Trustees of the Kingdom

October 14, 2012
Pentecost XX 
Fr. Philip Eberhart

Trustees of The Kingdom

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As I thought about this second sermon in our series for stewardship, I got stopped by the word itself – “stewardship.”  It’s one that we don’t see or hear much these days in our common every day, run-of-the-mill conversation.  We kind of have a foggy notion of what it may mean, but it’s often associated with sermons like this or that time in the TV program of your favorite TV preacher when “the ask” happens.

This morning I want to fill out the concept of stewardship a bit for us, but by using a different term:  TRUSTEE.

Many of us have had dealings in the legal world of one kind or another.  A trustee by definition is “one, such as a bank, that holds legal title to property in order to administer it for a beneficiary.”  Let me bring that down to our level this morning:  A Trustee is one, such as YOU, that holds legal title, that is power over God’s property, (Time, Talent, Treasure) – in order to administer it for a beneficiary (The Kingdom of God!)

 

Did you know that you are a trustee of God’s grace – of His gifts?  Have you ever thought about the fact that God has had to put ultimate trust in YOU?

Recently I’ve been talking to people about voting in the upcoming election, as many of us have I think, on one side of the aisle or the other.  The point is voting – taking part in the trusteeship that our constitution places in the individual, so that, as Lincoln said at Gettysburg, “government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish from the face of the earth.”  We have a sacred trust which is coming due on us in about 3 weeks that determines the fate of that kind of government – and it happens every time the polling places are open, or every time the ballot comes in your mail box.  Not to vote in any election is an unconscionable dereliction of the trusteeship that our county has placed by constitutional mandate in your hands.

Likewise you have been given a sacred trust by God Himself as well!  God trusts in you! Now there’s a twist on our national motto!  But let’s look at a foundational few verses, that we usuaChrist Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

God has placed a deposit with you, my friend – a deposit of GRACE (God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense).

GOD’S RICHES

So what is the substance of the riches that God has placed in our care?

God is rich in MERCY  (Eph 2:4) 

Paul asks the Romans, “do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (2:4)

He goes on in chapter 9:  [God] endured with much patience vessels of wrath… and he did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us … !” (22b-24a)

God is rich in GLORY!

A little later in Romans, Paul again exclaims:  “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” (11:33) 

God is rich in WISDOM AND KNOWLEDGE! 

And back in the letter to Ephesus Paul repeatedly references these riches!

1:18    “the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints”

2:7     “the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

3:8       “to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ.”

4:19     “And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory                             
               in Christ Jesus.” 

Paul later instructs Timothy with these words:

1Ti 6:17  “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

Friends, there are literally hundreds of references throughout scripture to the riches of our God, both in material wealth and in mercy, in gold and in grace, in cattle and coin, as well as in kindness shown to us by the grace of an unfailingly loving Father, through His Son Jesus Christ.

But we are told not to confuse the two types of wealth.  One type is flighty and uncertain, destroyed by moth and rot in time, while the other is timeless, held for us by God in heaven and given to us by Grace on the earth.

 

Where your Treasure, So Your Heart

Jesus, as He taught on this issue of trusteeship – of our position of trust as partners with God in the enterprises of the Kingdom – set up the account for us and made the initial deposit.

By His sacrifice of blood on the cross, Jesus won our salvation and gave us access to heaven and all its stores!  In Him we have our own PIN number!

Now we have to understand that this treasury work a bit differently than our normal bank account here at Wells Fargo or Keybank.  It’s different than your local credit union.

Your “savings” are associated with you have given away, NOT what you have put away!

In Luke 12, Jesus warns us of our normal way of doing business:

Luk 12:19-21  'And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come; take your ease, eat, drink and be merry."' "But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?'  "So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

As trustees of God’s riches, we see “treasure” differently.  Just a few verses later Jesus concludes his statements with this wisdom:

(v 33)  “Sell your possessions and give to charity;  make yourselves money belts which do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near nor moth destroys.” 

As trustees of God’s riches we need to always be mindful that they are never “for us” as a personal possession, but they are for others, through us!  It is in this way that we make deposits of that treasure which is ours in God to an eternal account.

(v 34)  “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

 

Why do you think that Jesus made such a big deal out of the two-cents worth of the widow, as she was putting her little in the offering plate that morning, alongside those who were putting in so much more?

