Let No Debt Remain Outstanding

I had Lynn's car inspected several weeks ago (it passed, hooray!). When I paid Guy the $16 for the inspection, he noticed that the lamination was peeling off my credit card. I am literally wearing my credit card out! So you think that maybe I'm using it too much? Credit cards are a real convenience, and we do pay off our balance each month. But the problem with credit cards is that they are a convenience; they make it very convenient to buy things you don't need with money that you don't have. The average family carries about $8000 in credit card debt.

Paul told the Romans, "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another" (Rom 12:8). We are called by God to be faithful stewards of the blessings that he has entrusted to us and to share with those in need. Timothy is told to tell those who have money "to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life" (1 Tim 6:18-19).

Too many if us have compromised our ability to do good works and share with others because we have over-obligated ourselves with debt buying things that we can't really afford. Think about it-- if you are carrying $8000 in revolving credit card debt, then you bought $8000 worth of things that you couldn't afford. That is so simple that its not even funny... well, maybe it is funny. Watch this Hulu clip.



We call the Friday after Thanksgiving "Black Friday" because this is the number #1 shopping day when retailers recoup losses and get in the black. Maybe we should call it "Red Friday" because it is when many shoppers begin their overspending and running up balances on their credit cards. Maybe we should implement this policy of "if you don't have money, then don't buy things." It seems pretty simple really. It also seems pretty Biblical.

The Blood of the Cross

The accounts of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ in the gospels share very few details about the actual crucifixion itself. Oh, we are told several of the things that Jesus said from the cross. We are told some of what the Jewish religious leaders said and did there. But as far as the actual details of the crucifixion, there isn’t a lot of information. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John say little except “When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left.” (Lk 23:33). The actual historical documents that tell of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus don’t give us many details about exactly what Jesus suffered on the cross.

Of course, the writers didn’t have to give a lot of the brutal details of the crucifixion because their readers knew those details all too well. Crucifixion was not just a manner of execution, it was a form of torture and terror designed to keep the subjugated citizenry in their place. First century people knew exactly what happened when someone was crucified. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John did not have to give a detailed explanation of the horror of crucifixion; all they had to do was to say that Jesus was crucified.

One of the criticisms of the movie The Passion of the Christ was the over-the-top portrayal (in super-slow motion) of the bloody gore and violence associated with the crucifixion. I read somewhere that Gibson used many times more fake blood in The Passion than he did in Braveheart (another movie not for the squeamish), and that is probably about right. Roger Ebert (in a very positive review of the movie), said this—

“The movie is 126 minutes long, and I would guess that at least 100 of those minutes, maybe more, are concerned specifically and graphically with the details of the torture and death of Jesus. This is the most violent film I have ever seen.”

The Passion focused on the violence of the crucifixion, and that is not really the emphasis in the Biblical story at all. Despite the mega-gallons of stage blood used in the movie, the gospel writers mention blood only once in their account, “One of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water” (Jn 19:34). (Actually, the word "blood" is also used in Matt 27:25 when the mob protested to Pilate, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" Gibson chose not to include that line in the movie due to suggestions of antisemitism.)

So did the movie use too much stage blood and make too much out of the blood of the crucifixion? I'll leave that question up to the movie critics.  What I will say is that while the gospels don’t really stress the blood spilled at the crucifixion, the rest of the New Testament does the blood of the cross quite a bit.  Our reading today from Hebrews 9 uses the word “blood” 11 times (Hebrews 10 uses it another 6 times). The writer points his Jewish readers to the Old Testament purification rituals and reminds them that everything was purified by blood, “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood” (9:22a). Jesus purifies us by offering his own blood (9:12). His point is that the blood that Jesus offered on the cross is far superior to the blood that purified in the Old Testament rituals--

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (9:13-14).

It is still true that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (9:22b).  Jesus went through the agony of the cross to pay the price for our sin and to purify us through the shedding of His own blood.

Is the imagery of blood repulsive to our modern sensitivities? Well, it should be. It shouldn’t be repulsive because our constitutions are so delicate that we are easily offended by such things. The imagery of blood should repulse us because it represents our sinfulness and rebellion and the high price it cost Jesus to love us. The gospel is soaked in the blood of Jesus.

What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

A Little Bit More

Leo Tolstoy once wrote a story about a successful peasant farmer who was not satisfied with his lot. One day he received a novel offer. For 1000 rubles, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch was that he had to be back at his starting point by sundown. Early the next morning he started out walking at a fast pace. By midday he was very tired, but he kept going, covering more and more ground. Well into the afternoon he realized that his greed had taken him far from the starting point. He quickened his pace and as the sun began to sink low in the sky, he began to run, knowing that if he did not make it back by sundown the opportunity to become an even bigger landholder would be lost. As the sun began to sink below the horizon he came within sight of the finish line. Gasping for breath, he staggered across the finish line just before the sun disappeared. He immediately collapsed, and in a few minutes he was dead. Afterwards, his servants dug his grave; so his final land grab was six feet long and three feet wide. The title of Tolstoy's story was How Much Land Does a Man Need?

In Proverbs 30, we are given insight into Jesus' instruction for us to pray, "Give us today our daily bread." Here the writer sees both wealth and poverty, success and failure as enemies to be avoided. He prays that God will give him just enough in Proverbs 30:7-9--

7 “Two things I ask of you, O Lord; do not refuse me before I die: 

8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches,

    but give me only my daily bread.

9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say,‘Who is the Lord?’

    Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.

If we have too much, then we will be tempted to have pride in ourselves and decide that we don't need God. If we have too little, then we may be tempted to steal and dishonor God. So the prayer is that God will give him just enough-- his daily bread.

