April 15, 2007 Building a Bridge from Easter to daily reality of practical discipleship, linking back up with our journey through the entire letter to the Romans

Source Scriptures: Romans 13:8-14, Romans 2:5-8, Woman caught in adultery

Transition from last Sunday (full definition of love expressed by Jesus that includes both deep compassion and high accountability along with the range of options in the middle) to today (we are to imitate him)

Why does Jesus do this? Is he some sort of idiot, a hothead with a serious problem of losing his temper? Or is this sort of approach deeply important to his message of the kingdom? What if the message of Jesus was so deeply profound, so transformative, that the standard way of doing things wouldn’t work, or was terribly inadequate to address how deeply broken humanity was?

“Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature”

In the deeply philosophical and incisive words of Nike Corporation, "Just do it." Shed your old life, embrace the new. The old life kills, the new life brings depth of meaning and beauty and truth. Shed the old, embrace the new. I could say that. I could turn this message into a synthesis of Joel Osteen and Ben Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanac, quoting a Proverb, then lecturing you on the values of temperance, stability, and orderliness. I could do that. But I've grown tired of that self-help approach to the Christian life. Stop doing A and B, start doing C and D, and make sure your heart is right, and be optimistic. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, I could live into the example of the old Methodist preachers, of which my great-grandfather was one (though he was very different from some of the typicals), the ones where you made sure not to sit in the first two pews because of the flying spittle from their mouths and the extreme percussion sound that came from the Bible and fit slamming into the pulpit.

There must be a third way. Is there a third way? Or a fourth way? Or a spectrum of possibilities between the two poles of spittle and a faith reduced to the fringes of our lives? I think so, otherwise we're doomed, and the church is nothing more than an ideal, the Christian life nothing more than a pipe dream; like my sister's cherry chapstick that smelled so good and full of potential, yet tasted so disappointing when I was five.

Thankfully, I believe with every ounce of my being that the Way of Jesus offers much more than that, but requires every ounce of my heart to radically depend on God whether I find myself stuck in the web of sin in my own life, or am confronted with the sin of another human being who has fallen short of the glory of God.

Open with Atteberry's story from 10 Dumbest Things Christians Do

"It was the call no preacher wants to get.

An active member of our church phoned to tell me that her husband, also an active member, was having an affair with a coworker. She'd known only for a couple of hours, so she was still processing the information. As she spoke, her voice held a constant tremor, and she stopped to weep several times. After promising the church's help and support, I prayed with her and then asked where her husband was at that moment. She told me he was driving to work so I asked for his cell phone number. After jotting it down, I told her goodbye and dialed it. When he realized it was me, his voice became abnormally cheerful.

"Hey Mark, what's going on?"

"Have you got a minute to talk?"

"I'm about ten minutes from work. What's up?"

"I just spoke to your wife," I said. "She told me some really disappointing news.

Silence.

"You know what I'm talking about, don't you," I asked.

"We've been having a few problems."

"She told me you're having an affair. Is that true?"

There was another hesitation. Finally, he said, "Yes. I can't believe she told you."

"She was having trouble processing the information. She needed to talk to someone."

"When she and I talked about it earlier this afternoon, we agree we'd work it out ourselves. It's no one else's business."

"Listen, we need to talk," I said, "When can we get together?"

He hesitated, "I'm not sure. I don't know what my schedule is."

It was a lie. He knew exactly what his schedule was.

"We really need to talk," I said again.

"I'm going to have to get back with you after I check my schedule."

It was obvious that he wasn't going to agree to a meeting, so I pressed on to another topic- one that I never dreamed I'd have to address with him.

"I'm sorry," I said, "but I'm going to have to ask you to step down from your ministry until we can work through this situation and get it corrected."

He'd been on one of our key ministry teams for several years. He honestly seemed stunned. "Why?"

"Why? I'd think the reason would be obvious."

"Because I'm a sinner?" he asked, with more than a touch of sarcasm in his voice. "Aren't you a sinner, Mark? Isn't everyone in the church a sinner? What are you singling me out? Why don't you make everybody step down from their ministries, too? Why don't you step down yourself?

I couldn't believe what I was hearing

"You can't be serious," I said.

"I'm dead serious," he countered. "What gives you the right to judge me?"

"Look," I said, trying to remain calm. "I'm not going to argue with you about this. You'll be relieved of your duties until you repent and get you life and your marriage back together."

"So you're kicking me out of the church?"

I sighed. "Come one. You know better than that."

But he said he didn't know better than that at all. Then, just before he hung up, he said one more thing, "I don't think I even want to go to a church that kicks people when they're down. I'm having a few problems is all, and you're treating me like I'm some kind of axe murderer. Let me tell you what…you can go ahead and get someone to replace me permanently because I won't be back." And though he hadn't done so hot with his marriage vows, that was a promise he kept.

When I replay that conversation in my mind, the words I hear most vividly are, "What gives you the right to judge me?" Cutting words today for anyone who encounters sin, because of the way it threatens to rip the rug right out from underneath any attempt to address and move beyond battles with sin.

What do you think were some significant obstacles this pastor faced in dealing with this man?

Bring fundamental posture into conversation

In the struggle of life, we will fail along the way…and maybe the most telling thing isn't how often we succeed, but how we react when we fail, or when we come into contact with others' failures.

(fundamental posture takes into account our weakness without justifying our actions that fall short of the expectations of God.

Humility and Repentance vs. Stubbornness and Unrepentance

Romans 2:5-8

Woman caught in adultery "Go and sin no more"

- only effective first because of Jesus' great compassion and willingness to stand up on the woman's behalf, and second because he sent her off into a community that placed a high premium on fidelity in marriage (though reading what the Hillel community of rabbis thoughts were on marriage doesn't elevate that much)

- community should hold her accountable (though her situation was one where the community was more legalistic than grace-filled)

Deal with complexity of failure and sin

Everyone's strengths and weaknesses are different, so how I respond to someone else's weakness will define whether both I and they ever reveal that weakness again (tremendous responsibility I carry in this situation not to pour salt on what is already an open wound, but to bring grace and forgiveness to bear along with accountability)

Reality that on some level, there are institutionalized ways of being in our churches (gossip, anger, passive aggressiveness, unforgiveness, exaltation of self in relation to others, legalism, pride) that are just as fragmenting and just as morally reprehensible to God as those secret, explosive sins of pornography, homosexuality, and adultery. Bring something to bear on those confronted with sinful situation

Close with John Piper's story and admonition from Don't Waste Your Life

"For me as a boy, one of the most gripping illustrations my fiery father used was the story of a man converted in old age. The church had prayed for this man for decades. He was hard and resistant. But this time, for some reason, he showed up when my father was preaching. At the end of the service, during a hymn, to everyone's amazement he came and took my father's hand. They sat down together on the front pew of the church as the people were dismissed. God opened his heart to the Gospel of Christ, But that did not stop him from sobbing and saying, as the tears ran down his wrinkled face—and what an impact it made on me to hear my father say this through his own tears—"I've wasted it! I've wasted it!"