Because she got it right!  Her treasure wasn’t the two copper coins that she dropped into the offering baskets that day; her treasure was the Kingdom of God and the ONE who she trusted in for her sustenance.   Jesus singled her out to His disciples and made an example of her devotion and sacrifice, because “she gave all that she had.”  In that moment, she made a deposit in Heaven – in the Kingdom of God, the same kind that God is asking us to make.

Friends, the treasure we seek and which we have in Christ is not a treasure of this world, but a treasure of the Kingdom of God. Let’s go back for a second to the thoughts that Paul shared with his protégé, Timothy: 

I mentioned earlier 1 Tim 6:17:  “Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy.”

Paul goes on to fill out that thought:  “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.” (18-19)

 

Let’s look at a couple of these thoughts a bit closer:

DO GOOD

Do you think that there is ample instruction in Scripture about what these two words might mean?  Do you have an idea of what Paul might be talking about when he says, “Do good!”?  Let your imagination run wild!!  In fact he says,

 

BE RICH IN GOOD WORKS!

Here is the work of the trustee in the Kingdom.  Here is a picture of the true riches that we have administrative responsibility for.

In our first reference from Ephesians 2:10 we were told that God “created us in Christ Jesus, for good works, that we should walk in them.”

 

BE GENEROUS AND READY TO SHARE

This is the character of the trustee of the Kingdom of God – generosity that is uncharacteristic of the world and its system of hoarding and selfishness.  How we approach our life of giving speaks volumes to those around us about who we are as trustees of God and His riches in the Kingdom.

 

STORING UP THE TREASURE OF A GOOD FOUNDATION FOR THE FUTURE

We have classes on building wealth – we have professionals who come alongside us to help us with our wealth building – all in the name of our future!  Our retirement accounts are of ultimate value and anything that threatens those “treasures”, threatens our foundation for the future.  But the Kingdom of God turns it all upside down – or is it upside RIGHT?

 

SO THAT THEY (YOU) MAY TAKE HOLD OF THAT WHICH IS LIFE INDEED!

Jesus told us that our life doesn’t consist in the things we own or make or wear – in the things that so easily pass away in the fire of trial or the end of life.  Our LIFE – life that is life indeed – consists of the treasure of the Kingdom of God and what we do with that treasure as its trustees.

Friends, We have commitment cards on the table at the back.  They are a tool for us who are planning for this next year, for the ongoing salaries and expenses of our life together.

They are a sign of your trusteeship.  You are a trustee of the Riches of God, made available in Christ Jesus.  What you do with those riches is up to you – you can be like the one sea in Galilee that has a inlet and an outlet, receiving and giving its bounty to the Jordan valley and river -  or you can be like the other sea in Israel – one which takes and takes and takes, but never gives. 

 

They call it the Dead Sea!

 

Shall we pray:

Give us grace, O Gracious God, to see and understand the riches you have given us in Jesus Christ our Lord;  Riches of Mercy, Grace, Wisdom, Knowledge, Redemption and Sanctification.  Make us rich in good works, O Lord, for your sake and for the sake of Your Kingdom.  Help us not to grasp that which we can never truly own, but to give that which is not ours, that we may gain that which is Yours, a lasting treasure held in heaven. Meet our earthly needs, we pray of Lord, by the grace of your hand that we may come to share in and do the works you have prepared for us to walk in.  Help us to continually see the treasure you offer which is life indeed and to set our treasure in heaven, that our hearts may there be set also.

For the sake of your Kingdom, Jesus and the fame of Your Name, we pray.

Amen.

Have Salt in Yourselves

September 30, 2012

Pentecost XVIII

Fr. Philip D. Eberhart

 

HAVE SALT IN YOURSELVES
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Numbers 11:4-6, 10-16, 24-29
Psalm 19:7-14
James 5:13-20
Mark 9:38-50

 

     “Grant us the fullness of Your Grace” was the petitionary portion of our opening collect, our opening prayer this morning…” that we, running to obtain your promises, may become partakers of your heavenly treasure.”

     Lord, that is indeed our prayer – for the Fullness of Your Grace – in our lives, in our church and in our land, today and in the days that follow, as we LIVE from the place of GRACE, and we pray, so let us be Salt and Light to those around us, that we may be known to shine Your Light and to be a people who bring Your Presence wherever we go.

In Jesus Name we ask it.  Amen

 

 

Living from the place of grace

I’m not sure that I’ve ever connected Grace with “salt” before in my thinking, but as I studied the scriptures this week, a link became more and more clear. 