Who is it that you are like. Are you like Tolstoy's farmer who constantly wants more and more... and thus can't enjoy what it is that you have.   Or have you learned the secret expressed by the writer of Proverbs-- satisfied with what you have because it is just enough? The difference here is the difference between us owning able to our things and us letting our things come to own us!

From Philemon to Eternity

Our reading for today is the little book of Philemon. This is an intensely private letter written from Paul to Philemon, a member of the church at Colossae. The book concerns Onesimus, a runaway slave that belonged to Philemon whom Paul had met in Rome and converted to Christ. Because Onesimus is Philemon’s property, Paul sends him back to Philemon. But because Onesimus is so dear to Paul and such a help in his ministry, Paul drops not so subtle hints that Philemon should free Onesimus and so that he could return to Rome.

I am sending him—who is my very heart—back to you. I would have liked to keep him with me so that he could take your place in helping me while I am in chains for the gospel. But I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that any favor you do will be spontaneous and not forced. (Philemon 12-14)

Paul offers to pay any expenses that Philemon has incurred because of Onesimus’ absence… but only after pointing out the huge debt that Philemon already owed Paul (v. 19). Why didn’t Paul just come out and TELL Philemon what to do? He wanted Philemon to do the right thing for the right reason. And he recognizes that given the socioeconomic reality under which both Philemon and Onesimus lived, Philemon had property rights that Paul was unwilling to violate. Philemon had to come to see on his own that the right thing was to free Onesimus.

That raises a much bigger question. Why didn’t Paul just blast the institution of slavery itself? I believe that slavery is evil. Not only that, I believe God thinks it is evil. My problem is that God never said it was evil; in fact, He permits and regulates it in the Old Testament and includes lengthy section on how slaves and their owners are to behave in the church (Eph. 6:5-9, Col. 3:22-4:1)

• Slaves were to obey and respect their masters, even if the master wasn’t watching. They were to serve them as if they were serving God.
• Masters were to treat their slaves fairly and justly, not with threats or violence, recognizing that they had a Master in heaven.

The New Testament never condemns the institution of slavery. It tells slaves to accept their lot, even if mistreated by abusive owners (1 Peter 2:18ff). Even Jesus assumes the institution of slavery (Lk 17:7) and never condemns it as sin!

Churchmen of the 1800’s pointed to these verses as justification of slavery. Even those who did not actively support the practice of slavery taught that the Bible at least affirmed its morality. Alexander Campbell said, “There is not one verse in the Bible inhibiting slavery, but many regulating it. It is not then, we conclude, immoral.” Well, Campbell right… and completely and absolutely wrong! Slavery, both in first century Rome and nineteenth century America, was a reprehensible affront to our Holy God. The whole witness of the Bible speaks out against slavery even though you’ll never find the subject directly addressed.

Why didn’t Paul condemn slavery? There wasn’t anything directly he could do. The Roman economy and social order was based on slavery. If Paul directly condemned slavery, the world would have rejected the gospel. Slavery was a systemic evil; it had to be dealt with systemically. Paul struck at slavery in Galatians 3:28— in Christ, there is neither slave nor free. Yes, he commanded slaves to obey and respect their masters, but he also demanded masters relate to their slaves based upon mutual brotherhood in Christ. That led to slavery’s fall; as Christianity spread, then slavery ceased to exist in Rome!

William Webb in his book Slaves, Women and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis, calls this a “redemptive hermeneutic.” In the chart, X is the original culture that the Bible’s words (Y) were meant to inform. First century masters were taught not to treat slaves as property, and this moved them closer to God’s heart (Z). But the Bible didn’t end with the first century; it was written for all times and all cultures. It’s words are redemptive, carrying us beyond that was written to Ephesus and Colossae and Philemon. Everything scripture says about the golden rule, equality and love demands that we go beyond its specific words on slavery. Our world is closer to God’s heart on the subject of slavery; we know that it’s wrong to own people. So the words of scripture continue to speak to us and move us closer to the heart of God in how we treat people. To use Bible’s words as our pattern on slavery would move us further from God. And yet we have much further in order to reach God’s will on full love and unity.

In other words, the whole Bible does for us the same thing Paul did for Philemon. Paul could have demanded Philemon to free Onesimus; he didn't, but he did make demands that would ensure Philemon did free Onesimus.  The Bible could have demanded that all slave owners free their slaves (and throw the entire Roman world into utter chaos). What God did is call slave owners closer to His heart and gave them principles that, when conscientiously applied, would lead to the conclusion that the entire institution of slavery was evil and should be dismantled. And that’s precisely what happened.

Now what is the application we should make to women and their full inclusion into church ministry and leadership? Oh my, would you look at the time!

All I Need...

There’s an old story about the rich man who learns from an angel that his time on earth was at its end. The rich man asked for special permission to take his wealth with him.  Of course, that violated the rules-- "you can’t take it with you." He applied for an special exemption, and wonder of wonders, it was approved. He was told that he could take one suitcase with him to heaven. So he quickly converted all his assets to gold, packed a huge steamer trunk and off he went to heaven. Of course, St. Peter was there at the pearly gates ( he always is in these stories) and stopped the man from entering, "Sorry, but we don’t allow luggage." The man produced the paperwork and said, "But I have special permission." Well, Peter was intrigued, "What do you have in there that is so important?" The man opened up the trunk stepped back proudly as Peter looked in. Peter looked up totally puzzled, "Pavement? You brought pavement?"

