The Ins and Outs of the Gospel

Acts 2:36-47
By grace, God has formed a new community of faith in Jesus Christ. This reality is central to Peter’s message on Pentecost as recorded in the book of Acts. Indeed, it is because of this divine initiative that Peter can point to an ever widening circle of fellowship beginning in Jerusalem. “Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to him’” (Acts 2:38-39).

There’s a song by musician Peter Gabriel that speaks to the natural human tendency to seek out distinctions between people and to shape society along those sometimes artificial barriers. He says:

There's safety in numbers
When you learn to divide.
How can we be in
If there is no outside?

Speaking in terms of the gospel, the apostle Peter refuses to make any such distinctions, recognizing instead that all authority rests with God and God alone. He and the others who had followed Jesus from the beginning sought shelter in the days immediately following the ascension, but now the Holy Spirit had sent them out into the streets to share the good news to all people. There had been relative safety for them in the isolation of the upper room, in the ability to control those who came and went from their midst. But that safety would now be lost to the hubbub of the marketplaces and the roadsides. There no longer would be an “inside” established by the community of faith because whatever “outside” there might be would exist only at God’s will.

The contemporary church serves God best when it embraces this reality, that God’s promise is for whoever God determines. There is safety to be found in small rooms and in closed communities, but as the crucifixion makes so vibrantly clear, the gospel has never been about safety. It is a message infused with risk which sometimes leads to discomfort and even death, but which also leads to the gift of eternal life. By God’s grace the question becomes: can anyone be “out” if there is no “inside?”

Prayer: Almighty God, help us to open our hearts to your message of grace and peace and our lives to the work you would have us do. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Where Do We Stand?

1 Corinthians 3:10-23
Paul offers a basic truth about the church in today’s epistle reading. “According to the grace of God given to me,” he writes, “like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build on it. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid; that foundation is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:10-11). Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which the church stands, Paul is saying. There is no other criteria, no formula, no beginning or end, no creed or confession, no form of governance or style of worship that lies closer to the heart of the Christian faith; Jesus Christ alone is head of the church which is his body at work in the world.

But this same statement reveals another truth about the people of God, one we sometimes lose sight of in our day to day lives. That other truth is that because Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church, the church is the only gathering, the only organization, the only body or community that finds its being in the Son of God. Many groups may be said to have Christ-like aims. Many gatherings may involve acts of religious devotion. As a minister I have been invited on a number of occasions to offer prayer for city councils, county courts, a state legislature, civic groups, and even sporting events. I applaud this practice, but this in no way changes the fact that the church alone is constituted by and finds its true purpose in Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ alone is the foundation of the church; the church alone is Jesus Christ’s body at work in the world: while much about our lives is ambiguous, hazy, unclear, those two facts are absolute. And it follows that to be a Christian one must be focused on God as revealed in Jesus Christ, and at the same time engaged in the community of faith that is the church, for this is the foundation on which we stand.

Prayer: Lord, help us to live according to your will and to serve you as a faithful community of believers. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Of Households and Houses

Zechariah 10:1-12
Among today’s readings I was struck by a passage from the prophet Zechariah. In 10:2 we read, “For the teraphim utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; 
the dreamers tell false dreams, and give empty consolation. 
Therefore the people wander like sheep; they suffer for lack of a shepherd.” The word teraphim is hard to define largely because of its unknown derivation, but it seems to refer to items that served as household gods. This may seem like a minor point, but the prophet makes it clear that at that time God’s people were beset by an absence of sound moral guidance. God’s anger, then, “is hot against the shepherds” (v. 3) –– shepherds being a common biblical image for leadership –– because they have failed to care for God’s flock. This is why the people turned to items such as teraphim and to diviners and dreamers in the first place.

But no matter who we are in terms of our faith, it is far too easy to accuse others of following their own teraphim or of acting as poor shepherds. What we don’t do well is examine our own values, seek out the places where we ourselves fall short. Zechariah was clear: God alone has the sovereign authority to guide God’s people, and it is by turning to God with open hearts and minds that we find our true bearing. But we have got to start by recognizing our own propensity for self-centeredness and moving beyond ourselves.

