The Ancient Future Church

As long as our primary focus is on ourselves, selfishness will divide us.  Selfishness always does.  If we come to church for ourselves, then it is easy to want to order our music and our preaching off of an “a la carte” menu.  The only way a multigenerational church works is if everybody agrees that the mission of the church is outside the church.  It has to be a community decision.

We must be dedicated to the call of Christ, not to the clamor of culture.  After all, what is more important in God’s hierarchy of needs?  It is the authenticity of our worship, which requires simplicity, unity, and community.

And the key to those three is humility.

pp. 63-4, THE PRIVILEGE OF PERSECUTION And Other Things the Global Church Knows That We Don’t, by Dr. Carl A. Moeller & David W. Hegg (Moody Publishers), ISBN 978-0-8024-5417-1

Romans 12:1-8

“I appeal to you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”

So often we associate “worship” with Sunday and that with an hour of organized praise. However, Paul wants us to re-imagine what worship really is. He says, given what God has done for us, giving our bodies as living sacrifices is the most reasonable or logical sacred service one can offer. Worship has more to do with making ourselves available to God for His purposes 24/7 than anything we do on Sunday morning.

Such worship requires great intention. Left to our own desires and devices we do the ordinary – plan for a career, indeed a life, which may or may not make us available to God for advancing His purposes.  In fact we, men especially, may choose our vocation based on our need and the vocation’s capacity to provide for our families. And of course as husbands and fathers we are to provide. But do we use our vocations as an excuse to be unavailable. “I need to finish this and then I will devote some time to the Kingdom.” We compartmentalize. But Paul is saying worship is all of us being available all the time to God – living sacrifices. Vocation, recreation, everything is subordinate to being available to God.

Available for what? To advance mercy and grace! There is a universal problem – sin and the resulting alienation from God. There is a universal solution – mercy given us in Jesus Christ. Rather than condoning sin, grace and mercy become the impetus for righteous living. Grace, mercy and unconditional love, these are things that change the course of human history. God wants us advancing them in both our work and play. The question becomes if we haven’t done that have worshiped at all?

John 7:53-8:11

“What do you say about her? This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him.”

How nauseating for religious officials to bring forth this woman and humiliate her not to see justice done but to trap a rival to their authority. Let’s assume for a moment she had been caught, that is observed in the act of adultery which is required. Adultery really isn’t all it’s cracked up to be without someone else involved. Just saying. Where’s the man? The law required him to suffer the same fate which wasn’t stoning but death. This lays bare their lack of sincerity in seeing the law fulfilled. They want to trap Jesus. They make the woman a pawn in a higher stakes game. They demonstrate not a whit of interest in the welfare of her soul. How’s that for religious leaders!

Unfortunately for them Jesus has a better game. He does not get ensnared but allows them to execute their judgment. Whoever among the religious leaders is without sin is free to cast the first stone. It seems to me whatever Jesus was scribbling upon the ground managed to indict them all. One by one, in silence beginning with the eldest, they went away. Then there were none.

Jesus extends mercy to the sinner. Sin is acknowledged. Guilt is a forgone conclusion. But that is where it ends. Guilt goes to the act. Shame goes to the person. Jesus does not shrink back from calling sin what it is. He does not, however, pile on with shame which is death dealing.

Jesus knows about the woman what we would prefer people knew about us. Whatever our worst sin was it does not define all of who we are. Repentance and forgiveness allow us to move on. Shame shackles us yet again. Jesus is offering the former, not the latter.

I am reminded of a story of two brothers caught stealing sheep hundreds of years ago in what is now Great Britain. The penalty was swift and impossible to overlook. Both were branded upon the forehead with the letters ST for sheep thief. One brother could not live with the guilt and shame. He fled to a foreign land and died anonymously apart from his kin. The second brother repented and amended his life.  A decade later a traveler noticed the brand and asked an area storekeeper what the letters stood for. The shopkeeper said, “You know I really cannot remember. I think the letters stand for saint.”

God does not want us wallowing in shame. He has freed us from our sin (“It is finished!”) and he has unbound us in such a way that we can move on with life. Why remember what He’s forgotten? Just go. And sin no more.

Hebrews 13:1-16

“For it is well that the heart be strengthened by grace.”

It is not eating the right things and avoiding the wrong things in some religious sense that strengthens the heart of the believer. Grace is the means. The heart is strengthened by grace, by unmerited favor, by being loved even when we are undeserving.

Odd it is that the heart is strengthened not by activity but being acted upon. When we appreciate what it is that God has done for us in Jesus we become more fit for life in this world. The sacrifices appreciated by God are “to do good and to share what you have.” Being loved is what prepares us for the exercise of this “true religion.”

There is a cause and effect to our practice of faith (loving God and loving neighbor). Being loved leads one to loving. This is counter intuitive for me. In my little self-absorbed world, if I want to love more I simply need to try harder. I will forego that pair of Maui’s for me (“be content what you have’) and instead buy something for my wife. But it REALLY is the thought that counts and my thoughts may not have changed one iota in this apparent act of love. In fact what appears to be love may have beneath it much resentment because I really want those Maui’s. Real love will come out of being loved. I cannot give what I do not have.

