Now Playing: The Story of the Church! (Ephesians 4:1-16)

Sunday, November 5, 2017

            As the movie begins, we hear the main character say, “Let me tell you about the time I almost died.”  The story is thrilling, but why?  Everything after “Let me tell you about the time,” is flashback.  When we see him hanging off the edge of the building with the bad guys shooting at him, we know he escapes.  We know he doesn’t fall.  We know he doesn’t die.  How? He’s the one telling the story.  Let me tell you about when I almost died.

            Today we step into a story - the story of the church as told in Ephesians.  This tale is not so death-defying as the hero escaping from some impossible scenario.  It’s not James Bond evading 10 gunman with bad intentions and falling into the arms of a woman.  It’s not Captain America and a handful of Avengers staring down hordes of aliens who threaten all life on earth.  This is not that kind of story.  This one is better.

            The story we find in Ephesians is better than the action film.  Even more, it is better than the stories on the evening news, stories of racial tension, terrorism, violence, and political strife.  This Ephesians story is better than the dream America holds before us where people are treated as commodities, consumers to be wooed by false impressions of beauty, success, and happiness.  The story in Ephesians is richer than the lies advertisers try to sell and Americans are too often too eager to buy.  The Ephesians story offers greater meaning, more permanent satisfaction than any nation’s ideals, and a better ending.

            The ending of the Ephesians story – a Father, Son, and Holy Spirit story – is that God wants to build up the body of Christ, which is the church.  The body is the gathering, the united sense of identity and shared life of all who follow Jesus into the Kingdom of God.  You, me, all of us together make up the body of Christ and God the Father, known through the Son, and at work in the world through the Spirit gives what we need to be His people, worshiping Him and helping others come to saving faith in Him.  God equips us in love so that we are united and are His people, His church.  That’s the story.

            Why is this good news?  And how do we get there?

            The beginning involves the Jewish rabbi, the carpenter’s son, the long-awaited Messiah, God-in-the-flesh; this Jesus, the Jesus, is crucified by Rome at Jerusalem’s insistence and each one of us is complicit because of our sin.  He gets tortured, killed, and buried, but after a few days, the tomb is discovered empty.  In the month following, his followers meet him and in these meetings discover he has been resurrected.

            His still bears nails holes in his hands from the crucifixion.  He can be touched and embraced.  He eats with the disciples.  Yet, when he so desires, he can pass through closed doors without opening them.  He can seemingly transport from one place to another in bodily form.  Finally, he ascends, stepping out of this realm and into a heavenly one.  A short time later, his Holy Spirit fills His followers, and the age of the church begins. 

            Within a few years, some Jews in Jerusalem become steadfast in their devotion to Jesus and to helping others come salvation in His name.  Other Jews in Jerusalem are equally determined to crush the Jesus movement.  One of these is a Pharisee named Saul.  The risen, ascended Christ returns in a blinding light to confront Saul on the road.  Saul, overwhelmed, repents of all the evils he has carried out against Jesus’ church.  He begins going by the name Paul and is commissioned an apostle. 

            Then he travels to, Antioch, around the Greek-speaking world, and finally he makes his way to Rome.  At every stop, Paul tells Jews and Gentiles alike about salvation in Jesus.  He is flogged by those opposed to his message.  People who come to believe are also roughed up and ostracized, precisely because they decide to follow Jesus.  Paul, finally, is imprisoned and tradition tells us he died while imprisoned for Christ. 

            Before death reached Paul, he started churches in numerous cities, and the letters he wrote back to those communities were saved and circulated so all the churches could have the word God had given Paul to give to the church.  A few generations later, those letters were compiled and in the 4^th century, the entire New Testament, including Paul’s letters, were collected into the volume we now have in the Bible.  Ephesians has been our entry point to this story for the past month. 

            This story of salvation from creation to Jesus to the church to Paul to HillSong in 2017, this news, is good because it shows that in Jesus Christ, we have relationship with God.  We have freedom from sin. We have love beyond explanation, joy that does not diminish, and joy that does not fail.

            Last week in focusing on Ephesians 3, we looked at what God does and noted that our primary act is prayer.  In Ephesians 4, we see what we do in addition to prayer.  “I … beg you,” the author says, “to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called” (4:1).  We know we have been called to follow Jesus, to accept God’s invitation to be his sons and daughters, and to be his witnesses in a fallen, lost world.  The phrase “to lead a life,” in verse 1, means to be ‘in Christ’ in our walk through daily life.  Daily life is the arena in which our faith becomes real. 

            Following Jesus, as we care for our families, go to our jobs, shop in the marketplace, pay our taxes, and live in the cultural world of 21^st century America, this walk happens in a specific way.  Humility.  God is great and we are servants.  Gentleness.  People around us are lost, and we must be safe, welcoming, representatives of our Lord.  Patience.  Inside the church and out, we are confronted with the pain of the world because sin hurts.  In spite of it, we welcome others into our embrace.

