Saturday, April 21, 2012

God the Law Giver


God, the Law Giver.
Sermon for North Hill Adventist Fellowship
Sabbath, April 21, 2012

Service will streamed live. You may text comments and questions during the service to 253-350-1211. They will be displayed on screen at the end of the service.

On Mount Sinai, God thundered the Ten Commandments. A thousand or two years later through Jesus he preached a New Law called the Sermon on the Mount. Law Giver is one of the great, classic titles for God in Christian theology.

It is even more prominent in Adventist theology.

We preach about God's law. We emphasize its importance.

We are accused by others of being legalists. Many of us have actually experienced for ourselves a dysfunctional legalism. Sometimes this was so severe we have developed a deep antipathy to any talk about law.

On the other hand, the greatest blessing that Adventism has brought into the lives of many people is its emphasis on law.

For people coming from the chaos of hedonistic, godless living, the order and structure required by classic Adventism has brought healing and fruitful living.

For people who grew up in healthy Adventist homes, Adventist rules about how to live results in greater longevity and happiness.

Why did God give us law? Because he wanted life to go well for us.

"Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the LORD my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, 'How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!' For what great nation has a god as near to them as the LORD our God is near to us whenever we call on him? And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today? Deuteronomy 4:5-8

Jesus gave the same message at the conclusion of his Sermon on the Mount. He told a story about two men who built houses. One built on sand. The other on rock. When a flood came the house built on sand collapsed. The house built on rock endured. Jesus concluded:

"Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse because it is built on bedrock. Matthew 7:24-25

Jesus gave us laws because he wanted our lives to go well.

North Hill Adventist Fellowship is a community of grace. We are easy on sinners. We don't beat each other up. (We are also tough. We don't allow people to beat each other up.) Instead of reacting in horror or pretended surprise that we or others are unable to flawlessly perform at the exalted level of holiness Jesus holds up as the ideal, we sometimes laugh. And sometimes we cry. But whether our response is lighted-hearted or heavy, we hold on to each other, and the positive assurance that we are the treasured friends and children of God.

But we are not a community marked only by grace and forgiveness. We are also a community committed to law.

Many Christians believe the primary function of law is to condemn. So a church that gives much attention to law, must be a church that specializes in rules. There are so many rules and the rules are so nitpicking, you can never get it right. And if you did, your life would be so narrowly constrained, you would never enjoy the freedom and ease God intended for you. For some of us this describes our experience as young people in the Adventist Church.

Another perspective on law is found in conservative Protestant Churches. This view coming straight out of Paul, is that God gave the law to heighten the guilt of humanity.

I reject both of these dysfunctional approaches to law in the life of the church. I reject the notion that God intends the law to be a nitpicking nanny, scolding every hint of youthful vigor and goofiness. I also reject the Pauline/Augustinian/Reformed/Lutheran view of law that declares the primary function of the law is increase our awareness of God's condemnation so we will flee to him for mercy and grace.

God gave us the law primarily as a guide for living well.

A healthy church will embrace lawful living so deeply, that it becomes part of our culture. It becomes the assumed ideal for all of us. Kids will always know the ideals that shape our lives. (No matter what we say, they will discern what really motivates us.) So our goal as a congregation is to receive deep into our lives the ideals of God.

What does God's law teach?

  1. Love God with our whole being.
  2. Love our neighbors as ourselves.
  3. The Ten Commandments
  4. Love our enemies
  5. Don't judge
  6. Forgive as we have been forgiven.
  7. Don't worry
  8. Don't fret when we pray
  9. Do things that enhance our physical well-being. Exercise. Eating wisely. Spending Sabbaths together. Don't carry credit card debt. Don't borrow money for cars or sofas or vacations.

These are our ideals. We urge each other on toward ever greater achievement in our pursuit of these goals. We comfort one another in our departures and failures in the pursuit of these ideals.

We refuse to bring God's ideal down to the level of our performance. We also reject the idea that God is scowling at his children because there is still room for growth in our lives.

After I posted the preview of this sermon on line, someone wrote: “But the laws should be fair, reasonable, and appropriate for the situation - also compassionate and not so much rigid as practical. I would think at least. Maybe flexible?”

Laws are not flexible. It is the judge who is flexible. It is the teacher who is flexible.

The laws by definition are not flexible. They are eternal, unbending facts. Fortunately for us, the judge, God is quite aware of our histories and circumstances. And he graciously bends to the realities of our lives.

As the first part of this comment: “The laws should be fair, reasonable, and appropriate for the situation” I emphatically agree. In fact, we can test the validity of a purported law by asking whether it is, in fact, fair and reasonable.

