God Gives Thanks

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship

Sabbath, November 26, 2011

(This is an unusually long manuscript for a sermon. I will try to cut it before tomorrow. Otherwise, I'll have to try cutting it on the fly.)

I was checking out at the grocery store last week and making small talk with the cashier. She bragged about her son. He is an amazing cook. He watches shows on the food channel and tries all kinds of recipes. His master piece is a spinach lasagna. It's fantastic.

When I asked about clean up, she acknowledged he's not so great in that department. When he's done every surface in the kitchen is cluttered and the sink is piled full. But the food he produces is superlative! She's proud of him.

A friend of mine has an amazing daughter. She used to work with him. He has his own business and she acted as his business manager and bookkeeper. Eventually they had to split up. She was too bossy, too much of a driver. Her dad tells me this with a gleam in his eye. He loves her toughness, her brilliance, her drive. Every time I talk to him, he talks about his girl, pleasure and pride written all over his face.

For most parents, at the top of our list when it comes to giving thanks is our children.

Which makes us a lot like God. God delights in his children. He brags about his children.

The book of Job opens with a conversation between God and the devil. The devil claims he's been wandering the earth. I'm guessing the devil makes this comment like a talk show host or a gossip. He's been out collecting information – and it's all dirt. Like some human beings, the devil relishes bad news. He loves collecting it and repeating it. There's a reason why his nickname is “the Accuser.”

The devil announces his bad news: “I've been traveling around the earth.”

God responds with good news, “And did you notice my servant Job?”

God's next words sound just like a proud Mama or Papa: “There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

It's easy to understand God being proud of Job. After all, he is a blameless and upright man. What parent wouldn't be proud? But what about God's his lesser children? How does God regard his children who are not blameless?

Consider this passage in 1 Kings 15:

Abijah became king of Judah, and reigned in Jerusalem three years. . . .

Abijah committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his great grandfather had been. Nevertheless, for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem by raising up a son to succeed him and by making Jerusalem strong. For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and not failed to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of his life—except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

There was war between Judah and Israel throughout Abijah's lifetime . . .

Abijah died and his son Asa succeeded him as king.

Asa reigned in Jerusalem forty-one years. . . .

Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his Father David had done. He expelled the male prostitutes from the land and got rid of all the idols his fathers had made. He even deposed his grandmother Maacah as queen mother because she had made a repulsive Asherah pole. Asa cut the pole down and burned it. Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life. He brought into the temple of the Lord the silver and gold and the articles he and his father had dedicated.

At one point in his reign, Asa paid the king of Damascus to help him retake a strategically important city named Ramah which was located on the northern border of the kingdom of Judah. After they captured the city, Asa drafted every able-bodied man in the nation. They hauled off all the stones and timbers of the city of Ramah and built a two garrison towns to protect the northern border. The book of Kings comments, “As for all the other events of Asa's reign, all his achievements, all he did and the cities he built, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah?

Abijah was not perfect. “His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.” Instead of taking after his great grandfather, David, he mirrored his father Rehoboam who was a weak king and tolerated all sorts of idolatrous practices in the nation. But even though “his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God,” still, because he was the great grandson of David, God showed him favor. God blessed him with military victories and the continuation of his dynasty.

EVEN THOUGH his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, God regarded Abijah as part of the family. God claimed him. God blessed him. God showed him the ultimate honor. He allowed him to pass the throne to his son. He allowed his dynasty to continue. God does not need perfect children in order to give out blessings. He needs children like you and me.

There is one sentence in this passage that trips me up every time I read it:

For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and not failed to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of his life—except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.

David was perfect except for the Bathsheba affair. Yeah, but the Bathsheba affair was huge. It involved adultery with the wife of one of his senior military officers, then arranging for the extra-judicial killing of the officer in an attempt to cover up the affair. This is hardly a minor exception to his otherwise perfect record!

And to this exception, we could add his census-taking which caused the death of 70,000 Israelites.

And then there was his mishandling of the rape of Tamar which set the stage for a civil war. At least 20,000 rebels died.

Still God's affection for David shines through repeatedly in the Bible. God constantly cites David's devotion as the gold standard. Objectively, David was not morally superior. On occasion, he demonstrated wonderful moral backbone. On other occasions he was less than admirable. But God looked at him through the rosy glasses of a loving Father and bragged about his son.

Over and over, the prophets remember the special relationship of God and David and compare later kings to that ideal.

Notice the details of the next character in this passage.

Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his Father David had done.

The passage goes on to outline some of the specific policies of Asa's administration. Asa was an activist. He eliminated a variety of idolatrous practices. He was so determined in his opposition to idolatry that he even removed his grandmother Maacah from her position as Queen Mother because she had set up a shrine for pagan worship.

Asa did right like his father David. God was proud of his son David. God was proud of his son, Asa.

I like the sentence, “Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life” (verse 14). Asa was not flawless. An objective, outside observer could see room for improvement in his administration. But God is not an “objective, outside observer.” God is a Father who looks at his children through love-colored glasses. “Although he did not remove the high places, Asa's heart was fully committed to the Lord all his life.”