Bearing with one another in love.  Jesus’ great commandment is that we love God and then go out of our way, inconvenience ourselves, in loving each other.  Making every effort to maintain unity of the Spirit.  This is not unity for unity’s sake, but rather the unity of people who have died and been raised again in Christ. 

Verses 2-3 list the way we go about living into the salvation God has given:

·         Humbly

·         Gently

·         Patiently

·         Bearing one another’s burdens in love

·         Maintaining unity in the Holy Spirit

Imagine the story of the church that receives Paul’s Ephesians urging!  In a distorted view of church, some select certain behaviors to be the standard by which we are measured.  In one church, only men can be ordained.  In another, all the deacons have to sign a document written in 1963 or 2000.  In yet another, the leaders must be alcohol-free.  If a deacon is caught a deacon with a beer, he’s banished to some sort of ecclesiastical purgatory for a while.  In another, certain sexual behaviors are the measure of whether or not someone is following Christ.

I readily acknowledge a Christian ethic that relates to who should and should not lead, to the appropriateness in relationships, and other matters.  The Word of God speaks to all these things.  But, what if we paid attention when Paul says, “I beg you to lead a life worthy?”  And what if in paying attention, we realize that in the church story God is writing, humility is the measure of the leader?  What if our loving critique comes down to, “Pastor, you haven’t been gentle?”  “Small group leader, you need to bear with those in your group – stand beside them; support them; help them through the crisis they’re experiencing!”  “Deacon, your actions are hurting our unity in the Spirit.”

These blunt words aren’t spoken to shame people.  Rather, the intent is to help the pastor grow in his discipleship by helping him learn to be gentler.  The idea is to help the small group leader deepen her commitment to Christ by helping her go the extra mile in caring for those in her group.  The aim is to help that deacon strengthen his own testimony by helping him know how to work for unity in the family.  In the Ephesians church story, gentleness, humility, and unity matter as much as the issues that take up so much of our time today. 

Our work is to lean in to this way of following Jesus.  God’s work is to shower us with grace.  Of course grace means our sins are forgiven and we have new life in Christ.  Grace is also the source of the gifts God gives.  The Greek word ‘grace’ and the word translated ‘gifts’ or ‘spiritual gifts’ come from the same root.  The only kind of gifting Paul writes about is spiritual gifting.  In 1 Corinthians 12 and in Romans 12, there are representative, not exhaustive, spiritual gift lists. 

Here in Ephesians 4, the grace given by God specifically refers to leadership.  Verse 11 names apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.  In our church family, we don’t have roles for apostles – but we know we are sent.  We don’t have prophets on the church staff – but there are times when people in the church are given a prophetic word from God and that word must be spoken.  We don’t have ‘evangelist’ as a formal position, but we know we are called to tell the good news of Jesus Christ.

We do have pastors and teachers.  All the gifts described in Ephesians 4, those we have in formal title and those we exercise by function serve the same purpose.  These gifts are given by God, to be used by leaders in the church to equip everyone in the church to do the work of ministry and build up the body of Christ.  Ephesians 4:12 shows why all the people in the church are ‘ministers.’  God gifts the leaders, and the leaders respond by humbly, gently training and encouraging the members of the church family.  The church family responds by committing to unity in the Holy Spirit, giving full-bodied support to the other members of the church family, and sharing the good news in the community.

It’s good news because it is a story of salvation, a story of second chances, a story of belonging, and a story that never ends.  In this story, God never gives up on you.

How do we get there?  By commitment and trust.  We commit to grow as disciples.  We trust God’s promise of forgiveness and grace when we fail to do our part.  And realizing our shortcomings, we try again.  And again.  And again.

Know this.  We’re not there yet.  In chapter 4, verse 14, it says “We must no longer be children tossed to and fro and blown about by every [crazy idea that comes along].”[i]  This was written because sometimes the people of the church allowed themselves to be deceived and fell prey to false teachings.  They were easily swayed by bad ideas. 

The next verse says, “by speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ.”  We build ourselves up in love, as the end of verse 16 says. 

I have seen churches fail to be gentle with members.  I have seen followers of Jesus ignore the Ephesians call to humility and unity.  I have seen it in the church and in myself.  God doesn’t give up on me or on his church.  This story is not yet complete.  In fact, we see the power of this story as we grow in Christlikeness. 

We see it when the grieving widow is comforted. 

We see it when the nervous young adult whose never traveled before signs up for the overseas mission trip, and then confesses all her fears, and then allows her church family to encourage her and the family does exactly that.

We see it when the small group, showing love and mercy, walks through the divorce with him, sitting with him in his brokenness. It’s a story that’s happening now, happening among us, happening in your life.  The title of the sermon is “Now playing!  The story of the church.”  Together, looking to Christ, and sharing his love with one another, we see this show as it unfolds and through the church, the world hears and sees the good news of life in Christ.

AMEN 

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[i] Here I substituted “crazy idea that comes along” because I think that’s clearer than the phrase “every wind of doctrine” which is what the NRSV says.

