We continued our seven week call to repentance and look at the Seven Deadly Sins this week by looking into gluttony. In this sermon we try to answer the questions: what is gluttony, why does it matter, and what can I do to overcome this sin.
The Deadly 7 … Gluttony Faith @ Home Page
Unfortunately our audio recorder malfunctioned this week and we will not be able to offer audio to this sermon.
Well the day has finally come, and I must say, the past year has gone by much more quickly than I expected. I remember in October, Patsy said she was going to miss me, and I told her not worry, I still had 8 month left, but now, that seems like only yesterday.
Since it is my last Sunday, what I want to do is kinda give a year in review. I was joking with some of you last week and said that if I haven’t been able to say what I need to say in a year of sermons, then there isn’t much chance I will be able to get it out today. So instead of trying to say something new, I want us to take a look at where we have been.
By now surely you know that I am a bit of a nerd and I love statistics. So why should today be any different. I did some research into my preaching and here is what I discovered:
Now I realize that is a lot, but I really do feel like I have only been able to scratch the surface. However, one of the really cool things about being here for a finite time, and know my time frame is that I have been able to cover the things that I think are most important. Not only that, but I have been able to build on things and hopefully, in some meaningful way, tie it all together.
I doubt many of you remember my first sermon from over a year ago – I know even I had forgotten a lot of it. It was fascinating to re-read it and catch a glimpse of what I had hoped to accomplish and the ground I had hoped we would cover.
From the very beginning, I tried to frame everything in terms of stories and narrative. I told you then, and I still believe now, that the best way to understand Scripture is as the Story of God and his people working to bring about God’s will. That perspective not only allows us to grasp the full breadth of the Bible, but it also provides a pathway for understanding our role in this ongoing story.
I told you then that I saw it as my role as a pastor to “Tell the Story and Tell it Well.” That was a challenge I received from one of my favorite seminary professors and I take it very serious. But, I believe that is not only my role as a pastor, but also your role as the church. Furthermore, I want to add to that duty. We must not only tell the story and tell it well, but we must also live out that story.
All too often as Christians we focus on individual stories and neglect the big picture. That is why I often cover huge swaths of scripture when I preach and teach. The story of God and his people is about individuals, but it is also about a larger movement – a movement from brokenness and pain to life and restoration. The better we know this mega-story the better we can see how we as the church today fit into its upward trajectory of redemption and reconciliation.
Taking this idea of story, we first looked at several Old Testament concepts that help shape New Testament Christianity. Essentially, what we did was identify some major narrative components. Most noteworthy was the idea of Covenant. As those who went through confirmation can attest, the idea of covenant forms the pillars on which the whole Bible is set. It is through covenant that we are reminded that God works through his people to achieve his will.
It is around this understanding of Scripture, that whether you knew it or not, I built the rest of my sermons. Very broadly, there were three major themes that I tried to focus on this year:
All of these are interconnected and reinforce the others.
In trying to get our heads around God’s plan, early on we launched into our longest sermons series of the year as we turned our attention to the most important idea in the New Testament: The Kingdom of God. Jesus speaks of the Kingdom more than anything else. More than Love, more Salvation, more than sin. But the thing is that when he talks about the Kingdom he is actually talking about all those other things at the same time.
Simply put, the Kingdom of God exists when God gets his way. It was initiated with Christ, shared with the church, and will come to full fruition at the end of time. The Kingdom of God is the promise that all things will be set right. But, it is not just about God doing some great thing in the world through Jesus. Instead, the Kingdom is about inclusion and transformation. Jesus invites us into this new spiritual world and then requires that we share it.
Understanding the Kingdom of God means that we have a new understanding of the world as a whole. We must adapt to a new way of looking at people, power and resources. The Kingdom is radically inclusive, radically loving, and radically sacrificial.
But the most important thing that we learned is that the Kingdom of God is the result and the mechanism through which God plans to re-create the world as it should be. Not only that, but it requires that we as the church participate in this plan. Of put another way, when God wants to move on this earth, he chooses to use his people to do it.
Adopting Kingdom ideals are counter cultural by their very nature – they go against the ways of this world. That was most evident I believe in our Advent Study where we looked at the world that Jesus was born into.
If you will remember, when Jesus was born, the dominate force was the Roman Empire. It was headed by one of the most powerful men to ever walk the earth: Caesar Augustus. His empire stretched from England to India and it was acquired through brutality and force. Not only was Caesar powerful, but he blurred the line between human and divine. He claimed to be son of God and forced his subjects to worship him. Let, despite all this power, we learn that that true Lord was born in a manger and didn’t need force to change the world.
The same can be said for Jesus versus King Herod, Pontius Pilate and the High Priests. All of these men used power and money and wealth to try and secure their place in history. Yet, all of them fell to a transient rabbi who was crucified in the prime of his life.
These things don’t make sense from the world’s view, but they epitomize Kingdom character. God’s ways are not our ways, but they lead to life.
The line between God’s plan, our connection with him and our response was blurred when we discussed prophetic imagination. Here we looked at people in Biblical History who had the opportunity to envision that which God has in store for us. Some like Moses took that vision and changed the world. Others, like Solomon rejected the vision and instead sought worldly values. The result was more damage in an already hurting world. Yet, even in the midst of pain, we were reminded that God’s plan remains and it is offered for all of us to tap into.
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This connection between us and God’s plan is something that permeates all of scripture. In Genesis we find a Creator God that desires a personal relationship with his creation. This theme is continued throughout all of the Old Testament and is magnifies in the stories of Jesus. Then, in Revelation, we are reminded that God’s final intent is a world where his people once again dwell with him. At different times this year, we have looked at this idea in a variety of ways.
We first really got into this discussion when we looked at what the Bible had to say about Agriculture. No matter where in scripture you turn to, we find that God uses the land… his creation… as a way for us to connect with him… the creator. Whether it is gazing into the vast cosmos and trying to comprehend all he has made, or working the land and realizing the miracle of life and growth and harvest, creation abounds with opportunities to be drawn closer to God.
I don’t know if you remember this or not, but during our agriculture sermon series, there was one day that I forgot my sermon notes and had to preach from memory. I felt like it went okay, but I regretted not being able to read a poem by Wendell Berry that I had originally planned on including. Well, when reading back through my notes I found it, and want to share it with you now. This is from his piece entitled “The Peace of Wild Things.”
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
I think that captures what I was going for… We begin out journey of uniting with God when we are able to see his grace in the world around us at all times.
And, this reminds us that often in life, there is no separation between what is sacred and what is secular. Or put another way… God can be found in everything… even country music.
Last month we looked at several country music songs and their theological significance. In some ways, that series was designed as an early summer break, where we could relax a bit without having to deal with heavy scriptural issues. But, at the same time, I think what it reminded us of is that God works in the everyday. His message permeates all aspects of our lives and our connection with him is often strongest in the areas of our life that are the most natural.
I feel sorry for the people who think that they can only encounter God in “quote-unquote” sacred moments. Because the truth of the matter is that we encounter Jesus all the time. That is the wonder of serving a personal God.
But, when we talk about encountering God, there is no better place to look than the gospels. That is why we spent all of Lent – seven weeks – exploring those in the gospel of John who actually were able to interact with God in flesh through Jesus.
In that series of sermons, we saw time and time again that Jesus is available, but we cannot try to come to him on our terms. Those that approached Jesus with preconceived notions and expectations were repeatedly frustrated. Yet those who responded in faith were the ones who saw healing, restoration, forgiveness and transformation.
In studying all of these encounters with Jesus, we not only saw that Jesus came for all, but that he came for us no matter where we are in life. What is more, is that Jesus calls us to progress in our faith and our understanding of what it means to follow him.
That brings us to the final theme I tried to convey this year: What it means to respond to God.
We first broached this topic early on when we looked at some of the difficult teachings and actions of Jesus. By looking at thinks like addressing sin in the church, the need to set priorities, the idea of righteous anger, and the true sacrifice involved in following Christ, we saw that responding to Jesus is not something that can be taken lightly. It is tough, and it does require that we submit to something much greater than ourselves – yet, the payoff is substantial.
Now I will be the first to admit that following God’s plan for his people is not always easy. That is why we spent a month studying the book of Jonah in the Old Testament. Here we found a man who was called to do something that was pretty much inconceivable – preach to the people who were about to destroy his country. Jonah, like many of us, first fled from God’s call, and even when he was responsive, he still did not fully grasp what God was up to.
I chose this sermon series because it reminds us that God can always use imperfect, reluctant people. But more importantly, I chose it because it serves to remind us that God is God and we are not. Whether we choose to follow or not, whether we choose to serve or not, whether we choose to obey or not… God’s plan will still come to fruition. And knowing that actually give us more faith in what God is up to in and through us.
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Most recently, we studied the book of first John. Not only does this letter remind us of what it means to respond to God’s call, but it also served to tie everything together. The book begins by discussing what it means to be a Christian and at the heart of that identity is an understanding that we are connecting to God’s plan, which John says, is from the beginning.
First John also reminded us that it is our connection with God that not only defines us as people, but also defines how we look at the world and how we respond to it. It is this response that is most important.
At the end of the day, whether we are just looking at 1 John or if we are looking at the entire witness of all the scriptures, we are told that being connected with God means that we participate in his plan and are constantly shaped into his people who mimic his character. And that character is first and foremost about embodying love.
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We began with the story of scripture and we ended with a life of love. And, that is exactly how it should be. Because when we understand the story of God, we are able to grasp the plan of God – which is to restore everything – all relationships – our relationship with him, our relationship with others, our relationship with creation and our relationship with our selves. That restoration can only come from a connection with God. And, once we are connected with God, we are drawn into his story and into his plan.