This was the story that gripped me more than all the stories of young people who died in car wrecks before they were converted— the story of an old man weeping that he had wasted his life. In those early years God awakened in me a fear and a passion not to waste my life. The thought of coming to my old age and saying through tears, "I've wasted it! I've wasted it!" was a fearful and horrible thought to me.The message was clear. You get one pass at life. That's all. Only one. And the lasting measure of that life is Jesus Christ."

I think the author here in Romans gives a hint as to a fulfilling life: in the imitation of Christ, be willing to step out of your comfort zone for the sake of embracing the life God intends for you and everyone around you. The end is near, don't waste the one shot you've got at this life to shine for Christ.

Dual meaning here:

1) Personal meaning

2) Relational meaning

April 8, 2007 Easter Sunday

Source Scriptures: Luke 2:25-38, Ephesians 6

I’ve come with some questions today as we worship that are deeply relevant for my life and may be for yours: What was the meaning of Jesus’ life? Did Jesus come to die and that is it? To do something we couldn’t do, to make us clean, to forgive us, and that’s it? Nothing more to the story? Why is Easter hope-filled? Simply because Jesus rose from the dead?

Or did Jesus come to represent something more than these things? Something richer and deeper and more transformative and dynamic and beautiful than that? What did Jesus come for? And is there a way for us to consider the possibility of a deeper more practical, more life-changing meaning than him dying to forgive sinners while simultaneously agreeing that the cross is the climax of Jesus’ faithfulness and mission and meaning, and that the resurrection is the capstone that cements the reality that death has no ultimate hold on us?

I think so, and I think that reality is embedded in the very beginning of Jesus’ life, when as a baby, by custom as firstborn son, he is brought to be dedicated at the temple (Quote Zechariah in Luke 2:25-38) (bright words in 29-32, foreboding in 34-35)

As the story of Jesus unfolds, as his message grows clearer and brighter, the scene around him turns tense and dark, twisted, ugly, and filled with hatred and conspiracy. Jesus’ enemies are out to get him, and he isn’t being careful. Instead, through parables and direct conversations, he taunts and teases them, inviting them to retaliate.

Take, for example the events of what we call Palm Sunday, five days before Jesus’ crucifixion: the triumphal entry into Jerusalem when a crowd treats Jesus as a king and the religious leaders tell him to stop but he refuses, or the “cleansing of the temple” when Jesus disrupts the way the temple has come to operate, or him telling religious leaders that little children understand more than they do. He seems to be intent on goading his enemies from disgust to fury, from fury to conspiring, from conspiring to outright violence.

Why does Jesus do this? Is he some sort of idiot, a hothead with a serious problem of losing his temper? Or is this sort of approach deeply important to his message of the kingdom? What if the message of Jesus was so deeply profound, so transformative, that the standard way of doing things wouldn’t work, or was terribly inadequate to address how deeply broken humanity was?

Now, this may be a strange way to go about talking about this issue, but I think that among all of Jesus ministry of preaching and teaching and signs and wonders, one of the most important, as well as one of the strangest aspects, was his confrontation with evil powers. I believe Jesus’ demonic confrontations give us a window into what his message was all about.

There’s a significant amount of skepticism these days when it comes to talking about demons, because many folks have lived and died without a direct confrontation with the demonic; but that does NOT mean they have not encountered the demonic realm. There are different ways the system of evil works, and quite often it does not look like a scene from the Exorcist with a little girl with her head on a swivel, or crabwalking backwards down the stairs while talking in a deep gravelly bass voice. In the most extremely personal cases, this can be true, but the reality of the demonic can look a whole lot different than that as well; I’d like to suggest that evil is directly at work in any alternative kingdoms or groups or systems that would claim to be higher than or take the place of God. This is intensely relevant for us today. And Jesus understood that in order for that evil to be exposed, it must be drawn out of the shadows where it hides in secret.

On the level of direct and obvious demonic confrontations, this drawing into the light happens again and again. (Boy thrown into convulsions, struck deaf, foaming at mouth, spirit throws into fire or water to kill him Mark 9, Man lives in tombs, cutting himself with stones with superhuman strength, Jesus casts out multiple demons from man (soon sits clothed and in right mind), thousands come with various afflictions (Jesus draws into the light whatever oppressive, disease-causing, paralyzing forces that hide within them so they can be freed). This liberation and restoration are part of Jesus’ message of the kingdom. That’s part of the story: the kingdom liberates and heals individuals from oppressive spiritual powers, but that’s not the whole story

The apostle Paul tells us directly in Ephesians 6, “For our battle is not against flesh and blood (against people), but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” What do you think Paul means when he talks about these rulers and authorities and power and forces of evil?

Just to give an simple example of what these realities might look like, in the world of sports, there are some folks who are extremely dedicated Washington Redskin fans, but there are equally dedicated Dallas Cowboy fans as well as committed Philadelphia Eagles fan, and let’s not forget about the Giants fans. Now, there are varying levels of commitment amongst fans, but in all of those camps, there are some who live and die by their teams, and if anyone DARES to wear the opposing colors in their stadium or the sports bar where they’re watching the game, their blood pressure rises, their faces turn red, their palms get sweaty, and their fists ball up. These folks have what you might call “team spirit” that is very real and controlling in their lives; something that at its extreme can take healthy competition and make it turn downright nasty and evil.

Taking that example a little further, the same sort of thing exists in business. Just a few years ago, the head honchos at Enron Corporation knew their business was in trouble, partially because they’d messed with the books and lifted some cash for themselves from retirement accounts, and partially because of the market. And because the executives knew this, they made sure the regular workers couldn’t sell off their stock options (many had their life savings and pensions wrapped up in these areas), and they froze their employee’s stocks so they couldn’t sell. Meanwhile, the executives sold off all their stock and made a KILLING, and when the company stocks fell to virtually nothing, they unfroze the assets of their employees and said they could sell them. Well, by then the stocks were worthless and folks were destitute, while these executives made off tremendously well. This is evil, unjust. But we shouldn’t think that just because Enron was exposed in this that this is the only example of a company treating their workers and everyone else like dirt to line the pockets of the big boys. I could tick off on more than my two hands the companies in recent years that have been exposed on some level in this sort of evil. We could call that spirit “corporate evil,” the kind of twisting of capitalism that’s all about profit-making at any expense.

All throughout human history, this sort of phenomenon crops up, a kind of groupthink that “takes over,” “possesses” a group, drives them. Nazism, terrorism, nationalism, are patriotism are some examples of forces that if they drive human beings to evil acts, if they fragment and destroy the world, are a demonic force or power or authority in the way Paul is talking about here.

And Jesus dealt with both the personal demons and the system demons in the same way: directly. And just as he confronted the spirit causing the boy to foam at the mouth and be thrown onto a fire, Jesus drew out, exposed, named, and rejected the evil on a larger scale: evil hiding beneath robes and crowns, hiding in temples and palaces, carried out in policies and laws and traditions, seeming to “possess” groups to move in evil ways. This reality of evil can possess, sicken, and drive insane whole nations, religions, political movements, jobs in societies, families, and communities, just like the personal demons can possess individuals

There are two invisible but clearly real forces in specific that Jesus exposes. First, Jesus confronts the Roman Empire as a source and focal point of evil. Ironically, when we read the story of Jesus, we are struck not by the power of the Roman Empire but instead by its weakness. This comes to a climax when Jesus stands before Pilate, who is anything but a frighteningly powerful governor. He’s manipulated by crowds, pressured by his wife, conflicted and paralyzed, fearful of making decisions. Jesus stands before him flogged, mocked, bleeding, and bound, and Pilate, frustrated, says to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus quietly answers him, “You would have not power over me if it were not given to you from above.” You’re not the one who controls my destiny. In the face of the simple authority of Jesus, the power and authority of Rome seems pathetic and hollow. In another account, Pilate almost literally cries out in desperation to Jesus, “What is truth?!” Pilate’s life is empty and he knows it; his prestige, power, and wealth are bring him no true satisfaction.