Freedom from Stone Laws

            I have enjoyed Sabbatical for the past months.  In 7 days, I return to my work as a church pastor.  I will sit with people over cups of coffee or lunch at Mexican restaurants.  In the same conversation, I will listen as they share their fears that the Tar Heels aren’t going to have a good season and their fears that their young adult children aren’t going to live good lives.  I will talk with our administrative assistant and our associate pastors about the daily details of life in the church.  I will get that email that the surgery has been scheduled, and then I will meet the family at the hospital at 6AM, and together we will pray.  We will pray that all will go well and she will be fine.  And as I leave the hospital, I will pray that my presence there helped with the anxiety, even just a little.

            And sermons.  I will be back to the work of studying scripture and studying our congregation and studying our culture and world, and all that study will merge on the interstate highway of ideas.  After merging, one focused idea will exit the off ramp that leads to the next Sunday’s message.  Yes, I am ready and very excited about returning to the flowing motion of sermon writing and worship planning.

            To all of this, I am ready to return.  Who am I, the man returning to this life?  I’ve written in previous posts that I want to learn to be gentle.  I want to be known as a person who gives graces.  I pray that I can grow into gentleness.  I pray that I can live grace-filled and be extravagantly generous in giving grace.

            What obstacles overshadow my efforts?  There are many, but one stands out from my time of personal Bible reading.  I’ve been making my way slowly through 2 Corinthians.  In chapter 3, Paul contrasts the old covenant[i] and the new.  Now, as an aside, I caution Christians not to be dismissive of the Law of Moses (see Exodus-Deuteronomy, books 2 through of the OT).  We must not see the coming of Jesus as rendering that scripture as obsolete.  Jesus fulfills that Old Testament word of God.  Jesus does not negate it.  Gospel is found in the Law, but we see the law through the light of Jesus.

            When Paul writes about the old covenant, the discerning reader has to be very attentive.  In 2 Corinthians 3 he says, “The Old Covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.  The old way, with its laws etched in stone, led to death” (see verses 6 & 7).  Ends in death.  In order for sins to be atoned, an animal sacrifice was required.  Something had to die.  In the new covenant, something comes after death – resurrection: first Jesus, then us.  The new covenant leads to eternal life.

            Etched in stone.  That can be taken literally.  Moses ascended the mountain and came down with laws that were inflexible – etched in stone tablets.  But living out that fixed law requires a dynamic relationship with God because questions arise.  What if someone is in a situation where he has to “bear false witness” (tell a lie) to prevent a murder?  Is he breaking the law if in doing it he prevents another of the commands from being broken?

            The new covenant it written on our hearts (Romans 2:29).  Our very inclinations, motivations, and impulses are guided by the Spirit – the Spirit of the same God who gave the law that was originally etched in stone.  There is continuity from the tablets Moses held to the way of God the Holy Spirit who is active in our daily lives.  However, we must live on the far side of history, the post-resurrection side, where we live responsively.  Our lives are a dance in which the Holy Spirit is the leader and we the follower, the responsive dance partner. 

            What’s obstructed my path to gentleness and grace are the laws etched in stone: laws I have etched in the rigidity of my expectations.  In some ways, this has been my own personal bugaboo for my entire life.  I expect things to go a certain way (in relationships, in ministry, in sports).  Then life turns our differently than I expected.  The girl breaks up with me, my kids do the opposite of what I say, the church doesn’t like my new idea, my team loses.  And I am disappointed, angered, and defeated.  My poor children bear the brunt of this when I get angry at them for not being who I expect them to be instead of loving who they are.  If I can just learn to be gentle with them and give them (and my wife too) grace, lots and lots of grace, I will change as a person.  I will become a “graced” person.  Or more accurately, I will begin living in the graced identity Christ has already given.

            One of my favorite Christian role models, Tony Dungy, writes, “Your real influence [as a Christian] comes from the foundation of your character.”[ii]  I want God’s grace to be the foundation of my character.  That Rob Tennant, man.  That guy is full of grace.  When people talk about me, that’s what I hope they will say.  This is the “greater glory” under the “new way,” which makes us “right with God” (Apostle Paul – 2 Corinthians 3:8, 9).  

            I am not there yet.  I know from the ways I have harangued my 15-year-old the last few days, I am not even close.  But because God is so grace-filled, God’s grace for me is never exhausted.  I fail and then, with tail tucked between my legs, come repentantly to God.  My sin is before me and I have to sit with it a while, but the Holy Spirit showers grace and forgiveness down on me, and cleansed, I try again. 

            My life rhythm is about to change.  I’ll return to the world of church work.  I come back with goals and hopes and dreams, but the big story, for me, is the prayer that I will follow the Spirit and walk alongside the Law (old covenant) down the path that leads to life in Christ (new covenant).  The further down that path I walk, the more people will see newness in me.  My life will emit the fragrance of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:14-16). 

