The Ancient Future Church

Hebrews 10:1-10

“Sacrifices and offerings thou hast not desired.”

The sentiment is expressed in a variety of places including the Old Testament. See for example Psalm 40:6, Isa. 1:11, Amos 5:21-24, and Micah 6:6-8.

What does it mean? Let us take God at his Word. “The multitude of your sacrifices – what are they to me?”

God does not need our sacrifice. He has been offered enough throughout the ages. And sacrifice was never what he wanted. Well at least not if they did not reflect a person’s heart. The outward offering is meant to reflect an awareness of sin, remorse for it and a desire to take up the human side of the covenant again. There is the sign and then there is the sentiment.

From Psalm 51:17 the sentiment is “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, o God, you will not despise.”  In verse 19 we hear “THEN there will be righteous sacrifices (emphasis mine).” The outward follows the inward otherwise the outward is not righteous. More likely it is an act deemed by the prophet a “filthy rag.” It is a religious observation that Paul would later call “a form of godliness” (2 Tim. 3:5) that denies the Power to which the form points.

We are a church going people here in the US. Weekly, many offer, as asked, a “sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving” to the Lord (Psalm 50 and Hebrews 13:15). Often the worship is exuberant. Such worship blesses me especially the spirited singing (to the chagrin of those in close proximity) of both great hymns and contemporary choruses. But beneath them, all sacrifices of praise, should be, must be, a broken and contrite heart lest our sacrifice becomes an offense to God.

Do we grieve daily for the brokenness around us? Even if we ourselves manage to avoid sin today, are mindful and distressed by the pain and heartaches of those having the sins of the fathers visited upon them? Rarely do I meet a person that a 15 minute conversation will not reveal the presence of such pain. This breaks the heart of God. It should break ours. If it doesn’t, what are we offering him? The outward sans the inward, a filthy rag?

A broken and heart contrite does not preclude joy and exuberance. In fact, such a heart leads to it. For it is out of the condition that breaks the heart that we are being redeemed.

John 5:19-29

“He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”

Honoring the Son equates to honoring the Father. So do we honor the Son? How is that measured?

Far too often we assess that in terms of attending worship. And of course we should attend services of worship and give God all praise and glory for He is certainly worthy of it. But I wonder if that at times worship expresses how big a fan of His we are and measures little whether we honor him. For consistent with the old adage, imitation is the greatest form of flattery, honor is in imitation or following. His invitation is come and follow me. He, the Son, loves as the Father loves. We love as the Son loves. That is following.

Some fans follow. Some don’t. Are we following? If so, we honor the Son and thereby the Father.

John 5:1-18

“Now that day was the Sabbath.”

The story makes me incredulous if not furious. Jesus heals a physically impaired man who has been suffering for 38 years. And what is the response of the religious leaders of his day? Celebrate this great thing? Not a chance. They sought all the more to kill him. That’s right, kill him. He broke the Sabbath. He equated himself with God. He was and is infringing upon their franchise.

Amazing how easily things get out of balance. Jesus reminds us that the Sabbath was created for man, not man for the Sabbath. We are not slaves to it. The Sabbath is meant to refresh us. It was a gift. But in the hands of the religious it becomes proprietary, something to be observed with the religious as arbiters of proper observation. Over things like this the religious leaders could decide who is in and who is out.

For pastors this is a cautionary tale. We should be slow to impose anything outward as a litmus test for faithfulness. Faith is always a matter of the heart and while signs may suggest the condition of the heart, it is largely known to God alone unless a person chooses to reveal it.  And the story also says beware of anything that suggests relationships are secondary to religious observation or even the mission of the church. Deacons are appointed in Acts 6 to make sure widows are not overlooked in the distribution of food and to make sure proclamation continues unhindered. But it is both/and. The needs must be addressed and the mission advanced. The latter can’t be done at the expense of the former. Thankfully, people matter to God.

Hebrews 8:1-13

“They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly sanctuary; . .”

It is most reassuring to know there are things that endure. Think about it. What in this world can you rely upon?

It was just a few years ago that Americans considered their home their greatest investment. Gone! A home is now considered an albatross by many. In 2007 millions of Americans had achieved the ultimate dream – assets sufficient to live a rich and full retirement for 30 years or more. Many of the same will now work till death do us part. The church planting society I have been a part of for nine years imploded in the last sixty days. Of the many responses to the situation none are likely to even capture or unite a majority of us. We are scattered to the wind. Done.

A friend captured the sentiment this morning on Facebook quoting Jimi Hendrix: “And so castles made of sand fall in the sea…eventually.” What we hold is temporal, fleeting. Ultimately nothing will survive such that it will not end up on the trash heap of history. Everything we build will fall into the sea.

