave., Kentwood, MI 49508...I hope to see you there!]

A Clean Heart (thoughts on Psalm 51)

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me . . . The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:10, 17 ESV)

The heart is the singlemost important aspect to living a godly life. We do not talk about taking care of the matters of the heart very often. However, caring for one’s heart (physically and spiritually) is a much-needed discipline. God alone provides a clean heart. But he does not give us a clean heart unless we are broken and contrite. Brokenness and contriteness can be gifts from God, too. Brokenness of our own doing leads to despair, chaos, and discouragement if left without turning to God. However, the brokenness that comes from God is always for a purpose. God breaks us to be like his son, Jesus.

Sometimes we just need to realize the gravity of our sin. Our sin is always against God. Hi is the One who is deeply offended by our actions. We need god to show us how much we have strayed. Indeed, he has shown us! When we look at the Scriptures we see God’s perfect standard before us. If we need to knwo what life looks like under God’s law then we need to look at Jesus. Of course, Jesus did not sin so he never experienced disapproval from his heavenly Father. However, he did show us how to avoid sin. If we would just follow his lead and claim complete dependence upon God then we can get a glimpse of the way God intended for us to live. Certainly, we will still mess up until we are finally made perfect on that final day. But we do not have to be afraid of brokenness or contriteness. For in the place of brokenness and contriteness we find forgiveness and peace with God.

Ultimately, the psalmist of Psalm 51 seeks peace with God. We have positional peace with God through Jesus Christ. We even have experiential peace with God through Jesus Christ so long as we stay connected to him in the purity of our heart. The way to stay connected is to realize the gravity of your sinfulness and understand that your only chance for real life is found through Jesus Christ.

The first step to a clean heart begin when we acknowledge our sin before a holy God. Then we must learn from him and he will show us what to do next.

Repentance (1 Kings 8:46-53)

The context of 1 Kings 8:46-53 comes on the heels of Solomon’s immense building project. During this project Solomon built an ornate temple so that God may have a place to dwell (although he rightfully acknowledges that a building could not contain God). Upon completion Solomon offers a beautiful prayer of dedication. In one sense, Solomon preempted the sin of the people by requesting that God would continue to extend his grace to the nation. Solomon seemed to know that the nation was going to fail and be uprooted, and exiled. He prays that while they are in the place of their exile they would truly repent. If they truly repented of their sins then God would rescue them from that place of exile and restore them.

The nation’s repeated sinfulness caused her to lose sight of God. The same is true of us today. When we sin repeatedly we lose sight of God. We lose sight of God even though we offer a half-hearted “Sorry.” Often our sorrow is not true repentance. Our sorrow often stems from the uncomfortable, short-lived guilt that we feel over what we have done. But feelings are not enough to turn things around. Solomon, in this passage, described what true repentance entails.

Repentance means to ‘turn.’ In the New Testament the Greek word for repentance seems to limit the concept to the mind (however, a case can be made that the mind is the seat of the will for NT writers). Solomon identified true repentance as something that does not occur just in the mind but also in the heart. the mind as well as the center of our being must turn around in regard to sin.

The reason you and I keep struggling with the same debilitating sin is because repentance in our minds and hearts has not happened. Only God can really bring about this kind of change in our lives. Only God can prompt us to make the necessary adjustments in our lives so that repentance happens. Some may say, “Well, I ask God for forgiveness but it doesn’t seem to do any good.” The reason is that you are not asking for a repentant heart and mind. Certainly, he forgives and will continue to do so but you will experience bondage unless you repent. So, what do we do? We must ask God to give us a repentant heart and mind. But the reason we do no ask is because we are not ready to deal with the consequences of such a prayer. Consequences may include going and making right a wrong(s) that we have committed against someone else. We don’t want to do this because it may be potentially embarrassing. Know this, God stands ready to change every part of your life. But he will not intrude unless we submit our entire being to him. Repentance can be a painful process but its effects are powerful.

The only way to experience true freedom is to allow God to do the work of repentance in our own life. Israel learned this lesson the hard way. She ended up in a place far from God’s ideal and never really fully recovered. the call for repentance still goes out today. The pathway to freedom, fulfillment and faithful love is through surrendering the heart and mind to God. Until this happens you will not experience true freedom. God must have access to everything. If there is something in your mind and heart that are “off-limits” then repentance can not and does not happen. Surrender to him and you’ll be glad that you did!