Years ago my wife and I were struck by the thought that even when people are the most divided there almost always seem to be areas of common ground where God’s grace can be found. For example, think about the question of who should be ordained, set aside for particular forms of service within the church. Some believe that only men should serve in positions of leadership while others believe that leadership roles are open to men and women alike. Others believe that sexual orientation should not be considered in making such decisions within the church. These differences in perspective are stark. Yet virtually no one would deny that adequate housing is essential for all people. God’s household, as fractured as it may be, could find a sense of unity in providing homes — or households –– for the least of those in our communities. If people with various opinions on ordination shared in the work of Habitat for Humanity or the Fuller Center would it solve the question of ordination? Probably not. But it would bring glory to God while drawing God’s people together in service to the world. It might also begin replacing some teraphim — household gods –– with a better understanding of the one true God while also providing for sheep in need of protection.

Prayer: Lord God, give us the courage to turn to you and to live in faithful obedience rather than condemning others for their faults as we perceive them. Amen.

A Model Community

Luke 9:1-17
There is a portion of our gospel reading today that gives me a particular sense of comfort. “When the crowds found out about it,” we read, “they followed (Jesus); and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured” (Luke 9:11). Here Jesus was, in a deserted place dealing with thousands of people. And yet, according to Luke, he offered compassion and hospitality to them, making them feel welcome, sharing good news with them, healing them of their illnesses. At this particular moment in his ministry Jesus was offering the gift of community, and he was handing it out by the bushel.

As I reflect on the struggles that face the church today, the issues that split us apart and that lead others to doubt our intentions and our relevance, I can’t help but reflect on Jesus’ offer of community. Could it be that in our desire to claim doctrinal purity, to hold other accountable while insisting that our version of “the truth” is the only one that matters—and I’m saying this to conservatives and liberals alike, to Roman Catholics, Protestants, the Orthodox—could it be that we’ve forgotten the simple gift of community and the power it has to touch lives and to change hearts? Just to sit together, to share each other’s needs and to lift one another’s spirits; to cry and to laugh and to wonder at all the things that happen in life; sometimes this is what folks need, and it is a gift that the church, in the name of Jesus Christ, has to give.

Jesus welcomed others, gave them good news, met their needs, and sent them on their way. Now why can’t we do that?

Prayer: Lord, help us to build community in our world and through our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

No Stopping It

Acts 4:13-31

The book of Acts is clear; the good news of the gospel cannot be contained, and our reading for today is yet another example of this reality. After healing a man in the temple Peter and John were brought before the Jewish leaders who questioned the Apostles’ motives. After sending Peter and John out of the council the leaders conferred. According to Acts, “They said, ‘What will we do with them? For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them; we cannot deny it. But to keep it from spreading further among the people, let us warm them to speak no more to anyone in this name’” (Acts 4:16-17).

The leaders might as well have tried to extinguish a fire with grease. There would be no slowing the work of the church. Indeed, by the end of this passage Peter, John, and the other believers are asking for the strength they will need to continue the work they have been given. And, “When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness” (v. 31). It was Pentecost all over again!

When I read the book of Acts I cease to fear for the future of the church. There have been conflicts and schisms and controversies for centuries on end. Powers have risen in every age with the aim of silencing the gospel and in each case they have failed. For this reason I find it imperative that people of faith stop trying to save that which cannot be lost. God will preserve the church; our job is to serve God with faithful obedience wherever we may be, doing the work to which God has called us, suffering when necessary, but rejoicing at all times. Yes, there will be difficult issues to confront. Yes, there will be times of transition and upheaval. Yes, we will find ourselves faced with new circumstances that require new forms of expression and which are not to our liking. But God has made it abundantly clear that no power on earth nor in heaven can silence the gospel message of hope and salvation. Thanks be to God.

Prayer: Lord, help us to let go of our fears about the future and to trust you wholeheartedly. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Filling the Gaps

Acts 1:15-26

Jesus had originally called twelve disciples including Judas. So after Judas’s betrayal and his subsequent death there was a void that the Christians community felt led to fill. “And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles” (Acts 1:26). Matthias does not play a significant role in the story that Acts tells. In fact the deacons set aside in chapter 6––Stephen and Philip especially––will be far more prominent in the account as it unfolds. But as is so often the case in scripture it is not the who that is important so much as the what.

Choosing a replacement for Judas was an act of faith based on the assumption that there was work to be done, even if Jesus was no longer bodily present to guide that work. Not only that, but the believers trusted God to lead them to the right person, someone with a heart for ministry, someone who had known Jesus and had witnessed first hand the things the Lord accomplished. Here, also, was a household of faith working to set things right.

From time to time your or I may be called upon to fill a gap, to offer our talents to the use of the wider community and meet a particular need. When we do so we demonstrate our awareness that there is work to be done, we display confidence in God to lead us to the place we are needed, and we support the household of faith as it seeks to set things right. The church will always need people like Matthias and by God’s grace I believe we will find them.

