The Waking Dreamer: Mission

Showing posts with label Mission. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

Perspective

Mark 4:26-34[1]

In our culture, we tend to think of our lives as our own to do with as we please. Perhaps this is especially true when we’re young. But when the responsibilities of a career and a family come along, we realize that there are many others who depend on us. Paraphrasing the poet John Donne, none of us is “an island” to ourselves. The point is that we’re all connected to each another, and what we do or don’t do can have effects that we may not even be able to imagine at this point. Both for good or for harm. I think that’s a perspective that we’ve lost in our current setting. My actions affect more than just my life, and so do yours. That’s a perspective that’s very different from the one that most people adopt these days.

I mentioned last week that our perspective on things can make a difference, more than we may know. We talked about adopting the perspective that regardless of the difficulties we may face, we can hold firmly to the confidence that God is working in and through us to accomplish his work in the world, even though we may not know what that is. It reminds me of a benediction that is widely known as the “Halverson Benediction.” Richard Halverson was the long-time pastor of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD. He was also Chaplain of the United States Senate from 1981 until 1995. The benediction he is known for is one that he used in the Senate. There are several forms circulating these days, but the most common one is, “You go nowhere by accident. Wherever you go, God is sending you. Wherever you are, God has put you there. God has a purpose in your being there. Christ lives in you and has something he wants to do through you where you are. Believe this and go in the grace and love and power of Jesus Christ.”

It's a powerful benediction. I first encountered this benediction when I came into the Presbyterian world 20 years ago. The pastor of the church who helped shepherd me through the process of having my ordination recognized by the PCUSA used a portion of this benediction every Sunday in worship. I also encountered it at a Summer Youth program hosted each year by the Synod of the Sun at the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma. They used it to challenge the young people of the church to recognize that wherever they may go, whatever they may do, Christ has something he wants to do through them right where they are. Both in the church at large and with youth, I think the point was that we all have a calling. We don’t have to serve in a specific church-related position for Christ to use us to accomplish his work in the world. In fact, it is precisely through all of us that Christ seeks to accomplish his work!

I think we see this idea reflected in our Gospel lesson for today. Both parables Jesus used compare God’s “kingdom,” or what God is doing in the world, with the way seeds grow. And in both parables we see something of the rather “understated” and “unexpected” nature of what God is doing. In the first parable, the kingdom of God is compared to someone who “would scatter seed on the ground” (Mk 4:26). I think it’s hard not to notice the lack of effort on the part of this Sower of seeds. All he does is “scatter the seeds” on the ground. There’s no mention of cultivating or tending the seed. Rather the seed “sprouts and grows” but the farmer “does not know how” (Mk 4:27). The idea is that the seed produces fruit on its own, in some respects unseen even by those who plant it: “first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head” (Mk. 4:28).

The next parable is about a mustard seed. The point of this parable is somewhat obvious: the contrast between the beginning and the end. Jesus says that the mustard seed is “the smallest of all the seeds on earth” (Mk. 4:31), but when it grows up “it becomes the greatest of all shrubs” (Mk 4:32). He’s making the point that the mustard seed is tiny in comparison with the plant that grows from it. In the same way, the beginnings of God’s kingdom may have seemed unimpressive in Jesus’ day. In fact the work of God’s kingdom may seem to be unimpressive in our time. But Jesus assures us that the result will be equally surprising in all that it accomplishes in this world.

I think we’re meant to see a couple of important ideas in these parables. First, the kingdom of God does its own work. When Jesus proclaimed “the good news” that “the Kingdom of God has come near” (Mk 1:14-15), he was “scattering” the seed, the message of the gospel. That message is like a seed that bears fruit “on its own” in the hearts and lives of those who receive it. And this happens oftentimes without our even being aware of it. Second, the work that God is doing in this world is surprisingly unimpressive. That was true in Jesus’ day, so much so that it was easy for many of his contemporaries to miss it. What may seem surprising to us is that the work that God is doing in this world today can still seem rather insignificant. The “hiddenness” of God’s work in and through us makes it easy for us to forget that Jesus said this is precisely the way God carries out his work in the world.

That brings us back to the “Haverson Benediction.” There are some parts that I’m not so sure about. I understand that he believed wherever we go, God has sent us there. My experience of life hasn’t always confirmed that. There are things that happen to us in this life that I don’t believe reflect God’s will or God’s purpose. They certainly aren’t consistent with God’s character! Sometimes we find ourselves in places we never thought we would ever be. Whether or not God has “put” us there is an open question in my mind. I’m not so sure about that part of the benediction.

But I have no doubt that wherever we are, God wants to accomplish his purpose in and through us right where we are. And that purpose is to extend his grace, mercy, and love to all people. I also believe wholeheartedly that Christ lives in us, and that he “has something he wants to do” through each and every one of us, wherever we may be. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ doesn’t just do his work through people who hold particular offices in the church, although those roles are important. He carries out his work in this world each and every day through each and every one of us. So the question isn’t whether Christ has anything he wants us to do. The question is what Christ may be intending to do in and through us, right where we are. I think that puts all of our lives, everything we do, everywhere we go, in a whole different perspective!

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

Great Gifts, Great Responsibilities

John 15:26-27[1]

I’ve mentioned before that I have a reason for the things I say every week in worship. I’m sure most of you are aware that I begin every sermon with the prayer, “Holy Spirit, breath of the living God, renew us all, along with your whole creation.” What you may not know is the reason why I do that. There are a couple of them. First, that kind of prayer is called a “bidding prayer.” I’m asking God to be among us, to help me speak words that will be helpful to you, and to use those words to inspire us all to find new ways of following Christ in our daily lives. I recognize that I’m just a man, and that the only way anything I say can make a difference in your life is for God to use my words by his Spirit working in your heart.

That’s the practical reason. As you may suspect, there is also a theological reason for my prayer. You may have noticed that I frame every sermon with a reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. I open my sermon with a prayer asking the Spirit to continue to carry out his work of renewing all things among us. I humbly conclude my sermons “in the name of Jesus the Christ our Savior and Lord.” Again, that’s a kind of prayer, that the risen Christ who lives among us would take my fallible words and use them to speak his word to you all. Finally, I conclude my sermon with a prayer asking God the Father to continue bringing his kingdom of peace, justice, and freedom in our lives and through us into the lives of others.

On this Pentecost Sunday, I want to focus on the part about the Holy Spirit. We celebrate Pentecost to remember that, just as the Spirit of God breathed life into God’s human creatures in the beginning, it was on the day of Pentecost that the Spirit of God breathed life into the early church, enabling them to do amazing things, and to bear witness to all that Jesus had done for them and meant to them. It was an amazing transformation, because before that day, we find the first Christians typically gathered behind locked doors out of fear of being caught and arrested. But when the Spirit came upon them, they seemed to lose their fear and became bold witnesses to Jesus Christ.