“For God so loved the world.” This too is counter intuitive. Because all false modesty and me-centered self-loathing aside I am still not worthy. How often in my fifty years of life have I had other gods before Him? And that is why grace is so life changing. I am not loved because of what I do but in spite of who I am and what I do. I am just loved. Highest need met. So I can get on with life.

God is not so much interested in behavior modification as He is transforming the source of our behavior. He wants to strengthen the heart. And the means is grace. We are loved. For the countless many that have not experienced it in this life, you are loved! Yes, you!

Hebrews 12:3-11

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him.”

How does that sound in a world of peppermint discipline? God punishes and we should not regard it lightly. As painful as it is when it comes, “it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”

It is not for others to judge when God is disciplining or punishing. But we ourselves should be assessing our circumstances, especially the difficult ones, in light of what God might be teaching us.

Back in September of 2011, Kristen and I launched a bible study. We worked together to form a list of all the folks we had met in Atlanta. I then sent out an e-mail announcing the study. I invited people via our monthly newsletter. I sent a reminder e-mail. I prepared for hours the day of the study. We prepared the house. We made Rwandan coffee. We baked homemade cookies. And no one came. Not one person.

Sometimes we reap the ordinary consequences of our decisions. In this case I think God was chastening me, proactively trying to rid me of a propensity to make everything about me. And that was my first inclination. “I did not market this well. I didn’t spend enough time promoting this.” That was followed by “Woe is me. Nobody loves me. I am not worthy.” My next inclination was to double down on making it all about me. “I’ll try harder. I’ll add graphics to the invite. I will call people personally to remind them about the initial meeting.” It was quite comical.

I didn’t do anything really. Except I trusted God more that He was going to build what he promised. Almost haphazardly eleven of us gathered on a Monday evening a month later. My role? Get out of the way.

No wonder the opening line of Warren’s “Purpose Driven Life” says “It’s not about you.” Too bad reading that many years ago wasn’t enough.

John 6:60-71

“After this many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him.”

It is not clear to me why what Jesus said was so difficult. Jesus spoke in parables. Parable, simile, metaphor and analogy were all ways of thinking and communicating in that day. Surely they didn’t really think they would eat and drink Jesus. Their angst was more likely caused by his teaching that abiding and living relate exclusively to him. This is to equate himself with God. This is truly difficult for some. The metaphor was simply the scapegoat.

Two things are clear. 1. Not everyone follows and 2. We don’t send people away.

In the age of everyone gets a trophy, we can have considerable angst about people being beyond the mercy of God or even separated from the fellowship of the redeemed. But the truth confronts. In some cases, people opt out when the challenge becomes too great. “His disciples drew back.” This is not a forced march. We must allow people to go their own way. And we must mightily resist the temptation to water down truth to keep people on board. For example, we cannot abide with a fellowship built upon class or race when we know sin and Gospel level the playing field and abolish all such distinctions.

In our zeal for purity, we don’t send people away. “His disciples drew back.” Some opted out. Jesus did not say “go away.” Jesus had throngs of people behind. Some were there for good reasons. Others, not so much. But they tagged along. They were allowed to “belong” to the throng in order to hear what it is the throng believes. As truth comes to them they stay or go at their own choosing.

Generally the church should have such a disposition (not to the exclusion of discipline of those who claim to be believers and yet confess their ongoing rebellion). We must accept that the anatomy of salvation requires someone to proclaim Jesus to the unbelieving. If not us, who? We must allow for a throng which includes unbelievers and consequently the presence of people who do not behave like believers. The church cannot be a club with rigid borders. The fellowship must be porous without apology. Otherwise, how will the unbelieving hear? He came to heal the sick and save the sinner. He did not come to heal the healthy and save the righteous. Our home is among the former and not the latter.

John 6:52-59

The Jews disputed among themselves, saying “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

We often struggle with metaphor and image and analogy. Hyper-rationalists that we enlightened people are, we trample upon truth that transcends fact. Literalism and empiricism cause us to overlook or ignore major truths that should be impacting our lives.

Today a dear friend was hammered in the form of being summarily dismissed on Facebook for using the “frog in the kettle” image. Snopes.com has proven that to be an urban legend. Apparently, the frog won’t jump out of hot water to save itself. This misses the point. The image is meant to communicate the danger of being in a situation in which the heat is on the rise. The change is so small as to be imperceptible and thus we end up being boiled to death. Whether or not a frog will jump from boiling water to save itself does not adversely impact the truth that the image or legend or myth communicates. And here it is. Sometimes we find ourselves in such comfortable surroundings, we are unsuspecting of impending danger. I always picture the frogs lying out on floats sipping on Margaritas just before the heat overwhelms them.