But beyond that is an eternal reality so comforting. That even places of worship here on earth are but pale imitations of things to come. This is counterintuitive for many. Sometimes we do not grasp that the new covenant is not only new but better than the old covenant and so we keep electing to live by it (law as opposed to grace). Regardless we are being told that on the horizon there are things that will not let us down, things that will not fail us. As Paul says we have a hope that does not disappoint.

When the pace of change and failure defeats us let us look to that which will endure, that which is really real. CS Lewis mused wonderfully about this in “The Great Divorce.” We think we know what grass is. But real grass is so real that it does not bend under our weight but actually pierces our feet. A stream is hard enough, that is real enough, to walk upon and yet it knocks us to the ground as if we had stepped upon a rapidly moving conveyor belt. The whitecaps bruise our shins. Of course that is grass and water in heaven of which we are only becoming a part. One day we will be similarly solid. One day. In the face of the temporal let us be encouraged by the reality that endures to eternal life. What we live is but a copy or shadow of things to come.

John 4:16-26

“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for such the Father seeks to worship him.”

Coupled with Romans 12:1-2, this passage challenges the multitudes especially those who derive their living from the church, with regard to the nature of worship. The church is forever trying to draw believers to a central location to worship God. But Jesus says a time is coming, indeed it has arrived, in which people will worship without regard to location. Not on this mountain or in Jerusalem (home to the temple) Jesus says. Rather, in spirit and in truth will they worship God.

Paul gets it. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul says that in response to the mercies of God we are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices. Such sacrifice, he says, is our spiritual or reasonable act of worship. It is not about showing up and offering sacrifices (even of praise) or other religious acts for he has had enough of burnt offerings while hearts remain far from him. Lip service he can do without. Worship cannot be isolated to spaced, sacred and set apart or not. Why? Because the heart that adores and obeys goes with me wherever I am!

Our worship has more to do with living our lives at the direction of the Holy Spirit than attending a service on Sunday morning. Worship has more to do with obedience when Jesus says “come and follow me.”

This means I worship in my response to the man who cuts me off in traffic. Do I curse the man or bless him and pray for those who persecute me? OK the persecution part is a little over the top but it makes the point well. I am deciding in that moment whether to worship or not worship based on my obedience or rebellion. Do I needlessly frustrate my children? Do I love my wife as much as Christ loved the church? Have I forgiven my neighbor 490 times? These are the moments of worship or not worship. And frankly, too often, I end up skipping the service.

Critics will say I have joined the chorus abandoning church as we know it for the house church or upper room. Granted I think and say, in the grand scheme of things God would prefer to have us 6 days and 23 hours of our lives outside of church if the only other option is just one hour within the walls of consecrated space. And yet we are called to public assembly. It is our witness to the world and our fellowship with each other.

Regardless, assembling won’t really matter if we have not worshiped in those moments when the choice of submission or rebellion are upon us. Hear what Jesus says. Worship anywhere. Worship everywhere. But worship in loving god and neighbor as yourself. Worship in obeying. Those that love me do keep my commandments. Finally, gather with others who have endeavored by the grace of God to do the same.

John 4:1-15

“For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.”

The Samaritans were, what we would call today, from the wrong side of the tracks. They were undesirables, somewhat like lepers. These half breeds would have defiled a Jew. Under no circumstances would a rabbi have anything to do with one. And yet Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” Conventional wisdom has just been turned on its head, again.

Jesus, by example, teaches an egalitarianism uncommon, if not unknown, among men. Conventional wisdom will not keep Jesus from people, desirable by the world’s standards or not. Grace and mercy is for all who would avail themselves of it. Rivers of living water are at the ready for all who thirst.

Are there people you won’t embrace even for Jesus? I took Marta (Atlanta’s subway or tube) home from the airport yesterday. It was revealing. Without exception, in the 45 minutes ride no one spoke to each another unless they knew each other and were with each other when they boarded the train. Perhaps commuting is for most what running is for me, a break from the demands (and command) to engage the world, a bit of solitude? But something greater seems to be at work – a lack of desire to engage others especially those different from us.

Again, are there people we won’t embrace even for Jesus? Have we forgotten the utter equality of all in the only things that matter, being sinners in need of redemption and the rivers of living water being made available to us? Usually we run to race or class as the thing that divides us. But it comes in other ways. For me, I avoid (or would prefer to) the proud, folks who think of themselves more highly than they ought as the Apostle Paul would say.

Blessed beyond measure I am by a dear friend who freely admits that in his past he was cocky, arrogant even boisterous. Now most of the time he speaks in hushed tones, barely audible. What changed him? He was traveling in Africa and kept coming upon extreme life destroying deprivation and found himself helpless to do anything about it. The experience humbled him and made him nearly mute. It made him a contemplative.