If you were to ask me to sum up the quarter million words I have preached in the last year, I would simply say this:
The story of The story of God and his people is about setting all things right… and what is most important is that he invites into that that story… not only as recipients, but as participants.
Today we wrap up our four part sermon series on the book of First John entitled Beloved Community. If you will remember. this book was written by the Apostle John to a community of faith that he was very close to. In it, he discusses the essence of Christianity and teaches his followers what it means to be a Child of God and to live into God’s will for his people.
So far we have looked at how being a Christian is less about following a bunch of rules and more about being transformed into a certain type of person. We have found that it is our identity as God’s people that serves as the motivation for godly transformation. Basically we are called to find our identity in Christ, and then that identity gets fleshed out as we live in response to God’s great love.
Last week we focused specifically on God’s love and how understanding his love for us gives us the power to live a life of love that affects others. In John’s simple, yet profound words, “We love because he first loved us.” We also found that love is not only what changes us into the people God wants us to be, but also love is what ties us together as a community of faith.
Today we will conclude the series by examining some of the nitty gritty details of what it means to actually live out the daily life of being the church. That discussion is entirely appropriate for today since it is Pentecost Sunday – the day the Holy Spirit came upon the earliest Christians and as a result the church began to spread throughout the world.
Let’s begin by looking at a passage from the early chapters of First John that we actually skipped over initially. If you have your bible with you, go ahead and turn with me 1 John 1:12. At this point in the book, John is still talking about Christian identity and the types of people who are Christians. It is here we find these words:
12 I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.
14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
In these verses John addresses three distinct groups within the church. Each group is obviously an integral part of the church, yet John talks to them in different ways. It would be easy to just look at these verses as a greeting and skip over them, but I believe that they actually illustrates a powerful concept concerning the life and structure of the church.
You see, here John reminds us that the church is not uniform – everyone is not alike. We have different needs, different strengths, and we are at different points in our spiritual journey. And you know what? That is okay. In fact, it is one of the greatest assets of the church.
All too often we can get caught up the habit of always looking to the same type of people to fulfill all the roles of the church. And that not only leaves people out, it also leads to a weak church. The church is missing out if it doesn’t realize the strength of all its members regardless of where they are.
John lists the types of people as children, young men and fathers. Most likely John is not speaking in literal terms, but is referring to these groups in a spiritual manner. The children are those new to the faith, the young men are those who have been around for a while and are established in their faith and the fathers are the mentors who have experience and wisdom. Let’s take a deeper look at these groups:
First we have the group identified as dear children. This is the only group that has a positive adjective in front of it. John shares a special affection to those who are young in their faith. When speaking to this group, John reminds them that their sins have been forgiven and he encourages them in their knowledge of the father.
The second group John describes is those who have been in the faith for a while – those he calls young men. To this group he encourages them in their triumph over the evil one and is grateful for their spiritual strength.
The final group is the spiritual mentors – the fathers as John describes them. This group is recognized for their long-term faith. John says that these people have “known him since the beginning.” And while it is entirely possible that some of the people John was writing to may have met Jesus, in my mind these are most likely the people whom have always been spiritual fixtures in the church and community. They are the people whose reputations are firmly embedded in a life of good works and constant faith.
While each of these groups is significantly different, they are all bound together in Christian love and service and each make up a necessary part of the church. Martin Luther King, wrote extensively about the idea of “Beloved Community” that we are studying now. In describing the make-up and connection of such a community, he had this to say:
In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever effects one directly affects all indirectly… I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be. This is the inter-related structure of reality.
Did you catch that? I can’t be who I ought to be if you aren’t who you ought to be. We each have to play our role and be encouraged by those in other roles. The problem is, it doesn’t always work that way. It is so easy to get an idea in our mind that the only Christians that can contribute are those that already have everything together. And while that might make sense on the outside, it is not how the church should work. You see, God does his work in the trenches. He uses imperfect people to fulfill his perfect plan.
Many of you know that this past week was the Annual Conference for Kentucky Methodist. And while most of the work accomplished was very worthwhile, there was one thing that left me disappointed. This year, we elected delegates to go to General Conference – this is where all the big decisions in the church are made. Of the 6 clergy people elected, 5 were men, and all of them were Doctors. All 6 have gone to General Conference at least two other times, and some of them many more times.
Looking at John’s descriptions of groups in the church, all of the delegates would be in the “Father’s category.” And that is great, because all the delegates we elected are wise and experienced. Between the 6 of them, there is probably well over 200 years of combined ministry. They know their stuff and have great wisdom. But somehow, I can’t help but think we missed the boat by not including any spiritual children and young men.
Don’t get me wrong, I am still confident God will work through the delegates we selected, but I do think we are missing out. And, it is not just annual conference, it is easy to do it in our daily life as the local church. Sometimes we value experience so much that we fail to tap into the assets of those who are spiritually younger.
Now I realize a movement like this towards broader spiritual inclusion is messy. People are going to mess up and let you down. But, at the end of day, it is the way of God’s people – we are a community of grace and love and we all become stronger as each of us are encouraged to grow and live into the role that God has for us.
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Not only does this brief greeting by John give us amazing insights into the interconnectedness of the church, it also points to the to a very Methodist theme: the progression of faith. It is one thing to acknowledge different groups in the church, but things get really powerful when you starting putting this together and realize that the story of Christian life is always a story of growth and change and development.
I have heard Warren David comment before that perhaps the best thing that could happen to someone is that they get saved in a Baptist Church and are then sent over to a Methodist church to be developed in their faith. While that is obviously not a practical solution, I do think he is on to something there.
You see, Methodists have always affirmed that Christianity is not just about a moment of salvation. That is certainly important, but just as important is the idea that God isn’t through with you just because you accepted Christ as your savior. It is one thing to find your identity in Christ, it is quite another to be transformed into a Christ like person.
This theme is evident throughout the book of First John. First we find our identity, then we grow into that identity. The idea is that all of us move from children to young adults to wise elders in our spiritual faith. This is what the essence of Christianity is. One notable theologian has said “I have been saved; I am being saved; and I will be saved.” That all inclusive idea of salvation is what makes Christianity unique, and also serves as the backbone of what it means to live out the nitty-gritty details of being the church.
John picks up this theme of progression later in his book. Flip with me to 1 John 5
NIV 1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
In these few verses John intertwines all his major themes: identity, love, obedience, community and the character of God. He sets it up by discussing once again how being a Christian means we have love for God in Christ, love for others, and a desire for obedience to God’s plan.
But, there is something else going on in these verses that is noteworthy. There is a clear progression in John’s discussion. He first talks about our individual identity which is defined by our personal confession of Christ. He then moves the conversation to how our individual identity defines community identity. That community identity is driven by an overarching behavior, which is love and obedience. But, it doesn’t end there. Because that community identity is placed firmly in an understanding of God’s greater work, which he reminds us culminates in victory over the world.
Basically what John is doing here is promising us that God works in us to work in a community which works in the world and the end result is guaranteed to be victory over a fallen world. In other words, there is this grand story about God’s work in the world and his ultimate victory over it, and we are invited to be a part of it.
John then takes this promise to the next level. Jump down to verse 13.
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14 This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he hears us–whatever we ask–we know that we have what we asked of him.
As if the promises of God’s work were not already strong enough, John writes explicitly and reminds us that we can have full confidence not only of our salvation, but also of God’s ongoing work in and through us.
Now some people have taken these later verses to mean that all we have to do is pray and God will grant every wish. This is often called “Name it, Claim it” theology. And unfortunately many popular Christian leaders have based their entire ministry around it. People often think that becoming a Christian means that all our problems will be instantly solved and that our every desire will be given to us.
But, this is not how it works. God is not some cosmic Santa Claus that grants our every wish. Instead, we have to read this verse for what it does say. God grants every prayer that is offered according to his desire. That second part is what is key and it brings us back to this idea of transformation.
As we are transformed, our will begins to sync with God’s will and consequently, the things we desire are the things that God desires. Once again we find that we are not Christians off on our own. Instead, we are called to be part of something bigger.
If you were to ask me what I think salvation is, I would tell you it is the process of having the thread of your life woven into the story of God. It is about participating in this larger movement that has been going on since the beginning. We are transformed individually, but the purpose of that transformation is to be included in God’s plans. So then, this idea of prayer becomes about syncing our lives with God’s life.
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John ends his letter – or sermon – however you want to look at it – by returning once again to the issue of sin. He has some specific instructions on how we deal with sin, especially sin in our communities of faith, but let’s pick it up in verse 17.
17 All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him.
19 We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
20 We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true–even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
It may seem odd that after focusing so much time on big picture issues for the church that John turns to the issue of individual sin and idolatry. There are plenty of books in the Old and New Testaments that focus on sin problems, but First John is not usually considered one of them. However, here at the culmination, John makes the issue front and center. Why is this?
If we follow the discussion, John takes this topic of sin and uses it transition directly into talk of the identity of Christ. That is certainly important because our identity is found in Christ, and sin mars that identity. Likewise, idolatry replaces the power of God with something powerless.
Perhaps even more important, and probably the reason that John concludes with this is that sin is the one thing that holds the power to not only destroy us as individuals, but more importantly, us as a community. In fact, in its simplest terms, that is what sin is: destroyed relationships. There isn’t a single sin that doesn’t have some effect on our relationships, either with ourselves, God, others or creation. That is why we are commanded to be holy. Not because God likes rules, but because God loves us and wants all things to be restored.
This brings us full circle. Our identity is shaped by the Father, our actions are shaped by that identity. Because we are Christians, we view the world a different way – we see it as God sees it: a fallen world that needs to be restored by love. Earlier we heard a quote from Martin Luther King Jr, and I want to conclude with another one from the same book:
Deeply woven into the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God, and that they are souls of infinite metaphysical value. If we accept this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, to see men victimized with ill-health, when we have the means to help them. In the final analysis, the rich must not ignore the poor because both rich and poor are tied together. They entered the same mysterious gateway of human birth, into the same adventure of life.
