Thoughts on 9/11

            I heard an odd, dull thud.  Our church custodian was always making noises in some far off corner of the church building.  He’d drop a table or slam a trash can.  It was common.  Except, this thud wasn’t like any sound I had heard from him before.  It was distant and distinct. 

            I went back to the meeting I was in.  A church insurance salesman wanted to talk with me about our policy.  Our cordial conversation, after being interrupted by the distant thud, was interrupted a second time, by a phone call.  It was one of our church members, Bill B.  Bill asked, “Are you listening to the news?” 

            I now know what the thud was, the sound I heard that morning, September 11, 2001.  It was a plane slamming into the Pentagon which sits almost 4 miles east of Greenbrier Baptist Church, where I was serving as lead pastor. 

            Today is the 18^th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that changed America, my generation’s “Pearl Harbor.”  Now we have Department of Homeland Security.  The world has experienced “The War on Terror” and “The Arab Spring.”  America has elected its first black president and its first reality TV star as president.  Strongman dictators Muammar Gaddafi of Libya and Saddam Huessein of Iraq, fixtures in world politics in the ‘90’s, are both dead. 

            On September 10, 2000, the Red Sox, White Sox, and Cubs had each been almost a century without winning the World Series.  Since then Boston has won 4 and both Chicago teams have won 1.  As of September 2001, the New England Patriots had never won a Super Bowl and Tom Brady had not yet started an NFL game at quarterback.  Since then, the Patriots have won 6 Super Bowls and Brady is widely considered the greatest of all time.

            There are four people now in my life that were not a part of my life in September 2001, my wife (married in January 2003) and my 3 kids.  Some of the changes from 2001 to now are trivial.  Others are significant and enduring.  The testament to the significance of the day lies in how well we all remember it. 

            As followers of Jesus, what do we do with that memory and how do we live as his disciples in the world as it is today?  I see the world as temporary, transitory.  It’s not going to be the way we know it to be forever.  Out of love of God and neighbor, we must care for the earth and work for humanity and creation’s thriving.  Recycling, ecological consciousness, and care for the environment are Holy works that honors God.  Exploitation of nature is sin.  And yet, I understand the Bible to say that at some unknown future point, God will restore the world in spite of man’s best attempts to ruin it.  No matter how well or poorly we do in combatting global warming, God will eventually fix it.

            Thus, I grieve the ravages of pollution and man-initiated climate change.  But I don’t fear it.  Humanity’s unchecked rebellion against God is no match for God’s plans for what God has made.  I shudder at the evils man inflicts upon man; mass shootings, institutional racism, terrorism, war, disregard of the poor; it is all awful.  Yet I also absolutely believe that on the last day, when Christ returns, all will be restored and his followers will be with him.

            What does that mean for how his followers are to live now?  We are to lean-in to the Kingdom that is coming.  We care for recreation.  We actively resist global warming.  We fight racism and classism and we work to uplift the poor and vulnerable.  We invite the lonely into community and we share God’s love with all people.  We encourage people to uphold Biblical standards for interpersonal relationships and family and community life.

            As Americans, we are forever affected by the events of 9/11/01.  As followers of Jesus, our calling is the same today as it was on 9/10/01.  We are to love others and share the good news that Jesus Christ is Lord and all people who turn to him in repentance and express faith in Him will be born again as sons and daughters of God.

https://www.amazon.com/Living-These-Days-Responses-Terrorism/dp/B000CPNBF4

"We Have Jesus" (Luke 10:1-20)

Sunday, September 8, 2019

            An author recently made the point that people leave church “because too many churches are about things beyond or instead of the work of Jesus Christ.”[i]  I disagree.  Beyond the work of Jesus or instead of the work of Jesus; I agree many churches serve their own agendas instead of God’s, I just don’t know if that’s why people leave church and stay away from church.

            As Luke chapter 9 ends, Jesus is frustrated with people who are moving away from him because they don’t want any part of his agenda.  “I’ll follow you Jesus, but first let me go and bury my father” (9:59).  Jesus responds, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  Jesus’ reaction doesn’t sound very sympathetic.   Hey Jesus, how about, ‘Oh, I’m so sorry your father is dead.’  Let the dead bury their own dead?  What kind of response is that?  Maybe the Lord of creation and the Savior of the universe needed to spend a semester in a basic pastoral class? 

            Or, maybe Jesus knew something about the guy who wanted to hang out at the graveside when it was time to hit the mission field.  To the guy who wanted to say goodbye to mom and pop first, Jesus says, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

            Reading the Gospels in their totality, we know that Jesus cries at funerals and says his goodbyes.  The point here is not that he was cold to people who were in grief or who had to make big decisions.  The point Jesus wanted his followers to see and wants us to see is the decision to follow Him is the biggest decision a person will ever make.  Once you say, “Jesus is my Lord,” then He truly is; Lord of your marriage and your wedding day; Lord of whether you decide to marry and whom; Lord of your kids and your job.  We say “Jesus is Lord,” but do we understand what we are saying?

