Trinity Talks #6

GETTING TO KNOW THE HOLY SPIRIT

PART TWO: THE WITNESS

John wrote, “That which was from the beginning, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the Word of life” (1 John 1:1).

            These are the words of a witness. He saw, he beheld, he touched – then he testified. John saw Jesus, talked with Him, touched Him.

            In what sense can you or I be a witness of the life of Jesus when we lack those credentials? We are far removed from the historical time period of Jesus and so cannot speak as John did and testify to the genuineness of Jesus’ life. The question I am really asking is this: How can we be witnesses of Jesus Christ whom we have never seen or touched?

            Suppose you were very interested in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. You read every book and watch every documentary on the event and become familiar with every aspect. But if you are like me, you weren’t even born when this tragedy took place. Your testimony is limited to what you have read and, perhaps, experienced in immersing yourself in this American tale. Perhaps you even have a theory about the second shooter and believe that it was an accidental firing from a secret service agent. People may call you a conspiracy theorist, a crackpot, or obsessed. They would not call you a credible witness.

            Then suppose an elderly gentleman enters the conversation. It turns out he is a retired secret service agent and he was there. He comes alongside you and verifies some of the details of your theory. Suddenly your testimony bears some authority and people consider what you have to say.

            This is the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer who never saw Jesus but testifies to His truth. The Holy Spirit witnesses the truth of Jesus Christ to a world that needs Him. The Holy Spirit authenticates your witness.

            Continuing on in our series on getting to know the Holy Spirit, we are looking at John 15:18-27 and the Spirit’s role as the primary witness of Jesus. We will also investigate His role in helping us to be witnesses of Jesus Christ in a hostile world.

1. Why the World rejects your Witness

Nestled in the context of hostility is our key passage on the Holy Spirit’s work. Jesus explains to His disciples that the world will not appreciate what they have to say about Him. Then Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. And then in the next chapter, Jesus continues to warn them that people will reject their testimony. This tells us that we need the Holy Spirit to authenticate our witness if we have any hope of sharing Christ.

a) If the World hates you – Jesus makes it sound like a natural thing to be hated by the world. “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first” (18). In fact, Jesus goes on to say that it would be unnatural for the world to accept you and love you, if you are also a follower of Jesus.

            John uses that term “world” to represent a global system of rejection. The “world” is all the people who reject Jesus as the Son of God. We get the word “cosmetics” from John’s word for “world” or “cosmos” (Grk). “Cosmetics” means to put right. So women who use cosmetics are trying to put their faces right.

            A missionary shared about the primitive village he was evangelizing in Africa. An elderly woman came into his hut one day and found his shaving mirror hanging on the wall. Not realizing it was her own reflection, all she saw was a wrinkled old woman. She took the mirror and smashed it on the ground.

            The gospel of Christ is a mirror. Jesus reveals that we are not right and the world does not like that. (See 2 Cor. 2:15-16)

b) They will persecute you – As a result, the world will try to stamp out the message that tells them they are not right. When you face opposition for simply believing in Christ, Jesus says we should not be surprised. “A servant is not greater than his master” (20). Jesus goes on to say in the next chapter that anyone who expels you from a social circle or even kills you because of Christ will think they are doing the world a favor (16:2).

            The anti-Christian rant grows louder everyday in North American society. We are not being killed but we are being silenced. We need only consider the ongoing battle of Trinity Western University against the Supreme Court to merely train Christian lawyers and teachers. Public prayers must use generic terms like “God” so as not to offend other faiths. These are but a few examples of the slow silencing of our faith.

c) Hatred without reason – Don’t try to make sense of it. Jesus came to set the captives free, to forgive sin, and to preach the love of God. Who could be against those things? The freedom of conscience and the liberation of women find their roots in the Christian gospel. The abolition of slavery and the protection of the innocent grew out of the core values of our faith. Even the theology of Creation beckons us to be environmentally conscious because “the earth is the Lord’s.”

            So why does the world hate Christians? Jesus said that the world hates Him because of prophecy, “They hated me without reason” (Pss. 35:19; 69:4). If we truly reflected the love and gentleness of Jesus, if we did not come across as “judgy” or “holier than thou,” the world would still hate us. Think of it, Jesus, the perfect man who came full of grace and truth, was rejected by the world and crucified. If that is the treatment the Lamb got, what of His sheep?

            This is the world we live in. It is in this context that we need the help of the Holy Spirit to testify that Jesus is the Son of God, and that He died for sin and was raised to life. Without the Spirit our words are powerless to impact anyone for the faith.

2. How the Spirit Witnesses through you

a) The Witness of the Holy Spirit – The chief purpose of the Holy Spirit is to proclaim the message of Jesus. Whatever else we might think about the Holy Spirit, His primary job is to shine the spotlight on Jesus. As Jesus promised, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father – the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father – he will testify about me” (26).

            How does the Holy Spirit testify about Jesus? First of all, we understand that God has revealed Himself in Creation. We see the intelligent design of our natural world and declare there must be a god. Second, we know that God has revealed Himself in our consciences. Humankind is naturally inclined to worship someone greater than himself/herself. More specifically, God has revealed Himself in the flesh, in Jesus Christ, the exact representation of His being. But how do we make sense of any of this information?

            The Spirit of Truth inspired the prophets and apostles to write down what they witnessed. We have the OT, the gospels, and the letters to show us the truth of Christ. The Bible is our best tool in sharing the good news of Jesus because the Holy Spirit is the author of its truth. That is why Paul says the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Eph 6:17). The Bible can profoundly change a person. “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

            But here’s the thing, no amount of reading the Bible and no amount of preaching will ever bring us to a living knowledge of Christ. It is only when the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and preaching, and interprets it and applies it to our hearts that we really come to see Jesus as He truly is.

            The witness of the Holy Spirit does what no person can do. The Spirit of God opens hearts, removes blindness, opens minds to understanding and bears witness that the Word of God is true. He gives it the ring of authenticity so that the power of preaching, testifying, and even the mere reading of a verse of Scripture rests with the Spirit, not with us.

b) Your witness – The Spirit could, if He wanted to, spread the gospel on His own. Yet He chooses to use us. Jesus wanted it that way. Jesus said, “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning” (27).

            Obviously Jesus was talking first to the disciples who had literally been with Him in His ministry. But this also applies to us. We are to bear witness for Christ. The Greek word for “witness” is where we get the word “martyr.” Martyrs, in our minds, are people who die for the faith. That is not the original meaning. Martyrs are people who testify.

            Last week I talked about the Holy Spirit as Paraclete, who speaks in our defense as in a court trial. Now imagine that Jesus is in the box, on trial before a hostile world. The world is judging Jesus and Satan accuses Him of being irrelevant. The Holy Spirit is the defense and we, we are the witnesses who testify before the world and tell the truth about Jesus. And we are briefed by the Word of God and the Holy Spirit so well that the case is airtight.

            Jesus said to the disciples that the Holy Spirit would come and help them testify. They were to wait in Jerusalem after Jesus rose from the dead and receive the Spirit. Jesus said, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8). The witness has been passed on to us down through the centuries by the faithful who stood for Jesus. It is our turn. But what do we say?

            This is where testimonies can go off the rails a bit. Can you imagine Peter standing up on Pentecost to speak and saying, “Hello, I’m Peter, I’m from Galilee. I was born and raised in a Jewish home and knew God all my life but never really made a commitment. Then I met Jesus and …” Maybe he talks about his addiction to fishing and how Jesus rescued him from it…I don’t know.