            To walk that path, I have to do what I have struggled to do my entire life.  I will need to turn my expectations over to God.  I need to be freed from the stone laws I have set over myself, the unyielding determination that things will turn out the way I think they should.  I need freedom from the yoke with which I burden myself.  One of the songs we sing at church has this line in it.  “Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.”  That’s 2 Corinthians 3:17.  In the next verse says, “The Lord – who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.”

            As I get ready for the world of church work, I yearn for freedom the stone laws, freedom to live in the dynamic of the Spirit. 

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[i] I use “old covenant,” “Law of Moses,” and Old Testament interchangeably in this post because each phrase represents the content that we find in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, & Deuteronomy, and I read these texts from a Christian/New Testament perspective. Thus, I also use “new covenant,” “Christian,” and New Testament interchangeably. 

[ii] T. Dungy and Nathan Whittaker (2011).  The Uncommon Life Daily Challenge, Tyndale-Momentum (Carol Stream, IL), September 8 entry.  This book uses calendar dates, not page numbers.

The Two G's: Gentleness and Grace

I owe thanks to Becky Heatley, the daughter of the Christian philosopher and apologist Dallas Willard.  She compiled the text of many of his speeches, and produced the book The Allure of Gentleness.  It was amazing to me to be able to read another Dallas Willard book after he had gone on to be with the Lord.  I read it while our family traveled throughout Russia and Ethiopia.  By the time we arrived in Egypt, I had finished the short book.

            Gentleness.  I think I actually achieve it, a bit, in some circumstances.  But, in the most familiar places of life, the times with my wife and children, I am too harsh, too quick to judge, and too sharp with my tongue.  It’s the last great spiritual horizon.  Can I learn to be gentle with the most important people in my life? I am praying I can.  I’d love it if I could learn to yield to the presence of the Holy Spirit and be gentle with my immediate family before my kids grow up.  What if my kids, when grown, could look back and remember that their dad was gentle with them?

            I think if this happened, that Christ-inspired posture of gentleness would bleed over into the other relationships in my life.  But it has to happen in that direction: from my home outward to the rest of the places of my life.  And for it to happen in my home, it has to begin in my own heart.  For me to become gentle in my own heart, I need to receive the forgiveness God has for me and see myself as a forgiven person, washed by grace, and clean.  I have to lean on God, live in total dependence on the Holy Spirit.

            If I lived as one who has been ‘graced,’ I will be filled with grace and love, and I will be prepared to share grace and love.  That’s the wonder with love.  The more we look to God, the more we are filled with love.  The more we share grace and love, the more we are filled with both. 

            I came into Sabbatical supposing there were grand mega-lessons to be learned, and upon learning them, I’d see with entirely new eyes.  Now, I realize, I do indeed need to see with new eyes, but that seeing won’t come through mega-lessons.  It comes through simple lessons, new vision through the two G’s, gentleness and grace.  I have to be gentle, and to be gentle, I need to give grace.  My first reaction to people, especially my wife, two sons, and daughter, needs to be grace.  I will be inclined to give grace if I can train myself to live gently.

            Dallas Willard has taught me such life redirection definitely requires spiritual training (a/k/a ‘spiritual discipline’).  Just as dieting requires behavior modification (eating less fatty foods, disciplined work-outs), changing one’s behavioral posture also requires discipline.  In the case of spiritual discipline, the exercises are done in alignment with prayer and spiritual and emotional dependence on the Holy Spirit.  God the Spirit actually works the change in the heart.  The spiritual discipline simply positions the disciple to be ready to be transformed by God.

            I will begin with daily prayer and daily attentiveness.  Tomorrow, I will ask God to heighten my awareness when those moments arise.  My wife says something that triggers a negative response from me.  My children don’t listen to a simple instruction – for the fifth time!  In those moments, I might, by habit, snap, or say something snarky or mean.  The moments will come.  It’s inevitable.  I will begin the day praying into those moments, asking God to prepare me to (1) lean on the Spirit, (2) speak and move gently, and (3) give grace.

            In addition to prayerful attentiveness, a second discipline will be to ask God to help me focus my gentle intentions at those times of day when I am most fatigued.  When I am tired, I am least likely to be gentle.  I will ask God for extra grace in those moments. 

            A third discipline (after prayerfully beginning and the prayer for grace in times of low-energy) is the active seeking of opportunities for gentleness.  In interactions with my family, I will look for times to do something more gently than I would have a week ago, or a month ago.  I am attempting to retrain my emotional response muscles.  I pray these disciplines of praying, receiving grace, and seeking new response will position me to be a gentle grace giver.  I am certain that as I grow in the two G’s, gentleness and grace, I will see more of God in the most normal places of my life.  

I do not Need to Say It …

            Acceptance of same sex marriage is trending in the United States.  “There’s nothing wrong with it.”  I hear this over and over, in conversation, on the radio, on the twitter feed.  Of course, people only say “there’s nothing wrong with it” because so many others are shouting that there is a lot wrong with it.  Many of those condemning homosexuality and doing so with vigor and vitriol are Christian pastors.  Their damning messages come in the form of sermons.  As the drumbeat of acceptance and normalizing of homosexuality gets louder, the sermons from the conservative quarter are more forceful, clear-cut, and accusatory. 