Since God gave his laws to enhance human well-being, if time proves that a particular understanding of God's law turns out to be harmful for people, then we must reject or reinterpret that statement of God's law.

There is another corollary of this picture of God as a Law Giver. God gives us laws because he has confidence that with adequate knowledge we can do whatever it is that he is instructing us about. He wouldn't give us a shop manual if he didn't trust us with the car. He wouldn't tell us to go teach the world if he thought we were losers.

God gave us laws because he knew we could take his words apply them to our lives and the lives of others in ways that would enhance relationships and promote holiness.

I invite you this week, again, to embrace God's law. Ask yourself, what could I do this week that will move me in the direction of God's ideals, God's laws. You can do it. God has confidence in you. So do we.


Friday, April 20, 2012

God the Law Giver

God gives law to humanity because he has confidence in us: with adequate knowledge we can do the right thing.

God gives law because he wishes us well: Those who live in harmony with God's law generally richer, sweeter, more harmonious and longer lives than those who are lawless.

A church community ought to create a environment where lawful living is part of the very fabric of the community. When we successfully form such communities, all of us--old timers and children alike--will find it easier to live well. We will be a blessing to one another and to neighbors and friends.

Law is not a description of how we earn God's grudgingly-given approval. It is a description of an enjoyable and fruitful life.

I'll post a manuscript a bit later this evening.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Text comments during sermon

The North Hill worship is streamed live. We begin about 11:15 am Pacific time.

You can text questions and comments to 253-350-1211 during the sermon--Approximately noon to 12:30 Pacific Time. They will be included with those from the congregation, and I will respond to them at the end of the sermon.

Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys

This week has featured drama involving both prosecutors and defense attorneys.

My sermon manuscript, which I wrote on Tuesday, features only a defense attorney. When I preach at church this morning I will include something about the prosecutor in the Trayvon Martin case who announced the murder charge this week.

There is an appropriate role for both prosecution and defense, for the stern upholding of justice and the protection and redemption of the accused.

I think our primary role as followers of Jesus is closer to that of a defense attorney than a prosecutor.

A request to readers.  If you think it appropriate, would you mind posting a link to this blog on facebook some time? I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks.

John

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Defense Minister


Defense Minister (in contrast to a Minister for the Prosecution)


More than two thirds of the front page of the Sunday Seattle Times was devoted to a profile of a defense attorney, John Henry Browne. The occasion for the coverage was Mr. Browne's signing on as counsel for the defense for Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, the soldier charged with killing 17 Afghan civilians. (Seattle Times, Sunday, April 8, 2012).

I read the head line, “Dynamic Defender,” the subtitle mentioning Sgt. Bales and the caption under the large photo: “John Henry Browne, 65, has been doing criminal defense work since the 1970s.”

I didn't have the stomach to read more. How can you defend someone who has killed men, women and little children in a horrific massacre?

But that is what defense attorneys do. In our system, it is the job of prosecutors to investigate and denounce human evil, human failings and to call for punishment. It is the job of defense attorneys to counter the accusations of the prosecutors. First, if possible, the defense attorney attempts to prove the accusations are false. Bobby didn't do it. He was somewhere else. You've got the wrong person. If that doesn't work, then the defense will argue Bobby didn't do it on purpose. It was an accident, a tragic mistake. The defense might argue it was self-defense. If none of that will fly, a last resort might be to argue insanity. Bobby was on medication. Or should have been on medication. Bobby was so traumatized by childhood abuse or his brain was so damaged in an automobile accident or his mind was so warped by the strain and chaos and trauma of war that he is not fully responsible for his actions.

Of course, the prosecutor will have none of this. Bobby did it. Bobby is fully responsible. Bobby must be punished—both because he deserves punishment and as an example to other potential wrongdoers.

There is a similar division among preachers. Some specialize in prosecution. They speak forcefully of human evil, human failure. They lament human nature. They insist damnation is the default destiny of humanity. Only a few will be rescued from this natural and miserable condition.

Other preachers are defense ministers. They specialize in grace and graciousness. They look for evidence of saving faith in people who are apparently unbelievers. They celebrate human goodness because it mirrors and illuminates divine mercy and generosity. They believe salvation is the default destiny of human beings. (If God is savior, do we expect him to succeed or fail in his job?)

I am unabashedly a defense minister.


Christian prosecutors often begin by calling Paul to the witness stand. They ask him if he really wrote these words:

As the Scriptures say, "No one is righteous— not even one.
No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good, not a single one." Romans 3:10-12. Paul is quoting from Psalms 14:1-3; 53:1-3 (Greek version).

