2nd Sunday in Epiphany - Shining with Jesus

SECOND SUNDAY OF EPIPHANY

JAN 16, 2022

FR. PHIL EBERHART

 

SHINE !   LET JESUS SHINE!

 

 

Epiphany is about the showing forth of light – it’s about “shining!”  Last week I talked about both fragrance and light – we are being called to be both in our world, and specifically in our neighborhood.

Yesterday’s Texas standoff at a local synagogue seems to highlight the need for us to stand strong with our neighbors against antisemitism.  That is why you see an Israeli flag on our pole under the American flag.  We want our message to be clear.

 

This morning I want to talk about light … and about mirrors.

 

Jesus is the LIGHT and we are the mirror! 

 

In John’s gospel Jesus is talking to the disciples before his death, as they are walking to the Garden of Gesthemane in fact.  As they walk through the local vineyards on the hillside east across the Kidron Valley from the Temple mount in Jerusalem, Jesus is pointing out a reality they are all familiar with.  Vines and branches; grapes and wine.

In Jn 15 we speaks to our need for intimate attachment – Jesus calls it “abiding in the vine.”  I want to make His point here this morning, when He said “apart from Me you can do nothing!”

The effectiveness – even the usefulness – of a mirror is entirely dependent upon a couple things – its orientation (which way it’s pointed) and its clarity (is it clean?  That affects the reflection).

 

Oriented toward the Light!

 

Friends, we have to have our own faces fixed on Jesus in order to be the reflective surfaces that He needs for His ministry today to illumine the World!

Paul, in talking about this, put it this way:

^{2 Cor 3:18} And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

The Passion reads:

¹⁸ We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into his very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

For us, having the veil removed, actually emphasizes the fact that we are “face to face.”  Over and over throughout the Old Testament, from the Aaronic Blessing to a multitude of other references we are told that God wants to be FACE TO FACE with us – to see us for who we are and for us to see Him in His fullness and glory!

It is our position when we are Face to face with Jesus that allows us to become (be transformed or transfigured – the Greek word is “metamorphosis.”)  Our transformation is preceded by our being trans-fixed by his glory!  John said it in one of his later letters:

1 Jn 3:3 Look with wonder at the depth of the Father’s marvelous love that he has lavished on us! He has called us and made us his very own beloved children.^[a] The reason the world doesn’t recognize who we are is that they didn’t recognize him.^[b] 2 Beloved, we are God’s children right now; however, it is not yet apparent what we will become. But we do know that when it^[c] is finally made visible,^[d] we will be just like him, for we will see him as he truly is. ³ And all who focus their hope on him will always be purifying^[e] themselves,^[f] just as Jesus is pure.^[g]

There’s gonna be a lot of shinin’ goin’ on!  And that is just the plan.

This is all part of the Master’s Masterplan!  When you heard that God has a “wonderful plan for your life” – this is it!  WE WILL BE JUST LIKE HIM!

Any mirror that reflects, will reflect perfectly what it “sees.”  What it is oriented towards it reflects in all its glory.  So let us orient our lives so that we are “face to face” with Jesus!

 

But that “perfect reflection” is also based on purity!  How clean is your mirror?  If the mirror has spots on it or dirt or fingerprints it cannot do its appointed job!  Likewise, our lives are only a clear reflection of Jesus when our character – when our mirror – is clean – pure.

 

Now you need to know that I’m not trying to send you on a “sin hunt.”  BUT  when you notice spots or grime on the mirror, it’s a good thing to do some cleansing work.  Are there things in your life that seem to be getting in the way of a clear reflection of Jesus to others?  Fear?  Personal habits?  Sinful behaviors? 

 

There is another place that talks about a mirror in Scripture.  James tells us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  We talk a lot about The Hand illustration – Hear, Read, Mark, Learn and Inwardly Digest!  But all of those are of no value if they don’t sink down into our Heart, out to our Hands and down to our Feet!