Many Christians think every failure to meet or exceed every conceivable notion of moral and spiritual excellence is somehow proof that we are not yet quite in tune with God. This kind of thinking is corrected by the story of David. The Bible says about David, “He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and did not fail to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of his life—except in the matter of Uriah the Hittite.”

God announces to the world about you, “She has done what is right in the eyes of the Lord and has not failed to keep any of the Lord's commands all the days of her life—except that one time . . . . . . .” You fill in the blank. What have you done that sinks to the depths of David seducing Uriah's wife, then having Uriah killed?

We are God's children. He looks at us through love-colored glasses. He tells his friends about us, “They have done what is right. They have not failed a single time . . . well, there was that one time, but other than that, not a single time.”

God has a memory colored by a father's love, by a mother's love. He introduces his son Asa this way, “Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his Father David had done.” This in spite of the fact that near the end of his life he blew it big time. God does not specialize in the failings of his children. He specializes in our successes.

This is highlighted by another feature of the stories of Abijah, David and Asa.

When we go to the version of these stories in the Book of Chronicles, we find some interesting differences from the details of the stories in Kings.

The record in Kings says that Abijah's heart was “not fully devoted to God,” but that God blessed him anyway. Telling the story this way highlights the privileges of family. God blesses his kids out of the riches of his heart, not out of the purity of their performance.

In 2 Chronicles 13, we read an outline of a sermon Abijah preached to an invading army and of God's subsequent routing of that army “because the men of Judah relied on the Lord, the God of their fathers.” So Abijah was not “fully devoted” to God, but his devotion was real enough that the book of Chronicles records a sermon he preached.

God treasures the successes of his children, even when those successes are not uninterrupted, even when those successes are not “the whole story.”

The story of Asa begins with these words in Chronicles: “Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God.” Not a bad commendation.

The writer then describes Asa's policy achievements. He repeats what we read in Kings about getting rid of idol worship, then adds something extra. Kings says about Asa: His heart was fully committed to God, but he DID NOT remove the high places. Chronicles says he DID remove the high places. Kings writes that Asa was involved in perpetual war with Basha the king of Israel. Chronicles writes, “the land was at peace . . . No one was at war with Asa because the Lord gave him rest.”

Chronicles was written later than Kings. In the Bible, with the passage of times, the failings of God's people become smaller. They vanish from memory. This reflects the heart of God.

Just as in a healthy family, the failings, the fights, the disappointments and disagreements of the past slowly get swamped by the goodness of shared life and love, so in God's kingdom the failings of his children get lost in the larger story that God is writing going forward. God takes great delight in his children. He treasures every evidence they value him. He remembers every effort they make in the direction of goodness and righteousness. He buries their transgressions in the abyss of the ocean.

So in the check out line, what he tells passing customers is how skillful they are in cooking. He does not recite their failings to clean up. He does not mention the fact that they have been out of work for a year. He does not mention they flunked out of school. He celebrates their cooking, their fantastic spinach lasagna.

The glasses through which God regards us are no less intensely love-colored than are the glasses worn by the most doting parent or grand parent among us.

This Thanksgiving, God is giving thanks for you. If you are like Job, he needles Satan, by asking, “Hey have you noticed?” If you are like Abijah, whose heart was not fully devoted, he still makes sure the records of heaven record your best moments, the times when you did God proud.

If you are like Asa, he celebrates your real achievements. He acknowledges your failures. He has to write down the fact that late in your reign you became too infatuated with yourself. But that failure does not erase his pride in your genuine accomplishments, his gratitude that you are his son, his daughter. If you are like David, he continues to brag about you and to celebrate your extraordinary love even if it was followed by an extraordinary failure.

God delights in you. He takes pleasure in the slightest evidence you give of a sensitivity to him.

One more story for those who might be tempted to think I'm exaggerating the parental affection of God. (See 1 Kings 21).

Ahab is notorious as one of the most wicked kings ever. Nearly every anecdote we have from his reign details some moral failure on his part. Then at the end of his reign, after he has allowed his wife to arranged for the extra-judicial killing of the owner of a choice piece of real estate, and after God has sent him a message of condemnation and doom, Ahab puts on sack cloth and gives at least the appearance of contrition.

You and I, reading the story, assume this is merely regret for getting caught. We presume Ahab is sorry for the consequences of his actions, not for the actions themselves. But how does God respond? God says to Elijah, “Have you noticed Ahab? How he has humbled himself? Let him know I'm going to delay the doom I predicted.”

“Have you noticed Ahab?” Almost the same words God spoke to Satan about Job. And for the same purpose. God has caught someone doing something good.

Have you noticed? When God asks that question, he's leading up to good news. He's leading up to thanksgiving. He's leading up to bragging about his kids. About you.

