God's Work

God’s Work

Matthew 16:13-20[1]

Some of you know that I serve on the Board of Directors of the Omaha Presbyterian Seminary Foundation. Our mission is “to seek, develop and support excellence in Christian leadership through the PCUSA.” With that in mind, we sponsor programs to help pastors and churches thrive in the 13-state region that includes much of the Midwest and some of the mountain states. For example, when Christy Dempsey was our pastoral intern a couple of years ago, the Seminary Foundation paid for most of her salary. Another way we work is by providing scholarships to seminary students to help offset the high cost of their education. Every year at this time I have anywhere from 40 to 60 applications from students at PCUSA seminaries.

One thing I’ve noticed is the many different “answers” the applicants have for what the church needs to thrive in the 21st Century. Some of the answers are amusing in their youthful idealism. Others are really quite thoughtful. I find it ironical, however, that I’ve hardly ever read that the church needs to return to their dedication to faith, because ultimately whether the church thrives or not depends on God’s work among us. The music, technology, education, and community outreach are all important. But I think the fundamental answer is to be found elsewhere.

I believe that our Gospel lesson for today points us in the right direction. Unfortunately, many are drawn into the centuries-long debate between the Catholic and Protestant branches of the church about the “true” church. I think that misses the point. Regardless of whether you define the “rock” upon which the church is built as Peter himself, or Peter’s confession of faith, or something else altogether, it seems more important to me that Jesus said “I will build my church” (Matt. 16:18). The bottom line here is that Jesus is the one who builds the church, not me, or you, or anybody else.

That reminds me of something St. Paul said about his ministry. The church at Corinth had become divided by their loyalties to different teachers. But Paul says that all those teachers were just workers in God’s field. One plants, another waters, and another one reaps the harvest. But whether or not there is a harvest at all depends on God as the one who “gives the growth” (1 Cor. 3:7). We can discuss policies and programs all day long until we’re blue in the face (something Presbyterians seem to be “good” at), but unless we look to God to give the growth, I would say we’re just spinning our wheels.

So how do we promote the vitality of this congregation by looking to Jesus to build his church? I think this introduces the second important dimension to what it takes to help churches thrive in our day and time. At its core, this kind of work is spiritual work. It’s not organizational, it’s not programmatic, it’s not marketing. It’s spiritual work. It’s true that those things are important. But at the end of the day, building the church requires that we do everything we do in the recognition that God is the one who gives the growth. That means that it is crucial for us to pay attention to our spiritual lives. In order to truly promote God’s work in this world, we have to align our hearts and minds and lives with God’s ways.

I think that’s something of what St. Paul was talking about when he urged the church at Rome to “present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1). He called them to be “transformed” in their minds and hearts so that their lives might reflect “the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2). This is at heart a spiritual endeavor, one that we can undertake only by spiritual means. We Presbyterians have traditionally called them the “Great Ends of the Church.” But it’s simply a matter of making worship, service, and witness the core of our lives rather than something we do from time to time. Whenever the church engages in that spiritual work, we experience God’s work of transforming and renewing our life together.

In one sense, this spiritual work is not the calling of just one person, or even a few. It is the work of the whole body. Building up the church in our day and time is something that takes all gifts that God has given each and every one of us. It takes all of us giving the best we can give to be the body of Christ, to be a community defined by faith, hope, love, and witness. God builds the church in partnership with us.

In another sense, building the church isn’t something we do at all, it’s God’s work. When our lives are centered on the faith, hope, and love that define what it means to live in a relationship with God, we will grow. Perhaps not numerically, but we will grow. At the end of the day, however, we will grow because Jesus is building his church. We will grow because God has given the growth.  We will grow as the result of God doing his work in and through each and every one of us.

