Made for Relationships

Made for Relationships

Genesis 1:26; Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18[1]

One of the challenges of this time of separation from others is that we don’t have nearly as many face-to-face contacts with people. Of course, we do get to see each other on the screen with our Zoom gatherings, but it’s just not the same as being together. Believe it or not, I’m actually an introvert. I love being around people, but I need “alone” time to re-charge. Even those of us who are introverts need to see the people in our lives. I think part of the stress we’re all feeling is that we don’t have the same level of personal interaction with co-workers, friends, family, and the church family.

One of the main motivations for being a part of a church like ours is the relationships we form. As we heard earlier in our service, many times the church becomes an extended family for those whose are away from their family members. I don’t know about you, but that’s one of the things I miss most about being able to gather together in person. At the same time, I have a deep concern for your safety, and I don’t want to leave anybody out of our worship. For now, it seems that the best course is to continue to gather on Zoom, and to have regular opportunities for us to “meet and greet” one another in safe ways.

The fact that relationships are so important to us is, I think, something that is true by design. In the creation story in Genesis, God says, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness” (Gen. 1:26). This passage is the basis for the idea that we as human beings are created in the image of God. Throughout the ages, theologians and scholars have debated precisely what that means. Some have said that it is our capacity for reason, others that it is our ability to “have dominion” over the rest of creation, and others have even said it is the fact that we walk upright!

I would say that the Scriptures point us in a different direction. Understanding God is in some ways straightforward, and in other ways it is complicated. Especially in the New Testament, as in our Gospel reading, the language for God is the language of “Trinity.” This is one of the most complicated aspects of our faith. As I understand it, Trinity means that God does not exist in a solitary condition. Rather, God is “God in three persons” who are bound together by love. God is “God in relationship,” “God in community.” The very statement that “God is love” implies that at the heart of who God is, there is relationship. For there to be love, there has to be an “other” to love. That love starts with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who are bound together by the love they share for one another. And so it is that I think we are meant to read the creation of humankind in the image of God in part as a statement about who God is: God is “love overflowing” to all of us, and the whole creation.  

“God’s love overflowing”[2] reaches out to all created things, and especially to the human family. As I mentioned, that we are created in God’s image means that we are made for relationships. We are designed to respond to the love that God has poured out in our hearts. The primary way in which we do this is in our relationship with God our Creator. We are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (Deut. 6:5). That means seeking God, following God’s ways, honoring God with our lives, and serving God by serving others.

That last part points us to the other essential way in which we respond to the love God has poured into our lives. Just as God exists in the community of love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so we are made to love others. We are created to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18). We love God by loving others through the relationships we build with them. Just as God exists in a fellowship of love, so also we who are created in his image are made for relationships.

We’ve been given an amazing gift: we’ve been designed to relate to God and one another with love. And we’ve been given an amazing task: we’ve been created to share God’s love with one another and with those around us. To be this kind of people, people who are fundamentally shaped by God's love, people who share God’s love with all those we encounter, is more than we can do by ourselves. Fortunately, we have an example of what that looks like in human terms in the person of Jesus Christ. And we have a “helper” to guide us and empower us in the person of the Holy Spirit. We who are made for relationships can look to God our Creator, our Redeemer, and our Sustainer to live out the love we have been given by sharing it with all our fellow members of the human family.

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[1] © Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D., on 6/7/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] See the PCUSA statement on the Trinity entitled “The Trinity: God’s Love Overflowing” at https://www.presbyterianmission.org/resource/trinity-gods-love-overflowing/.

Astonishing

Astonishing

Acts 2:1-21; Psalm 104:24-34[1]

I don’t know about you, but I’d say that my experience with 2020 so far has been anything but “normal.” I lost a mother and gained a granddaughter. I’ve worn a mask over my face and nose in public places. As many of us have reflected, it feels like our lives have been completely upended. Of course, much of this is due to the Covid-19 pandemic. My son Derek and his wife have a collaborative game called “Pandemic.” The idea is that if you stop the pandemic, everybody wins. If you don’t, everybody loses. What a concept. It’s been an astonishing year, to say the least.

I find the language that our insurance companies use for astonishing events somewhat ironic: they call them “Acts of God.” Hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes, are “Acts of God” that insurance providers may exclude from your coverage. Of course, there was a time when people believed these unprecedented catastrophes truly did come from God. There are some who still do. But now we can explain their natural causes. Much of what at one time would have been attributed to some mysterious “act of God” now has a completely rational explanation.

This also applies to the way we view our faith. One of the traits of our branch of the Christian family is an approach that seeks to explain all things spiritual in terms that everyone can understand. That’s why the sermon became the focus for Christian worship instead of the Communion table. In the Catholic Church, the whole point of the service is the miracle by which the bread and wine become Jesus’ own body and blood. It is a great mystery, not to be explained, but to be experienced. In our Reformed churches, however, the point of worship is to explain the faith reasonably.

In our lesson from Acts, which tells the story of the outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, the response of the people who witnessed it was not one of calm, reasonable understanding, but rather they were “bewildered,” “amazed and astonished,” and “perplexed” (Acts 2:6 ,7, 12). This event, which I would consider a real “Act of God,” was beyond their ability to comprehend or explain. It left them in a state of confusion, as the lesson puts it: “All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’” (Acts 2:12).