In our lesson under consideration, Jesus is factually a man, though God incarnate, and therefore cannot be bread, food or drink. So everything that follows such analogy can be dismissed. “No need to worry” the Jews say. However, such obvious inconsistency is our first clue something more profound than that which can be investigated empirically is at work. Ultimately, because his body/flesh is broken and his blood shed, we have life. These basic elements, food and drink, sustain life. Ultimately, in the life of the church, the symbolism is taken to another level where the body/food becomes bread and drink/blood becomes wine. These outwards signs are reflective of a greater truth, a sacrifice had to be made for us to be at-one with God.

So here is the thing. Some, perhaps many, Jews summarily dismissed Jesus and his metaphor or analogy becomes the scapegoat or genesis of the rejection. They are seemingly unaware of the impending danger around them. Each day they draw closer to death (physical and eternal) and they are rejecting the means by which God is addressing this mortal threat, Jesus. They are lulled into a false sense of security because what threatens them is not visibly imminent. There is no real axe raised. It’s just not that hot. But denial of the truth doesn’t change the truth. They are at risk.

Likewise, we are always at risk and with each day the water becomes hotter. Let’s hope we aren’t not like them in this regard. They are too smart. Too smart by half, that is.

Hebrews 11:13-22

“These died in faith . . . having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on earth.”

Faith in Jesus is meant to bring rest and peace to the believer. But is our faith meant to bring comfort with or complacency about our surroundings? In a number of places we are told how the person of faith is at odds with the world. Are you at odds with the world or as one of my early mentors asked, “are you too at home in Babylon?”

Babylon was the destination of the deported. Babylon had different food, different clothing, different customs, and, more important, different gods and different values. It was a brilliant strategy. Let’s take Jews away from everything that makes them Jewish and then they will become Babylonians and therefore no longer at odds with us. The deportation was meant to subdue.

Brilliant strategy then and it remains a brilliant strategy today. The evil one is inviting us to be too at home in the world over which he rules. And boy is he subtle. He has duped us into believing we live in a Christian nation. If true, then the values around us are Christian.

But surely they aren’t and thus we are meant to be odds with a world ruled by the evil one. Are you at odds? Do you feel the tension? For me the tension is always accentuated by elections. I am a conservative in that I believe one thing we do as Christians is conserve Kingdom values. Personally I do not find that an enduring core value of one party so that party is not an option. And within the only remaining option (at least an influential one) there is a clear struggle between people who stress values and those (who may very well be people of faith) who stress the economy or things pragmatic.  And when cynicism rules (or perhaps just honesty) I am not sure either of the groups is passionate about conserving values, at least not in practice. So who represents me? How do I cast my vote without holding my nose?

Other major distinctions where I feel at odds? Being a grace based person earning a living in a merit based world where people are too often a means to an end. And I am at odds with the world on issues surrounding the sanctity of life.

I am at peace because I am redeemed and my redeemer remains upon the throne. However, I cannot be at peace with a world at odds with God. Can you feel the tension or are you too home at Babylon?

Hebrews 11:1-12/John 6:27-40

“Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it men of old received divine approval.”

“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

Faith is rather central to the life of a follower of Jesus. Through it we experience “divine approval” and have “eternal life.” And yet it can be elusive particularly if we allow it to be reduced to a set of doctrines, statements of faith, or creeds. This raises the question which denomination has all that right? If “faith” saves then the answer is of ultimate importance. Otherwise we might find ourselves outside the reach of his saving embrace.

While doctrines and creeds may enhance our understanding of God, they do not save. Not even believing their content saves. Believing is leaning our whole weight upon something. And that something is that we are alienated from God because of our rebellion and Jesus reconciles us to Him by atoning for that alienating sin.

Our life is a response to this central truth. We order our lives upon this central truth as if it were a keystone, the wedge shaped stone placed at the apex of an arch which allows the arch to bear weight. With this keystone within us we can bear the weight of life. For example, the inevitable problem of our sin need not drive us to despair. Rather it drives us back to love, a God who loves us so much that he would bridge the chasm between us. When heaped upon on us by others, the inevitable problem of sin need not drive us to anger or vengeance. The same loving sacrifice was made to save the other sinner who has wronged me. I need the reconciling keystone as much as the next guy, no more, no less.  There is an unparalleled equality among us. Its presence in us and our communities of faith is evidence we are leaning our whole weight upon Jesus.

We can, like Abraham, travel a path conceived by God without knowing its final destination. If He acts to resolve the greatest threat to us, how much more will He meet the challenges of met upon the path of His choosing? Our willingness to venture out is evidence we are leaning our whole weight upon Jesus.

The way of life empowered by the keystone makes little sense to the unbelieving world but makes perfect sense to people who have “the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 10:11-25

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, . . “

As passionately as I say the day of sacrifice is over and that God would give up an hour on Sunday if He could have us the other six days and twenty-three hours of our lives, I hasten to add with as much passion, we cannot neglect assembling together. Many say I worship as I take a walk through the woods or fellowship on the greens. Ok but assemble too.

It has to do with witness. We order our lives differently as followers of Jesus and that includes our calendars. We say to the world praise of God or worship (to assign worthiness) is a higher priority than commerce, politics, and even leisure. In an age where time is precious the statement is all the more powerful.