This is precisely what Jesus says the Spirit would do for the disciples according to John’s Gospel. In our lesson for today, Jesus promises that the Spirit would bear witness to him, and that would enable them to bear witness as well. Our lesson from the Good News Translation puts it this way: “The Helper will come—the Spirit, who reveals the truth about God and who comes from the Father. I will send him to you from the Father, and he will speak about me. And you, too, will speak about me” (Jn. 15:26-27). The Spirit comes to enable Jesus’ disciples to carry on the work the Father had sent him to do.

That follows a pattern in John’s Gospel. Jesus said that he was only doing and saying what God had sent him to do and say. In that same way, Jesus sent the Spirit “from the Father” to his disciples to help them understand of all that Jesus had done and taught. And the Spirit would in turn send them to continue the work Jesus began. That’s the pattern: Jesus did the work God sent him to do, and they were sent to do the same work (Jn. 14:12). Just as Jesus taught what God had given him to teach, so the Spirit would continue to teach them. And in turn they would teach others (Jn. 16:13). And the whole point is to continue the work of sharing the good news of God’s love for all people in Jesus Christ.[2]

In some ways, this is about our task. We’re called to follow Jesus, and following Jesus means being sent into the world to share God’s love. But in some ways, it’s about who God is. The fact that God sent his son Jesus Christ into the world as a demonstration of his love for us makes it clear that God’s very being from all eternity was one of love reaching out.[3] We see it in creation. We see it in God’s dealings with Abraham and his family. We see it in the life of Jesus. And we see that same essential love in the sending of the Spirit to us. The Spirit not only teaches us, but also enables us to continue the work of sharing God’s love.[4]

As I’ve mentioned before, President John F. Kennedy was known for something he said right before he officially took office: “For of those to whom much is given, much is required.”[5] Of course the original form of this was spoken by Jesus: “From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required” (Lk. 12:48). It’s a statement that Jesus made about the importance of faithfully carrying out our calling. I like the way the Contemporary English Version puts it: “If God has been generous with you, he will expect you to serve him well. But if he has been more than generous, he will expect you to serve him even better.” I like The Message translation even more: “Great gifts mean great responsibilities; greater gifts, greater responsibilities!”

We live in a time when there is so much talk about privilege and rights. Many of us think primarily about what is “due” to us by right, and we set about seeking to claim that. But Jesus was one who set aside his privileges and rights to serve others. Just as he was sent to carry out God’s work in this world, so also all of us have been sent. More than that we’ve been given great gifts. And the greatest gift is the Spirit, who leads us and empowers us to use our gifts in the service of others.

[2] Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, 1.1, 455: “The Holy Spirit is the authorization [sic] to speak about Christ; He is the equipment of the prophet and apostle; He is the summons to the Church to minister the Word.”

[3] Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 56 “A Christian doctrine of the Trinity which is bound to the history of Christ and the history of the Spirit must conceive the Trinity as the Trinity of the sending and seeking love of God which is open from its very origin. The triune God is the God who is open to man, open to the world and open to time.”

[4] Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out: Three Movements in the Spiritual Life, 125: “In Jesus Christ, God has entered our lives in the most intimate way, so that we could enter into his life through the Spirit. … By giving us his Spirit, his breath, he became closer to us than we are to ourselves. … Praying in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, therefore, means participating in the intimate life of God himself. … We receive a new breath, a new freedom, a new life. This new life is the divine life of God himself.”

[5] John F. Kennedy, “Address to a Joint Convention of the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” January 9, 1961. Accessed at https://www.jfklibrary.org/archives/other-resources/john-f-kennedy-speeches/massachusetts-general-court-19610109 .

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

On A Mission

Matthew 9:35-10:16[1]

When I was growing up, there were only two avenues for those who felt “called to special service” in the church: either serving as a pastor or a missionary. At least that was all I knew. When I “surrendered to the call” at the age of 17, I’m not sure I had a very clear idea of what my path would look like. When I was a freshman in college, I knew I wanted to earn a Ph. D. degree and teach in a college or seminary. And I pursued that path for 13 years. After finishing my degree, I taught at the Baptist seminary in Fort Worth for 9 years. I wrestled with feelings of being pulled toward pastoral ministry, but I didn’t think I had what it took to be a pastor. The truth is that I knew what to expect in an academic environment, and I had no idea what to expect in a pastorate. I would say that’s still the case, and it’s one of the things I like about my role. The one thing I (thought) I knew for sure was that I didn’t want to be a missionary, because they were supposed go to an impoverished country in Africa or Asia.

As it turns out, during my time at the Seminary, I also wrestled with feelings of being pulled to serve as a missionary. The head of the Baptist mission agency was a persuasive speaker, and I found myself gripping the arm rests on my seat on more than one occasion when he was sounding the call to serve on the mission field! And, at one point I actually volunteered to go live overseas to teach in a mission seminary in Prague. Unfortunately, the details didn’t work out. But as many of you know, I’ve spent some time in a variety of places. I taught at a mission seminary in the Philippines for 2 months in 1994. I visited Pastor Manuel in Nicaragua in 2000. And I met the Presbyterian nuns in Cameroon in 2011. As those of you who have served on the Membership and Outreach committee or on the Session know, I still have a keen interest in supporting mission partners both here and around the world.

A funny thing happened along the way. The mission field moved! Most observers of our culture would say that this country is now just as much a “mission field” as anywhere else. And you can find all kinds of outlets for mission, from working with impoverished communities, to helping victims of violence, to sharing God’s love with those who have never had much of a meaningful relationship with a church. I personally think this is a golden opportunity for the church in our day. There’s another shift that’s taking place in our culture. Most people under 40 aren’t satisfied to simply “send a check” and let someone else do the work. They want to “get their hands dirty” by getting involved directly in mission projects. I think that makes this post-pandemic era an exciting time for the church in our society. If our churches are going to thrive, everyone is going to have to step up. We can no longer expect the “paid staff” to do the work of ministry. We have the opportunity to reclaim the fundamental Presbyterian conviction that “every member is a minister”!!

It might not seem at first glance that our Gospel lesson for today relates to this idea. The gist of the lesson is that Jesus was sending the Twelve, his hand-picked ministry apprentices, to go out and extend his ministry of preaching and healing. Since they were the “Apostles,” we might think that our lesson only applies to “special” people serving in “special” roles. But a closer look at the lesson in the context of Matthew’s Gospel as a whole makes it clear that Matthew presents this story in a very different way. Like the other evangelists, Matthew was writing his gospel for a particular Christian community. And the message he wanted to convey in this passage was that Jesus not only commissioned the “Twelve” to extend his ministry. That commission was also intended for the church of Matthew’s day, and in fact for the church of every day! From this perspective, the church that seeks to follow Jesus faithfully has always found itself to be “on a mission”!

We see this reflected in our Gospel lesson in some subtle ways. For example, both Mark and Luke report Jesus’ commission to the Twelve Apostles, and they report something about them carrying out their work. On the other hand, Matthew, who has the most developed account of this episode, says nothing whatsoever about the Twelve carrying out this commission! It would seem that Matthew was directing Jesus’ original commission to the Twelve to the early church community for whom he was writing his Gospel. They were the ones he wanted to encourage to follow Jesus’ original instructions. Again, I think the point is that the church of Matthew’s day, and every day, is meant to carry out the original commission to the Apostles.