Salt is an ancient, ancient symbol.  It is, in the OT, a symbol for the covenant that God’s people have with the Living God. (Num 18:19; 2 Chron 13:5) It is used to seal the making of covenant and to symbolize the keeping of covenant, with each sacrifice, as salt is added to the sacrifice.  Salt is added to the grain of the offerings, not to preserve it, but to symbolize the ongoing nature of the relationship out of which the sacrifices come!

Salt is still today, an important part of the symbolic items that Near Eastern peoples use to signify commitment to one another and continuity of relationship.  It is an emblem of fidelity and friendship, when you “eat of a person’s salt.”

In the NT, Jesus takes up the symbolic meaning and fills it in a bit more.  He uses it in his teaching to refer to the believing community itself (Matt 5:13ff);  He uses it to refer, in our reading from Mark this morning, to the character and condition of our hearts.  In Jesus teaching, it is symbolic of the kind of spiritual health and vigor essential to real Christian virtue and its ability to counteract the corruption of the world.

So how can such attributes be seen as connected somehow to “grace?”

Paul actually makes the connection, in his letter to Colosse.  Verse 6 of chapter 4 says, “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.”

In our readings this morning, both from the OT and in the Gospel we see this grace on display in Moses and Jesus attitude toward those who were accused by, shall we say, the “insiders.”  Both Moses and Jesus set an example of “letting their speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt”

Moses answer was, “Would that all the LORD's people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his spirit on them!"

Jesus answer, “Whoever is not against us is for us. For truly I tell you, whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you bear the name of Christ will by no means lose the reward.”

Grace and mercy triumph over judgment in each of these examples, as the teacher in each case, draws a wider circle by Grace; one that includes those others who may not have come into the kingdom by our prescribed method or who are working in the kingdom, apart from our prescribed group!

Jesus, in fact, here gives us a stern warning against that kind of judgment – the kind that becomes a stumbling block for someone who is innocently following Jesus, doing His works, and believing in His Name.

This kind of thing is, in fact, one of the mainstays in the modern critique of the church – that we are judgmental and fake, having given up the necessary character and authenticity to speak with authority in our society and culture!  The Church has lost its voice!

Jesus asked the question of his followers, in fact, early on, in using the metaphor of salt!  In our reading, Jesus puts the question:  “Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another."

In the Matthew account of this same exchange, Jesus adds, “it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”

And that is exactly the experience of the modern Western church that has been enculturated and that seeks to be more and more accommodating to the whims and whispers of the culture, rather than to the Words and Ways of God.

 

So, where does salt come from?

Where does the kind of inner “salt” that Jesus speaks of in these accounts come from?  How does one get “salty?”  What does that even mean?

I was struck by that phrase when I first heard it – someone described as “salty”  -  a “salty Christian.”

I asked one time, when a friend used that turn of phrase – she said:  “Its when you’re around someone and you come away from them thirsty for Jesus!”

YEAH!  That’s what I want Lord!!

It became a kind of cry of my heart.  And I think that that is the kind of cry that God hears and answers!

Look back with me at our Psalm for today:

Verse 10 is the chorus of the song we sing from these verses:

            More to be desired are they than gold,

            Yea than much fine gold,

            Sweeter also than the honey,

            In the honeycomb!

 

Where does the salt come from?

From Here:  (The Bible)  From the Word of God

Listen again to what we just read:

7

The law of the LORD is perfect
and revives the soul; *
the testimony of the LORD is sure
and gives wisdom to the innocent.

8

The statutes of the LORD are just
and rejoice the heart; *
the commandment of the LORD is clear
and gives light to the eyes.

9

The fear of the LORD is clean
and endures for ever; *
the judgments of the LORD are true
and righteous altogether.

Listen to the descriptors David uses:

Perfect

            Sure

                        Just

                                    Clear

                                                Clean

                                                            True

And to the effects:

Revives the Soul

            Gives wisdom to the innocent

                        Rejoice the Heart

                                    Gives light to the eyes

                                                Endures forever

                                                            Righteous altogether.

Salt anyone?

“By keeping them is your servant enlightened (or warned)

  And in keeping them there is great reward.”

And so we pray with the psalmist:

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in your sight, O LORD,

My strength and my redeemer!”

So what exactly is the Salt that we are to get inside of us?

