"Who's Rules Do You Follow"

Four words to consider this morning:  Ritual, Tradition, Doctrine, and Dogma what do they mean to you. 

June 23, 2019   Galatians 3:23–29   Psalm 133

First, some background about the Galatian Churches.  Paul had a hand in establishing the churches in Galatia, so he writes to them concerned about problems that exist there.  Most all of the early churches were made up of different ethnic groups who committed to following Jesus along with many Jewish converts.  The thrust of Paul message to them was a gospel message of justification by faith in Christ Jesus.   What did that mean, it meant that they were justified, or made right, forgiven, by faith in Christ Jesus, which would lead to live a life based on the way Jesus lived: ethical, moral, sacrificial and it is the same for us today. 

All they needed was faith to enter into this new life with Jesus.  Paul new that salvation would not come by following Jewish law but by the grace of God and a transformed life brought about by following Jesus.  However, some of the early leadership was holding on to this old idea and continued to teach it.  They taught that in order to become a person of The Way {or as we would say today to become a Christian,} you first had to become a Jew; abiding by all the requirements of the Jewish rituals and Law, all 613 of them which included circumcision.  Paul was adamant and disagreed with this sort of teaching. 

So I ask you:  what about the church of today:  in your opinion Is there anything in our traditions, our rituals, doctrine or dogma that needs to re-visited and possibly changed.

A Churches traditions, rituals, doctrine or dogma have never saved anyone, Pauls message was and still is:   Christ is the saving grace who makes you a new creation and Jesus is the only one who can do that.  Does this prayer sound familiar?   May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all, now and evermore.  I say a form of it at the beginning of most worship services.  It is called “The Grace Prayer”.

Why then should we be paying so much attention to a bunch of rules and traditions which don't accomplish anything significant in my personal relationship with Jesus and often do not reflect the hope, peace, joy and love of Jesus?   In fact rules and traditions often divide people and promote politics within the church, which by the way, help to keep folks from living a life that exemplifies Jesus.    It's within the context of spiritual freedom vs. the 613 Jewish Laws, that Paul writes his letter.   

That was Paul's message to the churches in Galatia some 1900 years ago.  What does it have to do with us today?  May I suggest that we can identify with some of the things happening in Galatian church.  Not all Christians view things the same and many refuse to accept the politics that seem to be running many of our churches today.  Many are now operating as though we are a corporation not a church.   Meetings imitate a form of Roberts Rules of Order, many individual churches are often held hostage to some form of academia.  Especially when it comes to fellowship around communion, baptism, or who can lead the flock.   Theological credentials or a degree in theology have become the order of today but even then, we often have many views and disagreements as to what label is the right label to belong to, as we search for who really has the truth?    

A common "Point of Identification." with the early church would be found in the sacrament of Baptism.  Although there is one Christian fellowship that does not perform baptism for its members, any guesses. { A research question for you}  We as did the early church experience baptism as a form of re-birth. Meaning we have a sense of "Before baptism and After."  The difference for the early church was their “before” was related to living under those 613 rules of Jewish law.  Their “after” was freedom from the law to live a life that reflected the life and teaching of Jesus The Christ.   Our “before” is living according to how we see it, by making up our own personal set of rules as we go.  It is often an unwritten law taught by the modern world and hidden in this statement:   “I am the most important thing in my life and my needs comes first.  No, No we were never like that!!  but we knew lots of people who were, right!   The “after” for us is often thought of as the answer to this question: Are you saved;  but an answer in words will make no sense if the fruit of their vine has not changed and is visible.  The true after for us today is a new life a life in Him.   Now... freedom in the Spirit Not free to do whatever you want, but Free to live for God; free to love your neighbour as yourself; free to bear anothers burdens; free to be helpful and do good to all people;  Free to set aside protocol and tradition when love calls you out to focus on Christ-like behaviour.  Loving our neighbour and foe, when everything we are told by the world around us, indicates otherwise.  Free to give, when society says hoard.  Free to inconvenience yourself for the sake of someone else.

No longer... Like the well-known passage about Jew & Greek, Slave and free.  Our distinctions and differences are important but we no longer focus on them because our focus is on unity, meaning one together in Christ.  Maybe for us that verse should read, "No longer... Rich and poor?  The in crowd verses the out cast?  the Laity verses Clergy?   Young verses old,   Male verses female?  We are now one in Christ.  Now we are equals and more.  The old distinctions are still there, but they don't matter.  We don't dwell on them and get caught up by them.  It's not "who's  who" that matters, but “who’s you are”.    Now we can deal with each other on a new level, as "One in Christ."  That implies, respect, listening, honesty, trust, and real equality, the inclusiveness of Jesus.  The old has gone, everything is made new.   Paul gives us a warning:   Don't go back to the old ways!!  “Repent is the biblical word.  ”The old way doesn’t work!  Don't spend all your energy trying to justify yourself and live up to society's requirements.  Instead, get a grip on faith & grace.  Cling to Christ.  Live in the Spirit.  Love freely.   Let us pray

"The Hebrew Beginning Story"

The actual word Trinity does not exist in the text, it’s a concept or idea held by Christians.  The concept of Trinity is one of many theological paradoxes that seem to contradict themselves. How can three separate entities still be one in the same?