James 1:21-25

²¹ So this is why we abandon everything morally impure^[q] and all forms of

 wicked conduct.^[r] Instead, with a sensitive spirit^[s] we absorb God’s Word, 

which has been implanted within our nature, for the Word of Life has power to 

continually deliver us.^[t]

²² Don’t just listen to the Word of Truth and not respond to it, for that is the essence of self-deception. So always let his Word become like poetry written and fulfilled by your life!^[u]

²³ If you listen to the Word and don’t live out the message you hear, you become like the person who looks in the mirror of the Word to discover the reflection of his face in the beginning.^[v] 24 You perceive how God sees you in the mirror of the Word,^[w] but then you go out and forget^[x] your divine origin. ²⁵ But those who set their gaze deeply into the perfecting law of liberty^[y] are fascinated by and respond to the truth they hear and are strengthened by it—they experience God’s blessing in all that they do!^[z]

In the very next verse James goes on to warn his hearers that

²⁶ If someone believes they have a relationship with God but fails to guard his words then his heart is drifting away and his religion is shallow and empty.

 

Our culture in America for a long time has approached faith as a kind of “hobby.”  Now it has become a matter of life or death, -- of eternal life and eternal death, for us and for others!

 

Friends, if we are the reflection of Jesus in the world, as He said in
Matt 5:17 it may be time for us to do a “reflection check.” 

Jesus is the Light of the World.  We all believe that.  But it’s another step to understand that His light is only reflected to the world through our actions.

Jesus said it best as I referenced a moment ago:

“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good words and give glory to your Father, who is in heaven.”

The source of our transformation comes from Christ’s glory, and the destination we are brought to is more glory. The transforming glory is the result of gazing upon the beauty and splendor of Jesus Christ.  We become transfixed by His glory and then are transformed/transfigured into His image by that glory.

I’m reminded of an old song that we sang over Val’s mom as she went to be with Jesus – her sisters were with her mom and we were on the phone on her pillow that night singing this song:

 

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus
look full in His wonderful face
and the things of earth
will grow strangely dim,
in the light of His glory and grace!”

Sing it with me…

 

 

 

Let’s pray together as we did last week:

 

87. For Participation in the Peace of God  (BCP 2019, P. 672)

In the Tradition of Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is error, truth;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may seek
not so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Epiphany -- Fragrance & Light: Small Things done with Great Love

 First Epiphany
January 9, 2022
Fr. Phil Eberhart

Isa 60:1-9

Ps 72:1-11 

Eph 3:1-13 

Matt 2:1-12

 Fragrance & Light:  Small things done in Great love…

 

This past Thursday was The Feast of the Epiphany and our readings this morning are those readings transferred to today, which is the feast of The Baptism of Jesus.  As we enter into the Season of Epiphany, I want to set the tone for the year now in 2022, by reflecting on some words that were spoken to me, and I believe, to US recently.

Just a few weeks ago we adopted the streets to the north of us here to pray over.  Some of us drove those streets, some walked those streets, and some prayed over them virtually.  Whichever way you engaged that enterprise, I am convinced that it should continue and expand.

Here at REZ we believe in prayer – actually that is one of the things I and WE are known for across the city!  We are known for this Altar that overlooks the cityscape of DTC and Denver Metro and the mountains beyond;  We are known for the bible that sits on our altar day after day and for the practice of “executing Scripture” – of reading it aloud over the city.

There are spiritual things that happen when we do that simple act.  As Sacramental Christian Worshippers we believe that things are established when we pray, when we recite prayers and when we read the Words of Scripture, together or alone, out loud.  It’s a hallmark of our service here each week.  We hear more scripture than almost any other church in the world, every week!!

We are known for 24 hour prayer, because of the Spring and Fall 10 Days Together and because of Colorado Prays.  We have a priority for prayer in this place, like Jesus did when he said “My House shall be a House of Prayer for ALL the Nations!”

We are known for having many nations worshipping here on this hill.  Both within our parish and in the other churches that worship in our building, we represent a “sacrament” of “every tribe, and tongue, and nation and people, gathered around the throne of God!” 

As we went out into the neighborhood north of us for our Hannukah Caroling party with the other churches, we became known in that neighborhood, and the response was amazing. 

“My faith in humanity is restored!” one exclaimed.