The Law of the Lord

            The Testimony of the Lord

                        The Statutes of the Lord

                                    The Commandment of the Lord

                                                The Fear of the Lord

                                                            The Judgments of the Lord

 

In Psalm 119:9, at the beginning of what is the greatest chapter in the Bible on the Bible itself, David asks a simple question:

 How can a young man (or woman) keep their way PURE?

And he answers:  “By keeping it (his way) according to Your Word.”

And in the two verses that follow:With all my heart I have sought You; do not let me wander from Your commandments.Your Word I have treasured (hidden) in my heart, That I may not sin against You.

That word “to treasure” means to hide or to store up.  Like “buried treasure.”

 

“Have salt in yourselves!”

Where does the salt come from?   HERE, the Word of God

And how does it get inside us?   “Hear, Read, Mark, Learn, and Inwardly Digest” to use the phrases of the prayerbook.

Friends, if we are serious about our personal walk with God, about our corporate life as the People of God and about our National Life, as “One Nation, Under God”

Then this is where we must turn.

We live in the most biblically illiterate culture in the world.  How is that possible?

With the Bible being the best selling book of all time, so much so that they don’t even put it on the best seller lists, cause nothing else would ever even get a look in.

Every family and household in America has an average of 6 bibles.

And to quote a dear saint who will remain unnamed, “I have a stack of these things at home, but NO ONE ever told me I was supposed to read it!”

Read it friends!!

This Bible is the salt mine!!

Amen.

From the collect that I mentioned before, Let us pray:

 

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 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.

The Gift of True Wisdom

September 23, 2012

Pentecost XVII
Fr. Philip Eberhart 

 

The Gift of True Wisdom

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Jeremiah 11:18-20
Psalm 54
James 3:13-4:3, 7-8a
Mark 9:30-37

 

“If anyone lacks wisdom…”

Could we have a show of hands please?   Anyone who lacks wisdom?  Raise your hand!!!
Goooooood Company!!

 “If anyone lacks wisdom… he or she should ASK our generous God, and he will give it to you.  He will not rebuke you for asking.” (NLT)

Wisdom:  A Definition – The ability to discern what is true, right or lasting. “common sense”;  “good judgment”; “the sum of learning – knowledge”; “wise teachings of the ancients”; a wise outlook, plan or course of action.

 As described in the entry in this:  American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language …  AND YET – When I went to look up “WISDOM” in this:  The New York Times Guide to Essential Knowledge – its not in the index!  Nowhere to be found.

Yet in here (Bible) it is EVERYWHERE TO BE FOUND!

 Hebrew word is used 153 times in the OT and the Greek word 51 times in the NT.

Over 200 appearances in the Holy Scriptures of the word for “wisdom”

 Interestingly, its first appearance is after the words “Spirit of”  -  Hmmmmm.

 

A Spirit of Wisdom

That seems in line with what James is claiming:  Wisdom is from ON HIGH!
Sometimes SKILL from ON HIGH – as in the case of Bezalel in EX 36 – the Spirit-filled craftsman who oversaw the building of the Tabernacle in the wilderness.

Same word.

Moses instructions to Israel in DEUT 4:  “See, I have taught you statues and rules, as the LORD my God commanded me… Keep them and DO THEM, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples.”

As Moses passed on the mantle of leadership to Joshua, he prayed for him and once again we hear “Now Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom…”

When Solomon was made king, he asked God for a Heart of Wisdom (2 Chron 1:10) and “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of mind, like the sand that is on the seashore.” (I Ki 4:29)

Job asks the question of the ages:  Where does wisdom come from? And he answers the question as well:  28:28  “Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;”

And rightly we hear in the voice of God, with his dialogue with Job:

38:36  Who has put wisdom in the innermost being or given understanding to the mind??  [ME!  OF COURSE.]

David in Psalm 51, the famous prayer of repentance: v 6 …  You desire truth in the innermost being, And in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.

Ps 111:10 …  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all who DO HIS COMMANDMENTS; His praise endures forever.

And 35 times in Proverbs, the attributes of wisdom are outlined, in fact it is the stated purpose of the whole book
1:2  to know wisdom and instruction, to discern the sayings of understanding!