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[1] © 2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. for Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

Dogs and Children

Dogs and Children

Matthew 15:21-28[1]

If you’re like me, dogs and children are some of your favorite “people.” I know not everyone is a dog-lover, but I definitely am. There’s something special about the unconditional devotion that a dog gives you. Yes, they can be difficult and challenging at times. But the joy I’ve received from the dogs I’ve known has far outweighed the challenges. I don’t currently live with a dog, because I think it would be unfair to keep any animal cooped up in my apartment. And until recently, I didn’t spend much time at home. Most evenings had been taken up with some kind of meeting or activity. So, I guess I would say my love of dogs precludes me from living with one at this time in my life.

Of course, dogs weren’t always treated like “one of the family.” And that’s true even today. In many places, dogs are kept for the work they do. In some places, people use dogs to churn out puppies for sale. In other places, they use dogs for the money they can make from racing of fighting. These neglected and mistreated animals live a hard life. The fortunate ones find their way to rescue organizations. One of the best dog friends I’ve known was Roscoe, a French pointer mix, whom I “rescued” in Houston. When we first met, he was very timid, but after a couple of weeks he was flourishing. It was a joy to share that experience!

Our Gospel lesson for today speaks about dogs and children in a way that we might find surprising. While Jesus was in what was considered “foreign” territory, a gentile woman approached him and asked him to heal her daughter. At first his response simply seems strange: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt. 15:24). But when the woman continued to ask for his help, Jesus’ response seems downright insulting: “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs” (Mt. 15:26). For me, it’s hard to understand why Jesus would call this woman a “dog!”

This encounter is confusing to me because it is so out of character not only with Jesus but also with the rest of the Scriptures. Even biblical scholars don’t quite know what to make of it. Some think Jesus was testing the woman to see if her faith was genuine. But I don’t buy that. When she approached him, she not only called him “Son of David,” acknowledging him as the Messiah (which Jewish leaders refused to believe). She also called him “Lord,” which is important because only those with genuine faith call Jesus “Lord” in Matthew’s Gospel. I would say that any doubt about her faith in Jesus is erased by the fact that she assumed a posture of worship—she knelt before him.

Others have suggested that maybe this was a test for Jesus. They take him literally when he says that he was “sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and assume that Jesus truly believed he was not meant to share God’s blessings with gentiles. And yet this flies in the face of most of what we learn about Jesus in the Gospels. I think it’s pretty clear that Jesus knew his mission was to benefit the whole world, not just the Jewish people.

If this is a test, then the only people left to test are the disciples. And, in fact, I do think that this whole strange interaction between Jesus and this desperate mother was learning opportunity for the disciples who wanted to send her away because she was bothering them! I think Jesus was trying to demonstrate to them that God’s mercy is not limited by ways in which we exclude people we consider to be “other.” The disciples were the ones who thought it wasn’t right to take what belonged to the Jewish people and share it with Gentiles, who in their minds were no better than stray dogs. But Jesus will have none of this kind of thinking!

I think this is the point of the whole chapter in Matthew’s Gospel. It begins with the Jewish leaders asking why Jesus didn’t observe their boundaries about what (and who) was clean or unclean. In reply, Jesus scolds them for “honoring” God with their lips while their actions actually negated God’s commands. He proceeds to set aside their notions of “clean” and “unclean.” I would say that, in this context, Jesus wasn’t primarily talking about food, but rather about how wrong-headed it was to draw lines that exclude people from God’s blessing. And following that, even his own disciples failed to grasp the point when they wanted to send this woman away because she was an “outsider.”

While we may not call those we deem to be outsiders “dogs,” we can still disregard their humanity. I think it’s telling that in the verses following, Jesus healed everyone who came to him in this foreign territory. I can’t imagine that he first checked the color of their skin, or their belief system, or their identity papers, or any of the other things we still use to divide between “us” and “them.” Jesus knew in the depth of his very being that God’s mercy is for all. In God’s sight there are no “dogs” to be kept “outside” in kennels. We’re all beloved children of God!