You are here this morning and God gives thanks. Even if you've been gone from God's family a long, long time, when you come home, God is pleased. If you've been gone a really long time, I imagine he shouts to the heavenly court, “Hey, have you noticed So-and-so?” And he is not pointing our direction in scorn or condemnation. He is delighted. He gives thanks.

When we give thanks for our children, we are merely repeating the habits of heaven. When we magnify our children's accomplishments and minimize their failings, we are practicing for heaven. When we welcome one another, when we help one another believe we are treasured in heaven, we are cooperating with God. We are engaged in the very highest spiritual work.

Since it's Thanksgiving, let me add my voice to God's. You, especially you saints of North Hill (and before that, the saints of Akron, Advent Hope and Babylon and Huntington, you have carried me these years we have lived and worked together. I was called by God to preach his amazing grace. To the extent that I have fulfilled that calling it is largely because of your encouragement, correction, affirmation, and admonition. Thank you.

God gives thanks for children like you. He invites us to share in his joy by learning to treasure one another.

I Trust You

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship

Sabbath, November 19, 2011

Final version -- only slightly modified from the version published earlier.

I received a phone call this week asking if I would be participating in something called “The One Project in Seattle.” I googled “One Project Seattle.” Here's what I found:

Event Description

The ONE Project is committed to the idea that a Jesus-driven, Jesus-bathed, Jesus-backed, Jesus-led, Jesus-filled, Jesus-powered, all-about-Jesus Adventist Church is the uncompromising directive from our past, the joy of our present, and the hope for our future. . . .

The ONE Project seeks . . . to stimulate preaching, worship, and adoration of Jesus within the Adventist church.

The two days set aside are simply to refresh yourself with leaders of all ages passionate about following Jesus, excited about honest open conversation, and celebrating the supremacy of Jesus in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Jesus. The organizers of The ONE Project seem to really like Jesus. You might even say they are happily obsessed with Jesus.

I couldn't help contrasting the happiness evoked by the supremacy of Jesus with the emotions evoked by other powerful people who have been in the news over the last year or so.

First it was President Ben Ali in Tunisia. He had been in power since 1987. At the end of 2010, the nation erupted with protests against him. He was forced from power. Then his friends were forced from power. Enough! He thought he was beloved. In reality, he was hated. And when he was gone, there was dancing in the streets.

Then there was President Mubarak in Egypt. He imagined he was indispensable to the well-being of his nation. He insisted he loved his country and his country loved him, but tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated otherwise and celebrated his fall.

Muammar el-Qaddafi ruled Lybia for 42 years. When protests began, he denounced them. He would never leave power. He would squash them like rats. In the end he was pulled from a culvert and battered and killed and most of the population was jubilant.

Most recently, it was Silvio Berlusconi. He had served as prime minister three times beginning in 1994. He was in love with himself and thought Italy could not prosper without him. Then suddenly economic realities forced him to resign in disgrace. Many people in Italy and elsewhere rejoiced.

In contrast to these men who imagined themselves beloved only to find themselves despised, Jesus moved from obscurity to fame and global affection. What makes the difference? Why is Jesus the focus of The ONE Project? Why is Jesus the subject of hymns he did not commission, the focus of poems written by poets he did not pay, the model for artists he did not control?

What is the difference between Jesus and Ben Ali, Qaddafi, Mubarak, and Berlusconi—men who imagined themselves beloved and indispensable and found themselves suddenly disgraced, rejected, despised?

Ben Ali, Mubarak, el-Qaddafi and Berlusconi were similar in their love for themselves and their love of power. Their first objective was preserving their privileges, their prerogatives, their power.

Jesus' first objective was the well-being of others. In dramatic contrast to Ben Ali, Mubarak, Qaddafi, Berlusconi, and the Democrats and the Republicans, and Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, Jesus freely gave power away.

We celebrate Jesus because he poured life into the world instead of sucking into himself. He calls us to do the same.

In one of the most dramatic conversations in the New Testament, Jesus asked his disciples, “Whom do people say that I am?”

The disciples answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist risen from the dead. Others say you are Elijah. Still others say you are Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

“What about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

“Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven.”

Or, to put it into everyday English: Right on, Peter. You got it exactly right (Matthew 16).

Who is Jesus? The Messiah of God, the one destined to rule the nations with an iron rod, the one who will steamroll evil and every person and force that opposes the triumph and righteous transformation of God's people. The Savior of the world. The King of Peace.

Jesus is the One the world has been waiting for. Now, there will be no more waiting. Put Jesus in charge and there will be no need to ever again hold elections. No need ever again to ask who should be in charge. One boss for all people for all time. We're done.

That's how we see it. But that's not the way Jesus voiced it. Notice his segue out of his affirmation of Peter's declaration:

“You are right Peter. Your insight comes straight from God. And I will build my church on this truth.” I would expect these words to mean that Jesus will remain in charge forever, the single figure at the pinnacle of an eternal pyramid. (This is the picture behind the papacy and most other denominational visions of the church. In these visions, the denomination is the indispensable extension of the singular authority of Jesus.)