What Would Happen if Our Church Members Were Out of Debt?

I’ve recently had an idea and am not sure how to proceed further and perhaps readers of this blog can help me out. I was dreaming the other day and wondered what would happen if churches structured their budgets to help individual members get out of debt? I’ve not heard of any churches who have done anything like this. However, it seems to me that this is a needed ministry in today’s society. Christians living in America have become enamored with the materialistic ideal of our society. We forget that everything that we have, including our money, belongs to God and ought to be utilized for his Kingdom. I am not against gaining wealth but it’s what a person does with his or her wealth that concerns me. Too often we think that the American ideal is to retire with a big bank account (and there is some wisdom to this). However, when we look at the early church everyone was helping each other take care of each other’s needs. What if we helped one another first view money as God’s money? What if we helped one another, second, view wealth as one of the means whereby gospel work can be accomplished? What would the evangelistic impact be on our neighborhoods if our churches were known to help people experience freedom from the financial bondage in which they find themselves? Certainly, there would be psychological, emotional, and societal implications.

That’s my idea…Help people get out of debt so that they can be freed up to invest in gospel ministry. Now, who has done this before? If you know of churches who are doing this right now please send me some contact information. If there are some things that we need to consider as we implement something like this then help me think this through.

The Bible and Authority (Part 3)

OK, here are some more thoughts on the Bible and its authority. In this post I will explore what the Bible states about authority and the role of the Bible as the authority in the church. If you are not familiar with this discussion you may want to look at my previous posts on the Bible and Authority before reading this one. These are preliminary thoughts and your comments are always appreciated.

What the Bible says about authority

So far we have attempted to answer the authority issue without the biblical text. Let us turn our attention to the scriptural witness. The scriptural witness does not locate authority within itself. The Bible points to God as the ultimate authority. Beginning in Genesis, the Bible attests to God’s authority. God speaks and then something happens. The Bible demonstrates that God exercises his authority in magnificent events such as the Exodus. When we move to the New Testament we see that authority rests solely upon Jesus Christ. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” As we move through the New Testament we discover that Jesus shares that authority with the church. “Wait here until you receive power from on high,” Jesus instructed the apostles. This authority comes through the Holy Spirit.

Nowhere in scripture do we see that scripture makes itself authoritative. We learn that it is profitable for a number of things but never does it claim to be authoritative. Authority, according to the Bible, rests solely within the godhead.

The purpose of God’s authority

NT Wright states:

We discover, as we look at the Bible itself, that God’s model of authority is not like that of the managing director over the business, not like that of the governing body over the college, not like that of the police or the law courts who have authority over society. There is a more subtle thing going on. God is not simply organizing the world in a certain way such as we would recognize from any of those human models. He is organizing it—if that’s the right word at all—through Jesus and in the power of the Spirit. And the notion of God’s authority, which we have to understand before we understand what we mean by the authority of Scripture, is based on the fact that this God is the loving, wise, creator, redeemer God. And his authority is his sovereign exercise of those powers; his love and wise creations and redemption. What is he doing? He is not simply organizing the world. He is, as we see and know in Christ and by the Spirit, judging and remaking the world. What he does authoritatively he dots with intent. God is not a celestial information service to whom you can apply for answers on difficult questions.

…Authority is not the power to control people, and crush them, and keep them in little boxes. The church often tries to do that—to tidy people up. Nor is the Bible as the vehicle of God’s authority meant to be information for the legalist. . . Rather, God’s authority vested in scripture is designed, as all God’s authority is designed, to liberate human beings, to judge and condemn evil and sin in the world in order to set people free to be fully human. That’s what God is in the business of doing. That is what his authority is for. And when we use a shorthand phrase like ‘authority of scripture’ that is what we ought to be meaning. (Emphasis mine)

The Bible is part of the means by which he puts his purposes of judgment and salvation to work. Again, it is a speech-act of God. The Bible invites people into the story of God.