Second, Jesus confronts the equally dark spirit of the religiously elite. It one thing to show the evil of the apparently powerful, it is another to show the evil of the apparently righteous. And Jesus confronts them as well. He violates their taboos, honors their enemies, tells the truth to them, not caring about their anger. Their fury and rage boils beneath the folds of their robes. They shout “Crucify him!” and even more scandalous, the chief priests declare, “We have no king but Caesar!” Faced with the kingdom of God, they choose Caesar. These religious leaders (like so many today) pretended to be about faithfulness to God and to Israel, but they show their true desires; to continue holding power, to keep their little religious money-making business going, and because Jesus threatens their domain, they conspire to bring an end to his life.

And so, what seems to be the end of the story comes: the religious and political powers get together for an final solution; the religious authorities whip up the mob and the Romans execute Jesus as seditious, an enemy of the Empire. He will be nailed to a Roman cross-a visible symbol of the power of Rome, the instrument of torture and execution that brings an end to those who dare to stand up to Rome.

And so they crush him and his movement. And it appears Jesus has failed. But it is here that we find the message of the kingdom of God blow everything wide open. In his entire life and most completely in his willingness to die for his message, Jesus clearly shows that a new force, a new spirit is in the world- not the demonic, but the Spirit of God. Just as fallen humanity is twisted by the forces of evil, this new Spirit is entering people and transforming them into a healthy, creative, God-honoring, and new kind of community- the kingdom of God. This kingdom is a counterforce, a countermovement, a counterkingdom that will confront all corrupt human and spiritual powers and show them for who and what they really are. But the new kingdom goes about its business in a radically different way than its counterparts.

When its message of love, peace, justice, and truth meets the principalities and powers of government and twisted religion armed with spears and swords and crosses, they unleash their hate, terror, and force to crush what threatens their authority. It seems to be hopeless to go up against this system. But what is the alternative?

Could the kingdom of God come with bigger weapons, stronger force? Or would that, as the apostle Paul says, corrupt the kingdom of God so it would not be “of God” at all but just another twisted earthly power?

What if the only way for the kingdom of God to come as a kingdom “not of this world” is through weakness and vulnerability, sacrifice and love? What if it confronts the powers of this world, exposes their twistedness, and allows itself to be crushed by them in order for them to see and understand the darkness of their hearts so that they long for the light and the truth?

Maybe it is at this moment that we get a glimpse into one of the deepest mysteries of the kingdom of God. Maybe it shows us how Jesus could stare down those who opposed him, who hated him, conspired against him, and murdered him, knowing that they had no power over him, and that death was nothing to him. The agony of dying hurt, but death was no end, and he showed it, God stuck it right in the faces of Rome and the enemies of Jesus when on the morning of what we call Easter, a violent earthquake took place, an angel of the LORD came down from heaven with clothes that shone like lightning, causing the guards to shake and become like dead men, and rolled the stone away, and Jesus AROSE FROM THAT PLACE ALIVE. ALIVE!!!! And so Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection showed us as human beings powerfully that we need not fear death as his people, only reverently stand before God in awe and serve and love him and others with radical faithfulness, confronting evil in all of its forms (sometimes within us) and redeeming the world.

You see, the death and resurrection of Jesus shows us the most beautiful and tremendous sign of all, that the hope of humanity lies in what seems to be an impossible truth: the only way the kingdom of God can be strong in a truly powerful way is through a scandalous weakness and vulnerability, the only way it can live is by dying, the only way it can succeed is by failing in the world’s eyes. Looking back on Jesus’ life, Paul said that the Cross was the weakness and foolishness of God. But that weakness and foolishness were more powerful than all the wisdom and power of evil with all of its wealth and prestige and power. Somehow, the defeat of Jesus on that Roman cross- the moment when God seemed weak and foolish and powerless- was how God exposed and judged the evil of empire and twisted religion and every human being, so that humanity could be forgiven and reconciled to open relationship with God.

You know, Jesus wasn’t just out to give a message of how to get to heaven when you die. Jesus didn’t just come to hang on a cross and forgive our sins. He came to transform EVERY ELEMENT of human society through a radical commitment to God and his neighbors and enemies, preaching and living into a message about the transformation and salvation of the earth and ALL that is in it by winning people over to a different way of seeing, living, and thinking. One of my favorite authors wrote a book here recently called the The Secret Message of Jesus: Uncovering the Truth that Could Change Everything (a catchy book title that’ll sell well because it kicks up people’s interest), but in the back of the book, the author wrote “I wanted the title to be The Secret Message of Jesus: His Surprising and Largely Untried Plan for a Political, Social, Religious, Artistic, Economic, Intellectual, and Spiritual Revolution.” The editors thought it was awkward and not catchy, so the other title won out, but that doesn’t take away from his point. Jesus came, died, and arose not so we could sit on our hands and wait for the sweet by and by, but rather to transform EVERYTHING, and he taught that to us in the Lord’s Prayer, which says, “God, may your kingdom come, and your will be done” Where? (On earth, as it is in heaven). May we never settle for less than this reality.

Here's the video we watched this Sunday, an excerpt from a sermon preached by a certain S.M. Lockridge called "That's my King"

April 1, 2007 Palm Sunday

Source Scriptures: Isaiah 50:4-9, Luke 12:4,11,12, Luke 18:31-34, Luke 19 and Jesus weeping, Luke 20 (Parable of Tenants)

I was listening to a radio station on my ITunes program not too long ago called Groove Salad, self-described as a “chilled plate of ambient beats and grooves” and they played a nifty song that integrated some tunes that facilitated the mind wandering all over the place and inserted some John F. Kennedy quotes in the mix as well; two of those stuck out to me;

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” And

“We choose to go to the moon and to do other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard. There’s a sense that anything is possible.”

Now, I’m not old enough by almost two decades to have experienced or remembered JFK’s life, but in some sense I’ve gotten a chance to experience him and the restless decades of the 1960s and 70s vicariously through my grandmother and my mom.

In some sense, JFK wasn’t around long enough or at least was idealized enough before his assassination that they didn’t know he was a rampant womanizer whose ideals often didn’t line up with reality,but it seemed he carried some significant convictions and a fresh, invigorating outlook on life and power that caused enough to people to get on board with his agenda that he became the youngest president ever. This is a tremendous accomplishment in itself (people’s comments about Obama “lacking experience), not to mention that he was a nominally Catholic president elected from a nominally Protestant country that carried a deep sense of suspicion of Catholicism from the very founding of the initial thirteen colonies in the New World that became America.

