The Ancient Future Church

1 Corinthians 9:16-27

“I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

Paul is not known for his humility in the 21^st century. So called, scholars like to take him to task for hubris leading to “Follow me.” Some impose their anger upon him and associate with pride and even misogyny. But here the true heart of the apostle is revealed. We see humility and self-denial.

Paul is being used by God to save some. He has no grand scheme to save the world. He has no sense that he by his brain power and perseverance can bring about a utopia. He knows and accepts that saving is God’s work. It is the Holy Spirit that prepares one to say “Jesus is Lord.” Salvation occurs one soul at a time.

What make Paul so worthy of our admiration and emulation is his willingness to abandon his plans to make himself available to be a part of God’s. He denies self. He lays no claim to self-determination. He will be a Jew. He will be a Greek. He will be weak. He will be strong. Paul gets it! He need not assert himself in any situation because it is not about him. He is present as a representative of another, an ambassador for a higher cause.

Far too often in the modern and Western church, we devise programs to save souls. Why address individually what we can do en masse? Why use a small group when stadiums are available? Efficiency and effectiveness are our masters. This, of course, makes the enterprise about us. It is about Him and humbling ourselves to be at His service. We are to meet the brokenhearted where they are and lay aside any need to assert ourselves in the situation. No degrees. No lofty plans. Just communicating grace and release to people bound by law and sin. If only the church was filled with Pauls.

Leviticus 26:27-42

“If then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity; then I will remember my covenant  with Jacob.”

It is an old horse but I love to ride it. Being a follower of God, whether Jew or Christian, is a matter of the heart. Circumcision, the sign of the old covenant, and baptism, the sign of the new covenant, are outward and visible signs. Both are commended by God. They are important, very important.  But they have no power.  They are not efficacious.  The presence of them does not insure a right relationship with God. The absence of them does not insure an un-reconciled relationship with God.

When we naively buy into the power of the outward and visible we order our lives accordingly. Attending worship or bible study becomes overly important and gives the appearance and the false assurance that the individual is reconciled to God. That which can be measured, like tithing or hours of service, become central. Wrongly, it makes the story about us and what we do.

But God is always seeking to circumcise the heart. Trimming, even pruning, needs to occur here as it is out of the overflow of the heart that comes evil and of course good. The heart needs to be changed, the core of who we are transformed into the likeness of Jesus. Transformation means we are being acted upon, not acting. Rightly, it makes the story about what God is doing for and to us.

This should speak comfort beyond our imaginations. After all, what haven’t we botched throughout the ages. But following Jesus is about what God is doing. And He doesn’t make mistakes.

1 Timothy 2:1-6

“First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all men, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way.”

Prayer is a regular part of my life. It does not come naturally (not much for being still) or as easily as some would think. But it is routine primarily because I have the privilege of intercessing on behalf of folks to whom God has bound me in some way. But here is a confession. Rarely do I pray for the leaders of our nation, “all who are in high positions,” unless prompted to do so in public worship.

The absence of prayer stems from having little confidence that most are there to serve the common good. Once in power, it seems elected leaders are required to spend most of their time keeping power. Mark Halperin wrote an article a few years back on how politics had ceased to be about the truth and was now always about power, getting it and keeping it.  Those on the left and right alike poll (or test by focus group) issues to determine what resonates with the masses. That becomes their platform. Rarely do politicians take on positions as a matter of principle and certainly not ones that will make them unelectable. So why pray for them if they don’t perceive leadership as acting on our behalf “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life, godly and respectful in every way?”

But who needs our prayers more? Every piece of legislation enacted or not enacted impacts at least 300 million people and in all likelihood billions given our influence around the world. Great power, whether garnered legitimately or not, resides in their hands. What if they acted on our behalf to insure we could live godly lives? They have in the past. Christianity played a significant role the abolition of gladiator games, making sport of humiliation and death. Three successive emperors led the way. Faith drove Wilberforce in his determination to see slavery abolished. Won’t someone rise to power and end abortion as birth control which, when history is written, will be considered far more barbaric than both gladiator games and slavery combined? Perhaps but unlikely without the strength of 300 million prayers behind him.

Must go! Time to pray!

Matthew 13:1-16 (From May 14, 2012)

“Other seeds fell upon thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.”

And just what are these thorns? Jesus goes on to explain, “the cares of this world and the delight in riches.”