“Who are you people?” many asked.  Though many churches took part, all answered as ONE, “We are the REZ people from across on the hill.”

Others commented about our work on the building and on the land; we are known and appreciated in the neighborhood for doing what we have done, what God has done, with this property!

 

FRAGRANCE

All that said, I want to share just a couple of scriptures with you as an intro into 2022.  The first word that God gave me last month was “fragrance.”  The scriptures speak of us being the “fragrance of Jesus.” 

^{2 Cor 2:14} God always makes his grace visible in Christ, who includes us as partners of his endless triumph. Through our yielded lives he spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere we go. ¹⁵ We have become the unmistakable aroma of the victory of the Anointed One to God—

I’ve had some time to study a little bit about fragrance in the weeks following that word.  One of the things that has struck me is how little it takes for us to be such a fragrance to the neighborhood.  Flying a flag on our flag pole;  singing a song or two on a porch;  following a plan for the redevelopment of this land and the completion of our renovation and renewal of this hilltop church.  After a short journey of 4 years since Easter of 2018, this church is beginning to have an effect on the neighborhood, and we will do this more and more in the coming year and in the years ahead.

 

FRAGRANCE only takes about 8 parts per million for us to smell it!  The reason I say that is for us to realize that our success isn’t in the throngs that come through our door, like a retail store.  Our success is from the scent of Jesus that emanates from this place!  Our success is because of SMALL THINGS DONE WITH GREAT LOVE. 

LIGHT

The other word that God consistently has spoken over us is LIGHT.  We are a light on this Hill!

If it were dark in this room, the lighting of a single candle, though it is small, would eventually illuminate this entire space.  God has made our eyes responsive to light.  Even a small light in the darkness will attract our attention.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but this church property is now the brightest place on Belleview!  And at the center of it, a cross.  A Cross that shines at night!

A light shining on a hill!  I heard Jesus say something about that in a sermon once:

^{Matt 5:14-16 - The Passion Translation}
 “Your lives light up the world. For how can you hide a city that stands on a hilltop?  And who would light a lamp and then hide it in an obscure place? Instead, it’s placed where everyone in the house can benefit from its light.  So don’t hide your light! Let it shine brightly before others, so that your commendable works will shine as light upon them, and then they will give their praise to your Father in heaven.”

Friends,  God is calling us and equipping us to be light and fragrance in this place.

This is the simple call that I place before you for 2022.  Be the light!  Be the fragrance of Jesus to others.

Small things done in great love can make all the difference in our world and in our neighborhood around us, and wherever we are.

 

 

There is a prayer from the prayer book we pray at lease once each week in Morning Prayer – it comes from St. Francis of Assisi. 

I’d like you to pray it after me.  I’ll pray it phrase by phrase, so we get it all!

 

LET US PRAY:

 

87. For participation in the peace of God   [BCP 2019; P. 672]

In the Tradition of Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is discord, union;
where there is error, truth;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master,
grant that I may seek
not so much to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

Christmas Eve 2021 - WONDER!!

 Christmas Eve
Dec 24, 2021
Fr. Phil Eberhart

 

Hurry, hurry, hurry…  shop till you drop.  Is it just me?   I feel like Christmas snuck up on me a little bit this year.  And here we are.  Christmas eve!! 

It takes work to keep from being sucked into the vortex, that seems to start earlier and earlier each year, depending on how desperate the economy and the retailers are to get their bite of the Christmas pie!

 

But on this night, hopefully, in some way, all that drops away.  We had it dark and candlelit at the beginning so that you would have that sense of “wonder” that comes with these services and celebrations.  We’ll go back to it with full candlelight after communion tonight as we all light our candles and sing “Silent Night – Stille Nacht.” 

 

WONDER

 

It’s kind of a child’s special habitation, isn’t it?  Our granddaughter is here tonight and we get to spend about a day a week with her.  The more she grows the more she wants to grow.  The more she experiences of life, the more she wants to experience.  I’m finding it difficult to keep up.