"They rush to commit murder. 15
Destruction and misery always follow them. Romans 3:15-16
Paul is quoting from Isaiah 59:7-8.

"They have no fear of God at all." Romans 3:18.
Paul is quoting from Psalm 36:1

Paul answers, Yes, of course, he wrote these words. And even more than that, they are not just his own words. He quoted them from the Bible, from the Old Testament.

If we stopped here and rendered a verdict, we'd be ready to convict—ourselves, our neighbors, our friends in the church, our classmates at school, everybody: No one is righteous. No one is seeking God. They are all turned away. They are all worthless!

Who can argue? This is the clear word of God.

But then the defense calls David to the stand. David is the Old Testament prophet Paul cited.

The defense reads the passage Paul quoted, Psalm 14.

The LORD looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one! Psalm 14:2-3

Defense to David: Did you really write this passage?
David: Yes.
Defense: Did you also write this:

The LORD judges the nations. Declare me righteous, O LORD, for I am innocent, O Most High! Psalm 7:8. (Note this is not justification in the classic Pauline/Augustinian/Reformed/Lutheran sense. The psalmist is not asking to “declare” him as righteous even though he is not. Rather the psalmist is asking God to acknowledge the reality of his situation: he is innocent. The RSV puts it this way: “The LORD judges the peoples; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.” This is not an “alien righteousness,” it is an inner, personally-owned righteousness and integrity.)

And this:

God is my shield, saving those whose hearts are true and right. Psalm 7:10.

David: Yes, of course, I did.
Defense: So how do you reconcile these two statements: “There is none righteous, no not one” and “Declare me righteous, O Lord, because I am innocent?”
David, laughing: If you are going to understand a writer, especially a poet, you can't just go with a few selected passages. Poets say things colorfully and forcefully to seize attention and provoke thoughtfulness. They never imagine that one poem will capture the whole of reality.
Defense: For the record, did you also write Psalm 14?
David: Yes, of course.

The Defense Minister reads:

The Lord led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.
The LORD rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence.
For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have not turned from my God to follow evil.
I have followed all his regulations; I have never abandoned his decrees.
I am blameless before God; I have kept myself from sin.
The LORD rewarded me for doing right. He has seen my innocence. Psalm 18:19-24.

Commentary: Wow! David says he had not turned from God to chase evil. David had followed God. David had followed all God's regulations. David claimed he was blameless. Obviously, David's statement, “there is none righteous, no not one,” needs to be balanced by his declaration that he himself was blameless and that he was part of a category of people “whose hearts are true and right.”

The defense minister calls Paul back to the stand.

Defense: “The prosecutor quoted you as saying, 'No seeks after God. . . . No one does good, not a single one.' Did you mean that literally or were you using poetic license?”

Paul: Didn't you read the end of my letter? The very people I was writing to, the church people in the city of Rome, were good people. I said so, plainly.”

I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them. Romans 15:14

I also affirmed the generosity of the church people in Greece:

For you see, the believers in Macedonia and Achaia have eagerly taken up an offering for the poor among the believers in Jerusalem. Romans 15:26.

In another of my letters I commented on the goodness of the church people in Philippi. They were so good, they deserved a reward from heaven for their generosity.

Even when I was in Thessalonica you sent help more than once. I don't say this because I want a gift from you. Rather, I want you to receive a reward for your kindness. Philippians 4:16-17

So obviously, I did not mean for my readers to take “no one seeks God” as a factual, literal statement.


Paul and David, the primary sources of the classic Pauline/Augustinian/Lutheran/Reformed prosecution of humanity, counter their own statements about human depravity with affirmations of human goodness.

But as great as Paul and David are, they are not the last word. That honor goes to Jesus.

Jesus did give strong rebukes. But this was exceptional. His normal pattern, the vast majority of his communication, was to encourage and to instruct. Condemnation was not his style. When the Pharisees accused Jesus to his disciples, Jesus shut them down. When the Pharisees accused Jesus' disciples to Jesus, Jesus shut them down. When an untouchable woman violated the law and touched Jesus, instead of rebuking her, he healed her, then publicly defended her violation. (Matthew 9).

When the Pharisees accused Jesus' disciples of breaking the Sabbath (an accusation that was rooted in the explicit words of God in the OT), Jesus defended his disciples. He based his argument in their defense on a creative and controversial interpretation of an obscure story in the OT (Matthew 12).