As we wrap up our study of First John, it is my hope that you have a new appreciation and respect for God’s work in you and God’s work in the Beloved Community. We are all called to be transformed, but that transformation does not start with us. It starts with Christ himself who called us to be children of God.
Today we continue our sermon series from the book of First John entitled “Beloved Community.” I don’t want to get all sentimental on you, but I do want to say that preparing these sermons has been a true privilege and I believe entirely appropriate. Because, you see, First John is a book written from a pastor to a community he loves and every historic indication is that part of the reason this book is so heart-felt is because this pastor was separated from this community by distance, but the relationships remain.
Another reason I think this is an appropriate sermon series to end on is because within the verses of this book, we find a passionate discussion about what it truly means to be Christian and more importantly, what it means to live out God’s call for his people.
Two weeks ago we looked at the opening to First John and discussed the pillars upon which Christianity is built. Specifically we talked about:
Then last week we took a look at the tough question of who is and who is out. But, if you will remember, the discussion was less about what you have to do to be a Christian, and more about the type of people who are Christian.
We concluded by discussing the issue of identity and found that the most important title we can hold is that of “child of God.” Simply holding this title is enough to change the way we view the world because it connects us God and his character.
Today, we are going to continue looking at the ideas of Christian identity and the development of Christian character. Specifically, we are going to look at the key role LOVE plays in shaping us as the people of God.
Let’s pick it up in chapter 3
1 John 3:11, 14, 16-17
11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another…14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death…
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
1 John 3:18, 23-24
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth…23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
These first two passages are interesting because they are actually a continuation of the verses we read last week that addressed the importance of identity. Right off the bat it is important to note that John sees the issue of Christian love as essential to being identified as a Christian. Let me put that another way: Being a Christian means you embody love. If you don’t love your neighbor then you are not Christian. That is heavy stuff!
But, John takes it a step further. He connects the definition of love to the very person of Jesus. Earlier we found that the motivation for our Christian action is our Christian identity. Here we find that the model for our Christian action is the sacrificial life of Christ.
This has some major implications. It means that being Christian necessitates that we too must be willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of others. Love is not just about being nice to people – it is about caring for people. John even takes it so far as to give a concrete example: If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?
In other words, the validity of our Christianity is based on whether or not we live selfishly with what God gives us, or if we are willing to give sacrificially.
The importance identity and action is carried on in the second passage we read. John reminds us once again that Christianity is not about saying the right things, or simply making a one time commitment to Christ. Rather it is about being transformed into a certain type of people. Those people John tells are those that believe and trust in Jesus and who love one another. Being a good person is not enough and simply praying a prayer does not make you Christian. It is about transformation.
Now, I want us to continuing looking at this idea of transformation as we turn our attention to the next chapter. Here we see how this connection between the person of Jesus and a life of love are intimately interwoven. Most people know 1 Cor 13 (Love is patient, love is kind…) as a great passage on love, but in my opinion, 1 John 4 is the greatest Love chapter in the Bible.
1 John 4:7-12
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:16-21
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.17 In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.
18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
When you read the book of 1 John as a whole, you quickly realize that this section serves as the climax of John’s book. While John covers a lot of topics, the most important theme throughout is love. In some form, the word love occurs 52 times in this book alone, and 29 of those times are here.
What stands out about these passages is that they are so incredibly deep and meaningful, yet they are simple and to the point. John doesn’t get bogged down in the details; he simply states the powerful truth of the gospel in a straightforward manner. Just listen to some of these:
Any one of those would make a great bumper sticker, but more importantly, each of those represents truths that we can and should live by. These are essential because for John, love is the reason and the means by which we are transformed into God’s people.
Here we find that being a part of the God’s people isn’t about doing a list of things, it is about allowing God’s love to flow through us. It is about realizing God’s love for us and because of that, living that love out in the world.
Love is so powerful it is THE defining characteristic of God’s people. But, this is not just any love, this is God’s love he is talking about. It is love that is modeled and lived out in the person of Jesus Christ.
Love is a tough topic to discuss in a sermon because it is so broad and is so easy to get the idea distorted. In the same conversation we can talk about how we love our wife or husband and then talk about loving a sports team or talk about loving a restaurant.
But with John, love is not about simply having an attraction for something – rather, it is about being committed to something and being willing to sacrifice. There is no in between… you can’t kind of love something. Either you love or you don’t. Either you sacrifice or you don’t. It isn’t some passing commitment.
Perhaps the strongest part of John’s writing on love is his discussion of where our capacity to love comes from. John says, “We love because he first loved us.” Simply put, our capacity to love comes from the fact that we have seen true love modeled in Christ.
This idea of loving because we are loved is absolutely amazing. What it reminds us of is this: We don’t receive God’s love because of our actions. Rather, because we receive God’s love, we act in a certain way. [Similar to touch and newborn babies – same is true for us.] If we take this seriously, we could conclude that if we are not acting lovingly, then it is most likely because we have not fully grasped the idea of God’s love in our own life.
There is a popular saying in counseling that “Hurt People, hurt people.” In other words, if you have been hurt, you will probably hurt. Well here we are reminded that the opposite is also true: Loved people, love people. Here we start seeing the interconnectedness of love.
I think this is a good point to get all nerdy on you. Many of you are aware that in Greek there are three terms for the word love: Eros, Phila and Agape. Eros is the love between husband and wife. It is where we get the word “erotic.” Phila is the word for between friends and family, which is where the city of Philadelphia gets its name: “The City of Brotherly Love.” Agape is the term often described as “godly love” or “unconditional love.” It is obviously where the “Agape Center” here in Russellville got its name. And while these are good ways to understand the different types of love, I want to suggest a different way of viewing things.
This distinction is important because Agape is the term John most frequently uses, and it is also the concept that is clearly portrayed in his writing. It is essential to understand Christian love as being God-oriented because that is the only way we truly live out the God’s commands to love everyone – even those it is difficult to love.
You see, I realize there are some people that are tough to love. Some people have hurt us, some people have rejected us, some people might not even deserve our love. But, we are still commanded to love them. And, if you try to do that on your own, you are going to fail miserably. We simply don’t have the capacity to do it.
However, our command is not to just love them. Instead, we are commanded to Love God and because of this, we realize what it means to love others. It is through our love for God that we are given the capacity to love others. And if we still struggle with that, we are reminded that God’s love back towards us is unconditional. It is only through that realization that we can be transformed.
So the practical message is this: Love is essential to Christianity; but if you are having a hard time loving others, perhaps you first need to focus on loving God. And, if you are having a hard time loving God, perhaps you need to focus on God’s love for you. And, if you are having a hard time understanding God’s love for you, then perhaps you need to focus more on what he has done for you: showing indiscriminate love through the sacrifice of his son.
Or… we could simply put it like John does: We love because he first loved us!
But, I want to emphasize one thing. While love is the defining aspect of being a Christian, it, by itself, is not the supreme goal. Rather, the ultimate goal of Christian living is to be transformed into God’s people. It is only when all of us find ourselves wrapped up in this path of transformation that we can truly understand what it means to be a part of the Beloved community.
Love defines us, but it is also what ties us to together; it is what makes us a community of God’s people and that community, which God works through, is what makes us who we are.
In southern Africa, there is an idea known as Ubuntu. It is loosely translated “I am because we are.” In other words, my identity is wrapped up in your identity. Bishop Desmond Tutu has put it this way:
A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, when others are tortured or oppressed.
I think those are appropriate words to end on, because as we close our service today with the sacred act of communion, we not only are reminded of Christ’s sacrifice that gives us the capacity to love one another, but we are physical reminded of our inter-connectedness as the body of Christ as we share together in the breaking of bread.
Today we continue in our sermon series entitled “Beloved Community.” If you will remember, this series is an intentional study of the book of 1 John and the community it was written to.
Last week, we talked about how this book was written by John to a community of faith with which he was deeply connected. In fact, you could say that John was the mentor for this community as they tried to work through what it means to be the people of god and to live out god’s will for their life. So, in that regard, it is a perfect book to study because it deals with the very essence of Christianity as it pertains to identity, calling and action.
In the first section of this book we looked at what it means to be a Christian and we identified a few main ideas:
Today we are going to look at more of the specifics of this Christian life and specifically talk about who is in and who is out according to 1 John.
If you have Bibles with you, go ahead and turn with me to 1 John 2:15
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
After opening with an intense discussion of what it means to be a Christian, John turns his attention describing the differences between things that are inherently “Christian” and those things that are “Worldly.” Basically John is moving from it takes to be a Christian, to discussing what makes Christianity unique.
The first stop for the writer is to talk about the ways of the world versus the ways of God. Unfortunately, some Christians misinterpret this verse by not understanding what John means when he uses the term “world.” John is not saying you should hate the world, he is saying that we are not to participate in the “Ways of this world.” That is a big difference.
If we hate the world, then by default we become hateful people. Our life and religion becomes built on what we oppose rather than what we love. This leads to bigotry, discrimination, a false sense of superiority, and ultimately evil and pain. People who think that we are to hate the world often end up turning others off to Christianity because they model a way of life that no one wants to be a part of.
By contrast, we find that John 3:16 actually affirms God’s love for the world and frequently in the gospels we find accounts of Jesus expressing his love for the world. Furthermore, the whole of scripture calls Christians to be stewards and caretakers of the world.
So, how we do reconcile these attitudes? It’s simple; there is a strong divide between “the world” – both the people of it and creation itself – and “the ways of the world.”