Authority is vested in God alone. God’s mysterious work through the text by the Holy Spirit is how the text derives its authority. We cannot explain how God demonstrates his authority through the text. It is a mystery and we must be alright with that. Ultimately, the issue of the authority of the Bible comes down to faith. We believe that God is working to restore creation to its original goodness. We believe that one of the ways that he is doing that is through the biblical text. We believe that his Holy Spirit works and moves through the text. Can we prove this? No. We simply must come in faith believing that the Bible is a redemptive act of God and humbly submit ourselves to it.

The Role of the Bible in the Church

The Bible is the mysterious means by which God works through the text to equip his people to carry out the task of redemption. It is the council of God. The church stands humbly before its council so that it can stand boldly before the councils of man. “How may we do that? By soaking ourselves in scripture, in the power and strength and leading of the Spirit, in order that we may then speak freshly and with authority to the world of this same creator.” (N.T. Wright)

The Bible is a Redemptive Text

The Bible is a redemptive text; therefore, its authority is redemptive. If the church is to claim the Bible as its authority then the program of the church must also be redemptive. The church’s mission and identity are wrapped up in this idea of redemption. Redemption carries the idea of “buying back something.” According to the story of Scripture, this world is fallen and in darkness. God, in Jesus Christ, inaugurated the final step of the redemptive process whereby he transfers people from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of his light.

The implications of redemption are many:

1. Doctrine-Doctrine is the teaching of the church. The teaching of the church is brought about by consensus of the faith community. The faith community in her doctrine must seek to set people free rather than restrict them with their teachings. Doctrine is not a tool to beat people over the head. It is a tool to guide the church community into correct thinking and living. Redemption and participation in the life God should be the goal of all doctrine.
2. Practice-Practice is what the church does in light of her doctrine. The church has done a poor job of matching doctrine with practice. The practice of the church ought to be redemptive in nature. Helping people discover who they are in Christ and encouraging them to be that person.
3. Culture-Culture is the ideas and practices that spring up from just being human. Culture itself is amoral: neither right nor wrong. Culture is something that God created. In its original creation culture was declared good. The good of culture has been utilized by fallen humanity for evil purposes. The task of the church is to redeem culture. Culture is a legitimate tool in the hands of the church to carry out the redemption of humanity.

The Bible was never meant to act alone

The Bible, by its very nature, was never designed to act alone. First, because it is a text it relies upon an author. The Bible has two authors: the Holy Spirit and humans. Second, because it is a text with human authors it is a culturally conditioned text. This means that the Bible was written in the language (Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek), cultural and historical setting. Third, because it is a written, culturally conditioned text, the Bible relies upon interpretive methods in order to gain contextual understanding. Interpretive methodologies are tools that help a person engage a written text in order to understand what that text is saying. Interpretive methodologies are determined by people living in community. Interpreting the Scripture helps prevent rogue interpretations of the Bible. Rogue interpretations have lead individuals (and groups following those individuals) into heresy. The Spirit of God aided the formation of the biblical text (inspiration) and aids in the understanding of the biblical text (illumination). When Jesus stated that the Holy Spirit would help the disciples recall what he had taught and that the Holy Spirit would guide their understanding he was speaking to the disciples as a group not individuals. It is true that the Holy Spirit works in individuals but they are always individuals who are part of a greater community. The Spirit guides the community of believers (the church) into a correct understanding of the text. This understanding is influenced by the cultural context of the community. This explains why there have been different understandings of the biblical text throughout history. Interpreting the Bible is never done and was never meant to be done in a vacuum.

The emphasis upon a communitarian understanding reflects the Trinitarian nature of the primary author. God is One who exists in a Triunity of persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If the authorship of the text is Triune (community) then the understanding of the text is discovered in community.

(If) understanding is communitarian effort

(If) doctrine is the articulation of the textual understanding of the text

(Then) doctrine must be communitarian in nature

The community of faith in submission to the text determines what is in bounds and what is out of bounds. The Scriptures have the final say in the doctrine and practice of the church. The Bible does not have the only say in the doctrine and practice of the church. Culture, social situations, and the overall experiences of the faith community also play a part in the activities of the church.

The Bible permits the church to engage the culture in which she is situated because it mandates that the church participates in the activity of redemption.