We see this also in that Matthew takes some of the traditions about Jesus’ teaching and connects them to this “sermon” to his church about carrying out the mission of the kingdom of God. For example, Jesus’ admonition that “What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops” (Mt 10:26) in this setting serves as an encouragement to bold proclamation of the gospel. In Luke’s Gospel, this same teaching serves as a warning against hypocrisy: “whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed from the housetops” (Lk 12:3). It might seem confusing at first, but in a very real sense both Matthew and Luke were using Jesus’ teachings much like we would read Scripture today. They were taking them and applying them as they were led by the Spirit to the life situations of their respective church communities. Pastors everywhere continue to do the same thing every Sunday! Matthew has interpreted this saying as an encouragement to believers of that day, as well as every day, to carry out the mission Jesus gave us without fear.[2]

I could go on, but I think you get the point. In Matthew’s Gospel, this passage was meant not just to reflect the call to mission of a select few. Rather, Matthew saw everyone in the church as called to the “mission” of extending Jesus’ work. We’re all called to take part in sharing the good news of God’s love. We’re all called to take part in offering care to those who need it. That’s true regardless of how “actively” we carry out that work. Whether we go overseas or across town, whether we preach and teach or serve behind the scenes, we all share the same joy. To this end Matthew quotes Jesus’ promise that even the ones who simply offer a “cup of cold water” (Mt 10:42) get to see themselves as equal partners in the mission.

I think this perspective is going to be crucial for the church in our day. We live in a time when many people prefer to go and do rather than sitting back and watching. I think the more we can orient our ministry as a church toward “going and doing,” the more we will thrive in this strange new world. As we create opportunities for everyone to take part in the mission of sharing God’s love, we encourage more people in our congregation and in our community to step up and join us. When we do that, we will be reclaiming the conviction that we’re all “on a mission.”

[2] M. Eugene Boring, “Matthew,” New Interpreters Bible IX:260: he says Matthew makes this a “foundational principle of Christian discipleship.”

Thursday, May 18, 2023

In Jesus' Name

In Jesus’ Name

John 14:1-14[1]

I’ve shared with you recently that some of the things Jesus said have puzzled me for most of my life. Perhaps one of the most confusing statements is “Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you” (Mk 11:23)! On the face of it, that kind of thing seems blatantly exaggerated. But that may have been the point. Some biblical scholars think that “mountain-moving” faith was the subject of a proverb that was popular in Jesus’ day. That would suggest what seems almost obvious: that Jesus wasn’t speaking literally. If he was, I don’t know what he meant!

Our Gospel lesson for today presents us with a similar promise and a similar problem. Jesus promised his disciples, “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). And he repeated that promise in the next verse: “If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it” (John 14:14). I’d have to say that if we take this promise too literally, we may be distorting Jesus’ meaning. There are a lot of people in this world who ask for a lot of things “in Jesus’ name,” and they expect (or perhaps claim!) that they will get what they ask for! I’m afraid they may find themselves skating on thin ice when it comes to their faith if they try that approach!

I think if we look at this promise in the light of its context, which is always a good idea when approaching the Bible, we’ll find a very different meaning to praying “in Jesus’ name.” Our lesson for today begins with a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples concerning whether or not they truly believed that he was who he claimed to be and what he was doing was the Father’s will. Jesus prompted this discussion by saying, “If you know me, you will know my Father also” (John 14:7). That was a difficult thing for any Jewish person to comprehend in that day. How could knowing a human being equal knowing God? I’m not sure it’s gotten any easier for us today. I think Jesus recognized how difficult a challenge it is for faith, and he called his disciples to “Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me” on the basis of the works he had done (John 14:11).

It’s this dialogue about their faith that leads up to the promise that the Father will grant them anything they ask in Jesus’ name. And yet, it’s important to note that the point of this passage is that if Jesus’ disciples believe in him, they “will do greater works than these” (John 14:12). I’m not sure which one poses a bigger challenge for faith: really believing that Jesus shows us the Father, or really believing that that our faith will enable us to do “greater works” than he did! I think I’d have a hard enough time hoping to do the works that Jesus did, let alone “greater works.” But despite any second-guessing on our part, Jesus clearly promised to accomplish his work, and do even greater things, through flawed and fallible people like his disciples.

It’s in that context that Jesus promised “I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). I think Jesus probably knew that his disciples were having a hard time believing all that he had done. I would think he also knew that they felt overwhelmed by the statement that they would do “greater things” than Jesus had done. And he was promising them that he would provide them with everything they needed to carry out that work.

That’s the real basis for Jesus’ promise to do whatever they asked in his name. He was reassuring them that they could ask for the insight, the faith, the courage, and the strength to do the “greater things” that he promised them they would do. Think of it: how else could “the Father be glorified in the Son” than for Jesus to empower his disciples to continue the work he had begun. I would say that the story of the disciples’ ministry in the book of Acts and the rest of the New Testament shows us how they did just that. What they did “in Jesus’ name” was to continue his work of bringing the peace and justice and freedom of God’s kingdom to those who needed it most.

Unfortunately, many believers in our day have separated this verse from its context and turned it into a means of getting whatever they want. People who call themselves “Christian” pray for all kinds of things in Jesus’ name. A whole lot of it has nothing to do with Jesus’ work. That’s what happens when you pick and choose verses from the Bible. I think it’s fine to pray “in Jesus’ name” when we’re asking God to provide basic life needs. But there’s a big difference between what we need and what we want!

The lesson John’s Gospel has for us this week is that praying in Jesus’ name is first and foremost about praying for God to help us carry out the work of Jesus in our community and in our world. I don’t think that means we shouldn’t pray for our needs or even at times our desires. It’s only natural for us to turn to our creator with the deepest desires of our hearts. But Jesus’ approach to prayer suggests that the desires of our hearts ought to be shaped not by the values of our culture, or our own selfish interests, but by the principles of the kingdom—compassion, peace, justice, and freedom. When our prayers “in Jesus’ name” are shaped in this way, we will be praying for God’s kingdom to come and His will to be done. When we do that, we won’t just be praying in Jesus’ name, we’ll be living in Jesus’ name. That kind of living is what gives us the confidence that God will answer in a way that best promotes his purposes in our world.

Monday, January 16, 2023

Results

Isaiah 49:1-7, 1 Corinthians 1:1-9[1]

I think we all want to make a difference in this world. We want to know that what we’re doing with the time we have in life has meaning, that it makes some kind of contribution. That doesn’t mean that we all want to be in the “spotlight.” Some of us thrive there, and that’s a wonderful thing. Some of us don’t, and that’s wonderful too. Whether we’re “front and center” or working behind the scenes, what counts is that our lives “matter.” One of the challenges with wanting to make a difference in the world is that, at least in my experience, more often than not we never get to see the results of our efforts. We just don’t have the ability to see all the ways our lives may be impacting the lives of those around us. And that can leave us wondering whether we’re really making a difference in this world at all.