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[1] ©2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 8/16/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

God's Plan

God’s Plan

Romans 8:28-39[1]

Most of us have some kind of idea about God’s plan for our lives. We know that there are some things we just cannot control, and it’s a comfort for us to believe that God has already planned something good for us. Unfortunately, I think that we often turn that trust in God’s faithfulness and love into a kind of “destiny” that we think is unavoidable. And at its worst, it becomes a way to let ourselves off the hook for choices we make. The notion that God has all the specifics of our lives already laid out is one that may assure us when life gets difficult, but it doesn’t fit well with the fact that we are all have the freedom and the awesome responsibility to make our choices in life. 

As I reflect on my experience with “God’s Plan,” I would say two things about it: first, I’ve only been able to see God’s plan as I’ve looked back over my life. I’ve never been able to discern God’s plan in advance. I don’t think any of us has that ability. It’s just not given to us. The second thing is that when I look back over my life, I don’t see God’s plan so much in specific choices, but rather in the broad strokes. In good times and in not-so-good times, I see God working in my life for good, working through my life for his purposes.

I think that’s the point St. Paul is trying to make in our lesson from Romans for today. Paul says that “God’s Plan” is to work in our lives to change us all to become more and more like Jesus (Rom. 8:29). And he says that God carries out that project by choosing, calling, justifying and glorifying fallen humankind. Now, when we think of “choosing,” we might worry that this means God chooses some and rejects others, and maybe that means God doesn’t choose me. But I think it’s important to ask, “Whom does God choose?” Well, according to Paul, God “chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4). I think that means God chose Jesus, and in choosing Jesus, God chooses us all (Eph. 1:4).^[2]

If we have any lingering doubts about God’s plan in all of this, I think it’s even more important to ask, “Whom does God justify?” This is one of Paul’s favorite concepts for salvation. In his letter to the Romans, Paul says a lot about whom God justifies. At one point he says that God justifies the “ungodly” (Rom. 4:5). In fact, it might be more precise to say that God justifies the “godless”! That should shock and surprise us a bit. Even with all our theology of grace, we still think that we have to do something special or be someone special in order to “merit” salvation. I guess the way to put it is this: if God justifies the godless, whom does God not justify?

What St. Paul is saying here is that God’s “plan” or “purpose” for us is expressed in choosing, saving, and changing us all. And just to make sure we don’t miss the point, he reminds us that there is nothing in all creation that can ever separate us from the love God has given us in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:38-39). Again, some might quibble here—they may say that nothing in all creation can separate us, but we can separate ourselves by our own refusal to take the step of faith. I think once more it’s a matter of asking the right question: Is our willfulness more powerful than God’s love and grace? Maybe in the short run, but ultimately, I think not!

 I’m fully convinced that Paul believed God’s “plan” is to reconcile the entire created order and restore it to its rightful place in obedience to Christ (Eph. 1:10).^[3] There will come a time when “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:10-11). Paul’s gospel is a gospel of grace—of receiving something undeserved. It is a gospel about the God who loves us unconditionally, the God who accepts us completely, the God who above all else is and forever remains for us. At the outset of this lesson, Paul emphasizes that God is for us. If there’s any doubt about that, all we have to do is remember that he gave himself to us in the person of Jesus. And Paul says that in that act of self-giving, God has already given us “everything else” (Rom 8:32).

If I would say anything about “God’s Plan” for our lives, I would say it is to love us, to accept us, to draw us into a relationship with himself. And beyond that, God’s plan is that our relationship with God would make change us from the inside out so that we more and more live like Jesus did. As we do that, we are carrying out “God’s Plan” by sharing with others the acceptance, the love, and the mercy he has given us. If there’s any “destiny” that God has for us, I think it’s to live fully in the love of God and to share that love freely and joyfully with others.

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[1] © 2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm Ph. D. on 7/26/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Perhaps the most famous advocate of this view is Karl Barth, in Church Dogmatics, 2.2, 115-17.  See also ibid., 59-60, 101, 103-105.