Life would be pretty boarding if we were not permitted to see the trinity within Nature.   Think of it, if all we could ever see was just the seed itself, never being permitted to see what makes it whole.  Same goes for the human seed.  First the seed of one coming together with the seed of the other and then the added breath of life.  You are not just you, you are part Mon and part Dad and part of the spirit of breath.  Three in one separate but united by your oneness.  

June 16, 2019 Trinity Sunday       Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31

Sadly, I think the Churches have done a good job using religion in general and Christianity in particular to give people the idea that God is angry at them. Over the years, I have met person after person (including professing Christians) who feel that God is fed up with the world and them,  or,  they have given up on God and on the verge of saying, “I’ve had it with you!” or just walking away from religion all together, saying they refuse to darken the door.   Often, if they stick with religion at all, they practice it as a never-ending, performance-oriented attempt to show God they are spiritual and worthy of God’s love.  Now I don’t know for you, but truth be told for me, there was a time in my Christian walk that I have personally felt that way myself and for a time, left the church.  May I suggest that the Early Christian church in the western part of the hemisphere especially the protestant denominations,  became centered on Chapter 3 of Genesis as where the Christian story really begins. 3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”  I think you know the rest of the story. its called The Fall of Humankind or when Sin entered the world.  It was taught to us as though our story should begin in Chapter 3 of Genesis yet that was not the beginning story, which starts in Genesis 1 and 2.  Chapter 3 is not where the biblical story begins and it is not what the bible says about us but we have neglected to challenge the status quo teaching of Western Christianity.   Rather than promoting the idea that God is mad with us and our world, the Bible actually begins by saying God is madly in love with all of creation and that includes us.  God is madly in love with us folks.   How did we miss that?  Many passages within both the old and new testaments reaffirms for us just how much God delights in us.  Every reading I reflected upon this week provided me with some new aspect of that understanding. Today’s passage from Proverbs tells us that God has delighted in us from the beginning and God’s delight in us is an unending and an eternal quest.    In theological language, we call this “original righteousness.” It is our story which begin and is recorded in the first two chapters of the Hebrew Bible, Genesis 1–2.  This was for the Hebrew the beginnings of a Love story.   Unfortunately for Western Christianity and its protestant denominations they began to preach a message that focused on, a Greek view and begins at Genesis 3 which is entitled “The Fall of Man”   Their view is based on perfection, the garden of Eden in their view as perfect.  Now I ask you, if your story is based on perfection the obvious is you can only fall down not up. That’s the hook they got us with.    Only if our story starts in the first two chapters of Genesis can we understand that, out of kayos God creates and it is all for good.   In the Hebrew view life’s mistakes or sins are always opportunities to fall upwards.   The Hebrew does not agree with the western view.  The disobedience by Adam and Eve is important to the Hebrew story of love but only as the first of many cases of disobedience by humans which is central to the main story line.  May I suggest that in the western view we are falling down to a sinful led world in need of one thing, Salvation?   In the Hebrew view we are falling up to a Salvation through 3 things as Paul states it, faith hope and love and of these three things the greatest is love.  That is why the Hebrew story is a love story folks.   

By focusing on Original sin in Genesis 3 it altered the picture for Western Christianity but Original righteousness was and still is the starting point for God’s understanding of us.  Along with everything else God made, we too were created for good. We were made in the image and likeness of God.  Just imagine walking into the holy Presence and seeing God smile at you.  Rather than in fear of judgment that could send you the fires of Hell.  In the Hebrew view God offers choices to the human race but adds something called consequences.  Innocence and the innocent often are wiped out because of the consequences caused by those who make the wrong choices.  That is why we are to always to consider my neighbor when making choices, because my choice has the potential to affect the lives of others. We are to live by example.  Here is a great example for today, don’t use your cell phone when driving.  Innocent people can die because of that choice.   The road to the atomic bomb began in 1919, when New Zealander Ernest Rutherford reported on a series of experiments to split the atom.   It is almost impossible to imagine that one simple choice could have almost wiped out an entire nation of people, and the threat still exists today.   The Hebrew is a story of love and rescue, God does not stay within that heavenly place or the garden as bible describes it, but after allowing the consequence of their choice to dictate their expulsion, God comes out to rescue them from their human dilemma even to the point of becoming one with us.  John 1: 1-4-14  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all humankind.  The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

What if we were to have had the Hebrew story reinforced in our early Christian teachings: Well we may have understood this:  Whatever you do, do not fail to hear that I delight in you!   Do not allow anyone or anything to make you think otherwise!  Let us pray.

Pentecost

A Time To Share:    How many of us here today celebrate birthdays not just with a card but with a party every year?  What is your celebration like?   Did you know that Pentecost is sometimes considered the churches birthday.  Anyone know why? Just for fun how do you think we should celebrate the birth of our church the church of Christ.

June 12 2011 Readings Numbers 11: 24-30 Psalm 102, John 7: 37-39

Today is Pentecost Sunday and usually we read the story of the tongues of fire that come upon the people, there heart were set on fire and they began to speak in other languages.  Today we found out that a form of Pentecost existed back as far a Moses time as we read from the book of Numbers.    Well let me tell you another Pentecost story this morning. 

It is a story about a well known author and preacher by the name of Fred Craddock who was about to give a lecture to a theological class at Seminary.   Just before the first lecture, one of the students stood up and said, "Before you speak, I need to know if you are Pentecostal."  Now there is no reason to disclose the denomination of the preacher here, but the room began to grow silent.     The student continued with his quiz right in front of everybody.  Craddock was totally caught off guard and so he said, "Do you mean do I belong to the Pentecostal Church?"  The student replied "No, I mean are you Pentecostal?" Craddock said, "Are you asking me if I am charismatic?"   “No” said the student “I am asking you if you are Pentecostal."  Craddock said, "Do you want to know if I speak in tongues?"  The student again replied, “No,   I want to know if you are Pentecostal."  Craddock said, "I sorry but I don't know what your question is."   The student then replied, "Obviously, you are not Pentecostal."  at that, the student got up and left the lecture room.   What is it about the word Pentecostal that seems to through most main line church people into a frenzy?    What exactly are we talking about this morning? It is almost automatic for most of us to use the word Pentecost only as a noun, meaning to name a person, place or thing as being Pentecostal.  The scriptures on the other hand use the word Pentecost as an adjective?  Not to describe a person, place or thing but to It describes the characteristic of “THE EVENT”, in other words we need to consider what happened at the Pentecost.  People’s lives were changed and the church as we know it today began to take root.  Happy birthday Church!
In spite of the fact that the church hasn’t grasped the full meaning of the event, the church insists that the word remain in our vocabulary as an adjective. The church is unwilling for the word simply to be a noun, to represent a date, a place, a group of people or an event in the history of the church.  The church insists that the word is an adjective; because it describes the Christian church as a whole.   Sing the song:  “We Are One In the Spirit” folks we are to be of one accord.

We are a Pentecostal people and the event is where we have our root, it is full of hope and excitement, of newness, of change and full of the spirit.  The word, then, is "Pentecostal." And so I ask you this morning Are you ready, ready to accept your Pentecostal roots?  I believe that If the church is alive and well in our world, it is Pentecostal.  And you thought we were Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican, Catholic, or whatever label you grew up with, didn’t you.    Now that we know the rest of the story, how do we keep this aliveness, this fire burning in our hearts, and the spirit moving within our lives and within our Church today?   What must exit from us, around us, and through us, if we are to be truly to be a spirit fill people, a Pentecostal people?    I believe we need to consider these three things:

1. We Are To Be Of One Accord The Scriptures Tell Us.

The biggest fear all denominations have to face today is still no different than

it was for the followers on that special day of Pentecost, the fear of change.  The fear of loosing our independence as individuals, as individual churches within a denomination or the whole denomination in general.  This is a legitimate fear.  Now I know that this might be hard for some of us to accept but standing alone is not very healthy nor is it wise.  We need each other desperately.  Not just our denomination or our church, but we need to be as the scriptures tell us:   of ONE MIND, ONE BODY, ONE SPIRIT.

When Pentecost comes to us, and it will folks, when the sprit of the living Christ the HOLY SPIRIT comes upon us as a church or as individuals, our eyes will be opened and we will no longer fear change but want to embrace it.

      2.  We Are To Join Together Constantly in Prayer That Turns To Action: 

Want things to change in your life, or in the life of our church we must put our prayers into action.  If you pray for something don’t just stand around waiting for God to do something, look for your part, all prayer requires us to be active and present to our condition.   You can’t change anyone else but If you change, if you become active then everything around you will have no choice but to change.   

3. We Are To Repent:  To Turn Away From That Which Is Holding Us Back. 

One of the hardest things in live to do is to look at ones self and see that I am  part of the problem.  Scapegoating is an old biblical practice that we often use ourselves.  Putting the blame on some thing or someone.  When we are afraid we look for other people to blame for our fear, and too often we hate, revile, and demonize those whom we blame. We all see others and their problems, but what about us.  We need to accept our part in whatever the circumstances are surrounding our lives and turn away from anything that is holding us back.  What stopes you in your tracks or holds you in bondage.  As we begin to think differently, respond differently, and act differently others will not be able to respond to us in the same old way.  They too will have to change.  Here again if I change my attitude, my way of responding to life, to situations or persons within my life, they cannot respond to me in the same old way any longer.   When the spirit comes upon us as individuals or as a group, example being the reading from numbers this morning, there will be those who resist but our lives will change, we will be refreshed and renewed, and transformed then we can move forward.