But JFK’s youthful energy and fresh approach not only gained him a good number of allies in his life but a solid number of enemies, including the powerful enemy of J. Edgar Hoover, the power-mongering head of the FBI at the time, a guy you didn’t want to have against you because of his reputation of destroying whomever got in his path. Without delving too deeply into conspiracy theories, investigations into JFK’s assassination in 1963 a significant number of persons working in very covert and subversive ways to undermine his presidency before they eventually shot him.

Now, if you know me at all, you’re probably thinking, “Why in the world is Nate talking about JFK in the context of looking at this Isaiah passage?” That might be one question of yours, and another deeper question might be, “Why in the world is Nate, a follower of Jesus, even daring to link the leader of a secular modern nation-state with a faithful prophet seeking faithfulness in exiled Israel?” Now I’m not going to take the comparison too far here, but it seems to be a fairly consistent reality in history that the structure of society, the desire for comfort of citizens of that society, and a general dislike of the idea of change, all contribute to a desire to keep the things the same, don’t upset the apple cart, so to speak, to choose safety and low-risk decisions over idealism, risky ideas, and radical change. I think it’s safe to say that most governments don’t mind their people thinking, as long as they don’t turn that thinking into radical action in a way that turns the system on its head. John F. Kennedy was certainly idealistic, willing to take big risks, and generally positive about the impact of some of the social upheaval of the 1960s, and it seems that this commitment of his was enough of a threat to the some powerful enough people in American society that they decided to swing the balance of power back in their favor, assassinating Kennedy.

This sort of thing wasn’t unheard of in the 1960s and 70’s, certainly, as the murders of Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King stained the landscape of America. It seems to be a general rule that prophetic voices are often seen as a threat period, especially for those who happen to hold the power at the time. This sort of struggle is a timeless one, and one intensely relevant to our Scripture here today.

(Read Isaiah 50:4-9)

Historical Arc of Isaiah:

Isaiah chs 1-39 written around 730 b.c. (All begin with an attack on arrogance and an appeal for justice and end in a hymn or prophecy of salvation, and are addressed to the people of Jerusalem. Chs. 40-55, however, are often known as the Babylonian chapters. They are distinctive in the book historically and in their style, and are for that reason called “Second Isaiah.” Written to the exile community in Babylon (rise of King of Cyrus of the Medes and Persians is described (45:1-3)) as well as the fall of Babylon (ch 47) and the return of the exiles to Jerusalem in a new Exodus (48:20-21 thru 52:11-12) The concept of healing and victory through the suffering of ‘the servant of the LORD’ marks out this section as unique in biblical prophecy. Chs 56-66 are mainly concerned with the return of the exiles to Jerusalem and the building of a new society there. (historical arc finishes here at late 400s b.c.)

- 250 year historical arc, then, here

The historical background places this episode around 522 b.c. where Darius the Mede has taken control of Babylon, and sent a group of Israelites back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. The book of Ezra speaks of Zerubbabel as the Jewish leader at this time in Jerusalem. This is important because Haggai 2:23 shows the Haggai saw Zerubbabel as continuing the line of the preexilic Davidic dynasty, which, it was believed, God had promised would last forever. The picture of the Davidic king as God’s signet ring echoes what was said of Jehoiachin earlier (Jeremiah 22:24)

Zerubbabel. The name, meaning ‘offspring of Babylon,’ of a descendent of David who returned from the Babylonian exile (Ezra 2:2) to become governor of the Persian province of Judah under Darius I (522 b.c.) He was a grandson of Jehoiachin, the exiled king of Judah. Zerubbabel and Joshua the high priest were responsible for the completion of the building of the Temple. Hopes for the restoration of the nation were probably attached to him because of his ancestry. Haggai 2:23 calls him the ‘servant of Yahweh’ and the one he has ‘chosen.’ Zerubbabel appears in the genealogies of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 3:27.

40-55 written by an unknown prophet to encourage the despairing Israelite exiles in Babylon as well as the first waves of them to return to the city of Jerusalem, a shell of its former self and a place of relative desolation. Isaiah 50:4-9 is also known as the third “Servant Song” in a series of four in Second Isaiah that emphasize the role that “God’s servant” is to play in conveying God’s word and righteousness and expectations to the world; this third song in some relevant ways prefigures the strong imagery that is conveyed in the fourth servant song we find in Isaiah 52 to 53 that we are so familiar with, which suggests that the servant will be despised by those around him and will deeply suffer for his commitment to the LORD.

On some level as we look at this passage, it seemed that in his pursuit of faithfulness, the prophet was stuck in a sort of Catch-22; the people hated that they were still functionally in exile and desired to be independent from foreign rule, but the cold, hard reality of the exile weighed heavily in their awareness. The situation is made even more complex because, if historical scholars are correct, this prophet’s ministry took place on the bridge between the older generation of Israelites who remembered the exile and the younger generation that found themselves relatively comfortable, well-off, and living in a fertile, cultured economy, only for some to be forced to return back to the land of their fathers. So, whether one was older, clinging to what was considered a utopian dream of a return to the Promised Land, or younger and more “pragmatic”, recognizing the business opportunities available in Babylon that wouldn’t exist in the Israelite land that was a shadow of its former self, the idea of a return to the top of the heap in relation to other nations around seemed like a pipe dream.

And so, if one was a prophet at this time, you would have know this was going to be a hard sell to the people, both old and young. And that turned out to be an understatement. Even though the prophet speaks here right after chapter 50 where the LORD makes the claim that he has the power to deliver Israel from their unfaithfulness, then here gives “the word that sustains the weary” from the LORD, and later in chapter 51 announces to the people the good news, GREAT NEWS that the LORD’s righteousness draws near speedily and salvation is on the way, he faces intense opposition from the people; undergoing beatings on his back, his beard being ripped out from his face, and mockers spitting on him.

Yet in the midst of this persecution, the author places unfailing trust in the LORD as sovereign over the limited ability of the enemies of the LORD to carry out their schemes, saying, “It is the Sovereign LORD who helps me, who is he that will condemn me?” and in verse 8, “Who is my accuser? Let him confront me!” It is almost as though the author is daring his opponents to challenge him.

Standing alone and with his face set like flint, he willingly accepts angry abuse. The Servant suffers because he has taken a stand for the LORD, for what is right. It is not inconceivable that because of the still-standing memory of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem and dismantling of the monarchy and state, there were many inhabitants of the region who embraced Babylonian religion because they believed the Babylonian Gods were stronger than the God of Israel. In their conversion to the Babylonian Gods, it seems likely that the Servant of this passage, ironically, faced the strongest opposition from his own people who had cast aside their historic faith.

So who is this leader, this Servant, anyways? At this time, there were only several prominent leaders: Zerubbabel, Joshua the high priest, Haggai, and Zechariah. In Isaiah chs 49 to 54, twice the single leader speaks, with our Scripture today being one of them, and once the person is described as having been brutally killed in chapters 52 and 53. The leader is clearly one who must face confrontation with oppressive authorities and endure them patiently as Zerubbabel does in Ezra chapters 4 and 5. The building of the temple only took 5 years to complete once the people really started to work hard on it, but ominously, following Zerubbabel’s initial work in Jerusalem with Joshua to start rebuilding the temple, he disappears from the scene strangely abruptly. If we run with this possibility, Zerubbabel’s documented refusal to knuckle under to the pressures of those who wanted to slow the work on the temple resulted in his being threatened and then executed as the opponents looked to assert their power and back up their threats.