We have a very hard time seeing gold as only pavement, but that's what it is in heaven. But down here in the "real world," money and the things it buys is what makes the world go 'round. In a recent class I quoted Woody Allen who supposedly said, "Money is important if only for financial reasons." But we stress money for far more than mere financial reasons. For us, money is a gauge of value ("How much is he worth?") and a symbol of freedom (as in "independently wealthy"). At times we are all that guy from Jerry McGuire running around yelling, "Show me the money!"

In our reading for today from 1 Timothy 6, Paul warns us about the spiritual dangers of being that guy. He reminds us of the rule the rich man tried to get around in our story-- "We can’t take it with us." Because that rule has no exceptions, we need to be very careful how much value we place on money and the things of money. Paul says that when we love money too much, we fall headlong into Satan’s trap.

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

There’s nothing wrong be having money; later in this chapter Paul will counsel the rich on how to invest their money so that it shows up on their balance sheet in heaven (1 Tim 6:17-19). Here the warning is to those who aren’t rich but want very much to be so. When we focus too much on money and the stuff it buys, we are just too open to Satan’s temptations. Like the Rhinestone Cowboy, "There’ll be a load of compromising on the road to my horizon…" The more we focus on stuff, the less we focus on God.

So what are we supposed to do? Paul says the key is to "be content." Not just be content, but be content with having food to eat and clothes to wear. Not just content with food and clothes, but be content while realizing that not being content gives Satan a target in our lives at which to shoot his flaming arrows.

We’re all a bunch of Jerks. Or at least, we are all a lot like Steve Martin in this scene from The Jerk. It is so hard for us to be content with the things that we have. All we need is just one more thing. And the more we focus on that one more thing, the more we miss God in the process.

Your Legal System at Work

According to Fox News, a woman in Grand Rapids, Michigan has had a civil rights complaint filed against her because she posted an advertisement on her church bulletin board seeking a Christian roommate. Evidently the Fair Housing laws intended to keep people from refusing to sell or rent to minorities can be used to keep a Christian from expressing the desire to share an apartment with someone who shares their faith. The Fair Housing Center of West Michigan said that this was illegal—“It's a violation to make, print or publish a discriminatory statement. There are no exemptions to that.” Yeah but what if it wasn't printed or published but written out in cursive and thumbtacked to a church bulletin board?

Not that this really matters, but the first thing I thought of when I saw this story was “Grand Rapids, Michigan?” Grand Rapids is the headquarters for some of the biggest companies in Christian publishing—like Zondervan and Eerdmans. The ad was posted on a church bulletin board;  It wasn't plastered on the church marquee or spray painted on a mosque or synagogue?  Do the good folks at Fair Housing really have spies trolling area churches looking for violators?

Several questions come to mind here. First, would it also have been illegal to express a preference for the gender of the desired roommate? After all, gender bias is illegal, right? Would any woman seeking another woman to share an apartment also be breaking the law because she was discriminating against men? Will fair housing laws women to accept men as roommates rather than discriminate on the basis of gender? After all, it worked on Three’s Company, right?

What if the ad had read, “Wanted: Michigan Wolverine fan to share apartment?” Would Michigan State fans have the right to sue for discrimination? Is it OK to look for someone to share an apartment based on shared interests? What if the ad had read “Wanted: Person interested in praise music and potlucks to share apartment?” Is the word “Christian” so loaded or loathed that this is the reason that the law was called? Would advertising any other shared interest as the basis for a roommate caused the same reaction?

Several years ago, there was a fair housing case in Michigan where two Christian women who refused a lesbian who answered their ad for a third roommate were fined and required to attend sensitivity training. Now it seems that Christian women can’t look for other Christian women to share apartments with… even if they advertise only at their church?

There is something just wrong here, but what is it? Is this a case of anti-Christian bias and persecution? Or is it that the folks at Fair Housing Center of West Michigan just don’t have real cases of housing discrimination going on so they have to spend their time on things like this? Or is it that some people have about enough common sense to half-fill a thimble?

Excuse me, but I need to walk down the hall and check out our bulletin board to make sure we don’t have any discriminatory ads posted that could get us sued.

Through a Glass Darkly

Robert Schuller may have found something beyond the power of positive thinking. Sunday he begged his church for money as his Chrystal Cathedral filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. I know that churches do go through cyclical financial issues from time to time. We just had to ask our people at Denbigh to give more than usual to pay for a new roof over our family room (when it starts raining inside, it’s time to get the work done). So I guess I shouldn't be critical of a tearful Schuller as he asked his church "If you are a tither, become a double-tither. If you are not a tither, become a tither." But their problem wasn't a new roof or a specific need to keep a specific ministry going. No, the church was in debt to the tune of somewhere between $43 and $55 million dollars.

While Schuller points to the recession as the cause of the church's money woes, there were deep problems well before this present financial darkness. Some of it was caused over a power struggle for control of church leadership among Schuller’s children after his retirement as senior pastor (nepotism is OK as long as you keep it in the family). But mainly there was the overreaching and overwhelming burden of the magnificent church edifice, literlaly a Christal Cathedral with 10,664 panes of glass. Schuller built one of the first megachurches on the premise, “If you build it, they will come… and pay for it.” Now people are doing neither. While the church has 10,000 members on its roles, only 1000-1500 actually attend services.  And people that don't come to church usually don't give to the church.

One of the things I remember thinking on a trip to Ukraine was about the contrast between the grand cathedrals (ones that survived communism) with their glittering domes literally covered with gold and the abject poverty of the people that lived right around them. If those were truly God’s houses, don’t you just have to wonder that God would rather his roofing material chiseled off chunks used to care for the poor? One wonders the same thing about Schuller and his cathedral. Was this really something to further the kingdom of God or was it a monument to one man and his idea? Contrast this with today’s reading today from 1 Thessalonians 2:3-5

For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness.