Some exerpts:

The Lord gives wisdom

… with the humble is wisdom…

… wisdom is with those who receive counsel …

… wisdom … is to understand [your own] way
… wisdom rests in the heart of one who has understanding
… the rod and reproof give wisdom…

Isaiah describes the Messiah in these terms:

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of wisdom, held in humility and with constant reference to His Father and obeying the dictates and directions of His Father, on a moment by moment basis.

He understood and said on two occasions the “wisdom is vindicated or shown by its actions.”  Wonder where James got it?  Perhaps he was listening or at least watching his older brother!  Even in his own hometown and among his family and friends they asked the question, “Where did this man [Jesus] get this wisdom and these miraculous powers? (Mt 13:54 & Mk 6:2)

Wisdom was a mark and necessary attribute of early church leadership.  Stephen, the first martyr was said to have irrefutable “wisdom” (Acts 6:10)

Wisdom was much sought after in the Greek culture – a kind of wisdom that flew in the face of the Wisdom given by God, so much so that Paul said, “I came to you not in wise speech, but in a demonstration of God’s power, that your faith might rest on God’s power not on the wisdom of men.”  And later (1 Cor 3:19) “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.”

Later in the same letter, Paul aligns the true wisdom of God with the other Gifts of the Spirit to the body of Christ.  Wisdom as a word, given by the power of the Spirit; the application of knowledge to life’s issues and directions under the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

If you remember, when we began to talk about the book of James, I said that it was a form of NT “wisdom” literature  - in the style of the books of Job, Psalms and Proverbs in the OT.

So here in our reading from James 3 this morning we have probably the clearest word picture of what Godly wisdom is about and how it is acquired!

Listen to The Message here:

^13-16 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

^17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings,  not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

And from the NKJV:

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. …
¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. ¹⁸ Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

Listen to all the descriptors:

Holy Life
Getting along
Gentle
Reasonable
Mercy
Blessings
Not two-faced
Meekness
Purity
Peaceable
Gentle
Willing to Yield
Full of Mercy
   and Good Fruits
Without partiality
Without hypocrisy

JB Phillips ends this way:
And the wise are peace-makers who go on quietly sowing for a harvest of righteousness—in other people and in themselves.

These read like the lists in Galations of the Fruit of the Spirit!  Why?  Because it is!

Exactly!

 

The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Wisdom.

We get the Spirit of God by coming to Him in “fear and trembling.”  As the writer to the Hebrews has said,  Since then we have been given a kingdom that is “unshakeable”, let us serve God with thankfulness in the ways which please him, but always with reverence and holy fear. For it is perfectly true that our ‘God is a burning fire’.

Wisdom comes to us through discipline, by God.  Earlier in the same chapter, the writer of Hebrews reminds us,  ”¹⁰ For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. ¹¹ No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.”

And so we ask God to lead us into the way of HIS wisdom.  A life style that is lived in reference to Him and to His words and ways, in the “fear of the Lord.”   AMEN!

 

 

May we pray:

O God, by whom the meek are guided in judgment, and light rises up in darkness for the godly: Grant us, in all our doubts and uncertainties, the grace to ask what you would have us to do, that the Spirit of wisdom may save us from all false choices, and that in your light we may see light, and in your straight path may not stumble; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Who Do YOU Say That I AM?

September 16, 2012

Pentecost XVI

Fr. Philip Eberhart

 

 

And who do YOU say that I AM?

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Isaiah 50:4-9a
Psalm 116:1-8
James 3:1-12
Mark 8:27-38

There is a verse in the Bible, the book of Proverbs, where Solomon wrote, “Death and Life are in the Power of the Tongue.”  This morning I want to look into the truth of that statement in the light of our readings.

The “tongue” in our bible is a powerful force and a lot of ink is given to comment on its power and its force in our lives.  Just in the psalms and proverbs are nearly 70 references and in the NT another 50, most notably 1 Corinthians 14, where Paul is laying down the rules for those who “speak in a tongue” in church and James 3, our reading for this morning.  Almost half of the references in the NT are accounted for in these two chapters about two very different applications of the power of what we speak.

To set the stage I want to simply make reference to a single quote of Isaiah 45:23 that appears twice in the NT:

Rom 14:11  For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD."

And Phil 2:10 actually 9-11

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Every tongue will confess – Every tongue will give praise!

What is the big deal about the tongue? 

Well James captures it I think in the two illustrations he uses in this reading this morning.

The BIT and the RUDDER. 