            There may be some people who stay away from church because people in the church have agenda’s that are different than God’s and the church misrepresents Jesus.  I think just as many people stay away from church because they sense what Jesus wants from us – our very lives; and they don’t want to give Him that much control.

            Turning the page from Luke 9 to Luke 10, Jesus has moved on from the hesitant disciples.  He’s got 70 who are ready to go wherever he says to go.  This is all before the resurrection, before his followers realize that He is God in the flesh, Messiah and Savior, and Savior for not just Israel but the entire world.  The 70 were Jewish disciples traveling in Jewish territory to announce that in the coming of Jesus, the Kingdom of God has come near.  What we see in Luke 10 is a prelude to the Great Commission Jesus will give his followers after resurrection; after he rose from the grave he sent them to Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  As Luke 10 shows us, even before the crucifixion and resurrection, to follow Jesus and to be one of His own is to be sent to tell the world about Him.

            There’s no such thing as a Christian who is not sent.  If we want the title ‘Christ-follower’, then we embrace the commission to go and tell about Jesus.  Maybe you are sent to the neighborhood where you live, Carrboro, Chapel Hill, or Durham.  Maybe you are sent to your workplace.  You do your work with great effort and integrity.  In that setting, God will open the door to spiritual conversations with co-workers; in that moment you share your faith.  Maybe you are sent to UNC’s campus or to a particular group on campus, a fraternity or gathering of students with a particular major or a dormitory.  That becomes your mission field.  The moment we say “Yes” to God, “Yes, I want to receive forgiveness of sins and give my life to Jesus;” in that moment, we are called to go and tell.  We are all sent.

            In upcoming weeks, we will look at the ways God equips us as we set out on the mission he lays before us.  God doesn’t just say to you or me “Go get ‘em, Tiger!”  God gives Spiritual gifts; this is mentioned in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, and briefly in 1 Peter 4.  God works in the opportunities we have in life; we see this in the stories of Peter, Philip, and Paul, all told in the book of acts.  God uses skills and talents we develop in life as He did with the artisan Bezalel in the book of Exodus, and the song writer Asaph whom we meet in Kings and Chronicles.  God speaks through our individual personalities.  Think of  the shy, timid Timothy or Barnabas, the encourager.  Spiritual gifts, personality, skills, experiences, and heart’s passion – God looks into your life, takes what you bring to the table, enhances it, and speaks through you to the world. 

            Our mission at HillSong is to follow Jesus, love others, and share hope.  We do that through ministries here at our church, ministries our church does out in the community, and through God at work in our members as we go about our lives.  You have a part to play based on the unique combination of traits that make you who you are.  Whether you have been in our church for 20 years or today is you first day with us, you have a part to play in the way God brings good news of salvation to Chapel Hill through us. 

            In talking about this – being on mission, being called, being equipped – why do we start with Luke 10, the story of Jesus sending 70 out?  Why not begin with standard spiritual gift lists in 1 Corinthian 12 and Romans 12?  Why start here?

            The gifts are important but we don’t start there because we don’t people to become “gift-obsessed.”  Is my gift serving?  Oh my gosh!  I thought I had the gift of prophecy!  Now what do I do?  I can’t speak truth to power.  I can’t prophecy.  I have to stay in my spiritual gift lane but I don’t like the lane God assigned me.  We don’t want that.  We believe great joy comes when we serve God in the church in our areas of gifting and strength.  But prophets can serve; just read the stories of Elisha in 2^nd Kings.  And servants can prophesy.  Ask Amos.  We want to know our gifts but not be gift-obsessed.

            A bigger reason to start our conversation about being equipped to do God’s work with the story of the sending of the 70 in Luke 10 is what Jesus does there for the disciples.  It’s more important than Spiritual gifting.  The Spirit of Jesus goes with them.

            He sends them with no provisions.  They are workers sent to harvest the souls of people who respond positively to God’s invitation.  Do you want your sins forgiven?  Do you want to follow Jesus?  The workers are sent to tell everyone how important this invitation is.  We workers are to guide people to Jesus so they can be born again and see His glory in their lives. 

            Sent without provisions or supplies, Jesus tells them they will face opposition.  “I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves.”  When we step out on mission, two types of wolves await us.  There are evil forces, demons, and temptations from Satan.  This is supernatural opposition.  It is real and will confront us when we step out in Jesus’ name. 

The second type of wolf is the spirit of fallen humanity.  People and institutions give in to temptation to sin.  They declare that they don’t need God and you don’t either.  These are the builders of the tower of Babel.  This is humanity’s willful rejection of God.  Both types of wolves will draw us away from God and down the path that leads to our destruction.

            How can we possibly succeed?  What chance does a sheep have in conflict with a pack of hungry, snarling wolves?  Just one; we survive if we stay connected to the shepherd.  Before we take stock of our spiritual gifts we have to establish that link with Jesus. 