 

Wonder…

 

There is a lot here to wonder at tonight.  Not just the beauty of the evening, the music, the candlelight and the trees, the presents when you get home or in the morning.  All this is window dressing, like these candles in the windows.  Like the lights on the trees, it’s all a twinkle, signifying something that is the real object of “wonder.”  W O N D E R !!

Wonder that this night even exists at all!  It is a testimony of the unfailing love of God that we can celebrate this night!  John the Baptist referred to Jesus as “The Lamb of God”  -  we’re going to sing that little song  -  The “little lamb” that Mary had, John said,  was “slain from the foundation of the world.”  I heard a song this past few weeks that said “The Cross is the reason for Christmas!”  Jesus was a gift of unimaginable love and sacrifice by His Father, to us – to all humankind – to the whole world that God SO LOVED.

 

WONDER AT GOD’S LOVE…

 

Why 2000 + years later do we remember this night that was…  Silent … Holy …

Awesome … History changing.   World shaking … yet, almost invisible!  With the whole host of heaven in attendance and here come 3 -4 shepherds and later, three wise men, with gifts from the east, guided by a star. 

This is one crazy story!

 

WONDER AT GOD’S WAYS…

 

He tells us that His ways are higher than our ways.  That His thoughts are higher than ours.  God sees the end from the beginning.  Nothing is ever out of his view, past, present or future.  It’s for that reason that we can trust in Him and in His goodness in planning for each one of us here.  There are no accidents!

 

WONDER AT HOW BIG GOD IS …

 

You can trust Him.  In fact He invites that trust, over every little particular in your life, from parking spots to having kids;  from cocoons and butterflys to governments and world peace!  God has it all in view, nothing escapes… ever.

The smallest decisions you have to make and the life-altering, once-in-a-lifetime defining moments are all in His Hands.

 

WONDER AT TRUSTING HIM…

 

Jesus the baby is God Almighty.  The Creator of the Universe in swaddling clothes and lying in a feeding trough in a barn.  I grew up on a farm, so I know what that means.  This was a gritty picture.  One that combined all the lowness of the lowly, with all the glory that heaven and earth could muster – angels, wise men or foreign dignitaries attending – right next to shepherds, and peasant s, a carpenter attended by kings!

 

WONDER AT WORSHIPING …

 

All the best that has come in human history has come as the issue of this night!

Cathedrals,  Science, mathematics, technology, medicine, hospitals, missionaries, education, schools, colleges, music – Handel’s Messiah!!...

The list can go on and on…  almost everything we take for granted in our world, especially here in the USA, has risen out of this NIGHT!  I’m not kidding.

 

Isaiah said it nearly 3000 years ago in his prophetic words:  

For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
⁷ Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

 

WONDER AT HOW GOD LOVES YOU AND ME…

AT HOW HE HAS FILLED OUR LIVES WITH GOOD THINGS…

AT HOW HE IS IN CONTROL OF THE THINGS THAT CONCERN US…

WONDER…

AT THE LOWLY BABE IN A MANGER…

THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE – OF ALL CREATION…

A HUMAN BABY – 9 MONTHS IN MARY’S WOMB,

EVEN RECOGNIZED AS THE “LORD” THERE BY JOHN AND ELIZABETH!

WONDER…

EVERY GOOD AND PERFECT GIFT COMES DOWN FROM THE FATHER OF LIGHT.

AND HE TOOK ON OUR FLESH AND MADE HIS TABERNACLE AMONG US.

WONDER… 

LET US PRAY:

Almighty God, Father of all mercies,
we your unworthy servants give you humble thanks for all your goodness and loving-kindness to us and to all whom you have made.

We bless you for our creation, preservation, and all the blessings of this life; but above all for your immeasurable love in the redemption of the world by our Lord Jesus Christ; for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory.

And, we pray, give us such an awareness of your mercies, that with truly thankful hearts we may show forth your praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by giving up our selves to your service, and by walking before you in holiness and righteousness all our days; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory throughout all ages. Amen.

Advent IV - A QUESTION OF OBEDIENCE

Advent IV
Dec 19, 2021
Fr. Phil Eberhart

 

A Question of Obedience

 

 

Have you ever questioned something that you felt God say to you?