            No, Peter stands up and does what? He quotes Scripture explaining the strange happenings of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then he talks about Jesus of Nazareth, someone they all knew, and how they put Him to death, but God raised Him from the dead. Peter quotes more scripture and then concludes with “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:37b). And the people were cut to the heart. Unless the Holy Spirit had taken this witness and Scripture and drilled them home to 3000 hearts, this event would have been buried in history. Instead, lives were changed.

            What do you say when you testify for Christ? Jesus said, don’t worry about it. You will be called to account for your faith by people hostile to the gospel. “But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matt 10:19-20). When you don’t know what to say, quote Scripture.

            When you don’t know what to say, declare Christ crucified. Jesus’ word about a hostile world came to fruition quickly after Pentecost. The apostles were taken to the Sanhedrin and told by the high priest to stop teaching in the name of Jesus. But Peter and the apostles replied that they could not stop (see Acts 5:29-32).

            We are all to be witnesses of what Jesus has been to us, what we have experienced, what has happened in our lives, what he has done for us. And the Holy Spirit will witness with that, using those words, simple as they may be, to open minds and to break through hard hearts, to pierce and break down barriers, and to open people up to the Word. This is the calling of the church: to witness before a hating world.

Dr. Paul Brand was speaking to a medical college in India on Matthew 5:16: “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” In front of the lectern was an oil lamp, with its cotton wick burning from the shallow dish of oil. As he preached, the lamp ran out of oil, the wick burned dry, and the smoke made him cough. He immediately used the opportunity.

            “Some of us here are like this wick,” he said. “We’re trying to shine for the glory of God, but we stink. That’s what happens when we use ourselves as the fuel of our witness rather than the Holy Spirit. Wicks can last indefinitely, burning brightly and without irritating smoke, if the fuel, the Holy Spirit, is in constant supply.”

            The Holy Spirit gives us the power and the courage to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. Therefore, we need to be constantly filled with the Holy Spirit. We have made a connection to the Word of God and the Spirit this morning. It is clear that the filling of the Holy Spirit in your life is directly related to the Word of God.

            Ephesians 5:18-21 and Colossians 3:15-17 agree in that being filled with the Spirit and the Word produce the same results in us. To remain filled with the Spirit will mean continuing to be filled with the Word.

            Through your knowledge of God’s Word, the Spirit is able to witness the truth of Christ through you to a world that needs Him.

                                                            AMEN

Our Heavenly Father, we pray this morning that in the midst of an unbelieving world that rejects your Son Jesus, that you will keep us in their midst. Like salt permeating, preserving, and flavoring the meat, make us influential for Jesus. Like light that shines in the darkest places, show us to be clearly Christ’s own. Lord we ask that you will strengthen us and help us to reach out in love to friends and neighbors and coworkers. They may be blind and unaware of the truth. So empower us through your Holy Spirit to bear witness for Jesus, the Savior and the forgiver of our sins, the lover of our souls, the Lord of life, and the King of kings.

                                                            Amen

Trinity Talks #5

GETTING TO KNOW THE HOLY SPIRIT

PART ONE: THE PARACLETE

How well do we know the person and the role of the Holy Spirit? I admit that of the three persons in the Trinity, Father – Son – Holy Spirit, I don’t know the Spirit as well as the others. I know that I depend on Him. I know that He helps me. I know that I would love to be more aware of Him.

            I think that the reason the average Christian struggles to know and understand the Holy Spirit is His subtlety. The Holy Spirit is involved in the church and in the life of the individual believer to a great extent. But on any given day, try and explain “how” to someone.

            As a result, and in an attempt to define His role, people add functions to His role that are not even biblical. The Holy Spirit becomes a legendary figure in the church. And the legend does not always match the fact. A favorite movie line of mine comes from a western where a reporter decides to rip up a story from an eyewitness account. “You're not going to use the story, Mr. Scott?” the storyteller asks. “No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend,” the reporter replies.[i]

            The Holy Spirit and His work in our lives is larger than legend, not less. I am convinced that we will not know the full extent of what He has done until the coming of Christ. Until then, we have the Scriptures, and we have Jesus’ own words.

            We are scrolling back to John 14 where Jesus announced to His disciples that He would be leaving them soon. The news casts a gloom over their hearts. The disciples had followed Jesus for three years having their minds open to God in a way they never would have dreamed. Now the man who taught them, guided them, and counseled them, is leaving. Jesus comforts them saying, “If you love me, obey me.” Then He promises to pray asking God to send another counselor to be with them. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit to every believer to help them in their walk of faith.

1. Jesus calls Him “Another Counselor”

Jesus asks the Father to send “another” counselor to be with the disciples forever. Why does Jesus say “another”?

            The NIV uses the word “counselor” but your Bible may use another word like “advocate,” “comforter,” or “guide.” All of these terms come from one word which is difficult to translate. Even in English the word is reserved for the Holy Spirit. That word is “paraclete.”

            A Paraclete is someone who comes alongside of you to strengthen you, to guide you, to help you in difficult situations. In Greek literature, a Paraclete was an advocate who came alongside a person to speak in his or her defense in a court of law. So the role of the Holy Spirit in this context is to help and to guide in times of need.

            Jesus says “another counselor” or “advocate” then, because that was what Jesus was to the disciples during His earthly ministry. He mentored them, showed them, taught them what it meant to pursue and know God. With Jesus going back to the Father, He says He will not leave them without this help.

            Some might say that the Holy Spirit is to Jesus what a person’s spirit is to his or her body. But then the Holy Spirit would be merely the spirit of Jesus’ life and teaching. Jesus makes it clear that He is sending them “another” person, not of the flesh but spirit, who will be with them.

            The only other place this word “Paraclete” is used in the NT is 1 John 2:1, and this will help us to understand part of His role. “My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.” Jesus is our Paraclete or advocate before the Father. As Satan accuses us (ala Job in OT) before God of our unrighteousness and sin, Jesus defends us with the nail prints in His hands.

            When our hearts accuse us, the Holy Spirit works in us to affirm that we belong to the Father. As Ephesians 1:14 tells us, the Holy Spirit is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance of eternal life. He ministers to our hearts assuring us of our place in God’s family. “The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children,” (Rom. 8:16).

2. Jesus calls Him “The Spirit of Truth”

In the same breath that Jesus promises the Paraclete, He calls Him “the Spirit of Truth.” We can’t help but ask with Pilate when Jesus stood before him, “What is truth?” And the truth stood before Him in the person of Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way and the life and the truth.”

            Truth is reality. Truth is what exists, what is really there. The Spirit of God has come into our lives to explain what is really there. There are many half-truths and full-on falsehoods in life, many created by our media. But the Spirit of truth has come to help us to understand life as it really is, to see through the mist of lies, and grasp the truth.

            Jesus expands this definition of the Spirit’s role in v. 26. “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit…will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” So when Jesus says that the Spirit of truth will remind you of the truth, He does not mean that the Holy Spirit will guide you into natural truth or scientific truth or metaphysical truth (though He could), but primarily into the truth of Jesus Christ, His atoning death and resurrection. Through the Holy Spirit we have our eyes opened to the meaning of Christ’s words and how those words apply to us.

            Paul develops this thought further in his letter to the Corinthians (read 1 Cor. 2:6-16). The deep truths of Christianity are made known to us, believers in Christ, through the Holy Spirit. Only through the Holy Spirit could we even come to Christ and receive Him in faith.

            Martin Luther said, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith, even as He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith….”

3. Jesus says the world cannot accept Him

It is no wonder then, that the world cannot accept the truths of Christ. Without the Holy Spirit no one can fathom or accept who Jesus is and what the cross means to the world.

            In John’s Gospel, the “world” refers to the human system that is in rebellion against God and is in need of salvation. People who are in the world cannot understand the deeper things of God, things of the spirit. As Paul said, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God…” (1 Cor. 2:14a).

            Jesus said that the world cannot accept the Holy Spirit because a) They don’t see Him, and b) they don’t know Him.

a) The World doesn’t see Him – The world cannot receive the Spirit because secularist-humanist thinking is based on observable data. In plain language “seeing is believing.” If it cannot be measured, studied, or compared, it cannot be real. That is why for some, science has become a god.

            God, whose personal majesty is invisible to the human eye, is not a rational proposition. From a worldly perspective, that which we call a miracle or divine intervention is inconceivable. Instead of praising God for the phenomenal work of His hand, the world rationalizes through observation that these things would have happened without God. If we refuse to see God in our daily experiences, we are not in a position to receive the Holy Spirit. 

b) The World doesn’t know Him – If the world doesn’t see Him, how can it know Him? Your unbelieving friend says there is no Holy Spirit because he/she cannot see Him. You reply that, sometimes you can feel Him, or you have sensed His presence, or He has given you a word. Your friend says that is just your imagination and that he/she has never felt Him. But what if I said that Kleefeld honey was bitter? You would say that I cannot have tasted it and you would buy me a container of it. With the Holy Spirit, if you felt His influence and knew His presence, you would no longer say you cannot see Him or feel Him.

            Jesus said to Nicodemus, you cannot see the wind but you feel its influence – so it is with the Holy Spirit. You see the crashing waves and the waving trees, so you know there is a thing called wind. Can you see electricity? No, but you can hear me clearer when that power is coursing through the wire.

            The world doesn’t know the Holy Spirit because it doesn’t know what to look for. But for you, follower of Christ, train your eyes to see what the Holy Spirit is doing and use the Scriptures as your lenses.

4. Jesus promises He will be in you

Like the disciples in that moment in the upper room, we would like to have and keep the physical Jesus with us. We would like to see Him, talk to Him, and know Him as we would know our best friends. But at that critical moment, Jesus had to finish the work of the cross and then return to the Father.

            In His place, Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come and be with the disciples. Jesus indicates that the disciples already know Him “for he lives with you and will be in you” (17b). There are two parts to this statement.

a) He lives with you – At that point in time, and wherever you read in the OT about the Holy Spirit, the Bible speaks of the Spirit being “with you” but not in you. From when Moses found the burning bush and God said “I will be with you” (Ex. 3:12) to Isaiah’s prophecy “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Is. 43:2), God had always promised to be with His people. The Spirit partnered with God’s people to help them achieve God’s purposes.

b) He will be in you – But remember that the Holy Spirit had not yet come as a permanent resident in the hearts of believers at this point. So Jesus promises this presence as a future event, one that we now live in. previously, the Spirit was like a guest living with the people of God; with Pentecost, the Holy Spirit became a permanent resident dwelling in the life of the believers. The language has changed: The Apostles now speak of the Spirit “filling” you. At Pentecost, the disciples were “filled” with the Spirit; in Ephesians, Paul exhorts his readers to “Be filled with the Spirit…”

            The startling reality for you and me is that the living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God who became flesh and dwelt among us in Jesus Christ, now dwells in us through the Holy Spirit. The power of God is in you.

            Unfortunately, we might have images of Marvel Comics going through our minds when we think of power. We will not turn green and thrash our enemies; we will not be able to fly or climb walls like a spider. We have a greater power in us through the indwelling Holy Spirit to overcome the real crises of life. And He reminds us of Jesus who showed us that real power is in submitting to God’s will and even dying for it. We do this with courage because Jesus showed us that there is strength in weakness and blessing in obedience. Everything we face has the sting taken out of it because after death is the resurrection. Always!

            Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world!

I want to get to know the Holy Spirit better. The primary way to do that is to begin with Scripture. What does the Bible say about the Holy Spirit and His work in our lives? The secondary way to know the Holy Spirit is to see with the lens of Scripture the ways in which the Holy Spirit is working in your daily experience. What others see as coincidence or logical outcomes, evaluate through the Bible and prayer. Write it down, think about it, share it with others. Is this the Holy Spirit?

            Above all, begin with this comforting thought: You have the Paraclete in you, one who comes alongside of you to guide you and to help you to follow Jesus.

           

                                                AMEN

Father God, sometimes we pretend to know but we don’t really know anything. We are sadly unaware of the presence of your Holy Spirit on a daily basis. We have this precious gift of the indwelling God in our lives – teach us to know Him better, to experience Him, and to celebrate Him. You have given us power through the Holy Spirit to act with courage and conviction on our faith. May we do so more boldly knowing that you have come alongside of us.

                                                            AMEN

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[i] From the movie “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance”

Trinity Talks #4

WHEN THE FATHER PLANTS A VINEYARD…

My brother has carpentry skills. He loves to build with wood and he is happy to build me something when I ask (i.e. our deck). On his own deck he built an arbor that acts as a grand entrance to one of his favorite spots: his fire pit.

            Adorning this arbor is a vine. When summer is in full swing the vine makes for a fine decoration. My brother indicated to me on one visit that it was a grape-producing vine. I was surprised. Usually one imagines clusters of grapes hanging from the vine. But I didn’t see any grapes. He then proved me wrong by pulling a tiny grape out of a covering of leaves. It was as small as a juniper berry and likely as tasty.

            My brother is not a viticulturist, a vinedresser – in plain language – a grape grower. Neither am I. Coaxing a vine or a garden to grow is not my forte. I admire those of you who take pleasure in growing things.

            Our heavenly Father is a builder, a farmer, a shepherd and so much more. He is also an expert viticulturist – He knows how to grow a grape. We are not grapes; we are branches on the vine. Grapes are the fruit of being in Christ. What our text teaches us today is what the role of the Father is in the analogy of the vineyard.

            At the conclusion of chapter fourteen, Jesus tells his disciples, “Come now, let us leave.” They leave the upper room where they shared a meal, where Jesus surprised them all by washing their feet, and where he taught them what it meant to be “in” him.

            As Jesus and the disciples walk out of the city and towards their campsite, they likely passed through a vineyard. Jesus took the vine in his hand and revealed to his disciples what the Father does in the life of the disciple through Jesus.

            In John 15 we have the story of the vine and how it was God’s purpose that our earth should be its fruitful soil and how humankind became intimately connected with its growth.

1. Branches on the Vine

Jesus held the vine in his hand and pondered its meaning. For centuries, the symbol of the vineyard and the vine had represented Israel. Psalm 80:8 speaks of God taking a vine out of Egypt, drove away the nations, cleared the ground and planted it. But the walls around the vineyard were broken down and everyone stole its fruit. What happened? Why did God’s vineyard not flourish as it was meant?

            We find a further explanation of this horticultural failure in Isaiah 5:1-7 (read). Again, God did everything necessary for establishing a vineyard. But the fruit of this venture was bad; the grapes were sour. What happened was that, despite God’s provision, the people of Israel did not obey God. Isaiah says that God looked for justice but found bloodshed, for righteousness but heard cries of distress. The people were being cruel to one another.  Israel was not being Israel.

            Jesus says, “I am the true vine…” (1). When he said, "I am the true vine," he did not mean, "true in contrast with something false, fake, counterfeit," but rather "real, genuine, as opposed to the mere copy or symbol." As he held this vine and its branches in his hand, he indicated that this was the copy. He was the true vine. He was the vine from which true life is received.[i]

            We can read a little more into the imagery of the vine. A vine is not a like a tree with a sturdy trunk; it is limp and lies on the ground if not cared for. The vinedresser takes the vine and winds it into the trellis or arbor so that it has support and direction. In the hands of the Father, Jesus was directed and guided in his ministry. He said often that it was his Father’s will that he suffer (go to the cross), and Jesus submitted to that direction. He is the vine in the Father’s hands. Jesus never followed his own way but was always bound to the Father’s will.

            We are the branches. There is a oneness in this plant. The vine and the branches are one plant. One stream of sap, one stream of life flows to each branch from the vine. We cannot stand alone, but like Christ we yield to the Father’s will, allowing His skillful hand to work on us. He may twist us into place, fix us with a nail, or let our clusters droop over the wall and into the hands of strangers. If it is the Father’s will we must let Him have His way to accomplish His purpose.

            In any case, to continue to receive that life-giving stream, we must remain in Christ. How many times does Jesus say this in this passage? Remain in me; if you remain in me, I will remain in you; the only way to bear fruit is to remain in me; if you remain in me you can ask the Father for anything; obey my commands and remain in my love. To remain is to rest, to lean on, as if after a long tiring day, you throw yourself on the couch and let it hold you. Jesus wants us to rest in him and let him hold us, as the Father holds him.

2. Going under the knife

To remain in Christ is no static thing. To be in Christ is to submit to the Father’s hand in making us something more. So to be in Christ is not static but dynamic. Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (1-2).

a) Cutting off the fruitless branch – The imagery of cutting off branches concerned me. I wondered if this meant cutting off unbelievers, but then why would unbelievers even be on the vine in the first place? I had to read up on this.

            It seems that in the spring, the green vine sprouts all manner of shoots. As a branch, you may have several shoots with large green leaves giving the impression of health and vitality. But this is when the vinedresser comes with a knife and strips it bare of all this innocent pride. Those shoots would take the sap and continue to leaf while producing nothing. To cut them back makes room for true growth. It is a cleansing process since the shoots trap all manner of debris and dirt.

            This is a powerful analogy for the Christian life. What are these unfruitful shoots the Father trims away? These are the shoots which arise out of our sinful nature and which produce those characteristics that are contrary to the fruit of the Spirit. Paul says, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like…” (Gal. 5:19-21).

            Warren Wiersbe reminds us that, “Your Heavenly Father is never nearer to you than when He is pruning you. Sometimes He cuts away the dead wood that might cause trouble; but often He cuts off living tissue that is preventing you from generating a bumper crop. Pruning does not only refer to removing what is bad. It can also mean cutting away the good and the better so that we might enjoy the best. Yes, pruning hurts, but it also helps. We may not enjoy it, but we need it.”

b) Pruning the fruitful branch – Did you catch that? I don’t know how many times I have read this passage and I did not see this before. The Father takes the branch that does bear fruit and prunes it. Here is a large cluster of grapes, perhaps at the beginning of the growing season, and He cuts it. The plant people here get that; I don’t so much.

            Pruning is a painful process. Sometimes the Father cuts deeper than we would have chosen. This is remarkable imagery: the Father takes the situations we are in, the challenges we are faced with, the trials that are killing us, and applies the Word to those situations, challenges and trials, to make us hear the Word afresh. We might find that something we had been doing all our life, which we thought was right, turns out to be wrong thinking. That hurts.

            Charles Spurgeon preached on this saying: “Well, if I may say so, affliction is the handle of the knife; affliction is the grindstone that sharpens up the word; affliction is the dresser which removes our soft garments, and lays bare the diseased flesh, so that the surgeon’s lancet may get at it; affliction makes us ready to feel the word, but the true pruner is the word in the hand of the Great Husbandman.”

            If you have ever gone for surgery you know how surreal the moment is when they put you under. You should be scared that someone is going to cut you, but there is peace that the cuts made are going to make you better – you will be able to eat again, walk again, breathe better, etc. You trust the surgeon. How much more can we trust the Father who holds the knife to our spirits?

            Spurgeon also said, dear friends, your prayer should be, “Lord, let Your word cut deep into me. Do not let the preacher mince matters with me. Deliver him from sewing pillows under my armholes, and lulling me to sleep. Lord, I would be faithfully dealt with! I put the proud flesh before You— cut it out, that the wound heals not so as to be worse when healed than it was when a running sore.”

            The writer of Hebrews encourages this surgery saying, “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father?” (Heb. 12:7).

c) Burning the dead wood – There is still the matter of the dead branches (6). Ezekiel proclaimed that vine branches that don’t produce fruit are dead wood and not even useful for making furniture (Ezek 15:1-8). It’s only good for burning.

            Many commentators say that this refers to Judas. If so, then Judas was a branch connected to Jesus that followed Jesus, preached the gospel, even healed the sick, but was not in Christ. His discipleship was pretence. I suppose then that it is easy to have the appearance of being a Christ follower but not actually living off the vine.

            If the Holy Spirit is not living in them, there will be no fruit. The Father will cut them off and they will be burned in the fire of judgment. Harsh stuff. But Jesus makes it clear that his disciples will be obvious by the fruit of their lives.

3. Bearing Fruit for the Father

There is one purpose for the vine: fruit-bearing. And not just fruit, but “much fruit.” Jesus said, “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (8). God is glorified when we produce fruit because it shows Him to be a great vinedresser, the best in fact.

            What is this fruit? In a word – Christlikeness. Paul reveals a nine-fold description of this one quality, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23).

            What do you have to do to produce this fruit? Here’s the strange thing – nothing. You do not have to do anything. You could be sick in a hospital bed and still express this quality of being Christlike. It is not activity which glorifies God; it is character, it is what you are, and the way you react to a situation. Do you want to be known as a disciple of Jesus? Do you want to be recognized as one who follows Jesus? Well then, manifest fruit in your life by abiding in him, and he in you.

            A few years ago, the Associated Press released a study done by an agricultural school in Iowa. It reported that production of 100 bushels of corn from one acre of land, in addition to the many hours of the farmer’s labor, required 4,000,000 pounds of water, 6,800 pounds of oxygen, 5,200 pounds of carbon, 160 pounds of nitrogen, 125 pounds of potassium, 75 pounds of yellow sulphur, and other elements too numerous to list. In addition to these things, which no man can produce, rain and sunshine at the right time are critical. It was estimated that only 5 percent of the produce of a farm can be attributed to the efforts of man.[ii]

            If we were honest, we’d have to admit that the same is true in producing spiritual fruit. Whatever the percentages, the Father does most of the work. Our percentage is to remain in Christ, and without realizing it -- manifesting the characteristics of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, the quality of life which is like Jesus. When that happens, there will come these additional benefits: answered prayer, a glorifying of the Father through the demonstration of discipleship, a deepening of the experience of love, and joy made full.

As the Father prunes us He demonstrates His care for us. To leave us as we are would result in a messy, unmanageable life with inconsistent fruitfulness. So in order to bear fruit for the Lord, the Father needs to prune you.

            Pruning is not a pleasant experience. It may come in the form of a rebuke from another believer; it may come from the Word of God; we may experience the pruning season in an illness (though we must be careful not to assign blame to God for sickness; He uses the experience – He doesn’t give it). But the fact is, as we begin walking the Christian walk with Jesus, we bring a lot of the flesh and the world with us. God is so gracious that He doesn’t hack it all away at once, or we would bleed to death. However, if we want to be like Christ, it has to go. And as it goes we find a new freedom and joy – our joy is actually made fuller as we say goodbye to those things that suck the life of Christ out of us. So we need to be pruned.

            This is a key role of the Father in your life. Look for it. Thank God for it. Consider the measure of your fruit because of it. Remain in Christ and allow the Father to cut where he needs to cut. This is for the Father’s glory

                                                            AMEN

Father God, we have been walking with Jesus to the cross this morning, and we heard him talk about the vine. We see that we are branches clinging to the Vine that is Jesus. He is our life, the very source of faith and fruitfulness. We have seen your faithful and caring hand at work in cutting and pruning. And we are a little fearful to ask for more because it is painful. Yet we know that you do not do it to hurt us, as if you enjoyed our pain, but you do it see us become more like your Son, Jesus. As you work on us to make us fruitful, I pray that all of us here would produce more fruit, that we would be so blessed with fruit, that the community around us would drool with desire to learn the secret of this fruit. We thank you, O God, for the potential you see in us through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen

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[i] Ray Stedman, sermon God’s Vineyard, June 10, 1973.

[ii] From a sermon by Albert Corey, "ABIDING IN CHRIST" 7/3/2009

Trinity talks #1

FULL DISCLOSURE OF THE FATHER’S HEART

God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, loves you.

            Some people have trouble calling God “Father.” Connecting “love” with the father title doesn’t work for them. Painful experiences have taught them that the father-figures they have known have been anything but loving. Certainly our earthly fathers have been less than perfect.

            Consider the boys and girls who wanted to hang out with dad in his shop working on his projects. Dads are always doing “cool” stuff and little boys want to join in; little girls do too. But dad wants to get this project done; he’s got a schedule; no time for teaching. So he goes to mom with the little one’s hand in his and says, “He’s in the way.” That phrase sears into the child’s mind and emerges repeatedly. They think, “If dad loved me he’d want to spend time with me.”

            In the last four decades, feminist theologians have wanted to remove masculine language from our church talk. Man-centered language must be replaced with language that allows male and female together to appreciate God. They say that predominantly male images of God in the Bible reflect an ancient patriarchal society which subjugates women. A male god expressed in “father” language is a male invention.

            I disagree. That God calls Himself “Father” reveals His relationship within the Trinity and, in the purest sense of the term, reveals the Father’s heart for humankind. That God is our Father indicates a personal and intimate relationship marked by love.

            On the night before His death on the cross, Jesus taught the disciples about the Father’s heart. And on this night, Jesus showed the Father’s heart. John 13:1-11 often forms the basis for what we must do – foot-washing; it really speaks of what has been done for us. The Father loves us so completely that we can do nothing less than let Him love us.

1. For God so loved the world…

a) The way back to the Father – When I first began studying this section (John 13-16) I was impressed with how much Jesus had to say about the Father. Upon further study, I found that the Gospel of John contains more teaching about the Father than any other book in the Bible (approx. 150 references to “Father”). Jesus’ relationship to His Father is extremely tight. In ch. 12 Jesus says, “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it,” (12:49).

            Earlier than that, Jesus told His disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (4:34). There’s that intimate connection. As Jesus saw it, everything He did and said was in obedience to His Father’s plan. Jesus was fully aware of the plan. At times Jesus would say “my time has not yet come.”

            Now, on the night before the cross, Jesus knew it was time. John records, “Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father” (1a). Everything Jesus had said and done built up to this moment: healings, exorcisms, teaching, living…all of it. Jesus was almost finished the Father’s work and then He would join the Father. But the way back to the Father was the way of the cross. Only by going to the cross would Jesus fulfill the Father’s purpose for sending Him into the world.

b) Loved to the full extent – Knowing that the cross loomed ever closer, Jesus gave the disciples one last glimpse of what was to come. He wanted to give them a taste of the Father’s love. John expressed this in a peculiar sentence, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end” (1b).

            To the end of what? We might think in terms of time: Jesus loved them right up to His death. But the language is more about the type of love than about time. Jesus loved them “absolutely” or “to the uttermost” or “to the full limit.”

            And whom does Jesus love? His own; the disciples; those who choose to follow Him. Jesus wanted to show them the incomparable love that would explain the foot-washing which in turn reflected the cross. The love that Jesus shows them is none other than the Father’s love for humankind.

            We cannot forget that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One, and that they are united. What Jesus says and does, the Father and the Spirit agree. We cannot forget Jesus words, “For God so loved the world…” (3:16). And this same John who recorded these words reflected on them later in 1 John 4:9-10 (show slide).

            In the end, there is no explanation of the cross other than the love of the Father. We cannot say “Jesus loves me” and think how terrible the Father was for sending Jesus to die. Give up the divine child abuse theory and acknowledge that the Father-God loves you so much He sent His Son for this purpose.

c) The Father’s plan will not be hindered – God’s purpose would not be thwarted. Judas was there that night. Judas had in mind to betray Jesus; he had made a deal with the authorities to have Jesus arrested. Jesus will wash his feet too – Jesus will show the love of the Father to Judas.

            Whatever was on his mind that night, for whatever reason Judas resisted the love of Jesus, his ambition, his political leanings, his disenchantment with Jesus’ teaching, it would not change anything. The death of Christ will take place at the hour, the time, and the place, which the Father had ordained it and for which Jesus waited.

            “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power” (3a). Thus, the actors in the drama of His death, Judas, Annas, Caiaphas, Pilate and the mob all acted within the purposes of God. Their failure, rebellion and sin provided the occasion for the revealing of love’s triumph.

            “For God so loved the world…” There is too much in that phrase to comprehend; the meaning of it is astounding and beyond our minds to perceive.

2. He gave His Only Son

a) A raw expression of love – You know, when the disciples entered the upper room for this “last” meal, they were arguing again. First, they were all intent on sitting in the places of honor – at the Lord’s left or right. They came in pushing and shoving, ignoring the basin of water that a servant would have used to wash the feet of guests. They had been arguing about who was the greatest disciple among them (Lk 22:24). This ranking would have been visible in how close they sat to Jesus. No one bothered to wash anyone’s feet.

            The task of washing the guests’ feet before the meal was not the host’s job, since it was a very demeaning task. None of the disciples were going to do it because they were peers and no one wanted to admit they were less than the other. Even a high-ranking servant would not do it. Washing feet was the job of a slave.

            In the middle of the meal, Jesus gets up and takes off His robe. I imagine He is quite exposed to the environment. All He has is a towel. The bickering disciples grow awkwardly quiet. What is the Master doing? Jesus makes His way around the U-shaped group and washes the dust and camel dung off their feet.

            Do you see what happened here? God the Father took off His divine vestments; He shed His glory, and got raw. This is Phil. 2:6-8 dramatized. The Father showed us His love in the most vulnerable manner. “In the washing of their feet the disciples, though they did not understand it at the time, saw a rare unfolding of the authority and glory of the incarnate Word, and a rare declaration of the character of the Father Himself.”[i]

            This is the Father’s love. Jesus enacted it as a slave, washing feet. This is what fathers are supposed to be like. I was reminded of Pastor Pete’s experience with the youth mission trip to Mexico several years ago. Remember? Everyone got sick and was barfing on the plane. Pete and other leaders fathered the group by picking up the bags and cleaning up the youth.

            That’s gross stuff. But is that any different than the condition humanity was in when Christ died? God got down on His knees and cleaned us up.

b) A seemingly inappropriate expression – As Jesus makes His way to Peter, the disciple seems appalled at first. This is too graphic for Peter. We could paraphrase Peter’s words this way: “You don’t think you’re going to wash my feet, do you, Lord?”

            No one wanted this job. Each disciple thought it beneath him to wash the feet of his peers. But here, the Master stoops to wash their feet. This is even more inappropriate. Peter cannot accept this turnabout and resisted having his feet washed.

            It may seem like humility on Peter’s part, but there is pride in this resistance. Peter presumes to know better than Jesus what is appropriate and he corrects Jesus, as though He was wrong.

            Jesus explains that it may be understandable for Peter not to comprehend this action now, but he will get it eventually. After the resurrection, Peter and the others will see what this all means. But they have no perception of the crucifixion let alone the resurrection. They just don’t get it.

            Peter resists more strongly the second time, “No, you shall never wash my feet” (8a). Peter, in false humility, rejects our Lord’s actions because he now feels undeserving. But that is the point. What Jesus’ so-called inappropriate action demonstrates for His disciples is the love and grace of the Father.

            Close your eyes. Can you imagine Jesus washing your feet? I was directed to do this one time. It felt wrong. Jesus washing my feet? I’m not worthy of such an honor. Exactly!

            Would Peter resist having Jesus wash his feet on the premise that he is unworthy? Would we? Then Peter, and we also, must reject having sins washed away by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross, for Peter, and we also, are unworthy of this too. To reject grace in principle is to reject all grace.

            And so Jesus tells Peter, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me” (8b). For Peter, this was like the ice-bucket challenge. If you weren’t awake before, you are now. The thought of having no part with Jesus was too much.

c) Clean! – When Peter grasped the connection, be it ever so dimly, of foot-washing with following Jesus, he dives in. Peter wants every part of his body washed. He’s ready to strip down for a sponge bath if it means having more of Jesus in his life.

            Jesus tones down Peter’s enthusiastic response. If Peter desired too little of Jesus before, neither should he ask for more than is needed. He is clean; Peter does not need a bath.

            There is a spiritual element to this exchange. The salvation work that Jesus completed on the cross is a finished work. It does not need to happen again. Your sins are forgiven. What then, is the purpose of foot-washing? Foot-washing is a parable pointing to the sacrifice of the cross, the humility of One who is God to die for us. Receiving foot-washing from another is a token of our acceptance of this act. To wash another’s feet is to imitate the servant-heart and love of God. It indicates that we are clean by virtue of Christ’s death; it indicates that we are a clean people who understand the Father’s lavish love.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

            This is not a sermon on why we should do footwashing twice a year as a church. This is not about something we should do. This sermon is about what has been done to us. This sermon is about the Father desiring to show us the full extent of His love to us through His representative and Son, Jesus Christ.

            The Father reveals to us the intimate connection He has with His Son so that they act as one. When we speak of the Trinity, we are using shorthand for the Christian story of God the Father, who sent His Son Jesus Christ and gave us His Holy Spirit. To quote Lutheran theologian Robert Jenson, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is the proper name of God. This name separates His person and character from other gods or deities. God reveals Himself as Father to us because in this title we understand the relationship God wants to have with us.

            A short story written by Ernest Hemmingway reveals the grace that everyone hopes for. It is the story of a Spanish father who decided to reconcile with his son who had run away to Madrid. The father, in a moment of remorse, takes out this ad in El Libro, a newspaper. "Paco, meet me at Hotel Montana, Noon, Tuesday… All is forgiven… Papa." When the father arrived at the square in hopes of meeting his son, he found eight hundred Pacoes waiting to be reunited with their father. Was Paco such a popular name? Or is a father's forgiveness the salve for every soul?

            God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, loves you!

                                                AMEN

           

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[i] F.F. Bruce, The Gospel of John, 280.

World Fellowship Sunday, January 24, 2016

ONE!

Today is World Fellowship Sunday! This is a day set aside by the Mennonite World Conference for all Mennonite churches to celebrate together our common faith in Christ.

            I am not entirely comfortable with this limitation. It reminds me of the old joke where a man dies, goes to heaven, and is given a tour of heaven. An angel or some other guide shows him various rooms where Pentecostals are singing ‘hallelujahs’ and Anglicans are reading the Common Book of prayers. But when they come to one room, the guide tells the man to tread quietly. Why? This room contains the Mennonites and they think they are the only ones here.

            I want to go a step farther then, and call attention to the global community of faith beyond the Mennonite circle. As a sub-writer for the new baptism book for the EMC, EMMC and CMC churches, I know that we share a common faith in Christ with a variety of church denominations throughout the world. This common faith is best expressed by the adherence of the majority of churches to the Apostles’ Creed (show slide).

I BELIEVE in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. 

Amen.

           

We share our faith in Christ with Christians throughout the world and we want to celebrate that this morning. As How Chuang Chua of Singapore writes, “The church is the worldwide people of God, the community of those who have been redeemed by the work of Jesus Christ. The church transcends ethnic, cultural, and racial lines, being comprised of all those who have repented of their sin and trusted in Christ alone for their salvation. The church is the single most important institution on earth, the organism through which God advances his kingdom.”[i]

            In an effort to encourage unity in the church at Philippi, Paul reminded the believers there of the doctrine and the practice of being One in Christ. These principles were applied to the local church, but they are a reminder to us as well of the elements that bind us as a church (KEMC) to the Global community of faith that calls Christ “Lord.”

1. The Faith that makes us One

a) The Unifying Marks of Christian Faith – If there was a problem with division in the Philippian church, the issues were trivial. But trivial matters can quickly become the wedges that divide us. Paul takes care to remind the local church of the theological foundations that make them a church in the first place.

            In our text there are four “if” clauses in verse one. While “if” usually implies uncertainty, here Paul means to say “If, as is certainly the case…” We might want to say “since” to clarify the meaning, as in “Since you have been encouraged from being united with Christ…” These four clauses are the basis for their unifying faith. Consider these clauses:

1) Sharing the Christ connection: Jesus calls on each of us to join Him in the walk of life. He calls us to faith in Him and to be united with Him in His death and resurrection. Since this is tremendous privilege and joy for you or me, we share a wonderful connection because of our faith in Christ.

2) Sharing the Love (God’s): If you know the love of God, you know the truest consolation of life. Through Christ we know the greatest comfort for our sorrows, the grief we feel over our sins and failures. Since you know this love, and I know this love that comforts, we agree that God’s love is consoling.

3) Sharing in the Spirit: Through faith in Christ I have received His Holy Spirit in my life. But to possess the Spirit is to know that part of the Spirit’s work is to draw me (the individual) into fellowship with God and other believers who love God (the church). If you or I experience the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, can we live any other way?

4) Sharing from the gut: “Tenderness” is the inner source of our emotions (the heart); “compassion” is the emotions reaching out towards the object of our tenderness. To have known the mercy and grace of Christ on the cross yet fail to express tenderness and compassion is a denial of saving truth. In the church we experience the mercy and grace of Christ through our interactions with each other.

            Now these four elements of faith were meant to draw the individuals in Philippi into oneness, whatever their disagreements over other matters might be. These elements are essential to the harmony of believers all over the world. Notice that Paul basically gave us the doctrine of salvation in its classical Trinitarian form as the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you meet a person from Bangladesh who agrees and accepts these clauses, you and that person are ONE in Christ.

            Jesus is the starting point of this shared faith. Jesus is central to our faith. Jesus is the lens through which we see God and understand the OT.

            It surprises and concerns me then that MWC resources for this Sunday downplayed the role of Christ. (show slide and explain). Missing from the Emmaus story is Jesus Himself. Those two disciples were not suddenly united through philosophy or debate, but by the living, breathing crucified Jesus, who explained the OT prophets to them.

            Not all Mennonites agree on the central tenets of our faith. So let us not celebrate our oneness with Mennonites, but with Christians (and not the political types either, i.e. Trump).

b) Complementing Faith with Action – Paul was not content with rehearsing doctrinal commonalities; he wanted this faith to unify them visibly, “then make my joy complete…” These elements of faith were to unify the church in three ways:

1) Thinking the One way: Paul wanted the individuals of the church to have one mind. This does not mean that we see every matter exactly the same. Nor does it mean we set aside essential truths for the sake of unity. Instead, we must train our minds and hearts toward Christian love so that we seek the highest good of one another. We are allowed to disagree; we are allowed to think differently and to confront error. But we do so with this one mind, a mind inclined to love. We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).

2) Possessing the same love: Love is not so much an emotion as it is an attitude. Paul begs for this love to be the same as that of Christ Jesus expressed in His taking on human flesh to be with us. His incarnation was meant for this sole purpose: to be with us and to show us God. And this attitude found its fullest expression on the cross (2:6-8).

3) Moving the same way: Unity is not automatic; it must be cultivated and nurtured. We learn unity through the rough and ready ride of living and worshiping together. Riding a horse is not as simple as climbing into a saddle. To be one with the horse takes experience and time. To be one in spirit with other believers, I must deliberately set my mind on being one with those who truly know Christ, even if I don’t agree with them on everything. But we learn to share a common purpose: “being minded on the one thing.” That one thing is the faith of the gospel, the corporate witness of the body of Christ. When we love each other visibly, we testify to that Oneness.

2. Deliberate Gestures of Oneness

a) Reversing our self-estimate – Working towards a global perspective of the church requires a re-working of our mindset regarding our flavor of faith. I grew up in the milieu of the EMC and a father who trumpeted the impression that “we had it right.” If we were “right” that made others “wrong.” Others would include Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists, and even the Mennonite Brethren (according to Dad). This sense of elitism is not unique to old EMCers; everyone feels their church is the right church to some degree. Why else would they go and worship there?

            There are qualities of the Anabaptist/Mennonite perspective of faith I do feel are good (see list).

–     1) A high view of the Bible

–     2) The centrality of Christ

–     3) Emphasis on the NT church

–     4) The believers’ church

–     5) Adult Believer’s Baptism

–     6) Importance of discipleship

–     7) The mission/missional emphasis

–     8) The life of peace

            Appreciating the One Church, the Global church of Christ, however, means reversing this self-estimate. The world’s way of resolving conflicts is to teach you to stand up for your rights, to be assertive, to negotiate, and to have proper self-esteem. The problem is the world’s way does not deal with the root problem, which is pride or self. In contrast to the world’s way, Paul teaches that Christians must do nothing from selfishness or vain conceit (empty self-importance).

            Considering others as better than yourself is not only biblical, it is also healthier than self-focus. Dr. Karl Menninger was once asked, “If someone felt a nervous breakdown coming on, what would you suggest that he do?” “If you feel a nervous breakdown coming on, I would urge you to find somebody else with a problem—a serious one—and get involved with that individual, helping him solve his problem.” In helping that person with their problem, you may find that your own problem lessens. You’re not thinking internally. You’re not letting things gnaw at your gut. You’re no longer disturbed about yourself because you’re not thinking about yourself. You’re thinking about others.

            Living on the defense when it comes to other churches can have the same effect. If we truly see something in other denominations that troubles us, we need to pray for them. I would suggest adding a church to your daily prayer requests anyways, be it next door or in another country (or both).

b) Taking an interest in others – We are naturally self-centered. We see what is before us and scarcely consider the world around us. We’re so selfish that we’re like fish in the water who don’t know they’re wet. A new husband went up to a ticket counter and bought only one ticket. When his new bride pointed it out, he made a quick comeback saying, “You’re right dear, I’d forgotten myself completely.”

            What I think is important to me would also be something that is important to someone else. So that’s a starting point. What we are concerned about for our church will be a concern for churches around the world.

            John defined love in his first epistle this way: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:16-17). We can apply this to the global church as well. Whether Burma needs bunk-beds or Guadalajara needs teaching materials, our love for these brothers and sisters compels us to act and send — our love for Christ compels us!

           

Today is World Fellowship Sunday.

How can we take an abstract idea and make it real?

            One way is to go and visit a church in another country. David Platt in his book Radical shares the importance of this one act. He writes:

            I remember when I was first preparing to go to Sudan, a nation impoverished by years of civil war.  The trip was going to cost me around three thousand dollars.  It wasn't easy to travel into Sudan since they were still at war, and we would have to charter a plane and spend a few extra days to make that happen. I remember one dear lady in the church coming up to me and asking, "Why don't you just send the three thousand dollars to the people in Sudan? Wouldn't that be a better use of money than your spending a week and a half with them? Think of how far that money would go."

            I wrestled with that question. Was I wasting these funds in order to go when I could simply give the money instead? Should I even be going? I continued wrestling with that question until I got to Sudan.  There I had a conversation with Andrew that shed some light on the question.

            Andrew was sharing with me about his life in Sudan over the last twenty years. He had known war since he was born, and he described facets of the suffering and persecution his people had been through.  He told me about the various groups, most of them secular or government organizations, who had brought supplies to them during that time, and he expressed thanks for the generosity of so many people.

            But then he looked at me and asked, "Even in light of all these things that people have given us, do you want to know how you can tell who a true brother is?"  I leaned forward and asked, "How?" 

            He responded, "A true brother comes to be with you in your time of need."  Then he looked me in the eye and said, "David, you are a true brother. Thank you for coming to be with us."[ii]

            Sending money is important. Going to be with our brothers and sisters is Christ-like. Jesus did not send money; Jesus came to be with us.

            You sent Sharon and me to Mexico to see church planting in action. We see things differently now. We now have a connection with Dallas and Tara and the rest that we did not have before. We have met a family that was saved through this ministry and now we have a connection.

            In two months and a bit we will send our youth to the same place, to Guadalajara. It is a lot of money to send them. But you are giving an incredible gift to these youth – you are showing them the global church. The Church is bigger than Kleefeld and they need to see that; GDL needs to see that too. And when all is said and done and this world comes to a close, we will all see that we who believe in Jesus Christ are ONE!

                                                AMEN

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[i] How Chuang Chua, The Importance of the Global Church, (article), ESVBible.org

[ii] David Platt, Radical (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2010), 197-198.

Baptism Sunday

OUR LIFE IN CHRIST

A small group of men and women huddled in a second floor room wondering what to do. They realized that the church they were part of was not fully obedient to Scripture and they needed to break away. But how? One man suddenly stood up and went to the leader of the group and said “Baptize me!” Somewhat stunned, the leader baptized the man who in turn baptized others in the group. This was the beginning of the Anabaptist movement in Switzerland on January 21, 1525, the first time in about a thousand years that adults were baptized upon their faith in Christ.

            I believe they were poured rather than immersed. Do you know how I know? It was January 21^st. Otherwise they would have had to chip a hole in the ice and jump in quickly.

            One key theological point that separated this baptism from infant baptism was that baptism does not save you. What I mean is — and I know you know this too — the application of water to the head or body does not in itself wash away your sins or make you right with God. Baptism is not necessary for salvation. We are saved from the penalty of our sin when we profess to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died for our sins.

            But, as one preacher put it, if you are saved, what in the world would prevent you from publicly identifying with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ through the act of baptism? Especially considering that Jesus was crucified publicly for you. He goes on to say, and I would agree, I would not say, "You're not saved if you haven't been baptized." I would ask, however, "If you're refusing to be baptized, are you sure you're saved?" Baptism is obedience to the command of Christ and it indicates that we have identified our life with the life and death of Jesus Christ.

            In the letter to the Colossians we read about what that life in Christ means for the person who has been (past tense) baptized. (Colossians 2:8-15)

1. In Christ we are complete

This morning you will hear two testimonies. I described them as sharp and to the point. They are an excellent example of two people declaring that they want to follow Christ. You will also hear these two guys admit that they have not made it yet. And I would add, “good,” because none of us has reached perfection. We are incomplete.

            Before talking about the benefits of being in Christ, Paul writes of the fullness of Christ. He says, “For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body,” (9 NLT). This is a wonderful place to start because the focus is on Jesus. And who is Jesus? In a word, God. But this revelation is far too profound to leave it there.

            Jesus, the man, embodies all that God is: He is the “I AM,” the King of kings and Lord of lords, the Great Shepherd of Ps. 23, the agent of Creation, the Immortal and Eternal One, the Great and Sovereign Lord…the indescribably immense and awesome God is fully found in the man, Jesus Christ. This is amazing stuff.

            Now what comes next should blow our minds. “…and you are complete through your union with Christ” (10a NLT). Many of us feel that something is missing in our persons. We feel incomplete or lacking. We may even feel that something is wrong with us. When it comes to the Law of Moses or the standards of the Gospel, we feel that we come up short. Graydon Penner will say he feels incomplete; so does Darryl Klassen. We are not all that we should be.

            However, in Christ, we are made complete. Whatever we lack, wherever we feel inadequate, whatever shortcoming we have in morality or perfection, is made up by the person of Christ. He completes us. Yes, we strive to be holy and godly and good disciples…we strain toward the prize. But when we fall short, and we will, Christ makes up the difference. All the fullness of God is found in Christ; and all that is Christ is found in you and me. In Christ we are complete.

2. In Christ our old life is buried

Through our faith in Jesus as the Son of God who died for our sins, we are united to His person. Paul had said “…you are complete through your union with Christ.” That union is represented by the ritual of baptism.

            Paul describes three actions that occurred when you came to put your faith in Christ. First, when you came to Christ you were circumcised in the heart. Paul carefully tells his readers that this is not the circumcision done with hands. That was an outward symbol that set a people apart, but was never lived up to in reality. Circumcision is a purposely crude metaphor for cutting away the flesh. In the spiritual sense, Christ cuts away the flesh from our lives so that we are cleansed, purified, made right with God. When Paul talks of “flesh” he does not mean our physical bodies, but rather the sinful nature. Christ rips out the sinful nature from our lives. We still struggle with sin, yes, but its power is neutralized so that it can’t condemn us or kill us.

            Second, through baptism we buried with Christ. We identify with Christ’s death, the death he died on the cross, when we are baptized. We are buried with him as though dead ourselves. Then sin says, “Where did Austin go? Oh, he’s dead. Guess I can’t touch him now.” As Christ identified with us by becoming a man and dying, we identify with him through public baptism.

            Third, we are raised to life by the power of God – the same power that raised Christ from the dead – that power is at work in us (see Eph. 1:18ff).

            These three facts related to our faith are represented by the water of baptism. In Christ our old life is buried as if we were dead. The stark reality of this comes to me through the death of both my parents – I can no longer visit with them or share life with them – they are in so different a place that they no longer exist in this realm. That starkness illustrates the separation of our lives from the life of sin.

3. In Christ we are free

Now, we believe in the doctrine of free will, that we choose to believe in Christ. I strongly believe in this doctrine. Yet there is a sense in which I in myself was powerless to come to God. I was helpless and weak and unable to reach out to God and cry “save me.” This is where God rescued me; He rescued us.

            “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ” (13 NIV), Paul says. So, in this sense, God came to you – you did not go to Him – and thus we can say “God saved you.” We can do nothing to save ourselves, not even reach out to God, unless God comes to us. But when He does come (here’s the paradox) we can still say “no” to Him.

            Through baptism, we declare that we said “yes” to God through Christ. And then we can claim this poignant little phrase “He forgave us all our sins.” Isn’t that the sweetest sound in our ears? Can you imagine hearing anything better?

            I had a misunderstanding with a brother (not from KEMC) this week. Texting is terrible for meaningful and clear communication. I had a sleepless night because of this thing. The next morning I went to him and talked face-to-face and we worked it all out. That is the beauty of two people who love Jesus wanting to restore the peace of Christ in our relationship. Nothing felt better than that. It was a small piece of that great truth: “He forgave us all our sins.”

            God nailed the charge that was against us, the indictment of our sins, to the cross of Christ. Whatever offenses we committed, God nailed to the cross. The worst things we have done, our moral failures, our careless words and actions, and even our most deliberate offenses, are nailed to the cross.

            And I love how this piece ends: God disarmed the powers and authorities – those voices in your head that accuse you of being worthless and imperfect and undesirable – God shamed them, God humiliated them, God made a public spectacle of them on the cross of Christ. I just love that so much. The powers that want to put you back in chains to sin are broken. In Christ we are free.

As I meditated on the celebration of baptism and the water we will apply to these two young men, to Austin and Graydon, my thoughts turned to those that are not baptized. I began to see your faces, the faces of all the parents whose sons and daughters have not chosen Christ and been baptized. There were so many in my mind’s eye it was astonishing and heartbreaking.

            I thought to myself, what if those parents would stand up and lift a hand to God pleading for their child. Just standing there quietly pleading. I can make no promises that those children would come to the Lord, that is not for me to promise. But I would also be remiss to keep that opportunity from you to stand and cry out to God “save my child!” Should we not pray together as a church for such a marvelous act of God.

            And if you are not baptized but you love the Lord Jesus, could I not appeal to you to take this step of obedience? Christ hung on the cross for us; can we not bear a short testimony and a bit of water for Him?

            Our life in Christ is a life of completeness; In Christ we are free. Let’s celebrate that this morning in the water of baptism.

                                                            AMEN