Life requires so much maintenance. If you own a house, you have unending yard work, not to mention light bulbs to change, and air conditioning filters to be replaced. Add a car and you have more to maintain which is helped but not eliminated by Express Oil and Goo Goo. And most of us own more than one car. Then there is the energy expended just to sustain human life. There is thinking about food to buy, buying food, cooking food and finally cleaning that in which the food was cooked and this before the next meal so we can begin the cycle again.

It is easy to understand how “the cares of this world” could prevent the Word from producing something in us. So how do we insure we are not consumed or choked by them? Nothing new but two words: prioritize and simplify.

Prioritize: Keep the main thing the main thing. Life is meant to be lived not maintained so never let maintenance become the goal. If being fed (the Word) is high priority, you will order your life accordingly. Listen to a podcast while you mow or run. The question becomes what else can I do while I read or hear the Word.

Simplify: Don’t try to harvest your life to the edges or, in other words, don’t fill your calendar. Parents, limit the number of extracurricular activities for children. Don’t allow any activities that conflict with church or youth group. Let your commitments expire on things trivial.

Matthew 7:1-12

“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that in your own eye?”

One must navigate this passage with great care. When a pastor commends its central truth, he may have become the passage’s foil, the man with a log. Just the same a pastor cannot shrink back from preaching what is the mind of Christ.

It goes without saying that there are a lot of judgmental people in the church. This should be a surprise to no one as there are a lot of judgmental people in the world. We are probably all reconciled to this reality with only moderate hope that sanctification will eliminate the problem worldwide. What is difficult to bear are those who make judgments and have no capacity for self-examination. We can hear criticism even judgment, as painful as it is, from those we trust are keenly aware of their own shortcomings and routinely lays them before the Lord for healing and transformation. But we resist those who are clueless.

And the clueless abound. A man once suggested to me I was not filled with the Holy Spirit because I did not speak in tongues. And yet the universal assessment of this man was that he cared not a whit for the poor and often had contempt for anyone inferior to him in class and intellect. Now from a biblical point of view which situation would suggest a greater absence of the Holy Spirit?

Socrates once said “the unexamined life is not worth living.” This man is in obvious need of self-examination. But am I any less? When I am strong in the Lord, I can receive what he says, love and him and pray about what truth might be in that statement. Perhaps I am not void of the Holy Spirit and yet spiritually dry. Perhaps some solitude would lead to a season of renewal.

In the end seeing a tiny imperfection in another is not forbidden. But it yields little fruit if we do not recognize the same or worse is ourselves.

Preached at Holy Cross Anglican Church, Loganville, Georgia, on Sunday, May 6, 2012.

Click here to hear or download a podcast:

http://www.holycrosspodcasts.org/C1-media;show,161

Leviticus 19:1-18

“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border.”

Margins for those on the margins, that is what God is describing here. The burden upon the people of God is to not consume all that they produce. That way the poor and sojourner, who have no means of production, can feast upon what remains, the crumbs under the table if you will.

This makes me think of mowing my grass which by the way I thoroughly enjoy. But in the ordinary course of things when I mow the grass I cannot get the grass right up against the house or against the edging around the beds. For that I must use my trusty Weedeater. It takes some effort to harvest to the edge of the yard. It would be much easier to leave some grass on the edge, much easier to leave margins.

Of course this is meant literally. Leave un-harvested what is on the edge! Pluck grapes from the vine but leave those which have naturally fallen to the ground. This is a means of compassion and God’s provision for the poor.

But not all of us live in an agrarian society, so we need to look for the deeper truth to apply to our often urban lives. It is this. If I consume all that I produce, I have nothing to give away. If I plan every minute of my life in pursuit of my needs or even the needs of my family, I will have no time to devote to anyone on the margins, the poor, the sojourner, the brokenhearted, the lonely, the abandoned, nor the lost.

The truth is I need to be intentional about creating margins in my life. When I ask someone “how are you doing” my demeanor needs to say I will listen attentively as long as the answer takes. How many times have we asked that question expecting the standard response, “fine thank you?” How many times have we been annoyed when someone dared to take our question seriously?

Marathon training has had me on the streets a lot lately. On several occasions in the last three months a car has slowed beside me in order to ask directions. Sadly, there was in me that momentary frustration of “hey, can you see I’m running?” No margins. But then I have stopped, listened and answered as best I could. And what great satisfaction there is in orienting someone who is lost.

More and more I find there is stress in life without margins and joy in life with them. It seems God is on the mark yet again.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

“Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Paul is assuring the Thessalonian believers they need not fear the end times that will come like a thief in the night. They are sons of the light, indeed sons of the day as opposed to sons of the night. Not wrath but salvation determines their destiny.