I wish I was my friend in that regard. But my resistance to the proud is more a product of what I know God is trying to purge from me. And unfortunately he has his work cut out for him. Too often I am the cocky arrogant boisterous one, even if only on the inside.

Lesson learned? Sometimes it is not the difference but the utter equality that keeps us away from others. In my case pride in others simply confronts the pride in me.

glean

verb \?gl?n\

Definition of GLEAN

intransitive verb

1 : to gather grain or other produce left by reapers

2 : to gather information or material bit by bit

transitive verb

1 a : to pick up after a reaper

   b : to strip (as a field) of the leavings of reapers

 2 a : to gather (as information) bit by bit

b : to pick over in search of relevant material <gleaning old files for information

— glean·able \?gl?-n?-b?l\adjective

— glean·ernoun

Examples of GLEAN            

• She gleaned her data from various studies.
• He has a collection of antique tools gleaned from flea markets and garage sales.
• They spent days gleaning the files for information.
• They spent hours gleaning in the wheat fields.
• gleaning stray ears of corn

Origin of GLEAN

Middle English glenen, from Anglo-French glener, from Late Latin glennare, of Celtic origin; akin to Old Irish doglenn he selects

First Known Use: 14th century

Genesis 6:1-8

“And the Lord was sorry that he made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.”

Can you blame him? I mean in our heart of hearts, can we blame him for being disappointed in the outcome, the consequences of us exercising our freedom. Not really. Well, knowing depravity, probably but surely not for very long?!

My parents were disappointed in B’s when I could have earned A’s. How much more God must be disappointed given that we broke His marvelous creation! Nothing that is made works the way it is supposed to all the time. I do not see cancer and tsunamis in the Garden. Now we have them. Face it, we trashed bliss and abundant provision. We got ground that is hard to till, labor pain and mortality instead. Our choice. Our fault. And oh how we like to blame him for the freedom he gave us. But it was necessary to be human. Without freedom to obey or rebel, we would be nothing more than robots executing code. Nope. Our fault and who can blame God for being disappointed.

But it is that reality that makes grace indescribable, even amazing. How do we account for such love that he would continue to pursue us and woo us back to him under the power of the Holy Spirit? And toward what end? Restoring the image or likeness that was there before we rebelled. There is some hint even the creation will be renewed. Meanwhile, it is abundantly clear our fallen image can be and now. There is only one love like that. That is why we call his answer to our rebellion Good News.

John 1:43-51

“Philip said to him (Nathanael), ‘Come and see.’”

Jesus found Philip and said “follow me.” Philip then found Nathanael and said to him “come and see.” Hear the simplicity of it all. One person is bearing personal witness to another. We have found the one whom Moses and the prophets wrote about, Philip said. What we have believed would come true finally has. Nathanael responds to this personal invitation and quickly encounters Jesus.

To be sure there are a variety of ways to reach people for Jesus including radio, TV, mass mailings, billboards, Facebook, Twitter. All of these means are employed to reach people for the Kingdom and I am sure with some degree of success. That is well and good. But are not all lacking personal witness and the intimacy of a personal invitation.

If I receive a slick mailer telling me about a new church, I might read it with some interest. Then again, I might throw it out having examined it long enough and only that long to know what it is. In either case I am not likely to visit the church. But if my good friend Judson, says “John, come and see this new church” I am likely to be at least a one-time visitor.

Why? What’s the difference? The mailer is sent from a church that needs me in order to be a success. In some ways I am a means to an end. They don’t know me from Adam but they are keeping score or counting fish and want to number me among their catches. On the other hand, Judson, being a friend, is more of a shepherd than a hireling and he has a demonstrated concern for my soul that spans five years. Judson isn’t likely to run the risk of damaging our relationship by insisting that I accompany him to something without substance. To the best of my ability I would try to honor his personal invitation.

Modern thinking is often shaped by the conviction that more and faster are better. The impersonal mass mailing or E-vite may reach more people expeditiously but does that make it better? Undeniably, no! Evidence remains that 85% of people visit a church because of a personal invitation from a friend (see “Movements that Change the World” by Addison on existing networks of relationships). And surely the means matter? If you invite people impersonally to relate to something impersonal (a church, class or program), aren’t you building barriers to the ultimate goal of a personal relationship with the living God? Some of the megachurches are realizing that, in spite of being actively engaged in programs, their people aren’t growing spiritually. Simple answer? Programs don’t disciple people. People disciple people as Philip and Nathanael demonstrate.

Are you among the many who have abandoned attracting others to Jesus and the church to the professionals (clergy and staff) or worse to the marketers and consultants? The time has come again for all people to say to friends and family, “Come and see.”