When the Pharisees accused the disciples of violating the ancient practice of handwashing before eating, Jesus dismissed the distinctive Jewish (religious) practice as trivial compared to the great moral principle of taking care of one's parents—a duty that Gentiles would recognize, and good Gentiles would practice (Matthew 15).

There is a pronounced pattern here: Pharisees condemn; Jesus defends. Religious zealots prosecute. Jesus defends.

I stand with Jesus. If other Christians feel they are called to stand with Jesus in those exceptional times when he did confront and condemn, who am I to argue with their calling. But my calling is to the ministry of defense.

I think most people are rather like the woman in John 8 who was surrounded by devout accusers. What she needed was a defender. Jesus explicitly rejected condemnation as a strategy in ministering to her. Before she gave any sign of repentance or even remorse, Jesus said, “I do not condemn you.”

When the woman sneaked into Simon's party and showed her affection and appreciation in a completely scandalous manner, Jesus defended her from the accusations that came from respectable, religious people—other guests at the dinner, the disciples, Judas. The “good people” scolding this woman for her failure to adhere to higher standards of decorum and life management joined Judas. Jesus joined the woman.

I stand with Jesus.

As a minister of defense.


Friday, April 6, 2012

He Is Living

Preliminary draft for a sermon at North Hill Adventist Fellowship. Sabbath, April 7, 2012.


Jesus was dead. That much was clear. He had been crucified, hung on a cross until dead. His death was certified by the supervising Roman centurion. Then, to make doubly sure, the soldiers stabbed him. He was dead all right.

So they buried him. It was a hurried burial. He died late in the day. Usually preparations for burial took some time, but they pushed and got it done before sundown.

They spent Sabbath grieving.

They – the eleven disciples.

They – women so captivated by the dignity, purity, power and gentleness of Jesus that they broke with millennia of tradition and left the households controlled by their husbands, fathers, brothers, sons or uncles and formed a sorority devoted to serving Jesus. They had traveled with Jesus up and down Palestine. They had walked with him to Jerusalem. They had been there on Friday afternoon through the torment of the crucifixion.

They – blacksmiths and carpenters, farmers and sheep herders, spinners and weavers, doctors and lawyers, teachers, rabbis, priests, widows and teenagers, life-long citizens of Jerusalem and visitors – dozens, scores, hundreds, (thousands?) of men and women who had been persuaded Jesus was the answer to two thousand years of theological dreaming and prophesying.

Some of these people saw Jesus as the distillation of the entire religion of Yahweh. What he said about God connected with their deepest convictions. The way he interacted with people was their model of the way people are supposed to interact with one another. Jesus acted like God would act if he suddenly appeared in the temple bearing his name. The hope and sweetness Jesus preached had become the light of their lives.

Now, as the scraped with infuriating slowness across the Sabbath sky, they tormented themselves with questions. How was that the man who embodied the best and brightest of religion and spirituality was now in a cave carved into the side of a limestone cliff and closed with a massive rolling rock?

It was a dark day. Made worse by the forced inactivity of the Sabbath.

Then it was Sunday morning. Mary and several other women headed out to the tomb. Because of the quick burial on Friday, they felt there was more to be done to fully prepare Jesus' body for its sojourn in the grave. And more than that, they were coming to the grave to grieve. Friday, they had been hurried. Now they would have time to just sit and grieve. Time to remember Jesus with woman-talk and with silence. Time to rehearse the dreams they had dreamed. To recount stories from their months of traveling with Jesus. They were going to grieve his death and remember his life. And there was so much to remember.

While they were on their way, but before they came within sight of the tomb, there was a terrifying earthquake. Perhaps they cowered as the ground shook. Most of us would have. Then they were walking up the path toward the tomb itself. The grave was open! The stone had been moved!

What did that mean? Who could have done such a thing? Why? Was it the earthquake?

They didn't have to play detective. At the tomb, an angel was waiting for them. "Don't be afraid!” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead, just as he said would happen. Come, see where his body was lying.” Matthew 28:5-6.

I imagine the women went and looked. They saw the bench where Jesus' body had been laid on Friday. They saw the folded grave clothes. Yes, Jesus had been there. This was the right tomb. And No, he wasn't there. The place was empty. Risen, according to the angel. Jesus was alive!

The angel did not need to add the next sentence. But he did say it. And the women remembered it and told it every time they repeated the story. The angel said, “Now, go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there. Mark my words!” (Matthew 28:7).