If this is true, Isaiah 50 in its historical context illustrates the suffering of Zerubbabel that comes before his death in 53, and provides a compelling picture for us of the effect of radical faithfulness and a willingness to go to the point of death in commitment to the LORD.

There are several significant parallels going on in this passage, then, with connections to the past and to the future. The challenge of persecution of the prophets by their own Israelite countrymen was not a new phenomenon (this challenge had some history and would continue into the future), and the language of the Servant “setting his face like flint” in faithfulness to the LORD provides powerful foreshadowing of the ministry of Jesus when we are told in Luke 9:51 that, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem,” and the remainder of Luke’s Gospel focused on Jesus approaching Jerusalem knowing very well what would happen to him there at the end of his journey

He claims to be the Messiah, the one faithful Israelites expect will restore them back to the top of the heap, but instead of acting like a king, consolidating power, and initiating violent revolution like they expected, he reminds them he has come to serve, and they should too. He is supposed to ride the momentum of the support of the crowds to enter triumphantly into Jerusalem on a war horse, not a donkey. He is supposed to rise to the throne as the next king in the line of David, but he says instead:

“We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.” The disciples did not understand any of this. (Luke 18:31-34)

"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more…"When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.” (Luke 12:4, 11, 12) I don’t know about you, but being brought before authorities and killed doesn’t sound like the sweet deal the disciples thought they were getting into in the beginning.

(Israel thought he was coming to destroy all the pagan nations, when because of their unbelief, ISRAEL was the one destroyed by God)

Luke 20 Parable of the Tenants (he will come and kill those tenants and give vineyard to others)

Climax: As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you." (Luke 19)

That is a significant reminder to us today; we don’t like change, we don’t like someone telling us what to do, and we want Jesus to be who we want him to be…and because of that, we often accept and live into the easy things he said and rationalize away his harder teachings and expectations for us.

But the Servant and Jesus had one significant thing in common; they understood that transformation and true power of change could only come through a radical commitment to God and loving others enough that you tell the truth even if you face brutal consequences. And that is a powerful message today

March 25, 2007 Sermon 2 of 2 in mini-series on suffering. Focus on "active suffering" as different than passive suffering everyone is subject to. What does "active suffering " mean in separating Christians from the rest of the world? What effect does it have? Is it "worth it"? Do I have a choice, really, to decide whether it is "worth it" or not? Engage paradoxical reality that Jesus (and by extension, Christians) are conveyors of light and truth, and though they bring the message of freedom through faithfulness, the world often responds in violent and destructive ways.

Source Scriptures: Psalm 27, John 3:16-21, John 15:9-19,

Comments on tying up some loose ends from last Sunday and what “Reign over Me” made me consider: the depth of loss, the wound carried from traumatic experiences…

Psalms often represent movement from lament to confidence (we often think this happens right away…have we ever stopped to consider this movement might take a lifetime? Consider exiles and desperation over a period of 70 years of living in Babylon (unfaithful looked at economic opportunity, faithful lamented the end of something beautiful)

Psalm 27 confidence, lament and cry out (breathing out violence against him), back to confidence (wait for the LORD…not finding salvation in himself)

Psalms enter into depth of human experience where faith and doubt collide (weave in Abby's experience or see if she's willing to share her story of this collision and the messiness of walking through that intersection?)

Themes of darkness and light, love of God

John 3:16-21

16"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,^[a] that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.^[b] 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."^[c]

John 15:17-19

“This is my command: Love each other. If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Caecilius:

“(The Christians) are a gang…of discredited and proscribed desperadoes who band themselves against the gods. Fellows who gather together illiterates from the dregs of the populace and credulous women with the instability natural to their sex, and so organize a rabble of profane conspirators, leagued together by meetings at night and ritual fasts and unnatural (meals)…a secret tribe that shuns the light, silent in the open, but talkative in hid corners…Root and branch it must be exterminated and accursed. They (the Christians) recognize one another by secret signs and marks; they fall in love almost before they are acquainted; everywhere they introduce a kind of religion of lust, a promiscuous “brotherhood and sisterhood” by which ordinary fornication, under the cover of a hallowed name, is converted to incest.”

Members of a “secret” and “silent” movement (they were-of necessity because of persecution)…it was this secrecy that led Caecilius to misunderstand what the Christians were doing behind closed doors

“band themselves against the gods.” (The movement opposed the accepted public religion that served the ends of the Roman Empire)

“gather together illiterates from the dregs” of society, engage in “unnatural meals,” “fall in love almost before they are acquainted” call each other brother and sister (socially scandalous as wealthy to eat meals with poverty-stricken (disgusting to think of), give women identity as humans rather than property, religious clubs were supposed to be exclusive to only to those like you, but each and every one is not identified by their status in society, but are equally brothers and sisters)

It wasn’t that Christians were irrelevant, their way of meeting and scandalous view of equality among all was dangerous to the proper operation of society, and so Caecilius paid them the compliment of suggesting they be “exterminated and accursed.”

Faced sporadic and intense persecution at the hands of the state for this activity, and until 312 A.D. when the Emperor Constantine legalized Christianity, Christians could not speak in public about their faith unless they wanted to die; in fact, the only ones who spoke in public were those at their execution. No seeker-sensitive worship, because non-believers were barred from the Christian community in worship. And even if you showed yourself to be truly and intensely interested in committing your life to Christ, if you were not baptized yet, you had to leave at a certain point in the worship gathering before members shared Communion together. Any growth that took place happened because people were so radically shaped by their commitment to Jesus and his church that their character and integrity shone out in society and their lives and relationships with others were so attractive that people asked questions.

And the church did grow…how much, do you think (using 3,000 as a base number post-Pentecost), in light of the fact that most historians now agree that at the time of the legalization of Christianity, 10% of the Roman Empire were followers of Jesus, and in order to reach this number, in the previous three centuries the church statistically grew at an average of 40% per decade?

3,000 30 or so A.D.

5,880 50 A.D.

31,626 100 A.D.

170,095 150 A.D.

914,811 200 A.D.

4,920,070 250 A.D.

25,061,316 300 A.D.

35,085,843 310 A.D.

Just after 200 A.D. Tertullian, one of the early church leaders, said, "We [Christians] multiply whenever we are mown down by you; the blood of Christians is seed" (Apologeticus, 50). And 200 years later St. Jerome said, "The Church of Christ has been founded by shedding its own blood, not that of others; by enduring outrage, not by inflicting it. Persecutions have made it grow; martyrdoms have crowned it" (Letter 82).

Maybe this is easy for us to look at, because it seems like a load of numbers, but consider this reality. You know someone who is almost certainly a Christian in your neighborhood, and their lifestyle and behavior just shows something fundamentally DIFFERENT to you, something beautiful, something meaningful that exposes the emptiness in your life. But you know if you walk down this road, you will more than likely face intense persecution and maybe death. What would you do?