I have taught multiple times that the plan of God is to bring reconciliation to all of creation. What that basically means is that there are problems in this world (sin, death, pain, war), but because of God’s love, he wants to set things right. This then, is the message we should take from 1 John: Because we love the world and God’s plan for it, we cannot participate in the problems that are destroying it.
But, John does not just command us to avoid the things of the world – he gives us a reason why: The sins of the world may seem appealing, but at the end of the day, they are fleeting. By contrast, the ways of the God are pure and eternal.
All of us want to be significant, and John teaches us the only way we can be eternally significant is to participate in God’s eternal plan. Basically we have to trade selfish ambition for godly unity.
Unfortunately, not everyone views things this way and John addresses that. Let’s pick it up in verse 18:
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Oh goodness…. Just when you thought we were through with all the end-of-the-world talk, we this passage talking about the last hour and anti-christs.
Many of you probably followed all the hype last week about the predicted rapture and the end of the world. According to one guy, it was supposed to have happened last Saturday, but obviously we are still around. He has since revised his predictions to say October 21 will be the end of the world. And while most people dismissed him as being kookie, plenty of people still followed him.
What I find interesting is that as we read along here in 1 John, a book written nearly 2,000 years ago, there is language being used that could indicate he thought he was living in the last hour. In fact, every generation has had people who have claimed the end is near. It just goes to show you how easy it is to misread scripture.
A great example of that is the idea of the anti-christ. Believe it not, this book is the only place in all of scripture where the term “anti-christ” shows up and what is interesting is that it not what everyone expects.
Many people hear the term “anti-Christ” and think of some singular evil person:
While that might make for interesting reading, unfortunately it is not the image that John paints. It is in fact, the result of bad theology.
Rather than describing this singular, ultimately evil person as the anti-christ, John affirms that there are many anti-christs and takes the term to mean very literally, those who are against the way of Christ. Specifically, he keys in on the idea that anti-christs are those who are tied to Christianity, yet have traded their convictions for something without power.
By this definition, people who have grown up in the church, but no longer live a Christian life are much more akin to John’s concept of the anti-christ than truly evil people like Osama Bin Laden or Saddam Hussein. Let that sink in for a moment.
If we understand things this way, then we could easily argue that people who claim to be Christian, yet instill hate and bigotry in the world instead of love and unity could very well find themselves as part of the group known as “anti-christs.”
All of this comes back to the idea of identity and unity: Those who corrupt the identity of God’s people, or disrupt the unity, are working against God’s plan. So for John, anti-christ’s are not those who will destroy the world in the last days, but those who will destroy the church in these days.
John then issues a warning concerning these things. Let’s skip to verse 24:
24 See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25 And this is what he promised us–even eternal life.
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in him.
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
John’s encouragement to his followers is to reject the lies of those who may try and lead them astray because they are already a part of something truly special. Not only is the true church in connection with Christ, but it is connected with the eternal life God has promised. John warns them to protect their identity because God’s blessings are promised to those who are faithful.
This idea of identity and blessing is fleshed out more in the next verse.
NIV 1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
This is one of my favorite verses in scripture because it does such a great job of putting into perspective just how life-changing it is to be identified as someone in . Even before we do anything, we are lavished with love just because of our identity as a child of God.
This word lavish really stands out to me because it conveys the idea of something so incredibly over the top as to be absurd.
When I hear of the word “lavish” I think of something that happened back when I used to fight forest fires. We were called to an “uncontained fire” that was burning in a campground. Turns out it was just a log that had rolled out of a fire ring. So although it was technically an forest fire, it was absolutely no risk. However, we felt we might as well use the tools we had at our disposal to deal with it and dropped all 500 gallons of water from the fire engine onto a single burning log. How is that for being so over the top as to be absurd?
Now, I want you to take that same imagery and apply it to God’s love. That is how much we see God’s love displayed towards us simply in the fact that we are able to be identified as his.
We hold lots of titles in our life. I am a Husband, Father, Pastor, grant-writer, Gemini, Methodist, web-designer, Blackhawks fan, American. Yet, none of these mean squat when compared with the fact that I am a child of God.
So let me ask you right now… what do you consider to be your greatest title?
All of this is essential, because how we understand our identity affects how we live our lives. Check out what John says next:
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
This gets us back to our discussion of who is in and who is out and with these verses we will close. Here John lists a bunch of activities that identify people who are in and who are out.
In Crowd:
Out Crowd:
We might want to simplify that and say that if you sin you are out, and if you are sinless, purified and forgiven than you are in. But, there are a couple problems with that. First, if that is how we identify who is in, then we are in deep trouble because I have yet to meet anyone who is sinless. So obviously there is something more to it.
The problem with that approach is that if we focus on sin first we miss the point. It is easy to approach the verses like this and conclude that in order to be a part of God’s people, then what we need to do is to purify our lives. But, this is most certainly a case of getting the cart ahead of the horse.
We don’t try and live a life of sin so we can be Christian, rather, when we are Christian, our lives necessarily mimic that of Jesus. As I have said before, Jesus isn’t looking for people who already fit the mold as disciples, but for people who are willing to be molded by discipleship.
Identity defines activity rather than activity defining identity. That, is a revolutionary concept for people who have always viewed Christianity as a set of rules rather than as meaningful, ongoing relationship with the creator.
So as we close this study today, we find that things are not always as we assume:
Today I am honored to have been asked to speak at this year’s Homecoming celebration here at Stevenson’s Chapel. And while most of you know me as the current pastor here, I want you to know that tradition has still been upheld, because technically I was the pastor here two appointments ago as well. Even as we draw close to the end of my time here, I can say with full sincerity that being here the last 11 months has genuinely felt like a homecoming for me and my family. This is the first church where I ever served as the head pastor, it is the church into which my daughter was born, and I feel very connected to members here and the vision for ministry that is practiced.
So for those here who have been a part of worship on a regular basis the last year, let me thank you for your heart and the love you have shared. For those of you who have a history with the church, let me thank you for contributing to this community of faith. It certainly has a long and rich tradition and none of us could do the things we do without what you did before us.
There is something special about being a part of a dedicated community of faith. Things happen in settings like this that are impossible elsewhere. Lives are changed. People show unselfish love. We, learn what it means to be a part of God’s people and to live out his will.
Dedicated faith communities like this one have been the cornerstone of Christianity since the beginning and the role of these groups has always been to serve as a conduit for God’s will. Early followers of Christ were not called “Christians” instead they were called “People of the Way.” And, congregations were not called “Churches” they were called “Beloved Communities.” Identity was not determined by titles, but rather by descriptions of actions.
Today I want us to reflect on what it means for us to be People of the Way who are a part of the Beloved Community.
We are going to start a new sermon series entitled “The Beloved Community” that will take us through the middle of June. Much like what we did a few months ago with the book of Jonah, this will be an intentional study on a single book. This time we will look at 1 John.
To set the stage, I want to give a little bit of background on the book of 1 John that I think will help us understand the bigger picture of what we are getting into.
Now I realize some of that is incredibly nerdy, so let me tell you why it matters.
Let’s go ahead and jump into the text. If you have your Bibles with you, let’s go to 1 John chapter 1.
NIV 1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched–this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
4 We write this to make our joy complete.
A few weeks ago I commented on how this is one of those gems in scripture that can be easily overlooked, yet holds some valuable insights
The passage opens up with an eloquent description of Christ and his influence in the world. But, the part that is so incredible is found in verse 3: We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.
John is basically saying that he is sharing his testimony of Jesus just so that he can have fellowship with the church. In other words, the experience of knowing Jesus is so life-altering that if he can’t talk about it with these people, there is no way they can have fellowship together. It is that important.
I think last time I think I compared it to UK basketball fans – during the season, if you aren’t talking UK basketball then it is hard to talk about anything else. But the more I think about it, the more I want to compare it to speaking a different language. Sure you can interact with people who don’t speak English; often you can get your point across and get a general idea of what is going on, but at the end of the day, there is no way you could actually have a long-term meaningful relationship unless somehow you can bridge the communication gap.
For John, the same thing is true with Christ and Church. A true meaningful relationship can only occur if the language that is being spoken is rooted in a relationship with Jesus.
I honestly believe this idea is being exemplified here today… all of us come together, from various places and from various commitments, but the common thread is not just Stevenson’s Chapel, but the story of Christ upon which this church is built.
With this in mind, I have a the first of a series of “gut-check questions” for you: Is your relationship with Christ important enough, that it affects all your other relationships?
Because, if it isn’t then I can already tell you that you’re missing out on the power of the Christian community that John is writing about here.
—
Let’s move on and pick it up in verse 5:
5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
1 John 2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense–Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
At this point, John moves his discussion from the ultimate importance of Christ in defining our identity, to the tangible impact a relationship with Christ has on those who are committed to the Way. Simply put, we are drawn together by Christ, but then through the power of Christ we find wholeness.
Wrapped up in these verses is an elaborate outline of what it means to be in relationship with Christ. Here we see the beautiful dance that occurs between a fallen and sinful people and a perfect and holy God. There is an overarching tension between who we are and who we are called to be. Yet, at the same time we see this tension is resolved through the person of Christ.
It begins with an understanding of God. God is light. This is a great metaphor that helps to uncover the depth of his character.
In all these cases, the same is true of God.
John then moves to a description of our relationship with God. For it to be real, we must walk in the light he says. That is one of those phrases that we can hear, but then end up skipping over it without giving it the attention that it deserves. So, what does that mean to walk in the light? Well luckily John is clear about that. Walking in the light means:
I love this imagery because it shows the interconnectedness of individual and collective salvation. Some people put so much focus on individual salvation that they ignore the way God works in the People of God as a whole. Conversely, some people ignore the idea of personal salvation and in doing so miss out on the power of God changing us into his image.