Denbigh will never have a Crystal Cathedral and I will never have a following like Robert Schuller (even including the literally tens of people that read this blog). But it is nontheless possible that me and my church on a much smaller scale will get just as wrapped up in ourselves and focused on the wrong things. Paul wasn’t into building cathedrals or attracting attention to himself. He simply wanted to point people to the gospel of Jesus, and he was perfectly happy hiding himself behind the cross as he did so. May God protect us from ourselves and our pride… to God be the glory.

Shine Your Lite So All Can See

I stumbled across (randomly and circuitously) this video on a blog on the Houston Chronicle website. It is a just released music video from the David Crowder Band. No, this isn't some cool  iPad app; it was done entirely, frame-by-frame and peg-by-peg on a Lite-Brite. According to the blog, it took 2,150 man hours, 700,000 colored pegs, 1200 Lite-Brite images, 83 friends and 148 pizzas to complete.

The video tells a touching love story.  The tear thing at the end really got me. The song is "SMS (Shine)" from the David Crowder band’s album Church Music (which has been out for awhile). The lyrics to the song are below the video:



Send me a sign, a hint, O whisper
Fill me with life 'cause I am listening
Come break the quiet, breathe your awakening
Bring me the light 'cause I am fading

Surround me with the rush of angels' wings

Shine Your light so I can see You
Pull me up, I need to be near You
Hold me, I need to feel loved
Can You overcome this heart that's overcome?

You sent a sign, the hint, O whisper
Human, divine, everyone is listening
Death laid low, quiet in the night is stirring

All around the rush of angels
O the wonder of the greatest love has come

Shine Your light so all can see it
Lifted up, 'cause the whole world needs it
Love has come, what joy to hear it
He has overcome, He has overcome

A Moment of Silence

A federal court ruled Friday that it is constitutional to be quiet. Well, what they really ruled is that the “moment of silence” with which Illinois public schools begin their school day does not constitute prayer and is therefore constitutional. A talk show host named Rob Sherman who is an atheist filed a lawsuit challenging the “moment of silence” practice arguing that providing a this "quiet time" of reflection actually encouraged students to pray and is therefore unconstitutional.  Actually, the “moment of silence” does promote prayer in the school— prayers of thanksgiving by teachers for sixty actual seconds of peace and quiet. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit decided that lawmakers were not seeking to establish religion and force religious practices by mandating a moment of silence. Sherman condemned the decision as "judicial activism" and pledged to appeal the decision.

I think that the courts should be applauded for injecting a bit of common sense in our legal system. I also think that Mr. Sherman might have had more of an argument that is apparent at first blush. The Bible says things like, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psa 46:10) and “For God alone my soul waits in silence” (Psa 62:1, ESV) and “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him” (Psa 37:7). Being still, quiet, patient, unmoving, silent… this is the necessary condition before we will hear God. As long as we are caught up in the raging currents of the busyness of the day, we won’t have time for God. We need a moment of silence. If we have a moment of silence, then maybe we would be more aware of the God in whom we live and move and have our very being.  So Mr. Sherman is right—a moment of silence encourages prayer. Just hope no one tells the courts!

On an totally unrelated note, Alan Smith sent me this picture, which I think speaks for itself.  It is really sad that God's people are so well-know for division that this picture makes sense.  I guess we might was well laugh at ourselves... unfortunately, the world is laughing at us as well.

On Being Self-Absorbed

The final episode of Seinfeld in 1998 remains one of most watched shows in television history. This show was billed as “a show about nothing,” but this final episode makes a point. The cast witnessed a carjacking, but they did nothing to help the victim. In fact, they make jokes about the victim... until the law shows up.



So Jerry and the gang are convicted and thrown into jail and the series ends. So maybe they are still there. The word that we would use to describe people like the Seinfeld characters is “self-absorbed.” They were so totally focused on themselves and had no compassion or feelings for others.

Surely none of us have any problems being self-absorbed? We don't have any trouble seeing the perspectives, the concerns and the needs of others. While have positions and ideas and preferences, we all are perfectly capable of understanding the people around us who disagree, and we love and respect them anyway.  People who are self-absorbed only show up on TV; they never show up in church!  That's why Paul wrote this part of today's Daily Bible Reading in Philippians 2--

Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. (Philippians 2:2-4, ESV)

If we are going to be the kind of family God is calling us to be, then we need to learn to be as concerned with the opinions, perspectives, ideas and preferences of others as we all with our own. To see only own own needs and desires is to be self-absorbed!  If we are self-absorbed, we might get in trouble with the Law!

Rescue!

It was one of those events that captured the attention and the hearts of the world. I spent much of yesterday checking news reports and slowly counting 1, 2, 3… all the way up to 33. I had the CNN.com web site open all day and Alt-Tabbed over constantly to check the progress as those 33 trapped miners in Chile were pulled one by one from what should have been their tomb. CNN even had this countdown timer deal going— 00:00:00 minutes since the last rescue (brought to you by Pepsi).   Every single man was pulled safe and sound out of the mine than had been their home for two long months— it really was the feel good story of the year. God bless them! Now, CNN and all their press buddies (2000 strong were camped around the rescue effort) can go home now and leave these poor men alone. Fat chance!

There was a feeling of brotherhood and solidarity as hundreds of people worked around the clock. Thousands of man hours and millions of dollars were spent the rescue effort One of the family members said, “It was worth every peso.” And it was. When you are in the business of saving people, you come together and do what it takes to get the job done.