On a theoretical level, all that growth sounds nice. The church was exploding in growth. But practically speaking, how was this happening? I would suggest this was happening because their conversion had a radical impact on three major areas of life: their beliefs, their behaviors, and who and what they belonged to.

Belief: One of the most central things that drove people to pursue Christ was the belief that because Christ had conquered death, they did not need to fear death because they would be with him on the last day.

They also centrally believed that a life centered on God was much more fulfilling than a life centered on themselves or those most like them.

And it wasn’t just intellectual belief alone that sustained them. (there was divine power…people possessing gifts of healing were encouraged to use those gifts, and people noticeably got better, often came into direct confrontations with the demonic)

Behaviors: Christians displayed transforming lives (not perfect, but growing)

How? Before Christians were baptized, they often went through a year of instruction about what it meant to commit to Christ, and if they thought they couldn’t go through with it at any point, they were asked to leave. Also, they recognized upon baptism that they were members of a church that was bigger than the Roman Empire (visited prisoners, fed poor, freedom to women, served all regardless of nationality)

Recognized that most people decide to follow Christ because the lifestyle Christians exhibit is attractive to them.

Belonging:

Candidates for baptism recognized that joining the church changed everything. They would no longer live by the values of the dominant society, or find their basic identity anywhere other than the church (even over against families and friends)

And, centrally,

What was this commitment to Christ founded on practically?

Christians live in their own countries, but only as resident aliens. They have a share in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign land is their fatherland, and yet for them every fatherland is a foreign land. (Epistle to Diognetus early 2^nd century)

The biggest political statement then, and what should be the biggest political statement now, is this: Jesus is Lord. Not just Lord of my life, Lord of everything and everyone. But as a Christian, I have consciously said knelt before Jesus and acknowledged him as Lord. Remember the song we often sing here at church? “One day every tongue will confess you are God, one day every knee will bow.” (Not because they want to, but because they will have to on the day of judgment). “Still the greatest treasure remains for those who gladly choose you now.” We willingly place our trust in the God who loves us and tells us what life was meant to be about.

By 390, the Roman Empire saw Christianity as so much of a threat to its rule that the Emperor at the time, Theodosius, made Christianity the official religion, and overnight everyone became Christian. Along with that came strong pressures for those in society who were not Christian to become Christian not because they truly desired God, but because the empire offered imperial benefits for church leaders (including not having to serve in public duties), your career in the government advanced much more quickly if you were a member, and you were a respectable member of society only if you attended church. It became impossible as a pagan to get a job, only “Christians” could be in government, and in 529, the Emperor made conversion compulsory, and all infants were baptized into the church. (Muslims, Goths, Brits, Egyptians, etc “converted” at swordpoint)

Movement from persecution (and freedom in discipleship) to legalization (and state-enforced conversions or severe social penalties if not Christian)

Movement to Reformation (Luther, Calvin, etc)

- salvation does not come through being a citizen of a state, but through faith in Christ

- but still baptized babies, poverty-stricken members of Western Europe in Thirty Years’ War could on any given day be Protestant or Catholic depending on which the prince of their territory was)

- Anabaptists chose to return to early church roots and roots of radical belief, belonging to the kingdom of God first, and behavior that shows one’s commitment as completely as possible (in addition to intense persecution, 1,200 killed between blah and blah (show Martyr’s Mirror)

Back to secular state (and freedom in discipleship that has real costs as well as real joys)

- America founded under the same idea that everyone is Christian and simply needs to be “awakened” to do it better

- Socially speaking: those who were “respectable” attended church, etc etc…ensured social status…moving away from that now

- What are “costs” we will face for standing up for Christ in society today? Everything from tension in relationships (accountability) to possible death

People attracted to Christ by early church because in the midst of persecution, they loved God and others with joy

John 15: 9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

(paradox: darkness so dark they can’t see the light even when it’s right in front of them…nevertheless, we shine the light, even if they try to extinguish it…and in the shining we find joy)

Song Lord of the Dance shows Jesus’ willingness to dance and love and serve even in the midst of intense suffering

Compare cost of discipleship with toll of nondiscipleship (dallas Willard)

None of us would pick suffering, but I’ll tell you this; if the choice is suffering or comfort made possible because of unfaithfulness, as a follower of Jesus called to quake in the presence of God’s holiness, I’ll take suffering (though this suggestion on my part, as suggested by Miroslav Volf, “stinks of the suburbs”)

March 18, 2007 Part of 1 of 2 sermons in a mini-series investigating a Biblical perspective on suffering. Intent: All suffering is not the same. Some, what I call "passive suffering" is the suffering of disease, death, etc that all members of the world are subject to (whether Christian or non-Christian). This is generally a negative reality, though God can break in and bring healing from this reality. Other suffering, what I call "active suffering," is the conscious choice Christians make to think and speak and act in certain ways that cause them to be persecuted and even killed for their commitments. This is a positive reality, because we are freed to stand up against injustice and unfaith through the resurrection of Jesus, which proved that nothing humans can do to us (including death!) can destroy us. Our lives, however long or short by human estimation, echo in eternity, and God is concerned centrally about faithfulness, not life longevity.

Source Scriptures: Psalm of lament (Psalm 77:1-9)

Tend to think of suffering as wholly negative, right? Most of the world, when the word suffering is brought up, gets a tremendously negative vibe from that word. It conjures up all sorts of feelings within folks.

But as followers of Jesus, knowing that Jesus said to us “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (like last Sunday’s talk), do you agree with me that God’s Word is truth, whether it’s easy or hard for us to hear?

- the world sees suffering as a static reality

- a Biblical worldview shows us something different

Exploration of suffering (2 main categories)

- normal, passive kind of suffering (non-discipleship related suffering)

o this is the general suffering that all of humanity exists under and is subject to: diseases, natural disasters, losing jobs, untimely deaths (military deaths in Valley, extend out to Iraqi citizens and families and social system paralyzed by fear and loss)

- active, discipleship-centered suffering

o pick up cross daily and follow me

o anyone who loses his life for my sake will gain it

o all men will hate you because of me, but stand firm

o we will focus on discipleship-related suffering next week, but this week I want to deal with the first category

And you know, when it comes to the passive reality of suffering, the suffering that everyone in this world is subject to, we often have a tendency to take things we don’t understand and oversimplify them into “acts of God” into the concrete and unchanging will of an often cruel God who either doesn’t seem to care much about us or is powerless to do anything about it, causes disasters sometimes for seemingly no good reason, and demands that we against all odds should believe something good can come from the act or situation

- I don’t think it’s as simple as that, though many would suggest it is.

Ex. Bluffton baseball team wreck (explain wreck)

James Grandey, the baseball coach at Bluffton University in Ohio, was injured along with 28 players in the March 2 crash on Interstate 75 in Atlanta. Five players, and the bus driver and his wife, were killed.

Grandey, who suffered multiple broken facial bones, said that God brings only situations that people can handle.

"I wonder why I survived ... I don't know, God has a reason," said Grandey, 29, dark bruises under his eyes and his jaw still partially wired shut. "There's a reason for those that didn't survive as well. We'll never know that answer until we ourselves pass away."