In these verses we see an intentional focus on the concept of sin; this is a theme that reemerges frequently in John’s book. But rather than focusing on a laundry list of what is considered sin, John focuses on the effect sin has on us and our relationships – particularly with God.
You don’t need me to tell you that drugs and extra-marital sex, and greed, and gossip are sin – you should know that already. Too many Christians focus on the description of sin, and in doing so miss the bigger picture of sin’s effects. That is what really matters.
Sin disrupts our ability to connect in meaningful relationships. It disrupts our relationship with God, our relationship with others, our relationship with creation and our relationship with ourselves.
You see, we get it wrong when we look at sin as a bunch of dos and don’ts. It is not about that. Instead, it is about relationship. That is what makes our connection with Christ so important. It is a relationship that restores relationships. We deal with sin not because we are told to, but because if we love God and love each other, we want to.
So my second gut-check question for you is this: How do you view sin? Is it just something you do or don’t do just because the bible says so, or do you view it as something to be avoided because it destroys relationships?
That question is essential because it determines how you approach the Christian life. Will you approach it out of obligation or out of love.
—
I want to conclude today by looking at a few more verses in chapter 2. Let’s pick it up in verse 3.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
4 The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him:
6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Skip to verse 9
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble.
11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
Whereas earlier discussion centered on unity of people, here John speaks of unity of character. If we are to be unified as the people of God, then we need to be transformed individually. But for that to happen, what we believe and what we say must be in unison with what we do.
Sin is not just something we avoid because of the harmful effects it has on our relationships. Sin can also serve as a barometer for our spiritual life. If we fail to address sin issues in our life, then that lack of action can point to a larger issue – we may not be connected to God. I want you to take that in for a minute. If you are complacent in your walk, then you have to examine yourself to see if your walk even exists at all.
Let me take the time to be very clear about something here: I am not saying that if you sin you don’t have a relationship with God. Instead, what I am saying is that if you have a relationship with God, then you are going to be motivated to address your sin issues. In a healthy marriage we do things for our spouse not because we are told to, but because we love them. The same is true for our relationship with God.
You see, Christianity is not about a bunch of belief statements, or rules. Instead, it is about experiencing ongoing transformation through the grace of God.
I love John’s language concerning this: But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.
That language that John uses is excellent as it points to the power of God that is manifested in each of us. The promise of a life in Christ is the promise of a life where God’s love is made complete in us. In other words, we are not just transforming our actions we are being transformed into God’s people.
If we return to John’s imagery of light and darkness, when we are in a meaningful relationship with Christ, it means that God’s light shines through us. Rather than blocking God’s light to the world, we reflect it to the world.
So, my final gut-check question for you is: Are you allowing your relationship with God to change you into the person he has called you to be?
If we are going to be the church, we have to be transformed into people who reflect God’s light.
—
As we continue in this study of 1 John in the upcoming weeks, we will dive into some very specific things, but from the beginning, John makes his focus clear: Christianity is life altering. It not only changes us, but it changes the world. Our identity is ultimately determined by how much we are willing to be transformed by God’s power.
Today I have left you with some pretty heavy questions. It is my hope that you will sincerely reflect on them and in doing so find yourself drawn closer and closer to the Lord of Creation who as called us to be his people and to live out his will.
Today we continue in our sermon Series entitled the Theology of Country Music. I knew this would be the last message in the series and I was really torn on what song to base things on. There are lots of great ones out there: Some that blatantly proclaim their Christian themes, and others that are more subtle, yet reveal a deep understanding of the ways of God and what it means to live as his people in this world.
If you will remember, the reason we are looking at Country Music is because in my opinion, these songs do the best job of wrestling with life’s questions. They are also excellent for telling the nitty-gritty stories through which we truly grasp the answers.
For today, one thing that I did know was that I wanted to go back to the classic country and I really wanted to do a Johnny Cash song. But, even once I had it narrowed down to a single artist, it was nearly impossible to decide on which song would be best from a song library of hits that goes back over half a century. There are lessons to be learned in his early hits like “Ring of Fire” and “Walk the Line” and there are so many powerful lyrics in his songs later in his life like “Man in Black” and “Personal Jesus.”
So rather than focusing on a single song today, I have decided to take a much broader approach and look at the entire life of Johnny Cash. In order to kick that off, I want us to look at a very poignant music video that ended up being Cash’s last big hit and was recorded less than a year before he died.
In this video entitled “Hurt” we will see the rugged face of Johnny Cash as he recollects on his life and tries to put his incredible career – both the ups and the downs – into perspective. If you haven’t seen it before, I will go ahead and tell you it is pretty powerful, especially if you have followed Cash since he first rose to notoriety. I will admit, I have watched it at least 30 times in the last week and every time it hits me pretty hard. Let’s go ahead and watch that:
Wow… that is about as real as you can get. Here is a man who:
Yet, when he looks back on all of that, he calls it an “Empire of Dirt.”
The last words of his last hit song are “If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself, I would find a way.” That is a powerful and somber reflection on a life of incredible success. But, as most of us know, Cash’s life was not only marked by success; it was also marked with pain and divorce and drug abuse and a lot of failure.
I am drawn to this song because it is so honest. It reveals the ups and downs of life. It puts things in perspective. And, it connects daily life with the larger narrative of God and his work in creation.
I am sure by this point, after nearly a year and half of my sermons, you have probably noticed that I have a particular affinity for the Old Testament. Have you ever wondered why? Well, I love the Old Testament for the same reasons I love this song:
So today, what I want to do is look at some scripture in the Old Testament that in many ways mirror the reflections of Cash, and hopefully in doing so, we can come away with a better understanding of the world and how we should approach our lives in it.
While there are many parallels in the Bible to the life and times of Johnny Cash, I have found the most similarities between him and King Solomon. If you will remember from a few months ago, we talked about how Solomon was one of the most powerful men to ever exist. He had all the wealth one could imagine. He had a thousand wives and concubines. He is credited with building the first temple. He had God’s blessing and had the potential to be the greatest ruler in the history of God’s people. Yet, instead of being remembered for his great accomplishments, the Old Testament remembers him as the King who initiated the downfall of the nation of Israel.
Solomon’s life consisted of ups and downs. He could have had it all, but instead he squandered it on selfish ambition. What is most interesting and helpful for us, is that that like Johnny Cash, Solomon recorded his thoughts and was transparent in reflecting on the meaning of his life. This is enhanced by the fact that Solomon is widely regarded as one of the wisest men in history.
While Solomon is known for writing many of the Psalms and Proverbs along with Song of Solomon, perhaps his most important contribution is the book of Ecclesiastes; this is basically a collection of his thoughts as he looks back on his life trying to find meaning. In this way, it is eerily similar to the song “Hurt” we listened to earlier.
If you have your bibles with you, go ahead and turn to Ecclesiastes. It is found after Psalms and Proverbs. Let’s pick it up in chapter 1 verse 2:
Ecc 1:2-4 (NIV)
2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
3 What does man gain from all his labor at which he toils under the sun?
4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
That is a nice positive introduction eh? But, it is not just the introduction; this critical reflection on what is important in life continues throughout the book. Flip to chapter 2 verse 3:
Ecc 2:3-11 (NIV)
3 I tried cheering myself with wine, and embracing folly–my mind still guiding me with wisdom. I wanted to see what was worthwhile for men to do under heaven during the few days of their lives.
4 I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards.
5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them.
6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees.
7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me.
8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well–the delights of the heart of man.
9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me.
10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor.
11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.
Basically what Solomon is saying is that in his life he had it all. He built stuff, he bought stuff, he had power. Yet, all of his acquisitions ultimately proved to be meaningless. Chapter after chapter, Solomon looks at the things of life and comes to the conclusion that most things are not worth pursuing.
Flip to chapter 5 verse 10:
Ecc 5:10-12 (NIV)
10 Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless.
11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them?
12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.
Not only are the things of this world often meaningless, but pursuing them ultimately leads to less happiness rather than more.
Did you know they did a study a few years ago that charted a person’s happiness with their income. What they found was that there was absolutely no correlation. Having more did not make a person happy and in fact, it often went the other way. What was most disturbing though is that even though the results showed that making more did not provide more happiness, a vast majority of people thought that if they had more they would be happy. It is the lie of the American Dream. And it’s nice to know, but I don’t think it would have taken a formal study for us to figure it out. Solomon knew it 3,000 years ago.
You can look at nearly every verse in the book of Ecclesiastes and while the specifics are different, Solomon comes to the same realization. The normal pursuits of life (money, fame, power) are meaningless because nothing in life is guaranteed. Even things that are worthwhile like wisdom and family are limited in their ability to provide happiness because life is unpredictable. Pursuing “stuff” is always going to leave you disappointed.
That is not a happy assessment, but it is pretty accurate. I am sure most of us have complained that “life isn’t fair” and what did our mother’s tell us? “Nobody ever said life was fair.” And it’s true… Sometimes the jerks in life come out on top and sometimes nice guys finish last. You can have it all and not be fulfilled, or you can have nothing and still be happy.
So if that is the case, what then is worth pursing in life? Let’s look at Solomon’s final words on the topic. Flip with me to Ecclesiastes 12:13
Ecc 12:13-14 (NIV)
13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.
Again, we find the final song of Johnny Cash parallels the final thoughts of King Solomon. The music video “Hurt” ends by superimposing images of Jesus on the cross with pictures representing the broken life of the artist. And then here in the closing verses of Ecclesiastes, the message is the same: In our brokenness, the only thing worthwhile is connection with God and his plan. The paths we take are meaningless, but the path of God has power.