Why can’t the church get that? Why do we spend so much time and energy fighting among ourselves about things that don’t really matter? Why does such energy go into our intramural tussles and tangles over issues and questions that won’t seem important to us, let alone anyone else, in twenty years? If we really had a sense that we were in the business of saving people, then maybe we could come together as one person. Paul says that would be living in a manner consistent with the message of the gospel. Our reading today is from Philippians 1.

Whatever happens, as citizens of heaven live in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in the one Spirit, striving together with one accord for the faith of the gospel (1:27, TNIV)

If we really saw ourselves standing on the edge of the abyss helping to pull people out of the pit, maybe we’d get our act together. Maybe we can learn from from the good folks down in Chile.

Wake Up Church

Rich Iott, the “Tea Party” Republican candidate for U.S. Congress in Ohio, has some ‘splaining to do. It seems that Iott spends his spare time involved World War II military re-enactments... as a Nazi. He and his buddies dress up in Nazi uniforms and pretend to be Nazi soldiers of the 5th SS Panzerdivision, Wiking. There are pictures of him all over the group’s web site dressed up as his SS Nazi alter-ego. Now he defends this as a harmless hobby and historical exercise to educate people about the life of German soldiers during World War II. His group, of course, disavows any support of Nazi ideology; they don't condone what the Nazis did during World War II.  But they also fail to really mention anything the Nazis did-- like the atrocities and war crimes that historians say were committed by the very Nazi division that Iott and his buddies are portraying.

Harmless fun? Historical curiosity? Or disturbing fascination with one of the darker sides of the dark side of human history? It seems to me that it is incredibly difficult to associate yourself with Nazis and glorify Nazis while completely distancing yourself from what the Nazi’s thought and what the Nazi’s did. The argument seems to go something like, “I don’t believe what these guys believed and I don’t condone what these guys did-- I just like to walk and talk and dress like them.” You can argue that, but I’m not buying it. To a degree, we become partners with the people we emulate. So if you really want to be play the part of a patriot, then dressing up like a Nazi is a bad idea. But hey, that’s just me.

In our reading for today from Ephesians 5, Paul warns Christians against becoming partners in the sinful, pagan world (5:7). We have been rescued from the world of darkness; the last thing we should want to do is live like that world.

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said: "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." (Ephesians 5:8-14)

If we are going to be part of Christ, then we can’t emulate the sinful world. If we are going to walk in the light, then we can’t be part of the darkness. So Paul tells us to “be very careful, then, how you live.” (Eph 5:15).

The point of this post isn’t “Nazis are bad.” I would hope that everyone would know that—well, evidently not everyone. The point is, “Once you know what the dark side looks like, then don’t emulate that behavior.”

Wake up, Church! (v. 14)

Living Up to Our Upbringing

I remember Dad giving me “the speech” right before I went off the college. I guess most young men get some version of this speech from their father… or mother… or uncle or some authority figure. It is the speech that says, “Remember who you are.” Come to think of it, Dad may have used those very words in his speech, but he said something about “not bringinging dishonor on your family.” I remember thinking, “Dad, I going off to Freed-Hardeman, not going off in the merchant marine or something; there’s not but so much trouble to get into in Henderson, TN. They close the town and roll up the sidewalks at 8:00 each night.” That wasn’t true… it was at 7:30! But when kids leave home and go off on their own, they need to be reminded that they need to live up to their upbringing.

Paul gives us his version of the speech in our reading for today from Ephesians 4. Up to this point in the book, he has been pointing to what God has done in us and how God has called us. Now he tells us to live upto our upbringing— “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life (literally “walk”) worthy of the calling you have received.” (Eph 4:1). In the first part of the book, he lays the theological groundwork of all that God has done—our calling. Now he gets to the practical side—live up to your calling. It’s not enough to learn the lessons; we have to live the lessons. And Paul is going to get very practical in his practical application—

• Don’t live like the Gentiles in sensuality (4:17).
• Don’t lie to each other (4:25).
• Control your temper and resolve your issues before they lead to resentment (4:26).
• Don’t steal from each other, but work to proved for your needs and to share with others. (4:27-28).

All very practical applications of living worthy of our calling… living up to our upbrining. But it is interesting, isn’t it, where Paul choose to begin. His first application of living up to out upbringing is unity.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. (Eph 4:2-3)

In some ways, the commands that follow (lying, stealing, anger issues, etc.) are component parts of this first application of living together in unity. We just get along better if we don't steal from others or blow up in anger!  If we live up to our upbringing and walk worthy of our calling, then we’ll find a way to live together in peace and unity. The Holy spirit creates that unity; we don;t have a vote on whether or not we are one.  We just have to decie that we are going to LIVE as one.  All of the things of God are one— “one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all.” (4:4-5). If God’s things are one, then God’s people must live as one. If we live up to our upbrings, we will live as one.

Make it so.

What Would You Take a Bullet For?

On September 28, a Christian lawyer and preacher named Edwin Paul, his wife Ruby and their 5 children aged 6 to 17 were shot and killed in Abbotabad, a town in northwestern Pakistan. They were murdered by a group of radical Muslims because they were Christians and because Edwin had been speaking out to defend other Christians in the area. Paul had earlier be warned to give up his Christian faith; he was told “we know how to throw out Christians, we will not allow even a single Christian to live here.” Two days later, the entire Paul family was dead. May God bless their family and friends who grieve for their loss.

What we have done in the place of the Paul family when told to give up their Christian beliefs “or else?” The fact is, we don’t know. Until we are placed in that kind of a situation, we have no idea what we would do. I would like to think that we would all listen to the words of Jesus, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev 2:10). Faith in God and commitment to the cross of Christ are things important enough for which to die.