Diseases (black plague wiped out half the population of Europe in the Middle Ages); was that an act of God? (majority of people overtaxed to the point where they lived in disgusting slums, raw sewage in the streets, rats running around…rich richer and poor poorer one of the causes)

AIDS epidemic destroying the population of Africa and infecting America(is this an act of God?): in some tribes, it’s considered a good thing for a mature man to have sex with young teenage women no matter their age…so they rape teenagers and infect them with the virus…these young women are dying…is this an act of God?) Scores upon scores of people in America are having sex with any number of people, and because of a fear of getting tested, are spreading the AIDS virus without knowing.

Casualties of the war in Iraq, both those who lose their lives and those who lose limbs or suffer mental illness for the rest of their lives (Families and friends here in Augusta County of Daniel Bubb, Jason Redifer, and Daniel Morris have had these young men ripped out of their lives…is this an act of God? The will of God? Families and friends in the Iraqi society not only suffered from men in the Iraqi military killed in the American invasion, but countless civilians in the attacks were maimed and killed by bombs and missiles…was this the will of God, an act of God?)

We could even talk about Hurricanes in these terms. Hurricanes naturally form in the lower Atlantic at a certain time during the year, and sometimes have proved to be deadly: Hurricanes Camille, Hugo, Andrew, and most recently Katrina have been devastating, especially Katrina, a Category 5 hurricane that left a destructive path across the Gulf Coast. Weather-related catastrophe is something we often chalk up to acts of God, but is it only that, or something more? (Int. Comm. on Climate Change released a report that the pollution we as humans pump into the atmosphere at ridiculous rates, with China and the United States being worst offenders, has undeniably, without-a-doubt been a factor in global warming, the greenhouse gases like CO2 and others trapped in the atmosphere forming a layer preventing the natural escape of heat from the earth…this has warmed the Gulf of Mexico in recent years, and the warming has the power to transform a relatively destructive Category 4 hurricane into a devastating Category 5 on the level of Katrina…and all that before we even talk about the devastating poverty in New Orleans that prevented people from escaping the city because they didn’t have transportation and trapped them there afterwards.

Global starvation and poverty exist solely because the richest 20% of the world own and consume 80% of the world’s goods, with the United States again being the biggest offender. Here in America we’re getting fatter because we can’t control our consumption while 30,000 children a day starve to death in Africa.

John Wimber story (known worldwide for his emphasis on healing prayer)

"In January of 1983 I, along with two of my friends, went to England to pray for a close friend, David Watson. David had just been informed by his doctors that he had cancer of the liver. They gave him about one year to live. Earlier on the phone I had told him that I was praying for his healing. In fact, my congregation was praying for him. I prayed for his healing with a combination of desperation (for he was my dear friend) and confidence (because in the past I had seen some people healed of the same condition).

When I and some of my friends arrived in London our first concern was to express love and care toward David. Because we had flown all night, we decided to go directly to the hospital, greet David, an tell him that we would pray for his healing the following day after we rested up. But that morning did not go as planned.

After getting to the hospital, we chatted about the events that had led up to his hospitalization and I began explaining our plan to come back the next day. I noticed that David was quite anxious about his condition, so in my heart I asked God to make us vehicles of his love and peace. As we spoke, we sensed the presence of God in the room; I felt the sensations that I have come to associate with the Holy Spirit’s presence a beautiful calmness that dispels fear and unbelief. I suggested the we should go ahead and pray. We prayed quietly. Through prayer and worship our attitudes were transformed from fear and anxiety to trust and peace. Then we prayed for David’s healing, and we all received insights into David’s spiritual condition that we did not know before.

The Holy Spirit revealed these insights to us, and they helped us greatly in knowing how to pray for David. That morning we prayed for over a half an hour, fully aware of God’s presence and peace. David experienced the sensations and presence of the Holy Spirit that I have observed before in the bodies of those who were eventually healed of cancer. He felt heat and tingling, which he described as “energy” coming into his body. I told David that these healing signs might indicate that, in the future, the cancer would die. I said neither that I thought he was healed nor that his future healing was assured. (What do you think happened?)

In December of 1983 David was brought to my home in California for an eight-day visit. During this period healing teams from the Anaheim Vineyard Church prayed for David almost round the clock. We prayed for him for hours at a time. But fluids continued to collect in his body; I knew he was dying. I could hardly look at him, I loved him so much. David said that, whether his health improved or not, his trust in God would not be shaken. Then I walked over and put my arms around him, and, for the first time since he knew he was sick, he cried. “John,” he then said, “if I die, promise me you will not stop preaching the gospel and praying for the sick.” I assured him that I would continue.

David was not healed. He died in February 1985. Perhaps no one, with the exception of David’s wife and children, is any more disappointed than I that David was not healed. I do not know why he was not healed- I lost one of my closest friends- but I have continued to pray for the sick and always will. Unfortunately John died not long ago, but after that point, he saw some incredible healings."

All this is to say that suffering on a passive human level that everyone experiences, Christians and non-Christians included is not respecter of wealth, status, position, gender, ethnicity, or anything else. And much of the suffering this world experiences is either directly or indirectly related to human sinfulness, corruption, greed, and pride. Some things, like David Watson not receiving healing, remain a mystery to us. We don’t know why some are healed and some aren’t, though we know intentional prayer for those others often makes a definable, sometimes miraculous difference. We don’t understand everything, but as Christians we CAN control what we can control, we CAN look deeper beyond a surface level understanding of suffering to get at the roots of the problem.

What do you think is the answer (or a series of possible answers) to this problem?

Foundation of the solution lies in the rest of Psalm 77:10-20

Three basic approaches followers of Jesus can offer to the world through the reality of life, that though we will live them out imperfectly, will mean the world to people:

1) Compassion and a deep commitment to all of humanity (horizontal piece of loving neighbor)

a. Many people around us are in great need, and simply need someone who pays attention to them, a word of support, a forgiving embrace, a firm hand, a tender smile, or even a stumblig confession that we wish we could do more…all of this in the name of Jesus.

b. Did you know that it’s been proven that someone can keep their sanity and stay alive even in the midst of severe illness or trauma as long as there is at least one person who is waiting for them? But when “nothing and nobody” is there with skin on to share the experience with them, the chances of survival greatly reduce…thousands of people commit suicide or simply give up really living because there is no one waiting for them. There is no reason to live if there is nobody to live for. So what can we do in response to this reality?

c. It doesn’t take much. Need for deep relationships, yes, but one eye movement, one handshake, one conversation can change a life and only takes a second and a little awareness to come about.)

d. No one can help anyone without becoming involved, without entering with their whole person into the painful situation, without taking the risk of becoming hurt, wounded, or even destroyed in the process. The beginning and the end of Christian leadership is to give our lives for others. Real discipleship means a witness that starts with the willingness to cry with those who cry, laugh with those who laugh, and to make one’s own painful and joyful experiences available as sources of clarification and understanding.

e. How can we minister to those facing cancer and other life threatening diseases if we are not willing to hear some hard questions from those facing the disease that may stretch and test our faith? (Mary and her trust in God) Who can listen to a story of loneliness or depression without taking the risk of experiencing similar pains in their own heart and even losing peace of mind? In short: “Who can take away suffering without entering it?”