 

Most people would say that they have never actually heard God speak to them, and even fewer have ever encountered angels speaking in their prayer times!   This morning I want to share a couple thoughts about the questions that Mary and Zechariah posed to the angel (same angel) who spoke to them during their visitations from God.  There is just a word or two difference, in fact.  But there is a world of difference in those few words!!

 

Before this morning’s gospel reading, in the earlier part of Luke 1, Mary is visited by Gabriel, the Archangel, the “messenger” of God and told that she will become pregnant, supernaturally – [overshadowed by the Holy Spirit] – and that she will bear a son, calling his name Yeshua / Jesus.  Upon hearing this pronouncement, that we call The Anunciation, Mary had a question.  Like many of us, the question was not one of disbelief, but an inquiry about the ways & means:  “How shall this be?”

 

Often in our lives, when God is leading us, the ways and means are obscure, until the time is full and the prophetic word is full-filled, in God’s way, and in God’s time.  We are not unacquainted with this process in our own lives, nor in our life together here at REZ.  It seems that the most common question in our life, perhaps, has been, “How shall this be?”  Not a sacrament of unbelief, but a simple question of ways and means.  We are required to go forward, walking ”by faith, not by sight!”

Mary’s question took into account the reality of her situation as a young, unmarried maiden, a “virgin.”  The HOW question loomed large in her mind. It was a very practical issue, and one that bore considerable consequence for her future and for her daily life in the community in Nazareth.  Assumptions will be made, and this will be difficult in our small town!  (You know small towns – everybody knows everybody else’s business, and what they don’t know, they make up!)  I’m certain that Nazareth was no different – some things NEVER change!

 

Perhaps that is why the trip to see Elizabeth.  Life is just easier if you put some distance between you and the rumor mill!  Easier for you, easier for Joseph, easier for everyone.  So a tri-mester away seems like a good idea.

 

So let’s consider Zechariah for a minute, and his encounter with the same angel, Gabriel, the messenger of God.  Zechariah was going about his duties as a priest in worship, burning incense in the temple.  He was faithful to fulfill the works of the law – a shining example of the Old Covenant righteousness.  It says he was doing his duty and that he and Elizabeth lived blamelessly!  Zechariah, and later his son, John, were the last of the temple worship and the prophets, before the coming of Jesus and the New Covenant Kingdom of God.  The Law & the Prophets are about to give way to a NEW COVENANT, a NEW COMMANDMENT, and a NEW (GREAT) COMMISSION.

 

But Zechariah, asked his question of Gabriel in a different way than Mary did!  His words told a different tale:  “How shall I know this to be certain?  How shall I know your words to be true?”  (The Message asks: “Do you expect me to believe this?”)  Zechariah places his doubt in the forefront, and was, shall we say, IN YOUR FACE, with Gabriel!  Gabriel recognizes it for what it is, and Zechariah comes away from the meeting unable to speak at all – until the time He confirms that the baby’s name will be John.  Until he comes into full obedience to the word he received from Gabriel.

 

What we read here in Luke 1 are the intimate details of these visitations and the different responses of the hearers. (It was likely that these stories were recounted to Luke personally by Mary herself, in later years, as he began to write this account.)

God’s will was not hindered by Zechariah’s unbelief, but his experience was very different from Mary’s willing obedience:

“Be it unto me according to thy word!”

Our liturgical tradition has two songs or canticles in it’s Morning & Evening Prayer offices that rise from these two encounters:  The Song of Zechariah, a.k.a. The Benedictus (BCP, 19) and The Song of Mary or The Magnificat (BCP, 45).   Each song came after their individual obedience to the Word of God, Mary’s immediately and Zechariah’s upon the birth of John and his naming.

 

I guess the question I have for us this morning is when can we sing our song?

I think that God wants to give us each a song – one that celebrates the destiny of His purposes in our life.  One that tells the story of His ways and means, of His faithfulness to both call and equip us to do His will in the world.  One that celebrates what God has accomplished through simple obedience, as a result of our willingness of heart and availability to Him – walking by faith, not by sight!