The tongues, he explains, is a small member in the overall scheme of things in the body, but it “boasts of great things.”  The bit and the rudder are small parts of the grand scheme but they enable a control far beyond their relative size.  Likewise the tongue, enables – it enkindles a flame, as James puts it, that sets the very world on fire.

Have you seen the news this week?  A world on fire, set by the tongue?!!  A video was the match, but the wind is driven by the tongues of thousands around the world, and flames are everywhere on our nightly news.  I’m not making a judgment here on who is right or wrong but just drawing attention to the power of our speaking.

James really pulls no punches here as he talks about the vile evil that is found in the power of our speech – listen:

   A fire

            The very world of iniquity

                        Defiles the entire body

                                    Sets on fire the course of our life

                                                Is itself set on fire by hell!

 

No one can tame the tongue

            It is restless evil

                        Full of deadly poison

                                    With it we both bless and curse

                                                We praise God and curse men!

Are you listening?

We must allow the Holy Spirit to change – to transform the power of our tongue!  To transform what is described above into something that He can use for the good of the Kingdom…  is that possible?

 

HOW? 

Step One:  Confession

 

It begins in our hearts, with the turning from slavery to self, to the acknowledgment of God and of His Christ, Jesus, as Lord!  Those verses from Isaiah are not an idle threat,

that God made one day – they are a promise to be fulfilled across all the earth – EVERY

How many is that?

 

EVERY TONGUE WILL CONFESS!

This is where it begins as our hearts turn to Jesus.  Paul reminds us in Romans 10:10

Actually lets read from verse 8

            But what does it say? "THE WORD IS NEAR YOU, IN YOUR MOUTH AND IN YOUR HEART"--that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

What does it mean to CONFESS?

If you take the word that Paul uses, that is translated “confess” – it means to “say the same thing as another, ie. To agree with.”  Paul actually uses a compound Greek word that literally means “SAME WORD.”

 

To confess is to speak the same word as Jesus;  To agree with Him – to come into obedience to Him. 

We confess with our mouth “Jesus is Lord!”  The most simple and the first Creed of the Church!  And the first creed of every believer must be those same words.

 

THE GREAT CONFESSION

 

Now let’s turn to Jesus question and Peter’s answer in the Gospel reading this morning.

"Who do people say that I am?" And they answered him, "John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; and still others, one of the prophets." He asked them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered him, "You are the Messiah.

Confession is to say WITH JESUS, what He has said about Himself.  That is what happened here with Peter.  He said with Jesus, what Jesus was saying about Himself.

Confession is the first step, but there are more steps!  Confession is a sacramental reality.

Do you remember last week’s sermon or the definition of a sacrament from you catechism?  A Sacrament is an “outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace.”  Confession is an outward and “audible” sign of our inward and spiritual faith in Jesus!  Paul says we are to confess with our mouths, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead.  Isaiah says that every tongue will confess AND ????   Every knee will bow!

Our confession leads us to greater and greater action, both inward in our heart and outward as we bow in worship of Jesus as Lord and Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the Living God and God in the flesh, who has come to dwell among us!

In this action we come to know by our experience what Jesus has said about himself and about the Father, “I and the Father are ONE.” 

But there is more!!

 

Jesus goes on to explain the mission and ministry of the Son of Man to his disciples, and in almost the same breath, Peter denies all this, and he rebukes Jesus, for not doing it their way!!  Of course the disciples had something completely different than a Cross in mind for Jesus!  And again, almost in the same breath, Jesus, rebukes Peter with strong words,

“Get behind me, Satan!  For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

How easy it is for us to get our vision off the ways and means of Jesus alone, and to begin adding in our own!!  So Jesus began to teach his own three point sermon, to the disciples and to all that were standing around him at that moment:

A.  Deny Themselves

B.  Take up their cross

C.  Follow Me.

 

Jesus here, challenges his disciples and those who were following him as Messiah – one of their own making, their own imagination and their own expectations –

In the synoptic Gospels, Matt, Mark and Luke, where these are paralleled, this story is the first mention by Jesus of His Cross to the disciples. 

Imagine, you think that you are following a great Rabbi, perhaps even, you let yourself believe for a moment, as Peter did, that he might be the Messiah, the Christ…

And then he asks you, WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?

Well? 

Well, we think you may be the one who we have been waiting for… but…

Peter said it though…  YOU ARE THE MESSIAH – THE CHRIST, THE SON OF THE LIVING GOD.