The sometimes frustrating truth is that this is particularly the case when it comes to what we do in the service of our Lord Jesus and the body of Christ, the church. I’ve served the church in some way all of my adult life, and I’ve found this to be true countless times. We do our best to “plant seeds” in the lives of the people we try to help, but we rarely get to see the results. As St. Paul observed, some plant, others water (and I might add that still others tend the field), but it is God who “gives the growth” (1 Cor 3:7). At times this can be frustrating, especially if you’re the kind of person who is “results-oriented.” At times it can be downright discouraging.

Two of our Scripture lessons for today give us some help with this. The first one from the book of the prophet Isaiah speaks about the work of the “servant of the Lord.” The servant, the one who chosen to proclaim God’s word to the people of Israel, begins by giving voice to his grief over his lack of success. He was given the ability to speak clearly and effectively to the people, and yet they remained closed off to God’s message and God’s ways. And so the “servant” of the LORD says, “my work seems so useless! I have spent my strength for nothing and to no purpose” (Isa. 49:4, NLT). He was frustrated and discouraged by the lack of results from his efforts.

In response, the prophet reminds the “servant” that God was doing something bigger through him than he could possibly imagine. The Lord says to him, “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob” (Isa. 49:6, NIV). That was not enough. He was called to a bigger task: “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” In the face of frustration and discouragement from a lack of results, the prophet speaking in the name of the Lord reminded the servant that God’s plans were much bigger than he could even dream. Despite frustration and discouragement from the lack of results, the Lord was reassuring the “servant” that his mission would succeed. And it would succeed so well that God’s salvation would reach to the ends of the earth![2]

In our second lesson from 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul was dealing with problems in one of the churches he had founded. After he had moved on in his service to Christ, they became confused about how they were supposed to live their lives together in Christian community. They were divided, and the factions were pulling the congregation in very different directions. Ironically, the situation at Corinth came about from the fact that the mission of shining a light to the nations was well underway, and it was causing some big problems! One of their questions was how Christians with so many differences could live together in one community of faith.

But the Apostle began his instructions to them with the assurance that they already had everything they needed. He reminded them that all they did was built on “the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:4). He told them that they had already been fully equipped by the Spirit to carry out their work: “in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind ... so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift” (1 Cor. 1:5, 7). And just in case they had any lingering doubts, Paul reminded them that God who is always faithful would strengthen them to the end (1 Cor. 1:8).

I’ve said before that it’s a tough time to be the church. The sweeping changes in our world have certainly not left the church untouched. And while many of these changes are directly related to recent events, they are also due in part to deeper, more fundamental changes in our whole society. Churches everywhere in this country are facing the same daunting challenges that we are. And as is true here, so in most churches, we’re all working harder than ever to serve our Lord Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God. But you couldn’t tell it by the results. At least not by the results that are obvious. And that can be frustrating and discouraging. But it doesn’t mean that we’re not making a difference! Because one of the lessons we learn when we choose to serve God’s kingdom is that while we may not be able to see the result of our efforts, God can!

That’s one of the lessons we learn when we serve God’s purpose. Later in 1 Corinthians St. Paul reminds us all that “nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless” (1 Cor 15:58, NLT). We may not always be able to see the results of our efforts, but then perhaps it’s not for us to see. It’s God’s business. What keeps us going, as Henri Nouwen reminds us, is not the results we can see, but rather the hope that is firmly grounded in Christ’s victory over death itself, which demonstrates “that there is light on the other side of darkness.”[3] The cause we are all working for is nothing short of the transformation of this world so that all our lives reflect God’s will being done “on earth as it is in heaven.” That’s a bigger task than anyone can wrap their heads or their hands around. And yet we all continue to contribute to the final victory of God as we continue to serve him faithfully. And as St. Paul reminds us, God will do his part: he will faithfully give us the strength to continue serving him.

[2] Cf. Christopher R. Seitz, “The Book of Isaiah 40-66,” New Interpreters Bible VI:433: “To witness to the God of Israel is not to share information with others but to be faithful to God in such a way that confrontation will occur but will not be an end in itself. The witness leaves the final accomplishment to God, assured that affliction and hardship will be the means through which ‘my salvation shall reach to the ends of the earth’ (49:6).”

[3] Henri J. M. Nouwen, The Wounded Healer (1979), 76: “A Christian leader is a man [sic] of hope whose strength in the final analysis is based neither on self-confidence derived from his personality, nor on specific expectations for the future, but on a promise given to him. … Leadership, therefore, is not called Christian because it is permeated with optimism against all the odds of life, but because it is grounded in the historic Christ-event which is understood as a definitive breach in the deterministic chain of human trial and error, and as a dramatic affirmation that there is light on the other side of darkness. Every attempt to attach this hope of visible symptoms in our surroundings becomes a temptation when it prevents us from the realization that promises, not concrete successes, are the basis of Christian leadership. … Hope prevents us from clinging to what we have and frees us to move away from the safe place and enter unknown and fearful territory.”

Monday, October 10, 2022

Where Jesus Is

Luke 17:11-19[1]

There’s an ancient saying that has defined what “church” meant for hundreds of years: “Where Christ is, there is the Church.”[2] For most of church history, it really meant the opposite: “where the church is, that’s where you find Christ.”[3] It was another way of saying that there’s no salvation outside the church, which was what Christians believed for centuries. But I find that vision of what Christ is doing in the world to be too small. God is working in Christ through the Spirit to accomplish his work of salvation in this world in all kinds of ways that we may never even know about. And that means nobody can put limits on where Christ is!

One of my favorite theologians insists that we should read this ancient saying differently: “Where Christ is, there is the church” is more of a mission statement.[4] In other words, where we can perceive that Christ is working in the world, that’s where the church should be working. As the Matthew 25 initiative of the PCUSA reminds us, Jesus said he was with the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the strangers, the sick, and those in prison. In fact, Jesus told his disciples that he was the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the strangers, the sick, and those in prison whom they had encountered. My favorite theologian concludes that if that’s where Christ is, then that’s where the church should be.

We’ve already heard the message in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus came bringing the kingdom of God that breaks through all kinds of prejudices and boundaries. In our Gospel lesson for today, we see that played out with the bitterness that separated the Jewish people from the Samaritans. The Samaritans were descended from those who were left behind when the Northern Kingdom of Israel fell. But they were also descended from the gentile peoples that the Assyrian conquerors brought in to solidify their hold on new territory. That took place 700 years before Jesus’ day, but the bitterness between the Jewish people and the Samaritans hadn’t diminished one bit over all that time.

I find it interesting that when we meet the group of “lepers” in this Gospel lesson, there’s no initial mention of ethnic boundaries. Their common illness made them all unclean and outcast. And like many who are outcast, they bonded together despite any other boundaries that might have otherwise kept them apart. Because these men were all “unclean” and therefore socially outcast, they were excluded from all the normal activities of life—from family to community to worship. When they cried out to Jesus for mercy, they were obviously asking him to heal them from their disease so they could go back to their lives.