            Thus a situation exists.  Either you are for same-sex marriages and you celebrate that this form of human sexuality is becoming accepted in society; or, you condemn homosexuality as an abomination, the worst of sins, and a harbinger of the end times.  Either you’re for same-sex marriages all the way or you hate them and everyone associated with them.  These, it seems, are the only options. 

            Recently I was talking with a close friend of mine.  He and I are pastors. We discovered we have the same problem.  We do not align ourselves with the angry, red-faced pastors who seem to be more intent on condemning homosexuality than proclaiming the love of Christ.  My friend and I, we do not use words like ‘abomination’ when we think about gay and lesbian people.  We’re more inclined to describe our gay friends the same way we describe ourselves.  They are humans, people made in the image of God, loved by God.  However, my friend and I have reached the same hermeneutic conclusion (‘hermeneutics’ is the practice of interpreting the meaning of a text). 

We have both searched the scriptures.  We have found that heterosexuality is affirmed when intercourse happens in marriage.  There is no scripture that sanctions any form of homosexuality.   There are passages that are eternal, applicable today, not bound by 1^st century social customs, and these passages do identify homosexuality as sinful behavior.  This is where our careful reading of scripture has led us. 

So, we sat together bemoaning our frustration that we don’t fit in the conversation anywhere.  Those condemning all things gay would accuse us of being “too soft sin.”  Those celebrating gay marriage would call us intolerant homophobes.  We sat there together being frustrated, but today, I felt moved in my spirit to take a different stance. 

I do not mean my theology has changed.  I would not officiate as the pastor in a same-sex wedding because I don’t think God wants me to do that.  I believe in my heart I would be going against what God asks of me if I did that.  However, I don’t think it is necessary for me to trumpet this bit of my theology in every conversation on this topic.  And this is where I am feeling myself moved.  I don’t need to shout my position.  I don’t need to whisper it.  I don’t need to talk at all.  I need to take up the posture of a compassionate listener. 

I have had friends come out of the closet.  I have had people share the pain and distress of trying to follow what they had been taught in church and at the same time feeling same-sex attractions.  I have read books, sat in phone conversations that went for hours, and had in-person meetings.  I hope I have been a sympathetic listener.  But even if I succeeded, in the back of my mind I was disinterested.  I did not hate gays.  But I was not full of love – the compassionate love of Christ.  He calls me to love my neighbor and neighbor love as he defines is inconvenient and uncomfortable (Luke 10:25-37).  I was patient and kind, but I failed to show the neighbor love Jesus demands of his followers. 

What began to shift my thinking was a conversation a few years ago.  A friend listened to one my sermons on our church website.  The next time he was in our state and nearby, we met as we would anyway, but this time, he had something to share.  He came out of the closet.  And I genuinely felt his pain and it hurt me.  Then and there, I decided, if he ever got married and I was invited, I would go.  I couldn’t be the pastor to officiate, but as his friend, I could attend out of love for him.

That started moving my needle on how to communicate my own views in conversations related to homosexuality.  Then today, I watched a video of Vicky Beeching addressing a large crowd of LGBT Christ followers (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rd4jUQxe3Cs).  Yes, I believe one can be gay and can follow Christ.  My theology is not perfect nor is any Christian’s.  I think people who hold to reformed theology are not correct, but I don’t doubt their salvation.  Why would I reject the faith of a gay Christian just because we disagree on this issue? 

I first became aware of Vicky Beeching a while ago when the lead singer of Jars of Clay proposed that gay marriage is not necessarily wrong.  His entire thought process and the reaction to it happened on twitter.  At that time, I was just beginning to use twitter.  Following Dan Haseltine’s saga was one of the first twitter threads I read.  In the process, I came across Vicky Beeching’s feed.  I really did not know who she was and I did not know her music.  But I paid enough attention to her work to be interested in hearing more from her.  Then my interest in her as a writer and public Christian personality faded as other issues crept into my brain.

I do not know what made her pop into my brain today.  But, I decided to check out her twitter feed and saw that she is a musician.  I went to YouTube to hear her music and ended up on the video of her telling her own story.  And I was deeply moved.  She is someone who wants to follow Jesus and is following Jesus with her talents, her personality, and her time.  She is a disciple.  If someone wants to accuse her of being a flawed disciple, well, I am too.  I think, say, and do things my Master does not condone.  He chides and forgives me and loves me.  Jesus did not say I was acceptable after I conquered temptation.  Jesus loves me when I am at my worst.

And I understand that Vickie Beeching or my gay friends would insist that their same-sex attractions and in some cases gay partnerships are not sins Jesus has to put up with.  These Christians do not believe homosexuality is a sin at all.  But even if we disagree, we can agree that no one is a perfect Christ follower.  I, with my views on this topic, must approach someone else who has different views with my arms open offering an embrace, and my mouth shut, keeping my views to myself.