 

If there is a lesson from Luke 1 it is the difference between responding in faith [Be it unto me according to Thy Word] and responding in unbelief [You expect me to believe that?].  Unbelief is always a limiting factor to the plans of God.  It was even for Jesus, as he continued to encounter it later in his hometown!   

But faith…

Simple faith, taking God at His Word even though we wonder about the how, moves mountains!  As Gabriel said to Mary, “Nothing shall be impossible to God!” (1:37)

Let us consider our response to God, as He encounters us day by day.  God is speaking – are we listening in faith and obeying?  Are we willing, available, AND obedient?

Let us pray:

115. for the Coming of God’s Kingdom

Hasten, O Father, the coming of your kingdom; and grant that we your servants, who now live by [obedient] faith, may with joy behold your Son at his coming in glorious majesty; even Jesus Christ, our only Mediator and Advocate. Amen.

A Covenant Prayer

by John Wesley

 I am no longer my own, but thine.

Put me to what thou wilt,

rank me with whom thou wilt.

Put me to doing, put me to suffering.

Let me be employed by thee or laid aside for thee,

exalted for thee or brought low for thee.

Let me be full, let me be empty.

Let me have all things, let me have nothing.

I freely and heartily yield all things

to thy pleasure and disposal.

And now, O glorious and blessed God,

 Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

thou art mine, and I am thine.

So be it.

And the covenant which I have made on earth,

let it be ratified in heaven.

AMEN

Advent II - The Word Made Flesh (Fr. Phil Eberhart)

Advent II

Dec 5, 2021

Fr. Phil Eberhart

 

 

We seem to live today in a world of polls and pollsters – trying to “read the mind” of the everyday man or woman on the street.  From questions on history to questions on faith and belief, everyone seems to want to know what everyone else thinks about subjects that matter.

 

Once again, our collect has spoken to us about the vigilant faithfulness and the process that we need to embark on to see that the Word of God truly takes root in our lives and bears fruit in our lives.  Remember your hand illustration:

And our prayer we just heard at the beginning of the service:

Blessed Lord, who caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and the comfort of your holy Word we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Hear them; read them; mark them; learn them, and inwardly digest them!

And I’ve spoken to this recently, so this morning I want to go beyond to the WHY…

 

Let me tell you why its so important. 

 

This past week on our clergy call, Bishop Bill introduced us to some research done last year at Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center, in collaboration with pollster, George Barna, regarding the state of Christian beliefs in our nation.

Though I hate these things, let me lay out a few statistics for us:

Inside the American Church the prevailing belief is that people are basically good and that you can “work” your way to Heaven in some way.  One study discovered a waning of belief in the sinless divinity of Jesus, and confusion on the persons of the Trinity.  Many are muddled on the moral issues of our day, unclear on how the Holy Scriptures speak to certain “hot topics” in our culture.

I read yesterday that the Bible is being put on trial in Finland, as “hate speech.”

We’ve had that statute in the Colorado laws for the last half decade!  It’s not new news!

One of the conclusions of the studies of the Worldview Center was that we have substituted “moralistic, therapeutic deism” for Biblical Christianity in much of the American Church today.

Moralism is taking up the political causes of our day as a way to build your “stairway to heaven.”  It is undergirded by the straw foundation of tolerance and relativistic humanism which is rampant in our educational system and popular culture.  Moralism bends truth to its own shape, and unbendingly forces opposition views to submit. It is tolerant only of its own opinion!

Therapy is something that is good, in most ways, but when it becomes the middle leg of our faith, it has overtaken its scope of usefulness and threatens to usurp God Himself, as we look to our therapist or our sharing group for all the answers to life and living.

Deism is the most dangerous of all, as it relegates God to “somewhere, out there!”  A Bette Midler god, who is watching us from a distance, but is either too aloof or too powerless to intervene and make a difference in our everyday lives. And we don’t really want that kind of God anyway, because when He shows up, He usually messes things up.  We like to be in control after all, and an actual God who thinks He’s in charge is very messy and inconvenient.