Jesus’ response that they go show themselves to the priest might seem strange to us, but when someone was healed from a skin disease, that person was to appear before the priest. The priest examined them, and if there was no further sign of disease, he declared them to be “clean.” That meant being able to re-enter their lives—family, community, and worship. I wonder whether when these ten men first heard Jesus tell them to go show themselves to the priest, they might have looked at their mutilated skin, and then back at Jesus. I wonder whether they may have thought that he had forgotten something: the part where he was supposed to actually heal them. But he said “go,” and they went. And in doing so their skin was restored.

Luke tells us that one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned praising God with a loud voice, and fell at Jesus’ feet to thank him. It’s only at this point that we learn he was a Samaritan. As a Samaritan, no Jewish priest anywhere was going to pronounce him clean. Simply because of the fact of his birth and his heritage, he would always be viewed by any Jewish person as “unclean” and therefore outcast. But it was this man, who had lived his whole life on the wrong side of the prejudices of his world, who had the ability to “see” that he had been healed by Jesus. He had the faith to see that it was through Jesus that he had been given God’s mercy that healed him.

In response, Jesus said to him, “Your faith has saved you.” This man’s ability to see beyond his healing and to recognize the grace of God at work through Jesus was a kind of faith that not only made him physically well, it also made him spiritually whole. I think this story reminds us that those who live on the “wrong” side of the prejudices of our world are often more sensitive to the presence of God’s grace than those of us who are “respectable.” Jesus asked where the other nine were, and why only a “foreigner” returned to give thanks. I think part of the answer might be that they were so excited about being healed they didn’t walk but ran to the priest. They couldn’t wait to be declared “clean” so they could return to their lives on the right side of the boundaries and become “respectable” again.

I wonder if this might provide us with a way to think about the church in our time. I wonder whether the church isn’t a bit like the other nine men in this story. We can still get so caught up with living our lives on the right side of the boundaries in our world that we miss the fact that Jesus is out there working with the “outcasts.” If that’s where Jesus is, then that’s where we should be. It leads me to think that if we want to personally experience the new life of God’s kingdom, or if we want to see renewal in our church, we need to be out there working among the people on the other side of our prejudices, because that’s where Jesus is.

[1] ©2022 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 10/9/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE. For a video recording of this sermon, check out my Pastor Alan YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/91tpPTkHVYo .

[2] This idea originated in the early Second Century with Ignatius of Antioch, in his letter to the church at Smyrna: “wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the universal church” (Ignatius, Smyrnaeans, 8.2; often translated the “Catholic church” but in the setting of the early Second Century that translation is anachronistic).

[3] This development started with Ambrose of Milan in the late 4^th century, who said “Where Peter is, there is the church, and where the church is there is eternal life” (From his commentary on Psalm 40 [41]). In more recent days, the phrase has developed in the Roman Catholic Church to “Where Peter is, there is the church, and where the church is, there is Christ.”

[4] Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 126. He understands Christ’s presence in the world in two ways: “whoever hears you, hears me” (Lk 10:16), in which Christ promises to be with us in the proclamation of the gospel, in the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and in the fellowship of the body of Christ (cf. ibid., 123-25). The second way is the one alluded to above, “whoever visits them visits me” (Mt 25:40). Moltmann insists that we can only truly be the Church and truly live in the presence of Christ if we link the and “seek the fellowship of the crucified one in the poor” (ibid., 127).

Tuesday, June 07, 2022

Empowered

John 14:1-21, 25-27[1]

In some ways, our world has gotten much smaller than it was when many of us were children. Today we can know instantly what is happening anywhere in the country, and all over the world. But at the same time, I would say this means that our world has gotten much bigger. Growing up in a small town in Texas, our concerns were fairly limited to our family, our friends, our church, and our town. We had the news for “bigger” matters, but there was no 24-hour news channel, and “breaking events” wasn’t even a thing. Now, we have instant access to major events happening all over the world. Our world has gotten a lot bigger.

For many of us, this can leave us feeling overwhelmed. There are so many serious problems in our world coming at us every day. I think it can lead to a kind of “information overload.” We hear about so many troubling things in our world that we may wonder what any of us can do about them. This great big world of ours with so many crises happening so fast may convince us that we’re too weak, too small, too helpless in the face of it all to make a difference. But now, as always, I think we make the biggest difference when we can step away from the great big world and focus on the people in our lives each day. I would say that’s where we have a chance to do something meaningful in our world.

Our gospel lesson for today relates to this feeling of helplessness. This week, we’re returning to a chapter we talked about recently. As I mentioned at that time, in this whole section of John’s Gospel, Jesus was preparing his disciples for the fact that very soon he was no longer going to be with them. He knew that his “hour” was at hand, and he told them in a variety of ways that he was going to be leaving them and returning to the Father. I mentioned previously that the disciples were confused by all of this, but I think we can say that they were also upset about it. There’s an edge to what Thomas said to Jesus: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (Jn 14:5).

That’s why Jesus started this chapter with words of assurance: “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (Jn 14:1). The reason for this was that he was about to tell them that he would be leaving them, and he knew it would upset them. Despite all appearances, Jesus promised them that “I will not leave you orphaned” (Jn 14:18). He wanted them to know that they would not be left on their own to carry on without him. Finally, he said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (Jn 14:27). All of this was meant to address their sadness and fear over his leaving.

We talked a couple of weeks ago about how this would relate to their potential feelings of abandonment. But I think there’s more to it than that. I think Jesus also wanted to help them understand that they would not be left to their own efforts to carry on the work he had begun and that he commissioned them to take up. In the first place, they would be empowered to carry out that work because of their relationship with Jesus and the Father. He promised them that when they saw him again, they would know that “I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (Jn 14:20). Jesus promised his disciples that they would be embraced into the relationship of love that Jesus and the Father have shared from all eternity in order to empower them to carry out their work.

More than that, Jesus also promised that he would send them “the Spirit of Truth” to help them with their task. The Holy Spirit would be for them “another Advocate” or “Counselor” or “Helper” who would be with them forever (Jn 14:16). Not only would the Spirit “teach” them “everything” and “remind” of all the Jesus had said to them (14:26), he would also “declare” to them “the things that are to come” (16:13). The purpose of this would be to “glorify” Jesus by taking “what is mine” and “declaring” it to them (16:14). And “what is mine” includes “All that the Father has” (16:14).

The result of all of this is that not only would the disciples be empowered to carry on their work, but in fact they would do much more. Jesus promised that their sharing in the love between him and the Father and the constant presence and guidance of the Spirit would empower them to “do greater works than these” (Jn 14:12). It may seem impossible, but Jesus promised that his disciples would carry out his legacy of fulfilling God’s work in the world. That would include bearing witness to Jesus, but also it would include lives of faithful discipleship that would have effects that would reach more widely than any of them could likely imagine.