The women ran quickly from the tomb. They were very frightened but also filled with great joy, and they rushed to give the disciples the angel's message. And as they went, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they ran to him, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid! Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there." Matthew 28:8-10


The first Christians—the first people to believe that Jesus was risen from the dead, the first people to believe that Jesus was not a tragic failure but a glorious success—were women.

They saw the empty tomb and were instructed by the angel, “Go tell his disciples he is risen.” They raced away with the news, “The grave is empty and an angel told us . . .” Then while they were racing away from the empty tomb, they met HIM. They met Jesus. And Jesus, too, gave them a message for his disciples. “Go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see me there.”

(Paul ran into some problem that he thought he could solve by prohibiting women from speaking God's message to men. Silly Paul, Jesus himself chose women to be his first witnesses. Jesus spoke to his church first through women. Why would Paul think he could improve on Jesus' example?)

The women delivered the message. The book of Matthew ends with Jesus appearing to his disciples. Unlike the unanimous, joyous belief of the women, this group included skeptics, doubtful believers. Their skepticism did not stop Jesus from commissioning all of them to carry forward his work.

We, too, a mixed group of believers and skeptics, saints and sinners, sweet hearts and jerks—we are called by Jesus to live in the light of the resurrection. Jesus is alive. His teachings are relevant. He asks us to teach the world everything he commanded us.

Hundreds of years after Jesus, the Christian world developed a tradition called Lent. It was a forty day period for self-examination and self-denial. It invited us to participate deeply in the sufferings of Jesus. I'd like to propose a different forty day practice. Forty days of contemplation of the Risen Jesus.

What does it mean for us, today, that Jesus is alive?

First, the prophets of doom are wrong. When we give undue attention to the prophets of doom—whether they are religious or secular—whether they are Adventist evangelists distorting crime statistics or talk radio hosts of the left and right rubbing our faces in the mud of social and political dysfunction—when we surrender ourselves to the charisma of doomsayers we are denying the central truth of the resurrection. Jesus is alive. Truth, justice, goodness, and mercy will win. They are winning, even now. Jesus is marching toward victory.

Which brings us to a second key ingredient in the teachings of Jesus: we have a job to do. We are to bring the influence of the kingdom of heaven to our space in the world. To our own homes and families, to our neighbors, our co-workers, our classmates. When we engage in political discourse, we are to heed Jesus' counsels to avoid judging and to do to others what we would have them do to us. I'm not even hinting that Jesus' words or the words of the OT provide a formula for fixing the problems of the world. They don't.

Rather Jesus voiced grand principles that should permeate all areas of our of lives.

Jesus lives. This is the central conviction of Christianity. Saying it, especially in our world is easy. The test of our faith is our lives. Jesus invites us to live with the joy, confidence and compassion that naturally arises from our confidence that Jesus lives and is winning the great struggle against evil.

The Devil will not win. Evil will not win. Chaos will not triumph. Jesus will.

2000 years ago, Jesus turned an apparent tragedy into the greatest demonstration ever of the power of God. They killed him. They buried him in a hole carved in limestone and sealed the grave with a stone. But he rose. He lives.  Every thing we do to advance goodness, compassion, justice, mercy, generosity and benevolence is a an affirmation of that truth.

He is risen indeed.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Devotional Practice


Most mornings, I head outside, find my stool, and sit with my hands on my knees and my face to the sky. I spend half an hour sitting quietly, breathing the words of Jesus to John in Revelation 1:4, “Grace and peace.”

I practice receiving the blessing of God's grace and peace. I thank God for it. I enjoy the truth of it. I savor it. My mind wanders. I bring it back to these sweet words and the sweeter truth they voice. After that first half hour, I spend the next half hour praying for the people of my parish (very broadly imagined), for several church presidents, for my family.

I end my time by inviting God to fill me and use me. My final words are, “Make me an agent of your kingdom today.”

A few miscellaneous details: I aim to be on my stool before the last stars fade. Some weeks I'm there every day; other weeks it's three or four days. When it's cold, I wear multiple layers and warm myself by sips from my thermos. When it rains, I sit under an overhang of the barn roof.

Over the past forty-five years, I have engaged in some kind of devotions practice most mornings. I have read the Bible through. I have used various methods for slow, thoughtful reading—lectio divina, journaling, use of commentaries, concordance studies, reading EGW books, and classics of Christian devotional literature. The practice I describe above has been my habit for the last couple of years.

If you are looking for some way to give God, goodness and sweetness greater access to the core of your being, I recommend making some regular time for devotional practice. Just as regular practice is the customary foundation for cultivating art, music, physical health, a good marriage, etc, so it is the usual foundation for healthy spiritual life.