The classic interpretation of Jesus's response to Peter's affirmation is something like this: After eons of waiting for the perfect boss, he has arrived, to remain in charge forever (along with his lieutenants, the clergy). That's how Qaddafi and Mubarak and Berlusconi saw themselves. They were God's gift to humanity. They could not imagine that anyone could ever come close to them in wisdom and force of character. Their nations, their economies, their legal systems, their cultures could not survive without them.

But this is not where Jesus goes. Instead of pointing to his own permanent spot at the pinnacle power, Jesus immediately segues into announcing his replacement. Jesus announces he is going to build his church on the truth of his own rightful claim to power and authority. And to this church he is going to give the keys of the kingdom. Jesus' successors will have so much authority that whatever they bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Jesus gives away his power!

How does this apply to us?

First, it is a wonderful affirmation. Jesus trusts you.

Last week, I focused on the words of Jesus in John 8, “Neither do I condemn you.” Jesus is not into condemnation. He does not attempt to batter people into repentance. He does not berate people for their failures and their sins. Instead he calls them forward into a renewed pursuit of holiness and wholeness.

Today, I pointing an even more mysterious wonder. Not only does Jesus not condemn us. He trusts us. He gives us power and authority.

In Matthew 9, Jesus calls a tax collector to serve in his inner circle. Not only did Jesus forgive someone who had a very questionable livelihood. Jesus trusted him to exercise leadership. (In that historical setting, tax collector was synonymous with corruption. Tax collectors were widely regarded by Jewish people as traitorous both religiously and politically).

The Apostle Paul was part of Christian-eradication campaign when Jesus called him. When Jesus (in vision) sent Ananias, a Christian leader, to go meet the transformed persecutor, Ananias said, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.” Jesus responded to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. Acts 9:13

Jesus did not merely refuse to condemn Paul. Jesus trusted him.

Jesus trusts you. He gives you spiritual authority. He trusts you to pour blessing into the lives of people around you.

In Matthew and Mark, there is the fantastic story of a woman who sneaks into a banquet and pours fantastically expensive perfume on Jesus. Others present criticize her for this shocking waste. Jesus not only refuses to condemn her. He celebrates her. “She has done a beautiful thing..” He says. “Wherever the gospel has been preached, this will be told in memory of her. Mark 14:6 and Matthew 26.

Jesus trusts her. Even when she blows a huge amount of money on a sentimental, extravagant act. Jesus honors her. “She has done a beautiful thing.”

And God trusts you.

Then there is the story of the demoniac in Mark. He is a raging, uncontrollable beast, living among the tombs outside of town. Jesus releases him from the demonic possession, then commissions him – IMMEDIATELY – as a preacher. “Go, tell the people who know you what God has done for you.”

It worked. The same people who that afternoon urged Jesus to leave their district, a few months later welcomed Jesus and sat spell bound listening to him for days.

Jesus trusted a man just minutes out of demon possession.

Jesus trusts you.

As a capstone on the Bible witness to Jesus' confidence in you, consider this:

The words I say to you are not just my own words. Rather, it is the Father living in me who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:10-14.

Jesus says the charm and force of his words is rooted in their origin in the Father. By implication, Jesus is challenging his disciples to allow the Father to speak with equal charm and power through them.

Jesus speaks so highly of his disciples that if anyone other than Jesus said these things we would be tempted to think it was blasphemy.

“You will do greater things than I have been doing.”

“I will do whatever you ask in my name.” Really? WHATEVER?

We tame these words down by citing other passages. We tame them down because we have asked for stuff that did not work out the way we asked. How to think about the difference between our requests and what we observe to happen is an important question. But before we chase that question, let's make sure we have heard what Jesus said. “Because I am going to my Father, if you have faith in me you will do what I have been doing. And even greater things will you do.”

In this passage Jesus did not present himself as indispensable. He presented you and me as indispensable.

He was leaving – of his own free will. By leaving he was creating space for us to work. He was creating a stage that begged for our performance. Jesus trusted us.

Just before he went back to heaven, he told a small group: It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem . . . and to the ends of the world. Acts 1:8.

Our job as Christians is not to pretend to know the date of the end of the world, rather we are to share what we really do know: our testimony about the goodness of God. We are to bear witness to the character of the One who will have the last say in the course of history.

And Jesus trusts us to do it. Jesus is not wringing his hands. Jesus is not kicking the walls and punching his fists through hollow-core doors in frustration. I can't believe these stupid people. What was I thinking when I allowed them in on this?

Jesus trusts us. We can do it. We are doing it. Let's keep doing it.

And let's trust each other. We may not be flawless, but we are good enough. We have enough potential that it worth developing. We have enough goodness, that we have no excuse for not putting it to work.

Let's trust our kids. Surely they are not less likely to succeed than we were. Let's trust younger people in the church – people who are younger chronologically and people who are younger in experience, new converts, non-clergy.