There are hills that are important enough to die on. But then, there are some hills that aren't.  What if the question had been a bit different? What if the group with the rifles that barged into their house to threaten their lives had asked other questions--

• Do you have one or multiple cups in your communion?
• Do you think it’s OK for Christians to drink alcohol?
• Do you believe in a pre, mid or post-tribulation rapture?
• Do you sing praises to God with instrumentals or a cappella?
• Do you preach wearing liturgical robes or in a suit-and-tie?

OK, I definitely WOULD NOT take a bullet for any position on those questions. Don't get me wrong; I have answers for all of those questions. But put a gun to my head and I'll put one of those "In case of rapture, this car will be unoccupied" bumper stickers on my car. Put a gun to my head and demand I sing "The Old Rugged Cross" accompanied by a piano, and I'll ask, "What key would you like?" Put a gun to my head and I’ll wear either a liturgical robes or a suit and tie (which I consider to be the same thing anyway). But put a gun to my head and ask, if I believe in Jesus, then with God as my strength, I'll take that bullet (at least I hope I would).   Some things are worth dying for... and some things aren't!

I have to wonder if the list of things really worth dying for is really all that different from the list of things worth dividing Christian fellowship over? I mean, if you wouldn't take a bullet for your position on an issue, then is that issue really important enough to harm the body of Christ over? I wonder.

As Paul closes Galatians 6 (our reading for today), he says something that we need to hear. He has written to churches torn apart by all manner of issues relating to Jewish tradition and ritual. Paul closes the letter in his own handwriting by says this—

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation. (Galatians 6:14–15)

The issues over which the Judaizers were stirring up the church were not part of the gospel. Paul insists that they actually mean nothing at all. Having the right position issues that aren’t worth dying for means nothing. The only thing we can boast in, the only thing worth dying for, is the cross of Jesus and becoming a new creation because of the cross. That’s something worth dying for.

System Failure

I remember an area-wide preacher’s meeting where we were discussing a seminar (really more of a debate) sponsored by one of our schools presenting several different perspectives on the role of women in the church. One of the preacher’s made the statement in his presentation, “It’s not that women can’t preach; I’ve heard several women speakers…” I couldn't resist asking him (in a good natured way, of course), “How do you know that women can preach; have you ever listened to women preach?” He assured me he had—on tape from women’s retreats and such. Someone asked him, “If you can listen to a woman preach on tape; could you listen to her while she was being taped?” (OK, that was me asking that question too; I was a bit testy that day). He thought for a minute and said, “That would be OK if you sat in the cry room and listened over the P.A. system… as long as you pilled the curtain and couldn’t see her.” He said it with such finality that I knew that no further inquiry was welcomed or needed.  The ex cathedra pronouncement had been given.

I think a lot of our church rules and traditions have been arrived at with just about that much thought and every bit as much finality. Church traditions OK— in fact, they are unavoidable. Any time you do the same thing the same way twice, you are creating a tradition. And even if you intentionally did every different every time, then THAT would be your tradition. I like church traditions—old and new, formal and informal. The only problem with our church traditions is when we start attributing them to God and acting like loyalty to the tradition is what saves us.

That was the problem in Galatia. The Judaizing teachers were converted Pharisees who insisted that Gentile Christians proselyte to Judaism and keep the Old Testament Law as a condition of being Christian (See Acts 15:5). They came to these new Gentile church with what they claimed was “The List” of practices and procedures that all real Christians had to follow. To fail to follow the list was to fail to be really Christian. The more credence the Galatians gave to the list, the more freedom and joy they relinquished. By accepting the legalism of these false teachers, they gave up their freedom in Christ for slavery. In our reading for today, Paul lays it out pretty plainly—

1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.

Paul sums up his point in verses 6, “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” What is lost if the Galatians give in and follow the Law in order to better follow Christ? Paul thinks they lose quite a bit--

• First, Christ becomes of no value (5:2). Jesus came to save those who could not save themselves. If you can be good on your own by following the rules and keeping the traditions, then you don’t need Christ. The more you value your works the less you value His grace.
  
  
• Second, we are committed pretty much to perfection (5:3). The Judaizers handled the Old Testament like an all you can eat smorgasbord— they liked the part about circumcision, Sabbath observance, and kosher foods. But the part about animal sacrifices and yearly pilgrimages was a bit messy (and maybe the part about tithing too?). But if you want to be justified by the law, then you have to keep the whole law (See James 2:10). If we’re to make it to heaven through the right rites, then you have to be right all the time! Yikes!
  
  
• Third, we fall away from grace (5:4). The ultimate result of seeking salvation through law-keeping is that you will be lost! You can’t save yourself; ig you try to do so, that is the ultimate FAIL! A stress your works takes the focus off of God’s grace.

The problem of the Judaizers' system of salvation by works wasn’t really the works. Paul didn’t care about circumcision. In fact, he had Timothy (who was Jewish) circumcised so that he could have full access to ministry in the synagogues where Paul often preached. Paul himself did Jewish stuff when the situation called for it (see Acts 21:20ff). The problem wasn’t the works—it was the system. It was the idea that keeping the right system of works somehow ingratiated us more to God than just believing in Jesus, loving Him and seeking to obey Him.

The Judaizers weren’t heretics because of all their Jewish stuff. They were heretics because of their insistence that the Galatians needed a system to add to the gospel in order to be saved.

Of course, there is no lesson here for us today.  Forget I brought it up.