Why?  Listen to Ms. Beeching’s story.  Living under condemnation was so torturous for her; she filled her time including holidays with work so she wouldn’t have to face the tension.  If she stayed busy enough, she did not have to deal with being lesbian and loving Jesus.  The ache in her last from age 12 into adult and was so intense it led to serious physical sickness.  Her story reflects the stories of thousands of believers who want to love Jesus and at the same time feel sexually attracted to people of their own gender. 

Part of the reason this is such a painful thing is the way Christians have picked out this particular topic and pounded it into the ground.  Does anyone ever say gluttony is an abomination, the embodiment of evil, and a sign that Satan has come?  Gluttony is clearly considered a sin in the New Testament worldview (Matthew 11:19) and is the opposite of what the Spirit produces, self-control (Galatians 5:23).  Why is gluttony no condemned?  It is a much more prominent in the United States, a nation of obese, out-of-shape people.  Gluttony is epidemic, but we have fat preachers condemning homosexuality.

Again, I recognize that there is a movement that denies that homosexuality should be mentioned here at all because this movement believes homosexuality is not a sin.  I appreciate that view even if I don’t hold it.  All I am getting at is that we preachers get choosy.  We pick one category (often one we do not struggle with).  Then we stay mum on another category (one of which we are guilty).

Listening to Ms. Beeching, my heart broke for her and for friends I have known.  I thought back to my conversation with my close friend, the pastor who thinks like me.  It is OK if we aren’t heard right now.  Our gay friends have been hammered so many times by pastors; it is OK if they don’t want to hear us tell them we love them even though we think homosexuality is not quite right.  It is OK for us to just be quiet.  And I am completely aware that by writing this blog about being quiet, I am not being quiet.  But how else do you let everyone know you’re being quiet?  The irony abounds.

The passage I referenced, Galatians 5:23 is the famous “fruit of the Spirit” passage.  One of the things produced, the fruit, by the Holy Spirit is self-control.  Another is gentleness.  And another is kindness.  Listening to Vicky Beeching and recalling as friends have poured their hearts out, I am struck that I need to be intentional about working on kindness and gentleness.  This is true in all human encounters, and the conversation on homosexuality is a good place to start.  One way to practice kindness and gentleness is compassionate, empathetic listening.  I think I’ll add that to the spiritual disciplines I practice. 

I am grateful I don’t have to preach this week and that break has afforded me time to heart a great Christian orator, Vicky Beeching, and recall conversations with Christians trying to follow Jesus.  As you have read my thoughts, I pray God has been at work in you.  In my honest talk with God, I believe God is telling me listen and love the one who is generous enough to invite you into her story.  I think that is what I am hearing from God so that is what I am going to try to do.

Step into Life (Colossians 3:12-17)

Sunday, June 22, 2014

The risen Jesus was with several of his disciples on the shore.  In a private conversation, he told Peter that he would one day face a martyr’s death.  Peter was extremely happy Jesus was alive, but the prospect of martyrdom did not excite him.  He immediately looked at the beloved disciple and asked if he too would die for the name of Jesus. 

What about him, Lord? 

Jesus responded, “What is that to you?”  In other words, don’t try to live out my story for him.  Worry about my story for you.  You, follow me (John 21:21-22).  My friends, no one here gets to live the beloved disciple’s story.  Or Peter’s.  Or mine.  You only get to live your story.  It will be different than anyone else’s because Jesus loves you uniquely.

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.  Everyone who enters life does so by way of the cross where Jesus takes the punishment for our sins on himself.  We come to life by way of the cross and by way of the resurrection.  Easter is his victory over death.  No story without the crucifixion is a Christian story.  No story without the resurrection is a Christian story.  Many overemphasize the cross.  Easter is just at footnote, a nonessential.  Other movements have skip all the unpleasantness of that Friday.  They gloss over the violence in the death of Jesus.  They want a resurrection without a death to precede it. 

Leaning too much in either direction is a theological mistake.  It is also a psychological mistake. Our story, a story of following Jesus and worshiping him, is through and through a story of the cross; and it is absolutely a story of eternal life achieved for us by Jesus in the resurrection.  It is both.  We need the cross because of our pain; God can empathize with us.  He went through pain too.  We need the resurrection because once our pain has been acknowledged, we need victory over it.  And we have that because our Lord Jesus defeated the ultimate enemy – death.

We are saved by grace through faith – our faith in Jesus and his faithfulness in obeying God.  We are saved by what he did and by his invitation to us.  We aren’t saved because we were smart enough to say “Yes” to Jesus.  We are saved because he loved us enough to die.  He invites us. 

The table reminds us of how all this works.  All who know they need grace are invited to eat the body of Jesus and drink the blood of Jesus and receive forgiveness and life in his name.  By taking the bread and cup, you and I say yes Jesus, you are the Lord; we are yours.

What is this life, life in Christ?