Prayer: Lord, help us each to serve you in faithful obedience and according to your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Right Down To The Smallest Detail

Romans 16:17-27

How’s this for an odd little verse? “I Tertius, the writer of this letter, greet you in the Lord” (Romans 16:22). There may not seem to be much by way of theology here, but I happen to think verses like this one are often full of insight if we will only give them a chance to speak. So what is Romans 16:22 telling us?

For one thing, the spread of the gospel has always been a “team effort.” Paul may have displayed extraordinary zeal but there were always people like Tertius working behind the scenes, making sure that things got done. Look at the number of individuals mentioned in this passage alone: Timothy, Lucius, Jason, Sosipater, Gaius, Erastus, and Quartus all join Paul in sending their greetings. Paul was not alone in his efforts; Tertius had a role to play even if it was taking dictation from Paul.

Which brings us to a second point. The fact that Paul was dictating leads us to the possibility that the content of Romans drew heavily on what Paul would normally have said were he speaking directly to his audience. There has always been a place for oratory in the life of the church, for preaching and proclamation, which requires proximity. Paul was far more accustomed to evangelizing face to face than he was by letter, so much so that in his letters he frequently mentions his desire to be present with his readers. The Christian faith is based on relationships as much or more than it is on particular content, a fact the modern church would do well to remember.

Finally, even in this snippet of scripture, Jesus remains the point. Tertius offers his greeting “in the Lord” and not by the authority of Paul, or the church in Ephesus or Corinth, or even the Apostles in Jerusalem. Jesus is always the heart and soul of the message, even when one Christian says hello to another.

The faith is built upon community, connection, and the person of Jesus Christ, all of which are present in Romans 16:22.

Prayer: Lord, may we see your grace in even the smallest details or our lives. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Limited God Is No God

Psalm 135

Romans 3:21-31

What are the limits of God’s ability to act? Where are the boundaries of God’s power? Is there any place God cannot be God? People of faith will recognize these as silly questions. God has no limits, no boundaries, nowhere the divine will cannot be exerted. As the psalmist reminds us, “Whatever the LORD pleases he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps” (Psalm 135:6). God is able to act anywhere and in any way God chooses.

Paul, for one, sees how the limitlessness of God affects our lives. “Or is God the God of Jews only?” Paul asks his readers in Rome. “Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith” (Romans 3:29-30). Throughout its history the church has wrestled with lines and boundaries. Who is qualified to be a part of the community? Who is acceptable before God? All too often the body of Christ at work in the world has suffered the wounds of schism and alienation over questions of inclusion and of what it means to be a child of God. Clearly there are activities or perspectives that are inappropriate if one wishes to live a life of faith, but it is just as clear that there are no limits on what God can accomplish in changing lives, renewing hearts, providing increased understanding, and that these things may need to happen to those already within the church.

The call to discipleship is an invitation to allow God to be God, to watch and see what the Lord will do. If we are in too big of a hurry to pronounce the divine intention we will very likely fail to see the mighty acts God is performing already. We may not realize it, but we sometimes place our own limits, our own boundaries on what God can do. Until we embrace the grace-filled implications of God’s limitlessness we will continue to struggle with unity.

Prayer: Lord, help us to serve you and your coming reign instead of our own opinions and attitudes. For it is in the name of Jesus Christ who calls all people to himself that we pray. Amen.

On Weakness and Strength

1 Timothy 2:1-6

Our reading from 1 Timothy this morning comes from a time when Christians were a decided minority of the total population. How should disciples of Jesus Christ live in such circumstances? “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity” (1Timothy 2:1-2). Pray for those in positions of authority and seek a life of peace, the writer advises. Live according to God’s will and in such a way that the faith may be held in honor. These are wise words.

But what happens when the Christian faith is no longer a minority, when it becomes the single largest religious movement in the world? There is a significant difference between the godly and dignified efforts of a small minority on one hand and the power wielded by the modern church on the other. Indeed, the movement begun by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was rooted in the lives of common folks who had no earthly power to speak of. Today it has grown to encompass the world—praise be to God!—and operates from relative strength. But what do we do now? The writer of 1 Timothy, I believe, would call on us to continue to pray for those in authority and to lead peaceable lives with “all godliness and dignity” just as before. To do so in our present circumstances takes imagination and effort, however, and requires us to see things differently, as through the eyes of those who lack power, who are at the margins of our culture, who readily recognize their dependence upon the grace of God. In other words, as Christians we might use power in an attempt to compel acceptance by the wider culture, but this will never allow us to be known as people of “godliness and dignity” the way 1 Timothy challenges us to be.