[If we accept Jesus as our model, we will not imagine that God's plan for his church involves "getting back" to some mythic golden era. Trying to recover the zeal and spiritual life of our pioneers is NOT the way forward. God calls us to our own work, to lives and ministries that serve the world we live in. Our cooperation with must necessarily look different from the cooperation with God practiced by anyone in any other era.] 

Since Jesus trusts us, we will demonstrate our fullest partnership with him in the ways we trust one another.

Ultimate Spiritual Life

An outline for the sixth and final session of Spirituality for Thinkers and Seekers.
Friday night, November 18, 2011
North Hill Adventist Fellowship

The Adventist religion prescribes a number of behaviors:

Obey the Ten Commandments

Keep Sabbath

Pray

Read/study/memorize/contemplate the words in the Bible

Eat well

Exercise

Practice forgiveness

Get baptized

Take communion

Go to church

What is the purpose of all these practices? They are intended to help people live out the ideals of our religion. And what are the ideals of our religion?

Micah 6:8. “to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

Mark 12:28-34. A religious expert asked, “What is the greatest commandment?” Hearing Jesus' answer, the expert agreed. “Well said, teacher,” the mane replied. “you are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Paul writes, after giving all sorts of specific rules,“He who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”

So one way to answer the question, what is the purpose of religious practices, is this:

Religious practices are to help us love God and love people.

What does it mean to “love” someone? To feel affection for them. To seek their well-being. To desire them. To value them. To honor them. To claim them as yours.

We can appropriately evaluate our religious practices by measuring their usefulness in helping us love. Especially religious practices may be – and I would say, ought to be – evaluated using the yardstick of effectiveness in helping us love. Studying the Bible, praying, going to church, keeping Sabbath, reading Ellen White's books are not ultimate goals. They are methods for cultivating love. If your involvement with these practices is not increasing your experience of love, then the practice ought to be revised or abandoned.

You will notice that I've given a twist to the usual Adventist approach. I have not described the point of religion as knowing, believing and obeying the Bible. The Bible is a tool, a valuable, powerful tool. When we think of the Bible as a tool, this highlights the importance of the user. A chainsaw is a fantastic aid to someone living in the forest who heats his house with wood. It is a diabolical instrument of death in horror movies.

So the Bible served Aaron, a meth addict here at North Hill, as an instrument of release from addiction. In the South I grew up in it was constantly used as an instrument of oppression. (Southern Protestant churches dogmatically defended all sorts of racial oppression on the basis of the Bible.) Also in the South, Blacks found in the Bible hope and sustenance in dealing with the oppression heaped on them by White Christians.

Vibrant, healthy spiritual life requires cultivation. Religious practices are indispensable for vital spirituality. They are most potent when they are practiced regularly and are deliberately put in the service of love.

The Bible does not “make things true.” Something is not true “because the Bible says it.” Rather the Bible, like the apostles bears witness to the truth. Our focus must be beyond the Bible on the truth toward which it points. And the greatest truth is God and his, just as the greatest obligation and accomplishment for us is loving God and other people.

The Bible testifies that Jesus is the light that lightens every human (John 1:9), that God is light and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5) and that both Jesus and Jesus' disciples are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14, John 8:12; 9:5).

The light that is in us allows us to read the Bible with wise lenses. Because Jesus is our light, we see light in the words of the Bible. We join Jesus in opposing the darkness that some people extract from the words of the Bible (Matthew 5:21ff, John 8:5, 11; Mark 2:25). We join Jesus in receiving and transmitting the light of God that shines from the Bible (Matthew 9:13; 12:7).

Oops. I've been overruled.

I announced I was moving my sermons to a new blog. However, I have been overruled by people half my age. They disapproved of the move. So my sermons will continue to be posted here.

Replacing Jesus?

Preliminary manuscript for a sermon at North Hill Adventist Fellowship, November 19, 2011.

Criticism invited, especially criticism received before 8:00 a.m. Nov. 19.

I received a phone call this week asking if I would be participating in something called “The One Project in Seattle.” I googled “One Project Seattle.” Here's what I found:

Event Description

The ONE Project is committed to the idea that a Jesus-driven, Jesus-bathed, Jesus-backed, Jesus-led, Jesus-filled, Jesus-powered, all-about-Jesus Adventist Church is the uncompromising directive from our past, the joy of our present, and the hope for our future. . . .

The ONE Project seeks . . . to stimulate preaching, worship, and adoration of Jesus within the Adventist church.

The two days set aside are simply to refresh yourself with leaders of all ages passionate about following Jesus, excited about honest open conversation, and celebrating the supremacy of Jesus in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Jesus. The organizers of The ONE Project seem to really like Jesus. You might even say they are happily obsessed with Jesus.

I couldn't help contrasting the happiness evoked by the supremacy of Jesus with the emotions evoked by other powerful people who have been in the news over the last year or so.

First it was President Ben Ali in Tunisia. He had been in power since 1987. At the end of 2010, the nation erupted with protests against him. He was forced from power. Then his friends were forced from power. Enough! He thought he was beloved. In reality, he was hated. And when he was gone, there was dancing in the streets.