 

And so, by in large, in broad strokes, our American Christian worldview has been watered down to such a degree that it is powerless and useless – something to be discarded by the cultural “revolution” that seems to be in ascendancy right now in America.

 

So Why is it important for us to “hear, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest” the Holy Scriptures in our day? 

1.    Because they inform and should FORM our worldview.  Worldview is just what it says it is – how we ‘see’ the world around us. In what terms and by what definitions do we “live and move and have our being?”  Are they based on Truth?  Do they provide an actual Way to live according to that truth?  And is that Life going to reach a certain end and leave a legacy of positive fruitfulness in its wake?  There is only ONE who said HE was THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE!  And He is the Living Word!

2.    Because the Scriptures link us to the God who speaks through them.  We don’t hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest them because we “have to” but because we “get to” and more so, “need to.”  Communication is the key to all relationship, both in our present mortal life, with spouses and friends, co workers and strangers!  It is also the key to our IMMORTAL relationships with Almighty God, the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who has made a way for us to have ‘access’ to Him, through His Son, by the power of His Spirit.

3.    Because the Scriptures, if obeyed, will lead us on the path to everlasting life, beginning today! Everlasting life is not simply a life with the time-stamp removed!  It is a life of quality; of value; of meaning; of real significance, that begins NOW!  A life that is “marked as Christ’s own forever.”  This kind of life is an examined life, where the Word is “living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, discerning the depths of our motivations, down deep to joints and marrow, to the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb 4).

4.    Because the Scriptures are the only instrument of renewal and revelation that we have at our disposal. When we leave them, we leave behind the anchor for our souls and place ourselves at the whim of wind and wave.

They provide us with correct teaching, with appropriate rebuke, with needed correction and practical training in righteousness. (2 Tim 3:16)
They are the renewing force for our minds, as we gain more and more the “mind of Christ” and are transformed into His image from glory to glory!

5.    And finally, the Word of God is the sure foundation; the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, who dwelt among us.  He is the exact image of the invisible God and our relationship with Him in salvation, is the only WAY to the Father and ultimately to our heavenly reward.  But this isn’t about “pie in the sky by and by!”  This is about the living of a life in which the “precious promises” have enabled us to become “partakers of the divine nature!”  Imagine what the world would look like from that worldview!  Peter tells us:  Friends, add to your faith:

 

Goodness or Moral Virtue: integrity, virtues of courage, nobleness, and vigorous moral valor. Add to that…

 

Knowledge:  of God’s ways, of God’s Word, Intelligence, Understanding

Self-control; Temperance… (the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites)

 

Patience, Steadfastness, Constancy, Endurance
the characteristic of a man who is not swerved from his deliberate purpose and his loyalty to faith and piety by even the greatest trials and sufferings

 

Godliness, Holiness, Piety towards God

 

Brotherly Love, Kindness  the love in which Christians cherish each other as brethren

 

Unconditional Love, AGAPE, or OT HESED: Unfailing Love

 

Now listen to the promises after these verses:

⁸ Since these virtues are already planted deep within,^[s] and you possess them in abundant supply,^[t] they will keep you from being inactive or fruitless in your pursuit of knowing Jesus Christ more intimately.

[2Pe 1:8 NASB20] 8 For if these [qualities] are yours and are increasing, they do not make you useless nor unproductive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Put in the positive:  If these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will make and keep you useful and productive in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ!

 

Friends,

Why do we “hear, read, mark, learn and inwardly digest” the Word?  Because these “precious promises” will become your power to “partake in the very nature of the Almighty God of the Universe.”  You will begin to look like Jesus, which is the whole enchilada of God’s plan for you and for this world! 

 

Let us pray:

70. For inner renewal through The Word (BCP 667)

Gracious God and most merciful Father, you have granted us the rich and precious jewel of your holy Word: Assist us with your Spirit, that the same Word may be written in our hearts to our everlasting comfort, to reform us, to renew us according to your own image, to build us up and edify us into the perfect dwelling place of your Christ, sanctifying and increasing in us all heavenly virtues; grant this, O heavenly Father, for Jesus Christ’s sake. Amen.