The magnitude of the modern Christian movement requires us to constantly adjust our perspective and to remember “where we came from.” Otherwise we will find ourselves alienated from our own tradition, our own beginnings, the gospel that is our message.

Prayer: Lord, help us to remember who we are and whose we are. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Keeping It All Together

Colossians 1:15-23

I’ve heard it said that were it not for friction the entire universe would fall apart. In practical terms there would be no way for objects to remain in contact, which means there would no way for us to grasp things. Transportation would be impossible because there would be no traction between wheels and the road. Friction is essential to our lives.

Paul makes a similar theological claim in his letter to the Colossians. “(Christ) himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). In other words, were it not for Jesus Christ our lives would fall apart. There would be no way for people to remain in contact, no way for us to live in community. Truly loving one another would be impossible because we would have no frame of reference, no guidance, no encouragement, nothing to “hold us together.”

Certainly Christ is essential to the life of the church, which Paul refers to as Christ’s body over which Christ is the head (v. 18). We may speak of “friction” in negative terms from time to time, as in the friction between individuals, a phenomenon which can cause pain and loss. The church is not immune to this reality. But when the church does what it is called to do, and when the church succeeds in its mission, it is because Jesus Christ is holding it all together and making it work.

Paul would be baffled by our modern science, but he is right on target when he points to Jesus Christ as the one who gives shape and purpose to our lives.

Prayer: Lord God, by your grace may we come to know the love and community which Jesus Christ alone makes possible, for it is in his name that we pray. Amen.

Merely Human

1 Corinthians 2:14-3:15

The journey of faith is one filled with challenges, the greatest of which is staying focused on God's will. Paul looked at the church in Corinth and could see that there were issues making it impossible for the members to remain steadfast in their faith. "For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you," Paul writes, "are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? For when one says, 'I belong to Paul,' and another, 'I belong to Apollos,' are you not merely human?" (1 Corinthians 3:3b-4).

We are human, but what does Paul mean when he talks about being merely human? In this case it has to do with what motivates a person in their relationship with God and with others. When the people of God allow "jealously and quarreling" to creep in, when the body of Christ is divided into various camps each claiming to have the more authentic faith, when the will of God is lost in a sea of worldliness, then the church has become a merely human institution. And Paul means this as a harsh criticism. He might also have described his readers as spoiled brats, or as self-centered jerks. "Grow up!" Paul is saying.

The good news is that Paul remains confident of the work God is doing in Corinth. If the believers there will look beyond themselves they will see grace and mercy in abundance, they will see the fellowship of the Holy Spirit taking root, they will see growth and development taking place. The same can be said of the church today. If we will shift our focus away from issues that divide and concentrate on the gospel and its message of hope and peace we will see great things. And by God's grace we will no longer be merely human.

Prayer: Lord of all, bless us with eyes to see the work you are doing in our midst so that we may push beyond ourselves and become partners in you service. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Divided By Jesus

John 9:1-17

The idea that Jesus would heal on the sabbath day caused quite a stir among the religious establishment. "Some of the Pharisees said, 'This man is not from God, for he does not observe the sabbath.' But others said, 'How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?' And they were divided" (John 9:16). Normally, of course, we like to think of Jesus as the healer that he was, not in terms of the controversies he could cause. But John makes it impossible to ignore: there have always been those who would rather quibble over who Jesus really is than to simply accept the grace he offers. To this very day Jesus remains at the center of much debate even among those who profess faith in him as the Word of God incarnate.

A close look at the contemporary church reveals splits, schisms, divisions, denominations sometimes caused by the most obscure of theological issues. Even matters of some general acceptance can cause fraction. What is the "proper" way by which to administer the sacrament of baptism? Who is qualified to proclaim the good news in an "official" capacity? Is it appropriate to use musical instruments in Christian worship? And if so, which ones? Keep in mind that baptism, proclamation, and worship are shared by all Christians and are considered to be positive and affirming activities. And yet over and over again these very concepts send people of faith running to the trenches for more of what has become a protracted battle. It is truly a shame that the one who healed the blind, fed the hungry, welcomed the outcast, and pointed the way to God's coming reign should so often be overshadowed by conflict.

Personally, I look forward to the day when all people will come to know the truth of God's love as revealed in Jesus Christ. But until then I pray that our brokenness may be healed and our focus be restored.

Prayer: Gracious God, forgive the way your people squander the gospel with which we have been entrusted. Restore our unity and guide our living. In Jesus' name. Amen.