 

The Bible and Authority (Part 2)

Our postmodern age struggles with issues of authority. In years past, the authority of the Bible was assumed. Most people readily accepted the general truthfulness of the Bible. In the last thirty years even the idea that something truthful has come under scrutiny. The church has struggled to answer the penetrating questions of postmoderns because the typical answers that have been given no longer apply. Without going into all the details of postmodernism let us discover how we can answer the question of the Bible’s authority.

The church has struggled with authority. Issues of authority have led to abuse and misuse within the ranks of the church through her history. Phrases like, “The Bible says this,” or “The Bible says that,” have often taken Scripture out of context in order to promote a particular idea. For example, the Bible was cited as the authority for slavery. Just because there were slaves in the Bible does not mean that we may possess slaves. In fact, a correct reading of Scripture demonstrates that God is opposed to oppression.

Authoritative claims have caused deep divisions within the church. There are some who purport that their way of reading the biblical text is the only way to read it. Therefore, if someone reads the text differently and comes to completely different conclusions than the ‘authority’ then both groups ostracize each other.

Some claim to have the correct reading of Scripture as to how things should be done in church. Church leaders and lay people alike have utilized Scripture to say that things should be done this way or that way. Some have utilized Scripture to say that this or that is forbidden (when Scripture may not even forbid).

                Problems with Authority:

                                Misuse—taking scripture out of context

                                Abuse—oppressing others with misused texts

An improper view of authority will lead to an improper view of the Bible. Some have viewed the Bible as a rule book. A rule book mentality reduces the Bible to a mere fact book whereby truths are to be gleaned and organized. To re-organize the structure of scripture really is an arrogant attitude toward the Scriptures. Somehow the re-organizer feels that God insufficiently produced and arranged the Biblical text. This position, whether a person realizes it or not, presupposes that God really is not all-wise in all of his doings.

A rule-book view of Scripture feeds into our lust for control. In our lust for control we inadvertently oppress others under a distorted view of the biblical text. The Bible is the story of God who is working to rescue his creation. This is the Good News. In other words, the whole Bible is the Gospel. The Gospel sets people free. It does not oppress people with rules and regulations. Oppressing people by rules and regulations was why Jesus had such a difficult time with the Pharisees. The Pharisees had the Old Testament scriptures and appealed to their authority only to make more rules. These rules oppressed the nation of Israel.

Common Misunderstanding of the Bible: A Rule Book. This view feeds our lust for control

I do not believe that the Bible was written for the purpose of being a rule book. In order to answer the question of, “how can the Bible be an authoritative text?” We need to understand the purpose for which the Bible was written. The Bible was written as a witness to the story of God. It is a theology book. This theology book reveals that there is a God. The Bible demonstrates how God is in the process of redeeming his fallen creation. Throughout the story of God, creation is invited to participate in the life of God in Christ Jesus. The purpose of the Bible, then, is to reveal God and to invite people into fellowship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This view is a far cry from a rule-book view. If you were going to have a relationship with someone you do not build that relationship upon a list of do’s and do not’s. There are certainly boundaries but the relationship does not focus upon the boundaries. The relationship focuses upon that which is in between the boundaries. The heart and soul of any relationship is cultivated and thrives in between the boundaries. The same is true with our relationship with God. The Bible establishes the boundaries which Jesus summarized as, “Loving God and loving neighbor.” We are free to do anything that promotes loving God and loving neighbor. Scripture rarely focuses upon the boundaries but the stuff in between the boundaries that help promote a life of loving God and loving neighbor.

So far, we’ve established the purpose of Scripture. Now let us move on to discover how the Bible is authoritative.

The question of the authority of Scripture has three underlying questions (NT Wright):

       

How can any text function as authoritative?

                How can any ancient text function as authoritative? (The disparity in culture of then and now)

                How can any ancient narrative text be authoritative? (How is a book like Song of Songs    authoritative?)

 NT Wright suggests that evangelicals have attempted to answer the above questions with the following answers:

 Timeless Truth: The Bible is a collection of timeless truths to be gleaned and organized in a coherent fashion. Often in order to glean these timeless truths we have distorted Scripture and have turned it into something that it is not: an unsorted devotional book.