Getting It All Right

In our reading for today from Galatians 4, Paul is perplexed with his converts at Galatia and their willingness accept the legalistic requirements placed upon them by the Judaizing teachers. He asks them, “What has happened to all your joy?” (v. 15). They had traded their freedom in Christ for a slavish legalism with its complex system of rules and regulations as the necessary key to pleasing God. The initiation rite of circumcision was only the beginning; it was quickly following by “observing special days and months and seasons and years” (v. 10). They had come to believe that they were righteous by being right and that they were right because of their rite. Paul wonders if he had wasted his time in taking the gospel to them (v. 11).

What happened to all your joy? Legalism insists that salvation depends on getting all of your I’s dotted and your T’s crossed. You have to understand every doctrine exactly correctly. You have to get every rite exactly right. Any deviation from the pattern will cause you to lose your soul. Loving the Lord isn’t enough. Seeking to please Him isn’t enough.

How much fun is it to have someone watching you over your shoulder while you are doing something? You’ve had that happen, haven’t you? I’m not sure of all the psychological reasons why, but I do know that it is really hard to do what you are doing when someone is watching you that closely—

• You’re reading the paper, and feel someone reading over your shoulder.
• You’re playing solitaire and someone says, “Play the red six...”
• You’re typing while someone is watching and waiting for you to finish.

Is that as annoying for you as it is for me? We just don’t do our best work when someone is watching us, especially if they are just waiting for us to fail. In the legalistic system that the Galatians had bought into, someone was always watching over their shoulder.

In the movie “Remember the Titans,” there is this scene where a black football coach played by Denzel Washington has been brought in to coach a recently integrated high school in Alexandria Virginia and the racial tensions were off the charts. Right before their first game, a school board member came to the coach and said, “You know if you mess up, they will fire you.” Washington’s character said, “What do you mean mess up?” The board member paused and said, “Loose a game.” That really adds to the joy of athletic competition! Loose one game and you are gone!



That’s the message of legalism. There is a list of rules that one has to follow in order to really be a real Christian. Leave one item off the list, and you are off God’s list! Get a little mixed up on your doctrine.  Get a little off on your worship.  Organize your church in just the wrong way.  One mistake is all it takes and you cease to be a real church or a real Christian.  Loose one game and you are gone!

Well, we’re going to lose a lot games, you and I. The best batters in baseball (OK, so I’m switching sports metaphors here) fail to get on base 6-7 times out of ten. The most holy Christians fall short of the holiness of God by a mile. The most faithful churches get their doctrine wrapped around axle every now and again. Nothing will steal our joy as Christians faster than the mistaken notion that we can get it all right.

• If we think that we must get it all right and we HAVE gotten it right, the result will PRIDE and a disdain for all those who are right like you.
  
• If we think we must get it all right and HAVE NOT, the result will be DESPAIR and we'll likely give up trying to please God. 

Either way, what happens to our joy?  What Paul is doing in Galatians is reminding these baby believers that they were saved by God’s grace, not by their religious or moral performance. God calls them to obedience, but they will not and cannot win God’s love because they get all the rules right. They couldn’t and neither can we. We can make up our lists of rules and regulations. We can even get pretty good at keeping our list (as long as we leave ourselves a few loopholes now and again). What we can’t do is impress God in the process.

Taking Inventory

For more than twenty years, Dad ran his own business-- Tucker Office Equipment, Inc. This was a true family business: Mom ran the office, my Aunt Audi ran the office supply department, and both my sister and I worked at “the shop” (short for "sweat shop") at various times in our lives. I drove the delivery truck all through my high school years; at one point I wrecked it 3 times in 2 months (never my fault, of course). I once asked Dad why I made only $1 an hour while everyone else made at least minimum wage. He told me, “Because everyone else can be fired!” Made sense to me.

One of the things that I helped Dad each year (even before I was old enough to officially be on the payroll making that $1 an hour) with was his yearly inventory. Every ever, every single typewriter, adding machines, dictating machines, mimeograph machines (if you don’t know what these ancient devices are, just Google them) and every other machine in stock had to be documented and accounted for. My job was to put my hand on every one of those machines and call out the model and serial number for Dad to write down in a ledger. That required me to climb up stacks of teetering boxes or scaling up old, rickety shelves back in the somewhat inadequate warehouse. I think there was some kind of law that required the top boxes in the stack of machines to always be turned so that the serial number was on the back and bottom of the box! Taking inventory was both uncomfortable and even a little bit dangerous.

And it still is today. Paul ends 2 Corinthians with a warning for his readers to take inventory. As I re-read 2 Corinthians 12-13 this morning (our daily reading), I was reminded again of how personal a letter was 2 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians often sounds academic as Paul answers questions and polemic as he encourages them to change. 2 Corinthians sounds like Paul has a tear in his eye as he writes. As he closes 2 Corinthians, Paul is preparing for a third visit to Corinth. The last visit did not go well (2 Cor. 2:1), and he fears he will have to deal with some people who have still refused to repent of the rebellious attitudes that have threatened the church. So he tells his readers that they needed to take inventory of themselves to see where they are spiritually--

5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? 6 And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. (2 Corinthians 13:5-6)

Were they still in the faith? Were they making spiritual progress? Were they some of the ones with whom Paul would have to deal when he got to town? They wouldn’t know unless they examined themselves—unless they took spiritual inventory.

We need to do the same thing. Where have we been and where are we going? Sometimes we fool ourselves by simply comparing ourselves around us are doing. Paul had already warned the Corinthians about this comparison game-- "We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." (2 Cor 10:12)

It’s hard to take a realistic spiritual inventory, to look deep into your own heart and see where you are and where you are going. You may find yourself on top of a stack of shaky boxes teetering back and forth; you may even find yourself falling… or that you have already fallen. But if you don’t take time to examine yourself, how will you ever know where you are?