Then there was President Mubarak in Egypt. He imagined he was indispensable to the well-being of his nation. He insisted he loved his country and his country loved him, but tens of thousands of protesters demonstrated otherwise and celebrated his fall.

Muammar el-Qaddafi ruled Lybia for 42 years. When protests began, he denounced them. He would never leave power. He would squash them like rats. In the end he was pulled from a culvert and battered and killed and most of the population was jubilant.

Most recently, it was Silvio Berlusconi. He had served as prime minister three times beginning in 1994. He was in love with himself and thought Italy could not prosper without him. Then suddenly economic realities forced him to resign in disgrace. Many people in Italy and elsewhere rejoiced.

In contrast to these men who imagined themselves beloved only to find themselves despised, Jesus moved from obscurity to fame and global affection. What makes the difference? Why is Jesus the focus of The ONE Project? Why is Jesus the subject of hymns he did not commission, the focus of poems written by poets he did not pay, the model for artists he did not control?

What is the difference between Jesus and Ben Ali, Qaddafi, Mubarak, and Berlusconi—men who imagined themselves beloved and indispensable and found themselves suddenly disgraced, rejected, despised?

Ben Ali, Mubarak, el-Qaddafi and Berlusconi were similar in their love for themselves and their love of power. Their first objective was preserving their privileges, their prerogatives, their power.

Jesus' first objective was the well-being of others. In dramatic contrast to Ben Ali, Mubarak, Qaddafi, Berlusconi, and the Democrats and the Republicans, and Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, Jesus freely gave power away.

We celebrate Jesus because he poured life into the world instead of sucking into himself. He calls us to do the same.

In one of the most dramatic conversations in the New Testament, Jesus asked his disciples, “Whom do people say that I am?”

The disciples answered, “Some say you are John the Baptist risen from the dead. Others say you are Elijah. Still others say you are Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”

“What about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.”

“Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to by man, but by my Father in heaven.”

Or, to put it into everyday English: Right on. You got it exactly right (Matthew 16).

Who is Jesus? The Messiah of God, the one destined to rule the nations with an iron rod, the one who will steamroll evil and every force that opposes the triumph and righteous transformation of God's people. The Savior of the world. The King of Peace.

Jesus is the One the world has been waiting for. Now, there will be no more waiting. Put Jesus in charge and there will be no need to ever again hold elections. No need ever again to ask who should be in charge. One boss for all people for all time. We're done.

That's how we see it. But that's not the way Jesus voiced it. Notice his segue out of his affirmation of Peter's declaration:

“You are right Peter. Your insight comes straight from God. And I will build my church on this truth.” I would expect these words to mean that Jesus will remain in charge forever, the single figure at the pinnacle of an eternal pyramid. After eons of waiting for the perfect boss, he has arrived, to remain in charge forever. That's how Qaddafi and Mubarak and Berlusconi saw themselves. They were God's gift to humanity. They could not imagine that anyone could ever come close to them in wisdom and force of character. Their nations, their economies, their legal systems, their cultures could not survive without them.

But this is not where Jesus goes. Instead, pointing to his permanent spot at the pinnacle power, Jesus immediately segues into announcing his own replacement. Jesus announces he is going to build his church on the truth of his own rightful claim to power and authority. And to this church he is going to give the keys of the kingdom. Jesus' successors will have so much authority that whatever they bind on earth will be bound in heaven. Whatever they loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

Jesus gives away his power!

How does this apply to us?

First, it is a wonderful affirmation. Jesus trusts you.

Last week, I focused on the words of Jesus in John 8, “Neither do I condemn you.” Jesus is not into condemnation. He does not attempt to batter people into repentance. He does not berate people for their failures and their sins. Instead he calls them forward into a renewed pursuit of holiness and wholeness.

Today, I pointing an even more mysterious wonder. Not only does Jesus not condemn us. He trusts us. He gives us power and authority.

In Matthew 9, Jesus calls a tax collector to serve in his inner circle. Not only did Jesus forgive someone who had a very questionable livelihood. Jesus trusted him to exercise leadership. (In that historical setting, tax collector was synonymous with corruption. Tax collectors were widely regarded by Jewish people as traitorous both religiously and politically).

The Apostle Paul was part of Christian-eradication campaign when Jesus called him. When Jesus (in vision) sent Ananias, a Christian leader, to go meet the transformed persecutor, Ananias said, “Lord, I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.” Jesus responded to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. Acts 9:13

Jesus did not merely refuse to condemn Paul. Jesus trusted him.

Jesus trusts you. He gives you spiritual authority. He trusts you to pour blessing into the lives of people around you.

In Matthew and Mark, there is the fantastic story of a woman who sneaks into a banquet and pours fantastically expensive perfume on Jesus. Others present criticize her for this shocking waste. Jesus not only refuses to condemn her. He celebrates her. “She has done a beautiful thing..” He says. “Wherever the gospel has been preached, this will be told in memory of her. Mark 14:6 and Matthew 26.