And Jesus did not correct him!  In fact Jesus blessed him and told him that such insight was not from him, but from the Father.

Then Jesus goes on to paint the full picture of who He is… and what He has come to do and how he has come to do it …

And Peter says, NO!  NOT THAT.

 

Have you ever?

You do know that the words NO and LORD don’t – can’t – go in the same sentence!

They are an oxymoron – words that don’t fit together

Let me end with just the quote from Mark 8:35

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.

Step One:   Confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord!”

Step Two:  Believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead 

Step Three:  Bow your knee in worship to Jesus, who is God and Lord of your life

 

Step Four:   Give your life to Him to do with as He chooses – you have His permission                        to “lose it.”     Lose it for HIM and for His Kingdom.

Amen!

 

May we pray…

 

Please repeat phrase by phrase:

 

Almighty and eternal God,

            So draw my heart to you

                        So guide my mind

                                    So fill my imagination

                                                So control my will

 

That I may be wholly Yours,

            Utterly dedicated to You

                        And then use me, I pray You,

                                    As You will

                                                And always for Your glory

                                                            And for the welfare of Your people.

 

Through the Name of Jesus Christ,

            My savior and My Lord.

 

Amen.

                        (Book of Common Prayer, P. 832:  A Prayer of Self-Dedication)

Astounded Beyond Measure at Jesus

September 9, 2012

Pentecost XV
Fr. Philip Eberhart

 

THEY WERE ASTOUNDED BEYOND MEASURE: HE DOES ALL THINGS WELL!
 

Isaiah 35:4-7a
Psalm 146
James 2:1-10, (11-13), 14-17
Mark 7:24-37

 

Have you ever looked at someone and said, “Man, would that person make a great Christian!” Because of their position or their gifts in the world, we have a tendency to “size people up” – in effect, to pre-judge them – as to their capabilities for the Kingdom of God!  Likewise the obverse is true, we see someone who is down on their luck and we “judge” that they are somehow unworthy of the Gospel of Jesus.

 This was the state of things in the early church as well, because its “human” nature; not the good kind of nature, by the way.  It’s the old nature and system of thinking that moves us to “size people up” – to classify them according to dress, or car, or talents, jobs or skills.

 Jesus, on the other hand, was quite the opposite.  His story of the sower of the seed shows us just how liberally the sower did his work.  Seed fell on all kinds of soil!  As a farmer, or the son of a farmer, I know that you only put seed in the soil that has been properly prepared for it, not in rocky, thorny or shallow soil, but in soil that has been turned and weeded and has had the rocks taken out!  And you never sow seed on hard pack or concrete – its all the same.  But the sower in Jesus parable pays no never mind to the types of soil, he just scatters the Word liberally.

And so we see Jesus in our reading this morning healing those with faith, both the gentile woman and the deaf man who could not speak.  Both of those people were people who were “under judgement” by the regular religious establishment. The one because of her station in life and the other because of his particular disease.

 In the first case of the Gentile woman, Jesus is hesitant to heal.  Why?  Because He was mindful of his mission from the Father, to go to the lost sheep of the people of Israel.  To “give the children’s bread to the dogs” isn’t a remark about the woman, but about his mission and focus on Israel.  BUT… what turns his head?  FAITH – Faith that will not take NO for an answer.  And the argument that she mounts  accepts his mission as legitimate and her position as “outside” of it – but still clings to an unwavering faith in His love and power.  And her faith wins!  Is Jesus won over?  Did he change his mind.  I think not – what changed was his perception of her, not as one on the outside, but because of her faith, as one on the inside.

As we see in Paul’s writings in Romans, the scope of the Gospel extends to all those who “by faith” have come to God, and this is a case-in-point illustration from the very ministry and works of Jesus!

 

BY FAITH

 I want to look at the next section and then examine the issue of faith in these readings for a few moments.

In the man who was deaf, we don’t see any indication of his faith, but of those who brought him to Jesus.  Jesus didn’t question the man about his faith.  He simply took him into a private place – put his fingers in his ears, spat and touched his tongue and said a word that even deaf people can hear, because the word is very easily “lip read” – Eph-pha-tha, which is the word of command, “Be opened!” And it was so!  That simple!   Whose faith?  Not his faith, but their faith.  Those who brought him to Jesus.

Now let’s turn to James for a few minutes – the last paragraph of our reading:

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead.”