Some people have described the words of Ecclesiastes as depressing and fatalistic. Even though we often quote parts of it, as a whole, the book paints a very bleak picture. That is however, until we take a look at the bigger story. The same thing can be said about Johnny Cash. There is a lot of pain and brokenness and the only way that story can be redeemed is if we connect to something larger than ourselves.
But, the life of Solomon and The Man in Black are not unique in this regard. Sure none of us will ever achieve the fame and notoriety that these two men acquired. However, each day, we are faced with decisions about what is important and what it is we will pursue. In fact, as Americans living in the twenty-first century, we have more decisions and more options than any other group of people ever in the history of the world. For the most part, we have the freedom to do whatever we want. But, that freedom is meaningless on its own.
Will Willimon is a Bishop in the United Methodist church recently put out an article about the concept of “Freedom” and what it means for Christians. I think what he has to say is particularly insightful for us as we discuss these issues:
He begins his article by pointing out that most of us view the idea of freedom as being: the maximum ability to choose whatever life I want to live with a minimum of external attachments. In other words, we often think of “Freedom” as being able to do whatever we want. But, Willimon contends that “contemporary Americans are anything but free.”
He points out that if we view freedom as being able to get whatever we want, that in essence enslaves us to a worldview where getting stuff is the goal of life. That freedom, he argues, is nothing more than a lie:
My “free” society offers me the maximum number of choices. So I move my cart down the supermarket aisle grabbing this and that all in the hope that I might thereby accumulate the right stuff to make my life worth living. Lacking any basis of discerning what counts for wise choices, I tend to grab a bit of everything, flitting from this enticing experience to that one, never alighting anywhere for long. Thus there is a kind of drivenness about modern life that is anything but free. I not only can choose but I must.
Willimon goes on to contend that true freedom is not about getting stuff or doing stuff or knowing stuff; rather, true freedom comes only when we embrace who God has created us to be.
Christians hold the curious view that there is no freedom apart from God and the Creator’s intentions for his creatures. It is Augustine’s “our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.” Freedom is not a right, not a possession, certainly not a gift from any nation. Freedom is a gift of God; it is grace that only God can give. There is no freedom to be who God means us to be, no freedom from sin and from the alluring servitudes of this world except in servitude to Christ.
At the heart of the Christian life is a holy paradox: the more securely we are tethered to Christ, the more obedient we are to his way rather than the world’s ways, the more free we become. Or as Jesus put it, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
You see, Willimon comes to the same conclusion that Johnny Cash and Solomon came to: True freedom, true power, true wealth are not achieved through our own accomplishments, but through submission to the ways of God. It is only when we give up the ways of this world that we can ever latch on to anything meaningful. This theme is echoed by Jesus himself when he says:
Mt 6:19-21
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Earlier I mentioned that what I love about the Old Testament is that it often shows people as they really are. It is not always happy, it is often confusing, and the people portrayed usually have major character flaws. But, you also see people who are authentically transformed and authentically find peace in the ways of God and his plan. Knowing where they come makes the story of their salvation even more powerful.
Johnny Cash fits this model as well. There are a lot of things in his life that we shouldn’t glamorize, and his successes are not the things that really matter in this world. But, at the end of the day, especially in his later life, he really got what it meant to be committed to God. I want to close with a quote from Cash’s autobiography where he discusses his failing health:
I just don’t have any fear of death. I’m very much at peace with myself and with my God. I accept this disease because it is the will of God; it’s Him working in my life.
True peace comes only from God and while Johnny had many stories to tell, the story that matters the most is the story of God. He may have felt and caused a lot of hurt in his life, but he could find comfort and fulfillment in his last days tethered securely to Christ. And, the same promise is available for us as well.
Today we continue in our sermon series dedicated to the Theology of Country Music and we also celebrate Mother’s day. As such, this morning we got a double dose with two country music songs dedicated to mothers, and I couldn’t imagine much more diversity. First we heard from the young up-and-coming star Taylor Swift, and just then we heard from Jimmy Dean. Two drastically different entertainers, but the message is the same: Mother’s are special people.
As we move into this discussion of Mother’s Day I want to issue somewhat of a disclaimer: I realize that today can bring the whole range of emotions for people. For many, it is a joyous occasion where we celebrate the mothers in our lives and have the opportunity to let them know what they mean to us – Lord knows they deserve it. For others, for a variety of reason, days like today can be painful as we struggle with the realities of a fallen world. Where ever you fall – whether you are a mother, are here with your mother, or find yourself in another situation all together, it is my hope today’s message will have something in it for you
If you will remember from last week, the main reason we are looking at country music songs is because of their ability to get at the root of life’s questions. In both the songs we heard today, we find accounts of processing through what is truly important in life, especially as it related to our relationships with our mothers.
In the first song, Taylor Swift sings about some of the best days she had with her mother. Some of the stories she tells are about particular memories that stood out, but at other points she simply relays the overall feeling of appreciation she has for the role her mother played in her life.
In the Jimmy Dean song, he provides a long list of all the things he feels indebted to his mother for. Obviously his list is extensive as covers all the roles his mother played in his life from doctor to cook to teacher and on-and-on. He concludes by coming to the realization that all of these things were just an outpouring of who she was.
Both Taylor Swift and Jimmy Dean, when reflecting on the women who meant the most to them, came up with lists of attributes and accounts. And just as we discovered last week when we talked about thoughts on life and death, here too we find they follow a tradition that is thousands of years old. By no means were they the first to use poetic words to describe the women closest to them.
Today I want us to look at a piece of poetry found in the old testament that details a woman of great honor. If you have your bibles with you, turn with me to Proverbs 31:10.
Pro 31:10-1 (NIV)
10 A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships, bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls.
16 She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable, and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed; she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them, and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
31 Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
This passage is often referred to as the “The Virtuous Wife” and stands alone in the book of Proverbs. Most of the book of proverbs is comprised of short, practical advice that has been grouped together by content. But then, here at the end of the book, we get this extended description of a woman. Besides the length of this particular passage, there are actually some really cool things going on when you look at the structure of this poem that make it stand out.
First, this passage is set up as an acrostic. In other words, every verse starts with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet. So quite literally, you could see these as the ABC of a wife of noble character.
The second interesting thing is that these verses form a Chiasm. You might remember we talked about Chiasms when we studied the book of Jonah. The idea is simple – the whole passage is paired off in a way so that the first verse matches the last verse, the second verse matches the second to last verse and so on. So what we find with this chapter is a series of units:
Now I realize that is nerdy Hebrew Grammar stuff, but here is what is important that you know: The original author set all of this up in this way so that it gave the reader a sense of exhaustiveness. In other words, the writer is trying to show that he has all of his bases covered. Keep that in mind because we come back to it later in the sermon. But first I want to talk about some issues that often crop up when people study this passage.
There have been literally thousands of sermons written on this passage and countless “Women’s Bible Studies” have attempted to analyze this chapter. Unfortunately, many of the sermons and Bible Studies are notoriously bad. I guess I could say my hope is that today’s sermon doesn’t find its way among that list.
You might think I am being exceedingly arrogant to make such a blanket statement (and perhaps I am), but the reason I think there are so many bad sermons about it out there is because it is so easy for people to approach it in the wrong way.
You see, I have seen way too many examples of people coming to these verses and looking for a checklist. In fact, I know people who include this as part of their pre-marital counseling as a way to instruct future wives on how they should behave. And, I can certainly see how that could be helpful. People have pointed out all the categories of duties these verses contain:
If only you could do all those things, then you would be the perfect woman/mother/wife. Not a big deal huh? I am sure all the mothers here today fit all that to a “T”. Right?!?!
You see, the problem with that approach is that it is simply not realistic. I have known some incredible women in my life, but none of them do everything perfectly. Now there is something to be said about setting your sights high and trying to achieve the best you can, but if we only look at the ideals, it is easy to get burned out and discouraged. Let me give you an example:
We have all heard of Betty Crocker right? Well have you ever read her biography or seen her picture anywhere besides on a cookbook or a cake mix box? Of course you haven’t, and you know why? Because Betty Crocker is not a real person.
Betty Crocker, is nothing more than a brand brought to life back in 1921 by the General Mills company. The picture they used of her was just a composite sketch of several female workers.
We can talk about cooking like Betty Crocker all we want, but the truth is no one can do that because Betty Crocker is a fictional idealized person. All her recipes may be great, but at the end of the day she is fictional. She is artificial. She is a mixture of the best of all women. And I believe we could say the same about the woman poetically described in Proverbs 31. This is not a description of a real individual, some woman with a name who actually lived and had a history. The woman of Proverbs 31 is an idealized personification of many of the strengths, virtues and abilities that are desirable in a good wife.
We aren’t supposed to look at the Proverbs 31 woman as a checklist to great womanhood any more than we should look at the Betty Crocker Cookbook as a checklist for being a good cook. We can learn a lot from each, but we have to approach them in the right way.
Personally, I think there is more we can learn from real mothers than there is we can learn from idealized mothers. I want to share part of article with you that was published in Newsweek a few years ago. It is entitled “The Good Enough Mother.”
There was a kind of carelessness to my childhood. I wandered away from time to time, rode my bike too far from home, took the trolley to nowhere in particular and back again. If you had asked my mother at any given time where I was, she would likely have paused from spooning Gerber’s peas into a baby’s mouth or ironing our school uniforms and replied, “She’s around here somewhere.”
By some standards of mothering, my mother was a bust. Given the number of times I got lost when I was young, she might even be termed neglectful. There’s only one problem with that conclusion. It’s dead wrong. My mother was great at what she did. Don’t misunderstand: she had her issues, But where she was always felt like a safe place.