[3] The PCUSA Confession of 1967 puts it this way: “It is the will of God that his purpose for human life shall be fulfilled under the rule of Christ.”

Planting Seeds

Planting Seeds

Matthew 13:1-23[1]

There are some vocations that I think by definition can be discouraging. I think teachers must face this challenge. You go into teaching out of a sense of idealism about making a difference in the younger generation. And unless you’re very fortunate, you may wind up spending your days trying to teach kids who are much more interested in everything but learning. I would think it would be very easy to become cynical about the prospects of making a difference in the world.

I know for a fact that the same thing applies to ministers. Like teachers, many go into the ministry out of a deep sense of idealism about making a difference in the world. They go through a seminary program that raises their awareness about biblical mandates regarding social justice, about the joys of deeply spiritual worship, and about the latest strategies for reaching the neediest people in the community. And they get into the church and find out that people can be more interested in which hymnal they’re using, or in making and enforcing ever more specific rules on everybody else, or in keeping all the “squeaky wheels” happy. And they work hard each week with the Scriptures trying to discern a fresh and inspiring message, only to wonder if anybody is listening at all! Ministry is definitely a vocation that by definition can be incredibly discouraging.

But the reality is that the same thing can be said for Christian living. Most of us embrace the faith in some sense or another out of a feeling of “ought-ness” or a vision to make a difference in the way the world works. And you identify with a congregation and a denomination and find your way onto the session, only to find out that the leaders may spend more time fighting about décor and money than attempting any kind of mission to save the world. It can be incredibly discouraging. But you find your niche in mission and you keep going through the motions month after month and year after year, until you wake up one day so incredibly discouraged from a lack of results that you wonder if you ever really believed in God in the first place!

To some extent, the parable of the sower addresses this aspect of the Christian faith. When we seek to go out and make a difference in the world—whether in church service or in another vocation—we’re very much like the sower, planting seeds as we go. Now, planting seeds these days is quite different from planting seeds in Jesus’ day. These days we have it down to a science when and how and what kind of seeds to plant. In Jesus’ day, planting seeds was much more like life. You scatter seeds all over the place, hoping some of them will take root and grow and bear fruit. Despite that difference, most farmers still know what Jesus was talking about—the quality of the soil makes all the difference in the quantity of the harvest. These days we can even get crops to grow on bad soil. In Jesus’ day, you had to just make do with what you got.

Of course, Jesus wasn’t really talking about agriculture. Among other things, he was trying to warn those who followed him out of a sense of personal commitment to a world of justice and peace and freedom that not all the seeds they planted would bear fruit. There are lots of times when sowing does not lead to reaping. Instead of rejoicing while “bringing in the sheaves,” we find ourselves just sowing and weeping and sowing some more. Despite some of the lofty sounding promises in the Bible, you just can’t always count on results, no matter how hard you try. Obedience doesn’t always mean rewards, even if the Psalmist says it does. Faithfulness doesn’t guarantee results. Sometimes we find ourselves planting seeds and not reaping a harvest.

One of the notions that drives religious perfectionism is the idea that obedience automatically brings rewards. If we do what we’re supposed to, if we live like we’re supposed to, then our lives will be free from suffering and all our dreams will come true. Just the very action of identifying ourselves with faith and the gospel means that we’re on Jesus’ side and we will go from one success to another. But this pipe dream doesn’t live up to reality. In fact, it oftentimes leads to discouragement and even bitterness.   

The truth of our lives is that we never know how the seeds we’ve planted will fare. We can never really know all the results our efforts for the sake of the kingdom of God will bear. That’s why Henri Nouwen said that we must plant our seeds in the hope that there really is “light on the other side of darkness.”[2] That means that, even though we find ourselves sowing without reaping, we keep right on planting those gospel seeds, seeds of mercy and kindness, seeds of love and justice, seeds of peace and freedom. We do it because one day some of those seeds are going to bear fruit.

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[1] © 2020 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm, Ph. D. on 7/12/2020 at Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.

[2] Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer, 76.