It is life in which God picks you and me.  “As God’s chosen ones,” says Colossians 3:12.  I remember the playground.  Kids choosing sides for the kickball game, and everyone is picked.  I am standing, waiting.  Begrudgingly, one of the captains says, OK, we’ll take Tennant.  Unwanted!

I remember the school dance.  Guys have dates.  The girls I asked were all unavailable, yet somehow they ended up at the dance.  Why did they tell me they couldn’t go?  They went.  I did not!  Unwanted.

One of my prized possessions is a UNC golf shirt.  When I wear it, people are surprised. Everyone knows I cheer for Michigan, not UNC.  Every time I wear that shirt, people wonder if I have converted.  No, I say, I am still a Wolverine fan. 

The shirt has the number 97 on the breast pocket.  After people get over seeing me in Carolina blue, they notice the number and ask, “Who wore #97?”  I honestly don’t know if any famous UNC athlete ever wore that number.  But in 2006, when HillSong Church was trying to find a new pastor, there were, I think, 119 resumes received.  Mine was #97 of that 119.  I suspect that of the 118 who did not get the call to come here, many were as qualified as me and would have done as good a job as me.  God guided the process so that I was called to be the pastor here.  And I am grateful.  Every time I wear that UNC #97 shirt, I am reminded that I was chosen. 

I don’t know if you have such reminders, but I assure that you have been chosen just as I have.  To have life in Christ is to be wanted – wanted by God, no less!  The evidence is this letter we’ve been reading – Colossians. 

Paul intended this letter to go beyond the church in the city of Colosse.  In fact, there was a church the neighboring city – Laodicea.  Paul told the Colossians to share the letter with Laodiceans; and the Laodiceans were to share the letter he sent them with the Colossians (Col. 4:16).  (Don’t look up the Laodicean letter.  It is not in your NT.  Sadly it is lost to history.) 

As Paul wrote for specific communities but he knew others would see his letters too.  When he wrote that believers are “God’s chosen ones,” he meant all Christ followers, not just the Colossians.  “God’s chosen ones” – that’s you and me.

I am not aging well: I have bad knees; I’ll never be a marathoner.  I get shorted tempered with my kids.  I won’t bore you with a catalogue of my character defects.  I will tell you there are days when all I see is what’s wrong with me.  A lot of people see their own faults and never see the good in themselves.  Colossians 3:12 reminds me, when I want to hate myself, that God chose me.  God looks at me and filled with love says, I want Rob with me. God looks at you and says, I want her with me. 

How does that well-known verse go?  “For God so loved the world, he gave his only son.”  You and I are chosen of God.

To drive this home, Paul reminds us, his readers, that in Christ we are holy and beloved.  Australian pastor William Loader writes

When we begin to take seriously that we are 'chosen, holy, and loved' by God, then we begin to value ourselves and not need to embark on the array of strategies which keep people busy trying to make themselves special. This kind of change does not happen overnight, but is part of our development in maturity as people. There is a very positive process at work which will gradually produce good fruit, the more free we become from our anxieties and worries about ourselves, the more energy and space we have for others. It is not, however, fully automatic. It needs working on, because the grooves run deep. We need to be challenged: you are loved; now, believe it, apply it, let it sink in.[i]

          I appreciated Loader’s insistence that we value ourselves because of Christ in us.  He has made us worthy of God – worthy to serve and worthy to be loved.  We don’t earn it.  He gives it.  In Jesus, God gives his love to the point of overflowing.  It depends not on our goodness but on his grace, not that we are so unbelievably loveable but that He loves us extravagantly.[ii]

          We won’t understand the instruction in Colossians 3 and we will not have any hope of living out what this chapter says unless we are in Christ and we accept that in him we are chosen, holy, and beloved.  As chosen, beloved ones, we “clothe [ourselves] with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.” These words describe what is actually true about us when we live our lives in Christ.

This does not come about as we strive to be compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.  This is not a matter of spiritual effort. Effort is not all bad.  We can work hard and work creatively to make these characteristics defining marks in our lives.  We should.  But as sinners, we always fall short of the mark. 

Before giving any teaching that translates to attitudes which govern our day-to-day behaviors, Paul says in Colossians 3:1 our minds should be with Jesus who is at the right hand of the father.  His heavenly perspective should be ours.  Paul reminds us we are chosen by Jesus.  He wants us to know who we are and who we are being made to be in Christ.  We need to discover and rediscover and reread the story of us and Jesus.  I need to spend a lot of time in knowing my own personal journey with him.  It is not for me live Peter’s journey.  Jesus is writing Rob’s story and I need to invest in it and you in yours.  Only then does it make sense to point to that the values named in verses 12-17.  This inventory of virtue is a manifestation of Christ at work in us, speaking through us. 

