Sermon from Sunday: Seven Churches

Numbers in the Book of Revelation: Seven Churches

Read Revelation 1:1-6

 Are you ready for the Book of Revelation?  No “s”.  The book of Revelations does not exist.  Revelation, no “s”. 

            There are so many wild notions that exist about the book of Revelation. I remember when I worked at RadioShack while I was in seminary we had just gotten a new manager of the store.  And I remember having a conversation with him about the Book of Revelation.  He said that he had studied a few years ago and that he believed that some of the visions, some of the descriptions could fit real, modern day creations.  For example, he talked about how in one of the visions locusts are described as a part of how the end of the world and he said the description sounds a lot like an Apache Helicopter.  And that meant he could’ve been predicting the end of the world for us who are living now.  And I thought well, okay I guess that’s possible.  I have since learned, no, the book of Revelation has nothing to do with Apache helicopters.  Nothing.

            My hope in this series is to help you read Revelation the way it was intended to be read.  And to understand what you are reading the way it is intended to be understood.  To pursue reading and understanding the book of Revelation you have to be okay with unanswered questions.  Because while God has definitely put enough in this book for us to understand and for us to grow in our faith and in our witness, there will definitely be things we don’t’ understand.  And we just have to accept those things and push on as best we can.  At the same time God has given us brains and resources and enough in the book of Revelation that we can know a whole lot about it.  So what do you need to know.

            First, the book of Revelation is first and foremost a letter.  Notice verse 4…"John to the Seven churches in the province of Asia.  It is a letter from John to the Churches in the province of Asia.  Before being an end times saga with weird visions and strange symbols and bowls and lanterns and dragons and other wild stuff, it is first and foremost a letter.  Written by a person while in exile on the island of Patmos…a person under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 

            I have here my neighbors mail.  I have in my hand Jeff and Connie’s mail.  Oh yeah, I just decided to be curious when I was getting my mail and thought I would walk across and get their mail as well.  We have a good relationship so I didn’t think they would mind.  So lets see what’s here.  Oh, trying to get them to switch to DirecTV.  It looks like this is a bill from the city of Hickory, must be a water bill.  Store coupons that we all get.  Ooh, what is this?  Mt. Creek Construction.  Ooh it’s from his company…lets see what it is.  Annual performance review…ya’ll want to be nosey?  You want to see how Jeff is doing his job?

That’s crazy right.  That’s absurd.  I would never go into their mailbox.  And hopefully they know that.  We trust each other not to do that.  And I think it’s federal offense to get into someone else’s mailbox.  As absurd as that sounds that’s what the book of Revelation is.  It’s a letter in which churches get to read each other’s mail.  It’s written to these seven churches on one scroll.  Here's map of Asia Minor. 

It is modern day Turkey.  Here’s where John is in exile and here is where the churches are.  So Ephesus is the first church.  They will copy the scroll to have for themselves and send the original up to Smyrna.  And on around the letter would travel.  It wasn’t just a letter, it was a letter strategically written for a purpose to these seven churches.  Churches that would then spread the message from their own cities out across the rest of Asia and Europe. 

The book of Revelation is a letter written to seven churches before 100 AD and it was one scroll.  For that reason, it was intended to be read out loud during worship services.  It was primarily heard by the people more than it was seen by them.  So the rich imagery and symbolism would have had them able to follow along with the message throughout the reading of the book.  And when I say reading, I mean the whole book.  It was probably sometimes split up into sections, but they would have been large sections, not just a few verses like we are looking at today.  So what that means is that it can be dangerous to take just one verse or two verses and make it say whatever you want it to say without considering the entire book of Revelation as a whole.

Another thing about the book of Revelation is that because it is apocalyptic literature, it is not to be taken literally.  The word “Revelation” in Greek is apokalypsis – which means an unveiling or revealing.  It is full of imagery and symbolism from the Old Testament because it was written to Christians who would have been familiar with the Old Testament and what those images meant.  Therefore, most of Revelation cannot be taken literally.  It just can’t…the 1^st century readers did not take it literally…John did not write to be taken literally…neither should we take it literally.  The genre of Apocalyptic means it is written in way to be read non-literally.  So it is a letter written in the form of apocalyptic literature to tell the truth about what is happening.

            The reason this is so important is because a letter is written at a specific time, by a specific author, to a specific person or group, for a specific purpose.  John, the author of Revelation, did not have Adolf Hitler in mind when he wrote the book of Revelation.  I remember a guy told me when I was in College that he thought that Bill Gates was the Anti-Christ.  When John wrote the book of Revelation he did not have Bill Gates or any other contemporary figure in mind.  Some of the descriptions of evil in Revelation has more to do with the emperors around the time John wrote the book then they do with the rulers of today.  Most likely the Roman emperor in power was Domitian and he was not kind to Christians.  Also, John was familiar with another evil emperor who oppressed Christians named Nero…he will be important later on in this series on the Book of Revelation.  Here’s what I’m saying, so many pastors and Christians make Revelation say what they want it to say instead of looking at the context in which it was written.  Start with the context then ask what does this mean for us today. 

At the time of Domitian’s rule in Rome Christians in these areas were being persecuted.  John wrote the book of Revelation to show the Church that in the end Jesus and those who belong to Jesus would be victorious.  That what is happening now is just temporary and that the victory is already won even though it doesn’t seem that way.  Remember the word Revelation in Greek means an unveiling…John is unveiling the truth of what has happened is happening and will happen for those who hold on to their faith in Jesus Christ.  He is saying, in a time of great persecution, keep the faith because the lamb of God has already won.  The book of Revelation is a message of hope to persecuted Christians in it’s original context.  John’s purpose was not to predict the end of the world or to give us 21^st Century Christians who the anti-Christ would be…no it was written to bring hope to Christians who were being put in the arena and torn apart by wild animals.  It was written to Christians who had heard the story of the emperor using Christians as human torches to light his banquet hall.  It was written to Christians who had heard about someone who would not claim that Domitian was Lord so they bound him to corpse and left him to rot alive.  That’s the context.  That’s why it was written. 