Jesus trusts her. Even when she blows a huge amount of money on a sentimental, extravagant act. Jesus honors her. “She has done a beautiful thing.”

And God trusts you.

Then there is the story of the demoniac in Mark. He is a raging, uncontrollable beast, living among the tombs outside of town. Jesus releases him from the demonic possession, then commissions him – IMMEDIATELY – as a preacher. “Go, tell the people who know you what God has done for you.”

It worked. The same people who that afternoon urged Jesus to leave their district, a few months later welcomed Jesus and sat spell bound listening to him for days.

Jesus trusted a man just minutes out of demon possession.

Jesus trusts you.

As a capstone on the Bible witness to Jesus confidence in you, consider this:

The words I say to you are just my own words. Rather, it is the Father living in me who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.

And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:10-14.

Jesus says the charm and force of his words is rooted in their origin in the Father. By implication, Jesus is challenging his disciples to allow the Father to speak with equal charm and power through them.

Jesus speaks so highly of his disciples that if anyone other than Jesus said these things we would be tempted to think it was blasphemy.

“You will do greater things than I have been doing.”

“I will do whatever you ask in my name.” Really? WHATEVER?

We tame these words down by citing other passages. We tame them down because we have asked for stuff that did not work out the way we asked. How to think about the difference between our requests and what we observe to happen is an important question. But before we chase that question, let's make sure we have heard what Jesus said. “Because I am going to my Father, if you have faith in me you will do what I have been doing. And even greater things will you do.”

Jesus did not present himself as indispensable. He presented you and me as indispensable.

He was leaving – of his own free will. He was creating space for us to work. He was creating a stage that begged for our performance. Jesus trusted us.

Just before he went back to heaven, he told a small group: It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem . . . and to the ends of the world. Acts 1:8.

Our job as Christians is not to pretend to know the date of the end of the world, rather we are to share what we really do know: our testimony about the goodness of God. We are to bear witness to the character of the One who will have the last say in the course of history.

And Jesus trusts us to do it. Jesus is not wringing his hands. Jesus is not kicking the walls and punching his fists through hollow-core doors in frustration. I can't believe these stupid people. What was I thinking when I allowed them in on this?

Jesus trusts us. We can do it. We are doing it. Let's keep doing it.

And let's trust each other. We may not be flawless, but we are good enough. We have enough potential that it worth developing. We have enough goodness, that we have no excuse for not putting it to work.

Let's trust our kids. Surely they are not less likely to succeed than we were. Let's trust younger people in the church – people who are younger chronologically and people who are younger in experience, new converts, non-clergy.

Since Jesus trusts us, we will demonstrate our fullest partnership with him in the ways we trust one another.

Moving away from Sin Based Christianity

Note: The focus of this blog has changed. My sermons are now published at Grace and Peace. URL:  http://laughinglegalist.blogspot.com/ .  Or use the Grace and Peace link to the right. The content here will be more philosophical and theological. Sometimes more controversial. When I address spirituality here, I will intentionally focus on the spirituality of men, especially men older than middle age. Read at your own risk.


I preached on John 8 Sabbath. Then yesterday had a rich conversation with a friend who had not been present. He talked about the wonderful release he experienced as he was able to let go of his "sin-based" view of Christianity.

If Christianity is appropriately summarized as:  I am a sinner. Jesus saves me from my sin. Two things are true:

1. Logically, the further I move from my identity as a sinner, the less of a Christian I am.

2. Experientially, the older we get, the more convinced we are that we are not really Christians because we have not yet been saved from our sins. (Unless salvation is purely forgiveness, which means that salvation has no earthly value. It is only of value at the judgment where it will protect us from hell.)

I propose a different summary of Christianity: keeping company with Jesus in "increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man," "preaching deliverance to the captives and good news to the poor," hearing with him the voice from heaven, "you are my beloved son" and understanding that like him, the world will profit if it "hears" me.

Jesus failed: He failed to win the rich, young ruler. He failed to convert Judas. In Gethsemane he asked to be dismissed from his mission.

These failures did not prevent him from accomplishing his mission.

He chose Peter and company to fill his place on earth and their failures did not cause the failure of their mission. They were good enough. Through them God accomplished what needed to be done.

God chose me and you. Our failures and inadequacies will not block the accomplishment of God's purpose. We are good enough.

I am. You are. We are.

We are doing the work of Jesus. We are the agents of Jesus. We are the body of Jesus. Now. Here.

That's what it means to be a Christian.

Sermon for Sabbath, Nov 12, 2011

Last Sabbath's sermon (Nov. 12, 2011) is now posted at Grace and Peace. http://www.laughinglegalist.blogspot.com

New Blog Address

I am changing the address for my sermons. Beginning immediately (as of November 11, 2011) I will post my sermons and related presentations at http://laughinglegalist.blogspot.com/

You can access the new location by clicking on the Grace and Peace link to the right.

I'm titling this blog Grace and Peace to reflect what I see as the major themes of my preaching -- grace as a description of the warm, merciful, affectionate character of God.  Peace as a reference to the ordered, healthy, happy, wise habits that promote well-being for individuals and communities.