Witness to Primary Events: It is true that the Bible is a witness to primary events. However, the Bible as a witness to primary events does not make it authoritative. For example, if archeologists were to find the court proceedings of Paul’s trial in Rome would that make it scriptural? What typically happens in the attempt to reconstruct the historical event to which the Bible gives witness the reconstruction often becomes the authority rather than the Bible itself.

I think Wright is right on the typical evangelical response to the question of the Bible’s authority. These answers were what I was given at my evangelical college and seminary. I have always found these answers to somehow be deficient. The Bible is often pushed aside and the reasons that are given to support the authority have become the authority. So, if the answer to the Bible’s authority is not found in the timeless truth and witness to primary event answers then where is the Bible’s authority found?

I think that Scripture’s authority lies in two places: The Triune God and the Christian Community.

The Triune God

Jesus said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’ Notice, Jesus does not say that all authority has been given to the Bible—it had not even been fully written yet. Jesus is the revealer of the Triune God (we’ll talk more about this later). In other words, Jesus opens the door to the Father and to the Spirit.  

The Bible receives its authority on the basis that it is an act of the Triune God. We stated that the Bible is a theology book. More specifically, the Bible is a speech-act of God. God’s actions focus upon his purpose of renewing and restoring his creation to its original good. The Bible’s authority is based upon its alignment with the Triune God’s purpose of redemption. This is as far as we can go. To answer the question of how God’s authority flows through the text of Scripture is a mystery unless we add another element to it.

 The Community of Faith

 John Calvin stated that the Bible is self-authenticating. This means that the Bible by itself is authoritative in its own right. What Calvin stated is true. Philosophically, we say that the Bible ontologically is authoritative. Being, however, needs action in order to be realized. The Bible’s ontological authority is exercised functionally through the community of faith. In other words, the community of faith recognizes the authority that the text possesses and submits itself under its teachings.

 

The Bible and Authority (Part 1)

In the early 1900s the church was struggling to understand where her authority exists. There were some who stated that religious authority exists in experience. This position led the way to search the Scriptures only for moral principles. On the other side of the spectrum there were those that stated that the church’s authority rests in the Bible alone. This position posited that the Bible was merely a storehouse of facts that needed to be collected and repackaged in a nice and neat theological system. I realize that I am oversimplifying the situation (this is to save space).

It seems to me that both sides of the theological spectrum, liberal and conservative, got it wrong then and still get it wrong now. Both sides rummage through the Bible as if it were some yard sale hoping to find a great deal. The Bible is much more than a collection of ideas, morals, principles, and propositions. Certainly, the Bible contains these items but that is not what it ultimately is. The Bible is God’s story and must be viewed as a whole not broken down into its various pieces and never again to be put together.

How is the Bible authoritative and where does it get its authority? These are two prominent questions that constantly come up in the discussion on the authority of Scripture. The answer to these questions are derived from two basic assumptions: (1) God exists; and (2) God makes himself known. The Scripture receives its authority because it is an act of revelation of the Triune God. The Bible taken by itself does not have authority but insofar as it is an act of God’s revelation it becomes authoritative. This is only half of the picture there is more to the story. Not only does the Bible derive its authority because it is grounded in the act of God revealing himself but also its authority is ascribed in the recognition of the community of faith letting it be authoritative. As an act of God, the Bible stands as authoritative and does not need recognition from the community so recognition is of secondary importance. Logically, one cannot prove or disprove the claims made in Scripture for they must be understood in terms of faith. By faith, we believe God exists and that he speaks. By faith we believe that he worked jointly through his Holy Spirit and humanity to produce the Scriptures that we now hold. In philosophical terms, the Bible is ontologically (nature of/being) authoritative because it is an act of God’s revelation and functionally (economically) authoritative because of the authority ascribed to it by the church. The Bible is ontologically authoritative and can stand on its own. The reality of this is displayed in the church’s obedience to its authority.  Authority, then, is not so much a description of the Bible but rather a practice of the church. The church displays its belief in the Bible’s authority insofar as it obeys and lives out the entire story of Scripture.

 My contemplation on the authoritative principle is in its preliminary stages. I realize that much work needs to be done in regards to my thinking on the issue. There are a multitude of things that need to be addressed, such as: the postmodern resistance to claims of authority, hermeneutical frameworks for understanding Scripture, and many more…I would appreciate your feedback and comments for clarity, disagreement, and encouragement.