Next time you think you have it bad, think about what it would be like to face a torturous death simply because you would not claim that the national leader was lord.  See Domitian and other emperors like him, demanded that they be called lord and God.  And of course Christians and Jews too could not claim that the emperor was lord and god because only God, only Jesus held that title.  And so Domitian simply sought to get rid of them.

You would think Christianity would die during this time.  That the fear of persecution would destroy the church because people would fear for their lives.  You didin’t have to tell these Christians that the great tribulation was coming, no, they were already in the great tribulation.  Later in the letter when John writes of the great tribulation, these Christians are saying, yeah, that’s what we are going through here and now.  It wasn’t sometime in the future, it was here and now for them.    They were already suffering the worst of the worst.  And you know what, the church did not shrink and lose members, the church grew.  Throughout history, during times of the greatest persecution the church has grown exponentially.  When the persecution is the worst, the most faithful Christians rise up and spread the gospel more powerfully that at any other time in history.  Throughout history, during times of great blessing and prosperity, the church has shrunk and declined.

You all know where we are in the United States of America.  Christians are not persecuted here.  We don’t fear for our lives.  In fact, most people in the United States of America think they can make it in life on their own.  So why do we need God?  John, writing under God’s inspiration writes in Revelation chapter 3 to the church at Laodicea verses 17-19.  That sounds like the United States of America.  Now, it was written to the church at Laodicea and the warning was for the church at Laodicea, but we can see the same thing happening around us, can’t we. This is how you apply Revelation.  I’m not saying John was writing the United States of America when he was writing to Laodicea.  What I am saying is that like the churches in Laodicea, we have bought the lie that we are self-sufficient.  We have bought the lie that we can accomplish our dreams and when we do we will be happy, we will be rich.  It doesn’t work that way does it. 

The kind of richness God talks about in verse 18 is a richness of recognizing that we are the opposite of self-sufficient.  That we can’t live life on our own.  That we need a savior and a Lord.  Not a lord like Domitian that purports a lifestyle of prosperity and ownership and power by the sword, but a Lord who purports a lifestyle of faithfulness, love, generosity and power by grace and mercy.  Revelation is a letter whose warnings and promises we need for today.  We may not be persecuted like the church was at the time this was written, but we still need hope.

            The closest thing to persecution most of us experience is the testing of our faith.  It’s in those times that we realize the significance of the message of the book of Revelation  That when our faith is tested, we must realize that Jesus has overcome evil, sin and death and we have nothing to fear.  That even in the face of certain death…we have nothing to fear…because death is not the final answer.  Jesus has overcome and eternal life is the final answer.  Death just leads us into another life, into a new creation.  Revelation is about hope and faithfulness to Christians in the midst of hard times. 

It was and is a letter to 1^st Century Christians that we get to read and that we get to believe and live out and whose message we get to receive.  The message is this: there is always hope…no matter how dark life is, no matter that it looks like evil is winning, no matter that a loved one dies tragically, no matter that someone you care about is diagnosed with cancer, no matter that a married couple you love is getting divorced, no matter that your mom or dad is diagnosed with dementia or Alzheimer’s, no matter that you have lost your job, no matter that what there is hope.  Because God is God, Jesus is Lord, the Holy Spirit is powerful and God has overcome and defeated all that threatens the human race.  Let the message of the book of Revelation be what it was intended to be…a message of hope and victory for those who put their faith and trust I the slain Lamb of God.

Sermon from Sunday

The Wesleyan Way: Freewill

This morning I want to piggyback off of how we ended the service last week.  If you remember I showed a video of a show Oprah did where she had Pastor Rick Warren talking about cards that you are dealt in life.  He talked about how we are all dealt the card of Chemistry: we don’t choose our chemical makeup.  I did not choose to be 6’6”…if I had I would have also made myself able to jump high.  Not my choice.  He talked about the card of Connections.  We don’t choose our earliest connections.  We don’t choose who our parents are.  He talked about Circumstances.  Things happen in our lives outside of our control, those are our circumstances.  Maybe we were born without a limb or with cerebral palsy or whatever our predispositions are…that is our circumstances.  Then our Consciousness, these are things we have been told all of our lives.  Things in our heads that maybe we can’t get out of our heads and just have to deal with.  I cannot change the fact that I have a memory of some kids in school insulting me and making me feel like a nobody.  Then he said, the fifth card in the deck of life we are handed is the wild card.  The fifth card is Choices.  We didn’t choose our chemistry, but we can choose to be positive and take care of our mind and body.  We didn’t choose our earliest connections, but we can choose to have healthy relationships now.  We didn’t choose our circumstances…but we can make the best of what we have gone through in life and choose to put ourselves in better situations for our future.  We didn’t choose our Consciousness…we didn’t choose our brains and we didn’t choose to have the memories we have growing up, but we can choose to make better memories now and we can choose to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

Do you remember that from last week?  Okay, most people would agree with that…that we have choices.  Most Christians, pastors and people who make it their career to study the Bible would agree with that.  However, many Christians, pastors, theologians and bible scholars would very much disagree on whether or not we have a choice when it comes to our salvation.  There is this prominent, popular belief among many Christians and pastors and Bible scholars that we don’t choose whether we are saved or not, but that God chooses whether we are saved or not.  This belief called Limited Atonement or Particular Redemption.  The word you may have heard it as is predestination.  It’s part of an entire theological system articulated by a French theologian who lived in the 1500’s named John Calvin and cutely illustrated by the word acronym TULIP.  PIC.