There are a lot of ways in which the helplessness we feel about the world relates to what’s happening in the church. Churches across the country have been in decline for decades. And two years of the pandemic has only sped up that process. It can seem like all our efforts to turn that around have been frustrated by the changes that are sweeping through our world. But despite our feelings of helplessness, Jesus’ promises to his disciples apply to us as well. He has not left us to carry on the work of ministry by our own efforts. The love we know in relationship with him and the Father and the presence and guidance of the Holy Spirit empower us all to go out and do “greater works” than any of us can likely imagine!

[1] © Alan Brehm 2022. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 6/5/2022 for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

Saturday, February 08, 2020

New Things

Isaiah 49:1-7; 1 Corinthians 1:1-9[1]

There’s something special about new things. In these weeks after Christmas many of us are enjoying new things. We may be sporting new coats or jackets. That’s a fun thing when the weather turns cold. Some of us may be wearing new outfits. It’s nice to have a new outfit to wear. Others of us may be playing with new “toys,” whether our toys are video games, or electronics, or sporting gear, or crafting supplies, or even perhaps new books! There is something undeniably special about new things. The feel, the smell, just the notion of something new can be uplifting. But, of course, as with all things, that “new” feel will fade eventually. The new things we’re enjoying today will become “old” things tomorrow.

Newness can take on different forms than just the “things” we use. We may have plans to do something we’ve never done before this year, to make that trip that’s always been on our “bucket list.” We may be embarking on a new venture in our lives. New directions can be frightening and exciting at the same time. We get used to familiar routines, and getting out of our “comfort zones” can be a challenge. But once we take the step, we may find entirely new ways to thrive that we may never have even been able to imagine before we took that new step. I think one of the truly rewarding aspects of the Christian life is that, if we stay open to the future, God is always doing something new.

Our Scripture lessons for today addressed two communities among whom God was doing something new. In our lesson from Isaiah, the prophet was addressing people who desperately needed something new in their lives. They had been ripped away from their home by the conquering Babylonians. Everything familiar had been taken from them. They were stuck in a place that was strange and seemed very far away from God. Their greatest challenge was maintaining their faith in that difficult situation. One of the Psalmists sums up their dilemma well: “How can we sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land?” (Ps. 137:4). In their minds, the past was where their lives lay, and the past was gone for good.

In a situation where they all felt like refugees, the Lord spoke through the prophet to change their focus. The people of Israel had been worrying about the seemingly impossible task of restoring what they had in the past. But through the Servant, the Lord God commissioned them to something new, something much bigger than they had imagined. He said that simply rebuilding the fallen house of Israel was “too small a thing.” Instead, God was sending them to be “a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:6). They had been worried about how to rebuild their former lives, and the Lord was calling them to build a living sanctuary for him among the all the “foreigners” of the world! I’m quite sure they had more than a few doubts about this “new thing” the Lord promised through the prophet that he would do among them. Perhaps that’s one reason why Isaiah reminded them constantly that the Lord ruled over all things, and that he would accomplish this seemingly impossible task through them.

I think the people St. Paul addressed in Corinth had some similar doubts. The Apostle had started the church in Corinth, but after he moved on they became confused about how they were supposed to live their lives together in Christian community. They were divided, and the factions were pulling the congregation in very different directions. Ironically, the situation at Corinth came about from the fact that the mission of shining a light to the nations was well underway, and it was causing some big problems! One of their challenges was how Christians with many differences could live together in one community of faith. I would imagine they saw that task as next to impossible.

But the Apostle began his instructions to them with the assurance that they already had everything they needed. He reminded them that all they did was built on “the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus” (1 Cor. 1:4). He told them that they had already been fully equipped by the Spirit to carry out their work: “in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind ... so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift” (1 Cor. 1:5, 7). And just in case they had any lingering doubts, Paul encouraged them that God who is always faithful would strengthen them to the end (1 Cor. 1:8).

We are living through a time of sweeping changes: changes in culture, in family structures, in our economy, and also in the church. Many of us may feel like the people of Israel: we may feel like refugees living in a strange land! All that may have been familiar to us was in the past, and we may find ourselves grieving that the past is gone. Others of us may see ourselves more like the people at Corinth. We may be eager for the future to come, so eager that we’re not willing to practice patience and understanding toward sisters and brothers, fathers and mothers who may seem to be “dragging their feet.” We may be thinking that it’s impossible to forge a true community from people who have so many differences in the way they look at life.

I think in both cases, the challenge of our Scriptures for today is to re-direct our focus toward the “new things” God is doing among us. Instead of wringing our hands about the way church “used to be,” I would say that we must always be open to the possibility that our God is calling us on to something new, something bigger than we can imagine. That means having the courage to let go of the past and letting God lead us into the future he has planned for us. At the same time, instead of getting stuck in frustration that things aren’t changing fast enough, I think it’s important to remember that the Spirit has fully equipped us with everything we need to carry out our mission. As we do so, Scripture reminds us that our faithful God will complete the “new things” he is doing among us.

Wednesday, May 29, 2019

Seeing the Vision

Acts 16:6-15[1]

Many of us find as we take our journey through life that we have “growing points” at various stages. At times it may be job-related; at other times it may involve our personal lives. The way life changes and challenges us means that very few of us will manage the journey without facing some kind of “growing points.” For me, it was learning to live by myself. I had never really done it. I went from living at home, to living with a roommate at college, to being married. When I found myself single again 7 years ago, I had to learn to become comfortable living by myself. It wasn’t particularly easy. Some of you may have faced a similar experience. I would say most of us have had to deal with some kind of “growing point” at some time.

One of the real challenges with this kind of experience is that it typically takes us outside of our “comfort zones.” Sometimes way outside! We may have to re-evaluate some or all of what we have held onto in order to define our identity. We may have to learn completely new ways of finding meaning and joy in life. We may have to re-define the “dream” that inspires us. We may have to see anew the “vision” that guides us. “Growing points” aren’t particularly welcome. But if we are willing to learn from them, we can emerge from the experience healthier, stronger, and perhaps even happier with our lives.

I think that our scripture lesson from the book of Acts for today may contain a “growing point” for the Apostle Paul. It’s not obvious, especially because we are used to thinking of Paul as the “Apostle to the Gentiles.” So when we hear of Paul’s vision of a “man of Macedonia,” a part of what we would have called Greece, it makes perfect sense that they were “convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them” (Acts 16:10). After all, in describing his initial encounter with the risen Christ, Paul himself said that it took place “so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles” (Gal. 1:16). So it would seem that this was a perfectly natural “next step” in Paul’s journey as an Apostle and preacher of the Gospel to the Gentiles.

But if you pay attention to the story of Paul’s career in the book of Acts, you find an interesting detail: whenever Paul and his companions entered a new city, they started their ministry in the Jewish synagogue. In fact, it would not be an overstatement to say was their primary “mission strategy.” When they came to a new city, they went straight to the synagogue. In fact the book of Acts says it was his “custom” to attend the local synagogue on the Sabbath day wherever he went (Acts 17:2). It was a logical place where Paul could find people who might have an interest in the Gospel. Perhaps it was also “familiar territory.”