The Apostle is actually doing for the Thessalonians what he is commending to the Thessalonians. He is encouraging them. He is building them up. Waking or sleeping the Thessalonians live with Christ Jesus, their future secure.

As are many pastors, I am looking for apostles like Paul. We would love to receive what it is we are meant to give away.

The layman immediately wonders why such encouragement would be in short supply. The reasons are many and varied but here are some contributing factors.

Too often church leaders are driven by the success of the thing (church) more so than the souls of the people (read pastors or sheep for that matter). What wasn’t driven by a desire for success in the late 20^th century? Remember “In Search of Excellence” and “Dress for Success” and “Alex Keaton?” However, whenever the “end” justifies the “means” people are reduced to pawns in a bigger scheme. I wish I could say I never fell personally into this trap so ever present on the American church scene. The pressure is enormous. One has to make a conscious decision to buck the success model (or career path) in order to care for souls. For in matters of following Jesus, souls are always the end. What does it mean to gain the world and forfeit your soul? People, beating hearts are what matter to God, not bricks and mortar or even butts in the pew (industry jargon ). It was said of one of my past senior pastors, that he counted legs and doubled that number when he logged the attendance for any given Sunday. Obviously priorities were amiss.

But therein is the next contributing factor, insecurity. Too often church leaders are consumed with justifying their leadership even their job. They bristle at the best and brightest beneath for fear their fortunes might be reversed. Consequently, they don’t encourage or build up. They rein in the competent and transfer their insecurities.

There is a word here for laymen. Refuse to participate in a search for a CEO to lead your church. Demand a pastor, one who has no designs on the future other than the care of souls entrusted to his care. Insure he knows what the “end” is. There is a word here for church leaders as well. If you don’t have the confidence and security to build up others even to the point of preparing them to take your job, find it. Otherwise, consider early retirement.

Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

“When you give all alms, . .”

When you give alms. When you pray. When you fast. When, when, when! When, not if. Jesus assumes these acts of piety will be a part of our lives. Giving, praying and fasting are ordinary to people of faith. Each of us is meant to engage in them but in ways unknown to others. “Practicing your piety before men” might draw attention if not accolades from others and puff us up with pride. And if these acts are done “to be seen by them” they are done for all the wrongs reasons.

In spite of the admonition we tend organize these acts and promote publicly them with great zeal. We have a national day of prayer. We have national days of fasting. Hmm. I cannot recall a national day of giving alms. We will tackle that another day. So we nationalize acts of piety because surely praying and fasting collectively and publicly is better than us doing it individually and privately! Right?

Now before you fire off a response, hear what I am saying. I am not opposed to these organized acts of piety. But I wonder if they are not observed by many in lieu of what should be ordinary to a follower of Jesus. It should not be necessary to ramp up prayer or fasting among believers. Should we not be praying daily? Perhaps twice a day? Without ceasing according to Paul!

In some ways we in the church mimic the culture of dependency that surrounds us. The nation or church tells us when to pray and what our prayers should address when the mature ought to be doing things for himself. I am always harping on individualism but it seems to me Jesus is promoting it here as it relates to piety. Each of us has the responsibility to engage. No one else can do it for us.

1 Thessalonians 3:1-13

“So that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness and before our God and Father.”

Unblamable in holiness before our God and Father? I want that. How do I get it?

Well surely I just figure out what the rules are and follow them, right? Read my bible. Go to church. Tithe. As some unsuspecting bloke once said, “All these I have done from my youth.”  But does my knowledge and my adherence to the rules save me? The question itself “how do I get it?” reveals a hubris that God must necessarily address every day, simply because such hubris is rampant.

What we find is that we/I can’t do anything to be found blameless. He, being God, is establishing our hearts unblamable. He is. In every age we attempt to make Christianity a religion, what we do for God. But it is first and foremost about what He is doing for us. He establishes our hearts.

And he does not do it through us following rules but through us loving one another in the same way Paul and his companions loved the Thessalonians.  Now we have narrowed it down. The picture is becoming clear. Loving makes me blameless so I just need to love more and to love better. There is that perennial temptation again. I want to make myself in charge. I just need to love more and love better. That is religion. Faith makes God the chief actor. “May the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men.” It is not like I can exercise my way into more and better love. The capacity is not within me. The Lord makes me love in the way he expects me to love. He transforms me into that person.

Does that grate on your nerves? It grates on mine. Faith makes my role next to nil. And I need a role. Without it I feel rather inconsequential! Sounds like I need to reconcile myself to that uncomfortable feeling.