Thus, a key to compassion, kindness, humility and the rest is to know Jesus.  How do we know him?  We read stories about him in the Bible.  We know others who know him and listen to their testimonies.  Consider someone you believe is true Christ follower.  Ask her or him penetrating, specific questions about the walk with Jesus.  When they answer, listen carefully and deeply.  When they won’t or can’t answer keep asking until they can and will.  Additionally do things that Jesus said to do – service work, forgiveness in relationships, missions, worship.

In all these ways, reading, listening, going, and doing, we become acquainted with Jesus.  This is only a start.  We are not disciples until we follow him and He dwells in us.  We must pray honestly.  Block all distraction, dig as deeply into your own psyche as you can, and pray with complete honesty holding nothing back.  Prayer in this way – raw, real, unrefined – cuts the soul open and leaves us bare before God.  And the relationship is real.  It requires that we name every pain we’ve felt, every disappointment and loss, and we speak our honest thoughts.  In that place of pain and exposure, we discover the depth of Jesus love for us.  We invite him into our most vulnerable places that he might love us there where we need it most and that he might go to work healing our wounds and shaping our souls. 

It is a lifelong process, but somewhere along the way, we realize, hey, I know Jesus.  Whatever else people say and whatever future mistakes I make, I know Jesus, and I know I am forgiven, chosen, beloved.

With that knowledge, we realize we are on the way toward me becoming compassionate, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.  We need to stay on that path.  One of the driving motivations in Colossians is the believers were being lured onto other paths than the one Jesus set for them.  We are too.  How do we stay on the Jesus path?  How do we keep our eyes fixed upon him?

Of the numerous thoughts we could think of, this morning I recommend giving intense focus to a particular virtue in hopes it will open us to all the virtues.  I alluded to this last week.  Colossians 3:12 says “Clothe yourselves with …” and I zoom the camera in on one word – gentleness.  It is actually not one of the words listed but in gentleness I am thinking of aspects of a few that are listed: meekness, humility, and kindness.  ‘Civility’ could possibly be a synonym, but only loosely.  I think gentleness goes deeper.

It comes from strength.  If I have a fish on the hook and I want to throw it back, I cannot just squeeze and jerk the hook out through the cheek.  I have to hold on strongly enough that the fish doesn’t leap from my hand but gently enough that I do not harm the fish.  Likewise in relationships, I need to be strong enough that I do not lose my sense of identity.  I need to be strong enough in my faith that without compromise, I tell the truth about God, declare that Jesus is Lord, and refuse to participate in sin.  Yet, I need to be gentle enough that another person will know I care about him.  I may not agree with all he says and does, but I love him nonetheless. 

Gentleness is only seen in relationships.  The mean person ignores this attribute that Paul clearly declares is necessary for all followers of Jesus.  Short tempered, foul mouthed, crabby, aggressive; Colossians says Christ followers clothe themselves with meekness and kindness – gentleness.  I see online chats in which supposed Christians aggressively assault sinners in a violent, mean-spirited tone.  They claim Christ but make no attempt to live out the gentle kindness that Paul insisted be part of the life of a Christ follower.  Gentleness is a mark of our relationships; it is most obvious in our words – both tone and content. 

Moreover, gentleness sets the course for the other virtues named here – compassion, humility, patience, love, and peace.  If I am gentle, you know you can approach me, and if you can approach, then there is potential for us together to work on compassion and show love.  What would your summer be if you decided, ‘this summer, I will become the gentle person Jesus is calling me to be?’

Get started this week by identifying one relationship that is particularly tension-filled.  It may be with a friend or a coworker, a fellow church member or an unbeliever, family member or neighbor.  But it has to be a relationship where gentleness has been lacking.  Ask God to make you a gentler person in that relationship.  Ask God to show you how.  Ask for special help when it gets particularly argumentative.  Ask God to intervene in your spirit in that very moment you are tempted to shoot a verbal dagger so that instead of being mean, you are clear but also kind, even in anger.  Identify one relationship which will be a point of emphasis in your prayers and in your daily effort to clothe yourself with gentleness as you follow Jesus as his disciple. 

In all of this, we discover our own stories – the story of me walking with Jesus and of you walking with him.  We set our lives by his standards.  We clothe ourselves with gentleness and thus we step into life in Christ. 

This morning, a first step on this pathway is the Lord’s Supper table – an ultimate act of gentle invitation.  That of course is a paradox because the bread we take represents the violent breaking of Jesus’ body.  The wine calls to mind his spilled blood.  His welcome to all of us to the warmth and intimacy of dinner with him comes at the expense of his life. 

Come and come with assurance.  Take the bread and cup and with it receive all the love Jesus has for you.  Let his love fill you, starting now.  Discover the next chapter in the story of Jesus and you, starting now.  You and I – we are chosen, beloved of God.  We have a place at this table simply by knowing how much we need him.  He owns our hearts.  He speaks through our lives.  So come.  Clothe yourselves with Christ.  Come to him.

AMEN

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[i] http://wwwstaff.murdoch.edu.au/~loader/CEpChristmas1.htm

[ii] Wright (1986).  Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Colossians and Philemon, IVP Academic Press, Nottingham, p.145-6.