Light of the World

Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship, November 5, 2011.

I will post the full manuscript later.

Matthew 4:12-5:2

The people sitting in darkness have seen a great light.

Jesus called helpers then began healing. People came from everywhere to be healed of everything. When Jesus saw the crowds he sat down and taught them.

Religious dignitaries challenged Jesus' disciples: “Why does your master eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

Overhearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:12-13

Jesus went through all their towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues and preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” Matthew 9:35-38

This is a a picture of our calling as a church: To spread light. God does not call us to condemn sin, to focus “dark beams” on behaviors and persons at variance with our ideas of goodness. Instead we are called to shine the light.

Show the kindly affection of God to your kids, your spouse, your employees, your neighbors, your in-laws, your co-workers. Shine the light. Offer hope and help. Give affection and affirmation. Talk of grace and mercy. Teach wise and effective habits. 

Shining light is, by far, the best way to deal with darkness.

Habits that Foster Spiritual Life

Notes for Friday evening, November 4, 2011

One in a series titled, Spirituality for Thinkers and Seekers

A couple of years ago, a friend talked me into running a marathon. It was something I had long dreamed of doing. I guess you could say it was on my bucket list. Being on my bucket list didn't do me a lot of good. You cannot wake up in the morning and decide, today, I'm going to run a marathon, then carry out your intention successfully.

Typical marathon races have the course open for 6 hours and most people cannot run for 26.2 miles in under six hours without some serious preparation.

When I first decided I was going to run a marathon, the first thing I did was get on line and see what kind of training program was recommended. According to what I read, a person should not get serious about running a marathon until he or she had been running two or three miles several days a week. Once you got to that level of fitness, you could then realistically begin a training program that would prepare you for the challenge of running the whole thing.

It's the same in spiritual life. It is not likely that you are going to be successful living like a saint, if you're present spiritual practice consists of getting up in time to make it to work, coming home and eating dinner and watching TV until you fall asleep.

This kind of program does not build your physical stamina. It doesn't increase your spiritual sensibilities. Sometimes when a person is living like this, God blasts his way into their life. But these kinds of interventions are extremely rare. Living like a saint is not all that different from running a marathon. Success in the venture requires participation in a training program. And if you will engage in the training program you are very likely to make decent progress toward your goal.

Healthy, wise maturity is like doing a marathon. The only way to get there successfully is to train—wisely and over time. You can't rush it. Some approaches to training for sainthood are more effective than others. Here are some training methods that I believe will be effective if your goal is a peaceful, compassionate, righteous life.

Keep Sabbath

The Ten Commandments

Mark 2:28

A couple of benefits of Sabbath-keeping: 1. The deliberate, willful ordering of your life in pursuit of the most important things—relationships with God and people.

2. The weekly punctuation of life: it helps us be aware of the passing of time and encourages us to use time wisely.

Pray

Matthew 6:5-14; 7:7-12

Samuel. 1 Samuel 12:19-25

Praying is the most essential of all spiritual activities. Over time our praying will generally move from begging to communing, from nail-biting to yielding. Our begging will become increasingly focused on the needs of others.

The Bible

I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

Your word is a lamp. Psalm 119:105

Great peace have those who love your law. Psalm 119:165

Matthew 4. The temptations

Regular interaction with the words of the Bible is one of the most common habits of good and godly people.

Meditate

Psalm 1. Like a tree. In his law he meditates day and night.

Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law. Psalm 119:18

Meditation is valuable as a habit. Its value is dramatically increased by choosing the best spiritual context and content for our meditation.

Eat well

Exercise

Creation. The physical world is God's idea. His best idea.

The ministry of Jesus. Human well-being was the first focus of Jesus' ministry.

Caring for our own physical well-being and the well-being of others is one way to cooperate with God.

Practice forgiveness

If you do not forgive, you won't be forgiven. Matthew 6:15

Jesus stance of non-condemnation. John 8

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving Ephesians 4:32-5-2.

So start doing it already! When the wounds and wrongs we are forgiving are grievous forgiveness may well be as much a goal we aim at as “state” we arrive at. Whether we think of forgiveness as something “done” or something we “working on” is not nearly as important as embracing it as the ultimate ideal in responding to evil done to us.

Impute the best of motives.

The most dramatic Bible story on imputing motives is a negative one. The Ammonites misinterpreted a goodwill embassy from King David as a spy mission. The Ammonites shamed the emissaries which sparked a war that devastated their nation. 2 Samuel 10.

Genesis 50. Joseph said about his brothers' betrayal: You meant it for evil. God meant it for good. When we impute to others good intentions, we defang many of the vipers that bite at us. If we imagine the harms that others send our way as bumbling rather than malice, it diminishes the potency of the attacks. As we become less threatened and less wounded, we are freer to pour good things into the lives of others. Which leads to increased happiness for ourselves and others and ultimately to a more vital communion and partnership with God.