The idea that that’s enough is a tough sell in our current culture, and not simply because if one of my kids had been found wandering far from our home there would have been a caseworker and a cop at the door. We live in a perfection society now. We believe in the illusion of control, and nowhere has that become more powerful than in the phenomenon of manic motherhood. The ordinary devoted mother is no longer good enough. Instead there is an super-mom who bounces from soccer field to school fair to play date until she falls into bed at the end of the day, exhausted, her life somewhere between the Stations of the Cross and a decathlon…
The author continues to talk about how the current culture puts so much pressure on mothers. Then she concludes with this:
That’s the problem with turning motherhood into martyrdom. There’s no way to do it and still enjoy life. If we create a never-ending spin cycle of have-tos, by our actions we are telling our kids that being a mom–being their mom–is a drag. We end up modeling a life driven by fear, self-doubt and conformity, all the things we are supposed to teach them to overcome.
So her conclusion is that if we focus on the ideals, we end up not only failing, but also miss out on the truly meaningful things in life and in the process we project a worldview that is unhealthy.
The title of that paper “The Good Enough Mother” is actually taken from a concept pioneered by D. W. Winnicott. Basically, what he says is that if we look around at the world… most everyone is within the range of what we would call “normal.” Sure, there are some exceptions and some of us are more normal than others, but at the end of the day, most of us turn out all right. Now, all of us were raised differently. Some of us were Spock babies, some of us were Ferber babies, some of us were Sears babies. There are countless “parenting methods” that can be employed, and I would be willing to bet that most of our parents didn’t even think about what methods they wanted to use.
In looking at this diversity in parenting, yet the high percentage of “normal people” what Winnicott concludes is that there isn’t a single way to raise a good child. There isn’t checklist you have to follow. People don’t need “Super-Mothers” because in reality they probably don’t even exist (although some of us might disagree).
So if it isn’t about following a checklist, what is it about? I would say being a great mother or a great wife or a great parent is not about always doing great things, but rather is about being great in the things you do.
It is not about possessing super-human strength or providing everything under the sun for your family. Instead, it is about being yourself and doing the best you can; it is about being available and being loving. And that brings us back to the country music songs we looked at earlier.
In both of these songs, the artists don’t talk about how their mother was perfect… instead, they talk about how what mattered was the day to day presence. The things they did that often go unnoticed. It’s not about being all things to all people, it is about simply being there.
True greatness is motherhood is not achieved in singular moments of spectacularness… but rather, in the mundane and the daily.
This idea continues on to our study of Proverbs 31. I have said that many people get these verses wrong because they are looking for a checklist. That doesn’t work because as we have discussed, the person described is an idealized entity, not a real flesh-and-blood person. So, instead of looking at all the things described and trying to do them all, I want to suggest an alternate way of viewing these verses:
Remember how I said the grammatical structure of this passage was designed to show it was all inclusive? Well this is where it gets really important. Rather than looking at it as a list of things you must do perfectly to be a virtuous woman, we should be emphasizing that these verses illustrate all aspects of a virtuous woman’s life. In other words, it is not about doing everything possible and doing it perfectly, instead, it is about making sure that whatever you are doing, you do it the best you can and with virtue. [You don’t have to select wool and flax to be a good mother]
It is not about having a massive to-do list, it is about using all the moments you have… whatever they may be, and using them to make an impact. If you try to be super-woman your kids might not notice. But if you are super at being the woman you are, then things are going to turn out okay. After all, even if you screw up… chances are kids are still going to end up normal.
As I close, I want to leave you with this: it is not so much the extraordinary feats or situations that make a person special – instead, it is about living a consistent life of love. That is something all of us can take home.
It is not often you get to watch country music videos in church, but this month will be an exception.
Since I have been here, we have covered some pretty heavy things. We have looked at what it means to be a part of the Kingdom of God, we have looked at ancient customs and what it meant for Jesus to be born in the Roman empire. We have explored the universe and the concept of Prophetic Imagination. Most recently we have looked deeply at the idea of encountering Jesus and what that means for our lives. I figured we could take a couple weeks and loosen things up a bit – you all have earned it!
So, starting today, we are going to do a four part sermon series entitled “The Theology of Country Music” where we will look at several songs and explore their connection to Biblical themes and practical application.
There are several reasons I was drawn towards doing a sermon series like this. First off, of all the mainstream musical genres out there, country seems to hit on the major issues of everyday life more than any others.
All humans, regardless of when or where they were born struggle with a certain set of questions:
These are questions that don’t have easy answers, but rather are worked out in the nitty-gritty stories of our lives. And, I am convinced that country music does a great job of telling these stories.
Unfortunately, there is also a whole lot of bad theology in popular music and Country is no different. I could preach for an entire year about the misconceptions and poor worldviews often expressed in the songs we listen to every day. But, instead of being negative, I want to key in on some of them that do a good job of painting a picture of the world as God sees it.
Today, we are going to look a very popular song from a couple years ago entitled “Live like you were dying.”
I am sure many of you know at least part of the background of this song. It is performed by Tim McGraw, and while he didn’t write the song himself, it really resonated with him because of his own experience with his father being diagnosed with brain cancer and being given three weeks to live.
This song was very well received and spent nearly 2 months at the top of the country music charts. It ended up being the #1 song of 2004 in the genre. It is the type of song that nearly everyone can relate to – either on a personal level, or by extension through people they know and love. It’s for that reason that I think it is fitting for us to discuss it today.
You see, for as long as people have been writing, they have pondered death and the relative frailty of life. Consider these verses:
Psa 90:10 (NIV)
10 The length of our days is seventy years– or eighty, if we have the strength; yet their span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
Ecc 8:8 (NIV)
As no one has power over human spirit to retain, and so no one has power over the time of their death.
Jam 4:13-15 (NIV)
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”
14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”
The verses in Psalms and Ecclesiastes were written nearly a thousand years before the verses from James, and James wrote two thousand years before Tim McGraw, yet all of them struggle with the same thing: Our lives are short, we are going to die, and we don’t know when.
There is a popular saying I sure you have heard: There are only two certain things in life, death and taxes.
Well, I hate to break it to you, but that is only about 50% true. A study came out just last month that showed 45% of American’s don’t pay any Federal Income Tax and plenty more should, but don’t. So whether legally or illegally, you can get past taxes, but you can’t get past death.
Humans have a 100% mortality rate – you simply cannot avoid it. 1 out every 113 people will die this year. In the course of this sermon, over 3000 people will die. (I sure hope those two are not related)
Death is the kind of thing we know is going to happen, but we don’t like talking about it. We often would prefer to live life day-to-day and ignore the fact that no day is promised to us. And while people can obviously take that the other way and get into trouble by always focusing on our mortality, in generally, we as American often need a wake-up call to remind us of the frailty of life. The story McGraw shares in his song is a great example of this.
The song details a man who gets the bad news that he is about to die, and rather than feeling sorry for himself, he decides to live his life for all its worth. He talks about doing all the things he always wanted to: skydiving, mountain climbing, bull riding. But more importantly he talks about changing the way he interacted with those he loved the most.
The emphasis of the song is not on the certainly of death, but rather it is on how we live before we die. The storyteller doesn’t talk about regret; instead he talks about how he wishes everyone could have the opportunity to “live like you were dying.” Wrapped up in this are three specific areas of life he focused on: Loving Deeper, Speaking Sweeter and Giving Forgiveness. Since these are not only good lyrics, but vital aspects of the Christian life, I want us to take a moment to look at them individually:
Love Deeper
The idea of love is so engrained into the very fabric of Christianity that it is hard to discuss the concept on its own. In the last hours with his disciples, Jesus spent a good bit of his time talking about love and he was very clear: If you don’t love, you are not a Christian. Right off the bat we have to say that “Loving Deeper” is not something we need to work on as Christians, rather it is something that defines us as Christians.
The centrality of this idea is evident throughout scripture, but I want to look at a few passages. Turn with me first to Matthew 22:36-40.
Mat 22:36-40 (NIV)
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.
39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
When asked to sum up all of God’s law, Jesus made things very simple. Love God and Love each other. If we are missing that, then we are missing everything.
But, what is love? Countless volumes have been written on the topic – from the very academic to the richly emotional. Is love a feeling? An action? A state of mind? I am no scholar, but I have my own working definition of love: Love is what happens when you put other’s needs ahead of your own.
But as he often does, Jesus calls us to a deeper level of love. Turn with me to Matthew 5:43-48
Mat 5:43-48 (NIV)
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’
44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Simply put, if we want to take Tim McGraw’s advice and love deeper, then we need to be willing to make sacrifices even for those that infuriate us. We need to care more about how our enemies feel than how we feel. That could be your annoying co-worker, people on the other side of the political aisle, and even the people who are literally out to get us. How is that for some practical application? It is not easy, but it is central to what it means to be a Christian.
Speak Sweeter
The second exhortation that comes from the song is to speak sweeter. There are lots of proverbs and other teachings in the bible that talk about the power of the tongue and the importance of using our language to build up rather than tear down. I could talk about how painful words can be, or encourage you to take the time to share with someone how much they mean to you. All of those are excellent examples of how Christians should speak sweeter. But, I want to keep it simple and share one of my all-time favorite verses with you. Turn with me to 1 Peter 4:11
1Pe 4:11 (NIV)
11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
I want you to take a second to let that sink in. If we speak, we are to do it as one speaking the very Words of God. The implications are HUGE!! How would our speech look different if actually took that to heart?
God has many ways of speaking to the world, but here we are reminded that one of the main ways he does it is through the words of his followers. I am sure most of us have experienced times where the words of someone have clearly conveyed the message of God. Yet, Peter reminds us that all of our words should be spoken with such intentionality.