But when Paul first “crossed over” into what was essentially new territory, and came to the city of Philippi, apparently there was no Jewish synagogue there. The Scripture lesson says that at first “they remained in the city for some days” (Acts 16:12). Then on the Sabbath day they went outside the city by the river “where we supposed there was a place of prayer” (Acts 16:13). And indeed, there they met a group of women gathered for prayer and shared the gospel with them. They planted a church in the house of a wealthy businesswoman named Lydia. And the church at Philippi flourished.

For Paul and his companions, this was a different strategy. They were in new territory, since they had “crossed over” from the Middle East into Greek lands. I wonder what they were doing “for some days” in Philippi. I wonder if they were dealing with culture shock. I wonder whether they were unsure as to how to proceed, since there wasn’t a Jewish synagogue where they could begin their work of preaching the gospel. I get the feeling they were “improvising” a bit. But what they had was a vision and a conviction: Paul’s vision of “helping” the Greeks, and the conviction that God had called them to proclaim the gospel to people who worshiped pagan gods and lived very differently. So they found a way to carry out their conviction in the midst of uncertainty and they improvised!

I’ve had this experience myself living overseas. It was my family’s custom to find a church home wherever we lived. When we lived in Germany, we initially planned on going to the local German language church. But then culture shock got the best of us. My wife didn’t really know German, and we had a toddler and a newborn. So instead, we wound up at MacDonald’s. We didn’t much like MacDonald’s, but it felt like home. While we were there we ran into another American family who told us about an English-speaking church not far away. That became the church we attended while we lived in Germany. We followed our conviction to find a church home and so we were able to deal with the uncertainty of an unfamiliar situation.

I’ve said many times that our church is in “unfamiliar territory.” I think that’s true for almost all churches in our culture these days. Just about every church is trying new and different strategies for reaching people. Some of them have decided to jettison their traditions regarding worship and even what they believe in order to get more people in the pews. I would prefer to do as Paul and his friends did: holding fast to our vision and our conviction. But in order to do that, we have to know what our vision for ministry is. We say that our vision is to serve. But what do we hope to accomplish through that service? I think we also have to have an idea what we’re “convinced” God has called us to do. I think we might start by exploring the idea of following Christ in order to lead others to follow him. That’s a vision that can lead us to find new ways of serving others in this changing and challenging time. It’s a vision that can help us to improvise and innovate, while still holding firmly to our convictions.

Monday, February 06, 2017

The Whole World

Isaiah 49:1-7; John 1:29[1]

I find it ironical that in this era of instant communications that span the globe, our world is moving farther apart. After decades of working to improve understanding and cooperation among different peoples and cultures and nations, many countries seem content to go their own way. All over the world, nations are withdrawing from cooperative agreements out of an impulse to “take care of our own.” In fact, many who study these trends are talking about a process of “de-globalization” that is already well under way.[2] To be fair, there is an argument to be made that this might be beneficial in some ways.

But I find this trend troublesome on a couple of levels. For one thing, nations that isolate themselves from others, even from those who are their physical “neighbors,” are more likely to be drawn into conflict than those who seek to work together. If you are familiar at all with the history of the World Wars of the last century, you know that at least a part of what fueled the compulsion to go to war was the belief that “they’re not like us.” When we go down that road, our relationships with other nations are characterized by suspicion, mistrust, and even hatred. That leads me to wonder whether, less than 100 years after two “wars to end all wars,” we will forget that history and repeat it.

But I’m equally troubled by this trend to isolate ourselves from those whom we consider “different” from us because it runs contrary to God’s purpose in Scripture. This is especially the case in the latter portion of the book of the prophet Isaiah. Although there are passages that speak of the destruction of those who have opposed God’s ways, there are also those that speak of the salvation of the whole world. God’s redemption of his people Israel would be like a catalyst that would result in the salvation of “all the ends of the earth.”[3] Based on Isaiah, it seems clear that God’s ultimate purpose is for “all flesh” to turn to him and be saved.[4]

If there was a people who might have isolated themselves from those around them, it would have been the people of Israel to whom these words were addressed. They had been conquered by a foreign power, carried off to Babylon in captivity, stripped of homes and families and even their places of worship. It would be easy to understand why they might not have much interest in building “cooperative” relationships with the nations around them. Rather they were much more interested in self-preservation. But the word that came to them from the LORD would not allow them to remain in the relative “safety” of their isolation.

For one thing, they believed that God was the creator of all the ends of the earth. That faith served as one of the most important foundations for their confidence that God also had the power to deliver them from their captivity.[5] If God is the creator of all the ends of the earth, that includes the nations that they would have liked to consider their enemies. But equally important is the fact that when God chose Israel to be his people, he chose them as “priests” to represent him before all the nations of the world. They were chosen for the specific task of calling peoples from the ends of the earth to trust in and serve God. For these reasons alone, they could not remain content in their self-imposed isolation.

Our lesson from Isaiah reinforces the view that it is God’s purpose for his salvation to reach the ends of the earth. And yet the lesson begins with the “servant” of the LORD, the one who is chosen to proclaim God’s word to the people of Israel, lamenting his lack of success. He was given the ability to speak clearly and effectively to the people, and yet they remained closed off to God’s message and God’s ways. Throughout this portion of the book of Isaiah there is a tension between God’s saving purpose for the people of Israel and their continued unbelief and disobedience toward him. And so the “servant” of the LORD says, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity” (Isa. 49:4). It would seem that he was frustrated by the lack of results from his efforts.

In response, the LORD reminds the “servant” that there was a further dimension to his calling: the LORD says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel” (Isa. 49:6). That was not enough. He was called to a bigger task: “I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (Isa. 49:6). In the midst of his frustration, the LORD was reassuring the “servant” that his mission would succeed. And it would succeed so well that God’s salvation would reach to the ends of the earth.[6]

The truth of the matter is that it is all too easy for us to let our faith turn in on itself and for us to become preoccupied with our own affairs. When we do that, we are like people wearing blinders, incapable of seeing those who are different, let alone caring about them. But the kingdom of God that our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ set in motion is one that embraces all people everywhere. According to the message proclaimed by prophets and apostles, nothing that God has created is left out of his saving purpose. As John the Baptist put it, Jesus is “the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). That means the whole world. And for us that means that like the “servant” of the LORD, we are called to be a light for all peoples, because God’s salvation is meant for the whole world.[7]

[2] Cf. Simon Nixon, “Risk of Deglobalization Hangs Over World Economy,” The Wall Street Journal 5 Oct 2016, accessed on 2/6/2017 at https://www.wsj.com/articles/risk-of-deglobalization-hangs-over-world-economy-1475685469 .

[3] Cf. Isaiah 52:10: “all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.”