Don't Know Much About Nothing at All

The people at The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released the results of a survey they conducted entitled “Religious Knowledge Survey.” You can take what I assume is a shorted version of the test on their website; feel free to respond with how well you did. I missed one—there was a question on “nirvana” and I got mixed up and answered “Kurt Cobain.” Anyway, I am usually thrilled to get a 93% on any test… and usually quite surprised.

The headlines you see on various news outlets reporting on this survey usually say “Survey: Atheists Know More About Religion Than Believers” (Time) or “Atheists, Agnostics Most Knowledgeable About Religion” (L.A. Times). And sure enough, atheists and agnostics scored higher on the test than did many believers. Catholics didn’t do very well on the test at all, many not even recognizing the doctrine of transubstantiation (which is uniquely their own). Of course, there were many Protestants who didn’t seem to know that Martin Luther was pretty big in that Reformation thing. There really weren't that many Bible questions on the survey; most of the questions had to do with specific religious practices and beliefs. Maybe that is why atheists did so well—they have to keep up with that the stuff they don’t believe in.

The good news is that 80% of the people surveyed knew that Mother Teresa was Catholic. The bad news is that 4% of those surveyed thought that Stephen King wrote Moby Dick. Maybe so many don’t know much about religion because, as Art Garfunkel used to sing, we "don't know much about nothing at all."

The Grace of Giving

The topic that Paul brings up in our daily reading today from 2 Corinthians 8 is my least favorite topic in the Bible, At least, it's my least favorite topic on which to preach and teach-- GIVING. The internal problems experienced by the church in Corinth had caused them to stop their giving. That is always the way it works right; get mad at how things are going at church, and you start leaving the ol’ checkbook at home. Paul encourages them to get back to this business of giving, something in which they had once been strong:

And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have. (8:10-12)

Paul is collecting a gift from the Gentile churches to relieve the suffering of the Jewish church in Jerusalem. This is important not just because of the great need that exists; this is also a chance for Gentiles and Jews to declare solidarity in the gospel. So Paul encourages the church to give, “But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2 Cor 8:7).

Every time I preach on money, I get this vision of some televangelist in a white suit with slicked back hair and a painted on grin. I hear Ray Stevens singing, "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex on His Television Show?" I think of Jim and Tammy Fay’s air conditioned doghouse and Christian amusement park. And I hear people grumbling that “All this church is interested in is in getting my money?” I make my living (and a pretty good one) because people at my church give liberally. And every time I mention giving, I worry that people might think I have ulterior motives. (“Tuck must be getting that iPad and needs more money”). Yep, money is my least favorite topic on which to teach.

But was Jesus’ favorite topic! According to one writer's count, one of every six verses in Jesus teaching (you know, the stuff written in red letters) is something about money and material things. Sixteen of Jesus’ parables deal with use of money. Jesus probably spoke about money and material things more than any topic other than the kingdom of God.

This emphasis is carried over in the rest of the New Testament as well. There is more said about money than is said about heaven and hell combined! Five times more is said about money than about prayer. (Really? Really). By one preacher’s count (granted, you always must look with suspicion at the preacher’s count), something like two thousand verses deal with money, possessions and material things. The only thing mentioned in the New Testament more is love. Caveat: Most of the verses and teaching about money and material things are warnings against loving it and the encouragement to share it with others. Like love (the other favorite Bible topic), money only works when you give it away!

OK, why am I so reluctant to teach on money and giving? Paul encouraged the Corinthians to “be strong also in the grace of giving” (2 Cor 8:7, NCV). We do want to be strong in grace, right? So maybe I should get a white suit and slick back my hair? Maybe not.

How Can It Be?

My sermon this Sunday will come from our reading today from 2 Corinthians 5:1-10. That is a littler surprising because the end of the chapter has my favorite verse and preaching text in all the Bible--

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

That captures the miracle of the cross and the great exchange of grace in one short verse. Jesus took upon Himself our sin so that we could take upon ourselves His righteousness. The One who was sinless became sin so that the sinful could become “the righteousness of God.” That is the gospel! The God who created us left heaven’s throne to suffer the pain, humiliation, and rejection for the cross in order to save us from ourselves. In some way somewhere between metaphor and reality, God took on Himself our sinfulness so that we could become His righteousness. We will never, ever doubt how much God loves us if we will just keep our eyes on the cross.

John Wesley’s preaching was the theological force behind the Reformation in England, but it was his brother’s hymns that drove its worship renewal. Charles Wesley began to write his first of 6500 hymns the day after his conversion. He read Psalm 40:3, “He has put a new song in my mouth…” He yearned for God to give him a new song, and he began to write. His journal contains this entry for May 23, 1738—

At noon I began a hymn on my conversation but was persuaded to break off for fear of pride.... I prayed Christ to stand by me and finish the hymn.

That song was finished and published under the title “Free Grace” but would come to be known as “And Can It Be.” It’s had several different tunes and different arrangements. This a cappella arrangement (which we sing often) is my absolute favorite song to sing before or during communion to remind me of God’s amazing love--

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in my Savior's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, scorned his perfect love.

You left Your Father's throne above,
So free, so infinite Your grace;
Emptied Yourself of all but love,
And bled for Adam's helpless race;

Boldly I come before your throne
To claim Your mercy immense and free
No greater love will e’re be known,
For O my God it found out me

Amazing love! How can it be
That You, my God, should die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be
That You, my God, should die for me?