I don’t have time to go over this entire system and preach and teach on freewill, so I just want to talk for a minute about this idea of Limited Atonement then share why I don’t subscribe to this and why I am a Methodist. 

Here are a couple of quotes by John Calvin:

God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation.

God “saves whom he wills of his mere good pleasure.”
Regarding the lost: “it was his good pleasure to doom to destruction.”

            This is what is known as double predestination.  If God predestines some to salvation and the person has nothing to do with choosing God, then God also predestines some people to damnation and they have no power, no say in the matter at all.

Let me tell you about Justus Arminius.  He was a dutch theologian that came right after John Calvin and the theology of John Wesley and the Methodist Church comes out of Arminius’s writings.  Arminius believed in free will and wrote specifically against this idea of predestination that John Calvin was so sure of.  Here’s what Arminius said:

Concerning Grace and Free Will, this is what I teach according to the Scriptures and orthodox consent:—Free Will is unable to begin or to perfect any true and spiritual good, without Grace.

                He also came up with a system like Calvin did that doesn’t have a cool acronym like TULIP…it would be HCURF which isn’t nearly as pleasant as TULIP…but I believe it’s more Biblical.  His 5 points are basically the opposite of Calvin’s 5 points.  So where Calvin says we have no say in our own salvation…Arminius says…we have say in our salvation…God’s grace is a gift that we either accept or reject.  We have a choice.  And what that means also is that just as we can choose salvation through Jesus Christ, we can also choose to reject Jesus and no longer be saved.  Arminius believed so strongly in freewill that just as Calvin believed in double predestination – God chooses some to salvation and some to damnation at his good pleasure – just as Calvin believed that – Arminius believed in double freewill – you can choose to be saved and you can choose not to be saved and you make that choice at any point in your life.

                So enough about what these two dead theologians said…lets look at scripture.  Lets look at what the Bible says.  Here’s the deal, there are scriptures that point to predestination and foreknowledge and those kinds of ideas.  However, I believe in each of those scriptures where we see those words and those ideas context dictates the meaning and in each case assumes that the group who is predestined chose for themselves salvation.  How that works I don’t know.  I also believe that where the simplest truth is obvious that’s the one that’s going to win me over when it comes to a debate between freewill and predestination.  Here are two scriptures that to me so clearly and obviously point to the truth of freewill and of what God’s pleasure is.

            Peter is talking about judgment and last days and says this: READ 2 Peter 3:8-9.  God’s pleasure is not that some people are predestined to damnation.  I actually believe that just as Jesus wept for Lazarus and because he saw the destruction of the Temple because of his people’s unfaithfulness I also believe that Jesus weeps when people reject him for their eternal salvation.  If it is God’s desire that none should perish and everyone come to repentance then doesn’t it make sense that He grieves when someone doesn’t accept his gift of grace in Jesus Christ?

            Lets look at the second scripture: READ 1 Timothy 2:1-6.  God’s desire is for all people to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.  Even politicians.  That’s the point of this scripture.  Paul starts by saying pray for your leaders…the kings and all those in authority.  God knows people in authority are often dirty…and he knows that they need to be saved…and Paul says God actually wants them to be saved.  God desires that Obama be saved. 

            When it comes to freewill lets keep it simple…any of you heard of the KISS method…Keep it simple stupid.  It sounds derogatory but I think it’s true.  So I started with all this theology and TULIP and Calvin and Arminius…lets just use the KISS method and think about these scriptures and scriptures like John 3:16: READ.   

It’s obvious to me that we have freewill and that we’ve had from the beginning of time.  If Adam and Eve didn’t choose to eat the fruit (Eve was first) then humanity cannot be held responsible for sin entering the world.

So the question then becomes: what are we doing with freewill?  What kind of choices are you making in your life?  Are you making choices that allow the fruit of the spirit to grow and mature and ripen in your life…or are the choices you are making the fruit…or not even the fruit…but the actions of the flesh. 

            One thing that helps keep us in the right state of mind and helps us remember to develop the fruit of the spirit in our lives is communion.  The fruit of the spirit is this love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  I’m going to say them again and I want you to think about as you take communion which one of these characteristics of the fruit of the spirit do you need to develop in your life.  Would you listen to them again and as you prepare to take communion and as you take communion would you be in a worshipful and prayerful mindset as you think about which fruit of the spirit you want to choose to work on, because you have the choice, to work on it this week.  Which one do you need to work on…and I hope you will choose to pray and seek God and ask him to help you. 

August Newsletter Article

The Dentist and Church

I went to the Dentist last week (Monday the 29^th).  My vehement dislike for dental procedures (including cleanings) meant that I had not been to the Dentist in 4 or 5 years (I would not recommend waiting that long in between visits).  I felt so sorry for the girl cleaning my teeth that I continued to apologize to her.  I felt bad that my teeth had not been professionally cleaned in a long time because I know it made her job harder than it should have been.  She was sweet and assured me that she had seen worse.  While my teeth felt smooth and polished afterwards, my gums were sore (I was quite disappointed at myself for not taking better care of my gums).  I have since promised myself that I would not wait 5 years to visit the Dentist again and that I would be more consistent in flossing my teeth.

            I imagine the experience I had at the Dentist must be similar to the experience first time visitors (or even long time non-attenders) have when they attend a church service: disappointment.  They have finally answered God’s prompting to attend a church service and when they do they just end up being disappointed: either at themselves or at the church.  They don’t like the feeling they get at the church service so they don’t go back to a service for a few years or possibly even ever.

            It’s possible that the person just didn’t attend the right church for them, but often it’s the church’s fault when someone has a bad experience.  Sometimes the congregation can make a visitor or a long time non-attender feel like they don’t belong.  Instead of welcoming them home like the father did to the wayward son in the parable of the prodigal son, they act superior and holier and make the person feel unwelcome and unwanted.  Or maybe the pastor goes on and on about sin and judgment and God’s wrath without ever talking about God’s grace and mercy.  So the person just feels shame and guilt and never wants to come back.

            Maybe it took more courage than we realize for that person to even step foot in a church.  It took courage for me to go the Dentist after not going for a few years.  I had fears and reservations about going but I knew it was important for my health.  Maybe the visitor felt the same way.  They had fears and worries about what their experience would be like but decide to take the chance anyway.  When they take that chance what kind of experience do they have?

            The answer to that question is up to all of us who attend church consistently.  And by the way, if you are a member of a church, any church, you should attend consistently.  If you are a member of a United Methodist church you made a vow (among other promises) that you would support the church with your presence.  That means you attend the worship services when you are able to do so…not just when it’s convenient for you.  If you feel bad after reading the last three sentences then God must be prompting you to get back in church on a regular basis.

            Back to the topic…It is up to those of us who attend church services on a consistent basis to make those who don’t attend services regularly have the best experience possible when they do show up.  We are the Church (captiol “C”), we are the body of Christ, it’s up to us to let people know they are loved and welcome when they make the effort to attend our church (little “c”) services.  Lets make every effort to be the kind of “C”hurch God wants us to be so that people who attend “c”hurch feel invited, welcomed, included and accepted.  As for my part to play…I’m going to start by flossing my teeth!                                                                                                

Sermon from Sunday: The Quadrilateral

We started a new sermon series at Catawba UMC this Sunday called the Wesleyan Way.  Here's the first one in the series from this Sunday, The Qaudrilateral (you can also scroll tot he bottom of this blog to listen to the message):

We are starting a new series this morning called the Wesleyan Way.  John Wesley (pic) is the founder and father of the Methodist church as we know it.  He was an Anglican priest in the early 1700’s and started doing things that the church of England didn’t like…like going to the coal miners to preach.  The Church of England believed people should come to them, Wesley believed the Church should bring the gospel to the people.  So that’s what he did and the Church of England was not very happy.  Wesley never lost his credentials as an Anglican priest but he did for all other purposes leave the Anglican Church and start a new movement of people early on called Methodists.

You might be wondering what in the world this word found in the title of the sermon today is: “quadrilateral.”  Let me ask you this: How do you know who God is and what God expects of you?  How do you know that God exists?  How do you know that God loves you?  Even more practically, how do you know that murder is wrong?  How do you know that lying and stealing is wrong?  How do you know that forgiveness is right?

The quadrilateral was John Wesley’s way of exploring and even answering these questions.  The word itself quadrilateral was coined by a United Methodist scholar named Albert Outler.  After spending an incredible amount of time reading John Wesley’s writings, Outler concluded that for Wesley there are four resources that help us answer those questions.  Outler coined those four resources the “quadrilateral.  They are: scripture, tradition, reason and experience.  You would have to be really into this to get this T-Shirt: Pic.

                Some of you might be thinking, how in the world does this apply to me and why should I care about two dead guys who came up with the concept and word quadrilateral?  It’s a fair question and one I might be asking if I was in your place this morning.  Look at it this way: if you have ever been faced with a hard decision this applies to you.  Because these are four God given resources made available to Christians for decision making.  Think about it, faced with a hard decision:  What does scripture say?  What does tradition, the past say and what can I learn from it?  What does my brain tell me, what’s logical, that’s reason?  What does my experience tell me, what does the Holy Spirit living inside me tell me?  So the quadrilateral is a set of four resources that helps us know who God is and what God expects of us.

            One more thing, while this is distinctly an invention within the Methodist church, I hope you see that this is applicable within any denomination.  That while it was formed within Methodism, it’s not just a Methodist tool, it’s a tool any Christian of any denomination can use.  And so maybe you love the Methodist Church and that’s great, maybe you’re more indifferent to the Methodist church and that’s just where you are, either way, this idea of the quadrilateral is helpful for anyone who calls themselves a Christian. 

            Let’s look at each one of these resources.  For Wesley, these four resources were not of equal value.  Scripture was primary.  Scripture was the main one.  Albert Outler said before he died that he wished he had not coined the word quadrilateral because so many people took it to mean that each of the four resources are equal.  And that’s not what he meant because that’s not what Wesley believed.  A statement found in the United Methodist Book of Discipline offers a correct understanding of the quadrilateral: "Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason. Scripture [however] is primary, revealing the Word of God so far as it is necessary for our salvation.'"                 

Scripture attests to itself in 2 Timothy 3:16.  It is God breathed.  It is of a divine origin.  However, we know, that it was written by people, mostly by men.  Its human element does not take away from its divine origin and it’s divine origin does not take away from its human element.  The Bible is our primary source for all things related to our faith and the practice of our faith.  People will say “what about the contradictions in the Bible and what about where it’s wrong when it comes to science.  The Bible was written by people influenced by, inspired by, led by God Himself.  However, it is not a scientific textbook and was not meant to be a scientific textbook.  It is primary for faith and practice, not primary for science and math.  So the other three resources: tradition, experience and reason only make sense if they are in conjuction with scripture.  Lets talk about tradition.

            Tradition is about history.  It’s about what has happened in the past.  Both good and bad.  We learn from the bad and we celebrate the good.  Within the Methodist church itself there is some bad.  The early Methodist church supported the separation of whites and blacks even within the church itself.  That’s something the Methodist church is not proud of and it’s how the African Methodist Episcopal church or AME church began.  Black people weren’t happy so they started their own denomination.  I don’t blame them.  We learned that ordaining women is a good thing.  It took several years after the Methodist Church began before it would ordain women. 

            There’s some good things as well.  In our tradition John Wesley believed in personal holiness and social justice.  He believed that if you were a holy person, you would naturally be involved in making the world a better place.  The coined the rules of life that as an ordained person I agreed to uphold: Do no harm, Do all the good you can and attend to the ordinances of God.  Which means practice the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, fasting, communion and attending worship services on a regular basis.  Some of you would be surprised to know that one of our traditions is that at one time in the early 1800’s we were known as “shouting Methodists.”  What we now call “Pentecostal churches” and “Charismatic churches” started at this time with the holiness movement of the Methodist Church.  Look at this report given by someone in the Formalist tradition in 1848.

Such groaning and shouting, it sets me to doubting.

I fear such religion is only a dream.

The preachers were stamping, the people were jumping,

And screaming so loud that I nothing could hear....

The men they were bawling, the women were squalling,

I know not for my part how any could pray....

Amid such a clatter who knows what's the matter?

Or who can attend unto what is declared?

To see them behaving, like drunkards, all raving,

And lying and rolling prostrate on the ground.

I really felt awful, and sometimes felt fearful

That I'd be the next that would come tumbling down.

                The services where people are shouting and dancing and laying prostrate on the ground, that was the Methodist church, that was us at one time.  So if you want to talk about tradition, it doesn’t just mean the hymns, it doesn’t just mean saying the Lord’s prayer every Sunday, lets talk about all the traditions.  If you consider yourself a traditionalist then why aren’t you shouting?  That’s part of the tradition of the Methodist church.  When Wesley talked about the importance of tradition, he was talking about those things we can learn from and those things we should celebrate.  Where did the Methodist church get this idea that worship had to be quiet and somber and rigid?

            Now, there are some traditions that are steeped in historical struggle.  One of those traditions is the Apostle’s Creed.  This statement of belief did not just happen on it’s on, it took years and years to develop and it’s earliest form was established in the 4^th century.  Wesley believed that the Apostle’s Creed was an accurate statement of faith that we as Methodists, more importantly, we as Christians can share together.  Would stand and say it with me: Apostle’s Creed.

The author of Hebrews has just listed heroes of Bible and talked about how their faith allowed them to do incredible things.  In chapter 12 the authors says this: Hebrews 12:1-2.  We have a history, a tradition of people who did incredible things because of their faith, let us join the tradition of fixing our eyes on Jesus as well.

Lets talk about reason.  Wesley declared “Is it not reason (assisted by the Holy Ghost) which enables us to understand what the Holy Scriptures declare concerning the being and attributes of God? – concerning his eternity and immensity; his power, wisdom, and holiness?  It is by reason that God enables us in some measure to comprehend his method of dealing with the children of men; the nature of his various dispensations, of the old and new covenant, of the law and the gospel.”^[1]  What Wesley is saying is that God gave us a brain, use it.  Paul says the same thing in Romans 12:1-2.  He’s talked about the people of Israel being saved and all people being invited to be a part of the Kingdom of God and then he says:

Paul says if you want to know God’s good and perfect will for you, you need to be transformed not by your heart, not by your feelings, not by your faith, by your mind.  What does your mind do, it reasons.  It uses logic.  It thinks.  Jesus was asked one time by a man how someone inherits eternal life.  Jesus said what do you think?  The man said: Luke 10:27.  Jesus says yes, you’re right.  Jesus doesn’t correct him even though he quoted a beloved scripture by Jewish people…this guy quoted it wrong.  The original quote is to love the lord with all you heart, soul and strength.  Here the mind is added and Jesus says yes.

Sometimes our brains disagree with each other.  Sometimes the way I reason things and the way my wife reasons things are very different.  Therefore, reason itself does not lead to truth.  But it is a resource for us to use when in line with scripture that helps us make good decisions and more than that helps us to know God.

Last but not least is experience.  Now, when we think of experience we think of what has happened to us in the past and what we have learned through it.  That is not what Wesley meant by experience.  Wesley was very specific in what he meant by the word experience when it came to knowing God.  And Albert Outler, remember, the guy who coined the phrase quadrilateral, tried to convey this specific meaning but people have taken to mean whatever they want it to mean.

Kevin M. Watson is Assistant Professor of Wesleyan Studies at Seattle Pacific Seminary and says this:

Outler’s understanding of the role of experience in Wesley’s theology is not any experience that a person has, it is the distinctively Christian experience of assurance of the forgiveness of one’s sins. It is the experience of the witness of the Spirit. Wesley was quite fond of citing Romans 8:16 to illustrate this: “it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God.”

            In case you didn’t catch that.  For Wesley the kind of experience he’s talking about is the experience of conversion.  The experience of being saved.  The experience of giving your life to Christ to live on this earth and to have the hope of an eternal future.  If you haven’t been converted in years, you are missing out.  For Wesley the idea of conversion, the idea of knowing we are forgiven for our sins, was something we should do daily, even hourly.  When is the last time you experienced God?  When is the last time you felt the assurance of the forgiveness of sins?  This morning I want to give you an opportunity to have that experience.  The altar is open.  You are welcome to come forward and pray or you can do it in your own pew. 

---

[1] WOW, Sermon 70, Case of Reason Impartially Considered.

Into the Grey - Led by the Spirit

To do something uncomfortable takes intentionality.

To do something you’ve never done that you may not want to do, means psyching yourself up to do it.

To do something that you aren’t sure about but you know is important means you make yourself do it.

It takes deliberate, intentional effort.

It took deliberate and intentional effort for me to buy my wife a personal feminine product one time.

My wife and daughters are vegetarians (which I will argue with anyone is actually a much healthier diet than most of us eat, definitely than what I eat)…It took deliberate and intentional effort to try Tofu.

It took deliberate and intentional effort to change my daughters’ diapers when they were babies.

It took deliberate and intentional effort to go on my first Carolina Cross Connection mission trip.  On that trip it took deliberate and intentional effort to act like I knew what I was doing when we built a huge wheelchair ramp so the youth that were in my group would not be discouraged.

            It takes deliberate and intentional effort for those of you who come out on a Saturday morning once a month to deliver flowers to a nursing home or prepare and deliver meals to people who need them or prepare food kits that are delivered at times when they are most needed or build wheelchair ramps or beautify the church. 

            In our scripture today Paul reminds us of something else that takes deliberate and intentional effort.  It will take a few minutes to get there, but when we do I think it will be worth it.  Will you hang with me?

Context of Galatians - Apparently the Galatian Christian Jews – at this point Christianity was still a type of Judaism – these Christian Jews were being tempted by other Gospels and there was a big debate about Circumcision.  If you were not Jewish and you became a Christian Jew should you be circumcised?  Every Jew was circumcised at birth as part of a covenant that God had made with Abraham.  There was a big debate about whether or not a non-Jew (a gentile) who became a Christian (which would be a new type of Judaism) should become circumcised.  Paul addresses this and some other issues.  He basically warns them of following evangelists of other Gospels than that of the one they have already received.

Paul addresses these issues and offers some corrective teaching and then we come to chapter 3 where that corrective teaching continues.  Read 3:1-6. 

There must have been some teaching around that was saying Jesus really was not crucified.  So Paul simply reminds them that indeed he was crucified.  The teaching that Jesus was not crucified is false teaching.  Someone, Paul says, is tricking you, is deceiving you is bewitching you.  To be bewitched is to be a victim of someone’s “evil eye” or “evil spell.”  Paul is using language that will call out the pagan aspect of what is taught so that they will hopefully see that take notice and change their ways.  Then he introduces the Spirit. 

Paul asks a question that is rhetorical, the question is how did you receive the spirit?  Was it: A. by works of the law or B. by believing what you heard?  The answer is obvious – obviously in Paul’s mind they received it by what they heard.  But they have been bewitched to believe that by following the law they gain the Spirit.

Paul asks another question. Really?  Are you so foolish?  Really?  You really think that you received the Spirit by performing good works.  You really think that by following the law of the Torah, the law of Moses, the Ten Commandments and more laws, you really believe that by doing those things you have received the Spirit?  Obviously some of them have bought into some false teaching and Paul is challenging them.  Don’t you know that you started in the Spirit and what the Spirit started in you was done by what you heard?  By living according to that Spirit?  Paul is saying: “You are trying to complete what the Spirit started by good works.  It doesn’t happen that way with God.”

            This work in you that the Spirit has started leads to good works not the other way around.  Some Christian Jews believed that their good works created the life of the Spirit in them.  No, the life of the Spirit in them leads them towards good works.  Some of these Jewish Christians have it backwards. 

            I believe some of us have it backwards as well.  We think that if we are moral, if we live moral lives, if we don’t cuss and don’t get drunk and don’t commit adultery and don’t lie and don’t steal and don’t cheat that God will give us His Spirit.  That if we don’t do those things we have the gift of the Spirit.  No, it’s a lie.  God has already given us His Spirit.  It’s not what we do or don’t do that makes the Spirit more alive in our lives, the Spirit is already alive in our lives and leads us towards the things God wants for us.

What Paul is saying is that the gospel way of life in the Spirit is not about the certainty of rules or of social status but about the certainty of living in God.  It’s about the certainty of freedom.  It’s about being no longer self centered, but others centered.  The desire of the Galatian Christians to find security in following the moral law, instead of living by the Spirit is in Paul’s mind a form of bewitchment. 

For us today, if your idea of living the Christian life is bound only in moral living you are bewitched.  If the highest Christian ideal for you is defined by morals and only morals, you are bewitched.  If a Christian is someone defined by what they don’t do, you are bewitched, the enemy has tricked you, the gospel you have adopted is not the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We are not primarily people of morals, We are primarily people of the Spirit.  People who acknowledge with Paul, that because Jesus was Crucified and raised from the dead, the Spirit of God has been unleashed within us and through us, so that our highest ideal is not a moral standard, but the Spirit of God Himself. 

The Galatian Christians are attracted by the law.  They know the law.  The law makes sense.  The law is specifically spelled out.  Now that Christ has fulfilled the law and we have the Spirit we can follow the law and get more of the Spirit, that’s what they are thinking.  And Paul comes along and says – the law is not what we should be attracted to – God is who we should be attracted to.  The Spirit does not come by obeying the law.  Catawba, the Spirit does not come by following a set of morals.  The Spirit comes by making ourselves open and willing to follow and live by the Spirit.  It takes intentional recognition and a willingness to be shaped and defined by the Spirit.  For Christians to change their minds about their priorities we have to open ourselves up to the Spirit of God.  It takes deliberate and intentional effort to live by the Spirit.

If you live primarily by morals you will be judgmental.

If you live primarily by morals you will often feel guilt and shame because we can’t keep the standards of God.  Just like the Jews could not fully obey the law.

If you live primarily by morals you will think you are better than everyone else.

If you live primarily by morals you will be defined by what you don’t do instead of what you do.

If you live primarily by morals and morals alone, you will miss out on the freedom and joy and abundance that God has for you.

Should we have morals, yes, absolutely we should.  Those morals should be led by the Spirit not by our own understanding of right and wrong.  We don’t put our trust in morals, we put our trust in God and in the truth that God’s spirit lives in us and through us.  We don’t follow morals, we follow Jesus Christ.  IT’s not a bunch of rules, it is a relationship offered through the Holy Spirit.  And it takes intentional and deliberate effort to follow and live by the Spirit.  If you trust in morals they will let you down, the Spirit of God will never let you down.

This is hard for us.  It’s easier, it’s much easier to have a set of morals laid out before us that we follow than it is to follow the Spirit.  But it does not lead to the freedom and joy and hope and transformational life that God has for us.  Living by the Spirit leads to that life.  We are tempted by the same thing these Galataian Christians were tempted by.  We are tempted to have a check list of morals that we follow and abandon the leading of the Spirit.  And following morals is oppressive and shackling, that’s why so many Christians live in guilt all the time and think God is mad at them all the time.

Following the Spirit sets us free from that type of oppressive thinking and belief.  One of the most powerful things Satan can do is make you think you are a good person because you follow a set of morals.  That type of life will drain the joy and freedom and abundant life that God has for you. 

Following the Spirit takes intentional and deliberate effort and it is not easy but it is worth it.  Paul talks about how hard it is for us later in this same letter to the church at Galatia.   After talking about being called to live in freedom, being called to love Paul says in Galatains 5:16 ¹⁶ So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. ¹⁷ For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever^[a] you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

            Let me reiterate, if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.  If you are led by the Spirit you are not under morality.  The law was a good thing that the Galatian church let become the priority and let get in the way of the Spirit.  Morals are a good thing that we often let become a priority and thus get in the way of the Spirit.

           Paul says there is a war going on inside of us.  The Spirit and the flesh are at war with each other inside our hearts, inside our minds and inside our souls.  The war is raging and it’s not easy.  The flesh desires what it wants and the spirit desires what it wants – that’s the war.  It reminds me of an Indian story. 

One evening an old Cherokee Indian told his grandson: “A fight is going on inside of me.  It is a terrible fight between two wolves.  One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.’

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: ‘Which wolf wins?’

The old Cherokee simply replied, ‘The one you feed.’

And so it is with the battle between the flesh and the Spirit happening within each one of us.  Which one are you feeding?  Have you intentionally opened your heart, your mind, your soul to the Spirit of God, because if you haven’t done that the flesh is winning the war within you.  If you are deliberate and intentional about living for Jesus Christ, living by the Spirit, you have a chance, we have a chance to be the people of God that He wants us to be.

To be defined not by what we don’t do, but by what we do.  Not do be defined because we don’t cuss, but because we uplift and encourage with our words.  Not to be defined because we don’t get drunk, but because we can be around people who get drunk and still show them that we love them.  Not to be defined because we don’t cheat on our spouse, but to be defined by how we sacrificially serve and love our spouse.  Not to be defined because aren’t addicted to anything, but to be defined as one who goes out of our way to help those who are addicted.  Not to be defined because we don’t lie, cheat and steal, but because we are ridiculously generous and radically hospitable.

It is easier to be defined by what we don’t do.  But that’s not living by the spirit.  That’s not walking by the Spirit, that’s living according to set of morals.  Don’t drop morals, I’m not saying morals aren’t a good thing, what I am saying is that when we let morals become our priority we leave God out of our lives.  Jesus challenged the people who followed the law, Jesus challenged the people who were supposedly moral, more than he did anyone else.  Why?  Because those people thought they knew the way to God and they missed out on what God had for them. 

            To us Morals makes sense.  Morals are something we can follow.  Morals are easier than living by the Spirit.  But we are not called to trust in morals.  We are not called to be filled with the law.  We are not called to be defined by what we don’t do.  We are called to walk by the Spirit.  To live a lifestyle where we hear and obey the Spirit and sometimes it’s not easy, sometimes it’s risky, sometimes it will lead us into the grey areas of life.  It takes intentional and deliberate effort to open our hearts and minds and souls to the Spirit of God. 

            So I ask which wolf will you feed?  The wolf of the flesh where set your own set of morals?  Or the wolf of the Spirit which may just lead you into some grey areas.  Feed the Spirit.  Open yourself up to the possibility that God actually wants to talk to you.  When you open yourself to that truth.  When you are intentional about hearing the Spirit of God, you will experience a freedom and joy and new life and new boldness that you have never experienced before.  Feed the Spirit and watch what happens.

Sermon from Sunday June 16th - Luck and/or Providence

Into the Grey

Luck and Providence

            Raise your hand if you believe in luck?  Raise your hand if you believe God is still active on this earth?  The question then is this: How do we know when something happens if it was luck or if it was God’s will?  As we continue this series called Into the Grey I want to talk this morning about this Grey area of when is something luck and when is something God’s will.

            Some of you may have had some trees or large limbs fall from the small tornado that came through the area on Thursday.  Anybody?  We had a fairly large limb fall in the front yard towards the house.  However, it stopped before it actually hit the parsonage.  The leaves from the limb are just lightly touched the brick on the front of the house.  It did no damage at all.  Now, was that good luck or was that God’s protection?

            I ran a stop sign one time and the cop gave me a ticket.  Was God punishing me for running the stop sign or did I just catch the cop on a bad day?  Another time I ran a stop sign the cop didn’t give me a ticket.  I could say “thank you God for manipulating the cop so he didn’t give me a ticket” or I could say “wow, that was lucky.”   

            When I play Candy Land or Monopoly with my daughters, both those games are won by the person with the most luck.  They are games of chance.  So when someone wins did God orchestrate the dice and the cards so that who wins is who He wanted to win or is it just luck?

            We as Christians believe that God is at work in this world and that He knows the very number of hairs on our heads (He has to count more for some of us than he does for others).  We believe God has a plan and a purpose and that He wants us to be a part of His plan and purpose.  So where does luck fit in?

            What got me thinking about this is a conversation I had right here at a church a few weeks ago.  Let me read the scripture and then I will share that conversation with you.  The scripture is from Acts 1 verses 15-26.  Jesus has been raised from the dead and he has gone back up to heaven.  The disciples return to Jerusalem and they’re first order of business is to find a replacement for Judas.  Remember Judas betrayed Jesus.  We learn what happened to him from our scripture today.  (Read Acts 1:15-26).

            A few weeks ago (I think it was 3 weeks ago) I was saying good morning to the Explorer’s Sunday school class like I usually do on Sunday mornings after the early service and as always, Ronnie and Charlie were back there.  I think Sandy was back there as well and I can’t remember if anyone else had arrived for the class by that time.  Charlie asked me if I remembered who took Judas’s place as the 12th disciple after he had betrayed Jesus.  I said, I remember how they determined who they picked, but I don’t remember the name of who was chosen.  Whoever it was, I knew he was chosen by casting lots.  Casting Lots was the modern day equivalent of throwing the dice.  Matthias was the one chosen.  They rolled the dice and Matthias was the one the dice selected.

            And then I started thinking out loud and I said “it makes you wonder doesn’t it?  Was Matthias chosen because He got lucky, because chance was on his side?  Or was He chosen because God manipulated the Lots that were cast so that Matthias was chosen instead of Joseph?  And I said, “that will be a good topic to look at for the next series I’m doing about the grey areas in life.”  And here we are.

            Casting lots was something practiced by the priests in the Old Testament.  It was actually a way to determine God’s will.  God told Moses in Leviticus to Cast Lots to determine the scapegoat and the goat for a sacrifice.  When it came to dividing the newly conquered promised land for the Israelites, the way the twelve tribes divided the land was done by casting lots.  When Jonah was on the boat and the storm came up, the men on the boat cast lots to see who was on the boat causing God to bring the storm and Jonah was the one the Lots pointed to as the one causing the problems and they threw him overboard.  Casting Lots was used to determine God’s will in the Old Testament and it carried over into the New Testament as well.  When Jesus is hanging on the cross a few of the soldiers cast lots to determine who gets his clothes.  Then we have our scripture where lots are cast to see who would be the 12^th disciple.

            One thing we have to understand is that this decision was not a small decision.  The church of Jesus Christ established in the book of Acts was the work of these 12 disciples.  These men would determine the future of God’s church.  For God’s church to grow and thrive and be healthy they had to choose the right person.  And they roll the dice believing that God would guide the dice to pick the right person.

            What do we do with that today?  I mean should we roll the dice to determine big decisions in our lives.  God I can either take this job or that job, I’ll roll the dice and decide and trust that you will make the dice fall how you want it too?  God I can either marry this person or that person, I’ll roll the dice.  I don’t think any of us made the decision on who we married by rolling the dice did we.  We just don’t let chance dictate our major decisions.  We may let it decide little decisions.  I have a good friend that’s as indecisive as I am.  And we’ll be talking about where to meet for lunch and he’ll often say “name two or three places you could eat and then I’ll pick one.  So I’ll name them and then he’ll say “well it’s down to two places.”  And then we will say, let’s flip a coin to determine which place we go to.”  We actually do this.  It gets even more ridiculous.  So we’ll flip a coin and then say it lands on heads…he’ll say “are happy or disappointed that it landed on heads.”  And if I say “I was hoping it landed on tails” then we will go to the other restaurant.  Isn’t that ridiculous.  We may leave small decisions to chance and that’s fine, but not big ones.  I think it is dangerous to leave big decisions to chance.  Here’s why. 

This text is from the book of Acts.  The very next book after Jesus was resurrected and ascended - went up to heaven.  God promised the twelve disciples that in a few days the Holy Spirit would descend upon them.  And in the very next chapter that’s exactly what happens.  When the Holy Spirit comes upon them, this is now the point when God has fulfilled His promise not to leave the disciples, not to leave the church as orphans.  Jesus promised that God would send a Holy Comforter, the Holy Spirit to be His presence on this earth now that God in the human flesh is no longer present on this earth.  The Holy Spirit comes and now we no longer need to rely on chance, on luck, on rolling the dice, on casting lots, because now we have a two way open door relationship with God where we talk to Him anytime and He can talk to us anytime.

We do not see another example of casting lots for the rest of the story of the Bible after Acts 1.  Why?  Because God has unleashed the Holy Spirit into this world and into believers so that we no longer have to rely on luck, we can now rely on the powerful, life-giving, all wise, creator of the heavens and earth to help us make decisions.  You want to know what you are supposed to do in any given situation?  Here’s the answer: seek God’s will. 

What should we do to seek God's will? First, we should look to the scripture. Many questions can be decided by simply knowing what God has directed us to do in scripture.  2 Timothy 3:16-17  ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷ so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  Are you in the word of God?  Second, we should pray (1 Thes. 5:17).  Sometimes life is so difficult, it’s so hard that we don’t even know how or what to pray: Romans 8:26-27 tells us: "26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."  Get in the word, pray and trust the Holy Spirit.  In John 16:13 Jesus tells His disciples of the promise of the Spirit: "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come."
            We have received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Because we have received the Holy Spirit, Christians today have no need for casting lots when it comes to making a major decision.  I still believe in luck.  I believe whoever wins in our family when we play Candy Land had the best luck.  There are some things in life decided by chance, so I believe in chance, in luck, I just don’t trust in it.  I trust in the God of the universe speaking to me and through me.  I trust that at the end of my life, God does not roll the dice to determine whether I go to heaven or hell.  But instead because I am covered by the powerful, redeeming blood of Christ shed on the cross that I am forgiven and saved and that I will enter an eternity of glorious splendor in heaven to be united with my loved ones and meet my savior face to face. 

Romans 10:9-10 says this ⁹ if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; ¹⁰ for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.  Don’t put where you spend your eternity to chance.  If you do not know, and I mean know.  You got know, that you know that you know that you’re saved, and if you don’t know that you know that you know that you are saved…it’s not something you want to leave to chance.  It’s not something you want to be in the Grey area.  The Gospel is clear that you can know that you are saved.  The altar is open this morning.  If you want to pray in your pew you are welcome to do that.  If you want to pray at the altar you are welcome to do that.  We gather here on Sunday morning to break from what’s happening in the world outside these walls.  Let this morning be a time for you to get right with God, to redidicate your life to God, to find assurance of your salvation.  Take that time now.