[4] Cf. Isaiah 45:22-23: “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. … ‘To me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear.’” Cf. Paul Hanson, Isaiah 40-66, 6-7, where he summarizes the message of “Second Isaiah” by saying, “his message on its most fundamental level presents a comprehensive vision of the entire creation restored to its divinely intended wholeness” and “Second Isaiah presents the vision of divine purpose not as an avenue of escape from the nitty-gritty of that world but as an invitation to join in the restoration of that world to a realm of universal justice and shalom.”

[5] Cf. Christopher R. Seitz, “The Book Of Isaiah 40–66” New Interpreters Bible VI:433, where he refers to God’s creative power as “the sovereign God’s ability to form out of the ‘stuff of nothingness’—the desert, the barren womb, the grave of exile, the depths of despair—new life and abundance.”

[6] Cf. Seitz, “Isaiah 40-66,” NIB VI:433: “To be a ‘light to the nations’ does not, therefore, mean going out and converting “peoples from far away” by word and thereafter associating with them on equal terms. Instead it means bearing affliction and hardship—brought about on account of obedience to God—and precisely thereby conveying the knowledge of God. To witness to the God of Israel is not to share information with others but to be faithful to God in such a way that confrontation will occur but will not be an end in itself. The witness leaves the final accomplishment to God, assured that affliction and hardship will be the means through which ‘my salvation shall reach to the ends of the earth’ (49:6).”

[7] Cf. Hanson, Isaiah 40-66, 127: “God’s plan is a universal plan, and the community that responds in obedience to God’s call becomes a part of a redemptive process that embraces all peoples.”

Friday, September 26, 2008

“Seeking the Kingdom”

Matthew 6:24-34[1]

After spending the last 30 years of my life studying religion, I have come to accept the fact that great religious leaders are simply bound to be mysterious! And Jesus is no exception! Take for example our gospel lesson, where Jesus summarizes what it is that he asks of his would-be disciples by telling them to “seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice.” Elsewhere in the same Gospel, he says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field or a single pearl of great value that one buys even though it means selling everything to do it (Matthew 13:44-45). He also says that those who want to follow him must “deny themselves and take up their cross”; they must “lose their life for [Jesus’] sake” if they want to find it (Matthew 16:24-25). These are just a few of Jesus’ puzzling teachings, most of which describe a life of faith that many of us only barely attain.

Unfortunately, “the Kingdom of God” is not a sound-bite that most people are familiar with these days—even in the church! When people hear the phrase “kingdom of God,” I think they either associate it with some grand institutional hierarchy, or with some dream-like vision of a heavenly realm. I doubt that most people would associate the “Kingdom of God” with ideas like restoring peace and justice, or setting people in a right relationship with God. But that is precisely what Jesus was talking about. The “Kingdom of God” encompasses everything that God is doing in this world, [2] from mending the rift between humankind and God, to calling and gathering his people, to empowering the church to bear witness to new life in Christ, even including God’s promise of “making all things new.” In a very real sense, the “Kingdom of God” stands for God’s great gracious “Yes” to all humankind in Jesus the Christ; and that changes everything, at least potentially.[3]

If the “Kingdom of God” is Jesus’ name for what God is doing in the world, how is it that we are supposed to “seek” this “Kingdom”? “Seeking the Kingdom” definitely does not mean looking and waiting patiently for something that is not here yet.[4] To construe the “Kingdom of God” as something which essentially lies in the future is to overlook everything that Christian faith proclaims as “good news”! “Seeking the Kingdom” also does not imply that somehow we are responsible for constructing that kingdom here and now.[5] In a very real sense, the “Kingdom of God” is something that only God in Jesus the Christ can properly “build.” When we presume to do so, I’m afraid we’re only getting in the way.

In one sense, I think “seeking the Kingdom” means seeing the Kingdom in the midst of all the chaos and violence and other forms of “striving” that seem to define life in this world.[6] By “seeing” the Kingdom I mean recognizing that God’s purpose, God’s love, and God’s grace are the true basis for all of life, not the various competing “American idols” out there clamoring for our attention. It means seeing through illusions like “might makes right” and “winning is the only thing” and “looking out for number one” to be able to recognize the true reality that is already at work in this world—a reality that started with Jesus’ death on the cross and his resurrection to new life.[7] Seeing the Kingdom means refusing either to think that somehow we’re exempt from the struggle of human living because we’re “above it all” or to give in to the temptation to despair that all is lost,[8] but rather seeing ourselves and all creation as the object of God’s redeeming grace that never stops seeking us.

At the most basic level, “seeking first the Kingdom of God” means aligning our lives with what God is doing in this world. It means living our lives based on the principles and truth of God’s Kingdom.[9] In a very important sense, when we engage in the folly of “seeking the Kingdom,” when we promote God’s justice by sharing with those in need, and when we preach the Gospel by practicing unconditional acceptance for all persons, the simple existence of such a congregation constitutes a powerful sign to the whole world that God’s kingdom is already changing everything.[10] Our very life in this world serves to “infect” it with God’s Kingdom![11] Our proclamation of the Gospel that in Jesus the Christ all persons may now walk through the open doors to receive God’s welcoming embrace of love stands as a witness to the truth that the world and all its forms of “striving” are already passing away.[12] It is a testimony to our hope in the promise that one day Jesus will return to finish the work he started—however we construe that, it cannot be in terms that anyone will be “left behind,” but rather that he will bring everyone safely home by the grace and mercy and love of God!

To some extent, all those who have encountered the grace of God through our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, who have begun to see the reality of what God’s love is doing in this world, who look forward to God’s future where everything will be made new cannot help but “seek first the Kingdom of God and his justice”![13]

[2] See Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:598-99; cf. also Jürgen Moltmann, The Church in the Power of the Spirit, 76-98, where he speaks of the Kingdom of God in terms of God’s “liberating rule.” See also ibid., 190.

[3] See Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:622, 649-50, 660-61, 711-12, 789, 798-99; cf. also Moltmann, Church in the Power, 55-56, 187.

[4] See Donald Hagner, Matthew 1-13, 165.

[5] See Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:629-33, 709, 829-30.

[6] See Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:716-17.

[7] See Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:687, 698, 714, 717; see also Moltmann, Church in the Power, 221.

[8] See Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:712-14, 722-24, 734-51, 773-74, 824-29.

[9] See Moltmann, Church in the Power, 163-89 for some specific areas where the justice of the Kingdom can be brought to bear in our world.

[10] Barth, Church Dogmatics, 4.3: 675, 716, 794; see also Moltmann, Church in the Power, 191-92, 221-22.

[11] See Moltmann, Church in the Power, 84.

[12] Cf. Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:771: God’s “omnipotent mercy rules over all without exception, … no matter how lost they are they are not lost to him.” See also ibid., 805-806, where he says, “God does not believe in the unbelief … of man.” Cf. further ibid., 809, where he speaks of the “never-resting love of the living God” that overcomes all other circumstances to claim all persons.

[13] Cf. Barth, Church Dogmatics 4.3:599.

The Waking Dreamer