Most of us don’t like what we can’t understand. We feel uncomfortable with confusion. And so some may also insist that the “miracle” of Pentecost was that the language of the Apostles was fully intelligible to people of many different dialects. This is one of the many ways we try to keep God firmly within the box of what we can explain. Unfortunately, that kind of faith doesn’t have the power to motivate us to live for the peace and justice and freedom of God’s Kingdom in a world that is so unfree and unjust.

When the Spirit comes, really comes, everything changes. We can’t remain in our comfortable ruts because the Spirit won’t let us! One of the questions I’ve received from the congregation is about the role of the Spirit in our lives. The Spirit brings the word of Scripture to life so that it calls forth our faith and love. The Spirit works in our lives constantly to shape us into the image of Christ. The Spirit empowers every aspect of our lives as Christians and everything we do as the Body of Christ. The Spirit teaches us, convicts us, equips us with gifts, calls us, and perhaps most importantly, pushes us out of our comfortable ruts. When the Spirit really comes to work in our lives, we should expect it to be astonishing.

I would have to say that one of the lessons of Pentecost is that when “God happens,” it will be something astonishing, like Pentecost itself. If we want to see God at work in our midst, we need to be prepared for some amazement, some confusion, something beyond our understanding. If we want our faith to make a difference in the way we live, if we want our church to be alive with the power of the Spirit, we have to expect that it will only happen to the extent that the God of Pentecost comes to us and shakes things up and blows things around.[2] And when that happens, we should expect to be astonished!

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[1] ©Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D., on 5/31/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Cf. Leonora Tubbs Tisdale, “The Wind that Blows the Doors Off,” Journal for Preachers 26 no 4 (Pentecost 2003): 56, where she says, because of “This wild Spirit wind of God … everyone in that room who thought they had God all figured out and safely circumscribed in their neat and orderly theological boxes, saw the doors of those boxes completely blown off.”

The Lord Reigns

The Lord Reigns!

Psalm 93, Ephesians 1:15-23[1]

I think many of us have trouble with our image of God. It’s difficult to imagine the creator and sustainer of the whole universe as “someone” to whom we can actually relate. How do we even begin to wrap our heads around having a personal relationship with the “Most High God,” the “Lord God Almighty.” At the same time, many of us may have the opposite problem. We may be able to imagine God as one who is as close to us as the very air we breathe, one to whom we can bring all our joys and concerns. But in real life, when it comes to doing something to help us out, it may be difficult for us to believe that God is willing and able to act on our behalf.

The Bible consistently holds these two amazing concepts of God together: God is both “high and exalted,” and God surrounds us with constant love and care. And the loving and powerful God who both sustains the whole universe and cares for each of us individually can and does act on our behalf in all kinds of ways. Unfortunately, we overlook the ways in which God acts on our behalf. We also tend to forget the ways God has worked in our lives in the past. And so, we continue to wonder whether the God who is “Most High” and all-powerful is truly able make a difference in “my” life.

Our Psalm for today begins by celebrating God’s reign over all things. God reigns by the exercise of his great power, which is evident in the fact that he “established” or created the world. From the massive mountains standing firm and tall, to the breathtaking power of the oceans, to the infinite beauty in the heavens, God’s power is on display for us in creation. The Psalmist uses the awe-inspiring strength of the oceans to illustrate the amazing power of God’s reign. As mighty as the waves of the ocean may be, the Psalmist celebrates that God is even more powerful!

Many throughout the centuries have seen God’s power in the created order. But when it comes to the idea that God actually uses that power to work for good in our lives, many have found that difficult to grasp. God’s power is at work at the level of the universe, but since the days of space exploration, we have become much more aware of how small our place in all things can feel. Given that feeling of “smallness,” it can be too much of a reach for some to believe that the God who created and sustains the universe in all its beauty and vastness actually makes a difference in our lives.

I think our lesson from St. Paul addresses that question. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul prays that they may know the amazing hope to which God had called them. It is a hope for new life, and for a love that would never let them go, and for a future that might be hard for them to imagine. But he also prays that they may know the immense power with which God was at work in their lives. And in case they were wondering about that, Paul gives them an image with which to grasp that power: Easter! Paul says that God demonstrated the power with which he is at work in all of our lives in Jesus when he raised him from the dead. For those who may have doubts about whether God is working in their lives, all they have to do is remember that Jesus is alive!

That’s a stunning image! The same power that God exerted when he raised Jesus from the dead is the power with which he is at work in our lives. In fact, St. Paul takes it a step further. In the verses that follow our reading for today, he reminds the Ephesians that they, too were “dead,” in a manner of speaking. And just as God brought Jesus back to life, so God gave them new life. And God works in that same way in each and every one of our lives, both now and forever!

I fully understand why some people have doubts about God’s ability to make a difference in their lives. Life can be so full of twists and turns, ups and downs, successes and failures, surprises and disappointments, that it can be hard to see any plan or purpose. While we will probably never be able to recognize fully what God is doing in our lives (at least in the present moment!), we can be confident that God is nevertheless working in and through us. All the love and mercy and joy and peace and freedom that we could ever hope for: that is God’s purpose for us. We may not always see it clearly, but in Jesus’ new life on Easter we see a glimpse of what the God who reigns over all things has in store for us!

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[1] © Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D., on 5/24/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

Who Do You Love?

Who Do You Love?

John 14:15-26[1]

It may seem obvious, but I think you can tell whom or what a person loves by what they do. Particularly what they devote their time to doing. Using that measure, many of us clearly love our families. We love having houses and property that are attractive and clean. We love working productively. We love learning and growing. And all of these are good outlets for our time and our devotion. Unfortunately, we can also devote our time to activities that aren’t so good. They may serve as an “escape” for a while, but ultimately they leave us frustrated, empty, and longing for something more.

As good as our “loves” may be, Jesus reminds us that our love finally revolves around God and others. As is the case in other places in Scripture, Jesus says that all that God could ever want for us or from us is that we love God with all our hearts, and we love our neighbors as ourselves. I don’t think he was just talking about some kind of external religious obligation. Rather, I think Jesus knew that when we love God and love others, we find our humanity truly fulfilled. When we devote our lives to God and others, we find the peace and joy we are all made for.^[2]

Of course, the question inevitably follows, “What does it look like to actually love God and love others?” There are a number of ways we can approach that question, but in our Gospel lesson for today Jesus made it fairly simple. He said that those who keep his commands love him. That’s pretty blunt. But it also cuts through all the haze of religious debate and gets to the heart of the matter. We demonstrate our love for Jesus by how well we put his teachings into practice in our everyday lives.

I think when it comes to “obedience” to Scripture, we tend to fall into one of two extremes—we either obsess compulsively about every little detail, or we ignore the Bible and “fly by the seat of our pants.” It seems like we have an “all-or-nothing approach” to “keeping” God’s word. Unfortunately, life makes it difficult to know how to “keep” Jesus’ commands. We are often placed in situations where the “correct” answer is far from clear. That’s when we face the true test: if we’ve internalized the central principles of Scripture—principles like doing right by others, and practicing sincere compassion, and living life in humility with God at the center—we can follow them in times of uncertainty. In our ever-changing world, we are going to be placed more and more into situations where we have to live somewhere between “all” or “nothing” when it comes to putting Jesus’ teachings into practice. 

I think one of the challenges we face in this respect is that we may think that Jesus’ commands are easier than God’s. With Jesus, “all” we have to do is believe, love God, and love others. But a quick overview of just a portion of Jesus’ teachings makes it clear that Jesus doesn’t make it easier for us to obey God, he makes it harder. When it comes to the command, “You shall not kill,” Jesus said not only should you not kill another, you should also not give in to the hateful anger that devalues the life of others! Time and again, Jesus makes it harder to live a life of “keeping” God’s word. And for the record, there’s really no distinction at all between the essential commands of God in the Hebrew Bible and the teachings of Jesus. Throughout the Scriptures, the calling is to love God with everything we are and to love our neighbors as ourselves. 

That is always going to be infinitely harder than a list of “do’s and don’ts” that you can check off. I don’t think any of us will ever be able to “check off” that we “loved our neighbors as ourselves” in every circumstance of life. And when it comes to “loving God with all our being,” I don’t think we even have to go there. Though it keeping God’s word may be more difficult than we imagine, it doesn’t mean that our relationship with God is something we have to earn by our obedience. Rather, it’s like a relationship where two people love each other and want the best for each other—not because of some external rule or code of conduct, but because of the love they have for each other. 

We may also wonder how we’re supposed to actually do all this. Jesus reminds us that it’s not a “do it yourself project,” but rather the Spirit is the one who is here to remind us of Jesus’ teachings and to help us put them into practice. That’s one of the roles of the Spirit in our lives. But it’s not something that just “happens.” We tune our lives to God’s will and God’s way, to Jesus’ teachings, and to the presence and guidance of the Spirit by practicing the disciplines of our faith: prayer, studying Scripture, worship, and serving others. We may not like to hear that, because it’s not something that will produce immediate results. Rather, it will bear fruit in our lives only as we practice those disciplines over the long term—month after month and year after year.

As we devote our lives to the things that are truly important to us, like our work and our families, our Gospel reading challenges us to remember that one of the distinguishing marks of those who follow Jesus is that we love him by “keeping” his word. As we love the other things that are only natural for us to devote ourselves to in this life, we must remember that we will find true fulfillment of our humanity only when we follow Jesus’ teachings, his way of life, his example—simply because his love for us compels us to do so.

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[1] © Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm Ph. D. on 5/17/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] John Shelby Spong, Living Commandments, 14, 15, says that the Ten Commandments are the principles through which we find “the fullness of life, the depth of love, and the meaning of our own humanity.” Cf. Hans Küng, The Christian Challenge, 146: “God’s will is a helpful, healing, liberating, saving will. God wills life, joy, freedom, peace, salvation, the final, great happiness” of every individual and all humankind.