If we want to speak sweeter, the first thing we need to realize is the power of our words, and the fact that God expects us to use our words to convey his message. If that is the case, let me ask you: How do people view God based on what you say? If you don’t like the answer, then perhaps we do need to learn to speak sweeter.
Give Forgiveness
Finally, I want us to look at the idea of giving forgiveness. Turn with me to Colossians 3:12-14
Colossians 3:12-14
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Just as love is one of the defining characteristics of Christianity, so too is forgiveness. In this passage, Paul urges his readers to be the type of people God is calling us to be. People who are compassionate, kind, humble, gentle and patient. But then, instead of just saying “you need to be forgiving” he takes the time to flesh the whole thing out and it culminates with the exhortation to“Forgive as the Lord Forgave you.” That is some pretty powerful stuff
All of us have been hurt to varying degrees and some of us I know have been deeply hurt. Yet regardless of our pain, being Christian requires us to be people of forgiveness. Paul reminds us that if we are struggling with forgiving others, then perhaps we need to focus more on the forgiveness that has been extended to us.
This idea of being transformed through the power of Christ’s actions is central to Christianity. We forgive because he forgave, we speak as he spoke, we love as he loved. This connection to Christ extends to all aspects of our life.
As I close, I want us to look at one final passage about being transformed through the power of Christ’s actions. Turn with me to Romans 6:5-11.
Rom 6:5-11 (NIV)
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–
7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
In light of these verses, the idea of living like you were dying takes on new meaning. It is not just about seizing the day and doing the things you want to. Instead, it is about letting our sinful self pass away so that we can be reborn as God’s people.
This transformation is only possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus. So for us as Christians, living like we are dying is about very much about following the path of Jesus and trusting in him.
We are here to celebrate a risen lord
We are here to be reminded that death is not the end
We are here to remember that we serve a living God
We are here to encounter Jesus
At Stevenson’s Chapel we have spent the last several weeks looking at people who encountered Jesus in the Gospel of John. By looking at the stories of people like Nicodemous, the woman at the well, and the man born blind, we have been able to see the power Jesus has to transform lives. But, we have also seen how so often people come to Jesus with their own terms and expectations and in doing so often miss out on what Jesus really has for them. That was true then, and it is true now.
Last week we looked at the encounters the disciples had with their Lord during his last hours and we found that Jesus spent his final moments showing his love and calling them to a life of service and sacrifice. His time was not spent discussing technicalities and specifics, but rather, he entrusted to them the lifestyle they must take on if they were to share the power of the gospel with the world. But of course, the story does not end in the upper room, nor does it end with the crucifixion. The story of Jesus must include an empty tomb!
Today, as we join with Christians across the globe who are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I want us to look back 2,000 years ago and see what it meant for the earliest followers of Jesus to encounter an empty tomb and later the risen Lord.
If you have your Bibles with you, go ahead and turn with me to John chapter 20. As we read through this chapter, I want you to pay specific attention to the actions and reactions of the characters in this account.
Joh 20:1-29 (NIV)
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.
4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.
6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,
7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.
8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed.
9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes,
11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb
12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 “Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ “
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
So here we find a story of the people who have been entrusted with continuing the work of Jesus. These are the disciples who are responsible for ensuring Christianity spreads throughout the globe. These individuals have had the opportunity to spend years with Jesus learning from him and hearing him speak of what was going to unfold. Yet, what do we find when they encounter the resurrection head on?
These reactions are probably not something we would hold up as a great example of how we should respond to the Easter Story. You could hardly put more examples of flawed responses in a single chapter even if you tried. We see doubt, and misunderstanding, and fear. It would be very easy to offer blanket condemnation of these earlier followers and accuse them of lacking faith and being ignorant. But, instead of doing that, I am convinced there is something bigger going on.
You see, I don’t think this story is about the small faith of the early followers; instead, it is about the magnitude of the resurrection – Arguably the most important event in the history of the world! At that very instant, the power of new life had burst on the scene. Victory had finally overcome the realms of death and sin. All of creation was forever reordered because of the resurrection. The world the disciples lived in – a world of space and matter and time; A world of real history with real people and real experiences – this world, their world, had suddenly been altered by the magnitude of God’s work and their minds and imaginations proved too small to contain it.
It would be like trying to contain the sea in a bottle, or trying to plot a map of the universe on a napkin – the implications were just too big. The magnitude of the Easter story was so vast that those who encountered it firsthand simply could not comprehend it. One scholar describes it like this: “It looks as if the disciples were struggling to describe something for which they didn’t have adequate language.”
Most of us have heard stories of the resurrection since early childhood, but for these men and women, this was uncharted territory – something totally new was unfolding – something that forced them to think differently about things.
There are plenty of faiths that believe in God. Judaism and Isalm both claim to worship the God of Abraham. There are countless traditions that teach its followers how to live. Buddhism and Hinduism offer moral codes. Plenty of secular leaders have offered hope and wisdom to the world. And while Christianity may offer all those things, it is this – the resurrection – that makes it unique and powerful.
The resurrection is the great mystery that cannot be explained away. It is the powerful event that defines our faith. And, it is so awesome and incomprehensible, that simply believing it happened forces us to change the way we look at the whole world. It is not just that we follow Jesus – it is that we follow a savior who died and then rose again.
I am the kind of guy who has friends from across the spectrum:
I have found that almost all of these people can affirm the greatness of the person of Jesus. Most people know that Jesus has something to teach the world and most people know he is influential.
One of my atheist friends is always telling me about how incredible Jesus is (of course I agree with him). He is constantly finding inspiration in the words of Jesus:
“I love Jesus” he will tell me, “But, I can’t stand the church.”
Unfortunately, that is a sentiment that is all too common. For him, he wants to focus on the life of Jesus without having to deal with what scripture says happens next. He is fine with the life lessons, but doesn’t want to get into the sticky mess of the crucifixion and resurrection. You see, what my friend is trying to do is to force Jesus into a conventional box so that he is manageable; he is wanting to take the things he can explain and that are comfortable and leave behind the things that actually take faith. And, as any Christian should know, you simply cannot do that.
The Easter story refuses to be contained in the commonplace. It is the moment to which all of history pointed and from which everything new emerges and it requires us to not only alter our thinking, but our entire lives. Simply put, the resurrection is what makes Christianity different. To lose it is to lose the faith and power.
Granted, I will admit it is better for someone to like the teachings of Jesus than to reject them wholesale. Some people could look at and that see the glass as half-full. But, a view of Christianity that dismisses the implications of the empty tomb is nothing more than glass that is half empty and getting emptier. It is a wishy-washy religion that has no power and little if anything to do with actual faith.
You see, true faith is not about explaining things away, it is about being transformed into the person God calls you to be. Doubt in and of itself is not a bad thing. Those of us who trust in Christ should use our doubt as something that drives us to better understand our creator and what he has for us rather than allow it to pull us away from his plan for our lives. If we come to the empty tomb looking for explanations, we miss the opportunity be shaped by the God who can exceed our expectations time and time again. At the end of the day, if we water down the gospel, we stand no chance of every finding something greater than ourselves.
I want to explore these themes a bit more by returning to John chapter 20 and looking particularly at the person of Thomas:
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came.
25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Now it is easy to knock on Thomas… after all, because of his reaction here, we all refer to him as “doubting Thomas”. But, I believe there is much more going than we give him credit for.
First, look at the situation surrounding his doubt. We pick on Thomas because he did not trust the testimony of those who had seen Jesus. But, if we look closely at the story, the disciples had heard the testimony of Mary and some had even seen the empty tomb, but every indication is that they doubted the resurrection until they actually saw Jesus. The gospel is intentional about pointing out that those in the room saw the hands and side of Jesus – the very thing Thomas asked to see.
Then there is the issue of the locked room. The disciples were scared for their lives and in hiding, but Thomas is not with them. Of course scripture doesn’t tell us where he was at, but we do know that he was not cowering away in fear. I hate to make an argument from silence, but we need to recognize there is a very real possibility that Thomas had faced the reality of the situation instead of hiding from it.
Finally, there is the issue of Thomas’ faith. Thomas is famous for his doubt, but we must remember that Thomas was also a man of faith. We cannot forget that Thomas gave up the life he knew to follow Christ for 3 year. Furthermore, according to the history books, he was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman Empire to preach the Gospel. Tradition teaches that he left Jerusalem and traveled to India to spread the Good News of Christ
So while he may have doubted, he moved from that into a life of obedience. We know that when he finally did grasp the power of the resurrection, he allowed to transform him into an obedient servant of the Lord.
There are a couple lessons we can learn from all this:
If you are not changed by the truth of a risen Lord – a story of god incarnate who conquered death and sin – then perhaps you need to reexamine your own beliefs. Do you really get it? Because if you can just brush it off as just another story you learned in Sunday School then you are missing the magnitude of the whole thing.
The Easter story is about moving from belief to doubt, but it cannot end there. Like the first disciples we must take the radical news of the risen Christ to the world.
My prayer for you is that you too will encounter the risen Christ and in doing so you will not try and explain away the implications, or try to make the story more palatable, but instead will be absolutely dumb founded by the power of the gospel that is proven by the empty tomb.
I want to close with a variation of a poem by John Updike:
Make no mistake: if He rose at all, it was as His body;
if the cells’ did not rejoin, the molecules reknit, the nerves rekindle,
the Church will fall.Let us not mock God with metaphor, analogy, sidestepping, transcendence;
making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded naivety of earlier ages:
let us walk through the door.The stone is rolled back, not papier-mâché,
not a stone in a story,
but the vast rock of materiality that in the slow
grinding of time will eclipse for each of us
the wide light of day.Let us not seek to make it less monstrous,
for our own convenience, our own sense of beauty,
lest, awakened in one unthinkable hour, we are
embarrassed by the miracle,
and crushed by reproach.
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