These words almost got the book of James thrown out of the canon!  Paul’s contention in Ephesians 2: 8ff is “by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one can boast.”

For centuries these passages have been taken as being in opposition to one another, but I want to contend that they are saying exactly the same thing!  The point that Paul is making is not a point of relative importance, but of priority and order.  The key word here is the word “result” – in the Greek it is the simple preposition that denotes origins – “EK” =  out of, from, by, away from (a primary preposition denoting origin [the point whence action or motion proceeds]).  In other words, Paul says that faith is not “out of” works – that works cannot have the priority, faith does.  In fact, if you take James alongside Paul, what you have is this:

“by grace you have been saved through faith;…not as a result of works, so that no one can boast.” [but] what good is it if you say you have faith, but do not have works? Can [that kind of] faith save you? [NO!] Faith, by itself, if it has no works, is dead!”

Friends, its not a question of faith OR works, it is a question of which comes first!

It is always faith AND works, in every situation, - even the thief on the cross, did the “work” of repenting publicly and asking Jesus to remember Him in glory.  Our faith, our belief is internal – a matter of the heart – but it cannot simply remain there!  James later says that even the demons “believe” and tremble!  Our belief must take action – the matter of the heart must become the heart of the MATTER!  Its just sacramental theology.

What do we say about the sacraments?  That they are “outward and visible signs of an inward and spiritual grace!

So our work for the Lord is an outward and visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace that Paul calls “faith.”  Remember, he said “by grace, you have been saved through faith; and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God…”

In the sentence structure of Paul’s greek sentence in Ephesians, the words “not as a result of works” actually modify and refer back to the words “you have been saved.”

In other words, “you have been saved, not as a result of works, but through faith, and even that [faith] is a gift of God!”

 

WHAT WORKS?

 So let’s turn back to James for a moment and ask the question, “What works?”

 "If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill," and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that?”

Once again James is the ever practical pastor!  In the Jerusalem community this was a matter of community identity and common practice, but elsewhere in the “diaspora” – away from the central community in Jerusalem, it had become less a matter of community life.  The dispersed Jewish community had taken on more of the form of the world – “every man for himself.”

Let me remind you of the norm in Jerusalem – from our target passage for our life together:  Acts 2:42-47:

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all those who had believed were together and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

 Let’s look at the “works” that followed their faith in Acts 2:

Continual devotion to

            Apostles’ teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer

 Wonders and signs performed

      (did you note the lists in our readings from Isaiah and our psalm for today?) 

            The eyes of the blind shall see

            The ears of the deaf unstopped
            Lame shall leap like a deer
            Tongue of the speechless sing for joy.
            Gives justice to those who are oppressed
            And food to those who hunger.
            Sets the prisoners free
            (again) opens the eyes of the blind
            Lifts up those who are bowed down
            Loves the righteous
            Cares for the stranger
            Sustains the orphan and widow!

 Back to ACTS:

Living together with all things held in common, selling property & possessions

Sharing them with all, according to need

Daily fellowship in the temple and from house to house

Eating together

Praising God & enjoying His favor!

And what was the result:

             “The Lord was adding to their number daily those who were being saved!”

 

What are the “works” that God is calling you to, you who believe and who say with the psalmist:

Happy are they who have the God of Jacob for their help!  Whose hope is in the Lord their God; who made heaven and earth, the seas, and all that is in them; who keeps his promise for ever;

If that is your confession, your “boast”, as it should be, then what are you DOING

about it?

What is the issue – what is coming forth “out of” your faith?  If someone says, “show me your faith” what will they see?  Can people see our faith, without the work that comes from it?  NO.  In the very next verse, after our reading stops, James goes on to say, “… I will show you my faith by my works.”

Faith and work are two sides of the same coin, my friends.  To see the complete image of salvation we must look at both sides.  Faith first and then the work which comes from it.

We’ve talked about the list already – the list of needs is long and the opportunities for ministry come to us every day.  The question is one of willingness and of availability and of obedience.

“Show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”

Shall we pray…

O Lord Jesus Christ, you became poor for our sake, so that we might be made rich through your poverty: Guide and sanctify, we pray, all those whom you call to follow you.  Uphold us with a willing spirit, help us to see your hand at work and to be available to you every moment of every day and obedient to your voice when you speak to us, that by our prayers and works of service we may enrich your Church, and by our life and worship we may glorify your Name before the world; for you reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit
that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen.