A Witness to What God Did

          Tom Long writes, “We go to scripture … to encounter a presence, to hear God’s voice speaking to us ever anew.”[i] Where Long says “we,” he specifically means preachers.  However, what he says is true of most Bible readers.  Christians open the Bible to hear from God.  Long feels that the primary function of the preacher is to testify what he or she has seen – to tell what can be known about God.  I agree and I think all Christians are called to this activity of giving testimony.

        The epistle First John is also the testimony of an eye-witness.  “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life” (1 John 1:1).  What we learn of God in this letter comes from the first-hand experiences first century believers had. 

        At HillSong, we will spend the Sunday sermon time in July and August considering the testimony offered in 1^st John.  Our intent is not to do verse-by-verse exposition.  Where that is appropriate, it will be done.  But our goal is to see God.  The witness of the 1^st John will serve to help us see God.  So, I encourage all who will worship at HillSong to read this letter and as it is read, make notes.  What are we seeing?  Where is God in this?  Look for Him.  Read expecting to have an encounter with the transcendent, eternal, almighty One.

        This way of reading is demanding.  We need to read attentively and imaginatively.  Every word matters, but each comes from a late 1^st century context and in response to specific circumstances – circumstances we can only speculatively piece together.  How do we hear it and how do we see the truth in these words take shape in and inform us in our context, one very different that the first century when the words were written?

We also need to read confessionally, allowing the text to interpret our lives as the Spirit, speaking through the word, breaks us down and remakes us.  Reading in this way requires something of us – the readers.  It is involved.  When the word speaks of sin, we have to name our own sins, accept our guilt, and realize the truth about ourselves.  At the same time, the text speaks of forgiveness (1 John 2:1-2) we can accept it.  We accept that we are forgiven and in Christ we have life (1 John 5:11).  Christ is evidence that God loves us.

So, come to HillSong and read 1^st John.  And read with complete involvement and commitment.  It may sound like an emotional rollercoaster, but it is worth it. 

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[i] T. Long (1989).  The Witness of Preaching.  Westminster/John Knox Press, Louisville, p.45.

Entering God's Story

The Story of God, The Story of Us (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 12-17)

What do you have in common with a fundamentalist, a Universalist, a Catholic, a Greek Orthodox, a mainline Methodist, a Pentecostal, a reformed Jew, and even a religion scholar who is also an atheist?  What do you share with each one and with me and with the person sitting right next to you?  The Bible!  Muslims, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses significantly alter the story of scripture to the point that while their respective teachings have some rooting in the Bible story, the changes either in translation or in the details of the story are significant enough that we really would not include those groups when we identify who reads and recognizes the same Bible we do.  Muslims, Mormons, and Jehovah’s Witnesses, each in different ways, have changed the story.  Other groups including Hindus and Buddhists live in a completely different story.  But Jews, Christians, and people in our part of the world, the west, have been culturally shaped by the Bible. 

Of course Jews do not see the New Testament as scripture except for those Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah.  Still, they attest to the authority of the Old Testament and we Christians do too.  There may be some sects that only attribute authority to the first five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.  We also see those books as word of God. 

The Bible is a constant.  Secular scholars may relegate it to ancient literature that is to be parsed and studied, critiqued and questioned, whereas devout Christ followers see it as the word of life.  Both read the same text.  The literalist who rejects critical scholarship might demand we only read the King James Version, while some very committed Christ followers embrace critical scholarship as a way of understanding God’s word.  When the two argue with one another, their meeting point, even though it is a meeting to fight, is the Bible. 

Every person in the world and certainly every person in Christianity, no matter the flavor or packaging of that particular expression of Christianity must deal with scripture.  At HillSong we begin each year asking the entire church to join hearts and minds as we study one topic.  During January and February of 2012, our topic was Sabbath.  In 2013, last year, it was evangelism.  For the first two months, every sermon and every small group focused on evangelism.

Now, we are in a new year – 2014.  Our church is full of life.  People over and over tell us they feel welcomed and loved when they come.  New people visit us nearly every week; most weeks, we have several guests.  We are heavily into local missions.  We send teams to Ethiopia every year.  We support missionaries in our state and overseas.  In 2014, we are exploring adding several new missions to our already existing commitments.[i]  We have a growing children’s ministry. 

What is our foundation?  What do we stand on and when we fall, what catches us?  Not the Bible!  The answer is God – primarily as we meet God in the Holy Spirit.  One of the gifts God has given to help us know God is His Word. 

The Bible is not to be exalted – only God is exalted.  Some Baptists, especially conservatives, are guilty of glorifying the Bible.  Our relationship is with God.  The Bible helps.  Our savior is God as he is revealed in Jesus.  The Bible tells about Him.  Our life is in the Holy Spirit with the Spirit in us.  The Bible instructs us on how to position and posture our lives so that we are open to the Spirit.  We need the Bible. 

We are going to spend 8 weeks immersed in the story of the Bible.  As we do, we will see how God’s word shapes us in our daily. Our entry point is 2 Timothy 3:1. 

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (CEV)

3 You can be certain that in the last days there will be some very hard times. ² People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless, ³ heartless, and hateful. Their words will be cruel, and they will have no self-control or pity. These people will hate everything that is good. ⁴ They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure. ⁵ Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won’t be real. Don’t have anything to do with such people.

Lovers of money?  That sounds awfully familiar.  Disobedient to parents?  How would you assess the relational climate in families, generally speaking, in the United States as the year 2014 begins?  The volume of people seeking professional counselors to help them function as family is enough testimony to show we have problems.  I don’t say that as a condemnation of therapists.  I studied counseling.  I have been to counseling.  I merely point it out to show that what was written nearly 2000 years ago in the Bible, in 2^nd Timothy 3 is more fitting now than perhaps at any time in history. 

People will be proud, stuck, and rude, and they will be ungrateful, heartless, godless, and hateful, verses 2 and 3 say.  What an awesome way to open a new year, citing how much decay exists in human relationships in our culture.  Well, we’re not going to end this morning with this bad news, but again, it is worth pointing out that there are many messes in the lives people living the affluent American life.  Under God’s guidance, Paul wrote words in the mid first century that speak to the everyday problems we face.

Have you been on the receiving end of cruel words?  He mentions that.  Have you seen people out of control?  I’d classify school shootings, terrorism, and rising suicide statistics as signs of s world out of control.  In our daily life do we meet people who love pleasure more than they love God?  I do.  And Paul wrote that we would.

Please note; I am attributing 2^nd Timothy to Paul.  Most critical scholars do not believe he is the author.  The letter has vocabulary not seen in his other letters.  That and other indicators suggest the letter was more likely written several decades after Paul died.  My own guess is that Paul originally wrote multiple letters to Timothy and to churches led by Timothy.  As the years passed, these letters were shared from one community to another, pages were lost, found, and lost again.  And eventually, someone, a later author, with a different writing style than Paul’s compiled what he possessed and attributed authorship to the apostle.  He did this because he was reworking something he knew Paul wrote.

My guess is not a scientific one, but I have read the arguments against Paul’s authorship and while they have merit, in the end they are speculative arguments.  Either way, I firmly believe this letter is the inspired word of God that addressed issues in late first century Christianity.  And formed by the eternal wisdom of God, the letter speaks directly to life in early 21^st century American Christianity.

Chapter 3 begins mentioning “the last days.”  Are we in the end times?  Of course.  Are we nearing the final judgment?  Absolutely.  Does that mean it will happen in our lifetimes?  In the Bible, Jesus commands us to not even think about that.  It is not for us to know when and we should not guess.  The period called “the last days,” runs from the coming of Holy Spirit in Acts 2 until Jesus returns in bodily form.  We don’t know how long the period of “last days,” or “end times” will be. 

We are commanded to be ready and this means we live in faith with our eyes turned always to Jesus.  We live as his followers in a world that is indifferent to his commands.  In this life, we are different, set apart from the main stream of society because we know Jesus is the King.  Even as we willingly submit to the laws of the land and participate in our democracy, we live as subjects, living to serve our master, the Lord Jesus. 

Often Christians want to be in good standing with God, but they do not want their faith to make them different from their peers at work or in social relationships.  We want to fit in with the crowd.  That is not possible.  True Christ followers will stand out.  This is not for the sake of being different.  We are not odd for the sake of being unique.  But, our loyalty to Jesus means that his ways and not money or popularity or personal desire are what determine who we are, what we choose, and how we live.

Three resources give us the power and the stamina to be Christ followers in a world that has turned its back on God.  You may have friends who would never admit they are hostile toward God.  They are just not into the whole “God thing,” or church is not for them.  They might even be offended if they thought they were categorized as God’s opposition.  But indifference is not an option.  One is for God or against God.  How do we stand, joyfully, for Jesus and with Jesus, loving the lost but also recognizing them as alienate from God because of their lack of a relationship with Christ?  How do we live as people of faith who acknowledge the King of Kings?

The main resource we must rely on God the Spirit.  Then we have the church.  In the church, together with other Christ followers, we appeal to the Spirit and we go to the third resource, the Bible.  In Bible study groups, in tandem with the pastor, in mentoring relationships, under the guidance of the Spirit, we read together.   We also read the Bible alone, as individuals.  Both are equally needed – group reading and individual reading.  Spirit-Church-Bible; each works in coordination with the others to help Christ followers live in obedience, show love and compassion, and spread the gospel to people who do not know Jesus. 

Paul’s wording of what I have described is in 2 Timothy 3, starting in verse 10.

12 Anyone who belongs to Christ Jesus and wants to live right will have trouble from others. 13 But evil people who pretend to be what they are not will become worse than ever, as they fool others and are fooled themselves.

14 Keep on being faithful to what you were taught and to what you believed. After all, you know who taught you these things. 15 Since childhood, you have known the Holy Scriptures that are able to make you wise enough to have faith in Christ Jesus and be saved. 16 Everything in the Scriptures is God’s Word. All of it is useful for teaching and helping people and for correcting them and showing them how to live. 17 The Scriptures train God’s servants to do all kinds of good deeds.

He locates Timothy’s faith education in the community; the individual believer “belongs to Jesus Christ,” and was taught “since childhood.” And he makes plain the value of the Bible.  Everything in it is God’s word. 

We should not get tripped up on what this does not mean.  I have heard people say “if one verse of scripture contains error,” throw it all out.  And that would hold true if the error called into question God’s reality or God’s sovereignty.  If the Bible contains any mistakes about who God is or how we get to know God, then it is worthless. 

But scoffers will take the premise of inerrancy and then note that minor facts in the resurrection accounts of the four gospels might seem irreconcilable and they shout, “See!  See!  It is an inconsistency.  Thus the Bible is flawed!  If the smallest ancillary detail is off, throw it all in the trash.”  Nervous Christians who read everything with a literalist mindset, even passages clearly meant to be symbolic, then do literary gymnastics to try to force perfect harmonization instead of meeting God in the stories. 

God’s word is without error in showing us who God is and who we are.  None of the minor manuscript discrepancies or the numbering of angels at the empty tomb discredit the Bible’s authority.  These facts simply testify that this book is comprised of written testimony from human witnesses trying to communicate what God has done.  As Paul says, everything in it is God’s word.

God’s word teaches us what we need to know.  God’s word corrects us when we are wrong so we don’t stay on the wrong path.  But it is not only negative.  God’s word shows us how to live.  And when we live by the word, we end up living good lives, lives in which we help people by loving them, empowering them, and introducing them to Jesus.  When we live in the Bible, our lives become expressions of the God the Bible is describing.

So, at HillSong church, we begin 2014 in the Bible.  We enter the new year by diving into the depths of God’s word. 

As we go through the next 8 weeks exploring the contours of the hundreds of human witnesses who come together to tell the story of God and us, I am going to offer ways of getting into scripture.  I will do this in sermons, in my newsletter articles, and on my blog. 

The first pathway I recommend is scripture memorization.  There are 51 and ½ weeks left in 2014.  Determine today that you will memorize a verse every 2 weeks so that on December 31^st, you will have memorized 25 or so verses. 

Start with 2 Timothy 1:10:

 “Christ our Savior defeated death and brought us the good news.  It shines like a light and offers life that never end.”

          This week, read the Bible.  Enter God’s story.  Get into it so much that your life speaks the Gospel.

AMEN

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[i] I am thinking specifically of Ben Smith’s campus mission and of Project Esperanza.  

Read the Bible and Live what You Read

Read the Bible to Strengthen Your Knowledge of Faith

        In a recent sermon, I lamented that when I was in high school, my church urged the teens to be evangelistic.  However, we were not taught how or shown how.  I want to urge our church to share the faith, just as I was urged to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  But I also want to offer some equipping.

        How do we get “good at evangelism?”  One way is to know what we believe.  Gain a solid knowledge of the following terms: salvation, sin, Jesus, faith, disciple (or follower).

        I suggest reading the Bible as one way of gaining confidence in our knowledge of faith.  Select one of the four gospels, and go through it slowly.  Keep a notebook.  Write down everything you learn about sin.  Write where you see these lessons in your own life or in the lives of people around you. 

Write down everything said about belief and faith.  Consider how your life would change if you took these things you’ve written and instituted them as normative practices in your daily ritual.  As you write down observations about sin and faith, think about how your perspective on relationships will be altered.  How will your view of specific people in your life change?  It is important in all these written observations and learned lessons to be very specific.  It is hard to apply general observations in life.  When we are specific, we can see where actual changes in practice and perspective come about. 

After you’ve read through one (just one at this point) of the Gospels and after you have filled many pages of your journal with ideas about faith and sin and God, write down your own definition of the word ‘Christian.’  Try to identify at least five ways your definition is either expanded or different than it was before you started reading.  Also identify ways your definition is right on track with what you thought before reading in such a pointed, deeply thoughtful way.

Remember to pray throughout this exercise.  This practice will take several days or weeks, depending on how long your time of reading and contemplation is.  Remember everything you read in scripture is to be in complete interaction with your life: what you seen media and your own lived experiences.  So, pray before your read, as you read, and after.  Ask God to open your eyes, ears, mind, and heart.  Ask God to give you understanding and discernment.  And pray as you watch the news.  Even pray (in your mind) during casual times, hanging out with friends.  Prayer is essential throughout this process.

Finally, pray for opportunities to apply what you’ve observed and learned in real relationships.  By this I don’t mean you insert theological notions about the trinity into conversations with a friend when the theology absolutely does not fit.  That kind of forced insertion would not prompt your friend to begin thinking theologically with you. Rather, your friend might be quite freaked out or put off. 

What I mean is a natural application of what you’ve learned.  Your friend wants to do some drinking while you play cards and you decide not to drink or to only stop at one.  Your friend is surprised because you used to get tipsy with her. She asks why the change and you respond that you just don't go overboard with drink anymore because you don’t think your master wants you to do that.

She responds, your master?  And you tell her Jesus is your master.  She is likely to be freaked out, but this is in the context of a normal conversation.  You assure her that you are still you and still her card-playing friend, but you’ve been reading Luke’s Gospel.  After your careful reading, you are convinced that to be a Christian is to be totally devoted to Jesus in all arenas of life – even at the card table.  Because of your reading, you are committed to Jesus as your master.  You still enjoy Spades (or whatever is the card game of choice), and you certainly still enjoy your friends’ company.  But you will try your best to enjoy it as a Christ-follower.

This definitely sets you up.  The next time your friend tells a raunchy joke, she’ll be watching to see if the Jesus-follower laughs.  The next time a group of your friends are on the 4^th beer, they’ll want to know if their friend who now calls Jesus “master” is judging them.  It is essential that you communicate love and grace.  Simply state with confidence that you love them and you are committed both to friendship with them and to loyalty to Jesus.  And be prepared to share stories from Luke to illustrate why you have changed your behavior.  One example might be the story of Jesus hanging out with Zacchaeus and other tax collectors in Luke 19.

This process is exhaustive because it requires a very involved approach to reading the Bible and then retaining that comprehensive thought-approach even in relaxed, social situations.  Saturating your life in prayer will soften the intensity of this approach.  Prayer will deepen your sensitivity to the Spirit and you will find great enjoyment in Bible reading that previously felt more like a chore than a pleasing activity.  This process is just one way of equipping us, making us ready to speak our faith in appropriate ways.  It is a good start to a life of evangelistic living.  And there is no end the possibilities of a life submitted to reading scripture in the way described here.

Too Joyful for Fatigue

I have Christmas fatigue. My son has decided he loves Christmas music - the popular stuff a couple of radio stations are currently playing 24/7. I am thrilled that he has a love for music and so I happily switch to those radio stations when he's in the car with me. And when we are in the kitchen. And when we play with his toy cars and toy super heroes. Yes, he's listening to "Rockin around the Christmas tree" and "Jingle Bell Rock" every waking moment. Thus he hears the songs over and over and soon knows them well. Then he gets excited because a familiar song comes on.

So, I have Christmas fatigue. I love the parties because it means I am with people and I am an extrovert and I am relational. Plus, there's a lot of food. I could go to Christmas parties every day of the week. But, I am tired of "Jingle Bell Rock"; I am tired of watching the same Christmas movie my family insists on watching every single year at Thanksgiving. I am tired of all Christmas movies and I am tired sentiment. And Christmas cards. And green and red.

Don't get me wrong, I am not a scrooge. I am not in a crabby mood. I haven't shouted "humbug" at anyone. I am usually wearing a smile, a genuine, heartfelt smile. There are too many blessings in our town, in our church, and in my family to be a sourpuss. I don't want to skip Christmas, just the hoo-ha, the frivolous build-up.

I also have Job fatigue. I thought about writing a column entitled "What would Job put on his Christmas list?" I expect that in 2010, I'll read as much about Job as I have in 2009. I'll probably blog less about that particular book of the Bible, but my interested in that book of the Bible has not waned. I just need a break. There are probably myriad points where Job and Christmas intersect. I just can't see them right now.

So, that's Job fatigue and Christmas fatigue; I could probably come up with a few others, but I want to share something I am surprisingly not tired of. I am not tired of scriptures texts dealing with the coming of Christ. This is the 13th year I have preached through Advent and Christmas. That is a lot of sermon prep related to Luke 1-2 and Matthew 2 and the prophecies in Zephaniah, Micah, Isaiah, and the Psalms. In many years past, I have stared at Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) and thought "what can I say about this that hasn't been said 1000 times before?" Writing Advent sermons was a labor where preaching (and sermon writing) is usually an unparalleled joy.

But not this year! I have found unexpected renewal in texts I have studied for nearly a decade and a half. What is it about my life now that finds such freshness in Zechariah and Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph, and John the Baptist? I am not altogether sure. Life circumstances constantly change as one grows older. In recent years I have become much more of a reader and traveled to new places. I hope that my spirit is growing, maturing in Christ, and I am more able to hear the Holy Spirit. The gift (and the difficulty) of growing in the Spirit is one finds how little one truly knows and how immature one truly is.

I wish for you a merry Christmas. More than that I wish for you a word from the Holy Spirit so that the words of Matthew and Luke and the Psalms and the prophets will be new and enlivening. I have found joy and excitement in the Bible like I never have before. That is what I wish for you, dear reader. Thank you for reading my writings in 2009 and for your feedback, your encouragement, and your witness as you follow Jesus in your life. May 2010 be a year in which together, we see the scriptures come alive in our lives as we serve the Lord and love the world in His name.