            This means we are so committed that we’d be willing to follow Jesus even in the midst of mourning a lost loved one.  We’d answer his call even if we missed the chance to say good bye.  Jesus would not lead us to hurt our families or be hurt by them.   But our commitment to Him puts him absolutely first in our lives, so we would do whatever he asked no matter what it is.  We move forward trusting that he is with us and that he will only ask us to do life-producing things and to go places where we can share love.  And we trust that’s he with us every step of the way.  Before we have spiritual gifts, talents, or other attributes, we have Jesus because he has us.

            The seventy Jesus commissions in Luke 10 go unnamed.  We could speculate that some of these are the heroes of the faith we later meet by name in the book of Acts.  In Luke they are anonymous believers that trust Jesus.  So, he sends them.  How does it go? 

            Luke 10:17, “The seventy returned with joy.”  It sounded ominous, “I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.”  But they trusted him.  The put their hand to the plow and did not look back.  To Jesus, they proclaimed with wonder, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!”  In Jesus name.  Jesus joined them in their triumph.  He tells them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.  See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you” (10:18b-19). 

            When they headed out, they didn’t need supplies.  They had the one thing they needed: Jesus.  Snakes and scorpions and demonic enemies and human temptations all await us when we head out to do the work of Jesus, whether it be in our church, on campus, in our town, or on the job.  Multiple manifestations of evil oppose the advance of the Gospel.  Starting now, we have what we need to step out boldly.

            No, not “what” we need; we have who we need.  When we turn to Him in faith, we have the Holy Spirit of the Resurrected Christ in us, before us, and holding us so that no threat is as powerful as the one who sends us and walks with us.  What do sheep need to face ravenous wolves?  The shepherd!  We have the shepherd, the one who is the way, the truth, and the life.

            I don’t know why people stay away from church.  I do know the Spirit that draws each one of us to God’s embrace also sends us into the world in Jesus’ name, stays with us as we go, and rejoices with us when we return.

AMEN 

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[i] https://matthewtennant.org/2019/09/04/decline-of-christianity-growing-churches/

Outfitted and Ready

^19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Jesus, in Matthew 28:19-20).

^11 “When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit” (Jesus, in Mark 13:11).

^17 ‘The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us”’ (seventy missionaries returning to Jesus, in Luke 10:17). 

            The first of the passages listed above is the final word in Matthew’s Gospel, the “Great Commission.”  “Go!” Jesus tells his 11 followers that life as his disciples, by its nature, is a life lived on the move.  Hit the road, there’s a mission to accomplish.  There’s a message that needs to be spread.

            Notice that before Jesus ascends bodily, he sends his disciples beyond the edges of their imagination.  Yes, they will tell their fellow Jews in their home, Galilee, all that they have learned from him, but here, he’s sending them to the ends of the earth, to all nations.  That commission continues with each new generation of disciples.  To be sent by Jesus – this connects us, disciples in 2019, with Andrew and Peter, Matthew and Philip and the rest of the 12. 

            Also notice that while they are sent, it does not mean they are separated from Jesus.  Remember I am with you always, to the end of the age.  Jesus promised to always be at the side of his disciples as they ventured to places they never even considered.  In the second quote above, from Mark 14, he tells them that when they are challenged, they will be able to respond.  It is not you who speaks, but the Holy Spirit.  Jesus doesn’t just send us.  He sends us outfitted for the journey and ready for whatever we encounter.

            For the next month at HillSong Church, we will resume our focus on Growing Young.  As we emphasized when we introduced this ministry approach back in the spring, Growing Young is not emphasizing teens and 20-somethings to the neglect of the rest of the church family.  Growing Young is the belief that the entire church will flourish when everyone in the church family of every age contributes to the spiritual growth of our members 10-25 years old. 

            One of our Growing Young points of emphasis will be the way God equips every one of us for the spiritual challenges ahead.  We’ll look at spiritual gifts, our personality styles, our experiences and natural aptitudes, and our hearts’ passions.  We’ll discover how to bring it all together so that each member is serving in areas of ministry that highlight his or her strengths.

            On the front end of this emphasis we consider that Jesus sends us, the commission; goes with us, I am with you always; and, with Jesus our journey ends in victory.  When the seventy returned, they triumphantly proclaimed, even the demons submit to us.  Yes, we have spiritual gifts, natural talents, and heart desires that all help us accomplish much in Jesus’ name.  But before all the gifting and talent, we have Jesus.  We have the Lord of creation at our side, paving the path for us, and walking with us.  That is the equipping we need.

            As you participate in worship and small group ministries at HillSong Church throughout September and October, be aware of God’s calling.  Like Peter, Matthew, Andrew, and the rest, you too are sent in Jesus.  And you have talents.  Jesus will work through you.  But as you grow in awareness of your calling, even more, grow in relationship with Jesus.  Through prayer, through re-ordering your priorities, and through learning to listen to the Spirit, go deeper with Jesus.  He speaks and works through us.  And better than that, he walks with us and works in us.  With Him, we can answer the call.