2) A deep-rooted faith in the value and meaning of life, even when the days look darkest

a. Following Christ is a dead-end street when nothing new is expected, when everything sounds familiar, and when life has regressed to the level of the routine (nothing more, nothing less than the routine)

b. For those with a deep-rooted faith in the value and meaning of life, every experience holds the potential for something beautiful, every event brings a new message (maybe in the midst of the darkness)…it is this approach to life that gives eyes to see the flower breaking through the cracks in the street, and understanding to see the possibility of new life under the cover of death and destruction. (Who will bring good news and healing to the people of our inner cities and to families broken by violence?)

3) A grounded hope which always looks for tomorrow, even beyond the reality of death

a. Hope makes it possible to look beyond our wishes and desires and offers a vision beyond human suffering and even death… without this hope we will never be able to see value and meaning in life through struggles and successes in our lives…especially since human life often seems to be more struggle than success.

b. Leadership therefore is not called Christian because it is permeated with optimism against the odds of life, but because it is grounded in the historic Christ-event which is understood as a definitive breach in the deterministic chain of human trial and error, and as a dramatic affirmation that there is light on the other side of darkness.

Christian leadership, then, is only accomplished through service…the willingness to enter into a situation, with all the human vulnerabilities a man has to share with fellow man. Indeed, the paradox of Christian living is that the way out is the way in, that only be entering into communion with human suffering can relief be found…every Christian is constantly invited to overcome his neighbor’s fear by entering into it with him, and to find in the fellowship of suffering the way to freedom.

March 11, 2007

The Intent of Biblical Study: Living into the call to Singular, Complete Loyalty to the LORD alone

Source Scriptures: Deuteronomy 6:4-25, Psalm 22

Bible study is easier for some people than for others. Some of us are naturally more inclined toward the study of books, especially books written two thousand years ago. Also, some of us were raised in homes in which the Bible was read and used often, while others were raised in homes where the Bible was unknown. We all come from different places here today, and God understands that better than any of us can know; but that doesn't leave us directionless, because we've gathered here today because we're at least slightly interested in what God might have to say to us, and at least slightly interested in wanting to follow Him, and that's a good starting point here for us today.

Some questions you might carry in your mind as we move forward today might be: Why should I study God's word? Is it truly important for my life, because if it isn't, then I won't do it...some of us sitting here today I'm sure have decided on some level that it isn't, so you don't study anymore.

Observing Sabbath: Israel called to rechoose identity, depends in part on thinking differently, it also requires visible practices and concrete disciplines that can be regularly undertaken and seen publicly by the young of the community and by non-Israelites

- not "do as I say, not as I do" but lead by example

- lived faith is a form of nurture, perhaps the most telling form of nurture

- obedience is way to teach obedience

- faith is a way of evoking questions on the part of children (lived faith will evoke

such wonder in an observant child)

- specifically with non-Israelites, draw connection between that and "how beautiful are

the feet of those who bring good news")

- further illustrates that we're bringing freeing, good news (best); so the intent

of our lives is not to feel like a pile of poo and help others come to that

reality, but instead to give good news (words + action)

It's ok to pursue a theoretical and intellectual understanding of reality, but it is necessary at some point to pursue some sort of habits and practices (disciplines) that undergird the identity, mission, and vision of the people of God.

Always fixed on children (coming generation): 6:4 is followed by series of imperatives, "recite, bind, fix, write" (The core claim of the LORD is to be everywhere available to Israel,audible and visible

- Moses proposes saturation education so that a child's imaginative horizon is

completely pervaded by signs and reminders of this imperative.

We build in reminders during the day of who we are, and we need to consistently be aware of the question: did my day look any different than my friends who aren't followers of Jesus? If not, then you and I have to ask some serious questions about our identity, and what we can do to recover that identity as the people of God

Why do we pray before meals? Before bedtime? In worship? (Acknowledging the gift as well as the giver)

In the later ministry of Jesus, much informed by the traditions of Deuteronomy, the costly summons to discipleship is of the same demanding absolute quality (Mark 8:34-35, 10:21, 38-30)

Individual lives and the common life of the community are healthy when they are about one loyalty (Kierkegaard “purity of heart is to will one thing”)

- singular response to the jealous God is not simply an archaic witness to a cosmic crankiness, but it is a judgment about what is possible in human life and on what basis

The demand of singular loyalty is an expectation never fully attained

- perfect obedience is never attained

- the full Christian liturgical tradition is marked at the same time with high expectation as well as the readiness of this God to forgive and invite again to loyalty (in Deut 6, the jealous God becomes the merciful God)

Joyous task of singular loyalty

History of the Christian Church is strewn with examples of those who occupy and monopolize singular loyalty in ways that have produced judgment and violence on others; the Crusades, the Inquisition, witch-hunts, and a variety of excommunications

Command to exclusive loyalty to the LORD is fraught with temptations to both despair and pride.

Ours is an economy of abundance that lives by an ideology of satiation. The seemingly limitless capacity of the consumer economy- supported by a market that keeps growing, kept in place by a military establishment without parallel in the history of the world- leads to a common, thoughtless assumption that it has always been this way and will always be this way- “world without end.”…A part of the problem is that satiated amnesia is slow even to notice the warning. Characteristically, the ones addressed in amnesia are slow to discern that it is they who are being addressed. (WB 91)

Psalm 22 as model for move from individual despair when things aren’t going right to God’s greater covenantal loyalty

- so we have to make the move from our own individual concerns to the greater reality that God is faithful and has been in the past

Remembering takes place only by constant, intentional verbal reiteration (7-9, 20-25) plus the parents’ vigorous obedience (1-2). The teaching community is in a life-or-death struggle for the heart, commitment, and imagination of the younger generation (keep that in mind, parents and adults in this church community…that you are pursuing Christ for the sake not only of yourself, but those who are watching you in your life…your life continues to tell a story)

- talk about these things when you lay down, when you rise, when you…

The child asks about what the Lord your God has commanded you. (distancing)

The parent, in response, seeks to overcome the distance by using the inclusive pronoun “us” (the attempt by parents to transform their uninvolved children from “distemporaries” to “contemporaries” i.e. true-life sharers, is an issue of supreme and recurrent significance in the Bible.

Dangerous influences:

Host of postmodern cultural realities and forces that work against intergenerational embrace of a remembered past that may energize a present-tense obligation. It is certain that many of the young in the community of faith are distemporaries who scarcely have the categories available through which to become contemporaries. Both the lived practices and the intentional verbalizations of the parental generation are thin and in general lack conviction.

Thus, the community is at risk when the younger generation is alienated. The text does not, however, settle for despair, but proposes the intentional reassertion of the memory as a source for a radically different future.

A culture that is inattentive to its memories trades its tradition and culture to remember something else

- in Deuteronomy, the “something else” was the “Canaanite religion” in its many forms

- in Western culture at the beginning of the 21^st century, the likelihood is that the “something else is an ideology of consumerism (and entitlement) rooted in anxiety and expressed as greed susceptible to brutality (fear).

So we need a deep sense of urgency (not on the scale of ATF’s campaign designed to get us off our tushes, but a deep lived reality that we have a high calling both to the generations before, generations after, and centrally to the LORD to live faithfully)

The LORD has had a special emotional passion for Israel out of which He has made particular commitments to Israel that He has made to no other people